Alligator Farm

The Alligator Farm in St. Augustine is the only place in the world that has all species of crocodilian.

 

One of our favorites was the Albino American Alligator

 

Getting up close and personal with the gators

 

Braden seeing a Komodo dragon for the first time.

 

Do you know why alligators are so angry? Because they have all them teeth and no tooth brush!!

 

My favorite part was the snakes...NOT!

 

Feeding time!!  They gave them dead rats and racoons.

 

Our tour guide forgot her shirt, how embarassing!

 

We had a blast on our date to the Alligator farm. 

 

Give Thanks

I have so many things in my life that I am thankful for.  In no particular order, here are the top ten things I am most thankful for. 

1. BRADEN. (and he is number 1)He is the best thing that has happened to me! I am thankful for him and the wonderful husband that he is.  I am thankful that he does the dishes.  I am thankful that he kills the bugs that I scream about.  I am thankful for the way he honors his Priesthood. I am thankful for his positive attitude. And I am thankful that he makes me laugh.  Thank you Babe, I love you!!

2. PARENTS.  What a blessing it is to have the amazing parents that I do.  I am thankful for their examples.  I am thankful that they raised my siblings and me in the Gospel.  I am thankful for their support in all of my life decisions.  I am thankful for their hardwork so that I was able to have a fantastic childhood and life.  Thank you Mom and Dad, I love you!

 

 

3. SIBLINGS. Words can't discribe how lucky I am to have the siblings that I do.  We always have each others back.  I love everytime we get together.  I am thankful for their examples.  I am thankful for all the laughs we have together.  Thank you Sarah, Chad, Becca and Teresa, I love you all!

 

 







4. IN LAWS (HIRSCHI).  I don't know what I did to deserve such wonderful in-laws.  I am so thankful to be a part of their family. I am thankful for their welcoming hearts and hands.  I am thankful for the smile they always put on my face. I am thankful for tub talk. Thank you Lynn, Leslie, Kylie, Matt and Alyssa, I love you all!



 

 

4. IN LAWS (SIBLING'S SPOUSES), NIECES AND NEPHEWS.  I need to first thank my siblings again for choosing outstanding spouses and for making beautiful children.  I am thankful for each of my in laws for bringing something special to our family.  I am thankful for the examples they set for their children.  I am thankful to my nieces and nephews for how stinkin cute they are.  I am thankful for them for letting me pretend to be a big sister and a mom.  Thank you Adam, Lindsey, Jared, Quin, Jestine, Eden, Kyla, Kenya, Cayden, Taylor, Caleb, Ammon, Gavin, Lilee, Abbie, Mason, and Alivia.  I love you all!!



 

 

5. DODGER.  I never knew a dog could make me so happy.  I am thankful for the puppy kisses he gives me each morning.  I am thankful for the uncontrollable love he shows me, no matter what I have done.  I am thankful for his energy to keep me active.  I am thankful that he is a part of our little family.  I love you Dodger.

 

 

 

6. THE GOSPEL.  It is so comforting to be part of this wonderful church.  I am thankful for the scriptures that we are able to read each day and learn from.  I am thankful for the temple, without it I wouldn't be able to be sealed to Braden for time and all eternity.  I am thankful for the members in the church. I am thankful for prayer and being able to communicate with my Father in Heaven.  I am thankful for a Savior who is loving and forgiving.  And mostly I am thankful for the Atonement.



 

 

7.  FRIENDS.  I have been so blessed throughout my life to have the friends I do.  Each once of them have made an impact on me.  I am thankful for their loyalty. I am thankful for laughing so hard with them that I cry. I am thankful for all the memories that were made and that will be made. 

 

8. GOOD HEALTH. What a privilege it is to have good health.  I am thankful for the ability to walk and run.  I am thankful that I'm not allergic to any food.  I am thankful for modern medicine.  I am thankful for good eye sight.  I am thankful for food to keep my body healthy.  I am thankful for physical activies.  

 

 

 



 9.  JOBS.  When times are tough, what a blessing it is for the job I have.  I am thankful for the experiences I am learning from it.  I am thankful for the paychecks I receive.  I am thankful for the friends I have made with coworkers.  I am thankful for the different locations it takes us to.

 

 

10. FOOD.  No only does food give us the ability to live and be healthy, but if its done right, it is tasty.  I am thankful that, because of Braden, I am no longer a picky eater.  I am thankful for all the different things you can make.  I am thankful for ICE CREAM, my favorite thing to eat.  I am thankful to have a full stomach after I eat, when others aren't as fortunate.

 

 

 

  This is just a small amount of what I am thankful for.  I am so blessed for all I have.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  We love you!!

 



 



  

Lynn's Visit

It was wonderful to have a visit from Lynn.  Although it was just for a short time, it was just what we needed.

Braden and Lynn have a tradition to go to a NFL game each year.  The year was almost over and the Jacksonville Jaguars stadium was only 45 minutes away from where we live.  I was lucky enough to tag along on their tradition and go to the game.  It was my very first NFL game and I had a blast!! Even though the Jaguars got smoked by the Colts, it was so much fun.
The next night we went on a Ghost Tour.  We were excited because St. Augustine is one of the most haunted cities in the US.  During the tour, they told us of different ghost stories as we drove past the location where it occurred.  And at two locations we got off the bus and walked around.  The first place was the light house and the second place was the Jail.  Needless to say, I was a "little" scared!

We also went to El Castillo de San Marcos.  This was the view from the roof, it was so pretty.

Braden idols his Dad and wants to be just like him, and I hope he is. 

We stopped at the beach on the way to the Jaguars game.

Thank you so much Lynn for taking us to the game!!!

Like every visit, it had to end. We were sad to have him go. It was good being able to have him here and show him around the city.  

A Fun Filled Weekend

We were in need of a fun weekend, why not spend it at a Zac Brown Band Concert and Disney World! 
Last year Zac Brown Band was coming to Utah and Braden was so excited, but then we found out they were coming right after we left for Cayman.  He was pretty bummed because they are his favorite band.  But then a few weeks back we were listening to the radio and heard that Zac Brown Band was coming in concert to Jacksonville, it only took us a couple minutes after that to book our tickets.  We were so excited, especially Braden. 

It was finally time for the concert

 

We were able to get pretty good seats on the floor, but Big Foot and his wife sat in front on us so we had a hard time seeing, but thankfully she got too drunk and had to leave the concert not too far into it.

 

It was a great concert, it ended up being 4 hours long!  He sure is talented!

 

The next day, we went to Disney World! Braden has been a couple times, but for me, it was my first time.  I love everything Disney.  It was only a hour and 45 minute drive, which wasn't too bad.  Thanks to our cousin Morgan (thanks Morgan!!) we were able to get into all of the parks for free, but since we were there for one day we only went into two parks, Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. 

 





Our first ride was the Safari at Animal Kingdom. It was amazing of all the different animals there were. SO cool!

Another one of our favorite rides was Everest.

We finally made it to Magic Kingdom

 

The parks were crowded but surprisingly the lines weren't too long so we were able to go on a lot of rides.

 

Disney really knows how to do a firework show, and they are good at it.  It was a great way to end a wonderful weekend!

 

Best of all, I kissed my Prince Charming in front of the castle!!

 

AND WE LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER!

 

Beach Time

We have only gone a couple times, but we love going to the beach.  It's a wonderful way to relax and enjoy Gods creations. 

The beach has beautiful white sand and is long, perfect for ultimate frisbee.

Our cute family picture on the beach.  We wanted to take a stroll on the pier that is behind us, but you needed a curtain pass.

Dodgers favorite part about the beach is digging holes in the sand.  He isn't a big fan of the water yet because of the waves.  But hopefully he will like it as he gets older.

I just had to put this picture up so I could brag about how good looking my husband is!

 

A fun fact about this beach we are on, which is called St. Augustine Beach, is that throughout a 5 years span this beach gets completely washed away because of the waves.  Then they pump the sand back on the beach that is in the channel.

 

Home Sweet Home

We made it!! What a beautiful place St. Augustine is.  This city has a little bit of everything; white sandy beaches, old historic buildings, forrests and swamp areas.  The only thing it is missing are mountains.
The day after we got here it was Labor Day and we didn't have to be at work until the following day.  We went to the pool, took a nap, walked on the beach, explored St. Augustine and relaxed.

It was Dodgers first time at the beach, we didn't get in the water.  Next time we will see if he likes getting in the ocean.



Once work started, we had VERY long hours.  Our store was not open yet but we were there to set up all the displays, put out and organize merchandise and get the store sparkling clean for the opening.  We were also busy with interviewing for employees.  We hired three part-time employees.  All three are students at Flagler College that is right next to the store.  They are all great workers!
We opened the store on September 10th, and so far so good!!

Our first customers!!

 



We work 7 days a week, and we are starting to get a little burnt out.  This week we have taken some half days so we dont go crazy.  And it was wonderful to spend some time with my Honey outside of work because if we are lovey dovey in front of our customers, they might throw up. :)

I am so lucky that I get to be work with Braden everyday. We tried a couple times taking opposite half days off, but we didn't like being a part from each other. I don't know why he doesn't get sick of me with being around me all the time.



 

 Taking a walk on the Pier

Side Story:   This morning, Braden was taking Dodger outside to go potty and he comes in and tells me he needs my help.  He said theres a turtle outside that is tangled in clothes and is about to die.  Braden grabs his knife and cuts the turtle free but sadly the turtle didn't make it.

 

 





The Drive to Florida

We have been here for a month and I still haven't posted about our time here in Florida.  Sorry, work has been crazy busy.  Things have slowed down for us to take a breather.
I'll start from the begining, our drive down....

We had a hard time trying to figure out how to get all of our stuff and us down to Florida.  Our first thought was to drive Braden's truck, Big Blue, and tow my car.  And then just fill both cars up with our stuff, but we calculated the gas for Big Blue and it was going to be too expensive.  So then we decided to take my car and just really cut down on what we take.  But we found one of those storage bags you put on top of your cars.  I was happy we found that so I could bring more clothes!
Packing up our stuff was a lot easier than Cayman because we didn't have a weight limit.  But once we got everything in and on my car, the car was looking pretty close to the tires.  Maybe we should have worried about the weight. 

We started our journey on the 31st of August.  We went through the Canyons and Park City.  It was good to see the mountains one last time because once we were in the middle of Wyoming it was completely flat, the biggest "hill" was the over passes for the freeway.  Our first night was in Lincoln Nebraska.  We arrived to our hotel around 1 am.  We left all of our stuff in the car and the bag on top of the car.  We were in a sketchy part of town, so i was nervous that our car would be broken into and our stuff gone, I couldn't sleep. I would get up every hour to check on the car.  The next day started bright and early in the morning (and yes, all our stuff was still there, I was just a little paranoid!).  We were heading for Nashville Tennesse that day, the capital of country music.  I was really excited to be stopping there.  I was hoping to run into Carrie Underwood there!! Sadly, I didn't.  The day had prettier scenery than the previous day.  There were many forrests and lakes that we passed.  As the sun was going down, the weather got pretty bad.  It got so bad that lightening was hitting every other second or so, pouring so bad we couldn't see and the roads were flooding.  Cars were pulled to the side of the road waiting for it to pass.  But we continued on going about 20 mph with our hazzards on.  We made it safely to Nashville that night.  The last and final day of our traveling, next stop St. Augustine Florida!! Nothing too exciting happened that day, just more driving.  We made pretty good time that day.  We pulled into our hotel in St. Augustine while the sun was still up.  We had to stay the first four days there because the lease for our apartment didn't start until Septmeber 6th.
Overall, the drive was great!! It wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be, but it helps knowing that I don't have to do it again for another year.  It was wonderful taking the drive with Braden.  We talked about every topic possible, sang along with our music, played Would You Rather.., and enjoyed our time with one another.

I think our car was pretty full

Dodger was a good doggie on the drive.  We took the door off of his kenne so he could go in and out.  He didn't have any accidents in the car and didn't get car sick either, we were nervous about both of those.
We are blessed that we were watched over during our drive and that nothing happened to us.  We are truly blessed!

"Hi Family"

 



Dodger

We would like everyone to meet Dodger Brutus Hirschi!! He is an American Eskimo. Dodger was born on June 10, 2012.  We are so happy to have him be a part of our little family.  We found him on KSL from a family from Guadalajara.  They had a hard time speaking English, but Braden sure loved speaking to them in Spanish.  Dodger's parents are both American Eskimos.  He was one of a litter of eight.  When we went to go pick him up, there were only three males left.  So when we first got to their house, they brought out the puppies.  And right from the start I had a connection to him, he stole my heart and I knew right away that he would be a part of our family!

Right after picking him up.  All of the dogs were in different color t-shirts.

 

 

The first couple days he slept a lot and seemed scared of us.  But once he realized that we were his new parents he lightened up and acted like himself.  He is doing pretty good with potty training, but like any other puppy, he has his accidents.

After having him for a week Braden and Dodger were playing in the backyard and Dodger "did his business" and so Braden was cleaning it up and Dodger decided to dart up the deck stairs.  He was watching Braden and stuck his little head in between the deck posts, and his leg got caught on the post and he fell 7 feet off the deck onto the cement. I have never seen Braden run that fast before and also his face looked so scared.  Dodger landed on his face and his front two legs.  He was screaming/crying alot, his mouth was bleeding, shaking and unable to walk on his front right leg.  We felt so terrible and thought we had failed as puppy parents.  We took him right over to the veterinarian to get him checked out to see if he was ok.  Besides a cut up mouth and gums, he was ok!!!  No internal bleeding, no broken bones, he was ok.  We felt very lucky.  I hope Dodger isn't accident prone like his Daddy(Braden)

 

He loves his sock monkey, but now the monkey is missing a leg cause he plays with it so much.

Braden and Gavin just chilling with Dodger in his cage.

Dodger enjoying the scenery on our drive to Florida.

 

We are so happy to have Dodger, He is such a good puppy!!!