What's Been Happening

The Ranch

Kyle got a few-week break between semesters, which was his first break in year-round schooling, so it was nice!  We were able to go up to the Kyle's grandparent's ranch in Panguitch, Utah for a week at the beginning of August. We played games, hiked, rode four wheelers, fished, etc.

 

Hiking in Red Canyon 

We did a quick hike with the kiddos and then most of us did a longer hike.  In the middle of the longer hike, right as we were getting to the top of everything, a storm started in the distance, we are talking thunder and big ol' lightning bolts. It was pretty scary especially since we were surrounded by trees that had clearly been lightning stricken.  .  . BUT, we made it down and the storm never got us.    It turned out to be a great adventure!  A day or so before we went and did hikes, Kyle did a 15 mile mountain bike path through this same canyon! 15 miles! I would have died. Haha.

Riding the Four Wheelers

Kyle plotted out a pretty ride for a group of us.  It was perfect for me but not quite challenging enough for Kyle :) Isn't the lake beautiful?!

I also got to do a quick, mini-shoot for Kyle's aunt Tracee and her two littlest boys.  It's always fun to use my camera! Here are some of the best.  The ranch had some fun spots for pix.

 It's Official! I am part of the Hadley Family :) Haha.

There is a sign at the entrance to the ranch on which all of the family members carved their names into the back.  When Kyle first took me to the ranch he showed me the sign and said we'd have to put my name on there.  Well, now we have been to the ranch several times and my name finally made it on there!

Before we headed home we went to St. George for a night with Kyles gandparents, Susan, Mitchell and April.  We all saw a play at Tuacahn. Tuachan is an AWESOME outdoor amphitheater (we are talking red-rock canyon backdrop) with Broadway quality performances.  We saw Thoroughly Modern Millie and it was fun! Kyle and i were both very impressed that the play included fireworks. If you are ever in southern Utah, you should try and catch a show.

Work

Or I guess I should say "play."  I just wanted to mention really quickly a couple of cool things that I've been a part of thanks to my job.  First of all, I was able to be part of a golf scramble.

Probably the only time I'll ever be in a golf cart on an actual golf course - dressing like an actual golf player.  It was a pretty course, I guess all golf courses are pretty? I wouldn't know.  Golf is definitely NOT my sport but it was fun for a day none the less.

The team in our matching polos.  The course required you wear a collared shirt so Gloria got us embroidered polos. From L to R: Gloria, Inge, Janet & Myself.  Janet joined our office a few months ago when Inge decided to go part time so that she could spend more time with her kiddos.  She has been a fantastic addition to the office!

Secondly, I am now famous!! Well, I've had my 5seconds of fame anyway.  The Broker for Gate City Real Estate decided to feature our team on the inside, back cover of the local real estate magazine, "On the Market."  It was the absolute most awkward photo shoot of my life but we did end up with one good picture, thank goodness.

This was happening while we were interviewing for Janet's position so she didn't quite make it in. It's pretty cool to be featured.  The whole thing is riddled with errors though so don't read too closely and maybe you'll miss them . . . Sort of embarrassing but we didn't really have much time to put this together.

And lastly, I have officially been at my job for just over a year know.  Janet was so sweet and brought me a cake for my "1 year" celebration and we went out as a team to a yummy lunch.  I am so blessed to work with awesome people in such a good job.  This will also definitely end up being the job that I work the longest in of all my work experience so far. . . but I guess that's really due just to us being in Pocatello for longer than we've been anywhere else so far.  But still, I am glad I ended up somewhere this awesome for the long-haul.

Jenny Lake

Our friends Mark and Natalie and their little kiddo, Emerson (who we hadn't met before), moved back to ID!  They just got here not too long ago and so right before school started up again we all met up with Andrew and Brittany in Driggs one weekend.  We went to Jenny Lake and did a hike and then ate in Jackson, WY.  Jenny lake is also in WY - it's just about an hour from Driggs.

Natalie, Brittany and I were all roommates at BYU-I and we hadn't all been together for a couple of years.  It was a good reunion!  Hopefully we will get to do some more together now that we are closer.

Also, for the 4th of July this year Kyle and I went down to Driggs and stayed with Andrew and Brittany.  Driggs boast one of the biggest fireworks shows in the state and they are not kidding!  The show started in the late afternoon with an outdoor concert featuring the Beach Boys and Lee Greenwood.  The fireworks lasted for quite a while and they didn't just go off from one location in front of us, they were going off on both sides of us and in front of us.  Talk about surround sound :)

Labor Day

Labor day weekend we met up with David & Kristy at Bear Lake.  It is a pretty good middle-ground, a couple of hours from us and 3 hours from them.  We were worried that we wouldn't be able to find a camping spot since it was the holiday weekend and we hadn't already reserved something, BUT we found a great spot right off the bat.  Beat Lake is BEAUTIFUL!  The water is pretty warm and not too deep (you can walk out pretty far and not be in over you head) and best of all it isn't salty so it doesn't taste bad! haha.  We camped Saturday and Sunday night and then woke up to rain on Monday.  It would have been nice to go to the lake more but that'll have to wait until next time.  We did get a hike in and some exploring. Kyle put our dutch oven to good use and made some yummy potatoes and cobbler.  Overall, it was a great, long weekend!  Thanks for meeting up with us David & Kristy!
Until Next Time!

Catching Up!

Allright, it has been a little while and there are a few events to catch up on.  If I don't stay on top of posting it is so hard to want to make time to sit down and catch up.  But today's the day I do just that!

Lava/Soda Springs

Most recently first.  This past weekend  Kyle and I went camping.  We didn't really have a plan but we knew we wanted to get out of dodge for a day or so.  When we got home from work Friday we packed up the car and headed out.

 

We ended up at a beautiful campground in Lava! Check out the awesome scenery from our spot. We really felt like we were camping in luxury this time around thanks to our awesome 

camp chairs and propane stove!

Kyle is whittling us some roaster sticks since we forgot ours.

When we finally roasted our hotdogs and they were disgusting.  We were trying to figure out what was wrong, if maybe the sticks we were roasting them with made them taste funny.  Finally we looked at the package and we had purchased the 97% fat free version with only 45 calories per dog. . . So, our dinner was an epic fail until we were so hungry that we got creative.

We broke into our breakfast stash and made a sausage egg delight which we then ate on our hot dog buns. Turned out pretty tasty if I do say so myself.

Saturday we drove out to Soda Springs which boasts a few attractions. We saw an awesome geyser which goes off every hour and lasts for almost 10 minutes.

We got to see a couple of different natural springs which produce actual soda water!  

 Kyle is dipping into the world famous Hooper Springs from which Soda Springs got it's name.  For a while the town pipped the carbonated water and made their own soda. Kyle's grandma Hadley grew up around Soda and she had told us about the springs and said that they used to come and get the water and mix it with kool-aid when she was growing up.  We tasted it and bottled some up to bring home to mix with lemonade. Alone the water is not-so-good.  We have yet to try making it into lemonade.  And before we headed out of town we played a little disc golf at the Soda Springs course.

Of course.

Memorial Weekend.

Kyle is working as an intern at the hospital in Blackfoot.  He is really enjoying it and learning a lot!  This is his first of 5 affiliations which he will complete before he graduates.  We weren't sure if he would get Memorial day off or not, since obviously the hospital never closes, but he did!  We got to head down to UT for the long weekend.  Kyle's parents came in as well and we all stayed with the Hadley grandparents.  We relaxed, ate good food, went swimming and got to spend time with family!

Scootin' Around

With Kyle starting his affiliations, I needed a quicker way to work than walking.  We  looked at all the bike shops in Pocatello and couldn't find one my size.  Couldn't find the kind of bike I wanted in my size that is.  So, we started looking into other options and this is what we ended up with!!

Isn't it awesome?! It is a lot of fun!

Kristy's Wedding 

And now for my favorite part of this post!  Kristy's wedding!!!!  We flew out to San Diego for the weekend of Kristy's wedding.  It was a quick, but fantastic trip!

 They were sealed for time and all eternity in the San Diego temple Saturday morning May 4th!

 Welcome to Married Life Mr. & Mrs. Grimm!

Their reception was Saturday evening.  It was a Beautiful, outdoor reception!  So fun.

Decorations

Cutting the cake

The car decorating crew! Kyle also helped but he was kind enough to take the photo.

All lit up!

And I guess that sums it up.  We are very excited for Kristy & David and wish them all the best! I love weddings and can't wait for the next one that I'll get to go to :)

Three Year Celebration at Zion's National Park!

People always told me that time flies and I believe it now!  I can't believe that Kyle and I have been married for 3 years! The wonderful, fantastic, awesomely great years! ;)

We celebrated in March (so a little early) by spending a few days at Zion's National Park.  We stayed with Kyle's grandparents (the Tebbs) who live in St. George.  The first evening we got there we headed out to the park and did a couple of quick hikes as the park was getting dark.

The next couple of days we tackled the two hikes that the park is most famous for:

 Angel's Landing and The Narrows! 

Angel's Landing took us to the top of this peak.

Before we left for Zion's Kyle read me an article from somewhere which stated that angel's landing is one of the most dangerous (top 5 or 7, can't remember exactly) national park hikes out there.  So, now that we've conquered it I feel pretty good :)  It's about a 5 mile hike (round trip) and you gain approx 1,500 feet in elevation.  The last bit of the trail (maybe .25 miles) is along the narrow top of the peak.  You hold onto chains to keep from losing your footing and falling off.

 On our way up:

 At the top!!!

The next day we rented some "dry suits" (AKA star-trek suits...) and hiked "The Narrows" up and through the Virgin river.  We didn't take our cell phones or a watch of any kind.  I will never make that mistake again.  We hiked leisurely up the river for just under 4 hours.  When we finally asked someone what time it was we had only about 2.5 hours to get back and return our rented suits.  I seriously wanted to give up and just pay whatever they would have charged us for not getting the suits back on time.  But I made it.  It was a really fun, gorgeous hike!  Just make sure if you ever go that you either wear your own gear or take the time with you so you don't pass your limit.

We do look goofy but we stayed dry and warm in the cold river water. 

This is what we hiked through!  Lots of pretty canyon.

 At it's deepest

 

Making our way!

At one point we stopped to float for a bit.  The suits puffed up and worked as great flotation devices. 

And that is it for now!!!

Recent Events

Sushi Making 

For Christmas, Kristy got us a sushi making kit!  We have had so much fun making sushi and we can't wait to make some more!

My creation

Kyle's creation - (Don't know why he forgot to look at the camera . . .)

An up close look.  Sushi stuffed with tempura shrimp, cream cheese, 

cucumber and spicy crab salad; topped with avocado and yummy sauce.

Making sushi is not as difficult as you would think.  We were quite surprised.  Kyle found "Sushi Daddy" on YouTube and he taught us how it's done.  The hardest part is cutting the rolls without smashing them flat.  And, yes, it's A LOT cheaper than in restaurants!  We made 7 rolls and it was probably about $10.  Yum! And thank you Kristy!

Wintery Things

We've also done a couple more winter activities.  We've gone sledding and even tried back country skiing.  Sledding was fun, back country skiing . . . not so much.  After really enjoying Cross County skiing we were surprised at how not fun back country skiing is.  The boots are different and aren't very comfortable and you aren't in groomed tracks so it's more difficult. But at least we can say we've tried.  Sledding, as always, was fun. 

Kyle would pick a difficult sledding path involving dodging bushes

In his defense, the path was pre-worn so others had obviously done it first.

He convinced me to give it a try and when I didn't die it turned out to be a pretty fun ride :)

Valentines Day

On Valentines Day we celebrated by participating the the campus "Cupids Challenge."  We faced off against Tyson and Rachel in serious of timed events, and for participating we all got awesome shirts: 

The events included: running a lap around the gym, 25 push-ups, 50 sit-ups,  making 10 free-throws, passing a racquet ball 10 times, and 30 passes with a medicine ball.  In the end, Tyson and Rachel beat us by a couple of minutes, mostly due to my slowness of making free throws. Haha.  We all had fun though.  Then for Valentines weekend Kyle and I treated ourselves to some Texas Roadhouse and discovered that they have very yummy grilled shrimp.

Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner

When Kyle first started at ISU we were thinking that activity-wise it was a pretty lame campus.  BYU-I just always had SO many activities and events going on.  ISU doesn't really host many performances and BYU-I would always bring in comedians, musicians, Chinese acrobats, etc.; which we miss.  However, we are slowly starting to find, and become more involved in, the events on campus.  ISU actually has quite a few fun activities (like the cupids challenge).  Just last night we went to the "fire and ice luau" which was tons of free island food outside by a fire.  Then when you moved inside the building, there was tons more free food and activities.  There was also a raffle drawing at which Kyle won this awesome game:

Isn't that crazy?!  Kyle was pretty much in shock that he won because he was ready to leave and I was like "no way, not until after the drawing." We had to call some friends at like 11PM and ask for some help getting it delivered to our apartment.  Haha.  I am not very good a foosball but I will get better!  Upcoming campus activities that we plan to attend include bingo night and a student game show.  So, we've decided that ISU is doing alright activity wise.

 Photography

Last weekend we went down to Utah and I took engagement pictures for Kristy.  It was fun to "go on vacation." It was also a lot of fun to take photos!!  We had an interesting time because at one of our photo locations we ran into a group of "larpers" (people who wear armor and have battles with PVC weapons).  These were some hardcore larpers and they were trying to make a movie and they were not very nice about sharing the space with people who weren't 'as cool as them'.  

I really, really love photography.  I've got to put myself out there more and get some more shoots lined up.  I've finally got my photography blog pretty much complete so you will have to check it out.  If I have ever taken photos for you, then you are probably (definitely) featured! :) Check it out: loveyoumadlyphotos.blogspot.com

I'm seriously not much of a blogger in that I don't take time to make it ultra personalized or fun.  I tried to do some tweaking with the photo blog so that it was stay on the layout that I liked best.  I think in some browsers though it gets quirky.  I'll probably have to figure out a new layout for it eventually.  And that just about sums it up for now!

Christmas & Beyond!

We got to spend this past Christmas in TN!  It was rainy a lot of the time that we were there but we did have enough nice days to get out for a few fun activities.  Kyle and I went to the Nashville Zoo for a day.  It was 1/2 price because it was too cold for a lot of the animals to be on display. The animals that were out were pretty active though and we had a good time!  The zoo was also pretty much empty of other visitors.  While we were visiting the tiger exhibit, the tigers had a face-off and it was sort of scary to watch since we were the only ones around for them to take their anger out on if they decided to bust out of their exhibit and go rogue.  Haha.  We stayed in the warm reptile-house for a while and saw some crazy creatures.  We also had a lot of fun watching the elephants.  This one elephant started digging up dirt and throwing it on his back and a couple of the elephants were eating branches and crunching through them like they were nothing.  They must have been hungry because those branches did not look the least bit yummy. Haha.

My dad packed up his arsenal and we went shooting for a day.  We drove about an hour and a half to some land my Grandpa always called "his farm."  He grew a little bit of stuff but also used the land for hunting.  We had a ton of miscellaneous items to use as targets and we demolished all of them!  Here is my dad and Kyle shooting the shotgun at this drip-pan thingy that I tossed up for them:

I am too scared of the kick to shoot a shotgun.  I did try a hand gun for the first time ever.  The smaller handguns aren't so bad but I didn't care for the bigger ones.  My all time favorite is the 22.  I also tried an AK47 rifle but that was too heavy for my weak arms to support for very long.  :)

Q: How many guns can you find in the above photo?

We are so tough!! Haha. Really though, it is a pretty intimidating photo. On the way home from shooting we stopped for dinner at the Loveless Cafe.  I had never eaten there before which is crazy because it's a pretty 'famous' Nashville attraction.  I'm pretty sure it comes up if you google "things to do in Nashville."  Now I can say I've been there.

The food was yummy and the waitress piled our plates full of homemade biscuits and then sent us home with a to-go box full of more biscuits for breakfast.  Good old Southern Hospitality!

We also went horse back riding one afternoon.  Kyle hadn't ridden a horse in a long, long time but he did really well and enjoyed it.  I'm so proud of him!

Getting ready to head out - it was really muddy thanks to all the rain!  Part of the trail was through a creek bed which was very pretty.  Sarah's in the blue.

At the end of the ride!

We also played some disc golf, did some shopping, had a girls outing to go get facials, and played some bored games.  Kyle and dad dominated at Star Wars Monopoly - with dad finally winning it all. Delsa also had a US History  board game that we played and Kyle and I won!  We are just that good of historians!  Delsa has had the game for years and we nerve would play with her - we are so mean.   It turns out history games are pretty fun!

For New Years we stayed up and shot off fireworks in the rain.  We did a lot of roman candles and some super long lasting sparklers.  TN was a lot of fun!  Happy New Year Everyone!

Since we've been home Kyle's started his 2nd semester of PT school.  This is supposed to be the most difficult semester of the whole program - he is taking 20 credits!  But he also gets to start working with real patients in the on-campus clinic.  Just this past weekend we went Cross Country Skiing at the Nordic Center here in Pocatello.  We went with Tyson and Rachel - Tyson is in the PT program with Kyle.  We all had a blast.  

It was perfect weather and the trails were very scenic and a lot of fun!

More adventures to come!