Bath Time

What is it about babies in the tub that is so darn cute? DJ loves his tub time. He kicks and splashes and is happy and content afterwards. He looks so tiny in his first bath picture. I can't believe how fast they grow!!

Bringing Home Baby

We had absolutely NOTHING for a baby when we got the call from our Fairy Godmother Chareyl that there was a baby boy on his way to us. Thanks to Wendee and B-Rock for letting us borrow a car seat to bring him home and a tote of outfits and P.J.s to get us started with. Of course, Grandma Sherrie had a ready supply of receiving blankets and burp cloths with crocheted edges. Papa Wayne had made a bassinet that has made the rounds with each new grandchild, so we had somewhere for the baby to sleep. Amanda came through with the diapers, wipes, bottles, and other various critical items, so we were relatively prepared when we headed back to the hospital the next day to pick up our little one. We had three showers planned before we even had decided on a name for our little guy, so I excercised great restraint and only picked out one outfit to bring him home in. Daddy saw some motorcycle stuff though, and he picked out two outfits of his own.


Dallyn's birth mom is a beautiful blonde with alabaster skin. We will be eternally grateful to her for making us a family.






Jared carefully loaded Dallyn into the Hummer. I don't know if anyone with a velocity addiction has ever driven so slow. The neighbors knew if that car was going that slow with Jared behind the wheel, there MUST be some pretty precious cargo on board.

Introducing Dallyn

Now that I actually have something worth blogging about, and, if I time things just right, have time to blog, I am going to attempt to be more faithful about posting. Of course, it is virtually impossible at this point to actually catch up, so here are some highlights from the past 3 months, starting with the day we met Dallyn.



Our little guy was totally alert from the get go. I just wish we could have heard what he had to say!

I was the first one to hold him. Perhaps I should have been sitting down...

Our first family photo

Christmas Traditions

Hannah Banana Marshmallow Creme

These are my cute nieces and their gingerbread houses we decorated this weekend. Every year my mom and her sisters get all of their grandkids together for this event. No parents are invited, (although this year Wendee and Sylvia found a loophole...maybe because their little ones are too little to do their own decorating) but I usually am allowed in because I am an aunt with no children of her own. I brought two of my nieces from Jared's side--Maysie and Malan.

Sylvia, Macy, Tori and my mom

This isn't one of my prouder moments, but I think Malan enjoyed herself. A few things of note in this picture: Yes, there are TWO (2) sucker sticks in her mouth; there used to be marshmallows on the roof of this house; and if you look closely, you can see the turquoise spot on her right knee. This picture was taken right before I dropped Malan back off at her house. We had done so well! Decorating, candy, and lunch at McDonald's all went smoothly without the slightest drop of spillage. However, I failed to inspect the Happy Meal toys before I opened the bags and jumped in the driver's seat to take the girls home. When we dropped Maysie off at her house, I noticed Malan's fingers were turquoise, and it didn't come off with a wet wipe. Then I saw the spot on her pants. Stumped as to where this had come from, Malan and I got back in the car to head to her house. That's when I found the culprit....the Happy Meal Toy was a self-inking stamp!!! I hope I don't lose my favorite aunt status over this one!

Hero Worship

This is Jared and Andrew, my BYU roommate Becky's son. We spent a weekend in Idaho visiting and went to a corn maze with all the kids while we were there. Andrew knows me as "the lady who made his blankey" (I crocheted around a couple of flannel blankets for Becky's twins when they were born, and even though they are now 3 years old, the blankets seem to be a permanent fixture in their lives). It takes a little bit for him to warm up to me each time I visit, but we always part buds. As you can see, he took to Jared pretty quickly. I can't say that I blame him!

The day FINALLY came!

And.... it went! Now that I am no longer in planning and survival mode, hopefully I will be a more faithful blogger than I have proven to be so far.



Jared and I were married in the Bountiful temple in an amazing ceremony performed by my great-uncle Ron Halverson on 09-09-09. (Guess what my new favorite number is!) The day went rather smoothly from my perspective...although I think Wendee, Julie, and Kelsey might have a few words to say to the contrary. A GINORMOUS thank you to the gals who saved the day and let me kick back and enjoy what was truly a memorable and wonderful day. Another huge thanks to all the family and friends who pitched in to make it fabulous, and to everyone who came to show their love and support. We are well on our way to a happily ever after!

Pictures and details to come....

Our Story

So, how did you two meet?

The short answer: Blind Date

The longer version: Jared is my friend's hairdresser's brother-in-law, and they set us up.

The whole story:

"For a single man of good fortune must be in want of a wife!" Jane Austen

Jared suspected his sister-in-law Amanda had made it her quest to find his soul mate. She is a cosmetologist and therefore has quite the network of clients to draw from. My guess is she regularly asked each one if they knew anyone to set her brother-in-law up with. Jared was a good sport, dutifully calling each number she presented him. I was number 2 on a list of 3 she gave him at the end of last year. Needless to say, #3 never got her phone call.

"Judge a tree from its fruit, not from its leaves." Euripides

I had been divorced for about 6 months when Julie first told me about Amanda's brother-in-law. I'm sorry Amanda, but the description I got wasn't very appealing. A never-before-married 33 year-old super-religious bachelor with 2 cats. My limited experience in the dating pool for the second time had taught me to be leery of never-before-married. I'm pretty religious, but super-religious? And I am deathly allergic to cats. It looked like three strikes to me, so I was out. But the seed was planted and a couple of months later, I found myself willing to give even a never-before-married 33 year-old super-religious bachelor with 2 cats a chance.

"You can't blame gravity for falling in love." Albert Einstein

Well, it wasn't love at first sight, but the first date was definitely a hit. By the end of the date, Jared had asked me out for the following weekend. We decided that Saturday would work best for both of our schedules, and then realized the following Saturday was Valentine's day! We decided to go ahead with the date with a warning from Jared for me not to expect anything romantic seeing as it was only the 2nd date. Maybe it was my low expectations, but date #2 had some definite romantic elements, and I was definitely interested. Apparently he was hooked, too because he called me the next day fishing for an invitation to come over. I bit, he came, and we were falling faster than either of us ever would have expected from a blind date.