Bear Bums and Long Drives

This weekend we decided a weekend out of Utah would be really nice, so we left. After work we headed up to Rexburg, where we met up with Mimily (Emily). Emily gave us the night time tour of Rexburg then we visited with an old Winder friend, Jenny, with whom we talked with for a while. Sadly it was a little late so we couldn't say hi to Mary, but next time! Saturday morning Emily had to work, so Nate and I went and gave ourselves the daytime tour of Rexburg and walked around the new temple. It is a very beautiful temple!

When Emily was finished with work we picked her up and started our drive. When we got to Yellowstone we saw lots of beautiful mountains and rivers, lots of fly fishers, one bison up close and lots from a distance, a coyote, and lots of birds. We didn't get to see even a 1/3 of the park, but that just leaves more to do when we go back.

I think this was my favorite part of the park. This was off of Fountain Flat Drive. The steam is coming from a hot spring that is just off to the side of the river.


Emily and I around the hot spring.


The bison was in our lane, so we had to pass it and risk the oncoming traffic. I personally would rather take on the oncoming traffic.


Bison Bum!


Old Faithful

After Old Faithful, we decided that we should hit the road and head to our hotel. So, we drove over passes, through snow, back into warmth, and out of the park. Shortly after leaving the park we found ourselves in the Teton National Park. Not as much to see, that I know of, but I think it is much prettier. I think that the Teton range is the most beautiful range of mountains I have ever seen. The Tetons and the Alps are pretty close in prettiness.

Our first good shot of the mountains


Another pretty shot.

The drive to Jackson Hole was beautiful! It was getting dark when we got into town, so we found a map and made our way to our hotel. We stayed at the Snake River Lodge in Teton Village. They had really nice rooms, a fun ladies locker room that's gotta be bigger than our house, and a really cool pool that was an indoor/outdoor heated pool with caves and waterfalls. The outside hot tub was in a cave with a heated waterfall flowing into it. It was pretty fun! The next morning we managed to get a few pictures in the lobby without feeling really ghetto.

Emily petting a bear chillin' in the Lobby.


Bear Bum!
Poor bear is stuck in the log pole. There were actually lots of bears hanging out in the logs in the hotel. It was pretty cute.


Nate petting a bison in Jackson.

It was a fun trip and I don't think it was our last. There's still lots to see in Yellowstone and there's lots we'd like to do in Jackson Hole. I'd say it was a rather fun weekend!

An itch in time

An itch in time

Anyone remember this little cartoon? I know it's long, but in case you've forgotten, it's a pretty funny cartoon. About 4 1/2 min into the cartoon the little flea stakes out the dog, like a butcher would stake out a cow.

Hopefully you all now know what I'm talking about. Well, that's kinda what I felt like last Thursday when I went to got my allergy testing done. I couldn't help but think of that cartoon as the lady was staking out my arm for the different needles she was about to stick in me.

After 32 pokes in my arms, another 31 in my shoulder, and 2 very close calls with passing out, we found out that I am allergic to dust mites, tumble weed, and kochia. So what did I learn from that couple hours of fun at the doctors office? I'm allergic to the desert, wood floors and leather couches are good for me, and I really need to get over the issues I have with needles 'cause I don't like it when the room starts spinning then goes black.

Boy are we bad at this!

So, Nate is getting into the groove with his new job. The new Orem campus of Utah Career College just started their first term and it's been a lot of work getting them there, but so far so good.

Things of note, that we should have covered a while ago:

#1 Mama and Daddy celebrated their 25th Anniversary in August! They went and had pictures done. Aren't they cute?!

Daddy doesn't remind me of Grandpa at all!

#2 We went out and gathered thing for the first package we've sent Cami since she's been in Florida. (Sorry Cami). It was actually a lot of. We went to Build-A-Bear and made a cute little turtle, who's shell comes off and opens like a back back.

Elder Todd the Turtle
That's a Book of Mormon hanging from his wrist.

#3 Emily came to visit last weekend! The two of us went up to a Bead Fair in Salt Lake. I was expecting just beads, but alas, I was wrong! There was lots of fun jewelry and had I had enough money, there is lots I would have bought. I am quite happy with myself for not going overboard and sticking to a simple pair of amber earrings. They're nice, they didn't break the bank, and I'm sure I'll get a lot of use out of them.

On Sunday we made a new recipe out of the Martha Stewart Living o' the month. We had this German sausages with apples and sauerkraut with a side of yummy potatoes and pickles. It was very German of us and oh so yummy!

It's quicker than driving!

Let it be noted that today, the Seventh day of September, 2008, we walked to church. As today was regional conference and the entire stake was meeting at our stake center to watch the conference broadcast, we decided that we'd not bother with the traffic and drive to church instead. We've been meaning to do it since we moved here, but today we actually did it. On our walk back home, we were laughing at the fact that we could walk to church and how we both used to make fun of Utah for their living so close to church. (Note to self: Don't make fun of places you don't think you want to be, 'cause I think the Lord has a sense of humor too and He might just decide to teach you a lesson.)

"A" would be the church and "B" our house.


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1 Whole Year!!

We knew we were missing something when I posted last time. As of the 24th of August, we've been married a whole year!!! We can't decide if it's gone by quickly or felt like a lifetime, but either way, it's been wonderful. For our anniversary, we went to Salt Lake and made a whole day of spending time together. Nate was brilliant and made a reservation for the two of us a spa for a 1+ hour massage. (I love nice, long massages!) After that we walked around the mall for a bit and we each got a nice new pair of work shoes and I got a new skirt. After we'd walked around the outdoor mall, we went out to a yummy Italian restaurant then a fun movie. On Sunday, our actual anniversary, we spent our afternoon just chilling as we enjoyed a light dinner and some cheesecake (since our topper is long gone). It was a lovely weekend!

Finally Slowing Down

Here is the fire picture I promised, only it's not a picture.

It was so close to our house!

Even more has happened since the last time we've said anything. The most exciting thing is NATE GOT A JOB!!!!!!! The job hunt is over! Nate is now a full time working man at Utah Career College. They are opening up a new campus in Orem and he will be registering all the new students along with lots of other things since they don't have all of their people hired yet. He started on Monday, August 25th. It's kinda strange for us both to get up and all dressed up for work in the morning.

The next most exciting thing that's happened is that Nate officially graduated on the 14th and 15th of this month. His whole family was able to come out including Grandma Talbert and Aunt Judy! (Cami, we missed you! But that's ok.) We had fun touring Provo and attending graduation festivities.

As a graduation present, Nate got a grill! That's where he made a yummy graduation dinner of steak kabobs, grilled veggies, and hot dogs! It was pretty gosh darn yummy!

Our first meal cooked on the grill.
This was actually a couple weeks before graduation.

Before then we went to a family reunion up in Idaho and were able to go to the Twin Falls Temple open house. It was really nice to see so many Dixon family members all in one spot again. I don't think that's happened in a LONG time!

I love them!
(Thanks for the picture Mark!)

Now that the summer is coming to a close, our lives are settling back down. Summer was busy, but it was a really good one.

Busy, busy, busy!!!

It has been well over a month since we've made any posts, but man have we been busy! Since our last post we have packed, driven to Idaho for a weekend family reunion, I turned another year older, we moved, unpacked, survived a forest fire, and Nate officially graduated from BYU! Seeing as how I've been sitting here a while and we don't have anything comfy to sit on in the tv/computer/everything else room just yet, I might tackle pictures and such one event at at time.

We'll start with the packing and moving. We got the keys to our new place on July 23rd and started moving in that very next day. We didn't get all moved in until August 2nd, but it was nice to move stuff in slowly and unpack as we went. Now we're down to a maybe 6 boxes. Not to shabby, if I might say so myself!

The night before our major move to Payson (August 1st) we came to our new home, only to see a huge fire up on the mountain by our house! When we first got there it actually wasn't too bad, at least for us. It was big, but under control and a few miles from our house. We went and watched until we decided that we had lots to do and just needed to go unload the car. Well, by the time the car was unloaded, the wind had picked up and pushed the fire in our direction. It got kinda close to our house. We weren't too worried about it taking out our house, but it was only about half a mile away and quickly reaching some homes. Many people in our ward were evacuated. The local fire fighters were amazing that night! They really worked hard and for long hours to save so many homes. Thanks to them, and I am sure some divine intervention, all homes were spared. It's amazing to see where the fire went and how close it came to some homes. You can see where the fire went around some homes and an orchard, only to go through abandoned lots that had homes on each side. The only structure that was claimed was an old shed that was about to be torn down. That really was amazing!

I'll have to finish up later and I'll make sure to upload a bunch of pictures from the last month. Eventually I'll get all caught up!