Dan, Janica & Colton

2 Months

2012-01-19T14:56:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe Colton is already 2 months! It's crazy to think he wasn't supposed to be here till now. We are so grateful for him each and everyday. Colton now weighs 8lbs 8oz...he is HUGE, he has almost doubled his birth weight. He is very alert when he is awake, he likes to follow things with his eyes, he loves looking at lights and likes his tummy time so he can work on his strong neck muscles. We are absolutely in LOVE with him!

Colton

2012-01-11T13:44:00.001-07:00

Colton is such a good baby, he pretty much only cries when he is hungry. He sticks to his eating schedule and eats every 3 hours. Some of his favorite things are his binky, bouncer and swaddle blanket. He is so noisy when sleeping, he moans and groans all night. He loves to be held and likes listening to music while falling asleep. He likes to lay on his stomach and stretch his neck. He makes us laugh all the time with his funny faces. We are so grateful for him and the joy he brings to our family.

Big boy bed

Colton's first smile

Our first family picture

Colton's first Thanks Giving

First time wearing clothes

Hearing test

Going home!

First doctors appointment

One month old

First bath at home

Pregnancy

2012-01-11T12:38:00.000-07:00

I am so grateful for Colton and love him more then anything but to be completely honest I didn't like one thing about being pregnant, mostly because I was so sick and threw up every day/all day for 7 months.

A few facts about my pregnancy:

*Had to quit my job when I was 6 weeks pregnant because I was so sick

*My sweet neighbor was a lifesaver and would come do my dishes because they made me so sick

*My AMAZING husband was so supportive and took such good care of me

*My Zofran didn't seem to help

*I loved the smell chalk and wood

*I retained incredible amounts of water

*I probably put on make up/did my hair a grand total of 5 times in 7 months

*I went to bed every night at 8pm, sometimes I would try to go to bed at 7pm and Dan would make me stay up till 8pm

*Smells were so awful, one of the worst smells was our new carpet

*I had a huge fear of throwing up before I got pregnant, now I would consider myself a pro but I still hate it

*We were told Colton was a girl, 2 weeks later we found out he was a boy

*My favorite food was McDonalds french fries, I ate them at least once a day...I haven't had them since

*The first thing I would consider before eating something was how it would come back up

*I kept our house at 62 degrees, poor Dan was always freezing

30 Weeks!

My last picture pregnant, I delivered 2 weeks later at 32 weeks.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

Colton is our little miracle, we are so lucky he was able to join us for Christmas!

Santa stopped by our house, he spoiled Colton

Merry Christmas

We spent Christmas Eve at my Moms

Colton's cousins absolutely adore him, they can't

wait for the day they can hold him and play with him

Since Colton was born so early he inst supposed to be around kids so all the girls have to wear a mask and wash their hands good.

Kira and Colton

Kaelyn and Colton

Jada and Colton

Kelsie and Colton

Maya and Colton

The girls helped Colton open all his presents

They were so excited for him

Grandma gives the all the grandkids blankets and PJ's for Christmas

We headed up to Dan's parents Christmas morning

Colton and Lily- Only 3 weeks apart

We spent Christmas afternoon at my Dads

Colton is all ready for hunting season!

The past 7 months

2012-01-02T07:59:00.000-07:00

We slowed down a lot when I got pregnant and became so sick. Here is the handful of things that we actually made it to.

Dan ran the dirty dash with a bunch of neighbors and then we stayed the night at homestead in Midway.

I went to Lake Powell with my Mom, Steve, Brant and his family we had a blast!

I was able to go to my Dads cabin a few times this summer

One of my favorite things to do at his cabin is check the tree cams that Brant has set up, I love to see what animals have been there.

We also made a few trips to Dan's parents cabin in Yellowstone

Tasha and Nikki threw me a wonderful "she is about to POP" shower!

Colton's Birth Announcement

2011-12-31T19:23:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas

2011-12-15T17:29:00.000-07:00

Colton Dworshak

2011-11-29T18:25:00.001-07:00

Colton Daniel Dworshak

Nov. 16, 2011

4lbs 6oz

17 3/4 in long

Dear God, as you look down upon us,

We know that you might have to squint.

We're located here in the NICU

It's the nursery that we rent.

There are many alarms and sirens,

Connected to condos and flats.

The nurses tape our booties on,

And dress us in funny hats.

We have a lot in common;

All of us were in a hurry.

For many different reasons,

Our storks came a little early.

Some of us don't know why,

We bursted out from our bubbles.

We entered into this world,

Never meaning to cause any troubles.

Mommy and Daddy are worried sick

About the odds that we must beat.

Please God, help them to realize,

That seeing us grow is a treat.

Breath by breath, we'll learn to breathe.

Ounce by ounce we'll tip the scale.

We're like a boat in the ocean,

That knows not sink- only sail.

For we are living miracles,

Mommy and Daddy must simply believe,

That you have angels watching over us;

From the time we arrive, till the time we leave

BAB*Y

2011-06-08T10:34:00.000-06:00

We are so excited to announce that Baby Dworshak will be here in January!

The doctor called and told me the news, Dan was still at work so I had this waiting for him when he got home.

This is how we told our parents, each had a poem on the back relating to the number of grand kids they would soon have. (apparently I can't count because this will be my Dads 13th, not 11th.... oops, I blame it on the pregnancy)

This is how we told our siblings, it was fun to see everyones reactions!

My due date is January 8th which puts me at 9 weeks. We ended up telling our family really early at about 5 weeks because I have been so sick but we are hoping it passes soon!

China 2011

2011-04-02T20:08:00.001-06:00

I have to start out with saying I spent like 2 hours working on this post and then I went to publish it and all the pictures were gone...yah I was pretty mad so this is my second try and it better work! I took 2284 pictures (to be exact) and over 10 hours of video so I am warning you this might be a long post.

We just got back from our two week trip to China and all I can say is WOW, what an amazing trip! We
started the trip off in Hong Kong where we spent 3 days playing and 3 days working before heading to Beijing for 6 days of sightseeing and shopping!

The trip started out with a VERY long flight to Hong Kong, the longest we have been on so far, 15 straight hours from San Francisco...YIKES! We checked into our hotel in Hong Kong and we were shocked to see the size of the room. It was two twin size beds with a tiny little walk way to the bathroom, smaller than the hotels in New York. (side note...when Dan booked the rooms on Travelocity it showed pictures of a different hotel that he had stayed at before, so we thought we were staying in a great hotel but that's the fun of traveling, you never know what you are going to get)

The first day in Hong Kong we went to Victoria Peak, it is on the top of the mountain where you can look out over Hong Kong City and across Victoria Harbour to Kowloon. The weather wasn't great as there were some low hanging clouds, but at least it didn't rain!

These super cute little boys were learning English, so they asked us questions about what we were doing in Hong Kong for their homework.

We bought this painting thinking the guy had hand painted it.....only to find it later that night for about half the price at the night market being mass produced.

This is the group we traveled with, you will see them in lots of pictures.

Kendall is our boss' daughter, Jodi is our boss' wife, Brad is Jodi's son and Nick is our brother-in-law.

After the Peak we headed to Stanley Market to do a little shopping

We enjoyed lunch on the South China Sea....that's the other side of the Pacific Ocean!

We took the ferry over to Kowloon

Looking back at the Hong Kong skyline

The guys wanted to get suits made so we went back to our friend that made ours last year......a must do if you are ever in HK....they are super cheap and really good quality

The streets of Kowloon

Shopping at the ladies market

The next day was a little rainy and we spent most the day walking around the city and seeing temples

Times Square -- Hong Kong

We have never seen the view from Victoria Peak at night so we made it a priority this trip to make it there after dark. By the way, the view is AMAZING at night!

That night we moved hotels so we could be closer to the convention, our hotel room was much better.

We woke up early so we could go to Giant Buddha

Now it was time to work for a few days

We hired back our friend Isabelle who worked for us last year and Dan had stayed in contact with...it was great to see her again and she brought along her friend Yvonne for some extra help!

Who says we can't have a little fun while working?

Nick's new girlfriend....(who knew he had a thing for Japanese techno-girls?????)

This carbonated apple drink was AMAZING!

The guy that made the boy's suits dropped them off at our hotel on the last night

After 3 1/2 LONG day's of work we decided we needed a vacation so it was off to Beijing! Dan had been there before during his graduate program and really liked it so we knew we were in for the adventure of a lifetime!!! Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Silk Market (shopping!!!) here we come!!

Beijing was so incredible, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be able to visit such an incredible place. The trip started out with extreme culture shock, I found myself saying many times that all I wanted to do was go home. I had a hard time being there, but I am so glad I was able to go; it opened my eyes to a whole new culture!

Our ride from the airport

We went straight to our hotel and they wouldn’t let us check in because it was too early. We decided no problem we will just go walk around for a few hours and come back. Well, when we got back to the hotel they said there was a problem and they didn’t have any rooms for us to stay in. (remember this happened last year in Hong Kong?) We thought, oh great here we go again, we had to move to a different hotel which sucked, but as it turns out they like to give you lots of extras when they have to move you!

Yes this is Dan eating scorpion...GROSS! Beijing is famous for there exotic foods night market, Donghuamen, which has all sorts of exotic (read disgusting) food to try including, spider, snake, scorpion, beetles, seahorses, silkworm, ostrich....well you get the point.

The next day we met up with our tour guide, Catherine Lu, to experience the city. Our first stop was Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.

This is us with Catherine looking over the Forbidden City.

It was freezing cold and I didn't have a coat, my sweet husband let me wear his the whole day.

Tiananmen Square

The next pictures are from the Forbidden City, they all kind of look alike because there are 6 different temples inside the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City is where the emperors of China lived until the Republic of China was formed in 1911.

The entrance to the Forbidden City with Chairman Mao's picture hanging over it....he is considered a national hero and was the first leader of the Communist Party in China, coming to power in 1949.

We hiked to the top to get a better view

Dan and I pretending to be the emperor/empress!

After lunch we went to the Hutongs. The Hutongs are in the old part of Beijing which was really neat to see, some families have lived in the same houses for centuries. We also learned some of the symbolism in Chinese architecture and the meanings behind colors.

This was one of my favorite parts, I loved seeing how they live day in and day out.

These guys were pedicab operators who were playing games on the side of the road, Pedicabs are the only way to get around the Hutongs since they were built centuries ago and the streets are only wide enough to fit horses through.

Day Two took us out to two different sections of the Great Wall of China! The experience of a lifetime! The first section we visited was the Mutianyu section. It was a little further out of Beijing than Badaling, the most restored and visited section, but was worth the extra trip since there were far less tourists.

The tram on the way to the Great Wall

FINALLY- We made it to the Great Wall!

I had to take a picture to put on the handstands around the world at work...don't let the picture fool you, Dan and Jodi lifted my legs and leaned me against the wall.

We spent hours hiking the wall, if you look above Dan's head there are some Chinese letters and we hiked past the letters. We are guessing it was 4 or 5 miles and it was mostly straight up but it was worth the hike...the further you get from the start the less restored it becomes, so you get to see exactly how it was when it was built centuries ago!

Dan and Nick standing in one of the guard towers....the guards would have to stay in the towers for 2-3 days at a time to watch for any invaders that might be coming.

This was the steepest section that we hiked. It felt like we were going straight up. It's amazing they were able to build such an enormous project.

Dan acting like he was taking some of the Great Wall

This part of the wall was near the top of the mountain, probably our favorite parts, because not many tourists make it up there and it hasn't been restored. You can see the trees growing right out of the middle of the walk way.

This is the 2nd part of the Great Wall that we visited, Huanghuacheng, another one of our favorite parts because no tourists really visit this part. We had to pay a farmer 2 Yuan (like .25 cents US) to cross his property to get to the wall.

Dan asked Catherine if he could take some of the wall and she told him as long as she didn't see it. Here's Dan joking around with her making it seem like she was taking it.

The next day we went to the Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven and the Acrobat show

The Summer Palace is where the emperor and his family would go to escape the Beijing heat during the summer months.

Eating lunch- Everyone but me had the Peking Duck so they could try some more local delicacies. They served the duck with its head still on-GROSS!

Temple of Heaven

We went to see the Chaoyang Acrobat Show- it was spectacular! Some of the stunts that they do are absolutely jaw-dropping! I'll post some video later!

The last day we went to the Capital Museum, Lama Temple and 798 art district

Capital Museum

Lama Temple

798

This was one of our friends at the Pearl Market, she was so funny! The Pearl Market and Silk Markets are must do's if you enjoy shopping!

Another friend from the Pearl Market, I wanted to buy some shoes from her and everyone was waiting for us so I didn't have time to for her to find my size. As we were leaving she came running down 3 flights of stairs and into the parking lot to sell me the shoes.

I will post some more pictures and video later once I have done some more editing!

Looking back at 2010

2011-01-08T09:12:00.001-07:00

The older I get the faster each year goes by, I can't believe we are already into 2011.

Here is a quick look back at 2010...

Dan started the year off back in Malaysia. This time he took Jamon with him!

Then he went off to Mexico City

We went to Texas....seriously think we could move there

We spent a few days in Vegas

Then to Hong Kong...we are going back in March, we can't wait!

We spent a few days in New York on our way to.....

Boston.....where we spent a few days with our friend Cody on our way to.......

Quebec City, Quebec on our way back down to.....

Maine!!! It was quite the trip!

Spent some time at home on the 4-wheelers and lots of weekends hunting

Spent lots of time in Yellowstone

and a few weekends at my Dad's cabin on Diamond Mountain

We got a new neice, Maya Bell;

that makes 6 under the age of 6

We spent lots of time with family

and some more family time

My Dad retired

We celebrated our 2nd anniversay

and my 24th birthday...so old!

Last but not least we spent 8 days in Hawaii!!!

Looking forward to 2011

Christmas 2010

2010-12-29T17:19:00.000-07:00

Once again we had a wonderful Christmas! We spent Christmas Eve with my Mom and split Christmas day with my Dad and Dans parents. I was a slacker on getting pictures this year.

Trying to get Dan to take a picture is always a hassle...

...but I always win!

My mom made all the girls aprons and gave them cooking supplies

I am not sure if its a bigger hassle to get Dan in a picture, or to get all six 6 girls, either way I managed to do both this Christmas!

They also got new blankets and PJ's

Here are the girls at my Dad's house playing with their new toys

A few random pictures

And last but not least sweet little Grant playing with his new toys

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and enjoyed spending time with family and friends!

Hardware Ranch

2010-12-24T09:58:00.000-07:00

We headed up to Logan for the day and stopped at Hardware Ranch, its one of my favorite things to do in the winter. I love seeing all the elk, the horse drawn sleigh rides and being able to get so close to them! Its one of the only things I will brave the cold for!

I can't believe my husband likes to shoot these...so sad!

After Hardware Ranch we did a little shopping and we met up with the rest of the family for dinner and to see the Pickleville Playhouse production of Santa's Elves. My mom takes us every year to see the play and everyone just LOVES it!

We even got to see Santa!

Dan really wanted an "ugly Christmas sweater" since you can't find them anywhere I decided to make him one and I didn't stop there, I made sure we all had them to wear to the Hill Christmas party. Nikki and Tasha are wearing my Moms old sweaters and I made Dan's, Brant's and mine! Jamon wasn't able to make it but I have one in mind for him! :)

We always perform the nativity at my Grandparents, here are some cute angles and wise men!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-16T11:50:00.004-07:00

It feels like Christmas has snuck up on us this year but I think we are finally ready and still have 9 days to spare! Okay truth be told...I had my tree up before Thanksgiving but only because Dan was leaving Thanksgiving night and I needed his help. Having a split family keeps us extremly busy over the holidays but we are ready to take on the next few holiday partys and enjoy the season!

Here is our Christmas card, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

(Yes the rainbow is 100% real, we keep getting asked if we photoshopped it in)

My boss took us a to a Jazz game in a suite the other day-definetly the way to go for Jazz games, we had a blast!

My boss and I

And last, but not least, guess who turned one? We celebrated Grants 1st birthday this month. I am pretty sure he enjoyed his cake!

Rockettes/festival of tree's

2010-12-03T09:19:00.001-07:00

My mom took us to see the Rockettes, they were amazing! Thanks Mom!

This makes me laugh...what the heck are they doing?

We went to see the girls dance at the Festival of Tree's, they definitely rocked it!

Hawaii 2010

2010-11-14T18:35:00.002-07:00

Hawaii 2010
*Beware - this is going to be a long post, I took about 1300 pictures*

We planned a family trip to Hawaii about 6 months ago, it felt like it was never going to come and now it's hard to believe it's over. We spent a week in Oahu and stayed busy but also enjoyed some relaxing days at the beach.

Tasha and I waiting at the airport

We visited the Dole plantation on our first day, if you ever go there don't pay $8 dollars to go on the train ride!

We went to the beach after the Dole Plantation

Tasha and I decided to lay down by our Hawaii sign, to our surprise we got a little wet.

After the beach we hiked up to Waimea falls, it was one of our favorite parts of the trip. The pictures don't do it justice, it was so BEAUTIFUL!

The 2nd day we hiked to Diamond Head, (an old volcano), it had a wonderful view of the city.

Our cousin Natalia is going to school at BYU Hawaii, we spent the afternoon with her and her grandparents that were also in Hawaii visiting her.

Dan and Jamon
Looking good!

The 3rd day we spent at North Shore, we had a great time snorkeling, watching the huge waves and enjoying the BEST shaved ice ever!

This was at Sharks cove, a great place to go snorkeling!

This was the last beach we stopped at on the North Shore, they said the waves were about 6 feet with a 10-12 foot swell, it was amazing to watch them come in and crash into the beach.

We also lucked out with this beautiful rainbow!

The 4th day we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center, a must do if you are ever in Hawaii!

This is Don, a friend of Jamon's parents who lives in Hawaii. He helped us with stuff to do and hooked us up with a few great deals. Don used to work at the Polynesian center back in his 20's, he has lots of great stories.

Dan got called up on stage in Tahiti to dance with the Tahitian's, who know he had such great dance moves! I will have to post the video of it.

On the 5th day we took a helicopter ride, it was alot of fun to see the city from a different angle.

View of Ohau from the helicopter

After the helicopter we headed to Hanauma Bay, everyone had a great time snorkeling with the the turtles and beautfiul fish.

The 6th day we decided to head back up to North Shore and check out the Polynesian Center a little more (we didn't make it through all in one day)

The boys beating themselves up on the boogie boards at the North Shore

More Polynesian Center

Back to the North Shore
Dan entertained us for hours while letting the waves crash him around, he was getting video of the waves when one wave knocked the video camera out of his hand, I wish I had a picture of look on his face when he realized it was no longer in his hands, lucky for him it had just washed it up on the beach. (Brant let us take his GoPro so that would have been a pricey mistake for us)

Dan thought it would be cool to get a picture in front of the huge waves, I was trying to get away before it slammed into us but he had a good hold on me... I got a little wet.

but Dan got the picture he wanted.

The sun had been setting really early all week and we were never around to see it set, on the last night there we decided to make it a point to watch the sunset on the beach.

The 7th day we went to Pearl Harbor

A few random/funny pictures...

Tasha and I cooking
Everyone needed to "hurry and take a picture" since this apparently doesn't happen to often!

This was the last picture we took at the airport on our way home, we all look happy but we were sad to leave.

Now time to get ready for the HOLIDAYS!

Girls Donunts

2010-10-30T20:01:00.000-06:00

Boys-Donuts

2010-10-30T18:48:00.001-06:00

Halloween/B-day

2010-10-30T18:27:00.000-06:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

We had our families over for our annual halloween party, we mixed it up a little this year with a costume party and games. We started off with a yummy lunch followed by; pin the broom on the witch, donut chomp and apple bobbing. Thanks for coming, we had a great time! (I have some good videos of the donut chomp but I am still working on getting them uploaded.)

Bell Family

Mom and Steve

Mary Ellen and Clint

Garrick Family

Beckstrand Family

Jan and Dan

Pin the broom on the witch

The girls with their prizes

Jamon, Brant, Nick and Dan playing the donut game

Bonnie, Nikki, Tasha, Kaelyn and Jada playing the donut game

We were running low on donuts so the parents had to play in couples...it was pretty funny.

Apple bobbing

Brant and Jamon

Clint and Dan

Kelsie and Kira

Jada and Kaelyn

All our cute nieces; and nephew!

I celebrated my 24th birthday on Friday....I feel pretty old!

Dan took me to dinner and to see Thriller (AWESOME) at Kingsbury Hall, we had a blast!

Oktoberfest

2010-09-28T18:36:00.000-06:00

Oktoberfest - yes its spelled with a "K"

A few weeks ago Dan went hunting so I tagged along with my Dad and Grandpa up to the cabin. It was a really short trip but you can never turn down a trip to the cabin.

Family Pictures 2010

2010-09-20T18:05:00.000-06:00

Grandma White

2010-09-13T14:49:00.000-06:00

Grandma White passed away Friday morning, we feel so blessed that we were able to have her around for so long and we cherish the time we were able to spend with her!

We LOVE you and MISS you Grandma!

2 Years!

2010-09-10T08:55:00.001-06:00

I can't believe we have been married for 2 years, although everyone thinks it been longer since we dated for 4 years before getting married.

If you were wondering how we spent our anniversary, we spent it camping/hunting. I have been asking myself over and over why in the world I would pick September 5th to get married, I had 365 days to choose from and I chose to get married in the middle of hunting season. In fact I am kind of surprised that I was able to get Dan and Brant to the wedding. September 5th, 2010 seemed to be lucky for Brant because he got his first bull elk! Which means I spent the night back at camp with Diana till 1 in the morning waiting for the guys to get back. (I like to think I am a pretty good wife)

Okay I seriously have problems with taking pictures while camping, must have something to do with the fact that we are usally dressed in camo sneaking around the woods, but here is the one and only picture I took.

Grant's Baptism

2010-08-23T18:49:00.000-06:00

We are so honored and excited to be Grant's Godparents!
Here are a few pictures from his baptism day.

Garrick Family

Just Married

2010-08-17T10:14:00.001-06:00

Aubrey & Josh have been dating for 7 years and finally got married on August 13th, I am so excited for them to start this new adventure in their lives! A little background on Aubrey and I…the two of us grew up right across the street from each other; we have been friends for over 18 years. I know I wouldn’t be where I am today without Aubrey’s help. I love her to death and I am so excited for her and Josh!!

Yes she is going to hate me for posting this but oh well!

Her flowers were so pretty!

Aubrey and her parents

She is so beautiful!

They were both so excited to smash the cake in each others face...I LOVE IT!

Congratulations Aubrey & Josh!

Yellowstone

We took our last trip this summer up to Yellowstone. Hunting season starts this weekend so our summer has pretty much come to an end. I can't believe how fast this summer flew by!

We spent all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday fishing...Dan was in heaven.

While Dan was fishing I was trying to figure out some new things on my camera.

Dan-doing what he does best

Yah! He caught a few fish but this is the only one I got a picture of.

Weekend at Home!

2010-08-12T14:27:00.004-06:00

This was our first weekend at home in a few weeks, but that didn't stop us from having fun! Saturday we went to the Zoo with Bonnie, Nick and Grant and had a great time! Later that night we went to a Bee's game with our next door neighbors, the Giddings, (I forgot to take my camera to the Bee's game) and Sunday we had Maya's blessing.

Maya Bell

She is such a doll!

Bell Family

The Zoo

You are never too old to get a picture by the gorilla.

Dan and Grant taking a ride on the train...so cute!

Bonnie and I riding the carousel

Diamond Mountain

2010-08-06T09:49:00.001-06:00

We spent the past weekend at my Dad's cabin on Diamond Mountain, it was a short trip but we had a great time!

We rode the four wheelers over to the Green River

Group picture (minus Tasha, Maya, Kira and Kelsie)

Jamon caught this snake...gross!

My six year old nieces convinced me to hold the snake...this is how I felt about it

The boy's....

...trying to find some of these

My Dad gave the girls snakes to play with

Going for a hike

Dan shooting his gun

WATCH OUT!

My Dad taught the girls how to ride his small four wheeler, they were having the time of their lifes.

There is always lot's of wildlife on Diamond Mountain, this baby deer couldn't get over the fence, we watched him for about 10 minutes and felt so bad. Dan was about to catch him and lift him over when he finally jumped and made it, I hope he found his mom!

Found this cute birds nest on our aunt's cabin that is still being built

We can always count on Brant to do something stupid......he brought his remote control airplane and was flying it over the cows, the cows started to get pissed at the airplane, then Brant crashed it, the cows all ran towards it ready to stomp it. I have never seen Brant jump a fence and run down a hill so fast trying to save his airplane. We later hooked a video camera to the plane and flew by the cows again, I will have to get the videos from Brant.

Fun Fest 2010

2010-07-27T19:56:00.001-06:00

We took my family up to Dworshak's Yellowstone cabin for a few days, having 6 little girls under the age of 6 kept us busy but we had a great time! We spent some time inside Yellowstone Park, four wheeling, fishing, floating the river, hiking, and playing games.

The girls playing pin the tail on the bear

Dan caught this fish for us to eat...NASTY!

We played some minute to win it games

The girls wanted to go watch their Dad's fish

Boys will be boys...Brant, Jamon and Dan having a water fight

We spent lots of time four wheeling

Dan caught this frog one night, the girls loved playing with him

Everyone but Tasha and Maya

Kira at old faithfull

Love this picture of Jada and Kira

Kelsie or Kira?? I never thought they looked alike until I saw this picture

Jada and Kaelyn ready to hit the river

Sweet little Kirsten...before she cut her head open, poor girl!

Kelsie and I after floating the river

Baby Maya...she is getting so big!

Hiking behind the cabin

Feeding baby Maya while the others were checking out Yellowstone

Brant & Nikki's car.... do you think they packed enough for 3 days?

Playing Jamon's favorite game

The girls working on a project

Kira and Kelsie thought they were so funny playing in Maya's car seat

****Brant smiling and cooking, I have never seen this happen in the 24 years that I have known him***

Family Pictures

2010-06-17T16:15:00.000-06:00

Matt Draper did our pictures for us, he is amazing!

Thanks again Matt, we love them!

http://mdraperphotography.blogspot.com/

Yellowstone

2010-06-16T09:50:00.000-06:00

We took a weekend getaway up to Yellowstone, we were lucky enough to have Brant and Kirsten tag along! It was a short trip but it's always nice to get out of the city. My favorite part about Yellowstone is the wildlife, I spend hours and hours in the car trying to find BEARS (my other favorite) so as soon as we got there I convinced Brant to take a drive with me, and we found tons of Elk and 2 moose! Saturday morning the boys went fishing, Dan was excited to teach Brant how to fly fish; the fishing must have been good because they all caught a few fish! Kirsten and I went into the park to find some animals but we didn’t have very good luck. Later that night, we went for another drive and found 3 big horn sheep right off the side of the road, we had a great time watching them! Sunday morning we decided to take the upper loop in the park and we sure did get lucky…we saw a grizzly bear, black bear cub and a few bull elk. Even though we spent about 20 hours in the car (poor Kirsten) we had a great time! We LOVE the time we get to spend in Yellowstone and we looking forward to our other trips we have planned up there this summer!

Brant got a new lens for his camera so I left most of the picture taking up to him but here are a few pictures I took over the weekend.

Enjoying the nice weather

2010-06-07T18:41:00.000-06:00

We enjoyed the nice weather by doing some more 4-wheeling.

We went the Liberty Park with the Bell's!

Jada and Kira thought it would be fun to feed the ducks from a paddle boat, Tasha and I figured it would be a good work out.

Dan and Kira

Dan brought Sadie, the girls couldn't get enough of her!

Dad's retirement

2010-06-07T18:23:00.000-06:00

My Dad retired last week after 24 years of service to the NSL police department. It was sad to see him end that chapter in his life but we are looking forward to spending more time with him! Here are a few pictures from after his party.

I have a picture just like this from when I was 9 months old, I am so glad I got one more with him in his uniform before he retired.

Hong Kong!

2010-05-28T09:39:00.000-06:00

Hong Kong = AMAZING

We had such a GREAT time in Hong Kong! The flight was 16 hours (very hard for me) but totally worth it! Once we got to Hong Kong we had a rough start. It took 2 hours to get to our hotel, (should have taken 45 minutes) once we got to the hotel they wouldn't let us check in, we went back about 5 hours later and they told us they had a water break and had to move us to a different hotel...may I remind you that we haven't showed for 36 hours! We were extremly put out about the whole thing until we got to the new hotel...5 star hotel, in a suite, on the top floor! We had to work Wednesday night, Thursday, Friday and Saturday so we weren't able to do much.

On Sunday we did alot of walking and saw both Kowloon and Hong Kong. We got fitted for our custom suits & shirts (highly recommend if you are ever in HK). I can't believe that they made 2 suits and all our shirts in less than 48 hours.

Monday we went to the Ngong Ping cable car that takes you to the Giant Buddha, we had to take a 45 minute cable car ride to the top, it was beautiful! We toured around Giant Buddha and the Po Lin Monastery. We did some shopping at the Ladies Market that night and then headed back to the hotel.

Tuesday we went to Victoria Peak which over looks the entire city of Hong Kong and across the harbour to Kowloon. We than went to Ocean Park which was awesome, it was like Sea World but right on the ocean, the roller coasters pretty much hung over the ocean. We did a little more shopping that night and packed up to go home.

This is from the first day we got there-before we got our hotel room.

This is at the bar district...Lan Kwai Fong....it was packed every night

This picture was taken from Kowloon, it's on the mainland looking back at Hong Kong island.

Kowloon

This was our interpreter Isabelle-Thank goodness she was there to help us!

This is the pool on top of the hotel...I sat here thinking about how it was snowing in Utah.

Our hotel room

Bathroom-it's hard to see but we had a great view of the city!

The tram ride up to Giant Buddha

The sign telling us which way New York was

Top of big buddha...you have a 360 degree view of HK island

The cable car had a glass bottom...kind of freaky!

Enjoying the view of the ocean from the cable car

This was the 2nd tram that we took to Victoria Peak-I swear it went straight up the mountain, it felt like a roller coaster.

Looking out on the city

This is at Ocean Park, one of the rides that is right on the ocean

I hate the rides that shoot you up or drop you so Dan had to go by himself.

It's hard to see but there is a panda bear behind us

Looking out at the amazing view

I am a very picky eater so it's hard for me to travel, I usually pack plenty of pop tarts, fruit snacks and granola bars but I found something I liked... mini chocolate cupcakes! I ate them every morning for breakfast! I also found out that Hong Kong has AMAZING french fries, I ate them every night for dinner!

Shopping at the night market

Our last night looking back at Hong Kong-I miss it already!

A few fun facts about Hong Kong:

*Cab drivers are crazy...worse than anywhere I have ever been!

*Cars are really expensive to own in HK so only the extremely wealthy drive them.....most private cars are worth over $100,000...I had never even heard of half the cars!

*All the drinks are served warm. NASTY

*Every night our maid would come in and shut our blinds for us.

*The subway is way cleaner and nicer then New York

*Nothing opens till 10am....and stays open till midnight

*Most people spoke enough English to get around

*I was asked over 50 times if they could get a picture with me (some people are from mainland China and don't see very many white people)

Once again we are so lucky that we are able to travel together and see so much of the world! We had such a great trip and are looking forward to going back next March!

Our 6th niece Maya Bell finally made her arrival on May 18th weighing in at 4lbs 12oz! I received a phone call from Tasha right after we were dropped off at the airport saying that her water broke and she was on the way to the hospital... it was hard to be stuck on the plane wondering how everything was going. This was my first time meeting little Maya, thank goodness for skype!

Congratulations Bells!

A little preview of Maya's first photoshoot!

She is so tiny!

East Coast Road Trip

2010-05-03T15:23:00.005-06:00

We had so much fun on our east coast trip, even though it rained the 8 days that we were gone we were still able so see and experience so much! We flew into Baltimore and drove to New York to spend 2 days. Driving in New York is something else, our gps stopped working because of all the tall buildings so that made for a very interesting drive through the city.

Beware-I took over 800 pictures!

We got in late on Saturday night so once we found our hotel we settled in for the night. The next morning we got up early to go see the city. We probably walked a total of 12 miles, we saw so much! There were a few things I loved about New York and a few things I hated. I loved the city, shopping and cafe shops but I learned that I hated the subway. It was a great place to visit but I don't think I could ever live there.

If you know anything about me you know that I am madly in love with chocolate and can't live without it!

Wall street

My poor pants were soaking wet

Times Square-not very busy in the rain

Central Park

NBC

Empire State building

At the top

New York

After New York we drove up to Boston, we have a friend that lives there that let us stay with him. We didn't have tons of time there but we were able to see a little of the city and spend time with Cody.

We went on a duck tour (land and water) it was a great way to see the city!

This was the house we stayed in, I loved it because its just what I thought a house in Boston would look like.

and it was on wisteria way...

The original cheers bar in Boston

Looking out on Boston city

Next we drove up to Quebec, we wish we would have had a little more time there, we only had half a day to see the city and had to work the other 3 days. It was a little harder to get around because everything was in French but most people spoke enough English to help us.

I loved the small steets with cafes and shops!

The top of our hotel eating breakfast

Dan walking across the bridge on the top of the waterfall

Our last stop was Maine, we had a few extra hours before we had to catch our flight so we found a beach to hang out at. We loved Maine!

Play in the ocean

LOVE this guy!

We were so lucky that we got to see the East Coast and we loved every minute of it!

I thought I would share a few fun facts about our trip:
*We drove through 10 states and 2 countries*All the roads back east are lined with trees on both sides so you can't tell you’re in the city*In one day we saw: Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Wall Street, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Terminal, Ellis Island, Central Park, 5th Ave., NBC, Broadway *It rains, A LOT.*Our hotel room in New York….not very big*I hate the subway in New York *I like the train in Boston *We got searched crossing the border for an hour and I was scared to death they were taking me to jail *Driving in New York sucks*We paid $50 in toll roads to go from Maryland to Maine….total waste of money *The shopping in NY wasn’t that great *It snowed for 5 out of the 7.5 hour drive to Quebec *We saw 4 moose in 4 miles at 1:00 A.M. driving through Maine *I took over 800 pictures *The chocolate & water is terrible in Quebec...made for a long couple of days!

**Next stop...HONG KONG**

Four wheeling at the "B"

2010-04-18T21:00:00.000-06:00

My goal this summer is to take more pictures and keep my blog updated. I think of my blog as our life journal and I want to remember all the fun things we do.

We took the 4-wheelers out again this weekend and of course we had a great time! We went up to the "B" and rode as far as we could until we hit the snow and then rode up the bottom of "DEAD MANS CLIFF".

I couldn't believe how much junk there was!

Whit and I playing around in a smashed truck.

Cort and Dan...I love that Cort is holding onto the "oh s***" handle. Little late for that Cort!

Of course the boys needed to play in the mud

4-Wheeling

2010-04-11T19:25:00.002-06:00

We are so glad we finally had nice weather, we took the 4-wheelers out on Saturday and had a great time..well besides the 45 minute detour we ended up taking and the flat tire :(

The guys checking out the flat tire

Whit and I playing around while waiting for the guys to fix it

We had amazing views from the top of the mountain!

Easter

2010-04-05T08:28:00.000-06:00

We have a tradition of having brunch at Bonnie and Nick's Easter morning. It was so good, thanks for having us over! Check out how big Grant is, he is growing up so fast!

Kira and I looking for Easter baskets.

After the Easter egg hunt at my mom's.

I had to add this picture...she is too cute!

BUSY!

2010-04-03T20:04:00.002-06:00

We had a chance to go to Malaysia again but I didn't want to spend 24 hours on a plane so my brother in-law Jamon stepped in and went with Dan. They were gone for a week and only had to work one day. They had a great time! While they were gone we had a girls week filled with late nights, shopping, lots of treats and sleep over's!

Our next trip was to San Antonio, and can I just tell you that we LOVE Texas! We had a great time visiting Dan's Uncle, Aunt and Grandma. We were able to fit in some good shopping and I got my first pair of cow-girl boots!

This picture was taken at the grist mill restaurant, it was our favorite part of the trip! It was a cute cabin style restaurant right on the river with the most AMAZING food ever! Of course it rained the whole time we were there.

Dan spent a week in Mexico City, our company doesn't like me to go to Mexico because its too dangerous. He said it was completely different then the tourist’s cities, he really enjoyed experiencing the deep culture Mexico has to offer.

Our last trip was Las Vegas, it was alot of work but we stayed a few days after to relax. I took my swimming suit thinking I could lay out but once again it rained the whole time.

This is a horrible picture of us but it is so classic, I told Dan we needed to take a picture of us working so people would believe that we really do work when we travel...well this is the best I could do. If you can't tell my husband hates pictures.

We are really looking forward to our next trip, we will be taking a road trip from DC to Quebec. We are going to stay 2 nights in New York (I have never been there and I am so excited) 2 nights in Boston, 3 nights in Quebec and one night in New Hampshire. Should be a great trip, hopefully we get some good weather!

On another note I FINALLY figured out what was wrong with my stomach, I am lactose intolerant. I have been to doctor after doctor and I swear I have had every test done and it is such a relief to know what has been making me sick! You wouldn't believe how many food's have dairy.

We have a few fun vacations (NO WORK) planned for this summer and we having been enjoying the nice weather!

Justin & Kelli

2010-01-27T20:39:00.001-07:00

JUST MARRIED

We are so excited Justin and Kelli are married!

It was such a beautiful wedding and they both looked great!

They bought a condo down by our house, it will be fun to have them close!

The Groom-my cousin Justin

The bride-doesn't she look amazing!

I DO

Kaelyn, Kelli and Jada

Kelli, Tasha and Kira

Whitney & me-I couldn't stop laughing!

Aubrey and me

I can't stop taking pictures of these cute girls!

I am so grateful I have 5 wonderful nieces and one on the way!

December 2009

2009-12-28T08:58:00.003-07:00

Our first nephew! Grant Mason Garrick was born December 3, 2009, we are so excited he is finally here!Congratulations Bonnie & Nick!

We went to Logan to see Once Upon A Christmas (such a cute play) this was at dinner right before.We had two Christmas parties on the 23rd, I won this awesome hat at the Olson party and dared Dan to wear to the Hill party. He wore it the whole night!

We went to the festival of trees to watch the girls dance, the guys were bored out of their mind waiting for the girls to finish their art & crafts projects.

Christmas! We had such a wonderful Christmas this year, I can't believe this is our 6th Christmas together, I am starting to feel old! We spent Christmas eve with my Mom, Christmas day with my dad and Christmas evening with Dan's family. We are so lucky to have our families close and love spending time with them!

My Mom made all the girls PJ's and blankets for Christmas, they wore them for 2 days straight. So cute!

We painted our toes for Christmas!

Dan had a chance to go elk hunting with his Dad, Brant and my Dad last week, they had a great time and brought home 5 elk...NASTY!!!

We also found out where we will be traveling this year, its going to be a busy few months! Dan will start the year off in Malaysia, it was really hard for me to turn down the trip but since we will be going to Hong Kong in May I didn't think I could make the trip to Asia twice in one year. Jamon volunteered to go with Dan though, I think they will have a great time! They will be gone for one week and only have to work one day..lucky! We will also be going to San Antonio, Mexico City, Quebec Canada, Vegas and HONG KONG! We are really looking forward to Hong Kong!

October

2009-11-12T08:32:00.016-07:00

We went to the zoo on Sunday to see all the baby animals, they were so cute!!

I LOVE BEARS

We had our families over for Halloween dinner, it was so fun to spend time with everyone!

Kelsie and Kira thought it was so fun to hide from Dan

Kaelyn & Jada

Kirsten-Love her big eyes!

Nikki & Kaelyn

Jamon & Jada

Steve, Mom, Mary Ellen, Clint & Bonnie

(my settings were off on my camera)

Jada & Kira helping with the homemade root beer.

My sweet husband got me this AMAZING lens for my birthday, I LOVE IT!!!

We went to Texas Roadhouse for my birthday

I had a baby shower for Bonnie

She is due in 3 weeks, we are so EXCITED!

Plyaing games

August/September

2009-09-29T11:01:00.012-06:00

We had another convention in Orlando last week, besides working 13 hour days we had a great time! We hit the beach one day, worked for 3 days and then we got a park hopper pass the last day so we could visit all the Disney World theme parks.Epcot-

This was the last park we went to, we didn't get there till about 7:30 so we only made it on one ride but they had the food and wine festival going on so we (mostly Dan) were able to try all kinds of food from other Country's.

Magic Kingdom-

Hollywood Studios

We also went to Animal Kingdom but I forgot to get a picture.

The gang that worked convention.

We went to Bass Pro Shop one night and spent 2 hours playing a hunting video game. It was so much fun!

The first day in Orlando we went to the beach, it felt so good to walk in the sand, layout and listen to the waves.

Dan tried surfing...he was pretty good for his first time!

We spent every weekend in August camping/hunting, out of all the weekends this was the only picture I took.

We celebrated our 1st Anniversary on September 5th, unfortunately we had to spend it at my Grandma's funeral but we made up for it in Orlando this past week!

I can't believe we have been married for a year...CRAZY!

One year later!

We ate the top of our cake a few weeks later...wasn't too bad for being a year old.

Family Pictures

2009-08-31T22:15:00.000-06:00

Blast from the past

2009-08-23T21:26:00.009-06:00

I was looking through some old pictures and I can't believe how much we have changed in the last 5 years. I thought I would share a few.

This was on the 4 of July, probably 4 years ago.

My graduation in May of 2005

Bonnie & Nicks wedding

Lava hot springs, i am guess 5 years ago. It was one of the first trips we took together.

Our first Thanksgiving together

My birthday, 5 years ago. We look so little!

Vegas

My first trip to Dan's cabin in Yellowstone.

June/4th of July

2009-07-05T22:50:00.001-06:00

Our 5th niece is finally here!

Kirsten Beckstrand was born June 22, 2009! I can't get enough of her, she is so sweet! Congrats Beckstrands

We spent the 4th of July with Dan's family in Yellowstone.

This fox lives right down the street from the cabin.

These moose spent 2 days hanging out by the cabin. We had a great time watching them, they didn't mind us one bit but they thought Sadie dog was a little crazy when she started barking and running towards them.

Dan getting a little practice in, hunting season starts next month.

Bonnie and Nick are expecting a baby in December, we are so excited to have a baby on the Dworshak side!

Bonnie and I inside the park.

Dan's parents took us to a rodeo for the 4th, we had a great time! Thank you!

Having a little fun while we waited for the fireworks.

May

2009-06-07T17:55:00.010-06:00

Yellowstone

We took my family up to Yellowstone for a few days, it was a great trip!

We stopped at Mesa falls on the way home. (I loaded the pictures backwards...sorry!) Big horn sheep

We spent about 45 minutes watching this squirrel move his baby's from one hole to another.

We went to the grizzly and wolf discovery center.

Wolf

We went on a hike above Dan's cabin

Sister's

I can't believe how much we look alike in this picture

Waterfall

Us with our girls!

Kelsie and Dan

Cutest girls EVER!

Family

Dan's 25th Birthday!

We were at Dan's cabin in Yellowstone over his birthday so he spent most the day fishing and we went to the Gusher for dinner.

Kira and Jada helping with presents.

We went camping for Memorial Day, I didn't get very many pictures because it rained the whole weekend.

Mothers Day at Red Butte Gardens

Nick & Bonnie

Canada

2009-05-17T21:37:00.008-06:00

We spent the last few day's in Calgary Canada. We started the trip off with a gondola ride in Banff National Park At the very top of the mountain.
It was SOOOOOOOO COLD!
Dan let me get a new jacket at the gift shop to stay warm!

Beautiful view at the top

We didn't get to ride in this but we thought it was cool!

We went for a ride trying to find some animals and we found this picture perfect spot.

I thought this lake was pretty.

We went to the top of the Calgary tower and it had a glass walkway you could walk out on and see the city right below you....we were both a little freaked out when we first stepped on it.

Spring!

2009-04-21T10:03:00.006-06:00

We are so excited spring is finally here! Dan has been busy working on our backyard and I have been doing what I do best-supervising. We are really looking forward to having a backyard!

Kira & Jada getting a ride from Dan

Grandma White was here for Easter! We love when she comes to visit! The last night she was here she took us all out to dinner.

Nick, Grandma and Bonnie

Me, Grandma and Dan

Clint, Grandma and Mary Ellen

My cute girls- Jada and Kaelyn

Easter egg hunt at my moms

Dan's new toy!

2009-04-01T19:51:00.003-06:00

After months of looking Dan finally broke down and bought a four wheeler. We took it out the other night and had a blast! We can't wait to use it more this summer. Dan showing off his new toy

Kaelyn, Kelsie and I made a snowman while the guys played on the four wheelers.

Kelsie and I playing in the snow

Brant and his cute girls.

Orlando

2009-03-09T09:12:00.004-06:00

We had alot of fun in Orlando! We only had one day to play so we did a little shopping and took an air boat ride to find some alligators!

The air boat was very loud but we had a great time! I was shocked how close the alligators would let us get.

The first alligator we saw.
Adam, Dan and Peter on the air boat

Another alligator

I'm not sure if you can see but behind me is a really BIG alligator.

Right after this picture I gave the alligator a kiss and thank goodness his mouth was taped shut or I wouldn't have a nose anymore! I guess he didn't want a kiss from me.

Dan and the alligator

This was our hotel.

Our last night there at Plant Hollywood for dinner

Dan, Janica & Colton

2 Months

Colton

Pregnancy

Christmas 2011

The past 7 months

Colton's Birth Announcement

Merry Christmas

Colton Dworshak

B*A*B*Y

China 2011

Looking back at 2010

Christmas 2010

Hardware Ranch

Merry Christmas!

Rockettes/festival of tree's

Hawaii 2010

Girls Donunts

Boys-Donuts

Halloween/B-day

Oktoberfest

Family Pictures 2010

Grandma White

2 Years!

Grant's Baptism

Just Married

Weekend at Home!

Diamond Mountain

Fun Fest 2010

Family Pictures

Yellowstone

Enjoying the nice weather

Dad's retirement

Hong Kong!

East Coast Road Trip

Four wheeling at the "B"

4-Wheeling

Easter

BUSY!

Justin & Kelli

December 2009

October

August/September

Family Pictures

Blast from the past

June/4th of July

May

Canada

Spring!

Dan's new toy!

Orlando

BAB*Y