28...is great?!

So I am officially Zach's "old lady" again...at least for the next 8 months until he catches up with me! ;) I had my birthday on the 8th and it was such a fun laid back birthday! For my present Zach let me go and just have a "girly" day. I went with some friends and got a manicure and pedicure, ate some yummy lunch at Great Harvest, and got a little waxing done. ;) Of course I am horrible at pictures and didn't capture the moments but it was so fun and relaxing...thanks ladies for joining me!!!

I have to tell you how cute Zach was!! So, Zach has been on a little exercise kick lately (he goes in spurts). So he had been a little sick so he hadn't done much. So the day before my birthday he told me he was going to go for a long walk since he didn't feel up to running yet. I didn't think anything of it since he is on his exercise kick. He was gone forever though! That night I come home from relief society and caught him baking me a cake. He thought for sure I would be home later then I said...cuz I normally am. :) The cake took longer because he didn't realize it was supposed to be in a 9x13 instead of an 8x8...too cute! (we just had an extra thick cake) He was trying to surprise me and had walked all the way to Walmart (which is 3 miles there and 3 back) just to go and buy me my favorite frosting which is the Rainbow Chip. Is that not the sweetest thing ever or what?! He wrote on the cake for me and everything...he said it looked like a little kid did it but I LOVED it! It was the best cake I have EVER had because it was made with SO much love!

Isn't it so cute?!

Big breath!!

Zach took me out Friday night and we went and got massages and had some yummy dinner at Chilis with some friends (Jake and Heidi). He loves to get massages and I'm always fine without them until I am there and in the middle of it...I realize how much I enjoy them! It is so dang relaxing...sometimes they put me to sleep and I am so mad I fell asleep cuz I couldn't fully enjoy it, but it was good!

Sunday we celebrated with Zach's family and his mom made one of my favorite dinners...Navajo tacos and some amazing Oreo cheesecake. Zach's parents are the cutest and go all out for birthdays...decorating the house, using party plates, etc. Always a great time with the Friedlis.

The only problem with turning 28 is it sounds so old! It rounds right up to 30 so  I pretty much feel like I am turning 30. I just got news of my 10 year high school reunion coming up this year...so then it really hit me how old I am. High school graduation felt like just yesterday...it couldn't have been 10 years ago! I think the weirdest part about it is that I think I'll always feel about 24/25 in my head. Don't get me wrong...I am not afraid to get old. In fact  I look at the cute old ladies and men and I feel a little jealous and wish I was where they are at. They are close to the end of this HARD mortal life. They probably understand a lot more about their life experiences because they are able to look back and understand...maybe not everything but more then I do at this point. I look forward to that day when we are passed this really hard crap (not that it will ever completely end) but to have an "aha" moment and really learn and understand everything my Heavenly Father wanted me to from these trials of life...and be completely grateful for it. I am jealous that they are so much closer to getting to the other side...ending this mortal journey to go to a place free from all sorrow and pain and experience a state of never-ending happiness. Mosiah 2:41 :"and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness." That sounds pretty dang good to me. So basically what I guess I'm saying is...I wish I was turning 88 instead of 28. That probably sounds weird to you...but that's ok! ;)

Even though I am "SO OLD" I am grateful that I am still getting to experience new things...things that I have never done before...so I guess there is still a lot more to do, experience, and learn before my time is up.

Back in November I finally shot my first ducks!! We went out duck hunting again with Jake and his brother Shawn. We didn't go in the boat this time...we did the lazy man/woman way. We drove around in the truck until we spotted some in the canals. They let me practice a few on the "coots". These are just the "gross"ducks that have a huge limit on them. Most people don't go for them because they are not too tasty to eat so they don't really try and get away like the "real" ducks do cuz they rarely get shot at. They set me up in front of where the ducks were and scared them up so at least they would fly up "a little." I still missed the first few but the next chance I hit a couple. Those didn't count as my first ducks though because they aren't really the same as hunting the real ducks. So my first one Jake was my guide. He had seen some land a ways away so we started walking. Jake has eyes like a hawk! So after a ways of walking he saw this beauty sitting in the river. I couldn't see a thing so we started creeping up quietly on it. As we got closer he kept saying okay get ready...do you see it? Me:no...but I started getting ready anyways. As we got close enough where I could finally see it it started to take off and BOOM...in one shot I brought it down. It was a hen hooded maganzer (not sure correct spelling on that), which I guess is a really cool and rare duck. Jake thought I should mount it since it is a cool duck especially for my first one...but I'm not really THAT into it...not really my style of decorating. It was awesome though and definitely gave me a high and some confidence. I got a few more after that with Jake being a great guide. We had a pretty successful day as you can see.

There is that beauty! It has a cool fohawk like Dakota! ;)

My husband couldn't be more proud!

All of them for the day.

The whole gang...even Jake's awesome dog Mia (not sure the spelling) who would go get the ducks out of the freezing cold water for us!

We even got Zach out there and he was able to shoot some coots! He is awesome!! Sometimes I still think he is lying about being blind! ;)

I also had my first experience of snowshoeing which was a blast...and a great workout! My workout buddy and one of my running partners (Holly) has the most outdoorsy family ever! They are always hiking together as a couple and family...even on all their vacations. She has extra snowshoes so she let me borrow a pair. Are other workout buddy Claudia who is AMAZING what she does in her 60's got a pair for Christmas so we went up to Mantua for some good ole snowshoeing.

Claudia and Holly. I hope I can look as great as they do in my 40's and 60's! Thanks for the fun experience!

Claudia and I

I convinced Zach to go with us one time so he was a good sport and did. We went with Holly and her husband Rohn up to the North Ogden divide while Dakota was at school. There was SO much snow up there compared to Mantua and it was so beautiful. Zach didn't really enjoy that we wanted to do it for exercise so much but he loved the experience of just being out there and doing it. He is a great sport...especially cuz it was so much harder for him because he couldn't tell the terrain as much as we could (when it was going up or down).

Since I don't have any snow gear...Holly let me borrow her snow suit from like the 80's. It is a sexy one piece if you can't tell. I was probably the hottest looking thing on the mountain! ;)

Holly and Rohn...thanks for the good time!!

Holly tried to teach me how to ski down on your snowshoes. I wasn't too great at it...need some more practice. (You can see Holly way down there at the bottom)

HERE'S TO ONE YEAR OLDER...28 BABY!!!

Never underestimate the impossible

So pheasant season opened up yesterday. As I said before...it's a really hard time for Zach. The day before he started talking about it and how much he wished he could hunt.

He had traded his buddy Jake's brother some stuff for some of his pheasants (he raises them) so that I could practice some before we went out...because I am a hunter and all. So Friday afternoon we went out with Jake and his brother Shawn to shoot them. Some of them were great but others didn't want to fly much but we had fun. I did pretty good...granted it wasn't like the real deal and they weren't trying to get away too fast.

Shawn, Jake, Hunter, and Me with all our birds

Me and the hubby...so proud!

When Saturday rolled around all Zach could talk about was pheasants. We have some awesome fields right behind are house where we see some and Zach hunts every year. So we started talking bout going out there but weren't sure how to do it with Dakota. We finally decided to have sweet Shaylee (who babysat Dakota before his accident and who still helps me with Dakotas therapy every Saturday) come over while Dakota napped since we would be close enough if anything happened. We went and picked up Zach's parents dog Sophie to help us get some birds up. She is so old now and is probably on her last hunt but she did pretty good.

She started getting pretty excited so Zach said get ready I think she is going to get one up. So we keep following her a little more and next thing you know out pops a pheasant. I shoot boom, boom, then next thing you here is Zach...boom, boom and the bird comes down. I was like...no way...Zach you got it! We run over to where it came down and sure enough...he got it!

The AMAZING hunter...carrying the bird in his hoodie...gross!

There is the bird!

When he grabbed a gun for him before we went out I joked with him...what you gonna back me up?! Sure enough he did and it is official...my blind husband is a better shot then me! :) To try and describe what Zach can see is hard but in one eye he sees nothing at all. The other eye is just shadows and outlines on the outer part of his eye. So the center of his eye is completely black. So if he looks directly at something he cant see it, so he has to look to the side of it. So he watched the bird from the side and shot at it when he couldn't see it anymore (cuz that is when he knew it was right in front of him). It was seriously so amazing and I couldn't be more proud of him. He was all smiles the rest of the night and couldn't have had more fun! That's gotta be a record or something...first blind man to shoot a pheasant!

Now all he can talk about is getting a new dog since Sophie won't be around much longer. So if anyone knows of any good springers with a good hunting background...Zach is on the prowl. :)

Funny/Sweet Moment:

1. Before Dakota's accident he LOVED Sophie dog. When we got home and let Sophie out of the car and showed her to Dakota...he got a huge smile on his face and strained his head to see her. When we brought him inside and kept talking bout Sophie he just kept smiling...like...I can't believe Sophie is at OUR house. Too cute!

Good Times

Well, like always I am way behind in life and so much to catch up on. Luckily, we have actually been busy doing some fun things which have created some awesome memories.

The first one was TAYLOR SWIFT concert on September 28!! Call me a teeny bopper or whatever you may but I just adore this girl. She is SO talented, a great singer, and just a good person (I know since we are best friends and all...;) and she did date my second crush (Zach is my first of course)...Jacob as we all know him from Twilight, so she has good taste in men too! :)

Zach surprised me with tickets because I tell him every time she comes...next time we need to go. The best part about it is how he surprised me....We were saying our nightly prayers before bed together and it was his turn. In the middle of his prayer he says, "We thank thee that we can go to Taylor Swift concert." Some may think that that is irreverent or whatever but it was too cute and funny! So Zach for ya!

We had such a fun time together and it was Zach's very first concert EVER!!! Crazy I know! As we were walking up and there were all these girls everywhere Zach said..."you probably should have brought a friend...I feel out of place." But I wouldn't have wanted anyone else there but my BFF of course! He had a great time though and she was AMAZING!! I would totally recommend it and would definitely go again.

This is the closest we could get to her...Not sure why she didn't invite me back stage since we are such great friends...she must have forgot I guess. :)

We watched the screen a lot of the night since are noses were bleeding up at the top but it was still ALL good.

Can you see her way down there tearing it up?!

She came a little closer halfway into the show and sang several songs with just her guitar on this circling tree thing. She sounded so good!

The end she flew around on this little balcony thing.

Besides being a Taylor Swift fan...I am now an official hunter!!! I still can't quite figure out how it all went down but within a month I took my hunter safety class, started practicing my killer shot ;), and went on my first hunts. Zach has always been way into hunting and that has definitely been one of the things he misses most since he lost his sight. Every year, mostly around pheasant season because that was his most favorite hunt, he gets a little down. His cute friend Jake still always invites him to go but it just isn't the same. I think he would pay any money in the world just to see for one day during pheasant season and just go at it. I still am hoping one day he will have the chance again! Anyways, he talked me into hunting "for him" this year and I was up to the challenge. I've shot clay pigeons and rabbits before but that is all I have ever done. I was excited but I think Zach was even more excited about it all. It made my day to see him light up as we were getting ready for it all and talking about it.

So, we got a tag for muzzle loader deer hunt. Jake's brother Josh was nice enough to let us borrow his gun and Jake took us out to practice a couple of times. Jake also invited us to go out on his boat opening day for duck hunt. Zach explained to me that this is a very big deal since opening day is supposed to be the best day out there, so of course I had to say yes! ;) (I even turned out a girls trip to St. George for it...true hunter dedication there right?!)

Like every good hunter ;)...we had to go scout out some spots before the hunt. So we took our ranger out a couple of nights and Zach and Jake went out a couple nights and drove around.

We practiced up...

Zach teaching me how to load the gun

Jake telling me to shoot at some birds

Dakota's girlfriend Hadlee hung out with Dakota while we shot

Zach trying to shoot at a plastic bottle

My first day of deer hunting I realized what I was in for real quick. Zach, Jake, Travis and I went out one evening and we hiked up some steep ole mountains and saw nothing!! As I was wanting to die hiking up the mountain I just thought it will all be worth it when Zach and Travis push a huge buck out to me...I'll be ready. All that came out of the bushes was Zach and Travis...I was like, what the heck! So we hiked some more and Jake and I waited and waited and waited and all that came out again was Zach and Jake. I did see a deer for a split second down below us that was in some thick trees so I guess that counts. I came to realize real quick that this isn't as easy as target practice. I was ready to shoot at something but I guess you learn patience as a hunter.

My first day

The boys...don't mind Jake's hand!

You probable cant' see us with all that camo but we are right in the middle. ;) The best part about it was the fall leaves were coming on and it was beautiful up there! It made the hiking more worth it when you got to the top and was able to check out the gorgeous views.

We had some good fires which were much needed since it was pretty cold in the mornings and nights. Jake getting the courage up to throw some gas on our weak fire.

Great action shot running away! :)

Of course we had to make smores...the best part about camping is the food of course!

Jake and I coming down the mountain...no deer!

The boys

We went to lunch one day since the deer aren't out much during the day to Zach's most favorite spot ever...Carlos and Harley's in Eden. He would seriously eat there every day if he could!

Jake let me shoot his handgun and I sucked at it.

We had to do a little spousal swap in the ole ranger so Jake and I could be up front and get out quick if the opportunity arose. It wasn't so bad! ;)

Heidi and Zach

Jake and I

Roasted hot dogs of course

Not exactly sure what Zach is doing in this pic Heidi took but the leaves are sweet and that guy isn't too bad looking himself!

So I know you are dying to know how big of a buck I got on this hunt..............

but I didn't get one. ;( We only saw some bucks 2 times during our campout and both times we never got close enough to get a good shot off since you have to be pretty close with the muzzle loader. We got close enough to where I got the excited and nervous feelings of a hunter and even got my gun up and pointed while Jake tried to look through the binoculars to tell me which one was a buck but I never even got to shoot the dang gun so that was a little disappointing. It would have been nice to at least shoot at them to say I tried but I didn't even get to do that. Overall, it was still way fun even though the last day was pouring rain on us. There are always some good laughs with Jake and Heidi and maybe next time I will have better luck!

Scoping them out right before they decided to take off and we get poured on.

Jake did shoot a couple of grouse at least so we had some success!

Opening day for duck hunt was quite the experience as well. I realized I don't quite have the dedication of a true hunter that morning when my alarm went off at 2 a.m. and I wanted to stay in bed instead of go out in the freezing cold with a bunch of boys. We got out on the water about 4 a.m. and got our spot. We then waited and waited while the mosquitoes tore us up until 7:30 rolled around so we could start shooting. This time I at least shot several times but I didn't even hit one. ;( It wasn't as easy as clay pigeon practice but the boys were always there backing me up. Overall we took home like 7 or 8 I think. It wasn't as good of opening day as it usually is because the weather was still pretty warm so that is my excuse why I didn't get one. It didn't get as many chances as I should have. ;) It was fun though...I definitely need some more practice!

Jake trying to explain to me what a duck looks like and how I shoot it. ;)

Zach and I snuggled up

Jake, Zach, and I ready at all times.

Me and my cute hubby

Cheddar, Jake, Zach and I all finished up and ready for a nap!

Hunting is fun...it would have just been more fun if I was better and would have gotten something. The boys tried to make me feel better though and tell me on their first times they weren't good either and that it takes more experience. I hope they are right! ;)

We celebrated Zach's birthday on the 19th! He finally caught up to his old lady and turned the big 27! My cute friend that helps me with Dakota's therapy saw my birthday message to Zach on my chalk board and she said, "wow he's only 27! You guys are young!" I'm like I know, but with all of our life experience we should be turning bout 100 right now. At least it feels like it!

We celebrated with his family the Sunday before. His grandparents took us to dinner the day before. We didn't do a whole lot the day of cuz I surprised him on the weekend and took him to Park City for a night while his awesome sister Jenny watched Dakota. It was just a quick trip but we had such a good time just getting out of the routine of life and doing something different for a change. Zach's favorite part of it all was the massages we got the next morning...I didn't mind it too bad either. ;) I am such a lame wife though and didn't get any pictures but the memories are in our head. :)

The best present he got for his birthday though was a brand new niece. His sister Ashley had their baby girl Maelee Marie Hadley on his birthday. We are so excited to have her in our family and of course she is such a little doll.

I'm not gonna lie...I went through a stage for awhile where it was hard to hear that our friends, family and those around me were pregnant. Mostly just because of the selfish fact that that is where I thought that we would be at at this point in our lives and instead we are in a completely different world that I never could have imagined us being in. Before Dakota's accident I would have definitely wanted to have another baby by now or at least be pregnant but with how our life is right now it is not possible for us at this point. So even though I was SO happy for Ashley and Beau, it was hard at the same time. But I don't know exactly what happened that has changed me. I'm sure it is divine help from above but I have come to accept the fact that it is OKAY! I have accepted that when the time is right for us to allow our family to grow then we will know and it will be right for us. I don't know why there is this unspoken feeling that everything has to happen on a certain timeline or else. You have to get married by a certain age, have kids by a certain age, have them only this far apart, have this many kids, etc. I have come to understand that their is no right way of doing any of this and that all that matters is what is right for you and your family and the Lord will help you know and understand this. I am at peace with where our family is right now and when the time comes for a change I know it will be the right time for us. So with COMPLETELY happy hearts we welcome our sweet Mealee with hugs and kisses...sorry Ashley and Beau we have a lot of them stored up for her! :)

Maelee and Dakota

He also got to chill with Houston while we were there

Dakota just randomly got his arm up on Houstons head. It was pretty funny.

We also got to take Dakota to Punkinaze in Roy. I had been wanting to take him there since he loved that bouncy slide so I was thinking he would love the big slide there too. We invited Ashley, Beau, and Houston too. When we got to the front to pay the people that own it let us in free. They were related to some of our friends and read our blog. It was too sweet. They were so happy to see Dakota and were so cute to him.

We ended up staying a lot longer then we planned mostly because Houston was having a ball. Dakota liked it but I didn't get the same smile I did from him down the other slide.

The sun was in our eyes at first so Dakota didn't love that.

We made it!

Dakota and Houston played in the corn pit and found some treats!

It was a fun outing as a fam!

Dakota is still loving school. As we were driving to school the other day I turned down the street and said, "I see your school Dakota! We are almost there and you get to see your friends!" I turned back and he just had this huge smile and did his little laugh." It was too cute. He has the cutest nurse that has sent me pictures of him on my phone during school.

This is what he has been doing when I'm not around....

Holding other girls hands!!!! I can't believe it. The nurse says the girls just love to hug, kiss and hold his hand and now I believe it.

These 2 cute girls were helping him decide which color of hat he wanted.

He even started riding the bus home last week and they said he just looked out the window.

Getting off the bus. I am a dork and had my video camera out for the big bus moment. I was filming the front door of the bus and then as I watched the driver open up the back for the wheelchair lift I realized... duh, he can't come out the front. Just one of those moments when you realize it's not how you pictured his first bus ride to look like but oh well. He was still so dang cute getting off the bus.

Dad was there to welcome him home too and that is his cute nurse Robin that we love!!!

WE SURE LOVE YOU...OUR LITTLE LADIES MAN!

Get better and I'll let you call ALL your girlfriends as much as you want!!

Funny/Sweet Moments:

1. We like to give him little tastes of things we eat and he LOVES it! He just watches you eat and stares at whatever you have. Zach decided to give him a taste of his jerky and he just kinda bit down on it and it just sat there.