Puppy Love

Yep, that's right I'm in love....and not just with my amazing husband but my adorable new PUPPY! Kyah is a German short hair pointer/boarder collie mix. She's got TONS of energy, lots of love, and is growing oh so fast! She's been such a happy little pooch and an awesome addition to our lives. We rescued her from the Cache Humane Society where she was 1 of 14 pups (poor momma dog). When we went up to go and get her she was covered in mud from being an outside dog at her foster parents home. Being the smallest and most clam around her puppy siblings she stayed sat and looked up at Quynn and I. They always say dogs are the ones who choose their master...either way we fell in love. She remained by the fence loving every minute of us petting and cooing over her, ok maybe that was just me. We told the foster parents we wanted her and that we would pick her up at the humane society to sign the papers. After spending butt loads of dollars on her set up for her new home with us, we went to go get her. She was clean (thanks CHS)  and sweet as ever for the drive home. She was such a cuttle bug until that night when I decided she could sleep in the bed with us. Who knew something an 1/8 of my size was such a bed hog! After a restless nights sleep I decided that was the end of  that and we bought her a kennel for her own space...SHE LOVES IT...and I can sleep! She's got quite the personality and loves to play tug-a-war. She also LOVES birds, oh boy, Quynn can't wait for pheasant huntin' season!

this is when we first brought her home, she is a good passenger in cars.

Check out her short and stubby legs...before she grew now she looks more proportionate.

Her most favorite toy, her red rope!

Sitting so patiently. Sorry about the poor quality I'm still getting used to the picture taking on my phone.

Year 2010 Brought...

Recapping the year of 2010 in one word phrases:
Nanny.Laughter.House.Joy.Hawaii.Peace.Missionary.Faith.
Friends.Sanity.Jobs.Hope.Family.Trust.Hiking.Serenity.

Looking forward to 2011!!!

AfRiCa!

The night that changed my life forever was November 9th, 2010.  My aunt Lisa had invited me to hear the story of a woman name Mariama Kallon.  She was born and lived most of her life in Sierra Leone, Africa.  For those of you who know about this place is it's known for it's....blood diamonds.
The results of this horrific experience for many was the loss of limbs usually cut off by machetes or being shot to death. Both of these things Mariama witnessed as a little girl growing up in Sierra Leone.  When the men with the machetes would come a word would be yelled out and the people in the villages would run for their lives, many not running fast enough. Upon fleeing for her life she heard gun shots and turned around to notice that both her parents had been shot and killed. Looking to her sister who stated that they couldn't turn back but needed to keep running. They did so and came across a little hut that they thought was safe. Upon morning they woke up to be surrounded by the Rebels with their machetes in hand cussing and yelling commands at the women who had taken refuge in this little hut. They did as they were commanded to do all mumbling prayers to their God. Mariama had the thought cross her mind, she knew God existed but she thought about asking God if he was really there.  Upon doing so shouts from soilders nearby had scared the Rebels off and once again the women fled to the forests.  Her sister was not as fortuante and fell into the hands of the rebels. Once in the forest she was given a humanitarian kit that was able to help 25 women for 3 weeks!! To this day Mariama still carries what's left of her humanitarian kit. A friend from school had noticed her circumstances and told her she could stay with them until she found some family members. Upon staying with them they told her that they didn't have anything to give but hope, courage, and love from their church.  Needing hope, courage, and love she decided she would go. They took her to an LDS chapel where she experienced her first 'quite' church. :) There she found what she was looking for and decided she wanted to be apart of this church and got baptized, as well as served a full time mission in the Salt Lake City temple mission. With nothing but her humanitarian kit, scriptures, the clothes on her back, and her righteous desire to serve a mission she left for Utah. During her stay in the MTC her mission president had heard about her and him and his wife took her to the bookstore where she could purchase her first set of knee highs and other clothes that were apart of the missionary life. She also recieved 3 suitcases full of clothes given to her by sister missionaries returning home. Her story continues as she recieves many more blessings through out her life and to this day travels with the church for "a time out for woman" to tell her story.  I got to meet this amazing person and my desire to help and serve in Africa increased even more so.  I recieved a contact from Mariama into an organization that will one day change my life forever. I've been accepted and if I so choose at this time to serve in Africa I'll be leaving June 7th 2011. :) Thank you Mariama for your testimony, your inspirational story, and the love in you heart! I owe my success in Africa all to you!

Our Zion

The moment for all those who have been desperately waiting to see our house, aka:Stephanie.

This is the view from the front door into our living room. 

These are our couches, in our living room, what a coincidence! ;) But do take note of the picture on the left that was my gift to Quynn it's a picture of some of our founding fathers signing the decleration, Ben franklin is crying with tears of joy.  I saw this picture and knew that my husband would appreciate it! His love for his country and the founding fathers continues to grow especially at this time. Love you Quynn!

This is our fireplace with some halloween deco on top.  One day behind the fireplace we'll have a rock wall! I'm super excited for that!

This is the other side of the living room looking into the conservatory, notice my cute witch I won at Bunko!! Yes, Bunko I LOVE bunko nights with my girlfriends in Lehi!! WOOT WOOT!

This is our conservatory room, It's a bit messy so there won't be much pictures of this! But this is our most prized possession our baby grand piano.  We're "storing" it for gma and gpa Udell, it's played ALL the time! It bring so much happiness to this home! I LOVE MUSIC!!! Especially when Quynn creates it, hopefully our kids will learn how to play on this piano!

And this is our kitchen "the heart" of every home.  Notice Quynn's beautiful job at laying down our tile! :)This is a work in progress, and will be for some time! We've got grand ideas for this room!

This is the kitchen nook, and our temporary table until we can build our own built in kitchen nook table.  The table is set for dinner with our gma and gpa Harrison and Jessica. We will be having ministrone soup, canned peaces from previous blog post, and bread.  Hope the soup turns out! And all of the wood will one day be covered in stone to give the effect of dining in Italy! 

Our Bathroom! :)

Quynn's throne!! Tee Hee!

Welcome to a touch of AFRICA!! Yes MY favorite room!! Notice my wonderful giraffe that my father in law had hoped I'd forget about. ;) The pictures that aren't very visible were chinese paintings of animals in Africa drawn by Jessica! She's amazing at art work!! 

Here's another view of Africa with our African masks and a lion carved out of wood! and again notice the beautiful giraffe to the side! :) 

Well that's all for now! Hope you've enjoyed this virtual tour of our humble abode! Our Zion!! 

Happy Birthday Mommy Dear

Happy Birthday momma! I had such a fun time going bowling at Fat Cats, with people I love! It was Jacobs first time bowling and it was so fun to watch him bowl! He did better then me!! ;)

Then Jacob started picking teams depending on what our scores were, I was on his team then got demoted.  Finally he realized Quynn was doing great and my mom was doing pretty good! High 5!

Mom! I am so grateful for you! I am so thankful for all you've done for me and for all your selfless acts of love! I'm grateful for your passion in music and for pushing me to keep mine! We're winners not quitters! I'm grateful for your testimony of Love and Faith! But most importantly I'm grateful for you! Thank you for being my Mother! XO

Mupps turned 5

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy birthday dear sweet Jacob, muppalous! Happy Birthday to you! September 21st was my little brother's birthday and he turned 5, that's a whole hand!! Jacob decided for his birthday that him and 5 friends would get together and race around a race track on their bikes! So of course I had to buy him some racing gear, thanks to Wal Mart and it being so close to Halloween I found just what I needed! And boy did he look great! I think my special gift also helped him to win all the races...na he's just the all star child! :) Way to go Jacob you're #1. XO

I'm gonna be a Mighty Queen so enemies beware!

So four months ago I get a phone call from Quynn telling me to schedule out the night of September 26th for a special date night.  Well you know me, I HAD to figure out this surprise!  So, after question after question he refused to tell me and said I'd just have to wait, but he said "it's something that you're going to LOVE!!!!" Well everyone knows my obsession with Africa and how much I want to go there.  Quynn knows we can't afford going to Africa but he wanted to get me as close as he could....so he bought tickets to go see Lion King on Broadway at the Capital Theatre!! HOLY COW!!! I did figure it out before September 26th ;) but it was STILL an amazing night with fun and laughter! We spent our night with Buck and Anna, our cousins, I had a blast getting to know them better! And as far as Lion King went I was on the edge of my seat the entire time! I could see that show once a month for the rest of my life!! Better yet, I should just live in Africa!!! ;) I'm working on my ROAR!!