Positives of January

Blessings I have this January

Sun for 5 days in a row in the Pacific Northwest

A wonderful husband

A workout class to go to 3 days a week with friends

Walks with sunshine and music

Brownies (Not a great choice but they sure satisfied a craving)

Baby Girl Blazzard and her frequent movements reminding me she is there

A job

Time to work on baby projects (pics to come soon)

Teaching the CTR 4 class at church (All little boys and they are so dang cute!)

The scriptures

My Savior

Time to try out new recipes from my new cook books

Learning life lessons with my spouse

Les Miserables (we enjoyed seeing that last weekend)

Food and a coat

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

30 Weeks

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Ben Dog

My little sister texted me last Saturday to let me know this beautiful dog had passed away. 

I got Ben when I was 12. I begged my dad for him. 

He gave in and he never should have. 

I took care of Ben, but I never trained him like I promised I would.

 I learned a lot from my experience with him. Luckily for me he was a very nice, happy go lucky dog. 

Almost two years ago he was diagnosed with cancer. 

Summer of 2011, he had a bad day where he laid down in the shade and wouldn't get up. My dad thought that was it, he was going to have to put him down. 

The next day he was fine and went on to live for another year and a half. 

Over those years he has had a tumor growing in his face/nose. When we saw him at Christmas he looked pretty bad. The Friday after Christmas was a hard day for him, but he still went on his walk and ate like normal. The next morning he passed away. 

I am glad he went peacefully. 

Love that dog.

Sometimes I wish people and animals didn't have to grow old.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Logan Baby Shower

 

My dear friends Amy P. and Lena B. offered to throw me a baby shower. 

These two ladies are very dear friends and I was so grateful for their kindness. 

Amy P. headed up the decorations, games, and overall structure.

Lena B. was in charge of food.

It all turned out WONDERFUL!

There were several people I have not seen in a long while who came.

I was given beautiful outfits, bows, a bathing tub, diapers, wipes, lotions, blankets and more. 

People also wrote down notes from promps given by Amy, I can't wait to read them.

The other two ladies in the picture Megan C. and Allie R. are also some dear friends I made in college. 

They stayed and helped clean up from the celebration.

I feel so blessed to have made friends with so many amazing people during my time in Logan.

We are all excited to welcome little Ms. Blazzard into the world.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Christmas 2012

I didn't take any pictures from our Christmas road trip of 2012, but there were a lot of memories made. Here is the run down day by day.

Saturday December 22- Left Troutdale and made it to Ontario. Stayed the night with my parents and snacked on there Christmas treats and ham.

Sunday- Listened to a beautiful Christmas program in the Ontario 3rd ward. After Sacrament meeting we ate some more cookies from my sister's amazing Christmas treat plates and then hit the road bound for Kamas, UT. This was a long drive as we fought snowy roads through all of Idaho. While driving Justin says he saw a wolf near the Utah border. We finally made it and I was ready for some good shut eye.

Monday- Christmas Eve! Went for a walk with my sister-in-law. Very enjoyable. Spent time with all of Justin's family and attended the Blazzard Christmas Eve party at Grandma Kelly's. Another memorable night of seeing all of the extended family and eating some great soups!

Tuesday- Christmas Morning- We had german pancakes and buttermilk syrup for breakfast, well actually I had french toast. I don't like German pancakes so Justin made me french toast instead. Then everyone opened presents. After the excitement we headed to Ben and Dana's to see what their little girls got from 'Santa.' We sat around there talking, playing games and being entertained by the huge dog they were watching for their family.

We returned home to prepare the Christmas feast. Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and all of the trimmings. Yummy! Justin turned into a bucking bronco and gave his two nieces some great rides with the new saddle Grandma Jamie gave them for Christmas.

Wednesday- Justin hung out with his brothers, I headed to Park City with Dana. I found a dress for our baby for my little sisters wedding in May. Also found a body pillow for my aching back. It has been super helpful for sleeping with being pregnant. We then hurried home to get ready for the Donnie and Marie Osmond Christmas concert that night.

This was entertaining, in so many ways. They are a talented family duo, but watching the middle aged women fall all over him was priceless. I am happy to report we even got to shake Donnie's hand. Don't worry, I have washed my hands since that day. That was a late night traveling through Parley's Canyon on very snowy roads.

Thursday- We chilled with family again and visited our good friend Christ Jorgensen that night. Chris has been working in Russia on a huge cattle ranch. It was fascinating to hear his stories about life over there. He recently was involved in taking the largest load of cattle ever across the ocean to another country. Modern day Lonesome Dove is the best description of his life. I can't wait to hear more from him in the future. He is such a good person and we are grateful to call him a friend.

Friday- I felt horrible for Justin as we said our last goodbyes to his family. He really wanted to go snowmobilling while in Kamas. Every day we were there his brothers had to work pushing snow. Until that morning. They all showed up with their sleds ready to head up the mountain. There was a bunch of fresh powder and it was a clear sunny day. We had to get to Logan, so there was no time for him to even get a short ride in. While he was really good about it, I know he was very dissapointed. I hope next year he can get a good ride in.

We made the short two hour drive to Logan and were able to eat at Old Grist Mill, do sealings at the temple, meet up with some great friends, go to Deseret book, and eat at Wingers. It was a very enjoyable afternoon. The evening ended at the Anniversary Inn.

Saturday- Baby shower and driving. Picked up our crib and changing table in Middleton, ID at my sisters house. It was a long drive from Logan to Ontario. Grateful we made it and barely avoided a wreck. We were truly being watched over on this drive.

Sunday- Woke up sick, sick, sick. Justin took great care of me. We still had a great dinner with my family, but the sickness put a damper on the day.

Monday- Made it back to Troutdale. Oh was I ever so grateful. We didn't even make it to midnight that night. Exhausted is the only word to describe our bodies.

It was a wonderful break, with lots of snow, family, friends, and great food. It will probably be the last of its kind, at least for a while.




Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Fourth Anniversary

We celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary on December 19th. We hadn't made big plans for the day, because we were going to wait and really celebrate by spending a night at the Anniversary Inn in Logan during our Christmas break. Justin was sweet and majorly surprised me. On the night of the 18th I was helping with the Relief Society dinner.

He hurried home from work and stopped at Albertsons to pick up a bouquet of flowers. After looking at the price of them, he decided he could make his own for a much lower cost. He got a dozen roses and another simple bouquet of daisies (my favorite) and other flowers. He threw in a vase and 'Ta-Da!' This is what he came up with. I think they are beautiful and I would have never known if he hadn't told me that he arranged them himself.

He also cut out these letters and strung them together for a 'Happy Anniversary' sign, which I lovingly hung on our Christmas tree. His original plan was to get this all put together before I got home and then set them out the next morning to surprise me when I woke up. I cam home sooner than he thought from the dinner and therefore got the surprise that night. I truly loved it and I truly love him!

The second part of our Anniversary we celebrated at the Anniversary Inn in the Pirates Paradise room. It was awesome. We have never spent a night in a hotel room together since our honeymoon because it has never fit into our budget. This was 100% worth the cost. We both agree that our favorite part of Christmas break was that night. Four years has brought a lot of growth and wonderful memories. I am so grateful we are married and look forward to the future.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Baby Jesus

I made these little crafts for our Relief Society Christmas dinner. When I saw them back in October, I knew that I needed to make them for the sisters in our ward. Originally the plan was to do 25. That got bumped to 75 when we changed the structure of our activity. While it was very time intensive, it was 100% worth it.

One thing that kept me going with a positive attitude while making them was thinking of my Grandma. I had asked her at Thanksgiving if her ward was doing a Relief Society Christmas dinner. She had said, "No, they say everyone is too busy during that month." I felt very badly about this. See, my grandma is not too busy during that month in fact she would have loved to have added that to her things to do. She is a care giver for my Grandfather right now and other than that she doesn't have a lot going on in her days. I then realized that while I felt the same way as those other sisters about being 'too busy,' there are many older sisters who aren't too busy. They need that opportunity to socialize and get out of the house. Relief Society meetings are important to have and  make time for.

 I wanted the sisters in our ward to feel the 'true' spirit of Christmas and thought these embodied it. Everyone loved them and we actually could have used more than the 75. How grateful I am for our Savior, for the season we celebrate his birth, and for my fellow Relief Society Sisters.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard