Our Summer Happenings And a Little of Fall.

Well I suppose that it's time for a new blog post now that our summer is beginning to come to an end. We sure have been very busy these past few months so there is a lot to share.

First of all Girls camp was so much fun! I really had a wonderful time and enjoyed getting to know the girls that were in my certification group. But man! No one told me it would be so exhausting! I had decided before I got to camp that I wanted to be the "fun young leader". Well I have to say that I don't think I have ever been that energetic and enthusiastic in my entire life! And I was worn out after the first night and I still had 3 days to go! But I some how survived it and had a great week. The only down  side was that I missed Ethan something fierce!

The next big thing that happened this summer was that we had to move out of the house we were renting :( Our Landlords and us didn't want to see this happen but we both knew it would have to be done sooner or later. It was just sooner than we thought it would be. So on the first of July we started our frantic search for a new place to live. And let me tell you, it was no easy task. Anywhere decent was super expensive and anywhere that was in our price range was always in a sketchy part of town, or so it seemed. Thankfully our search ended after about a week. My wonderful parents offered to let us stay at there house. After talking it over, Ethan and I decided that this was the best place for us since we would be so busy with school and work that we would hardly be there anyway. We are so blessed to have such wonderful parents that are still willing to take care of us even though we are "adults".

We did have some fun after that though. We were able to go to Priest Lake Idaho, which is my favorite place to camp. We were able to spend about 5 days up there and really enjoyed the lake being able to do a few hikes and spend time with my family.

We went on a few other camping trips this summer. The most recent was at the North Fork of the John Day River. We had camped there last year and really liked it so we decided to go again. But this time Ethan wanted to do the whole North Fork of the John Day River hike, which is a 25 mile hike, in one day. He left the camp at 5:30am and Bow and I just slept. I packed up camp and went and met Ethan at the end of the trail. It only took him about 9 hours to do the whole hike. I was very impressed with him. I was very nervous for him to be doing the hike by himself. I told him that he wasn't allowed to stop at all. So he only stopped to rest for a total of 20 minutes out of the whole 9 hours. Bow and I were excited to have him back.

FALL TIME!

I wrote this post about 2 months ago and never posted it. So I figured I would fill in what has happened since then.

 Ethan started working for Gordon's Heating and Cooling Inc. about a month ago. He is really liking it and is learning a lot. It was very weird the last month because I would go to work without him. I think I really took working with him for granted. But I suppose we knew it wouldn't last forever, and we are much luckier than most newlyweds. We were able to work with each other for a whole year so that meant we were together pretty much 24/7, which I really loved. I miss being with him all day, but it sure makes me happy when he gets home.

I am 3 weeks into my Dental Assisting program. I am really loving it but am feeling very overwhelmed. I have never studied so hard in my life nor have I made as many note cards as I have in the past 3 weeks. It is a very intense program but I'm loving it and have learned so much already. Only about 7 more weeks and this term will be over, it is crazy how fast it is going. But don't think I'm complaining because I'm not.

Poor little Bow has to be without her parents some of the day. We have a little out door kennel that we are borrowing from a friend that we are able to put her in so she doesn't have to be stuck in her little crate all day. And Ethan made her are great little dog house that she can snuggle in. We can tell that she really misses us but she seems to be doing good. I wish I could just take her to school with me, but for some reason the school doesn't allow that. Weird I know.

Well I suppose that's all that has been going on for the past few months. We are staying very busy, which is better than doing nothing all the time. We still love each other very and much and are very happy. We hope that everyone is enjoying this WONDERFUL! fall weather, I sure know that we are! Love to all!!

Going, going, gone...

This is how our summer has been feeling, and it has only just begun! We have been one busy family the past couple of weeks but we have really enjoyed all that we have done. So I figured it was about time to catch up on what we have been up to that.

Finally Made It!

A couple of weeks ago on the 14th of June we went up to Wallowa Lake and camped for the night. We took Ethan's little sister Morgan with us. Ethan had decided he wanted to try and hike up to Ice Lake in a day so we figured that I would need someone to keep me company. We went up on Friday afternoon and just enjoyed the evening. The camp ground was packed with people but it was still very nice. We didn't do tons on Friday night, mainly just relaxed. However, at 5:30 am I drove Ethan and Bow to the trail head so that they could start the hike. While they were gone Morgan and I just hung out. We first made breakfast and picked up camp. Then we decided to go look around at the tourist shops that are up there. We then played a round of mini golf. It was a very cute golf course and was fun, however Morgan wiped the floor with me. I haven't figured out how but I'm sure she cheated or something :). After we were done playing we decided to just hang out by the lake. We relaxed until about 1 when we got a call from Ethan saying that he was back at the trail head. He hiked 18 miles in about 7.5 hours it was pretty darn fast. And man was he wiped out. And so was little Bow. We decided to head down towards Joseph and take a look at the shops there. Then we had a great lunch at R&R. We headed home after that. We hadn't even gone 2 miles out of Joseph before Bow was out. She was one tired little puppy. Ethan made it much longer than I expected him to before he fell asleep. As tired as we all were when we got home we really had a lot of fun.

Ice Lake

Mirror Lake

                                                 The following week Ethan and I celebrated  our 1 year anniversary! I can't believe it has been a year already! It went by so fast. But to celebrate we went up to the Cabin to spend the weekend. It was a little rainy all weekend but it was still very nice. We got up there on Thursday afternoon and just relaxed for a while then hiked up to Mirror Lake. We had done that hike about year or so before, but at that time it was still covered in snow which made the hike a bit more challenging for me. But this time it was nice and clear and much more enjoyable for me. It was amazing to see how different it looked not being covered in snow. It was over cast but when we got up to the lake it was still very pretty to see. Friday Ethan and Bow went back up that trail to do a little fishing. They didn't catch anything but Ethan still said he had fun and he got lots of bites. Later that day we went on another hike. (apparently we are a hiking family). It was on a the Ramona Falls hike. We had also done this hike last year when we were on our honeymoon, but it's such a pretty hike that we wanted to do it again. The only thing that wasn't as nice is that it was over cast and the year before had been beautiful and sunny. But we still enjoyed ourselves. When we got to the falls we had a little lunch that we packed and then headed back down. I always enjoy going down so much more than up ;). Saturday was our anniversary! And it was beautiful and sunny!! We spent the first part just relaxing. Then we headed down to Gresham which is about a 45 minute drive from the cabin. On the way down we go through a little town called Sandy. And this is where the fun began. To give a little background, I have been bugging Ethan for the past year about getting me a wedding band to go with my engagement ring since he didn't buy a bridal set. Which is just fine, I just really wanted a band to go with it. Well he had promised me that we would do some looking while we were in Gresham. Well as we were going through Sandy, Ethan asked if I wanted to go look at rings at Fred Meyer. So we did. I figured we were just looking and weren't actually going to buy anything. We spent about 5 minutes or so looking at and trying on different bands when I found one that I really liked. I told Ethan that I liked it, and I figured that we would just keep doing some shopping. Well Ethan surprised me by saying "Ok, lets buy it." I was just shocked! But very surprised and happy that he would want to buy me my wedding band. And he had one very happy wife! After that we just spent the rest of the day in Gresham and enjoyed the time together. It was a wonderful anniversary.

My Engagement and Wedding band

Well so far that has been our summer, but we have so much more going on this next month! Next week I will be heading up to girls camp, which has come way too soon! I'm not quite ready, yikes! But I will have to be though I guess. Anyway, I will try to keep up to date as our summer continues. We have a lot more fun things planned and we are looking forward to each one of them. Happy Summer!

Very Exciting News!

Well, It has been a while since I have last posted and there have been many exciting things going on around the Hill house. ..

The first exciting thing that happened was that a couple weeks ago the Walla Walla Farmers Market started up! For those of you who don't know, Ethan's parents own The Cookie Tree Bakery and Cafe in Walla Walla. They have owned it for 23 years! Last year Doug recruited Ethan and I to help him get a both set up for the farmers market.We sold all sorts of goodies: Sandwiches, biscuits and gravy biscuit sandwiches, brownies, cookies, cinnamon rolls, scones, all sorts of pastries and the list goes on. It was lots of fun last year and we are helping again this year. The market started up on the 4th and we couldn't have asked for better weather. However it would have been nicer with out the crazy wind that kept blowing. It was a very busy day and we seemed to sell quite a few things. The best part was that we got to spend time together and with the family. We will be doing the farmers market all summer until the end of October I believe. The booth will be there almost every Saturday whether or not Ethan and I are there.

The second exciting thing that happend was that I was accepted in to the Dental Assisting Program at BMCC!! I couldn't be more excited! After a very long, well it seemed extremely long, wait, I finally got a call from BMCC to inform me that I had been accepted and would be getting my letter shortly. Well the letter came yesterday and I finally feel a sense of relief!! I didn't realize at first, but I was VERY stressed out. But now I feel like I can relax and enjoy my summer and get ready for this September when school starts. I will be busy with it through out the summer though as I get background checks and immunization records and such all together so that I can enter the program. I just can't begin to describe how excited I am!!!

Well I suppose that is all of our exciting news. It has been very hot this last week in Pendleton. We feel as though we were roasting at work. So one way we choose to cool off was by taking Bow to McKay Park and letting her splash around in the creek. She wasn't so sure if she liked to to begin with, but once she realized that she was cooler in the water rather than out of the water she really had fun. Ethan is very excited to have a "water dog".

Well that's about it for this post.  I'm sure that as our summer starts we will have much to tell about with all of the trips that we are wanting to go on! It will be a busy one!                  

Busy Weekend!

Well life at the Hill house this past weekend was very exciting and very busy. But it was very enjoyable.

This past Thursday my oldest sister, Jill, and I took a quick trip down to Utah to surprise our other sister, Laurie, for her graduation from LDS Business College. We started out by driving to Nampa Idaho where we slept, well more like napped for a few hours. My wonderful Aunt was so nice to let us crash at her house. We got in at around 1:30am, and 4 short hours later we were up and at em and on our way.






We got to Salt Lake City in plenty of time for graduation. Which was very nice so we didn't feel like we were rushing. We waited for mom and Laurie on Temple Square. When they showed up and Laurie finally saw us, She stopped dead in her tracks she was so surprised. It was a great feeling to be able to spend a big occasion with her. After graduation, we went and celebrated at The Cheesecake Factory. I have never eaten there and let me tell you what, it was fantastic! After we all had eaten our main courses, Mom and I decided to share a piece of Red Velvet Cheesecake. When the waitress brought the piece to us, we were all amazed by the size! It was ginormous! And it tasted heavenly! Although, you could only eat a little bit. So the majority of it came back to the Hotel.

On Saturday, all 4 of us were able to spend the morning in the Salt Lake City Temple. It was the first time we have all been able to do an endowment session together. It was so nice to feel the spirit in the Lords House and to be there with my wonderful mother and sisters. It was a wonderful experience and what better Temple then the Temple that was built by the Pioneers. It was amazing to see all the craftsmanship and skills they had. It truly is a piece of art. That evening Jill and I went and saw the movie "42", which is about Jackie Robinson. It was such a good movie! All the actors did a fantastic job, and the best part was no "F" bomb! I think that is the first PG-13 movie that I have seen in a while that didn't feel the need to add it in.



Sunday morning we headed out for the long drive home. I was very glad to be out of the car and back home with Ethan. But I am very grateful to have been able to go and support my big sister.

While I was gone, Ethan spent part of the day on Saturday on a hike at Harris Park in Milton Freewater. He said that he really enjoyed it and we plan to do it again together soon. Bow really enjoyed herself on the hike. She is very much so an outdoor dog.

Well, that's our weekend in a nutshell. We enjoyed ourselves but are very glad to be back home together.


For those who are interested, here is a link to the Salt Lake Temple to see how amazing it is!

Our New Life

Well I decided that I wanted to start a blog so here it is. I'm mainly doing this as more of a journal for myself, but also for family and friends who we don't get to see much. I figured it would be a great way for them to see what we have been up to. I don't know how often I will post, but hopefully I'll be good about keeping it up to date. So to start off I'll give a review of the past (almost) 10 months.


Right before Ethan and I got married we were offered a place to live from a close family friend. So after we got married we moved in. We are currently in Pendleton and are loving our cute little house. What we really like is being so close to both of our families, and we get to see them a lot. During the summer we helped Ethan's dad with the farmers market in Walla Walla on weekends. It was fun to hang out with him so much and to help the family business. Ethan and I are both working for my brother-in-law here in town and are grateful for our jobs.

This past September Ethan started school at Blue Mountain Community College here in Pendleton. He is currently working towards his 2 year transfer degree. While Ethan was going to school I was working full time and enjoying being able to come home and be a "house wife".

In November we bought our first car! It's a Subaru Outback and we love it! It's not a brand new car but it's new to us and that's all we care about. It was fun being able to go and pick it out and then drive it home and not feel like it was going to fall apart, since that was all I was used to in the car I had in High School. It was also a lot of fun to take it up to the Mountains and find a Christmas tree to bring home.


We really enjoyed our first Christmas together. And since our families are so close together we were able to hit up both parties. Our big Christmas present for each other was a new puppy! We bought a Beagle from a breeder in Idaho and one of my friends was so nice to bring her home to us. We named her Bow and have been loving having her around. It has made things much more fun.

When January started up I started up at BMCC. I was able to finish my pre requisites for the Dental Assisting program this past term. I really hope that I will be in the program this coming fall, fingers crossed!

We are both being kept busy with Church callings. Ethan is in the Elders Quorum presidency and is also teaching the mission prep class for our side of the stake. He has been enjoying both very much. I have been working in the primary. Last year I was teaching the 10 year olds and now I'm with the 11 turning 12's. It's been a lot of fun to prepare their lessons and then to talk with them about what we are learning every week. I have also been asked to go to girls camp this summer. At first I was a little nervous about going since I didn't exactly enjoy it when I was a young woman. But now I can't wait to go! I'm so looking forward to meeting the girls and getting to know the sisters in the stake.

I suppose that is where we are now. We are still madly in love and are enjoying each new day as a married couple. It's crazy to believe that we have been married for almost 10 months. The time sure has flown. But I love being married to my best friend, I am so glad that we are together again after Ethan's long (at least long to me) mission. It was so worth the wait. Especially when we were sealed for time and all eternity. I couldn't think of a better way to spend forever than with my best friend. We have been truly blessed in our marriage. We can see the Lords hand at work everyday. We are so grateful for the gospel and for our Heavenly Fathers love.

Well that pretty much sums up our lives thus far. Hopefully more great things will continue to happen and I'll have something exiting to post about! Love to all!!