Thankful

I have so much to be thankful for in my life. It seems like my life never goes according to plan and my hopes and dreams never turn out to be exactly what I have envisioned. I do know that my Heavenly Father has a plan for my life, the last few years I have struggled to know what that plan is. At times I have become so worn down by my problems/dashed hopes that I have lost the ability to live my life to the fullest. I have so much to be grateful for, I thank my Heavenly Father everyday for my amazingly wonderful husband who I couldn't live without! He is my greatest blessing! I have the best sisters anyone could ask for and I am extremely grateful for such amazing parents. I need to stop focusing on the things that I don't have and start really focusing on all of the blessings that I do have.

Wedding!

Jamie and Chris are MARRIED! It was the best weekend ever! Friday night was the wedding dinner at the Grand America. It was so elegant and the food was delicious!

Saturday Jamie and Chris were married for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple. The sealing was the most spirit filled, powerful one that I have been to. I can't believe my sister is married, and to the man of her dreams. They make the perfect couple. They are truly two of the most amazing people that I will ever know. The wedding was so perfect!

Here are some of the few pictures that I have from the wedding festivities. Isn't my husband handsome?! My mom and her sisters are all so beautiful! The reception was at the Salt Lake Country Club, Perfect!

My beautiful aunt Joni along with the help of her two gorgeous daughters (my wonderful cousins) made this gorgeous table cloth out of lemon leaves. I am sure that it took them forever but it was definitely the center of attention at the reception. Amazing!

Summer!

Summer 2009 has been the best summer! We have had such a blast! To start off the summer we had an awesome 4th of July. We spent the night at my Mom's cabin then we had the most amazing BBQ at my Aunt Joni's (she is the best gourmet). The very next weekend we had the Belka Family Reunion 2009 in Kanab at Clay & Shellie's house. We rode 4-Wheelers, had a pool party, went to a Chuckwagon Cookout, sat around the campfire, etc. We had the best time! Thanks Clay and Shellie for everything!

Pioneer Day we headed down to Southern Utah to celebrate with my Dad. On our way to Escalante, Auston and I went to Capitol Reef. It was gorgeous. I love spending time with my best friend/ hubby. It was so much fun to just be on our own little adventure. We went for a hike along the Fremont River, saw some petroglyphs, saw the Fruita Schoolhouse (way cool). What is crazy to me is that I have driven past the entrance to Capitol Reef dozens of times and we have never been there. I am so glad that we finally went. Escalante always celebrates Pioneer Day the Saturday after the holiday so we were able to be there for the parade. My Dad is running for Mayor of Escalante & Auston and I got to help in the parade. We threw out lip balm, fans that said Taylor for Mayor on them, as well as tons of candy. It was so memorable. I hope my Dad wins Mayor, he will truly be the best! Good luck Dad!

May 2009

May was such an eventful month for us. May 12th was such a wonderful day because Beckham Tate Meredith was born. Jill is the most amazing mother and she has the most beautiful babies. Okay so I am biased but I truly think they are gorgeous. Beckham is the best baby and I love him so much! I am so grateful to have another nephew to love!May 22 was another amazing day because my favorite brother (so he's my only brother but that definitely makes him my favorite!) graduated from high school. We took a much needed trip to Escalante to be there for the graduation and to have a chill weekend. We had planned on going hiking, four wheeling, etc but it rained/poured the entire weekend. Escalante needed the rain so much but it did cramp our style a bit. We still were able to have a blast though, my Dad took us to the Anasazi museum in Boulder where he knows the museum curator so we were able to see all of the special artifacts that no one even knows about. So cool!

Jamie and Chris are getting married August 8th and we couldn't be more excited! It is going to be the event of the year! Can we say party?!

We were totally missing Jill, she had to stay home because hello, she just had a baby! We honestly missed her so bad! I don't know how it worked out but somehow we all were coordinating our outfits.

On Sunday after church we were able to go exploring a little up the Alvey wash. Oh my goodness it is beautiful and so much fun. We were totally hiking these huge rocks. Escalante is just one of the most amazing places and I absolutely love it.

Mother's Day

Our lives have been so busy lately with a million things but I need to take a moment to stop and reflect on all the blessings that I have been given. This past weekend I was able to see two of the most important people in my life and honor them. Mother's Day is always a special day. Auston and I are so grateful for the two amazing mothers that we have. I can't find the right words to describe truly how we feel about both of them. They make everything better in our lives. I am so grateful to their examples of motherhood and their Christlike love. As much as I love Mother's Day because we get to honor our Mother's I struggle a little bit. For the past four years Mother's Day has always been a little hard for me just due to the fact that I am not able to be a Mother. I have always wanted to be a mom more than anything but our Heavenly Father has a different plan for me right now. Yesterday in our Sacrament meeting the speaker talked about how every woman is a mother, even if she hasn't had the opportunity to give birth. He gave the example of how Adam called Eve "the mother of all living" before she had even born children of her own. Women are innately mothers from birth. We as women are nurturing, and loving. That gave peace to my heart and a whole new perspective on my life as a woman and daughter of God. I hope to one day be blessed to be a Mother to children of my own but until that time I will strive to have more faith in Heavenly Father's plan for me. I absolutely had the best Mother's Day weekend and we loved being able to spend time with our wonderful families.

Sad Sad

What a week! It has honestly been the hardest week. On Wednesday my car was broken into while I was at the gym. I know you are not supposed to leave your purse in the car but people's purses have been stolen right out of the locker and so I thought it would be safer just to leave my purse in the back seat. Well, I was totally victimized and the crook got away with a ton of my stuff. They stole my purse, with my preciouse Wedding Ring inside. They got away with my digital camera, my Dad's expensive camera, my jewelry, and they even took some of my sewing stuff! I feel so violated and I am totally distraught about my wedding ring. I called the insurance and they will only pay a small portion to replace my ring so I guess I am going to have to wait awhile till I can get a new one. I don't want a new one! I just want MY ring! I have been to several pawn shops, called many others and no luck. I am so sad! I know they are only material things that I have lost but it still makes me sad.

Escalante-1A Champions!

This past weekend we all went to Richfield to watch Escalante play in the 1A basketball tournament. Jace is a senior this year and it was his final chance to play high school basketball. I can't believe that he will graduate this year! They played their hearts out and won the championship for the 3rd time in 4 years. Amazing! I am so proud of Jace. He is such a wonderful brother and I can't wait to see what the future will hold for him. Whitley is a cheerleader for Escalante High so she was definitely part of the action!
Jamie and Chris are the cutest couple! Chris was amazing at getting the crowd excited!

Jill, Brandon and Tanner had a blast! You should have heard Tanner say "Go Moquis"

Tanner is my little buddy, I honestly do not know what I would do without him! He makes me smile no matter what mood I am in!

Auston and I have witnessed all 3 Escalante State Championships,

and we are so glad! I am so blessed to have such a supporting husband!

He always makes a huge effort to be able to make everything work and to make everyone happy. How did I ever get so blessed?!

February

Valentine's Day was so much fun this year. We made heart pancakes, ran errands, had lunch at Schmidts (one of my fav's), and finally went sledding at Soldier Hollow. Jamie and Chris were so great to invite us to go sledding at Soldier Hollow with them. If you haven't been sledding at Soldier Hollow you definitely need to go. They have everything there for you and there is even a tow rope that pulls you up the hill. So fun. It was late when we got done sledding but we were starving so we went to this great little place in Midway. What a perfect Valentine's day! I am so grateful for my Valentine!

Private

I decided to go private too. Please leave me your email so that I can add you.

We Moved!

New Year's Day was pretty exciting this year. We moved into our home in American Fork. We have owned it for almost three years but were renting it out. When we got the call that they were moving out we didn't quite know what to think. We could find new renters, sell it or move in. Well with the current market we decided now would not be a good time to sell and we felt impressed that we should move. Within 5 days we had moved. We are loving it although we don't have any furniture purchased yet and we are currently in the process of replacing the carpet. I will post some pictures as soon as I get a chance. Just wanted to let you all know.
p.s. If anyone has a good suggestion on a place to find good furniture please let me know. I have been looking but I haven't found anything that I want to drop the dough on yet.
Love, The Belka's