New blog...

I've decided to make a new blog for our new family of 3. Let me know if you want an invite to it, because I think I'll be making that one private. And I promise to update it more often than this one. Promise!

For Vanessa...

Okay...This post is for Vanessa:) She asked for some baby bump pictures because she doesn't have facebook to see them where I usually post them. I promise that someday I will be much better at blogging...just not today haha.

16 weeks...

20 weeks...

24 weeks...

And finally 28 weeks...taken just last Friday.



Stadium of FIRE!

Jer and I went to the Stadium of Fire with my parents and Cody. We had a ton of fun! Here are some of the highlights:

BRAD PAISLEY!
David Archuleta
the skydivers coming in with the flags
the last skydiver's flag catching on the barrier which caused him to face plant and take out an innocent bystander
Cody eating 3 or 4 churros, a frozen lemonade, a bag of cotton candy, and...I'm sure there was more, I just can't remember at the moment
no one sitting in front of us so we could put our feet on those seats
spending time with family
CELEBRATING OUR INDEPENDENCE!

Here are some fun pictures before the show began:

Yay for cheesy smiles:)

And making faces:)

Such a good looking couple!

Notice our festive 4th of July T-shirts

LAGOON!

About a week ago we went to Lagoon with Jeremy's little brother, Jaron, his mom, and his sister, Harmonie and her little girl Harper. We had a BLAST! It was a much needed break for both Jeremy and I. We've been working our little buns off for weeks straight now, so it felt SO good to get out and have a little fun. We had more than a little fun too! We're so grateful to Jaron for his good idea and his generosity!

Ready to have some fun! Woohoo!

Jaron had his heart set on doing the scariest ride at Lagoon with Jer. I forgot what it's called exactly, but basically it takes you up super far in the sky and then you pull a cord to release yourselves and then free fall while praying you won't hit the ground before being caught. Thankfully their praying paid off and they made it out safe and sound:)

Here they are flying through the sky

We discovered that even if you don't go into Lagoon-A-Beach you have plenty of opportunities to cool off from the hot summer sun. We got SOAKED on quite a few rides.

You could seriously wring the water out from my clothes after this one. I felt like I had just taken a shower with my clothes on.

BUMPER CARS!

I loved riding the ski-lift thing across the park. My feet needed a break haha.

Jaron was bound and determined to win a prize at one of the booths. We decided afterward that he should never be allowed to go gambling haha. He lost quite a few quarters, but came out with a couple prizes in the end, even though they weren't the huge ones he had his eye on. Jeremy and I also won a couple cute little stuffed animals. There was a booth that had someone guessings peoples age, weight, or birth month. If they were withing 2 years on the age they won, if not, we got a prize. As soon as we saw this we thought, "this is perfect!" Jeremy's slightly balding head makes him look older than he actually is, and people often guess I'm no older than 20. The lady at Lagoon didn't stand a chance. She guessed that Jeremy was 25 or 26 I think and that I was 19 or 20. We won Alfred and Abagail, our cute new stuffed animals. It was the perfect end to a perfect day! Thanks again Jaron!

Camilynne Jones is HOME!

This is a couple weeks late, but I haven't had a chance to post this yet so here it is...CAMI IS HOME! Can you tell I'm a little excited? I can't say the same for my husband though. He is afraid he is going to be replaced now that she's home. I keep telling him not to worry, but I don't think it's doing a lot of good.
She was supposed to come home on Wednesday June 15th, however, there were a few complications...okay a lot of complications. Poor Cami! Most of the complications were due to a volcano in Chile that sent a lovely ash cloud over Argentina. So instead of taking a plane from her area to Buenos Aires (where the international airport is) she got to ride a bus for 14 hours. Yuck! Then she got stuck in Buenos Aires for a couple days before she flew a small plane to Chile to fly to the states.
I had requested Wednesday and Thursday off work months ago when I found out when she would be getting home. I wanted to be at the airport SO badly. So when I heard that she wouldn't get home on Wednesday I had a come-apart. Thank goodness for loving husbands, because Jeremy had his work cut out for him in trying to cheer me up and convince me that everything would be okay. He was so understanding and knew how much it meant to me to be at the airport so he encouraged me to do whatever I needed to do to get work off Friday and Saturday. It took calling everyone on the phone list and begging, but I finally found someone to cover both of my shifts.
We headed down on Thursday night and got to be there the whole weekend, so it actually worked out better than if I had just been able to go down Wednesday and Thursday. Cami was supposed to get in to the St. George airport at 5:45, so we spent the day with family and running errands. At about 4:45 I got a phone call from her sister saying that Cami was at the airport. Yep. She came earlier than anyone was expecting and got to the airport with no one to greet her. Of course we all felt horrible and RACED to the airport as quickly as possible. My family and Jer and I got their first and my mom and I jumped out while the boys parked the cars. We ran into the airport searching frantically for Cami. This guy noticed us running around like chickens with our heads cut off and pointed us in the right direction. I can't even explain how happy I was to see her and give her a big hug. We just laughed and cried a little and hugged multiple times. She told me I look way different which was surprising to me. Her family wasn't far behind us and it was so much fun to watch each family member run into the airport to greet her. It wasn't the typical welcome home, but it sure makes for a good story!
The last complication was that her bags unfortunately didn't make the early flight with her. Jer and I volunteered to wait for the bags so Cami could go get released and go home and shower. We drove up to her house after and hung out with her family for a bit. I was so grateful that they let me stay and share that first night with them. I felt like part of the family and it was so fun to spend time with her.
The next day I went shopping with her and then we went back to my house so I could show her my wedding pictures. All of them. The engagements, bridals, and wedding day pictures. It took a while, but it was fun to finally share that with her. It wasn't easy for me to get married without her there, but I'm grateful she's such a good friend and is happy that I'm happy and not mad that I got married without her. Although, she does take every opportunity she finds to say "oh ya, well you got married without me!". It's true. I did. I'll let her use it a little longer.
She did an awesome job on her homecoming talk. She sounded like a true sister missionary with the pauses and missionary accent and all. It was awesome:)
It was a great weekend...I sure did miss her the last 2.5 years! Welcome home Cami!

Pictures to come!

Wedding Pictures

Here are some late, but great, pictures of our wedding...enjoy!

Just out of the temple...We're married!
Walking around to the stairs of the temple

Thanks to all of our family and friends that came to support us!

Jeremy's buddies...

My girlfriends

Such a cool picture with the temple in the reflection of the visitor center windows

Typical me...pulling faces

So BEAUTIFUL! Great job decorating Kim, Dev and Jess!

Hardman tradition...obviously my brothers were a little clueless:)

The Hardman family

The Clayton family

So happy together!

Our gorgeous cake made by my aunt Amanda Adams...SO talented!

Mmmm....cheesecake!

I was nice...he was not:)

I LOVE this picture!

I love this guy!

Jer surprised me with a special performance. He did a great job!

My dad and I dance to "Butterfly Kisses"

Jer can't remember the song he and his mom danced to...but it was a good one!

Throwing the bouquet...over the balcony

I tricked him:) hahaha

Dancing the hokey-pokey with the kids

Called to Serve

I've been thinking lately about my mission a lot and the blessings it brought to my life. Jeremy and I both had the opportunity to serve missions in third-world countries. He served in Mongolia and I served in the Philippines. As I've been reflecting on the blessings of my mission I have realized that it not only blessed me during the time I was serving, but my experiences in the Philippines shaped me into the person I am now which blesses my life today and will continue to bless my life into the future. Before I had the opportunity to live as I did on my mission I was a very selfish person who wanted only the best and didn't want to wait for anything. Jeremy and I are living very humbly right now, and I am so grateful for the changes in my personality due to living in the Philippines because it doesn't bother me at all. Not that we are super poor or barely getting by or anything, we are just content to go without things we don't need right now. We share a car and use public transportation (something I became a pro at on the mission), and we use the phrase "it would be nice, but we don't need it" far more often than I ever did before my mission. I'm grateful that Jeremy too had the opportunity to serve a mission and to serve in a third-world country because we both were blessed to learn how to live with little and be perfectly happy.
Another huge blessing from my mission is my testimony. I can't imagine where I would be if I hadn't made the choice to serve when I did. I was at a crossroads in my life at the time I made that important decision, and I am scared to think where I might be now if I had chosen the other road. I love the gospel and am grateful that I served a mission so that I could develop that love, and see the miracles the gospel can bring into people's lives. I am grateful that Jeremy and I both had the opportunity to teach the gospel to others because we will need those skills when we try to teach it to our children.
I think my mission has been on my mind so much lately because I have a lot of loved ones currently serving missions. Kimber, my little sister and best friend, is serving in Argentina. She entered the MTC on February 9th so she has almost been serving for 4 months. (That means she comes home in only 14 more months:)) I LOVE reading her weekly emails because I can see her learning and growing and changing like I did. She had a head start on me though, she went out so much more prepared and stronger than I did. She's been in the country for just over one transfer I think. She's with her second companion now and doing great. Both of her companions have been natives with English skills probably as good as her spanish when she got to the country. I can't really relate because my trainer was American, but I envy her because I know her language is coming very quickly. Kim worried about her teaching skills, and wondered if she would be "good enough" as a teacher to be a missionary. I don't know why she worried though because I know she is doing great. Even if she isn't a master teacher her love of the gospel can be felt each time she bears her testimony or teaches a principle. I wish I could be her companion for a day. That would be so much fun! I really miss her, but I am so proud of her for serving. I think she also worried about being homesick in the mission field, but in a letter she wrote recently she said she hasn't been homesick at all. I know the Lord is blessing her for her service.
My little brother, Christian, is also serving a mission right now. He hasn't been in the MTC even two weeks yet, but he too is doing great. He was called to serve in the Berlin Germany mission. I don't know if he ever even considered the possibility of not serving a mission. He's always been such a good kid, and a good example to me. "He did it right" as my grandma said the other day. He never did anything to compromise his opportunity to serve a mission. He also was far more prepared than I was when I went out. When he gave his farewell talk I felt like I was listening to a seasoned missionary who was about to come home, not one that was about to go out. His testimony is strong and he will do great things in Germany. He has a way with people too. Everyone seems to love Christian, and I know that the German people will love him to. It would be so fun to just be a fly on the wall in a German home and watch the spirit work miracles through him in a few months. He is already missed quite a bit, and it will be a long two years for us without him at family events, but we are so proud of him.
I have another brother serving right now, my brother-in-law Quinten. He had quite the trial of his faith when he was preparing to serve. He put his papers in a full year before he finally recieved his call to serve. I know that year was a very difficult one for him, and his faith was challenged and tried, but he never gave up and is better for it now. I read his emails and am so amazed at his testimony and his positive attitude. He is setting a great example for all of his loved ones, but especially for his younger brothers. He is serving in the Indianapolis, Indiana mission, spanish speaking. He is such a hard worker too. I kinda feel bad for his companions if they aren't used to working hard. They will get used to it quickly with him by their side!
There is one more missionary serving that is particularly close to my heart, Camilynne Jones. She and I have been the best of friends since high school. I had really mixed feelings when she wrote to me and told me she was serving a mission. I was happy because I knew that it was an incredible experience and opportunity, and I wanted to share that with her. I was also happy because I knew the other option was her getting married while I was still in the Philippines. But I was sad because I knew that her serving would mean I wouldn't see her for over 2.5 years. It also ended up meaning that she would miss my wedding. It absolutely broke my heart to get married while she was gone. I even tried to talk my husband into waiting an extra few months, but he wouldn't go for that haha. Even though she wasn't here for one of the biggest events of my life, I am so glad that she also took the opportunity to serve a mission. She comes home in just over a week and, needless to say, I am VERY excited! I miss her a whole lot.
I can't wait to see each of these amazing missionaries when they get home!