Day 1 with the In-laws

Um...yeah so I am eating lunch a few days ago and am temporarily distracted by my father in-law who rushes past me with a shotgun under one arm and heads out the front door. From the front window I proceeded to watch him wait by the side of the road as cars pass (all staring at him and his shotgun with wide eyes) and then, with gun raised, he stood in the middle of the road and BAM! He shot 4 starlings out of the neighbor's tree! I was laughing pretty hard at all this! Apparently this is a daily occurence and happens as early as 6 in the morning sometimes! I'll try to secretly record his next shooting episode for y'all. 3 more weeks here until Nick and I move to good 'ol Rigby...I wonder what people do over there for fun?

Christmas Wish

Dear Santa,

My hands have been freezing
My toes are like ice
My nose is always sneezing
My head hasn't felt so nice

For Christmas I want to be warm
I want to feel sand between my toes
I want to swim in the deep blue sea
I want to be somewhere tropical (I've been good can't you see!)

If you send me to Hawaii
I'll be extra good next year
No more complaining about the cold
No more trying to grow out my leg hair

Thanks Santa.

Yours Truly,
Haley

Santa's Reply

Dear Haley,

You have been an extra good girl this year, go play!
To Hawaii you shall go
You'll run, swim, and laugh all day
Your worries will start to fade away

Just one request I make my dear
Before Hawaii please shave for I fear
You'll start complaining about the heat
And Hawaii no longer you'll think so neat!

Love, Santa

The Best Banana Bread I Have Ever Had!

I just got done talking to Tara on the phone and told her I would share this recipe with her. It is sooo good! I got it from one of Nick's relatives who got it from a friend in Boise...You will not regret making this banana bread recipe...Succulent, juicy, melts in your mouth...Here's the recipe:

Haley's Favorite Scrumtrulescent Banana Bread

3 C. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 C. butter
1 C. oil
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 C. sugar
3 bananas
1 C. buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract

Mix all ingredients together. Put in 2 greased bread loaf pans. Bake @ 350 degrees for 60 minutes!

Glaze
3/4 C. Sugar
1/4 C. prepared orange juice
1 Tbls. butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract

Combine all ingredients and boil for 1 minute. Pour half over each loaf just as it comes out of the oven. Let stand 15 minutes then take out of loaf pans! Yummy! :)

*Here's a tip I heard: After mixing together all of the banana bread ingredients, let the mixture sit for 20 minutes before baking. This will make the banana flavor stand out more in the bread! (I tried this on a different banana bread recipe and it worked really well!)

Moab Trip

The first weekend in October Nick and I went on a dirt-biking trip to Moab with some of Nick's siblings and their friends. We had a great time! I was really nervous the whole time though. I am fairly new at riding so riding in Moab was a little intimidating. I did well though...ended up with two flat tires somehow! Nick and I even found a dead scorpion in the bathroom drawer of the condo we were staying at. I made Nick check everything of ours after that! Clothes, luggage, bedding...everything! I was pretty worried! Luckily no one was injured that weekend from insects or from riding!

Nick and I at Hurrah Pass. The ride was pretty nice. Nick and his brother Justin waited a lot on us girls because we kept on stopping and taking pictures along the way.

Nick took this picture. It was getting dark but you can see how the rock is balanced on top of the pillar. This was a common sight to see in Moab.
"Hello everyone!"
My hot husband. He is a really good rider. I tell him that I am going to be "professional" like him someday!

If you enlarge the picture, you can see me riding on the other side of the cliff. It's a pretty cool picture Nick took.

These are some cliffs at Hurrah Pass.

Nick looking out at the scenery at Hurrah Pass. It was pretty impressive.

Me, Amber, and Rachel. We all have Yamaha 125's and are around the same skill level so it was fun riding together!

Nick took this picture of this Toyota with the wheel broken from the axle. We saw a lot of jeeps and off-road vehicles on the trails at Moab.

More scenery.

Yet more scenery.

This is a real dinosaur footprint! We went on this one ride that took us past lots of fossilized dinosaur tracks. It was really neat to see all the different fossils embedded in the sandstone!

Logan's Wedding

Here's a picture of Nick and Sam on a ride at Lagoon.
We thought this sign at Lagoon was quite ironic considering the sharp pointy fence!
Cuz Ashley and I at the wedding. Aren't we so cute?
The boyz.
The kids were just sitting there saying "Cheese!" over and over again so I turned around and snapped this photo of them.
Nick, Me, Sam, and Cherstie at Lagoon. It was my first time going!
Nick and I waiting in line for a sick ride...I think it was called "Wicked". Needless to say, it was lots of fun!

"Ewww!"
Aunt Lois, Lexy, Logan, and Uncle Mike. I love this picture.
Family and friends.
Best Buddies. I saw them both tear up a few times over the weekend.
They look good! Now that wasn't so bad was it Logan! :)

Skyler's Wedding

Nick's brother Skyler got married this summer in the Salt Lake City temple. Thanks to everyone who went to our wedding and helped out all day and night! It is an exhausting process!

Nick's brother-in-law Stan strangling the crap out of us.

The brothers: Justin, Skyler, and Nick.
The boys showing off their tight ends!
I thought this picture was really cute! These are Nick's nieces sitting around Becky. Notice the baby crying her eyes out! Poor thing!
Here's the Terry family outside the SLC temple.Nick danced with me at the reception. I love dancing with him!