Payson Temple

Today we had the opportunity to go to the Payson temple open house with my parents. It's seriously such a beautiful temple. I was obsessed with all the stained glass, modern furniture, and of course, the beautiful chandeliers... it was breathtaking! If you have the opportunity to go, GO. You definitely won't regret it. 

Chad took the rest of the afternoon off from work and we partied. We went to Scheel's and splurged on workout clothes, hoping it will motivate us to workout. We then went to Fashion Place mall and drooled over the Apple watch at the Apple store. Maybe one day ;)

{PS I have been taking a social media break from instagram and facebook, and let me just tell you, it has been amazing! I actually don't miss it one bit, and I haven't been tempted to get on... which is a miracle. I found myself getting obsessed with it and constantly checking it and decided I needed a break. I deactivated my facebook and deleted both apps from my phone, and it has been amazing! I don't know if/when I'll get back on, but for now, I have definitely noticed a difference in my days without it and have found I am much more productive with my time.}

Mother's Day

Chad never ceases to amaze me. I woke up to the sweetest surprise... breakfast in bed, a spotless kitchen (dishwasher was even going), beautiful flowers, and chocolate. Chad definitely knows the way to my heart! How did I get so lucky with such a perfect man?!

This is my first Mothers Day as a mother. Being a mother is seriously the best job ever. It has taught me patience, selflessness and an unconditional love. I never knew I could love being a mom so much. It seriously is the best and has brought SO much happiness into our lives. 

 Last night we were able to see Greg DeVore, Chad's uncle, who saved Duke's life (for those of you who don't know the story, you can read it here). Last time we saw him, was in California when I was 20 weeks pregnant. It was so fun to show him Duke. I could never thank Greg enough for all that he has done for us. I will be eternally grateful for our little trip to California. It truly was such a miracle.

(going in for my cerclage surgery on September 22, 2014)

(May 9, 2015)

Happy Mother's Day!!

tulip festival

I went with my mom and sister, Christine, to the tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point yesterday. I had never been to it, and I couldn't believe how beautiful it was! We walked the entire garden then ate lunch at the restaurant there. We walked through a little farmers market, and I caved and signed up for Winder Dairy (groceries are delivered to your door). Does anyone have any experience doing it? I am kind of second guessing my last minute decision... so I would love any feedback I can get!

{^PS look at Duke's arm rolls. They keep getting chubbier and chubbier. It kills me! I LOVE chubby babies!}

Just as always, it was such a fun afternoon with the ladies. I am so lucky to live seriously less than a mile from both of them! 

stalked

4 months. Private investigator. Trespassing.

What do these words have in common?

Stalked.

Because there is so much behind the story, more than I could/want to ever write down, I won't go into too much detail, but I will tell you that Chad and I were legitimately stalked by a private investigator for 4 months... with out us knowing.

Let me back up a little. We moved into Garrett's (my bother-in-law) house in December 2013. He still owns the house, we just "rent" (more like just pay utilities & insurance) from him. We consider ourselves VERY lucky to have scored such a nice house for dirt cheap. Garrett owned a company, which Chad still works for, that a competitor wanted to make some black mail against, so they decided to stalk him... or so they thought it was Garrett. Little did they know that Garrett moved out, and we had been living in the house for at least nine months when the stalking began.

Our house is close to a church, which our bathroom window looks out onto the parking lot. In September, when I was also placed on bed rest, we started noticing a car parked in the church parking lot at odd times during the day. The car has super dark tint, and would be parked perpendicular to a stall. We didn't worry about it and just forgot about it.

Garrett sold the company in January, and after a series of events, we got the news we were stalked. Apparently, the private investigator would sit in the church parking lot and watch our house all day. He knew exactly what time we left our house, what time Chad came home for lunch, and our daily schedule. Oh, and since I was on bed rest, the investigator assumed Chad was a bachelor, since I rarely left the house.

To get a better view of our daily routine, the private investigator would park in front of our house to get a better view, which I was absolutely clueless to since I was restrained to laying down all day. Not only was he parked on our property, he would trespass onto our yard and go through our garbage cans.

What are the chances that this all went down during the same time that I was on bed rest? It's really creepy to think that I was home alone all day while these investigators were creepin' on us and our property. 

We found out about all of this when Duke was just a couple weeks old. We listened to a recording of the investigator talking about it at a meeting with Garrett. Although he wasn't out to get us, and truly thought that Garrett still lived in the house, it's still such an eery feeling to know you're being watched.

Days after we received the news, we noticed that the stalker car was still parked in the church parking lot. Chad drove by to try and see the person, but the tint was too dark. He wrote down the license plate number and came home and called the police and told them the situation (it was especially scary to me now that we had this newborn at home!) The police said in order for a private investigator to investigate someone, they need to approve it through the police, which they hadn't done, which made it even more sketchy. As soon as Chad started reading the car's make, model and license plate number to the police, the car zoomed away (we were watching from our house). Which made us think that our house was bugged. What are the chances he would speed away right as he is giving away his car info? Coincidence or not, it was freaky.

After dealing with the police a couple more times, the stalking finally came to an end (or so we hope). It is something I never thought would never happen to us, but it has definitely made me more aware of my surroundings. Plus, it has made a pretty cool story ;)

Kaitlyn's Baptism

We made a quick little road trip up to Kimberly, ID this weekend to see our niece, Kaitlyn, be baptized. It was a short, but sweet getaway, and it was so great to spend it with family!

 ladies... he's single!

Duke's little outfit kills me! I'm just slightly obsessed with it ;)

Lunch Dates

My sister, Amy, has been in town from Colorado, so we have definitely been taking advantage of it. This week has consisted of a lot of shopping, lunch dates, and picnics at the park. We have enjoyed every minute of it! If only she would move out here then we could do it everyday ;) Today we picked up lunch at Costa Vida and enjoyed the afternoon in this 70 degree weather at Bonneville Park. Duke was loving every minute taking his nap sprawled out in the shade on the grass.