Good 'ole Sam

Tuesday my dog died. He was almost 15 years old and had been really sick the past year or two. Quite honestly, I'm glad my parents finally put him to sleep. He was practically blind, deaf, couldn't smell, and just miserable at times. But never once did he complain. My dad and Kurtis buried him in the backyard. Did you know the vet will give you a cardboard coffin for your dog? He was the best dog a family could ask for. I remember the first time I saw Sam (AKC registered as Chief Remington Sam), he was the cutest thing I had ever seen! A white and brown (liver is the official color) fluff ball. He didn't have the typical English Springer Spaniel markings all over his back. He followed me and Jesse around and was so calm with us that we knew he was the puppy for us. That first night we slept in the basement all of us -me, Jesse, probably Kimmy, Sam, and my dad. My dad of course had to take Sam out every few hours and carry him up and down the stairs - sorry Dad I seem to remember saying I would do that but I did feed him, take him for walks, and picked up dog poop! Sam went everywhere with me and was inseparable from the family till the moment he died. I loved taking him running and boy could he go and go and go. He would run for miles with me (yes, I used to run MILES everyday). I would take him running in the farmer's fields by our house hoping he would figure out he was supposed to be a hunting dog and flush pheasants but he was always so busy running around that those pheasants I'm sure just sat there and mocked him. I remember pulling stickers and ice balls out of his hair and toes afterwards and no matter how much it hurt, he always let me do it. I always felt safe running with Sam and to this day tell everyone the reason I don't run anymore is because I lost my running partner. He would pull us on our bikes, climb the playgrounds with us and go down the slides, bite and run through the sprinklers, spring up and down in the alfalfa fields (it was hilarious because you would Sam spring up then disappear then spring up somewhere else) and swim at Bear Lake until he almost drowned. Seriously, he almost drowned because he couldn't stand it to see us playing in the water without him. I finally figured out he would sit on our inner tubes if we pushed him around the lake with us. What dog does that? None that I've seen! Sam would have done anything to protect me. I remember one time he kept barking to go outside so I of course opened the back door and let him out. Us kids were home alone at the time, and the next thing I heard was someone yelling. I looked out the window and saw that Sam had chased the utility guy up our back fence and was barking at him. He also did that to my grandpas a few times, but only when we were home alone. I'm pretty sure in his prime Sam would have killed anyone who had tried to hurt us. He could leap into the back of a truck with the gate up without a running start, not to mention leap our 6 foot high fence like it was nothing. We could always expect to see Sam sitting on the front porch waiting for us when we came home - he jumped the fence a lot. I remember teaching him to shake hands, lay down, and when Kurtis would stick Cheerios on his nose and say "steady, steady, get it Sam" and he would flip them up and catch them in his mouth. He would sleep with us, lay under our feet (whether we wanted him to or not), and despite getting into the garbage, eating entire bags of Hersey's Kisses (whoever said chocolate kills dogs obviously did not meet Sam), never walking calmly on a leash, or inhaling any food left on the table, Sam was the best dog in the whole world! I will miss him so much and so will Pearl. She just loves doggies and I think that was her favorite part of going to Grandma and Grandpa's house. It just won't be the same without him.

Popsicle Face

I know I'm posting two things in one night, but I'm on a roll! This will be short because words are not needed to describe what happened on Sunday when Pearl saw Jeff eating a delicious popsicle. The rest is...well you can see for yourself as we go from "gimme, gimme, gimme Daddy" to a red, white, and blue face (and dress)!

Hogle Zoo

Ah the zoo. As a kid you loved the zoo but Hogle Zoo? Honestly I always thought it was a dumpy zoo myself full of animals stuck in tiny cages just waiting to die. Then when Jeff and I were dating we went to the zoo but fought the whole time. I'm remembering Jeff teasing me way past the point of funny and then me refusing to give in and be happy. He thought it was hilarious to make me climb aboard a statue of a rhino for a picture and then stand next to a sign that said "mute swan". I of course was furious that he continued to giggle at me but I must admit the pictures were funny. But Hogle Zoo has come a long way over the past couple of years and even Jeff was impressed with it. Still the best zoo I've ever been to is in Kansas City, MO- yes way better than even San Diego Zoo. It was seriously like going to a wild animal preserve and it took us the entire day, no joking just ask my brother Jesse who complained about how lame it was the entire time, to walk around it. We didn't even see everything. But that's beside the point, this post is all about Pearl's first trip to Hogle Zoo.

The first weeks in July are always busy for us. With Jeff's birthday and our anniversary, we always seem to have lots of news to share this time of year. In between these celebrations, Pearl of course continues to experience and learn new things. And now that my stupid paper for one of my last 3 graduate classes is finally done, I'm playing catch up on what we've been doing. Last Monday Jeff took the day off ('cause we both worked on our anniversary) and stayed home for "mamma and Pearl" day. We decided to take Pearl to Hogle Zoo since she just loves animals. What we should have done instead was take her to Pets Mart! Not only would it have been cheaper, but she thought every animal at the zoo was a doggie anyway. It was going to be super hot so we braved the zoo before Pearl's nap. Good call on our part, well at least considering I've never been to the zoo when all the animals were out and about playing. She had fun but was super tired and didn't get into it as much as I would have thought. Nor did we get the adorable pictures I had envisioned. Honestly, will this kid ever let me get a good shot of her, just once? I mean is it too much to ask to document your child's adorable smile, crooked teeth, and big hazel eyes? She was excited to see all the doggies though and continued to bark and pant at every animal she thought was a dog. But by the time we wound our way around the entire zoo, Pearl had had enough. On a side note, there was a sign in the new big cats exhibit that said only 5,000 tigers are left in the wild? WHAT? Has our world come to this? I mean, thinking that my children will never see a tiger, elephant, or polar bear except in a movie or zoo is depressing. How sad! After the zoo we went to Litza's Pizza for lunch, yummy! Too bad we can't have family day everyday!

Oh and speaking of animals, Jeff has been teaching Pearl what a rooster says. Which, by the way is NOT a zoo animal (neither are turkeys) in my opinion. Anyway, Jeff does a pretty mean impersonation of a rooster and Pearl has figured out that this animal makes a noise similar to her ear-piercing screams. The catch is though we think it's cute. She must think we have totally lost it, encouraging her to cock-a-doodle-do at us.

What do you remember about us?

Alright, I'm joining the fun that all my friends are having! You can leave a memory of me, Jeff, or me and Jeff together - whichever memories are more fun.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

How long is eternity again?

Ever pondered how long eternity really is? Hard to comprehend I know but for Jeff and I, we're 6 six years into eternity as of today. Yup, it's the ole' anniversary and as happens every year, Jeff was the first to remember and tell me happy anniversary. When we got engaged he said July 11 was the perfect day to get married because he would always remember the date - he loves Slurpees hence the 7-11 reference. And he has yet to forget! So just for kicks and giggles, and because I don't have an electronic pictures from our engagement/wedding (pathetic I know), I thought I would share some of our "firsts" together.


First time we met: I had just finished my first year of college and my friend Rachel drug me to a BBQ at Jeff's house. I didn't want to go but she kept insisting I needed to meet these guys she had been hanging out with. So I went. I figured I needed to get out of the house anyway and who can go wrong with free food. I remember walking into Jeff's backyard and getting introduced to "Johnson" and "Palmer", two guys who instantly made me laugh. The one thing I couldn't figure out was why a parent would name their kids' Johnson and Palmer. That's all I ever heard anyone call my Jeff and his best friend Jeff until I figured out everyone called them by their last names. Admittedly I was a grump that day and I'm sure didn't leave a good impression. But something clicked and the three of us starting hanging out all the time. We did everything together. Even people who had known Jeff since he was a kid starting thinking I had grown up with him because we were always together. After awhile, I started calling "Johnson" Jeff and he called me Jenny instead of "Jewkes" which at that point we figured hey why not give dating a whirl? The rest is history!


First date: Our first official date was going to James and the Giant Peach at Ellen Eccles Theatre. The catch with this play was it was all in sign language. It was really cool to watch a play in sign language and amazingly we stayed pretty caught up on the story line. The only downside was when the kids all started laughing and pointing in our direction and we didn't have a clue why. Remember, everyone there could sign except us and I'm positive there was some inside joke going on.


First kiss: Jeff was pretty determined to get the first kiss and had been trying for weeks before I finally gave in. I figured after making him go to a flute recital for one of my classes and buying me a Jamba Juice (every guy's dream date), I owed him one. He's a great kisser too!


How we got engaged: Well first of all, let me clarify by saying the first time I found out we were getting married was at a USU basketball game. We were watching the game and during a timeout Jeff told me he had booked a room at the temple. I hadn't ever gone to the temple before and figured, although I thought it was odd, you had to book a room for some reason when you wanted to go. I said oh that's nice. Jeff knew I didn't quite grasp what he was saying so he said he had booked the biggest room at the temple on July 11. At this point I figured I didn't know what he was talking about and asked him why. Casually he said we're getting married. By this time the game had resumed and the next thing I know I'm yelling "WHAT?" and Jeff is jumping up and down screaming at the officials. Everyone around us was laughing.

That was in January but Jeff officially proposed on St. Patrick's Day. We had gotten into this huge argument the night before over some really, really dumb wedding stuff and both of us weren't talking and quite frankly were about ready to say we're done! But Jeff had already planned things out so he still proposed this day. When I got home from church (we didn't even sit by each other we were so mad), my friend Becky called and said she wanted to make cookies or something like that but at my parent's house. Lame I thought and why at my parents? Then my brother called and begged me to come home and make him a sandwhich. Even more lame, something fishy is going on. I told him no over and over again but when he said my dad wanted a grilled tuna fish sandwhich and that he was sick, I gave in and had Becky take me to my parents' house. I took my roommate Kristy with me because I didn't want to go alone - which according to Jeff was NOT in the plans. We got to my parents and I made Jesse and my dad lunch. The phone kept ringing but Jesse wouldn't let me answer it. At this point I knew something was going on. Finally I got the phone and Jesse handed me an envelope with a note inside. I don't remember the exact wording but I do remember it said if I wanted to get "lucky" (remember it's St. Patrick's Day) I had to find Jeff. Jeff was listening on the phone hoping for screams of joy when I clued in that today I was getting proposed to but all I said was oh great, I don't want to drive all over town! I don't even have a car! I think I really disappointed him but I was still so mad about our fight the night before. I think Jesse ended up taking me back to my house and when we pulled up there was in chalk and huge, "Jenny will you marry me?" all over the driveway. I was so embarrassed because all the neighbors would see it! All through our dating we liked to chalk each other's driveways or spray paint our lawns with funny things and so it really was cute because it was fitting for us. But man was I embarrassed. Plus I forgot to mention that morning it had snowed and Jeff's best friend had come over and snowblowed our driveway - again I thought kinda weird - but he had no idea Jeff was proposing that day, it just sort of worked out. When I got into my house I found a monstrous bouquet of gorgeous flowers! They were the only reason Jeff went through with proposing that day because he had already ordered them before we got into our fight. I remember walking into the living room, seeing Jeff (who was in a sweatshirt no less, got really dressed up for the occasion) and the flowers, and then he just handed me the ring box. I said, aren't you going to get down on one knee and ask me to marry you to which he responded "this is lame." Real romantic, huh? Needless to say, he did ask me and I said yes (I was so excited to put this big rock on my finger!) and as Jeff always tells everyone when we talk about how we got engaged, we made out. It must be his favorite part of the story I guess!

A few months later, on the hottest day of the year, we got married in the Logan Temple. It was beautiful and filled with laughter, family and friends, and so much fun. My grandpa Allen sealed us and the few bits of advice I remember him telling us were that there's always a spender and a saver in a relationship and as long as we have one of each we should be okay. I really wish I would have written down more of what he said because I just can't remember much now. We moved into this tiny house we affectionately call the "toolshed" (it seriously had four rooms and the ceilings were only 6 feet tall in the basement - that's another post for a slow day), graduated from USU, got our first "real" jobs, moved to Bountiful, bought a house, had a baby, and have been happily married for 6 years. I really can't imagine my life without Jeff. He makes me laugh, pushes me to be better, is a great cook and help around the house/yard, and I just love him more than words can even describe. I asked him last night after we had gone golfing if he wanted to give it another go for 6 years. He said, nah, let's just take it one day at a time because I just don't know if I can commit to more than a year then laughed. What a character! But that's exactly what I love the most about him. Happy Anniversary!