Hurly Prancer Lloyd

My how quickly things have changed. I was feeling all bummed out and really sad today because we had to return Finlly yesterday. I was and still am worried for her because I don't think her previous owners treated her well. It's out of my hands now and there isn't anything I can do but pray that she is taken care of.

Today Chad saw how upset I was with everything and he surprised me with this wonderful little guy. We saw him and instantly fell in love. I was hesitant to go meet the dog but Chad talked me into just going and looking at the dog. I agreed and well, the second Chad saw him he fell in love.

Just between you and me I got a little choked up when they handed Chad the new puppy and I saw how happy he was with the little guy. I haven't seen Him so happy in a while. I just had to say yes. (For those of you who don't know, Chad and I are not able to have children of our own so to see something like this bring such joy to Chad, I couldn't say no). So please say hello and welcome to our family Hurly (like the big fluffy guy from LOST) Prancer (the name previously given to him by the wonderful family who gave him to us) Lloyd (our last name of course). We are so happy to welcome this little guy to our family, he fits right in and in case you couldn't tell, he totally looks like he is related. Thank you Shaunie and family for bringing this wonderful addition to our family.

Change of Plans

So we have had Finlly for a little over a week now and we had fallen in love with her, only to find out that the previous owner decided out of the blue that they wanted her back. We were heartbroken, literally. So we gathered her things and returned her to the previous owner. I am worried for her because I think she was abused, but what can we do? With heavy hearts we returned her and can only hope for the best in her future. So today was not such a good day. Now the house is quiet and back to just Chad, Folesome and I. Hopefully not for long.

Marriage

Today my brother married his long time girlfriend Martha. They asked me to be the photographer for their special day. It was SUPER hot but very beautiful. I am so grateful that they finally got married and that I was able to be a part their day. Thanks Jarin and Martha, and congratulations.

Lagoon

This year we decided instead of going on a vacation, we were just going to buy season passes to Lagoon. We have some friends and family members that also got season passes so we have been looking forward to going with them. This week I was able to go with my sister and her kids. It was so much fun. I mostly rode the kiddie rides with Brynne, she was my buddy all day and we had so much fun. Here are some pictures from the day. To see more pictures, check out my photo blog www.luxslens.blogspot.com

Finlley Roo Lloyd

Say hello to our newest addition to our little family. This is Finlley Roo Lloyd. She is a 8 month old schnauzer and so full of energy. She belonged to our next door neighbor's sister and last week the sister called our neighbor and told him to come get her or she would be taking the dog to the vet to be put to sleep (very sad). She told him that she would rather the dog be put to sleep than to have it go to a home where it might be abused.

Anyway, Chad and I saw her and fell in love right away. Folesome loves her too. So we talked to our neighbors and asked if she could be an addition to our family. They said yes and we adopted her today!! YAY! We are having such a good time with her and love having her in our family.

Proud Auntie

I can not say it enough, I am one proud Aunt. I have such amazing and talented family members. Here are a few of them.

Kaelan has been doing amazing at Football this summer. I'm lucky enough to be able to go to some of his games with Chad.

Taegon was selected to participate in the chalk art festival at his school and this is his drawing. *Go Gaga!

Gandon has been having the missionaries over to his house and has made the decision to be baptized. I'm so very proud of this choice that he made all on his own. He is such a shining example to all around him.

All in all, my family is doing some pretty amazing things and to put it perfectly, I'm blessed to be a part of it.

Bubble Bath's and Ipods

So at the end of a hard day I am guilty of wanting to take a hot bath by candle light and listen to piano music. Today was no different. I took my bath, listened to my music and washed the worries of the day away. When I was getting out of the tub and drying off, my towel hit one of the freshly blown out candles and knocked it over onto my ipod. Wax was everywhere, but mostly all over my ipod. I was so worried it was ruined, but all is well. I have learned my lesson now though, keep my ipod away from candles.

New House... Kind of

So we started a remodel project this summer. We currently live in a 1 bedroom loft town home. Since our plan is to adopt children we want a house that has plenty of room for little ones. So we are going to remodel our house to be a 3 bedroom home. Here is the project as we are starting. Hopefully this project won't take too long and we will soon be a step closer to making our dream of a little family come true. I am thankful that I have a husband that is willing to learn from others and is such a hard worker. Thanks Chad for making this dream a possibility.

How it looked in the beginning

Chad and Kaelan putting in the floor

Folesome is a wonderful supervisor

Justin, Chad and my Dad working hard

Kaelan hanging on the floor boards

Out with the junk and off with the Ba-dunk a dunk

So as many of you have heard I'm in a weight loss/body transformation challenge. Im doing really well with it. Since I've started just 5 weeks ago I've lost 26lbs and have gone from a pant size 20 pant to wearing a size 14. I know I know that may not really be a big deal to some but to me that is HUGE. I'm finally starting to like the way my body is looking again. I am able to fin into a lot of my older clothes. I am replacing 2 meals a day with an amazingly delicious drink. Then I'm fee to eat whatever I choose for my 3rd meal of the day. That's right ladies, no starving myself with only an alloted amount of calories, no giving myself shots, and no spending hour upon hour working out in a gym. I simply replace 2 of my meals a day and eat healthy. In fact, I really don't exercise at all which makes this program work for me.

I recently cleaned out my pantry of all junk food and unhealthy snacks, just to keep myself from being tempted. I replaced all of my junk food and snacks with my drink mixes and healthy chocolates. I'm so excited about the changes that my body is going through. My husband is also in this same program and my oh my is he looking sexy these days. I'm definitely enjoying the side effects of eating healthy.

Banana Bread

So I've had a few bunches of bananas from my bountiful basket that I can't eat fast enough so I decided to try my hand and making bread. So I put on my Martha Stewart apron and went to work. I didn't even have to call my mom once. lol This was the end result.

It tastes even better than it looks. I guess I can do this "house wife" thing after all. Just don't tell Chad, he'll expect home baked goodies all the time.

Been busy

I've been M.I.A. for a little while. I've been really busy with a lot of things but I just wanted to stop by and let those of you who actually read this blog (Mom, Dad and Brig, Chels, Nate and the Horn family) to know that I am in fact still alive and well.

In the last little while since you have heard from me I have been working at a new job (just temporary) I work for my neighbor who owns a few Blimpie stores and I'm working there until I can start my new job working for a Dr.'s office in Riverton.

I bought a new car... Well a new car to me. Chad and I were able to purchase my Grandma's old car. That's right, I am the proud owner of a 1991 Mercury Grand Marquis (pics to come). Oh yeah baby, I have arrived. lol It's a real smooth ride and has very low mileage because it has pretty much sat untouched for the last 1o years. Also the biggest perk is that the cops don't even THINK about pulling me over for speeding (the speedometer only goes to 85mph).

I am still waiting to go golfing for the first time because the as you all know mother nature can't make up her mind if she wants to start spring or have a 2nd winter this year. I swear I was wearing shorts one day and then the very next day my car was buried and the trees were touching the ground because the snow was so heavy.

But I do have to admit, I do love the beautiful photo opportunities that the snowy mountains bring. Check out this lovely view coming back from Morgan, UT.

So yeah, that's a little of what I've been up to. How about all of you? what have you been up to lately?

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I have entered a weight lost/body transformation challenge and I'm totally going to win. I don't quite want to post my "before" picture just yet because I'm still a little insecure about myself, however I will be blogging and posting about my adventure in this weight loss challenge. I have already lost 20lbs. in my first 3 weeks. Hopefully you'll be seeing a picture like this of me soon.

I'm excited about the future and the changes I am making. Wish me luck!

Blue and Gold

So I have to send a shout out to a few of my favorite young men. My nephews Gandon and Braden just had their Blue and Gold banquet a few weeks ago. I'm so very proud of these young men for being in the scouting program. They have been working so hard to get their merit badges and I'm proud of both of them. Gandon was able to get his bear while at the banquet. He had been working very hard and even had help from Chad and I the week before. I was honored to be invited to be a part of this special night for them both. Thanks boys, I'm very proud of you. Keep up the good work.

Enjoying the View

I may not have the worlds greatest job. I may not get paid thousands of dollars a week to do what I do. I may not make a difference in anybody's day with my job. I may not make the most perfect cup of coffee and I may not be the employee of the month.... But I do get to go to work and this is the view from my office and I get to enjoy it every single day. I am very lucky.

Go Packers!!!

Chad and I had a little super-bowl party with me, him and our friend Josh. We ordered pizza and snacked on goodies. Folesome even got in on the celebration. Chad and I work our lucky football jerseys that we wear every time we watch football. We cuddled up on the couch, sat back and watched the Packers slaughter the Stealers. I really enjoy being with my husband and friends, it makes me feel really good inside when people take time out of their day to spend with me. I am glad that I got to spend this awesome day with people I really enjoy being around. Thanks Josh and Chad for making today so awesome. I'm also really happy that the Packers won. WOO HOO!!!

(Josh doesn't like his pic taken so I had to get in it with him)

Color-Me-Mine

For Christmas my amazing hubby bought me a gift card to color-me-mine. I've always wanted to go there just for fun and so he got me a gift card so that we could go at a later date. When my birthday rolled around he thought it would be a perfect opportunity to take me on a special date.

He made a reservation to make sure that we would be able to get in, because apparently it's a pretty popular place and there are only a few tables. So when I got off work he surprised me and took me out to eat dinner then took me to color me mine.

We both picked out piggy banks because we have been wanting a cool place to collect our loose change and to help us save up for adoption. Chad picked a basketball piggy bank and I picked an actual piggy. We had so much fun sitting at our own private table just chatting the night away. We were there for almost 3 hours and it was so nice to just have some one on one time with my prince charming. He's such a sweetheart and a the best date ever. We had a lot of fun and can't wait to go back and paint some more. Thanks Chad for the amazing date.

All things Ice

So for those who know me know how much I love ice. I just think it's so beautiful and amazing. For my birthday this year my amazing hubby and best friends took me to this sweet place in Midway Utah where this very talented man has created a castle completely out of ice. Oh wow, it was so beautiful and these pictures don't even do it justice. I LOVED it and can't wait to go back again during the day. It was so beautiful. Thank you Brent for making this beautiful creation and thanks Chad, Loni, Jason and Josh for making this a birthday I'll never forget.

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