Snow Day!

I want you to think back on a happy memory, maybe even the happiest of memories, now times that by a million. That is how I felt getting the text stating that the heavens had opened up and dumped enough snow on the ground for Granite District to call a snow day. I was so happy I couldn’t fall back asleep, which was frustrating because I was so excited to sleep in…I attempted to sleep for a couple more hours and then we decided to do what Trent and Eliza would do on a snow day, go snowmobiling!

Its been a weird winter, meaning that I haven’t been able to go snowmobiling with T as much as I would have like to, so this snow day was a happy miracle. Not to mention I’ve been run ragged this year and I really needed a day with T. Tender mercies are REAL people.

We grabbed breakfast and drove up to Midway. It was still stormy down in Salt Lake, but it was blue skies and perfect up there. We bundled up and hit the mountain. It was absolutely incredible! The snow was fresh, we were cutting trails the entire way. No one was around and it felt like we owned the mountain. At one point we saw a Mama moose with her baby only a couple yards away. (Trent wanted to take a picture and I wanted to get the heck out of there….) Everything was perfect. I’m still quite inexperienced when it comes to these scary big machines but I’m so grateful for a patient husband who slowly leads the way as I follow along.

I’m reminded of the people in life who lead the way. They guide and direct us in so many aspects of our lives, creating the path for us to carefully follow. Other times, we’re the ones cutting the trail and guiding others to success. I’m so grateful for the leaders in my life that have set the example for me to follow. My hope is to continue to find them as well as be them.

The day was perfect, even with bumps and bruises and snowmobiles stuck in the snow. I woke up sore and exhausted the next day as I returned to work but it was 100% worth it.

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This weekend we took to Midway for some pictures with Shutter Lush by Paige Jackman. First of all, Paige is an absolute doll and we had so much fun getting to know her and hearing her story. She’s a newly-wed, just like us! It was fun to swap our “So how did you meet your husband?” stories as well as simply get to know her. She is such a darling person and we highly recommend getting any photos done by her. Paige knows exactly what she is doing. I love the warm feel her photos have and she plays with light so beautifully. We seriously could not have had a more wonderful time.

We drove up the lane to the farm and almost got stuck, there was sooooo much snow! I’ve never seen so much snow up there! The fields were covered and everything was frozen. It was crazy beautiful but we were all wondering how these pictures were going to work. Luckily, Paige is an absolute genius and we wound or way down the lane finding perfect little spots to shoot. We eventually ventured into the horse coral for some pictures with Trent’s horse, Britches. There was snow up to my shins and Paige was climbing all over the place. To say it was a simple photo shoot is an understatement…

Britches thinks we’re crazy…

There was snow in my boots and my toes were frozen but it was totally worth it. Trent was such a good sport running around with us and he is always fun to take pictures with. I am so in love with this boy…it’s ridiculous. (P.s. It’s his birthday this Thursday and boy do I have a celebration planned…stay tuned for the details)

Photography: shutterlush.com

Dress: shopjessakae.com (Darling new arrivals. Use code elizaj10 for $$ discount)

Live and Learn

Trent took me on a date last week and boy was it an adventure. It had just snowed the day before and T planned for us to go on a snowmobile journey. I’m not as good as Trent on a snowmobile but I’m slowly getting better so we thought it would be fun.

The day couldn’t have been more gorgeous. There was powder everywhere, the sun was out and we were having so much fun. We stuck around the farm for a bit, Trent tried to teach me some tricks (I struggled) and then we took the back trails up to Cascade Springs. We saw a mama moose and a ton of deer, it was absolutely amazing. As we neared our destination, I was starting to get tired, which Trent knows is never a good idea. We turned onto a road that was completely covered with snow making it a steep slant and I started to freak out just a bit. I’ll spare you the gory details but let’s just say that I was crying, Trent was trying to make sure we didn’t die and we ended up driving back on one snowmobile instead of two because the other one got seriously stuck.

As I was riding back with T, I began thinking about life. Sometimes life is glorious, every moment full of sunshine, gorgeous views and laughter, but in the next moment you’re stuck on the side of a mountain tears streaming down your face and completely frustrated.  Both moments can teach you something about yourself but most often, it’s the harder times that teach you the most. I was again reminded just how lucky I am to have Trent. He handled everything so well. He had to go up the next day to rescue the stuck snowmobile and I’m pretty sure he came home with hypothermia or something. He always knows what to do in a scary situation and I am always so impressed. Sitting on the back of that snowmobile, riding home close to sunset, I was again reminded that life is fragile and can change at any moment. Thankfully we have each other to hold on to.

Adventurous date turned into a serious life lesson. Who would have thought? 😉

Christmas Break Adventures

Today we took my family and headed up to Trent’s farm for an adventure. With all the snow down in the valley you would have thought the farm would be covered, but unfortunately there wasn’t as much as we thought. Despite the lack of massive amounts of snow, we still had a blast sledding, snowmobiling and just being together. Trent has these crazy cool sleds that have metal skis on the bottom and they were so fast, slightly dangerous, but kept us entertained for hours. My mom was her usual organized self and brought up a delicious lunch for all of us. My dad had way too much fun riding the four wheeler and snowmobiles. I have the greatest parents in the entire word. What a joy it was to be together having so much fun! We played, froze, snacked and laughed the day away.

Faith is a prime example of what happens if you’re stuck with Eliza and the bottom of the sledding hill…You get a million pictures taken of you. Isn’t she absolutely darling? Let’s be honest, all my siblings are pretty adorable.

I think Emma and Sam should be ski goggle models. Don’t you agree?

A word about these brother-in-laws. The four oldest girls in our family got married this past summer, crazy I know…Growing up in a family with 7 girls and one boy, these four new brothers added a whole new dynamic to our family. Things are definitely different but we couldn’t love them more. Brigham now has some guys to do guy things with and my little sisters now have four new big brothers who tease them way too much but also care for them way too much. Not only does our family have to get used to the new boys, but these boys are accomplishing the ginormous feat of getting used to us. Us Jacksons are a wild bunch…just ask T. We sure are grateful for these new additions and we can’t wait for the adventures to come! (Not pictured, Ben, who we sure miss!)

Selfies with a big camera can be pretty tricky but Lucy and I managed to get a good one. 🙂

The day could not have been more perfect. We were missing Ben and Grace, who are in Ecuador for the next year, but we know they are doing great things over there. Our winter break has been filled with families visiting from Texas, adventures, family parties, lots of love and just overall goodness. This truly is such a wonderful time to be together and we feel so lucky to have such amazing family everywhere we turn.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Snowy Sisters

Trent has been hearing for quite some time about how nice it would be to have a good camera to document all our adventures with. We had been doing lots of research and trying to find the camera that would work best for us. Right before our trip to Texas, Trent gifted me with a camera as an early Christmas present! I feel spoiled rotten. He is the absolute greatest! We have both already put it to good use and I can’t wait to see all the fun things we do with it! Our brother-in-law, Sam, is a whiz when it comes to photography so he’s been trying to teach us all the ins and outs. We often revert back to the automatic feature that does it all for you but we promise we’re trying! It has been really fun to learn something new with T and I’m sure we are in for some pretty fantastic adventures.

Last weekend Trent was going to be gone, so I decided to have a little photoshoot with my little sisters up in the canyons. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it but before but there are seven girls and one boy in my family. Lots of estrogen running around our house but our brother is a good sport. We are all super close and we always love doing things together. Faith couldn’t make it but I snagged Lucy and Hope and it was a blast!  They were so kind to stomp through the snow and put up with all of my crazy ideas. They were even nice enough to take some pictures of me. We just about froze and we had to get a little creative to make our group pictures work but it was totally worth it.

I sure love these sisters of mine!!

Aren’t they darling??

Ya…It was a little cold. 

Crazy I tell ya….just crazy.