Christmas 2008

We were very blessed this Christmas season. Our families were very generous. Thanks everyone for all of your thoughtful gifts. We love you all! Here's a pic of our "winnings" this year...

This Christmas we spent the 24th in Salt Lake with my family. We went to see the Tale of Despereaux, went to eat at the Little America Cafe, and then walked around temple square. It is so beautiful! We then went back to Coalville and participated in the Vernon family Christmas Eve traditions. Every year, my Mom builds her nativity throughout the month of December adding a piece each day. Joseph goes in on the 22nd, Mary on the 23rd, and baby Jesus is placed in the stable on the 24th as we read the Christmas story out of the Bible. It helps remind us of the true meaning of Christmas. We then awoke Christmas morning and Santa Claus had not forgotten us. We must have been good this year! We then got ready for the day and drove to Grandma Vernon's for Swedish pancakes. Trav and I then proceeded to Bountiful to visit both of our grandparents there and then made the trek back to Logan for Christmas dinner with his family. It was a lot of travelling, but it was worth it!

Here's a random pic that we took after taking family pictures with Trav's family on the 23rd...

New Career!

Well, Trav did it....He passed his Real Estate Exam! He is so excited to begin this new career and new adventure. He is currently interviewing with all the Broker's in town and will begin in January. Congrats Trav! You made it and you deserve it! All the hard work paid off! Love ya!

It's Christmas Time!

Well, things are going well up in our neck of the woods. We've gotten settled, and we're loving Wellsville. Our ward is fabulous! Trav has already received a calling as the 2nd Counselor in the Young Men's Presidency. He also received a calling in the Trapper Trails Council of the Boy Scouts of America to be the High Adventure Training Chairman. He's really excited about all of these opportunities. I'm still lurking in the shadows, enjoying Relief Society for a change.

Trav has also made some big choices since we last posted. . . he quit his foreclosure job and is currently attending Real Estate School. He has been given a mentorship opportunity in commercial real estate with his Grandpa Hirschi here in town. We're excited for the future career this opportunity holds! He takes his real estate test on the 16th. He's a little nervous, but we all know he'll do great!

We had a lot of fun putting up our Christmas tree and lights this year. We spent most of Thanksgiving Day putting up the decorations, except when we were enjoying Trav's mom's absolutely amazing food! Here's what our final product turned out to be...

We also had the Vernon Family Christmas Party on the 29th of November. We went bowling before greeting Santa. It was a blast!

Rory rolled up his pants...and then began having an amazing game...

So Dad decided to try it too!

Bree's Cousins

Brady and Megan.

Home Sweet Home!

Well, here are the pics of our beautiful new home in Wellsville! It is a 3 bedroom 2 bath home with an unfinished basement on 1/3 of an acre. It is finally put together (except for the entire basement is full of boxes...oh, well). We Love It! Here's my personal virutal tour...for your enjoyment!

The Front View

The Back View

The Kitchen

The Family Room

The Office

The Guest Bedroom

The Master Bedroom

So, it turned out really nice! We've still got a lot of work to do including unpacking everything in the basement, finishing the basement, and landscaping, but who knows how long all those projects will take to complete. Oh, and I dyed my hair brown, so here's a pic for all those who haven't seen me recently. I also need your opinion on the hair: do you like it brown, or should I go back blonde?

Goodbye Evanston, Hello Logan!

Well, we're moving! Saturday the 18th to be exact. We sold our home in Evanston and have found a beautiful home in Wellsville (south end of Logan for those of you who aren't familiar with the area). We're packing up the house--and boy is there a lot of house to pack! So, if you haven't guessed, I accepted the position in Logan treating pediatrics and the spine. I will still be doing my early intervention job in Summit County, and Trav is going to stick with the foreclosure mitigation job (he just won't give up working from home!!). We'll post pictures of the new home as soon as we get it put together.

Husband Tag

1. Where did you meet? We met at our student ward in Logan. I thought Trav was already taken cause he kept sitting next to his sister and putting his arm around her. Then he put me in his FHE group.



2. How long did you date before you got married? 5 1/2 months before we got engaged, and 9 1/2 months before we got married



3. How long have you been married? 4 Years , 4 months, and 26 days



4. What is your favorite feature of his? His blonde hair! Our kids are going to look bald until they are 3 because of this....


5. What is your favorite quality of his? His ability to talk to people about anything.


6. Does he have a nickname for you? Monkee, it's a long story.


7. What is his favorite color? Green.


8. What is his favorite food? Seafood and sushi.


9. What is his favorite sport? Golf or soccer



10. When and where was your first kiss? At DeWitt's picnic area in Logan Canyon in October 2003.


11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? We like cooking together, watching movies, and playing games. I LOVE to dance with him, but I don't think he would agree.


12. Do you have any children? Not that we know of, but we're trying.



13. Does he have a hidden talent? Belly percussion, no joke, he can drum away any song you would like.



14. How old is he?26



15. Who said "I love you" first?He did because I made him.



16. What is his favorite type of music? Anytype. He LOVES his music.



17. What do you admire most about him? His productivity. He is always making lists and won't rest until they are done.



18. Do you think he will read this? YES.



I tag Jamie, Andrea, and Nicole.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Well, things here in Evanston have been absolutely wonderful over the past year, but it seems that all things good eventually come to an end. Unfortunately, it may be time for this good thing to come to an end. We've had some big decisions to make lately. Here's our journey. . .




It all began about two months ago. The clinic I work for has two locations, one here in Evanston, and another 45 miles east of here over the "sisters" (as everyone calls them) in the Bridger Valley. My boss decided that in order to run his business effectively that he needed to be in the Evanston clinic now, which left me driving over to the Bridger Valley 3 days a week. The clinic, co-workers, and patients in the Bridger Valley are amazing; however, the drive is not. In the winter time it is one of the most treacherous drives--in fact last year they closed the roads all together for 3 days straight on several occasions. What is usually a 45 minute drive can turn into 3-4 hours sometimes. This is not something I am wanting to do. I discussed this with my boss; however, he still felt it was best for his business for him to be here in Evanston. I understand, but that doesn't leave me in a great situation.




After 1 1/2 years with this establishment I've hesitated leaving it. It's been a great experience and I've learned a lot. I've grown to love the town, my co-workers, and my patients. I've also invested a lot of myself in this business. . . I've built a good reputation for myself here. I don't want to leave. I love my house, our ward, and overall my job. But, Travis holding the wisdom that he does asked me one simple question that put everything into perspective for me. He said, "Bree, had Mike offered you this job originally would we be here?" My answer, no, I wouldn't. It was important to me to not have to drive to work. To be 5 minutes away from my kids (when we have them), so that I can be there if I need to be. This wasn't the job I signed up for, and it still isn't what I want.




With that decision made, I began looking for other jobs, and we listed our house with a real estate agent. Currently, our real estate agent has told us that there are two families interested in our home. We are expecting to see official offers at the beginning of this week, actually in the next few days. It has only been listed for about 2 weeks, so we are pretty excited.




I have an interview on Tuesday, September 23rd at Logan Regional Hospital for a position where I would spend half of my time in the Spine Clinic and the other half at Cache Kids pediatrics. I have another interview on September 30th for a float position at Primary Childrens. There are a few other options as well, but no interviews yet. We'll just have to see what happens.




So, this is where we are in our journey of decisions. Life and the Lord often have different plans for us than we do for ourselves. I just hope we have enough faith to make it through to where He wants us to go. We'll keep you updated as our journey continues. Until then, wish us luck, and keep us in your prayers.

Heritage Makers

Oh, just a quick note. I started another side job with a company called Heritage Makers. Heritage Makers allows you to design and publish your own hard-back books of your family memories and stories. Think of it as digital scrapbooking published! I think it is an amazing product, and something I've never really seen before. If you are interested in checking it out here's my website: www.heritagemakers.com/312236. There are promotions going on monthly, and I throw parties about twice a month, so if you have any questions don't hestiate to ask either on the blog, through the website, or e-mail me at breeallred@hotmail.com.

Palisades and Powderhorn!

Well, Trav officially finished his powderhorn course. He had a blast and is very excited to get back into the scouting--and unfortunately for me, he is going to be scouting for 4 of the next 6 weekends. I guess I'll now term myself a weekend scouter's widow (Trav says that is only because I won't join him!)

Over Labor Day, we went to Palisades Resort by Manti down in Utah with all of our friends from the Wildwood Cove Condominiums (where we lived in West Valley before moving here to Evanston). We've made it a tradition to get together once in the summer for a camping trip. We thoroughly enjoyed fishing, 4-wheeling, and just plain old fun conversation. I swear we never laugh so hard as when we're with our friends from Wildwood. We even survived the wind and horrendous rain storms. Overall the tents did quite well although Kyle and Andrea got a little wet. Good thing it was just the last day.

This past weekend we went 4-wheeling with my parents up chalk creek into the Uintas. We made it up to Whitney lake and saw some amazing scenery. That would have to be my favorite part of 4-wheeling.

Unfortunately we didn't take any fun pictures of any of this--being lazy on the job of documentation I know, but what do ya do? We were just havin' too much fun. We'll keep you updated on our next adventures.

Powder Horn

This weekend was fantastic, although, I did have to be away from Bree for 3 nights without cell service for the first time since we got married. I went to Powder Horn, a high adventure training camp for venturer scouting.

DAY 1

We arrived and got assigned to a crew of about 6 people. We had about 50 total in camp. We then went to a cope course teaching us group problem solving strategies. Then down to the cliffs for some repelling and climbing.

It got a rainy towards the end of the day, so we just did some indoor training.

DAY 2

We did a lot of outdoor training today, starting with Geo Caching. This is basically a compass course done with GPS. I had the great experience of being the one who found the cache out of about 20 people in my group.

Afterwards, we were trained on outdoor plants and basic wilderness survival. Then we were able to learn how to fly fish and actually got to tie some flies. I just didn't get any pictures of that.

DAY 3

This was a great day of weaponry. We began with shotgun shooting which I was able to hit 4 of my 5 clay pigeons. After that we went on to shoot air rifles and pistols followed by 22 rifles. I thought my grouping turned out really good.

After lunch we were able to start with 22 hand guns, then on to archery. This was my best moment. We were shooting at about 30 feet and I had a great round. I also had the opportunity to witness a guy named, Bob, in my crew splitting an arrow. It was amazing. Of course we ended with black powder rifles, a first for me.

Overall, I had a great week. I love the outdoors and I am looking forward to week #2 at the end of August. Until then, happy trails.

Camp Loll Alumni Reunion

August 1st-3rd we had the opportunity to go to a scout camp called Camp Loll. Camp Loll is about an hour into the Tetons, right on the border of Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Travis spent every summer through high school working at this camp and they had a huge Alumni Reunion. Friday night we drove to a place called Flagg Ranch, parked the truck and slept in the bed of the truck. Saturday was when the fun started. We woke up, drove the rest of the way to Camp Loll. On our drive this female moose walked right in front of us.

We were a little early so we decided to go on a 2 mile hike to a waterfall called Terrace Falls with two other Alumni that we ran into named Boyd and Kent Davis.

After lunch we were able to go try out the water front and some repelling. Trav was daring enough to do a water check and jump into the 52 degree water (which he says is warm compared to when he used to have to do it . . .).

Boyd, Travis, and Kevin

Then we ate dinner and headed out for the flag ceremony and camp fire. It was tons of fun. The next morning we were able to attend church. Camp Loll contains one of the few dedicated outdoor chapels. It was a really neat experience to be surrounded by such beautiful scenery while at church. Here's some of the pictures of the view from the chapel.

And a few more miscellaneous pics . . .

The current staff in front of the lodge

The Waterfront Where Trav Spent all his Time

Sarah (Trav's old boss) and Trav

Overall it was an amazing trip. I loved seeing another part of Trav's life before me, and what a special place it truly is.

Bear Lake

This past weekend we joined my Mom's family for the Slade family reunion at Bear Lake. We stayed at the KOA campground. We had all of my Mom's siblings there and several of my cousins. We played at the Lake and enjoyed boating and wave running. I tried wake surfing for the first time--and I even made it to where I could let go of the rope for about a minute. Here's some fun pics--enjoy!

Oral Surgery Part 1: The Steel Post

Well, on the 16th of July Trav made the trip to Ogden (courtesy of my Mom--THANKS MOM!) to Dr. Cassidy's office to get a tooth implant (it is a new fancy way to do a bridge that is lifelong (where a bridge only lasts 7-10 years.) For this tooth implant, Trav had to have a steel post put into his jaw. The bone in his jaw is hopefully going to grow into the post and then in 3 months he will have a tooth put in that screws into the post. In the meantime, he gets to wear a retainer with a tooth on it until the post is ready to support a tooth. So, being the lovely documenting wife that I am, I decided to post some pics of Trav the day of surgery (mind you he's still a little loopy in these pics from the sedative they gave him).

Before I Woke Him Up . . .

All Smiles With the Retainer Tooth InAll Smiles with the Retainer Tooth Out! (Did somebody say Redneck?)

OUCH!

AMS at Zion's National Park

July 11th-13th we had the pleasure of joining most of Trav's co-workers in Zion's National Park in Southern Utah. Since Trav works from home, this was the first time that he'd met some of the individuals that he works with who live out of state.

The AMS Team (minus a few)

We stayed in these awesome little cabins. . . .

. . . saw some wildlife . . .

. . . went ATVing . . .

Travis with Parker( (Bryce and Beth's kid)

. . . . and went hiking where we saw some absolutely amazing scenery.

Trav with Parker

Us (with Parker) underneath the "Weeping Rock"

"The Great White Throne"

Overall, it was an amazing weekend full of fun. We are just going to have to do it again sometime when we have a little more time. We weren't able to see even half of Zion's phenomenol architecture. Thanks Terry and Dawn for getting us all together!