Sleigh Bells Ring...

Let it Snow… Let it Snow

Well Christmas is officially in the air. We have our snazzy little tree up that we got in Pine Valley. We had fun decorating it and thankfully Hera hasn’t decided to push it over, eat the ornaments or the presents.

and my two favorite buds...

We had the wonderful chance to go to a Rainey family party in Idaho this weekend. On our flight to Salt Lake the flight attendant said that the moon that night was the biggest its been since 1993. Jake and I both thought that sounded a bit funny but enjoyed the view regardless.

We got to Salt Lake and found out that the flight was oversold by 4 people and a bad storm was about to settle in. We also got the worst news of all that Jakes Dad was in the hospital with congestive heart failure and fluid in his lungs. We both prayed for a little Christmas miracle of getting on the flight. Another flight was delayed out of ATL and our prayers were answered. We made the flight even being 6th on the list.

Bob was not doing too well in the hospital that night but after some great medication and some good rest he was looking a lot better. He insisted that we continue on with our family party without him and honestly 11 kids and who knows how many grandkids really can’t fit in a little hospital room.

So we took off on a sleigh ride adventure in Lava Hot Springs Idaho. Out of all the places in Idaho I think Lava Hot Springs would be the place that I would love to live. It is beautiful scenery every which way you look. We got there and the mules were sattled up and I was bundled up in every jacket and pair of ski pants I could possibly find. It was a perfect winter wonderland. (i made a slide show below of all the pictures)

We then got our bathing suits on (yes you read that right) winds of -20 degrees and we got our bathing suits on and went to the hot springs. It was just amazing to have snow all around you and snowflakes falling on your cheeks while you stay toasty warm in a pool of naturally heated water.

Meanwhile…. Hera was having a blast with her new bff Austin at home. Thank you Austin for taking such good care of her!

Jakes Dad seems to be doing much better and will most likely be released here in the next few days. Our prayers are with him and we sure love him.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Mom & Dad Time

I just wanted to say how much I appreciate my family. We had a chance to spend some time with my parents who were here for the weekend. They are so much fun to be around and make everything an adventure.
We watched the Hulk one night and Dad of course stressed out over in the corner as he watched (he gets so into the movies) he shuffles in his seat and I’m sure his heart rate was sky high. Even mom got into the movie and didn't fall asleep. We must have been a sight with Jake and I on the couch and my parents in our fancy $5 lawn chairs all in this little tiny living room LOL!
We also had a chance to go on a nice drive to Cedar City Navajo Lake. We played stupid games the whole way, like who can guess the temperature in Cedar City or who can guess the price of gas in Cedar. It was so simple but we had such a fun time guessing and being stupid.
Hera had her first experience with snow and she LOVED it! She is such a smart puppy and she would run as fast as she could and then slide on the ice. She also looked like a frog in the snow because she would spread her back legs out as far as she could and then hop through the snow; it was such a funny moment. Then I looked up and this HUGE bald eagle was looking down at her. I yelled for Jake to pick her up and he was able to scoop her up fast. The eagle kept watching for us to put her back down but then lost interest and flew away... what a close call!
Well thanks Mom & Dad for such a wonderful weekend! We love you guys so much!

Pictures will come shortly…

Also, here is a Tag that Nicole sent me:

Fun Tag!

I am- waiting for 3:00 so I can hang with my parents & Jake
I have- the best family!
I wish- I was with Jake in Maui or Paris
I miss- my Grandparents
I fear- spiders
I feel- loved
I hear- music, typing, people talking on the phone and my heater
I smell- my lotion! I’m trying to cover up the In&Out burger I ate at lunch
I crave- chocolate
I search- for fun times… adventures, knowledge and truth
I wonder- where I will be in 5 years
I regret- some things in my past but I have to remember its just that…my “past”
I love- My husband, parents, Hera, friends, my job, travel benefits, horses and just being loved. I care- about everything… too much at times
I always- try to be a good person
I am not- perfect
I believe- in people really wanting to do the right thing
I dance- when no one is watching
I sing- in the car
I don't like- being away from those I love
I fight for- what I believe in
I write- a little bit but believe in leaving words of wisdom for those who will need it in your future.
I lose- my keys all the time and blame it on everyone else but myself… sure enough I find them right where I left them.
I win- at gambling NEVER but in life I have all I would ever dream of winning.
I never- listened enough to my father… he always had some great words of wisdom and I should write them all down to keep forever with me.
I listen- to the negative too much
I can- always be better
I am scared- of losing people that matter to me most in my life
I need- to just breath
I am happy- yes I sure am

I tag anyone who feels like participating

Tagged

Well Tiff tagged me with this little questionnaire... so here is a little get to know Jake and Julia moment...

What is your husbands name? Jacob Heber Rainey
How long have you been married? Almost 1 year - can you believe it!! 1/25/2008
How long did you date? oh goodness... we met in May (17th if my memory is right) what am I talking about... we still are dating ;)
How old is he? 29
Who eats more sweets? I DO! Its really sick how much candy I eat. He really doesn't care for the sweets as much as the salty. Put a bag a chips and a bag of chocolate in front of him... well they would both be gone but those chips would be enjoyed the most LOL.
Who said I love you first? Jake did... and right after that he said "will you marry me". Talk about a lot in one night.
Who is taller? still under debate... I would say he is but I swear I shrank a little because I was 5'8 and now I’m 5'7 and I think you could say he’s 5'9... so that little inch makes all the difference.
Who can sing the best? Jake... I love sitting in the car with our long drives through Idaho and he sings some country song and it gives me chills.
Who is smarter? Jake for sure! That boy can remember anything that has to do with History. He knows about any major event/politics... the boy has a brain and I could listen to him all day.
Who does the laundry? He does... once in a while when he doesn't get to it during the week I will take care of it on a Saturday but he would be the expert... every sock has to have its match or it drives him crazy.
Who pays the bills? We both do... he has half and I have half. It makes it super easy that way. Who mows the lawn? uhh... what lawn is this? LOL the Mexicans do I guess. I pick up most of the dog poop when Hera goes. Just recently did he decide he would be able to pick it up... the man that nothing grosses him out, can't pick up a little puppies poop??? weird!
Who cooks dinner? gosh he does... I’m still learning how to cook if you can believe it. I also get home from work and DO NOT want to cook so I bust out the cereal and call it good. He also hates to eat late and wont eat after 5:00 and I don't get home until 6:00
Who drives? both of us... his driving makes me nervous :)
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? He is really good about saying he's sorry... I need to learn from him.
Who kissed who first? Jake... he took forever to give me that first kiss... I had to work for it LOL
Who asked who out first? He did... he took me horseback riding.
Who wears the pants? Jake, but if I feel passionately about something I will always win...you know me ;)

The rules for this tag: answer questions about your spouse, list names of people you are tagging in your post, then leave a comment on their blog letting them know they've been tagged. I'm tagging: Jodi and Mom - I really don't have any other married friends that have a blog sorry!

Jakes Birthday

I think I totally spoiled Jake for his birthday but I’m a little biased :)
We took off to Idaho… yes… Idaho again. We reserved the cabin at Henrys lake so we were ready for a cold secluded getaway weekend. We arrived Friday around 10am and got to the cabin around 1:00. I thought I was in for a cold weekend and believe it or not it ended up being around 70 degrees!
We went fishing out on our canoe and caught about a 3.5lb fish.

Here is the fish before me cooking and after… I had my parents on instant messaging guiding me through the cooking process. I was proud of myself for being able to have such a yummy finished product.

I have really come to realize that I was always with Dad and Grandpa for all the fishing and then running off to play when it came time for cooking… I have a lot of catching up to do!
We had a wonderful romantic evening watching the sun set over the lake and watching some old movies.

The next morning we woke up bright and early and Jake took off fishing again. I got caught up on my Desperate Housewives and cleaned the cabin. By the time Jake got back from his adventure I was packed up and ready to get on the road again. We took the most beautiful scenic route back to Mud Lake. It was endless perfect ranches and rolling hills.

Once in Mud Lake and with the Rainey family we got together for the Turkey Shoot!!! Now if you’re anything like me you think a turkey shoot must be some kind of hick event where everyone gets together and shoots turkeys. Well I learned that no turkey shooting is actually involved and its really skeet shooting. You have a team of 5 and you have to out shoot all the other members of the team in order to win a Turkey or Ham! Well my awesome husband won both a Turkey and a Ham in the events. I also participated and got a 10 out of 10 (that 10 misses out of 10 shots)

this old man was amazing!!! he couldn't even stand up right and yet he would shoot a real 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10 every time he would compete... I have never seen anything like it before. Only once did he not shoot because he couldn't see the skeet :)

Jake then got ready for the big football event. It was the alumni football game for Jakes high school. He was so excited for it and had been preparing for the big day for weeks. He did such a great job and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself. They had all ages out on the field… I was impressed with some of the oldies still showing off their moves.

After the game the family all came back to Summer and Jims place for a ham dinner followed by cake and ice cream. I made the cake and forgot the candles so Jake turned 21 again because that’s all that Summer could find LOL! Jake got the book he wanted 1776, an ipod shuffle for listening to Rush Limbagh and Glen Beck an unexpected Mormon talk on CD.

Parents Came to Town

Its been such a long time since I’ve posted. I couldn’t find my camera cord to download pictures and what’s a blog update without fun pictures?!?
Well my parents came to visit and we went out to Pine Valley for some serious fishing. Jake and my Dad both caught a fish… it was actually my Dads firsts time catching a fish by fly fishing.














It was great to have Mom and Dad here to visit even if it wasn’t for very long. They are always up for an adventure and we always have so much fun with them.

This is Hera learning how to swim LOL! She got a little flusterd with the whole thing but had a great time fishing.

Hera Slideshow

Team Captain

I came home two weeks ago to find Jake sitting on the couch smiling at me in a little “up to no good smirk” when the most adorable little face popped up from behind him.

Here is the newest addition to the Rainey family… Hera! She is a 5lbs Pug mixed with an American Eskimo and is absolutely adorableHere she is in her little BYU t-shirt supporting the team and then also watching some TV.

She got her second set of shots yesterday and it was tough to watch her go through them. She has those perfect puppy dog eyes that just pull at the heart strings. Even the vet made the tech assistant be the mean guy while she held her. They both couldn’t stand the little eyes looking up and the little whine she makes.

She is excited and full of energy and just so fun to play with. We are so happy to have her in our life!

the Honeymoon

I think Hawaii was the perfect place to spend our Honeymoon. We only got bumped off one flight on our way there and that was just because we refused to take the early 6am flight… its our honeymoon… who wants to wake up early :)

We had to take in some of the more traditional sites, like Pearl Harbor. We didn’t even go into the museum. Jake was happy to just have his picture taken by some of the main sites and be on our way. This ended up being perfect because the line was stretched out the door and around the building.


We then went to Hanama Bay which was probably one of the coolest parts of the trip. We snorkeled the whole length of the bay and saw every kind of fish you could imagine. The weather was bit touch and go with the fierce wind the waves would come in and knock us into the coral reef. We were a bloody mess by the end of the day but I think it was well worth the scars.

Before you can even go into this preserved bay you have to watch this stupid movie that talks about not stepping on the reef. Jake left singing along to the song that they played mostly for the kids. Don’t worry that during several moments of our snorkeling I would look up and see Jake hoping across the coral with his flippers pointing up and then diving off the reef into the deep water… I guess the movie didn’t really hit home for him.

Next day we went to explore more of the island. We went to the Dole Plantation which was really fun to walk around. We even went through this cool maze. After we were done exploring the plantation we enjoyed a bread bowl and some of the most amazing pineapple ice cream I have ever had.

We then went to Goat Island, a place that Jakes Dad recommended to us. We talked to some fisherman as we watched some old people (naturalists I imagine) walk out to the island on the coral reef. They made it look easy enough so we thought we would try it. I thought we for sure were going to die. Are feet were cut up and I was exhausted by the end of it. I insisted on taking the camera with us so poor Jake had to hold the camera up while keeping his balance on the reef. I am amazed we made it without destroying the camera.


Only later did I find out from a friend of Jakes that is native to that island that Goat Island happens to be one of the most shark infested waters known to the island.

To end the perfect honeymoon we had a romantic dinner on top of a rotating view restaurant. As we were sitting there having an extremely over priced dinner I told Jake the only thing that was missing from the whole trip was seeing some whales… sure enough I look out into the ocean and two whales leap out of the water and blow water out of their spout. I really couldn’t believe that everything turned out that perfect.


Well I married the best guy a girl could ever ask for and we started our married life off just perfectly with this amazing trip. I’m so lucky to get to spend so many more adventures with the guy I love so much.

Rome Slideshow

Rome Jan 2007

Another one of our crazy trips! We left out of ATL and had a wonderful white cloud landing in Rome. Again we had to sleep on the plane and then spent the day walking all of Rome and back on the plane that night to go home.

This was probably the trip we felt the poorest on. American Express was not everywhere we wanted to be… and every shop we went to wouldn’t accept anything but cash, so we had just a little money to live off of for the day. First stop of the day was the Vatican. Talk about a breath taking view.

Here is the Swiss Guard lower ranking. We would see all levels walking around the Vatican. Some you could tell were important just by the way the strut their stuff :)

This is Saint Peters sculpture. We must have arrived just on time because the line wasn’t bad at all, but when we left it was insanely long.

Here is the Gallery of Maps and some of the sculptures that we had the chance to look at through the tour.

San Pieetro’s Dome in the Vatican Laocoon and misc sculptures along the way...

The Sistine Chapel with the focus of God Creates Adam by Michelangelo. Probably the most amazing room of all. We just sat forever just taking in all the stories depicted around us. They had gaurds going around telling people to not take pictures so I had Austin watch for a guard as I knelt down in the crowd and started snapping shots. I was so hungry at this point that I couldn’t steady my hand. I was surprised they came out as well as they did and even more surprised I didn’t get caught.

Here is the staircase at the Vatican museum. We probably had our best meal there and I had been keeping my blood sugar up by just eating Peanut Butter M&M’s from my pocket all morning so anything was delicious at this point.

The Trevi Fountains... you throw a coin in a make a wish :)

The Colosseum was probably one of my favorite parts. We came out from the subway and their it was. How much history happened there and how many fights and deaths happened with so many spectators. The sun was setting and it was an amazing highlight.

The Arch of Constantine right outside of the Colosseum

The Monument Vittorio Emanuele just down the street from the Colosseum. You pass some amazing history along the way but this blog would be too long if I included it all. At the monument all of a sudden cops just started to march in and vans of cops drove in blocking the area off. I can’t believe I didn’t freak out but Austin and I just stood around taking in the sites when a big Immigration Rights Protestors came marching through the streets with their signs and shouting in Italian. Thank goodness they just stayed friendly and just passed on through.

On the flight back we were stuck in ATL for about 8 hours just walking from gate to gate trying to catch any flight back home. Nothing was available and when I get stressed I don’t eat so Austin left to get food and he got to the point of exhaustion where he didn’t’ care and everything was funny to him. So I’m having a breakdown and he is in 7th heaven with his mini hamburger meal he found in the airport!