Our year so far...

January
This month held the first big event to start out the year, the baby shower. My sister and my mom did a great job on planning the event. We played several games, caught up on every one's lives, and enjoyed great food. The diaper cake that Paul's sister, DC, made was beautiful. It was a great chance to see family and friends again. I was very excited and grateful that so many friends traveled so far to come.
February
On Super Bowl Sunday, our son Maddox was born. He was 9.5 lbs and 22 1/2 in long. I was in labor for four days and it was absolutely horrible! I was stuck at 4 ce and my doctor didn't want to admit me until I reached at least 5 ce. They tried scraping my cervix twice to get me to progress, it didn't work. We tried Castor oil, it also didn't work and made me sick- I don't recommend ever doing it. We also went to the fitness gym and walked several times around the track, it also didn't work. Well, after the fourth day of labor I had had it! I went to the emergency room and the doctor broke my water. The nurses tried several times to get an i.v. in and failed and ended up blowing my veins in both of my hands. So they had to call down the helicopter medic to finally put one in my arm. Things finally started to progress, labor pains got way worse and after four days of already going through them I got an epidural. It was wonderful!! I fell asleep for a little while, having gone four days without sleep, before the doctor woke me up to start pushing. Pushing took a while and it was quite scary. His heart rate kept falling and when he finally came out he was blue and wasn't breathing. So the doctor didn't lay him on my stomach and Paul did not get to cut the cord. Instead they rushed him over to the nurses where they started working on him and finally he started screaming. The reason why this all happened is because my doctor was extremely wrong on estimating the weight of my son and they should have induced me early or around the time he was actually due. I will never go to Portneuf again. Anyway, after all that was said and done, the greatest experience was finally getting to hold my son!! He was beautiful and it was one of the happiest moments of our lives.
March
This month my brother Enoch returned from his mission in Mississippi. We are so proud of him!! It was a wonderful day!! Our whole family was there along with my Aunt Chalae, Uncle Rick, and Cousin Elora. We made a sign and had my niece Aisley hold it up for when he came through the gate. It was so exciting and scary at the same time, not being able to see him for two years. He looked great and of course all of us cried, even my dad.
April
In the beginning of April, Enoch gave his talk in church and it was wonderful and very moving. He had a lot of spiritual experiences and they were wonderful to hear about!
The following second Sunday we had Maddox's baby blessing and a barbecue right after for family and friends. I was extremely nervous for Paul, being that he is a convert and has never done anything like that before, but he did a great job and I couldn't have asked for anything better.
We also traded in Paul's Land Rover(gas guzzler) for a new Honda Accord, way better on gas.
May
On May 3rd Paul and I celebrated our 1st Wedding Anniversary!! We were married on the 5th, but celebrated on the 3rd because the 5th was a Monday and we both had to work. We were married in the Salt Lake City Temple, so we traveled back down to Salt Lake to celebrate and visit Paul's family. Paul's parents came with us to watch Maddox at Paul's sister's home and to give us an evening to ourselves. Thank goodness for great family! For the evening, Paul and I got dressed up and went too dinner at the Melting Pot. It was very good and a lot of fun. It is kind of pricey, but I would definitely recommend it. After dinner Paul and I went to the same hotel that we spent the night of our honeymoon, The Anniversary Inn. We stayed in the Phantom of the Opera suite. We tried to stay in the same room that we stayed for our honeymoon, but it was already taken. It was nice and a great chance for us to relax. I was not very good at the relaxing part because it was the first night away from our son and I had Paul call his parents a lot to check on him. It was a great Anniversary ,though, and I am very blessed to get to spend my life with such a great husband!
The following day Paul and I meet up with his family to spend a fun day at the Hogle Zoo. It was Maddox's first time going to a zoo. I doubt he will remember it being that he was only 3 months old, but it was exciting for us. The zoo was great. It started out being a hot day, but then towards the end started to get cloudy and sprinkle a little.
Later in May, my parents, Enoch, Maddox, and I made a trip to Arizona to visit family and go to some graduations. We stayed with my grandma Brimhall in Mesa and visited family in Tuscon and Scottsdale. It was a lot of fun and though the drive was quite long, it was well worth it.
June
In June I celebrated my birthday. I would rather not celebrate my birthdays anymore, but my husband refuses to let me do so. He definitely made it a nice day. We went out to eat and saw a movie and just spent time together as a family.
July
The fourth of July was a fun family day!! My brother Enoch came down from Boise with his girlfriend to spend the day with everyone. My Mom and Dad unfortunately couldn't come. My Mom was in Arizona to take care of my grandma, who just had surgery, and my Dad had to work. We started out the day going to Fort Hall to buy fireworks. We then went over to my brother Jess's home to have a barbecue with him and his family, Rachael, and Enoch and his girlfriend. When it started to get dark we then lit off the fireworks that we bought and then after that we went to the Highland Golf Course to lay out on blankets and watch the big fireworks being fired off at the fairgrounds.
Two days later we made an abrupt trip to Arizona to see my grandma. My grandmother went in for surgery to remove a blockage in her stomach, which was supposed to be a really easy surgery that she should have recovered from. Well, the hospital released her too soon, so that they could open a room up, and the same day she was released the staples in her stomach opened and leaked bile into her body causing a huge infection. My mom was there, along with my uncle, for when she was released to help take care of her and found her in her room unresponsive, going into shock. They pushed the button on the emergency box in her room and nothing happened- it wasn't working right. 911 was called and they rushed her to the hospital and she was put on life support. We left Sunday for Arizona and arrived Monday morning. We got to tell her we love her, give her kisses, and say our goodbyes. Which was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do! Later that evening she was taken off of life support. The next morning she was transported to hospice and she passed away that afternoon with her sister and my mother by her bedside. I know she is in a better place with family, friends, and the love of her life.We will miss her so much and we loved her more than anything. She was a great grandmother and we have a lot of fun memories of her that we will cherish.
The next day, Wednesday, we left for home. My aunts and uncles decided not to have the funeral till the next weekend, so that family could arrive from Georgia, Washington, etc.. The following Wednesday we made the last trip to Arizona for the funeral, driving all night and arriving Thursday morning. That evening was the viewing at the funeral home. The next day was the funeral at the Stake Center. It was good to hear all the stories about my grandma and all that she had accomplished. Towards the end, all of us grand kids had to get up and sing a primary song. It was nice, but I don't thing we sounded very good. After the funeral and the luncheon, we all made the 3 1/2 hour drive from Mesa to Snowflake/Taylor to bury my grandmother.
The next day we made the trip back home, this time taking it slow and seeing the sites. It was Paul, Rachael, Enoch, Maddox and I in our car. Jess, Lyndsay, Jaxx, and Aisley in the other and my dad in the truck hauling stuff from my grandma's home. We had an enjoyable time stopping at this huge cave in a mountain side, going to the Coral Sand Dunes, and rocking out in the car to Queen. Jess and his family spent most of their time at the north rim of the Grand Canyon.
We arrived back home on Paul's birthday, Monday. We had plans to go to Lagoon the weekend before to celebrate, but obviously the plans had to be changed. Instead we relaxed most of the day and then went to a movie and out to eat with his parents. He is such a good man.
August
This month Paul and I went on our yearly camping trip to Stone Reservoir with Paul's family. We camped for 4 days and 3 nights. It was great fun and Maddox's first time camping. We went tubing, fishing, swimming, played volleyball, and just had a great time. I can't wait till next year when we do it again.
September
This month we went to the Eastern Idaho State Fair in Blackfoot. My parents and brother came down from Boise to go with. The whole family: Mom, Dad, Jess, Lyndsay, Aisley, Jaxx, Rachael, Enoch, Paul, Maddox, and I first went to Perkins for brunch and then everyone met at the fair grounds afterwards. It was a rainy and cold day, but was still quite enjoyable. We went around and saw all the exhibits, ate lots of fair food, and the guys went on a few rides.

Well I guess that is the just of our year so far. It has been happy, tough, sad, and wonderful all at the same time. I can't wait to see what the rest of the year will bring. Here are a lot of photos of some of the year's events...