In Sophie's Words, Calddorado (colorado)....

We had our Colorado trip planned for a while to say farewell to Uncle Jeff before he heads off to boot camp. We were going to leave early Friday morning. Last week we learned about Dr. Redds death. Corey decided he needed to go down to Blanding to the funeral. He was good friends with Jav his whole life and spent many days at the Redds. He was going to head down monday, go to the funeral tuesday, drive home wednesday and then we were going to head back down that way early Friday to Colorado. We decided it would make more sense if we just spent the week in Blanding, so that's what we did. We left really early Tuesday morning. We got there and Corey went to the funeral. We spent the rest of the week relaxing and getting ready for Colorado. We left for the cabin early Friday morning. We got there around 11:00. We all decided to go to the pond to fish. Corey, Sophie and I hopped on a four wheeler and followed Garet and Kaleb on theirs. Half way there Garet decide he didn't want to ride his anymore. He got on with Corey and Soph and I got on his. I have never driven a four wheeler in my life. It was an automatic kids four wheeler and Corey assured me I could do it! We started going and Sophie flipped out because she wanted to ride with me. I put her on in front of me. We went really slow. With the pond in sight I went a little faster, not much though. We got to a little hill and I started to go down. I soon realized that at the bottom there was a pretty sharp turn that I wasn't going to make. All I thought was, hang on to Sophie. As I hit the turn, the four wheeler stopped and flipped me off. All I remember was hitting the ground and hearing myself scrap across the dirt. I sat up and Soph was next to me on the ground. I picked her up as fast as I could to make sure she wasn't hurt. I saw her little face had a few scrapes but that was it. I started to cry and basically didn't stop the whole day. I felt sick that I had let that happen. Corey was in front of me and didn't see us crash, he came to our rescue though and assured me she was fine and that it was ok. Mike, Linda, Jeff, Bonnie, and Maddie where in a truck behind me and saw the whole thing. According to them, as I was falling off I held sophie on the four wheeler with my hand. As she went out of my reach she fell of on top of me, and then rolled off of me and landed on the ground. It made me feel a little better to know that I held her on as long as I could. It was so sad, but it could have been a lot worse. I thanked Heavenly Father that all we got were some scrapes and bruises. The whole right side of my body is so sore and bruised. She cried for a while and then was happy the rest of the day. I cried on and off the whole day. I still feel sick when I think about it. We fished the rest of the day. It was a blast! We went out in the canoe. Corey broke his bad luck streak and caught 3 fish!! He was so happy! Friday was also our 5th anniversary. Saturday we went and fished some more, rode four wheelers, and hung out in the cabin while it rained. The boys went out and rounded up the cows and horses. We ate good food, played games and enjoyed each others company. Uncle Jeff left us with a few laughs as he tipped his canoe over and fell in, and as he caught a fish and as he was reeling it in, it jumped off and hooked him on the eye lid! Sophie loved spending time with Maddie and Hannah. She wants to be just like them. She followed them every where they went and did everything they did. It was so cute! We had a ton of fun!

5 amazing years...

I can't believe we have been married for 5 years! It has been an incredible journey so far. I can't wait to see what the next 50 hold for us! I love you so much! You are my true love, HVT

23 months...

I cant believe my little peanut it almost two. She cant wait for her Happy Birthday. Whenever you ask her about it she says she wants an Ariel party, and she wants to blow out her candles on her birthday cake. She talks like crazy! Some times I cant even keep up with her. She is starting to say the funniest things too. The other day we asked her what she wanted for dinner. She told us peanuts and mashed potatoes. We spent the week in Blanding, Grandma Linda was showing her a picture of herself when she was a baby, and asked "who's that?" Sophie replied, "Soph." Then she sat there for a minute and then said, "My hair naked". Linda about died laughing. She loves Princesses and Fancy Nancy. She loves to be outside, no matter what we are doing. She loves fruit snacks and could eat a box a day if we let her. She knows her full name, as well as mine and Coreys. She calls me Jack and Mommy Halliday, and Corey, Cor Jens. Now every ones last name is Halliday. She was looking at a Mickey book and said "Daddy look Mickey and Goofy Halliday". She is so tiny. She is still wearing some of her summer clothes from last year. She is not afraid of any thing and is a big dare devil. She is a snuggle bug and loves to give hugs and kisses, and to tell you, you are beautiful or pretty. She still doesn't like nursery. She loves to go to the lake and the swimming pool. She can walk down the stairs forward all by herself. She goes pretty fast sometimes so I tell her to slow down and she says "be so careful momma". She is 100% girl. She loves everything and anything pink, princessy and girly! I love her so much! She is such a joy!

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House...

We finally got to see all of my Dads hard work completed. It was so AWESOME!!! It is such a beautiful temple. I felt so blessed and happy that I got to be a part of the process. We had a couple of usher with us, they pushed the grandma's wheelchairs. My Dad got permission to take us to the basement and a few other places the tour doesn't go. We had already seen it but my grandma's hadn't. The ushers had permanent smiles on their faces. When we got done we went and got a cookie and some water. As we were leaving some one told us Angel Moroni had been struck by lightning. We went to look, and sure enough his whole head, neck, arm and trumpet were pitch black. Pretty interesting. My dad said some one will have to take a crane and go up there to sand it all off and them re-gold leaf it. I love this temple. It will always be special to me. In a very small way I got to help build it, and I feel so blessed. I am so proud of my Dad! He put in so much time. Dad, you did an incredible job! Thank you for letting us be a part of this wonderful experience. It is something I will never forget.

Princess Sophie at it again...

Auntie Jess bought some new finger nail polish. Tori wanted hers painted, so as I was painting them Sophie decided she wanted hers done too. She sat very still on the chair the whole time. When we were done and they were dry, she was so happy. She showed every one she saw. She kept holding her hands up to look at her nails. She would smile and say my finger nails are so pretty. The next day she woke up, as we were laying in bed she held up her hands smiled. She is so cute! She loves having her finger nails done.

A Before and After...

A few days ago, I was going through some old pictures. I found these lovely pictures of our House remodeling process. I thought it would be worth while to do some before and after pictures. I must say, I am still more than thrilled with how everything turned out. Unless you were one of the lucky ones who got to see our Condo in all her glory, you may never truly appreciate just how miraculous this transformation really was...

The Kitchen...

(I give you permission to laugh at my less than graceful attempt to kick down our wall.)

The Dining Area

The Kitchen

The Back Door

The Living Room

The Bathroom

Dad, Corey and everyone else who put in so much time and thought into making our home so awesome, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I don't think I have ever really had the opportunity to express my gratitude! I love you all!

another lake adventure...

It was a beautiful saturday, so we decided to go to the lake. We left around noon to sunny skies. As we went over parleys summit, the temperature outside dropped 20 degrees and it started to rain. We decided to keep going since we were almost there. When we arrived at the lake it wasn't raining, but it was really cloudy. We got the boat ready and backed down the ramp. My dad turned the key and nothing happened. We figured out that battery was dead because the stereo had been left on. We pulled out, and started looking for the jumper cables. That's when it started to rain. It started out as a drizzle and continued to get heavier as the minutes went by. Then it started to thunder and lightning. We put the cover back on and sat under it, we ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and watched every one frantically pull their boats out of the water. We decided we were going to wait out the storm. We waited and waited, and it never stopped. We finally decided to leave. We rushed to put the boat together to avoid getting drenched. We asked if we could have our money back because we didn't even get in the water. The nice lady gave us a rain check. As we left it stopped raining, of course! It was just another Sharp adventure at the Lake!