ClarkJamilynJayda

I know, I know

2011-03-06T22:38:00.014-07:00

So... it's been a while, I know. I wish I were better at remembering to blog, but hey, here I am, 4 months since my last post. I know it was so long ago, but I just had to put a few Christmas pictures up. It probably feels like forever since you were opening presents with your families, but I'll remind you. We had a fun Christmas with a little one running around.
Here is one of the few pictures we got of Jayda on Christmas morning. She loved pulling everything out of her stocking and mostly unwrapping the presents, rather than playing with all of her new stuff. Gotta love one-year-olds.

Clark got a new sweater (I know, such a typical present. I'm boring), but he liked it and got a few other things too. Such a poser, as in he's posing for the picture.

Grammy Tammy gave us lots of fun new things for Christmas and definitely spoiled the grandkids. Jayda was having lots of fun carrying around her new Elmo books.

Jayda's cousin Audrie likes to help Jayda do things and loved helping her open her Christmas presents. Audrie got lots of fun stuff, but still seemed to be a little jealous of Jayda's new toys. This is a typical scene for the two of them. They love each other.

The most recent tradition in our family is to go to Little America on Christmas morning for their breakfast/brunch buffet. It is delicious and I must say that I quite enjoy this newly adopted tradition. My mom, and Alli, usually stay the night so we can go swimming. My cousins came up and we all had a lot of fun swimming together. Here's Clark and Jayda getting ready for the pool. What a cute couple!

We also went to "Zoo Lights" with Clark's family and had a lot of fun. It was freezing, but really neat to see how many lights they have set up. Jayda had the most fun when we were inside and she could actually see the animals up close.

My mom got Jayda the cutest Sesame Street couch for Christmas. It is adorable and Jayda loves it! She currently uses it mostly as a stepping block to climb up onto the couch and play/wrestle around. But she does like to sit in it to watch her favorite shows (Barney and Sesame Street). So cute!

This couch even pulls out to a bed. It has a little sleeping bag and everything. Jayda was loving it and I get to see her in this position at least once a week, usually with a snack in hand.

Moving beyond Christams, Jayda has learned to LOVE coloring. Pen, crayon, marker, pencil, whatever she can get her hands on, she will draw with. I have been trying to teach her to only color on paper, this is after my pantry door and kitchen drawers were found with pen all over. She does pretty well, although I do rub pen and crayon off of my table quite often.

Jayda also loves bath time! She splashes all over and laughs at herself. She has a little toy that squirts water and thinks it's hilarious to spray water out of the bath tub and onto me. Not my favorite game, but funny still.

Jayda is a typical 16-month-old and gets in to EVERYTHING! It drives me crazy most of the time, but this time, I was playing "make-up" with her after church one day. She wants to be just like me, I guess, because she grabbed the brushes and started applying pretend blush to er cheeks. Love this girl!

And today, I put together a new outfit for Jayda. I've had all of these pieces for months and she's just never worn them together. Oh the simple joys of being a mom, and a woman. Here is Jayda right before church looking cute as ever. She is wearing brown little leggings under that dress and it just made the outfit for me. I love having a girl and hope I get another one real soon...

Meaning, I am pregnant. Most of you probably know, but we are expecting baby Bell number 2! Due date is 9/10/11! Life is busy with work for both Clark and I, and Jayda is definitely a handful. She has realized that a few days a week I leave for work when Clark gets home so now, whenever Clark gets home, she gives him a quick hug, then clings to me. Like seriously CLINGS! Won't let go of my leg, crawls through my legs until I pick her up, won't let me put her down once I do pick her up. It is, again, not my favorite game. Jayda is a sweet girl though. She's very social and loves to be around other kids and other people in general. She's very playful and loves dancing on our bed. I have felt a little guilty because I've been pregnant sick and not able to play with her as much as I would have liked, but I'm feeling a little better now so Jayda is enjoying her mommmy again.

Jayda turns 1! And other stuff

2010-11-18T00:43:00.000-07:00

So our internet was down for a couple weeks and then the device that transfers our pictures to the computer stopped working so it has taken me a while to get these pictures up.
Way back in October, we went to Wheeler Farm with some people in our ward to do the wagon ride, corn maze and get a pumpkin. All for $7, not bad. We had a lot of fun trying to push the stroller through the straw of the corn maze.

A few young moms in our neighborhood have started a play group and for our first activity we went to a pumpkin patch. Jayda loved being able to walk around everywhere and picked up anything she could.

I can't believe it, but Jayda is already 1 year old! We had a small get together and it was a lot of fun. The invite:

I worked hard to put this table display together, so I just had to put it on here. The banner alone took me probably 3 hours, but it was worth it! Thanks to Rachel for helping me with the invite, banner and cupcake toppers. Thanks to Liz for helping me bake the night before and Rachelle for helping me decorate that morning. I think it turned out pretty cute and everyone had a good time.

I have somehow lost a bunch of our pictures from her birthday party, but here's one of everyone singing "Happy Birthday" and Jayda trying to figure out what's going on.

And, of course, getting a little messy as she digs in to that cute, over-sized cupcake. The whole night was a lot of fun and Jayda loved all the attention.

Just 3 days after Jayda's birthday, my sister had her first baby, Zoey, and I became an aunt for the second time (I'll be an aunt for the third time in just a couple weeks when Clark's sister has her second)! Pretty cute little babe.

Clark and I at the hospital holding new little baby Zoey. She is a great baby and seems to only cry when she's hungry... every 4 hours! My sister doesn't know how lucky she has it!

And then, it was Halloween! We went to a fun party with some friends from our neighborhood to eat delicious food and play games. Thanks Heather!

Jayda in her kitty costume. I tried to do the whiskers, but I should've known better. She would hardly let me draw on her face, let alone leave them on for the whole night. She was a pretty cute little kitty though!

We also went up to Laura's cabin to have a fun high school friends and husbands party. We always get together for Halloween and this year was one to remember. We ate, played games and stayed up late just talking and laughing. I'm really lucky to have such great friends with great husbands!

West Yellowstone

2010-10-18T22:31:00.007-06:00

I am a little behind on my blogging, but I wanted to make sure I got these cute pictures from our Labor Day trip on here. Clark's family owns some cabins in West Yellowstone so we got free lodging and had a really fun trip with Clark's extended family. We did some shopping and found a cute moose.

We went in to Yellowstone park and saw the infamous Old Faithful. I'm sure it was the first of many times that Jayda will see it in her life.

We went on a hike to this cool little spring. It's a hot water spring that runs into the cold river so when they mix together it's like a nice warm bath. Some spots are definitely hotter than others, much hotter, but it was fun to hang out in for a little bit.

We saw lots of wild life, which in my opinion, is the best part of being in Yellowstone. There's always a lot of bison, but this time we got to see this elk, all up close and personal (from our car, of course).

Clark's uncle lives in Big Sky, Montana so one night we drove up to have a nice steak dinner. It was getting a little chilly outside, but when dinner was over we walked out to find snow on the ground! Keep in mind this was September 5th! Jayda was wearing Jelly shoes! This picture is to show the snow in the background, not the cars behind us. That made for a cold night in the cabin, but was kinda fun.

This was a fun, relaxing trip. No real agenda, just wake up and do what you want to do. And for all the driving we did, Jayda was a real champ!
Coming soon: Jayda's first birthday!

What happened to Summer?

2010-09-18T00:16:00.014-06:00

Seriously, it's already half way through September? What the heck happened to August? I guess we were just so busy going to the pool, going on walks and going on other outdoor adventures that I was too tuckered out to blog. Ha! A lot has happened since July, so I'm gonna split up my posts/pictures so as not to overwhelm myself and all of you devoted readers of the Bell Blog.
I really wanted to make it out to Thanksgiving Point to have lunch outside and walk through the gardens before Summer was over. So with one week left before school started again for my mom and sister, and before dance started up again at Prodigy, we made it down and only paid $2.00 to walk through the beautiful gardens. What a deal!

We saw some fun fishies.

Alli and Jayda played in the fountains.

And I re-enacted one of my bridal pictures. Probably my favorite picture in my wedding dress was right there on that bench. Awe. Many of you have probably seen it in my house. That was a fun day. Very different from an average day now. :)

We were able to do some more swimming with one of my good friends, Sheena, and her little girl, Violet. Sheena and I went to college together, Sheena and Clark went to high school together, Sheena teaches at Prodigy with me, and our little girls are just a week apart. Obviously, we are connected in several ways and it is so fun to get together and watch our girls play!

Look at those cute little bums.

We do Sunday dinner every other week with Clark's family, but one week we decided to mix it up a little and went up Millcreek Canyon to have a picnic. Well, it was pretty crowded that day and there weren't any picnic tables available. So we decided to park by a stream and eat dinner in the back of our car and truck. It was a fun little family outing.

Our friends, the Stringham's, have a family cabin up in Bear Lake and we were lucky to go up there for a day of boating. It was Jayda's first time and she was a little scared at first, but enjoyed the movement so much that she fell asleep pretty quick. I quite enjoyed my cuddling time on the boat too!

I'll update you on the rest of what's been going on in our lives soon, but until then, just know that Jayda has taken her first steps! I seriously can't believe how big she's getting and it's so fun to see all the new things she can do. For those of you interested, here's a quick video of her taking up to 5 steps. It gets a little shaky because I'm holding the camera and Jayda just loves me so much that she wouldn't let go of my arm for a minute. This was right after my sister's shower at my house so that's why there's gifts and extra chairs in the room. You'll also notice how much Jayda enjoys being the center of attention and showing off. Anyway, enjoy in our joy!

July 4th to the 24th!

2010-07-28T00:34:00.015-06:00

We celebrated the 4th, the 24th and played a lot in between. We went to the Stadium of Fire with my family and had a lot of fun watching Carrie Underwood and the awesome fireworks. Jayda looks kinda funny in this picture, but hey, it's a family picture.

We hung out with Clark's family and had a great BBQ's! Here's Jayda in her festive outfit from Grammy Tammy.

I recently discovered the "fireworks" setting on my camera. It is awesome. Clark's cousins and I had a lot of fun with some sparklers. It says U of U, if you can't tell. How cool! :)

Jayda is pulling herself up onto everything. She is quick too and loves to be standing! She is getting stronger every day and I'm pretty sure walking is just around the corner for her. She is getting so big, but oh so fun.

My mom had her 50th birthday! Being the wonderful daughter that I am, I planned a little surprise birthday lunch, with the help of my sisters. I had to plan where we would eat in advance and then somehow convince my mom that it was her idea to eat at Mimi's Cafe. I thought I did a good job of this, but my mom told her friend the night before that she was a little bugged that she didn't even get to choose where she had her own birthday lunch, but she was pleasantly surprised to find all of her close friends at the restaurant supporting her in her youth. Here's the girls, minus Jayda.

We have been going swimming at least once a week and are loving being outside in the sun. Since my sister lives in Saratoga Springs, we headed down to Lehi Rec Center and it is pretty cool. It's very kid friendly and Jayda loved hanging out in the water swings.

Rachel made it back to Utah for a few weeks so we have been trying to catch up and get our kids to like each other more. I don't know what Gavin thinks of Jayda, but she sure liked to grab at him. It's been so fun to hang out with her and I wish she still lived here.
My dance studio, Prodigy, performed at Raging Waters and they did such a great job! We have such good dancers! Anyway, we made a day of it and Jayda had fun hanging out in the Lazy River. That was about it. She really liked this tray though!
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We had a family reunion, which is somewhat rare in my family, but it was good to catch up with people I haven't seen in a long time and hear about what my mom's family came from. We've been wanting to get a four generations picture since Jayda was born and finally got one. It's blurry, but it's four generations, which I think is pretty cool.

And we made it to the 24th! We went to see the parade floats at South Towne Expo. If you have kids over 2, this is a really fun thing to do. You get to see all the floats without sitting in the sun, they have performers, face painting and clowns making balloon creatures. My mom loves this kind of stuff and was having so much fun walking around every single float. Jayda liked looking at all the fun colors too.

Jayda is now 9 months and is becoming even more of a mover, if that's possible! She weighs 16.1 pounds (8th percentile) and is in the 12th percentile for height. With Clark and my genes our kids are just destined to be small. Jayda says dadadadada and mamamama and waves bye to everyone, even cars that drive by our street. She likes to sit in the grass and eat leaves. Clark's sister found out she's having another girl, which will give Jayda 3 girl cousins and 0 boys! I love it!

Vegas Baby!

2010-07-01T00:01:00.016-06:00

This baby went on her first vacation... to Vegas!

Our first stop was a night in St. George. We went to Tuacahn to see "Tarzan." It was a blustery night, but Jayda did great and wasn't too distracting to the people around us (yeah right! I think the old lady next to me wanted to move the second we sat down. Oh well). She loved the flying monkeys and the fun music and lights. What a cute little family we are!

We made it to Vegas and had to unload all our STUFF! Geez, we had a lot of freaking stuff! I had never packed for a baby before and may have over packed, just a little, but I didn't know what to expect. We traveled with our friends, The Stringham's, who had almost as much stuff as we did!

We stayed at Excalibur because they are one of the cheapest and have a great pool! Since we don't gamble, we swim instead and spent a lot of time at the pool. Cute dad and Jayda Bear.

The kids schedules pretty much went down the drain the first night when we were at Tarzan until 11 PM so we ventured out a little later in Vegas and stopped by The Coke Factory. It's just one of those places you go every time you're there. Well, I do anyway.

We, of course, ate out a lot and it was awesome! Us Bells love to go out to eat, even Jayda! Although by the end of the trip she was pretty sick of sitting in her car seat, stroller and random high chairs.

We hit up The Cheesecake Factory and did some good shopping too (I love H & M!). Jayda is a good baby, but a full day of shopping is not exactly her favorite thing to do. When Jayda gets a little whinny, our trick is to put her on Dad's shoulders. She loves it up there and it gets a smile every time. Clark also loves getting his hair pulled out!

One thing I really wanted to do was see the fountain show at Bellagio because I've missed it the last couple time I was there. So we made the trek there, in the 99 degree heat, only to see the last 30 seconds of a show! The next one didn't start for another 25 minutes and with the babes, we weren't about to just sit and wait for it. So we took a picture with just the hotel in the background and went on our way. Dang.

We stayed one more night in St. George. It was nice to break up the drive a little for the little ones. We had such a good time that Jayda apparently wanted to go back. She has been crawling everywhere and has recently discovered climbing. She climbs up my legs, up the stairs, up her crib (which scares the crap out of me) and is now attempting up the wall!

I made it back from Vegas just in time to go to girls camp for two days, which was so much fun. Then made it home from camp just in time to go to the most awesome concert with my sister, Alli. Here we are before the show, getting really excited. What concert was this, you might be wondering...?

That's right: "Backstreet's Back Alright!" This had to have been one of the funnest concerts I've been to! I knew every single song and sang my little heart out. The dancing was awful and I don't think they have changed any of the choreography since 1998, but that's what made it so awesome! Backstreet Boys will always hold a special place in my junior high heart.

"Tell me why (ain't nothin but a heart ache), Tell me why (ain't nothin but a miiistake), Tell me why (I never want to hear you say), that I want it that way!" Yes!

A Blue So Blue

2010-06-04T12:12:00.013-06:00

We have been busy little bees lately. Obviously too busy to blog in over a month! Geez. Well, I made it through my second concert as Artistic Director of Prodigy Dance Studio! The year end Spring concert is a lot of work and a lot of stress, but always worth it in the end. Preparations for the show pretty much consumed my life for all of May, but now I'm free, well at least a little more relaxed, for the Summer and Jayda and I are ready to play. Since I don't know how to make those smaller picture montages, you get all the pictures separately. Someone (Rachel) should teach me how to do that :) Here's what we (and when I say we, I mean Jayda) have been up to lately:

Making cute faces and sitting up so tall in her high chair,

Getting our 6 month pictures taken in a green outfit,

a pink outfit

a green outfit

and a pink outfit, showing off her chubby cheekers.

We've been eating out with friends. Here's Jayda and her little buddy Ryker eating dinner together at Salt City Burger (delicious!). She's such a flirt.

We've been to the zoo twice to see the baby elephant. So cute! This day, the mama elephant took a big old poo while we were watching and what did that funny baby do... walked right over and ate it! Sick!

I love this picture. Here's Jayda with her one and only cousin, Audrie (although Jayda has two cousins on the way). Jayda looks so big standing up like that!

We've been to birthday parties for friends Kohen and Landon. This lemonade can kept Jayda entertained for about an hour and while she was sucking Rachelle caught this picture of those oh so blue eyes. Love.

We've been growing and getting much more smiley. All you have to do is smile or kiss Jayda and she'll give you a big old smile, along with a shoulder shrug. She is just starting to look so much older. It's a little sad, but she just keeps getting cuter.

We went to Alta graduation to watch my sister, Alli graduate. Wow, can't believe my little sis is off to college, BYU, in the Fall. She had all different colors of cords cuz she's so dang smart and I'm really proud of her. Being at graduation did bring back memories of 8 years ago when we met at Rachelle's house to take group pictures before we piled in the Suburban and drove to the McKay Event Center singing "The Graduation Song" by Vitamin C. Then off to the Pepperwood Party... go BLUE! Good times.

Oh how I love this little baby! She is so much fun and so active right now. She is constantly moving, changing positions, climbing all over me and and scooting (pretty much crawling) everywhere! I am loving every second of watching her grow and love being her mommy!

Kid tested, mother NOT approved

2010-04-22T14:17:00.005-06:00

Yesterday, I had a bowl of Kix for breakfast. I just bought them because the pediatrician said that Jayda could start eating them. But silly me, I left them on the table and open. So as I'm putting Jayda in the bumbo she does what she does best and swats at them. This was the result. I guess it's my own fault, but I was still frustrated. And, for the record, she did it again about 20 min later!

This is just a random. I walked in to check on Jayda during her nap and this is what I found. She's on her stomach and somehow the binky is on her back. ???

So last night Jayda was pretty restless so I thought she could just hang out in the baby bjorn until it was time to eat and go to bed. I was just standing, watching TV and Jayda was playing with my cup and straw from Arby's. All the sudden she just starts laughing. This is kind of weird because normally Jayda just squeals, but doesn't laugh. I couldn't help but laugh too so I grabbed the camera so others could join in on the giggle. I know all kids giggle, but of course I think Jayda's is so cute. And don't mind me laughing behind her.

Jayda is now 6 months old weighing in at 13 lbs 10 oz. She is in the 9th percentile for weight, 33rd for length and 23rd for head. She's little, but she sure is active and curious. The pediatrician says she acts more like a nine month old rather than a six month old and that she'll probably crawl early. Great. She already rolls everywhere to get where she wants to go, but I better get those gates up and start baby proofing the house.

Birfday Birfday

2010-04-08T00:31:00.013-06:00

It is hard for me to find a quiet moment or a long enough one to actually create a blog post, but here is what we've been up to lately.

Jayda has taken up sucking on her thumb and I think it's so cute. Most of the time it's more like she's chewing on it, but it still looks cute. And if her binky falls out when she's in her crib she can soothe herself to sleep with that little thumb.

We got to go to a U of U basket ball game a while ago and Jayda got to wear her cute cheerleader outfit. What can I say, she wants to be like her mom. We also went to a Utah gymnastics meet. Jayda grabbed Clark's pulled pork sandwich, which was a little warm, so it kind of scared her and made her cry. I'm pretty sure everyone in the surrounding 20 rows heard and looked right at us. It was my first semi-embarrassing, people-think-I'm-a-bad-mom-moment.

Jayda started eating rice cereal, which we all know is a big deal the first few times. Here she is mid bite. Look at that tongue! She also started Sweet potatoes last week and likes that too. She's just getting so big.

We also found out that my sister, Melanie, is pregnant! She is due October 20th, which was my due date, and is really excited. Jayda will have her first cousin on my side and just one year younger. Mel made this cake to announce it to our family. It says "Double your pleasure, double your fun, two grandkids are better than one."

Ok, yes this picture is in our church, and yes it might not be totally appropriate, but we wanted to get a good picture of Jayda in her Easter dress. So here's me and my best little girlfriend together.

Ok everyone, hold your breath... I made a craft. Yes, me, Jamilyn, I made a craft, almost all on my own. I know some of you probably don't even believe me, but here's the proof. They're cute little Spring/Easter puffs and were really pretty easy. They are currently hanging over my kitchen table and I'm quite proud.

I also had a birthday a couple weeks ago and Clark came home with these beautiful pink roses for me. So pretty. We went out to eat with family, shopped in Park City, and ate sushi and ice cream on Main Street. All in all, a pretty good birthday!

Since we missed Christmas pictures with Santa, we headed to the mall to get pictures with the Easter bunny. Our friends, the Stringhams, came too and brought their little one Ryker who's just a couple months older than Jayda. Here they are together and I think we'll continue to have many more pictures of them together as they grow and as us moms hang out more.

And here's Jayda's Easter picture. We did get a few smiles out of her and they turned out pretty cute. Jayda is growing and growing and will be 6 months next week. We are having tons of fun together and loving playing together. Jayda rolls both ways now and rolls all around the room. Gotta keep my eyes on this one. She even pushes her little bum up like she's going to crawl, but then slides back down. Not yet, Jayda!

4 Months!

2010-02-17T21:42:00.015-07:00

So Jayda has made it to 4 months! This little girl has become quite the happy baby and makes us laugh every day. She had her 4 month check up today and has grown... a little. :)
What Jayda does at 4 months:
*Rolls over, from her back to her tummy, within seconds of putting her down. Makes diaper changing a little more difficult
*Does the raptor, screechy scream when she's talking to us
*Opens her mouth really big when she gets excited
*Reaches for everything
*Sucks on her fingers, which leads to drool everywhere
*Is a mama's girl!
*Weighs 12.6 pounds (22nd percentile), is 23 1/2 in long (22nd percentile) and her head is 15.5 in around (9th percentile). Basically, Jayda is pretty small, but I have a feeling she'll have a growth spurt soon.

We got some adorable pictures of Jayda done a couple weeks and they turned out so great. Kasey Sanders, the wife of one of Clark's friends, took them and did a wonderful job (kaseysandersphotography.blogspot.com). Here are some of my favorites.

Thanks, Rachelle, for the beautiful tutu you made for Jayda! It turned out so great!

In the meantime, Clark has discovered how much he likes toting Jayda around in the Baby Bjorn. Jayda likes it too and was so comfortable that she fell asleep. She was, however, scared when she woke up because she wasn't used to sleeping like that or waking up in a place other than her crib.

This is typical for how Jayda sleeps. She rubs her eyes/face when she gets tired and then falls asleep like that. So it's either this position or both hands behind her head. She's so funny.

She also got to spend time with her Grandpa Doug when we went to lunch last week. It's fun to see my parents with my child. Crazy.

Jayda also got a quick driving lesson in her daddy's truck. Don't worry, we were just in the driveway. Jayda and I went out to the car to bug Clark while he was on a business call after coming home from work and I had to grab the camera for this cute picture.

Clark and I were able to drop Jayda off at my sister-in-law's and go on a Valentine's date last week. We got a couples massage (thanks to my dad for the gift card) and grabbed some Cafe Rio. It was nice to do something just the two of us and Jayda was great for Emily. She also got to play with her one and only cousin and they are pretty cute together.
I don't know about anyone else, but I am definitely ready for Spring and to play outside with Jayda. Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun, please shine down on me!

Christmas Break Recap

2010-01-22T23:48:00.012-07:00

So, I've noticed that I've kind of been on a once a month blogging routine, but I'd say that's pretty good considering I have a three-month-old baby and I'm still getting the hang of the mommy thing. Jayda is lucky to have lots of family and friends close by so she has lots of people that want to play with her. Liz Felix is one of those people. She is so great with Jayda and Jayda loves playing with her. Here's Liz and Jayda (in her cheer uniform), hanging out while watching the 'U' game.

Jayda had a good first Christmas and got spoiled by her grandparents. She also got the traditional stocking from my aunt Heather. She makes them for all the nieces, nephews and grandkids so we all have these awesome homemade stockings. Jayda fit great in it!

My high school girlfriends always do a Christmas party and, since I have a new house, I hosted. We're all here but Courtney, who was about to give birth. It's so fun catch up with my beautiful friends and their husbands, or soon-to-be husbands.
Lisa, Me, Rachel, Holly, Heidi, Laura, Rachelle, Emily.

Here's Heidi and her fiancee, Adam who just got the best white elephant gift. It was a "gorilla arm" that is supposed to attach to strollers and car seats to hold the bottle in the baby's mouth. Not so safe, but funny, and great for holding cups apparently. :)

Just had to add this 'vogue' picture in. Jayda fell asleep while our friend Natalie was holding her and decided to strike a pose. I think she's going to be a sassy little girl.

And over the break, we had Jayda's baby blessing. Talk about a stressful event to get ready for. Luckily, we had lots of friends and family to help bring food. We had a lot of people in our home that day, but it was a really great day. Clark gave an amazing blessing and Jayda was perfect the whole day.

And by the time everyone left, she was pretty tuckered out from all the excitement. She sure looked adorable in her dress, bow, bracelet and shoes. I love dressing up my little girl and her grandma loves to hold her.

This is an idea of what a typical night at the Bell house is like. Mom feeds Jayda, sings and plays with her for a little bit, Jayda gets fussy and Mom hands her over to her Dad. Dad then calms her down (lots of times by bouncing her on his knee) and makes weird faces at her. Then Dad is pretty good about getting her to fall asleep. They are so cute together.

And in case you didn't know, Jayda has very blue eyes. She looked right in the camera to let us all know just how blue they are... just like her mom. She rolls onto her tummy the second I lay her down and she holds her head up so high. She is getting cuter every day and even though I don't want her to get bigger, she is more alert and so fun to talk to and play with.

Holiday Activities

2009-12-22T18:46:00.008-07:00

With a new baby, it's hard to get out to do extra activities, but we've managed to create some fun memories with Jayda over these last few weeks. Here's what we've been up to lately that's helped us get in the holiday spirit.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Clark's extended family then headed up to my grandparents for a little bit. Here's Alli holding her niece. Alli has wanted to be an aunt for a while now and its fun to see them together.

This has become a nightly activity, but I just had to throw in this classic Jayda face. You can really see her chubby cheeks here. She is starting to like bath time more and more.

My dance studio, Prodigy, got to perform at Festival of Trees again this year and did awesome! I was nervous about bringing Jayda out to such a public place, but no worries. She does really well with white noise and slept the entire time we were there. Here is one of our few family pictures.
Doug and Rachel made it from Buffalo to Utah and then to our house. They hadn't seen the house and neither of us had seen each others new little ones. It was so fun to hang out and catch up. Gavin is 4 weeks older than Jayda and don't they look so cute together?! About 5 seconds later, Jayda turned her head and screamed right in Gavin's ear... he didn't like that very much. They should definitely be boyfriend/girlfriend when they grow up.
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Here are the beautiful moms with their beautiful babes. I can't believe we're both moms and are raising children. So fun.

Grandma and Grandpa Bell watched Jayda while Clark and I went to dinner at Cafe Trio and had a wonderful date night. Clark was oh so sneaky and got us tickets to The Nutcracker! It was so sweet of him and I haven't seen it in years. It was so fun to be in the audience to watch the Sugar Plum Fairy and all the beautiful ballerinas. I will always be jealous of their long, lean legs.
We are excited to create some new "First Christmas" memories and are looking forward to spending lots of time with family and friends.

How Cute

2009-12-08T00:26:00.004-07:00

She's my daughter so of course I think every picture of her is the cutest thing ever, but here are a few of the extra cute pictures from Jayda's first photo session. She was pretty good and only cried a couple times. She's three weeks old in all these pictures.

Isn't funny how you have a baby and your whole life is now consumed by, and everything revolves around, that little one. Jayda is my whole world right now and I am loving being her mom.

Venturing Out

2009-11-20T19:10:00.012-07:00

So with much hesitation, I ventured out of my house and away from baby Jayda, and went to the "So You Think You Can Dance" concert with my mom and sisters. It was hard to be away from Jayda and my emotions got the best of me about half way through the concert, but it was a lot of fun and I'm glad I went. Don't we look cute with our matching hair? I did, however, cut mine and darken it just this week.

If you watched the show last season, you will definitely remember the infamous "Butt Dance." I had to get a picture of cute Randi (from Utah) and Evan doing one of my favorite dances.
Another awesome dance was the one the top three girls did. It had a super hero theme, hence the background. I thought last season's girls were really good.And we can't forget about the necklace dance with Jeanine and Jason. I watched this dance several times over when it was first on and loved it. The concert was a little long (over 3 hours), but so much fun!This is a picture of our backyard last week. We have just a few leaves! You can see just the trunk of the enormous tree we have in our yard and we've learned that it drops quite a few leaves in the Fall. There is actually grass under all those golden leaves, but they completely overtook our yard. Too bad I had to take care of the baby and leave all the work to Clark. :)I can't do a post and leave out this little babe. Here she is just looking cute in her bouncer. I love those headbands. I can't wait til we start going out more and she can show them off all the time. Jayda is now 5 weeks old and I can't believe how fast time has gone. It feels like just the other day we were coming home from the hospital. I remember the day we got home, I just looked at her and thought, "Now what do we do?" Luckily, things are starting to feel a little more normal and I am having a lot of fun being a mom. Here's Jayda sleeping in her dad's arms with her arms stretched out, classic for Jayda. Jayda has had strong neck muscles since she was born. Here she is just hanging out in her comfy clothes, practicing lifting up her head. About 10 seconds later she rolled onto her back, all by herself. Crazy, at least to me.

Almost three weeks old!

2009-11-04T23:53:00.009-07:00

So Jayda is not even three weeks old, but already seems to look so much different. I promise I didn't plan the colors in this picture, but this girl pretty much lives in pink and brown. They are just the colors for little girls right now, and I love it. She looks cute in anything, but pink and brown definitely work for her. Her she is after a bath at home. Those hooded towels just make any baby look so dang cute. But I especially love this baby, all wrapped up with her little naked bumb underneath. She doesn't love bath time yet, but loves to get her hair washed under the running water.
I came into our bedroom last week to find this. So precious. I know this is a classic dad and daughter picture and I'm so glad I have one.
Here's Jayda in her little Halloween onesie. She obviously needed to stretch right as I was taking her picture. Babies do the funniest things.
And here is Jayda's official Halloween costume. They don't have too many costumes for newborns, but my dad and his wife found Mickey Mouse. She didn't seem to mind that she was dressed up like a mouse and we thought it was pretty funny.
This picture, with her cute bow (made by Rachel), makes her look so old! Today we ventured out together for the first time because I had some errands to run for work. I'll be honest, the thought of her alone in the backseat with me alone in the driver's seat did scare me a little. What if she started crying and I couldn't do a thing about it? I know all you second and third time moms are laughing at me, but I was seriously worried. I didn't need to be though. She fell asleep the second the car started moving and stayed that way the whole time we were out. It was actually kinda nice to drive my car again and I quite enjoyed taking Jayda with me.
Jayda is such a fun, good little baby. She eats pretty well and sleeps up to three, sometimes three and a half hours in the night. We're getting pictures taken this weekend so hopefully we'll have some cute ones to post next week.

Jayda Lyn Bell

2009-10-26T23:05:00.008-06:00

So this little girl came into the world on Friday, October 16 at 8:48 PM. She is pretty perfect and we already love her so so much. Here is the Bell family about 10 minutes after Jayda was born.

I got a little sick the day I delivered and passed it on to my little girl, I'm sorry. Jayda had some abnormal blood test scores so the doctors put her on an antibiotic which she had to have through an I.V. for 7 days! I was an emotional roller coaster for the entire week, but I was lucky to have Clark there to comfort me and be the strong one for both of us. Here is Jayda with her make-shift cast to cover her I.V. She had that stupid thing in both hands and both feet through out the week. She also got a high fever and had to have a spinal tap. This poor girl had a rough first week of life, but she is pretty strong.
Here she is just making a funny face with her cute mohawk and bow that the nurses put in. We had some really great nurses over those 7 days and I am very grateful for all their help.
I was discharged Sunday night so we had to do something called a "Hotel Stay" so that we could stay at the hospital while Jayda was still getting her antibiotic. We had to pay for every extra night we were there, and we could only stay if there were available rooms. Well, Wenesday rolled around and they told us we were going to have to leave. I bawled for a good hour just thinking that we would have to go home without our little girl. Luckily, our nurse fought for us, and there ended up being a couple extra rooms that night. It sure wasn't very nice of them to scare us like that. We finally left on Friday, Oct 23 and Jayda got to wear her very own clothes!
We are still adjusting to being home, but I sure do love to cuddle with her. She loves to fall asleep after she eats and burps and I take full advantage of this cuddling session.
I couldn't get this picture to turn, but here she is at a week and 3 days old. She still has here dark hair, just like her dad and we love it. She looks older already and we are having so much fun being parents to her. She really is such a blessing in our lives and I couldn't imagine it any other way!

3 Weeks Left!

2009-10-01T11:55:00.014-06:00

So this is me at 35 weeks, but I now only have 3 weeks until this baby comes! I'm so excited to meet her and hold her, but still a little nervous. We have a few things left to buy, but I'm sure everything will come together... well I hope it will. I don't know how much I'll get to blog once Baby Bell is here, so I thought I'd let you know what we've been up to the past few weeks.
My brother-in-law, Blake, is very into biking and decided to ride Lotaja (Logan to Jackson) this year. The rest of Clark's family drove up to Jackson Hole and met him at the finish line. He's crossing here with his team on the second row, far right. It was over 200 hundred miles they rode and Blake did really well!
Here's the whole family (me, Clark, Warren, Tammy, Emily, Blake and Audrie) under the arch of antlers in down town Jackson. We walked around all the shops, ate some good food and enjoyed relaxing together.
This was the scene outside our new house last week when our Stop and Waste valve burst and flooded our storage room. It was about 9 AM and Clark yelled to me to "Come here!" I kept asking why, why, until he yelled, "Call 911!" That got me downstairs and on the phone with the fire department real quick. There was about a foot and a half of water in the window well that was making it's way into our house. Luckily, it was a storage room with no carpet, but a lot of our books that were still in cardboard boxes were ruined. It could've been a lot worse and we're lucky that there wasn't too much damage.
On a brighter note, I get to watch and play with my niece, Audrie, every Thursday while her mom works. Last week we had to stop by Prodigy for me to grab a few things and Audrie got her first opportunity in a dance studio. She pulled out all the dress ups and danced really close to the big mirrors for a good half hour. It was so cute and I can't wait to have my own little one in dance classes some day!
I have had two baby showers so far and last Saturday, my high school girlfriends threw me an awesome shower. Here's Devon (a friend from college) and me with the amazing Diaper Cake that she made for me. Complete with home-made blanket and stuffed animals.
Lisa, Ashley and Holly, chillin while I was opening my great presents.
Laura, Heidi, Rachelle with Landon, Lennie and me. All these girls are such great friends and I'm lucky to have them! Thanks Lisa and Rachelle for hosting and planning!
Here's Aimee and I just after the shower, showing off our baby bumps. She's due about 3 weeks after me with her second. I know the picture is kinda dark, but it shows off the bellies and I think it's pretty funny!
And let's not forget my little sister, Alli. She's growing up so fast. This is Alli and her Homecoming date, Andrew. She looked gorgeous that night, but always looks so cute. I swear I didn't have the cute clothes she does, back when I was in high school.
And I was so excited that we finally got our crib and bedding, I just have to post it. The baby room isn't quite done, but it definitely feels like a baby room now and I love it. I can't believe there is actually going to be a crying baby in our house in just a few weeks!

A New House

2009-09-03T12:29:00.008-06:00

It's been a long road, but as of last week, Clark and I are officially home owners! Although moving is a lot of work, being in our own home is so great! It feels like a lot of space for just the two of us, but we sure have filled it with a lot of stuff. And, in less than two months, there will be a little one there with us to keep us busy. Here our some pics of moving day. Here's all our friends and family that were able to help us move all our stuff.
Left to right: Blake with Audrie on his shoulders, Emily, Tammy, Mel and Mike (behind), me and Clark, Morgan and Natalie, and Alex. My Dad is behind the camera and Heber met up with us later to carry all the heavy stuff in. My mom also came over the night before to help me pack up my kitchen. Thank you so much for all your help everyone.

Here's our old apartment full of boxes before the move started. I kind of hate moving.

And here we are with only a few items left in the same room. I realize this isn't the most flattering picture of me, but it does show the baby bump pretty well and I haven't posted one of those pics in a while. Aren't I huge?!

And here is the front of the house. It has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, downstairs family room, formal living room, obviously a garage, a laundry room and extra storage space downstairs.

And here's me just resting, I'm good at that, after we got the front room all set up. It's pretty quaint and I quite like it. Now we just need to get a new couch for the basement, barstools, a new TV (according to Clark), and a whole lot of baby stuff. Getting a house is expensive, but worth it. Now I just have to put everything away...

Happy Anniversary!

2009-08-14T12:29:00.004-06:00

It's hard to believe it's been 3 years since this!And this!

Our anniversary was actually on the 8th (I'm always a little behind), so to celebrate we went to a hotel for some much needed R and R. We watched movies, took naps, hung out by the pool, and ate. Clark took me to Five Alls for dinner, which was delicious, and all together we had a really fun weekend together. It's not often that we get to spend 2 full days together so we tried to make the best of it. This will be our last anniversary with just the two of us, since Baby Bell will be here before we know it. Clark is the best husband and is going to be the best dad too. I love you, Clark!

Summer 2009... so far!

2009-07-31T12:36:00.010-06:00

I know it's been a long while since I've posted, but I haven't forgotten about blogging. I actually miss it. I just have no internet at home and that makes posting a little bit harder. Clark and I have been doing a lot of fun things this summer. I don't have much time now, but here's a quick synopsis of what's been going on since our trip to New York.

Back in June we went to Kelly Clarkson! It was cold and rainy, but still really fun. I love Kelly!

We headed down to St. George for a weekend with the family and got to see two shows at Tuachan: Annie and Footloose! And guess who was the main character in Footloose... Thayne Jasperson from last season So You Think You Can Dance. I have been watching Thayne dance for years so it was really fun to meet him. I think I have a knack for finding and taking pictures with cast members of SYTYCD.This was me a couple weeks ago. I need to be better about taking prego pictures, but here I am at 26 weeks. I'm now 28 and feel a lot bigger. Here's my friend, Natalie, and I at the American Idol concert. We met up with my family for dinner and had a lot of fun at the concert. Adam is a much better performer than Kris, and I was glad I got to see Allison sing. She's so good.I've also been able to see my high school girlfriends more than normal lately. We've had several get-togethers, like this BBQ at Lisa's and it's so fun to see everyone and their kids. I'll be joining that mom group soon and I'm kind of excited to have a little one to chase around the pool, instead of just sitting and watching. Last week was a lot of fun and a lot of hard work. Clark and I, mostly I, babysat my friends' 3 kids for 5 days. Talk about being thrown into motherhood. Although I was exhausted every day, I still had so much fun with these kids and learned a lot about how much work goes in to just packing up the car to leave for a few hours. The two in the picture are Wyatt and Rylie on the day we went to the parade float preview at the Expo Center. They got their faces painted and got balloon animals. Who you don't see in the picture is little 8-month old Lindyn. She is such a good baby and it was so cute watching Clark play and take of her. He's going to be a great dad. And this week Clark and I were staying at his parents house to take care of the dogs. We invited my little sis, Alli, over last night to watch So You Think You Can Dance and have a delicious dinner. We then made a rainbow cake, my favorite, for dessert. Alli frosted and sprinkled it and was pretty proud of herself, if you can't tell.

I've made it to the pool several times and have been working too, but this summer has been pretty fun so far. We've also been dealing with trying to buy a home. The first one didn't work out, but we are currently under contract with our second choice. We're supposed to close in a few weeks so hopefully this all works out and we'll be in our first home soon!

Trip to Buffalo

2009-06-15T15:54:00.012-06:00

Clark and I were lucky to be able to travel to Buffalo, New York to do some sight seeing, but more importantly, to spend time with our good friends Doug and Rachel. I don't know how to do those slide show things, so you get all the pictures right here. First on our list of fun things to do was go to Niagra Falls... so cool and so beautiful!
This is a classic Doug and Clark picture. They both wish they could be rappers like Kanye.

They have all kinds of tourist stuff to do around the Falls so we had lunch at Rain Forest Cafe and walked around a little bit before doing some much needed baby shopping. Here's Rach and I trying to look like we're dancing in front of the James Brown quote, "I've got ant in my pants and I need to dance!"

You can't go to Buffalo without having buffalo wings for dinner at least once. Here's the four of us at a great little wings place called Duff's. I think Doug and Clark ended up going there three times in the five days that we were there. A little too much for me, but the wings were really good.

The next day we headed to Crystal Beach on the shores of Lake Erie. It was a great day and such a beautiful place just to hang out at. It's only about a 30 minute drive from their house which makes me so jealous. We had a lot of fun laying out, playing frisbee and football and eating giant otter pops!

On Saturday we headed up to Palmyra to see all the church sites. We first went to the Palmyra temple, then headed to lunch at this little place called the Chill N Grill. When Clark and I ordered the "Junk Plate," we thought all those things were going to be separated on our plate, but no, the baked beans, macaroni salad, fries, and two burgers were all slopped together, with ketchup, mustard and onions decorating the top. Pretty awesome!

After lunch we went to the Book of Mormon Print Shop, which was really cool and then headed over to the Smith Farm where we were able to go inside the Log home of the Smith family. Talk about a spiritual experience. Here's the four of us in the room where Angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith. So neat.

Next was the Frame house. I don't think he's supposed to, but Clark is touching the bricks were Joseph Smith had to hide the plates from mobbers. Pretty cool.

And finally, the Sacred Grove. If you've never been, you should go. Its so peaceful and quiet. This is Doug, the photographer, getting a great shot of Clark and I walking through a piece of sunlight in the grove. Turned out pretty good!

We even got to see Camille and her new husband Andy, some friends from high school and college, who moved to Buffalo a few months ago. We had so much fun spending time with Doug and Rachel and can't thank you enough for letting us stay at your house and cooking us meals. Everything was so great and it was so fun for Rachel and I to not only hang out together, but talk pregnancy a lot, since she's only 6 weeks ahead of me! We love you and thanks again!

IT'S A...

2009-06-05T16:27:00.003-06:00

GIRL!

I was pretty much expecting them to say boy, since so many of our friends and family thought it was going to be a boy, but I was pleasantly surprised when she said girl! Clark and I are very excited to have a daughter and love that we can now call the baby "she" and "her" instead of "it." I'm starting to feel her move and I'm really enjoying being pregnant, so far.

Has It Really Been a Month

2009-05-22T17:21:00.006-06:00

I can't believe it's been a whole month since I've posted. Sorry. Besides the fact that we no longer have internet at home, I have been extremely busy. Shortly after my last post Clark and I had a nice weekend trip in Vegas. We ate out a lot, saw the cirque show, "KA," and did some shopping.
Me on the beautiful Strip at night. I'm pretty sure my eyes are closed.

Clark and I just outside of New York, New York where we watched the Jazz lose their last game of the playoffs.Me with the cute elephant at Rain Forest Cafe.

As soon as we got back I was in dance concert mode. I was on the phone and running around all day every day trying to make sure that everything was going to go smoothly for Prodigy's dress rehearsals and performances. Luckily, everything was a success! The preschool performance was adorable and all the dancers did so well. We even had a motorcycle come out and circle the stage before the "Rock Ballet" production started and that was a huge hit. I was extremely nervous, but I have received a lot of compliments on how well everything turned out. I am, however, so glad it's over. What a huge relief!

The next most exciting thing going on in our lives is that we are shopping for houses in the Sugarhouse, Holladay, and Cottonwood Heights areas. It's been a lot of fun so far and it's weird that we will actually be buying a home here in a couple months.

We find out if our little baby is a boy or a girl on Monday, June 1 so I will let everyone know as soon as we know.

Lately...

2009-04-21T00:33:00.007-06:00

So, lately we've been up to pretty much the same old stuff (life will get so much more interesting once we have kids), but a few fun things have been going on. My sisters and I went to the Britney Spears concert last week, which was alot of fun. The Pussy Cat Dolls opened for her and they are really good performers and fun to watch.

Here's Britney, lipsynching one of her hit songs. I don't think she actually sang any of her songs, but she did a lot of dancing! The circus theme was really cool, the back up dancers were awesome and even though she's pretty scandolous, I still like her.

Last weekend Clark's parents were in Lake Powell so we got to stay at their house and sleep in their awesome bed. They have a king size Tempur-pedic mattress and it is so so comfortable. When we can afford it, we will definitely be investing in one of these! I could have stayed in bed all day! It's so nice to stay in a house and actually walk more than 10 feet to get from room to room. Space is so great and hopefully Clark and I will be in a townhome or home by the end of the Summer.This coming weekend Clark and I are headed to Vegas! This is where we're staying, The Royal Resort, and I'm pretty excited for a little R and R. We went to a time share presentation and got a two-night stay at this hotel, so it's free, sort of. Those presentations are so long and annoying. It will be nice to get out of town and go out to eat a lot! I think that's what I'm most excited for. Food always sounds good to me!

In other news, I had a doctor's appointment today and we got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. It was so neat! There's this constant worry that something is going to go wrong with the baby and hearing the heartbeat was a nice reminder that everything is ok and normal. We'll find out if it's a boy or a girl at 20 weeks, which seems so far away, but I can handle 6 more weeks.

Baby Bell

2009-04-10T01:29:00.002-06:00

It's true... Clark and I are having a baby! I'm 12 weeks along and Baby Bell is due to join our family on October 20, 2009! We're still trying to wrap our heads around the idea that we're going to be parents. It's also just so strange that I have a human being growing inside of me. But, we are very excited and can't wait to move into the next phase of our lives. There's no reason for the pink pin in the picture, except I think I might secretly want a girl, I'm not sure yet. Anyway, I'm starting to feel better and everything looks good!

Happy 25th Birthday Boolie! A Post By Clark?

2009-03-27T08:57:00.005-06:00

25 Years ago today Jamilyn Jardine Bell was born in Bismarck, North Dakota. In honor of my best friend, eternal companion, and love of my life I wanted to wish Jamilyn a Happy 25.

Here are 25 attributes/things I love about my wife:

1. Her bubbly stomach laugh
2. Her love for life
3. Her beautiful mesmorizing eyes
4. Her willingness to help everyone
5. Her work ethic
6. Her love for dance
7. How she is always wanting a "treat"
8. How slow she eats (she has to eat slow in order for her to enjoy every bite)
9. How goofy she is
10. She is a great listener
11. Her testimony
12. Her memory
13. Her dancing
14. Her sense of style
15. Her sense of humor (she is almost as twisted as I am)
16. Her drive to stay healthy
17. Her commitment to family
18. Her commitment to her community
19. How intelligent she is
20. Her dedication to teaching
21. Her love of children
22. How she loves to sleep in
23. Her sexy body
24. Her support of myself, and how crazy I am
25. Her singing and harmonizing

I could go on and on

Yep, she is the ultimate wife, and simply the best. Happy Birthday JL! I am glad my first blog ever was a dedication to the love of my life.

"Dance Dance"

2009-03-15T23:35:00.005-06:00

Every week of mine is filled with dance related issues, but this week was extra full of dancing. The Relief Society asked Clark and I to do a little dance for enrichment night this week. It was combined with the Young Women and the theme was a birthday party- through the decades. So the girls did a fashion show and a few of the women did dances. Clark and I did the Disco and I have to say, it was pretty fun. We had to bring some humor into it and got some awesome costumes. Everyone loved it and here is what we have to document our performance. This week was Alta's Dance Company concert and although I have been every year since I graduated, my sister Alli is now on the team, so this year I went to support her. She did awesome and the show was really good. The girls are very athletic and it definitely made me miss those days of rehearsing til 10 pm every day for a week.
Oh, and I got glasses. I only need to wear them when I'm trying to see things that are far away, like a concert or jazz game or the speaker in church. Anyway, I've never had glasses so it's a little weird and I'm still getting used to it, but I think it might help me look a little older. :)

4 Real?!

2009-03-09T13:38:00.003-06:00

So Saturday night was date night with our good friends, Liz and Travis. We went to dinner, did a session at the Salt Lake Temple, then we had to get dessert. There was a short discussion as to whether we would go where the guys wanted to go, Sonic, or where the girls wanted to go, SpoonMe. The girls won, of course, and we ended up at SpoonMe, a new little yogurt place on 4th South. There was quite a line when we walked in, but it didn't take long for Liz and I to figure out who was in front of us... Twitch (from So You Think You Can Dance)! We quickly introduced ourselves and said we were big fans, then asked for a picture. He was way cool and we just had to do the "4 Real" sign in the picture. Katee (from SYTYCD) was also there, but she seemed too involved in her phone to talk to anybody she was with. If you're a fan of the show this is totally awesome! He must wear those glasses all the time.
Oh, and if you can't tell, I did lighten my hair up a little. Still getting used to it, but I like the blonde.

Long time comin

2009-03-01T20:38:00.015-07:00

I realize that these pictures look like they were taken a while ago and that's because they were. I just haven't had time to get them on here and then I just kept taking more and more pictures. This post is a little longer than normal, but it's been a long time comin.

This is what was waiting for me at work when I walked in the day before Valentine's. It was definitely an unexpected surprise and very thoughtful of Clark. On Valentine's we went to Tucano's and it was so good. It's pretty much just like Rodizio Grill, but I think a little better. They gave a rose to every woman that came in as part of they're Valentine's dinner package. We then got my favorite dessert... gelato (birthday cake flavor)!

I can't believe that a year ago this little girl was born. Audrie, our niece is now 1 year old and is cuter than ever. This is at her birthday and she's shirtless because she's about to get messy with that chocolate cake, which is exactly what her mom wanted.

After Audrie's party, Clark and I met up with my family for a play at Desert Star Theater where you sit at a table, eat popcorn and can order food during the show. Here's me and Clark before all the action started.

The show we saw was called "Home School Musical," and it was actually pretty funny and very entertaining. This character's name was "Linoleum," who was just like Napoleon, and there was also "Zac Eflon." They poke fun at the movie, the Twilight books and Utah/Mormons. Like, one of the characters says she has experience directing musicals because she was in charge of the primary program last year. We laughed a lot and had a good time.

My aunt, uncle and cousins came with because they're all big fans of "High School Musical." They were laughing the whole time. Here's me and my sister, Alli, with our little cousin, Amanda. She's the youngest and the only girl in her family, with three brothers, and is so cute.

And I couldn't pass up a picture by the authentic old west toilet. I really had to go and no one would take me seriously... :)My mom, sisters and I got tickets to Celine Dion in November 2007 and just got to see her last week, but it was definitely worth the wait. I love Celine! I'll be honest, she's a little weird, but so so good. We saw her in Vegas, which was amazing and she obviously didn't have the same set up here, but it was still a lot of fun. She always takes me back to my junior high days belting " You gave me wings and made me fly, you touched my hand, I could touch the sky... because you loved me eeeee eee" in my bedroom over and over. She is such an entertainer and I loved every second of it. And finally, this weekend I got together with some of my dance friends from college for dinner and bowling with our hubby's and significant others. It's always good to catch up and make sure everyone is doing well. I miss those times of dancing every day for hours, but I'm definitely ok with not doing it every day. I'm just thankful that dance will always be a part of my life.

Hopefully it won't be another 2 weeks before I get another post up here.

Love...

2009-02-13T17:09:00.002-07:00

Since Valentine's is tomorrow, I thought I would share just a few thoughts on love...

First, I love my husband. Today when I got to work there was a vase of 12 roses and a bag with a teddy bear and chocolate covered strawberries inside. He's so good at doing cute things like that and it's just one of the many qualities I love about him.

Secondly, and on a lighter note, kids are so lovable. I go to my mom's school and help in her 1st grade class about three times a week. I often complain and am usually not excited to get up early to hang art projects from the ceiling, but the kids always put a smile on my face. When ever I walk in they all say (at different times), "Jaaay mee!" and I usually get about 10 or so hugs from those who aren't following directions and run out of their seats to put their arms around me. I then get a second round of hugs when I'm out in the hall and they walk by in their line to go to computers or lunch. And, if I'm lucky, a few hugs when I'm leaving. One day, I walked into the gym, while they were having P.E. and was attacked by the whole class. They knocked me over and I had a pretty nice bruise on both knees.

There's a little boy named Cairo, who looks like he should be in kindergarten he's so little, that seems to really like me. It takes him a little longer to finish his work, so I seem to spend a lot of time working with him. Today he told me he loved me and it was so stinking cute. Then, another boy made fun of him so he kept saying it over and over just to be funny.

Lastly, I've heard from so many of my friends, who are moms, that the love they feel for their babies is so incredible. I can't wait to someday share that feeling of not knowing that you could love someone as much as you love your little girl or boy.

And I love all of you! Happy Valentines Day!

I've been tagged! 8 THINGS ABOUT ME

2009-02-07T14:29:00.005-07:00

Here are the Rules:

1) Post rules on your blog

2) Answer the six '8' items

3) Add a random picture of yourself

4) Let each person know by leaving them a comment...PS these 8 items in each category don't have to be in order.

8 FAVORITE TV SHOWS

1. The Office

2. Grey's Anatomy

3. The Bachelor/Bachelorette

4. American Idol

5. So You Think You Can Dance

6. The Hills (I know I know)

7. What Not to Wear

8. Oprah

8 THINGS I DID TODAY (I'm going to do this for yesterday because I have done nothing except sleep in and blog today)

1. Had a delicious bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats

2. Went to Gold's gym and watched the Dark Knight while doing my cardio

3. Took a shower

4. Went into work for a couple hours

5. Went to Partner Yoga with Clark and Rachelle and Dustin. It was actually really fun.

6. Ate at an old restaurant called Italian Village and laughed at how cute and funny Kohen is.

7. Got the most delicious Gelato...Birthday cake flavor

8. Watched two episodes of Lost. We just started season 1 and are way into it.

8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO

1. Going to the gym, just because I know I'll feel better after

2. Weekends- sleep, go out with friends, spend time with Clark

3. Going skiing again, we went last week and it was so great.

4. Having a child... someday. Don't worry.

5. Monday nights, because my girl friends come over to watch the Bachelor

6. Any day I get to watch and play with my niece.

7. My birthday. So I like getting presents, who doesn't?

8. Going on vacation. Clark and I are hoping to do a humanitarian trip this summer.

8 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS

1. Cafe Rio

2. Samurai Sushi

3. Paradise Bakery... fire roasted tomato soup... mmm

4. Benihana

5. Blimpie

6. Spaghetti Factory

7. Guadalahonky's (mostly the chips and salsa)

8. Chili's (mostly the chips and salsa)

8 PEOPLE I TAG

Rachelle, Emily Dowdle, Liz, Laura Nielsen, Laura Cates, Holly, Heidi, Angi

A somewhat typical week

2009-01-18T21:35:00.013-07:00

This last week would've been just another typical week: working, dancing, going to the gym, watching the Bachelor, American Idol, the Office and the Biggest Loser. But since Emily was in town, some of us girls got together for dinner and then headed to an adult hip hop/breakdancing class that Laura told us all about. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Gev, from So You Think You Can Dance, was the teacher. Ok, I was ecstatic inside! It was way fun and he was pretty cool in person. Note: Rachelle is pregnant, not fat.

On Saturday night, we headed to South Towne Expo for the car show. Clark was loving it and I was just there to share Clark's excitement when he saw the Bentley.
It was fun seeing all the expensive cars that I'll probably only get to sit in at a car show. Here's me in my future "mom car:" the Escalade Hybrid.

And here's Clark next to a Lincoln MKZ. I don't know what's so cool about it, except that it looks pretty sweet.
I also got to sit in one of my favorite cars, the Audi A4 convertible, and Clark sat in several others. Clark is making me include the following cars:
Chevrolet Camaro
Lotus Elise
1968 Shelby Cobra Mustang GT500KT

Pretty cool, I guess.

Holiday breaks are awesome!

2009-01-09T00:20:00.009-07:00

I was lucky to get two full weeks off of work in order to breathe before the craziness of owning a business starts again. Clark only had to go in a few days over the break and we were lucky to spend lots of time together. Here are a couple activities we did over the awesome holiday break. Clark's parents took us out to sushi for a Christmas Eve dinner. It's a great little place up on Wasatch and the sushi was really good. I got a seaweed salad and this is how it came to the table. So cute and so good!

Apparently, Wednesdays are kareoke night at the resaurant and the chef gave us free crab for participating. Clark and his mom sang three songs, while Clark's dad and I watched and cheered them on/laughed. They got pretty into it, if you can't tell.

After this awesome dinner, we headed down to Little America, where my mom and little sis were staying, and relaxed in the hot tub for a while. Little different, but way fun.

This is what our cute, little tree looked like on Christmas morning. I really love Christmas and all it's decorations! Thank you Clark, and family, for all the great gifts. We then headed back to Little America for a delicious Christmas brunch. This might just be a new tradition in our family.
A few days later, us girls (and our families) got together for an awesome Christmas party. Did I mention it was hosted by me? It was a lot of fun to catch up and play games with my beautiful girlfriends.

Over the course of the break, we spent lots of time with family playing games, going to movies and going out to eat. We even went to Body Worlds which was really neat. Our holiday break was a lot of fun and now it's back to normal life. But normal life is pretty good too.

Happy Birthday Clark!

2008-12-24T00:17:00.007-07:00

Clark's birthday was December 11th and he is now 25! On his birthday he went snowboarding, got a massage, opened his presents and then we headed down to Benihana where several of our friends were waiting to have a surprise dinner. The next night we had dinner with Clark's family at Kyoto where you actually take your shoes off before you sit down. It was fun and here is Clark at the restaurant with presents from his family.
We were in a festive mood that night so we drove down a somewhat famous street in Sugarhouse called "Christmas Street." All of the houses on this street decorate to the extreme and it's pretty fun to drive down.

This was one of the houses and you can tell there's a lot going on in that little yard.

After Christmas street, we drove to another street, by Westminster, where each of the houses have a part of the Christmas story from the Bible in their front yard. It's kinda cool and they do it every year.

These are just some of the Christmas activities we've been doing. We've hit up several family, friend and work Christmas parties and done a lot of shopping. I'm glad that Christmas is almost here and I hope everyone has a great holiday. Merry Christmas!

Business School

2008-12-09T23:37:00.011-07:00

Don't worry, we're not moving anywhere, but Clark is transferring schools. Clark was accepted into Westminster's Business Administration Program and begins in January. I am very proud of him and he's excited about starting at a new, well respected school. Hopefully we'll be done with school in 18 months! Go Clark!

Saturday we were at Festival of Trees for Prodigy's performance (we did so good) and I happened upon this tree. Okay, I searched for this specific tree and it was pretty cute. "A Cullen Christmas" was decorated with fun pieces from the books and at the bottom there was a gift for each character, including a keyboard for Edward and the game "Operation" for Carlisle.

Tonight we watched my little cousins while my aunt and uncle were at a party. If you can't tell from the picture, they have a lot of energy! It was fun, and draining. There's also an 8 month old that's not in the picture. We had dinner, played Wii, Uno, Sorry, piggy back rides, and this dancing game where they were singing, "I like to move it move it" on top of a little table then jumping off, one at a time, onto a mini trampoline. Wow, I don't know if 5 kids is the right number for Clark and me, but look how cute little Lindsay is in the front! If I can have one like that, it's worth it. They're all adorable and we love them!

Thanksgiving, plus some

2008-12-02T22:54:00.000-07:00

I know you all think I want to be back in high school, but I don't. My little sister is in high school and I have to support her. :) Alta football made it to the state championship game and the performing groups got to do their A-L-T-A at half time at Rice Eccles Stadium. Alli was somewhere in the "A" and we were in the stands freezing. Alta took state and I even ran into a few friends from high school. See, other people support their alma mater.

The next day was the BYU-Utah game. Everyone was in a good mood because the U won, then we headed to the long anticipated Coldplay concert! This is Clark and me waiting for one of our favorite bands to come out.

After an amazing 45 minutes of playing, Coldplay actually walked right by us, hence the awesome picture of Chris Martin only about 6 feet away, and played a song among the crowd.

This is them playing "The Scientist," my favorite, only about 15 rows above us! It was so cool and they are so great live. It was such an awesome concert and for the last song thousands of neon paper butterflies fell on the crowd.

This was the encore song, "Yellow." Viva la Vida!

And, five days later, it was Thanksgiving. We had a traditional dinner with Clark's family, dessert with mine, and then saw "Four Christmases" with Clark's again. We stayed up late and hit up South Towne mall at midnight. We scored some great deals at the mall, and then again on Friday shopping around town.

We hooked up with my sisters and went to Costco to get our real pine wreath and free food samples.

Oh, and don't forget the almost life-sized pony that we had to get stupid pictures on. I love Black Friday... kind of.

Go Utes!

2008-11-19T00:29:00.000-07:00

Clark and I were lucky to get tickets to the Utah/TCU game a couple weeks ago and even though it was FREEZING, literally, it was a lot of fun. I don't look good in beanies so there are no pictures of me, but Clark did the mentos commercial for the camera. Utah was down the whole game until the end of the 4th quarter when we scored and took the lead for the win! The crowd rushed the field and it was a lot of fun to be there. Hopefully we can pull out a win on Saturday against BYU, pretty sure we will. What do you all think...? Go Utes!

Husbands...

2008-11-10T01:12:00.000-07:00

Husbands are good for so many things: taking us out on dates and taking out the garbage, making lots of money and making the bed, calling us pet names like sweetie and hon, and calling Dish Network several times when the TV goes out. What I appreciate most from Clark is his sense of humor. He is good at helping me see the more fun side of life, and although this next story might sound like I'm making fun of him, I'm not. I'm just trying to see the fun in the situation.

On Halloween night we didn't get all dressed up or go to any parties. I wore my cowboy hat because I couldn't not dress up on Halloween. We went to dinner and bowling with our friends Morgan and Natalie, then went back to their house for some scary movies. We all had our plates of delicious Gelato pie and a glass of water in hand as we walked downstairs to start the movie marathon. I heard a loud thump and my immediate reaction was to laugh. I turned around and saw that Clark was sitting at the bottom of the stairs and not laughing. He was wearing socks on the carpeted stairs and had slipped. He wanted to save his pie and not spill his water so he held on to both the plate and the glass and landed on his back and tailbone.

The slice of ice cream pie did fall off the plate, but was salvaged and Clark still had half a glass of water in his cup. We all felt bad for him, but laughed about it a few minutes later once we knew he was all right. Clark was pretty sore the next day so I went and bought him this stylish heating pad. He loves it and has been using it quite a bit. I feel bad for him, but you have to admit, it's kinda funny. My husband is good for taking care of me, taking us for late night treat runs, and taking the brunt of my jokes.

Poor Clark.

Lake Powell Adventures

2008-11-10T00:37:00.000-07:00

We've made it a tradition, in Clark's family, to go to Lake Powell each year for Fall Break, or UEA. This year we had our niece, Audrie, with us so it was extra fun. She loves the boat and the water. She was laughing so hard when her dad was swinging her through the water.

The weather was somewhat warm, but definitely not hot. It was, however, great for fishing. Clark caught two fish while we were there and was pretty excited. Especially because a couple months ago when he went on an actual fishing trip with his uncles, he didn't catch any. Poor Clark.
I didn't get in the water too much, but this was Clark and me right before our wild tube ride. We were laughing and trying to push each other off, when I looked ahead and saw some MASSIVE waves. Instead of my brain telling me to just let go before I hit the waves of death, I gripped harder. I went flying about 8 feet in the air to the left (that's what they tell me) and Clark went to the right. As soon as I got my head above water I checked to see if all my teeth were in their place, then looked for Clark. I had a bloody nose, a cut and bruise on my wrist (where it went into my mouth) and a nice bruise on the inside of my lower lip. And don't forget the whiplash and sore back for the next three days. I didn't get back in the water the rest of the trip. Poor Jamilyn.

Family

2008-10-15T00:38:00.000-06:00

I love my family. My little sister, Alli, is on Alta's Dance Company so I just had to go to the Homecoming game to see her perform at half-time. Oh the memories. I'm not ashamed to say that I miss parts of high school. Performing was always so exciting. Anyway, it was extremely cold, but dance company did great and Alli looked so good out there. It was fun to be back in the stands at Alta and we were lucky to get this picture of all us Jardine/Bell/Grace kids at the game.
"Alta, Alta what's your cry? V I C T O R Y!"

Playing Catch Up

2008-10-07T20:37:00.000-06:00

Life just keeps on moving and I keep running out of time to blog. So here's me playing catch up on what has happened the past couple weeks.
My good friend Liz does P.R. for Crane Movie Company and has been promoting the movie "Forever Strong" for months now. She got me tickets to the premiere so, I picked up Heidi and we joined in all the festivities that a movie premiere offers. It was really fun and the movie was really good. I highly recommend it to all. In this pic, from left to right, is Heidi, me, Liz and Gary Cole. You might recognize him from other movies, such as the dad in Talledega Nights and he is one of the main characters in this movie. How cool that I have a picture with him!

Next, on September 24, at 12:44 AM, Laura had her second little boy, Beckham. He is adorable and healthy, just like his mom. Rachelle and I were lucky to visit Laura in the hopital and as you can see, she looks great. I hope I can look that good the morning after I have a baby. Love you Laura!And finally, I heard about a promotion for laser hair removal and decided to jump on it. I got a really good deal so I am officially getting laser hair removal under my arms. Whoo! I'm doing it with my sister-in-law and we had our first appointment today. It was way easy and so quick. I would recommend it if you think you can afford it, and if you want to go to the same place I did you can get a deal if I refer you. Anyway, this is Emily and I with our protective eyewear on right before we got our treatments. Yay for no shaving!

So You Think You Can Dance!

2008-09-24T12:22:00.000-06:00

I have been to many concerts/shows in my life and I have to say that this was one of my favorites. Maybe it's because I'm a dancer, but this was pure entertainment and fun! They did several group numbers and a lot of the most popular couple dances from the season. For your viewing pleasure, I have documented some of my favorite dances, as well as some cool pictures of my favorite dancers.

Who doesn't love Gev? He really is so good and he was pretty funny coming out in dresses and acting obsessed with Courtney. You should be able to double click on the pictures to enlarge them. :)
Thayne was one of my favorites because I have seen him perform Thriller so many times here with Odyssey. I was so sad he didn't make it to the top 10, but he did get to go on tour because they brought Jessica/Comfort back so they needed another guy to make it even. I was so happy!The mattress dance, by Mia Michaels, was one of my favorites. If you look closely there are rose petals falling among Kerrington and Twitch.

This is Chelsie and Mark doing their hip-hop routine to Bleeding Love. It was so cool to see it in person and Chelsie did all the same facial expressions.

And, of course, the infamous "Door Dance." Katee was in a lot of dances and was amazing. I thought Will should've won, and when he was voted off, it should've been Katee. I took tons of pictures, but not all of them turned out, including the ones of Katie and Will's pas de deus to "Imagine." I took video of that one, but I can't figure out how to upload it so you all can see it. Oh well, hope all you SYTYCD fans have enjoyed these pictures.

Happy Anniversary!

2008-08-29T00:28:00.000-06:00

Clark and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on August 8. It feels like it's flown by, but at the same time, a lot has happened in our short and long two years. I won't go into detail, but it's been the best two years of my life. Clark and I are best friends and I am very lucky to have him. He makes me laugh every day and that's why I married him. He works so hard for us and our little bank account and I appreciate so much everything he does.
We went down to St. George for our anniversary trip this year and saw the shows at Tuacahn. We're lucky that my cousins and aunt work in the box office and got us free tickets. We saw "The Sound of Music" and "Les Miserables." Blake and Emily (Clark's sister and brother-in-law) came down with us because they're anniversary is just a day after ours, but this was their third anniversary. They brought little Audrie with them and it was so fun to have her there with us.

Audrie Jayne just turned 6 months old and was rockin these sunglasses in hot St George. It was her first road trip and she did so well. Blake and Em, you have the best and cutest baby in the world!

Summer Concerts!

2008-08-28T23:47:00.000-06:00

AMERICAN IDOL Live Tour! I realize this concert was a while back, but I just wouldn't feel right if I didn't give a shout out to the David's. Of course Archuleta is better, but Cook does pretty good. I went with my mom and two sisters and some of Alli's friends. Here's me and Mel in the crowd before all the excitement began, and believe me there was plenty of excitement. My mom loves this stuff and screamed for everyone!

Each of the top ten finalists came out alone and sang a few songs so I took pictures of all of them, but the David's are most important. David Archuleta... he's actually standing in front of the big screen. We were close (row 22), but not that close. Everyone screamed so loud that I could barely hear his first song. He really is awesome.

And David Cook. He knows how to work the crowd and I actually almost thought he was kinda good looking. He explained that his guitar says AC for Adam Cook, his brother that convinced him to audition and then didn't make it. I got to go up to the third row while he sang his last song so I had to act like a crazed fan.
JOHN MAYER! I forgot my camera this night, but we were so far away on the lawn at Usana that you wouldn't have been able to see much of John anyway. I went with my sister-in-law, Emily, and good friend, Liz, who is also sisters-in-law with Emily. We were lucky to see Colbie Callait open for John too. Colbie and John were both great and we had a totally fun girls night!

New York City!

2008-08-04T00:53:00.000-06:00

I didn't realize that it had been so long since I had made a post! I've been wanting to do this for a while, but when it's your first trip to the big apple, you tend to take A LOT of pictures. I was a little overwhelmed with all my pics and I didn't want to overwhelm all of you, but I did want to share a few fun memories. This was the first night we (my mom, me, my sis Alli and her dance group) were there. We ate at Hard Rock Cafe then walked around Times Square. It was so fun to actually be in the places that you see in the movies.

This was the same night in the MTV store. I'm really on Team Lauren, but somebody had to be Team Heidi for the picture. Sometimes Lauren is kind of bratty, but I'm still on her side. :)

I was lucky to take a couple dance classes at "Steps" on Broadway. One day was a Jazz class and the next day was a Contemporary class. It was so fun! This pic was in the Lincoln Center right after one of the classes. This is obviously where the NYC Ballet is, as well as Juliard and several other artistic buildings. I'm definitely not a ballerina, but I was in a dancing mood.

You can't go to New York and not see at least one Broadway show. We saw "Wicked" and it was absolutely amazing. We also saw "Hairspray," which was good, but not as good as "Wicked."

The fun part was that Ashley Parker Angel (you know, the cute blonde from the boy band O Town who also had a reality show last year), he was Link, the hot boyfriend. We got a picture of him after the show, then I pretended I was on Broadway. That would be a dream come true, if only I could sing.
We also went to the Statue of Liberty, where Alli's dance group performed in the rain. In the middle of a dance the entire statue full of people was evacuated and we didn't know why. Kinda scary. While waiting for things to get figured out, everyone was pushed back in between two souvenir shops and guess who walked out... President Uchdorf. It was pretty cool to see him and I actually got to shake his hand. We felt a little better about the bomb scare situation and everything was cleared up shortly.

In between all these events we also went to the top of Rockefeller Center, got a tour of NBC studios where we sat in the Conan O'Brien and SNL studios, went shopping on 5th Avenue, got purses on Canal Street, walked through Central Park, toured the Metropolitan Museum, ate authentic NY pizza and a Falaffle, went to the biggest toy store in the world, rode the subway and a double decker bus, and saw "ground zero" which is now a construction site for new towers. Last, but not least, we got up early to be on the CBS Today Show.

They have stuff there for you to make posters and they make it look like there's a lot more people crowded around (AED is Alli's dance studio). That day Joey Fatone was there talking about his new show so that was cool to see him only a few feet away. Even though my feet hurt every day from walking EVERYWHERE, it was so fun and I will never forget my first trip to NYC!

Random Things About Me (Tag)

2008-07-10T10:31:00.000-06:00

I've never been tagged before, so thanks Terilyn for adding new excitement to my life. Here goes...

Three Joys
1. My husband, Clark. He is always making me laugh, even when I'm trying to be in a bad mood.
2. Dancing. Whether it's teaching or just dancing for fun, dance always brings me up.
3. My bed. I love sleeping in it.

Three Fears
1. Myself or a loved one being diagnosed with a chronic illness.
2. Not being able to have kids.
3. Having my house/apartment broken into while I'm there.

Three Goals
1. To actually buy/own a home someday (sooner rather than later).
2. To have a wonderful, happy family to fill that house.
3. For my dance studio to be successful and continue to grow.

Three Obsessions
1. I'm kind of obsessed with shoes. I like having a lot of them and a lot of different ones. I really enjoy being complimented on my cute shoes.
2. Like Holly, I'm also a little obsessed with the Twighlight books. I'm about 50 pages away from being done with New Moon and can't wait to get started on Eclipse. I also can't wait for the movie to come out in December!
3. I do tend to get hooked on TV shows. Right now it's The Bachelorette (so sad it's over) and So You Think You Can Dance!

Three Random Facts
1. I used to clog (a form of dance) and I was pretty good at it. I really want to find an adult clogging class and join.
2. I sometimes miss high school. I had so much fun cheering and dancing and seeing my friends all the time. But I do quite enjoy my life right now.
3. Since my sister is turning 16 I have to give my mom's car back for Alli to drive, but... this means I am getting a new car! Not sure what kind yet, but stay tuned for details.

Now here is the fun part, I get to tag other people. I tag Rachel, Rachelle Frame, Liz and Angi. I know you're all so excited!

Aunt Jami and Uncle Clark

2008-07-03T23:01:00.000-06:00

This is our cute niece Audrie Jayne. Isn't she the sweetest thing ever?! She is getting some chubby cheeks and we love watching her grow. Each week something else has changed and she has learned a new trick. She's becoming more and more curious and has recently discovered her feet and holding them while she gets her diaper changed. We love her and know that aunt Jami and uncle Clark's house will be her favorite place to hang out.

Mexico!

2008-06-17T23:16:00.000-06:00

We were lucky to be able to go to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for a whole week! It was a lot of fun and a lot of relaxation that was much needed. And yes, this first picture is the view from our balcony at the resort we stayed in. We had a pool, hot tub and the beach right at our fingertips. We went out to eat a lot and had a lot of authentic guacomole. Of course we had chips and salsa at every meal so I was in heaven.

This was the first day we got there, just walking along the "Malicon," or boardwalk, right next to the beautiful ocean! The next morning we rode dune buggies on wet dirt roads. Needless to say, we were covered in mud and my board shorts are ruined. Good memory I guess.
This is when we went to the flea market. It was crazy! At first I was excited to barter, but it became a little annoying after a while. People constantly attack you. As we were walking in one of the store owners said, "Welcome to the jungle," and that's exactly what it felt like!
This was on our way to go snorkeling and kayaking. In the picture is Morgan and Natalie Everett, the other couple we traveled with. The water was quite murky so I didn't get to see anything on my first snorkeling adventure. Boo.
After our unsuccessful attempt at snorkeling, we visited an island called Yelapa. We toured the island, which was beautiful, then hung out on the gorgeous beaches. Clark even bought a piece of lemon meringue pie (his favorite) from a woman selling it for 20 pesos on the beach.

We enjoyed many virgin margaritas and, my favorite, pina coladas. Something I don't have pictures of is the night Clark and I went to Las Caletas, an island that entertained us with an awesome modern dance performance, then served us a romantic candle light dinner just a few feet from the ocean. So fun!

Probably the most exciting thing we did were the zip lines. We were 300 feet in the air and some of the lines were over 300 feet long! It's one of those things you should be scared about, but it was so much fun that I forgot about how scary it was. After flying over canyons we were able to actually go into the monkey cage! They ate the food we had and climbed all over us. They even pulled all our pockets open to see if we had anything else to feed them. What an awesome experience!

On our last day we strolled down the boardwalk one last time. There are tons of statues and sculptures and this was one of our favorites! There were a couple days when Morgan and Natalie were a little sick (too many mango margaritas and guacamole!) and those were our days to just relax under the sun. Clark and I brought our books (I finished Twilight) and we soaked up the Mexican sun at the pool and our little beach at the resort. We were in old town Puerto Vallarta so we were able to see what life is like for a lot of local Mexicans. That was a very humbling experience. All together, this trip was amazing and I would recommend PV, Mexico to everyone! Hasta la vista!

Party at Classic

2008-05-30T01:19:00.000-06:00

Yes, I did go to a party at Classic Skating tonight, and it actually turned out to be quite fun. We have this friend, Ben, who recently got engaged to a girl named Kaycee and it was her birthday party tonight at Classic. However, this Kaycee (who Clark went to high school with and I've become friends with too) is Kaycee Stroh from the High School Musical movies. She's the nerdy hip-hop dancer in the first movie, then plays a friend of the main characters who gets a summer job as a chef in the second movie. They are currently in the process of filming HSM3 in Salt Lake so... you guessed it, there were a few castmates there tonight. Corbin Blue, who is quite good looking, was there so it was fun to skate around and watch him flirt with other girls. :) I also met Jamie from last season's "So You Think You Can Dance" (top 10, curly reddish hair). Liz and I wanted to get a picture with her, but got shy. She's a lot shorter in person. Anyway, we played on the blow up obstacle courses and everyone had a really good time.
Just so you know, I had to get these blogs in before I go out of town on Saturday so that's why it's so late and there's three in a row. I'll be in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for a week, then I'll just have to share some pics with you when we get back.

GNO!

2008-05-30T01:11:00.000-06:00

Sadly Rachel and Doug are moving to New York next week for Dental School, but that did give us an awesome excuse to throw her a little going away party... just the girls! We had cheese and chocolate fondue, which was too good and I ate too much. We talked and laughed about old memories and made new ones in the process. Thanks to Holly and Heidi for hosting and Court and Em we missed you! We love you and will miss you Rach, but luckily we have these totally cool blogs to keep us in touch regularly. Good luck in New York!

Memorial Weekend!

2008-05-30T01:00:00.000-06:00

So Rachelle, Heidi and I (and don't forget little Kohen) headed down to St. George for the weekend. It was a total girls trip and there was lots of girl talk. We went out to eat and stayed up way too late... for Heidi. Saturday we drove to Vegas to visit Courtney and got to spend some time with her and Matt, while shopping and going out to eat. We also met up with Rachel and Doug and some of their friends for dinner and a night of Wii and RockBand. We were also able to have a sleepover with Kathleen who's at Dixie for Dental Hygiene. All together the trip was a lot of fun and I'm grateful to Rachelle for letting us stay in her parents beautiful house. Let's do it again next year!

I did it!

2008-05-14T19:20:00.000-06:00

I finally graduated from college and it feels so good to know that I won't have to write any more research papers. Just to give you a little more detail... I got my BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) with a major in Modern Dance, a minor in Health Education and I just finished my student teaching this semester so that I could receive my teaching certification. It was a long, fun ride and I'm going to miss some things, but I'm glad it's over. Now I can start a new chapter in my life, which is owning a dance studio.
It's now official, I am Artistic Director of Prodigy Dance Studio in Holladay, Utah. It's weird to say, but I love it! All of you can bring your kids to "my studio" when they grow a little bit. I'll be honest, it's a little overwhelming, but I am more excited than anything.

Just us

2008-04-19T21:15:00.000-06:00

I have caved in and started a blog. There may not be much to it right now, but it will be fun to keep in touch with many of you who have blogs.
Clark and I were married in August of 2006 and are enjoying our lives together. The most exciting thing that is going on in mine and Clark's lives is that I am graduating from college in a few weeks and I just became part owner of a dance studio. Life is always busy and exciting and we love it!

*Clark*Jamilyn*Jayda*

I know, I know

Jayda turns 1! And other stuff

West Yellowstone

What happened to Summer?

July 4th to the 24th!

Vegas Baby!

A Blue So Blue

Kid tested, mother NOT approved

Birfday Birfday

4 Months!

Christmas Break Recap

Holiday Activities

How Cute

Venturing Out

Almost three weeks old!

Jayda Lyn Bell

3 Weeks Left!

A New House

Happy Anniversary!

Summer 2009... so far!

Trip to Buffalo

IT'S A...

Has It Really Been a Month

Lately...

Baby Bell

Happy 25th Birthday Boolie! A Post By Clark?

"Dance Dance"

4 Real?!

Long time comin

Love...

I've been tagged! 8 THINGS ABOUT ME

A somewhat typical week

Holiday breaks are awesome!

Happy Birthday Clark!

Business School

Thanksgiving, plus some

Go Utes!

Husbands...

Lake Powell Adventures

Family

Playing Catch Up

So You Think You Can Dance!

Happy Anniversary!

Summer Concerts!

New York City!

Random Things About Me (Tag)

Aunt Jami and Uncle Clark

Mexico!

Party at Classic

GNO!

Memorial Weekend!

I did it!

Just us

ClarkJamilynJayda