Alyssa's First Time Wake Boarding

That's right, after 2 years of being married to someone who loves the water and most of all wake boarding in it I finally had by big debute. I'm surprised it didn't come sooner with the amount of times we go to the lake. I do have a fear of water and Jake is very good not to push me to do things until I'm ready. He was very patient with me. I was very nervous and my ride didn't last long but I did manage to get up on my first try! Here is the video...watch carefully- it's over in about 2 seconds. Maybe next time we go out I can have a longer ride.

2 years - already!

Well, believe it or not it has been 2 years since that wonderful day when Jake and I got married. 2 years! I can hardly believe it. Time really does fly when you're havin' fun! And it's been a blast! I can't wait to see what the future brings and I hope that they are just as great as the past two years, if not better! I feel SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooo super duper lucky to have Jake. I couldn't have dreamed up a better man. Cohoon's-thank you soo much for not only raising this wonderful guy but also letting me have him and be a part of your family. I'm happier than I have ever been, and that's the truth.

It's amazing to think that after two years I'm still telling people that "we have yet to have our 'big fight'". (and let's hope it never does happen). Jake is so patient and understanding and never does anything to upset me if he can help it. (besides tickling me until i want to cry-grr) We have already made so many memories together- vacations, time with family, our date nights, just hanging out, fixing up our house, getting sealed, etc. I just love it, every minute of it!

I think one of the biggest things I am thankful for when it comes to being married to Jake is how much he has strengthened my testimony. (I know that the past two fast sunday's I've had that nagging 'get up and bear your testimony' feelings...and yet, I just can't do it. Too much stage fright I guess. So maybe I'll post it on here, no stage fright and knowing that my family and friends will be the ones that hear it is comforting.)

I grew up going in the church, going to church, all that fun stuff...but I never really thought about my testimony a lot. I just always knew the church was true. And I thought that's all a testimony was about, knowing the church was true. Well, in the past few months I've realized that sometimes having a testimony about something in the church helps you to realize why you know the church is true. For me that something is the priesthood. I grew up a little different than most people that grow up in the church. I didn't always have someone in my house to give me priesthood blessings and use the priesthood power like they teach in church. So although I had been giving priesthood blessings I never really had that much of a testimony about it.

I love love LOVE that Jake is a priesthood holder. As many of you may recall I had an allergic reaction (we think) to the birth control I was on only a week after Jake and I got married. In that situation the first thing Jake did was get his mom (a nurse), as soon as she said I should be taken to the ER I started freaking out even more (I am VERY afraid of hospitals, needles, etc.)

Next thing I knew Jake and his dad were getting ready to give me a blessing. While I was screaming in pain (or so I was told, I don't remember) Dave and Jake gave me the blessing. We got to the ER and I don't remember the needle hurting when they put it in my arm, I wasn't scared of whatever the doctors were going to do to me or anything.

After running the blood tests we found out that I had pancreasitis (spell check). And the weird thing...I wasn't in any more pain, at all. And when you have pancreasitis protocol is that they put you in the hospital with an IV because of the pain and you aren't allowed to eat or drink for like 3 days. And I was fine. The doctor didn't know what to do, and didn't know why I wasn't in anymore pain. Jake just smiled and whispered "priesthood blessing" in my ear. It was such a comforting thought.

After that we spent a lot of time in the hospital my mom and his dad who were in and out for awhile. During that time my testimony grew even more, every time he or his brothers gave his dad a blessing or he and my step dad gave my mom a blessing. It grows every time Jake says something that I would expect a priesthood holder to say. A priesthood holder that I know will be there to bless my children and keep the church as an important part of our household. Seeing Bobby bless Landon recently was amazing and sort of gave me a preview of what it will be like, and the spirit I'll be able to feel when we have children.

Not only has my testimony about priesthood grown but also my testimony about temples. Growing up not being sealed to anyone brought a lot of mixed feelings for my testimony. At first it was "I have to marry in the temple because I'm not sealed to anyone and i need to be" and then later "i don't know what the importance of being sealed is because I'm not sealed to anyone, so does it really matter?" And the closer Jake and I got to being sealed in the temple the more I realized how important it really is and how important temples are. The greatest feeling in the world is being sealed to Jake. Not only to know that he is there, forever, no matter what, but also to know that I get to be sealed to his wonderful, my wonderful family as well.

I thank Jake all the time for "saving" me. For finding me when I needed him the most. Because I know that if Heavenly Father wouldn't have put him right in front of me at that very moment and if Jake wouldn't have been so persistent in being with me, I would be in a very dark place in life. No one but me can or will ever understand how important Jake really is to me and how thankful I am for every little thing he does for me. I am so thankful that I got to marry a return missionary who holds the priesthood, would do anything in the world for me, and most of all loves me soo much!

More Pictures!

I promised that when I got internet I would put up some more pictures from when Jake and I got sealed so here they are!
What a wonderful thing it is to be married to such a wonderful person, and to know that they are mine for all of eternity. May 15, 2009 was one of the best days of my life!

FHE At My Mom's House...Fire Saftey

So this last Monday Jake and I went to my mom's house for a BBQ. (Kind of a 4th of July BBQ, just a little late cuz Jake and I work too much). Jake and Issac got the charcol going and we had hamburgers, hot dogs, and of course grilled pineapple (along with other non-grilled items). We had a great dinner and then were watching some TV waiting on the homemade ice cream to be finished when we heard a loud knock at the door. We were all a little hesitant to answer so Joe answered it. And the boy at the door said "the side of your house is on fire!!" We all ran out the door (some out the front door, some out the back). Joe immediatly got the hose and started hosing down the flames and I called 911 (a first for me). When I got outside the flames were gone but it was very smokey. Soon, we had a police car, fire engine, ambulance, and a saftey truck thing in front of our house, blocking off half the road. (oh, and a helicopter in the sky). The fire was out by then so the firemen didn't really have anything to do except file a report. And how did the fire start you ask? Well, Jake was a little busy trying to get the charcol going and asked Issac to get rid of some ash. (Issac doesn't really have a lot of first hand experience with fire). He put the burnt news paper in the recyling garbage can- and put some dirt on it to put out the spark. Well, I guess those sparks didn't go out and the fire burned through all the paper and the whole garbage can before starting the house on fire. Luckily, the people who told us our house was on fire stopped when they did. The only damage done was some melted siding and a melted recyling garbage can. We are so blessed!! We were all a little shook up but no one got blamed because we all learned a little fire saftey. And now some pictures of what it looks like now:

MEXICO!!

Finally, I'm updating our blog! And first on the list is our trip to Mexico! We (Jake & Alyssa, Brady & Cece, Kayla, Mandy, William, Mason. Suzette, Jacqui, BreAnn, Madison. Kayci & Jeff, Grace, Claire. Amy, Hailey, Jake, and Sue) All went to Cabo for a week. We stayed in San Jose Del Cabo, which is about 15 min from Cabo San Lucas. And now some pictures from the trip!

Our beautiful view from our condo balcony.

A (sideways) picture of dad and Willaim in our condo. (sorry, too lazy to rotate the picture, turn your head.)Trip on the glass bottom boat. We went on a tour to see the famous arch, lands end, lovers and divorce beach and lots of fish, "mexican snow" and seals! (I'd put pic's of all that but most of it is on an earlier blog from when we went on our cruise to Cabo.)

William having fun looking at the fish in the bottom of the boat.

Aww, the happy couple :)

Oh, look at the sweet boy. Isn't Mason just so adorable! I hope my kids are at least half as cute as my baby brother!

William and Alyssa making a sand castle. By the way, the water was just perfect that day. Everything was perfect and I am sooo ready to go back!

Grace having fun in the sand.

Claire just chillin' on the beach. What a cutie pie!

Mandy and Mason havin' fun in the sun!

And last, but not least, one of our favorite restaurants Cynthia's. MMMmmm good!!

Yes, I know it looks dumb...

Yes, the background and banner for my Blog look funny. Why, you ask? Because I don't have a real computer with internet and I'm borrowing my moms. Which means I am trying to change my blog stuff using VERY slow internet and it is already frustrating. Also, I haven't blogged in a very long time and forgot or don't know how to do a lot of blog stuff. I'm not very computer smart so I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing. If you can tell what I'm trying to do and know how to do it could you please tell me. And then next time I use a computer I can fix it. Until then you'll have to deal with my ugly page. Thank you.

Pictures Finally!!!!

Well, I don't have very many but I do have some pictures to put on here. Some of the pond and some from our sealing. Enjoy!!
(I'll put some more next time I get an opportunity.)