Going to the Temple.....

I was able to go through the Ogden Temple on Saturday and loved every second of it. It was the best and coolest thing I probably have ever been able to do in my whole entire life. Here are just a few pictures that were taken after the session. I was completely exhausted but made everyone stay for a picture, ha ha ha. Here is my family...at least the ones that were able to go with me. Of course most of the boys were are at home with the kids so my sisters coule be there with me. How sweet!
This is Jedd's family...the ones that could make it. His brother and family were so sick, so they were not able to come.
This is Jedd and I and our parents.
Everybody was making fun saying that these kinds of pictures were going to be taken in less than a week on my wedding day, but I wanted to make sure that I snapped at least a couple pictures this day to help remind me of what a special day it was for me.

I've been Tagged so why not??!!

i am: Kylie Downs ...... soon to be Cherry.
i think: this summer is going way to fast but not fast enough.
i know: that marrying Jedd is the best thing that has ever happened to me!  
i want: to have the internet at my house someday.
i have: 2 weeks and 2 days left until I get married!
i wish: I never had to sleep. 
i hate: people who lie to me more than ANYTHING.
i miss: my Grandpas, and am sad they couldn't meet Jedd.
i fear: not being able to teach AP Calc effectively this fall to my kids.  I always am scared I am not a good enough teacher. 
i feel: like the luckiest girl ever with my family and Jedd in my life!
i hear: the tv.  I'm watching the King of Queens.
i smell: nothing.....is that bad?
i crave: pasta, pasta and pasta. And then after that, strawberries.
i search: for new recipes but NEVER use or cook them.
i wonder: how in the world I am ever going to go back to school on August 13th.  
i regret: somethings I say.  Sometimes you can never take things back.
i love: blogging, and the Cubs :)
i care: about my family more than anything else in this world.
i always: say "Such is life!"  It is my motto for everything.
i believe: things always come, but sometimes not on our time table.
i dance: only at my hip hop class.  Don't ever ask to see it.
i sing: in my car, and at church.  NEVER in front of people.
i don’t always: keep my house as clean as my mom would like, but it's clean enough for me.
i fight: to keep myself awake while watching movies.
i write: lists and look forward to checking things off on them.  It is the best feeling ever.
i lose: my work keys at least once almost every day I am at school.
i win: almost always when I bet with Jedd. (ok, I like to think I always win!)
i never: keep my shoes on when I go into houses anymore.  (habit learned from Jedd)
i listen: almost always when people have a problem. 
i can usually be found: watching a cubs game, at a softball game, or hanging out on the couch with Jedd.
i am scared: of SNAKES and needles (no matter what the size.)  
i need: to learn not to stress about things that really don't matter.
i am happy about: my new life with Jedd.
i tag: no one.  I'm a teacher and don't assign things during the summer!  :)

Happy 4th!

Our 4th of July was filled with fun things. This was the first Independence Day Jedd and I spent together so it was really fun for us! The day started out WAY TOO early with a Run/Walk 5k down in Centerville. My mom is so gung-ho about these things so she talked Michael, Afton, Jedd and I into going with her. It was pretty fun. However, one lesson I learned is that you can't start running and think that you will be ready for the race in 3 days. Oh well, we still finished in great time. Jedd and I had so much fun just going together. I was more tired than he was, but such is life!
After the race, the family met back up that afternoon. The party started out with swimming for those wearing suits, but turned out to be a whole family water fight for everyone there. We had a great dinner, pork steaks my favorite!!
Jedd and I got soaked, but the funny thing was that we got the most wet was our back sides. We didn't think it was fair because there were only 3 people that had water guns and the rest of us were left to defend ourselves with nothing. At one point, I sat on the ground and put a towel over my head....hoping I wouldn't get drenched. Well if you know my brothers, they made sure I was soaked! It's a good thing I started out my day with curly hair. It was such a fun holiday and it was so great that Jedd and I could spend it together with my family.

My Dad

Okay so I know that I already made a post for today, but I thought while I was on here, I would do this one as well. (I don't have internet at my house so I either have to go to my mom's or sister's house.) So for right now I have to talk about my dad. This picture was taken a coule years ago, the day I graduated from Weber State University. My mom and dad were both there supporting me and have always been in the background of my life. But I wanted to spend just a few minutes talking about my dad. As many of you know, he is usually pretty quiet, but lately my dad has really become more "social". He is literally one of the best guys I know, and even now as I am tearing up just thinking about him, there is no one I look up to more. He has always been there standing behind me, supporting me and giving me the strength to move on. I normally go to my mom with my problems, but I know that my dad is secretly listening and trying to help any way he can. He is one of the hardest workers I know and his example taught me to have a strong work ethic.
My dad is so cute with his grandkids. Every single time he sees them, he has to give them candy. We even have to stop by the gas station to pick up something if he doesn't have anything. This picture was just taken a few days ago and Hailey and Branson wanted to sit on papa's lap and read books. My dad had already put in a long day's work and had just came in from trimming trees in the hot sun and he still let them sit on his lap and read books.

I am so greatful that my dad is such a strong member of the church. He gives me strength and the faith to believe that everything will work out if I do my part. The last couple years of my life have been full of changes and stressful times, but he has always been there telling me that things will work out. Sometimes it amazes me that he can be so strong!

Now that I am about to get married (in less than a month!!), I have realized how important my dad is to me and how much I love him! He has and will forever be the BEST DAD IN THE WORLD!

Memory Card Happiness

As some of you know, I FINALLY bought a memory card and so I have been having so much fun taking pictures every where I go. It is getting addicting and every where I go, I think I can take a picture and put on my blog. Pathetic! This is just a few things that happened yesterday.

Sister's Day

Every Tuesday, my sisters, mom and I get together and have a sister's day where the kids get together and play and the girls get to sit and chat. Yesterday, it was the first time that I have had everyone up at my house so we ate lunch at my house and then went to the park that is just down the road. The kids were so cute watching a cartoon so I had to snag a picture. Almost everyone is smiling except for stubborn Ash. They were "kind of" playing CandyLand so that explains Ashton holding the black board and Branson holding a blue guy. This was my house right before we went to the park. It makes me laugh how fast things can get taken out of bins and how many toys can actually fit on the floor. I don't have kids, but man I tell you what, my niece and nephews used every toy they could find. This was just one corner of my house. And even though it was a mess (and there are cracker crumbs you can not see in my carpet), I LOVED every second of it.

Jedd's Softball game

Last night Jedd went to his softball game. He plays on a team with his 2 brothers and some friends. It is so much fun to go and watch him play. I know I have already said this already, but I really like going with him. And I don't know how much Jedd likes me yelling, but I cheer from the bleachers. This is him getting ready to bat, and if you can tell his right leg is getting ready to "squash the bug". He has tried to teach me how to do that and I never can learn the right way. It still makes me laugh....I'm such a "typical girl" when it comes to sports! (sorry for the metal fence in the way...I couldn't avoid it) Here he is waiting to see where the ball goes. Just so you know, he hit the ball perfectly to center field and he of course was out. This was not a good moment.
This last picture is of Jedd pitching. He is the official pitcher for this team he plays on Tuesday nights. He has since realized that playing center field is not so bad. He does an awesome job pitching though. I still get nervous that he is going to get hit. On the night we got engaged, a guy hit the ball right perfectly and hit Jedd's left knee. It was bruised for a while and sometimes he still has trouble with it. What a sacrifice for the game!

Engagement Pictures

Okay, so I know that my awesome photographer, Holli, already put some of these pictures on her blog, but I just had to put them on mine. Sorry about all pictures but I just couldn't pick only a few to put on here. For those of you who have been through this, picking the 'cutest' pictures out of so many is a difficult task and so I just decided to put a lot of the cute ones on. And even with these, I still could have chosen more. Enjoy, because I just can't stop looking at them. Jedd did awesome during pictures, and he even said that it was better than shopping for his shirt. Shocking! I told him that he better keep that attitude for August 1st because it will be about the same. (not really, but I would rather him think that!! He he he) This cubs hat picture is probably one of my most favorite, if I had to choose. It is Jedd and I to a "t".These railroad tracks were found by accident and the pictures turned out awesome!

This was the coolest waterfall out by the Idaho Falls temple. I think it makes for one of the best backgrounds.
Okay I know the next 3 pictures are almost the exact same thing but I couldn't resist. At least they are all different zooms.
These pictures were taken at a baseball field my brother got permission for us to be on. Thanks bro! They turned out to be so cute and absolutely priceless!
Now this picture is literally the way Jedd and I look about 4 times a week. We go to his softball games and we try and support the cubs and wear our shirts on the days they play. Jedd is usually wearing his every time the cubs play and I try my best to do it as much as I can. I only have one shirt so it is hard when it is in the wash. But with the bat, glove, cubs hats and shirts, it portrays us PERFECTLY!
Jedd laughs when he sees this picture. He says (but I never knew) I make a 'whoosh' sound every time I swing the bat so here I am doing it for the camera...without even knowing it!
And last but not least, this is Jedd giving me a 'good job' kiss after we finished batting. Batting is much harder than I thought. I have the worst baseball swing because I treat it like a tennis racket (what Jedd says) but I never knew that until he explained why. Oh well, you won't see me on the field any time soon!

Vegas Baby!

Okay so I know it has been quite a while since I have updated my blog and I apologize, but I had to wait until I got my film developed. Sad news is that I had a full roll of film (28 pictures total) and when I got them developed, it turned out that I only had 4 pictures that I could use. Sadly, every event Jedd and I participated in was not visible on the film. To sum up what I am trying to say, all the pictures that we took were not developed because the lighting was not right. The saddest part about the whole thing was the night we got engaged, Jedd and I took about 10 pictures and now I don't have any record of that night. It is quite frustrating. Now you might ask, doesn't Kylie have a digital camera? And the answer is yes I do; however, I do not have a memory card so it won't hold anything more than 10 pictures. I know pathetic. But these are the pictures that came out so I thought I would share. Jedd and I went down to Vegas at the beginning of May for the Supercross motorcycle races. We went with our friends Zann and Emilee and it was such a blast. These first 2 pictures are of the stadium and you can see the tractors plowing the dirt getting ready for the races. I took these pictures for my nephew Ashton who is obsessed with tractors, but he didn't seem to interested. He liked them but just looked at me like I was crazy (which is usually the look he gives me!

He sure keeps my head on the ground.)
This picture was taken right before the races began. Jedd was so mad that I made him take a picture, but look how cute it turned out? We had already been at the stadium for about 3 hours and went and walked around the pits (which is where all the vendors were and even some racers and their bikes.) We even met some guys off Deadliest Catch...pretty awesome! However, the most frustrating thing about this whole trip was that I thought I would get some sun and maybe get a little tan for being out in the sun all day. Well, reality is that the only thing that got sun was my feet. I still have the tan line.
This picture is of Jedd and I at the Bellagio off the strip. I was trying to cheese it up because Jedd said he was going to tough guy the picture. Well I totally went the opposite way. Obviously, he was lie-ing and now I look like the weirdo! He gets me laughing every single day and I absolutely love it. It was such a fun trip and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
As funny as it is, since I have known Jedd, we have been to Vegas together twice and he has been there two times for work. You would think we like Vegas, but really, it isn't that great. I had a lot of fun but next time we go somewhere, it is going to be hands down Chicago! We are hoping to be able to go there in August, so cross your fingers.

A Day at the Zoo

Today Michelle, Jerilyn Jeremiah, my mom, the little kids and I went to the zoo. We had a really fun time and luckily hit the great weather before it started to rain. Being out in the sun was great and it felt so great! I love the warm weather. These are just a few pictures that I had to take with the kids, I just couldn't resist. This one is of Ashton, Branson and I at the elephants which are one of my favorites to go and see.

This one is of Ashton and I on the carousel. He had to sit on the zebra. I paid for a ticket to just stand right by Ashton. Oh well....such is life! I didn't realize though how dizzy you can get on these things.

Hailey Bailey is just so cute and she just LOVES to wear necklaces. Right here she is wearing my mom's necklace and as soon as we took this picture, she had to put mine one. You can tell that she is holding my necklace and I said okay just wait one second to take a picture and then I'll put it on you. This was at the bird show at the zoo and Hailey was a little nervous. The birds fly right above you and it is so close to your head. I even ducked and they weren't even close to me!

This picture is a little crazy. Hailey was scared to sit on these metal tigers and so I had to hold her on it. I was slowly slipping so I had to grab on to Zach during the picture. He is so adorable, look at that priceless smile!

This picture was taken with all the kids seeing how big they are compared to the gorilla size. Well being the selfish me, I jumped into the picture so I could have one with all the kids. I know, I love having pictures or all of them and since I am a 'blogger' now, I am addicted to pictures to show!

We had a really fun time at the zoo, and I even dodged another Zoo trip without seeing the creepy snakes and reptiles. I am 24 and still scared of those disgusting things. The kids are braver than I am...but that's okay. I just tell them that they can go see these animals!

Wedding Planning

Ok so I had to put a better picture of Jedd and I on my page. This was taken at his house as a trial picture and it turned out pretty cute so of course I had to keep it. But anyway, back to wedding planning. So I can't believe how busy I am with all this wedding stuff. I know that this sounds absolutely ridiculous, but I am amazed at how much goes into planning a wedding. I obviously have never done it before and so all the little details are just overwhelming. Jedd has been really great about it all. He pretends to seem interested and really care about all the planning and details but reality is that when I start telling him things, you can instantly see his eyes roll to the back of his head and his breathing becomes very slow. I, however, just don't care and keep going as if he really is interested! Last night was actually really funny, and it is a good thing that I love him. We went to only 3 stores in the mall to find matching ties for our brothers and dads to wear at the reception. He was completely exhausted from shopping.....ya going to only 3 stores! And after we got in the car, I decided to play around with him and say "Okay, so let's head down to another mall and hit probably another 3 or 4 stores." You could just see in his face that I had better be kidding.

This week has been insane. After finding my dream dress on Monday, I thought the biggest things were done besides invitations. Well, that is true, but all the small details are coming up now. So my mom and I have been busy little bees trying to get things ready. Monday we found my wedding dress...which is huge. Tuesday we hacked out the wedding cake and pretty much all the reception decorations. I also changed the whole plan for our backdrop for the reception. I felt awful changing plans on my mom, but at least I did it now instead of the day before the wedding when we were setting it up in the church, right? (my mom is AMAZING!) Wednesday I found a slip to wear with my wedding dress and went and searched for even more decorations. Thursday we traveled all around town and even out of town to find 10 ties for the guys to wear at the reception, and we also found me a new dress to wear to the temple. Among all of the shopping today and making 3 trips to the temple to pick up something, I discovered that I needed to replace my brakes on my Jeep and had to put my car in the shop. Perfect timing ya? Friday, which is tomorrow, my mom and Jedd's mom are meeting for the very first time! We are going to pick out flowers for the wedding, and also of course more shopping for things. Jedd just smiles every single time I say "shop" or "shopping" so shhhh.....don't tell him I'm going again tomorrow! No, actually, he is so great about this whole thing and I couldn't ask for a better future husband! I'm the luckiest girl ever!

Wedding Dress

Okay so I know that this is obviously not the dress I am getting (he he he); however, my mom and are are wedding dress shopping today and I didn't realize how fun it could be. I went last week with my two sisters and it was really fun but it is so fun to have your mom there. I have always thought I am so independant and don't need her to do anything for me, but when it comes to my wedding, ESPECIALLY MY DRESS, it is a must that she is with me! More to come...we are heading down to the first store I went to, to hopefully buy my wedding dress! AHHHHH!