Props to my Aly :)

I can't thank Aly enough for designing our cute announcements. I love them! And I love her :) Aly is the most amazing gal, and soon to be mother too! I couldn't ask for a better friend. She designed and had these printed for me in less than a week AND she threw me a fun bridal shower up in Salt Lake, just two weeks after we got engaged. Wonder woman!

Our wedding announcement...

It was covered with a vellum sheet that had flowers on it

and tied together with a chocolate brown ribbon

Everyone can come party at the reception. There will definitely be a chocolate fountain :)

Thanks again Aly, I love you girl!

Epic River Trip

Disclaimer: VERY LONG POST - my blog is turning into a journal of sorts so I have included a lot of the details.

If only it had been this relaxing...

Last Friday (May 9th) was the day that never ended... Here's the story: Six of us (George, Alethea, Lisa, Jamie, Scott and I) all went to bed around 1 a.m. Friday morning, just to wake up a few short hours later and be on the road by 5 a.m. to drive down to the Black Canyon stretch of the Colorado River (south of the Hoover Dam). After a quick stop at a Mom & Pops Diner we arrived at the Hacienda Hotel around 8 a.m. where our outfitters met us with kayaks and a shuttle to the put-in. We were all packed and on the beautiful river by 10 a.m. The water was a little on the chilly side (56F), but the ambient temp of ~90F made it very pleasant. We had our first capsized kayak in a matter of seconds. No worries, the dry bags worked! The Black Canyon is the 11 miles section directly below the hoover dam - our group consisted of 4 kayaks and 1 canoe.

Hoover Dam aka Megatron's hide-out

Lisa kayaking the Colorado

The beautiful Colorado River

We paddled around for and hour or so and then decided to pull out into a side canyon to get out and hike to some hot springs. Lisa and Jamie both missed the spot and went a little farther downstream. George went out to see if he could help them come back upriver so we could all hike together. This is when our group split...Alethea, Scott, and I waited for awhile at the mouth of the canyon thinking they'd be back up soon. When they didn't show, we decided to hike up anyway. Along the way we caught an itty bitty froggy woggy and also a chuckawalla (fattest lizard ever!)

Chuckawalla's are fat!

We moseyed along enjoying the scenery and warmth. The hot springs were gorgeous and it was a nice little hike.

Natural hot springs up a side canyon

We got back on the river to head down and catch up with the rest of our group. We rounded a bend when this lady waved us over. She yelled, "your friend fell 50 feet and a helicopter is on its way." I looked at her in disbelief and asked how she knew it was our group. She just kept saying she knew and that he fell 50 feet and was getting life-flighted out. Of course all the worst scenarios are running thru my head at this point. I knew it was George and I imagined him being paralyzed, or having head trauma, or worse... A couple hundred feet from the shore I saw Jamie waving us over. We bolted thru the nastiest brush that tore our legs up, I couldn't get to George fast enough. I was so relieved to finally get to his side, and even more relieved to see him smile at me and tell me he was ok.

After I finally got to George after his fall...

Flash to the other group when George left to go get Jamie and Lisa: It turned out as Jamie was coming back upstream she rolled her kayak and got it full of water (the river doesn't really have rapids so we didn't have skirts for the kayaks). George raced over to help her by paddling to shore towing both her and her kayak, but the current was too strong. They eventually made it to the river bank about a half mile downstream. They were so worn out from paddling and swimming in cold water that they decided to wait for us to come. They rested and skipped some rocks and made sure Jamie was okay (being in the cold water for 20 mins made her shiver!) After awhile of waiting George got bored and decided to climb a cliff that was behind them. He climbed up without any problem (as it usually goes!) but decided it would be sketchy if he went back down that same way. It was about noon by then and he sat up there for a bit and watched the river and waited for the us to come. As he was waiting atop the cliff another group came down the river. Jamie and Lisa waved them over (they were the only other group above us on the river). As Jamie and Lisa talked to this small group asking if they'd seen us, George decided to start the climb down. As he started down he made it down a couple feet when his feet slipped (he was wearing water shoes). As near as we can tell, he slid about 15-20 feet trying to grab at the rocks with no success...as he looked back to see how much farther he was going to fall, he was able to twist and push off from the rock and free fall about another 20 feet. He landed feet first on some sharp rocks and kind of rolled out of it. All he could do was moan. Everyone on the beach heard the sliding and moaning and came running. The first people to get to him were Lisa, Jamie, and the other group they had waved over to talk to. It turns out that three people in that group were all cops/EMTs. AND of course one of them had his cell phone (which amazingly had service). AND he volunteered on the search and rescue team based out of Vegas, so he called his boys directly. He also called 911. No one would let George move as a precaution since he'd fallen so far, but he had feeling in all his fingers and toes and his pupils were the same size, so things looked relatively good considering his landing spot and how far he'd fallen.

How George landed...check out those unforgiving rocks!

The "Fall Rock" - George fell from about the middle of this picture

Not long after we'd gotten to George's landing spot we heard the helicopter overhead. Two search and rescue guys came down with a back board/gurney/cage and loaded George up.


I was so impressed with their efficiency. They carried George out of the canyon free of the cliff walls and then hoisted him up for his flight back to Vegas.




George arrived to the hospital around 2:30 p.m. where they took an x-ray of his foot, used iodine on all the gashes and scrapes and patched him up...they didn't hold back with all the gauze! Before anyone was even there to pick George up, they wheeled him outside and left him on a bench. I was really surprised they didn't keep him inside with the AC, especially because he had no i.d., cell phone, or money. I guess that is Vegas for you?

Meanwhile we are back on the river, missing George and still feeling a bit frazzled by all the drama we'd witnessed. Plus we weren't sure of George's condition. Time for decisions... We had another 10 miles to kayak before there were any take-outs on the river. From the 911 call earlier, finally a police boat showed up. We used their phone to make a call to my brother-in-law so at least someone out in the real world would know that George was in some hospital in Las Vegas. We also gave the police boat the extra kayak. We decided to push it and paddle the rest of the way to the take-out in order to get to George.

We still tried to enjoy the beautiful scenery...

We had a strong head wind, but luckily the current was with us. We made pretty good time and were at the take-out around 5 p.m. We got a hold of our outfitters and they made a special trip to come pick us up. We finally got back to our cars around 8:30 p.m. where we still had to load our canoe. Unfortunately none of us knew how to use George's ratchet system so that took another hour in the parking lot. By then I had messages on my phone saying that George had been discharged and was at Kate's mom's house in Vegas. So we finally met back up with George around 11 p.m. or so.

After a long day, finally a comfy couch

We visited for a while and found out there were no broken bones or stitches...amazing! He has gashes and scrapes all over his body except for his chest (thank goodness he was wearing his life jacket when he fell). The worst of it was some major heel bruises and one heel had split open. Alethea and I went out to try and find a 24-hour pharmacy to fill George's prescription and buy some more gauze. We made it back by about 1 a.m. and finally were able to crash on the floor.

Our river trip turned out to be shorter than we expected although it felt longer than anything. I'm so grateful for how well everything worked out, and feel very blessed to have my George with me. Someone was definitely watching over us that day. A lot of lessons were learned, but most of all the reminder of how precious life really is.

Life isn't always a walk in the park, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't take walks in the park :) Even if that means using a wheelchair.

Ring Bling!

With a few complications, exactly a month before our wedding my real ring is done, yay! I L-O-V-E it and think it's SO gorgeous. George even got down on his knee again to give it to me :) I think the profile is so cool because you can see the whole diamond...I might even say it's magical, hehe. It is somewhat of a road hazard though because it's right at eye-level on the steering wheel and I find it hard to focus on anything but the RING. Everything feels like a dream, but I'll try to keep my eyes on the road!

ABC Tag

My nephews "hiding" under my desk at work

A. Attached or Single: Happily attached to my fiance George!

B. Best Friends: FAMILY which will soon be George too :) and I couldn't live without my GIRLS: Aly, Shena, Lisa, Elaine, Eliza...the list goes on!

C. Cake or Pie: This is TOUGH because I have such a sweet tooth. I LOVE, love, love Rhubarb Pie, but the THE CAKE is to die for.

D. Day of Choice: Hmmm Saturday. It's a FREE day and I can do whatever I want!

E. Essential item: Water and/or Chocolate - are these "items"?

F. Favorite color: Definitely blue

G. Greatest accomplishment: Living happily I suppose?

H. Hometown: Cedaredge, CO and Alaska is my second home :)

I. Indulgences: Playing (traveling, camping, hiking, etc.) and Food

J. January or July: July…I love sunshine and warmth!

K. Kids: Still in heaven, but definitely someday

L. Life is incomplete without: My family of course...

M. Marriage date: 07 June 2008

N. Number of siblings: 6 - 4 girls and 2 boys...I'm no. 5

O. Oranges or apples: Apples (not the red ones) - I hate peeling oranges.

P. Phobias or fears: The Dentist...eek!

Q. Quotes: "The significant problems in your life cannot be solved with the same level of thinking that created them." -Albert Einstein

R. Reason to smile: George loves me :)

S. Season: Summer...as long as there is water around to play in!

T. Tag 3 friends: Lisa, Melissa, Paige, Kaitlin, Mair, Jamie, Analee any and all of my fellow bloggers.

U. Unknown fact about me: I have 3 tiny pebbles in my side.

V. Very favorite store: REI? But really I don't like shopping very much.

W. Worst habit: Popping my knuckles...does it really cause arthritis?

X. X-ray or ultrasound: Ultrasound I suppose b/c an x-ray means I'm at the dentist or have a broken bone.

Y. Your favorite food: I love Italian and Thai...and ice cream and chocolate...and fresh fruit and vegetables and and and...basilly I just love food, period.

Z. Zodiac: Pisces

Who is George Bates?

For one...he is now my fiance! George asked me to marry him Monday night and I said YES!!! I've been smiling ever since and am SO excited and happy :) I knew it was coming...in fact a few weeks prior he told me that he knew he wanted to marry me. I told him I loved him and definitely liked where things were headed, but that I needed a couple weeks to make SURE that is what I wanted. I pretty much already knew, but those two weeks gave me time to digest it all and now I know that I'm ready for such a big commitment!

For the proposal he took me to a red rock canyon that has a few small waterfalls. We hiked for a couple of hours enjoying the beautiful scenery. I loved how the the budding green leaves on the trees contrasted the red rock. The canyon seemed to be glowing too because it was just before sunset.

The Beginning of the Trail

We got up to one of the waterfalls that has a small pool at the bottom...he gathered a handful of flat rocks so we could have a rock-skipping contest. As he came over to give me the rocks I gave him a big hug and he dropped all the rocks, got down on his knee, and asked me to be his wife! At first I didn't believe him because the ring he pulled out was everything I DID NOT want in my ring. And we'd gone ring shopping so I knew he knew my style, so I was confused why he was holding this yellow gold, marquise-cut, gaudy diamond ring. He just kept kneeling there waiting for my reply, so despite the ring; I looked at him, took a deep breath gave him a kiss, and said YES!

Right after we got engaged :)

I still was a little thrown off by the ring because as he put it on my finger it was about 3 sizes too big! He asked me if I liked my ring...I didn't want to lie, but if he was really serious I didn't want to hurt his feelings either. So I told him I would learn to like it and that really the ring didn't matter, it was the MAN I was marrying that really mattered. We layed down on the red rock slab looking up at the sky soaking in our beautiful surroundings and thinking about what we'd just done.

Then I said, "George don't be offended by this question, but I'm just wondering why we went ring shopping? Was it so I'd get used to the idea of wearing a ring? I mean it, it just doesn't seem like this is the same style I was showing you." His reply, "Well this ring is sort of like what you pointed out to me isn't it?" I just looked at him still confused. Then he started laughing and said, "I can't take it anymore... Liz please tell me you hate the ring and that it is NOTHING like what you wanted."

My "fake" ring

I was so relieved when I realized that it wasn't "my" ring. I started to cry as he continued to tell me that he was going to do EVERYTHING he could to make me happy. My ring wasn't quite ready yet, but that it would be soon. He wanted to propose before he left to Nebraska for two weeks (he left the next morning). Years ago he worked in a pawn shop and the ring he used was one of the "left-over" ones at the shop. It is real diamonds so he said I could make it into a necklace or something if I wanted.

Oh and I forgot that at the beginning of the hike he said he didn't have a pocket and asked if I wouldn't mind carrying a little black box. I looked at him in disbelief and told him he was breaking ALL the rules and that I couldn't carry my own ring box. But he really didn't have pockets so I carried it because I guess there really aren't rules to proposals after all. But as it turned out, that ring box was empty, and he was just doing it because he thought I'd be more comfortable as long as I had the box with me because I knew he wouldn't propose until I gave it to him. Instead I felt like I had this huge box burning a hole in my pocket that I was dying to open!

I just went to try on my "wax" ring today to make sure everything looked good...it was perfect and I can't wait to get the real one! I'll definitely post photos when I get it.

After hiking up a few small waterfalls

Our history: My brother-in-law, Joe, and sister, Sara, had been trying to set us up since 2005. But we were both a little stubborn (and dating other people at the time). He actually asked me out (indirectly) to go 4-wheeling with him when I was in Cedar City right after my nephew, Kaden’s, birth (Nov ’05). I didn’t go, but my little sister did! That was about it for a year. Then in August of 2006 I moved to Cedar City for a month to landscape my dad’s office building. George and I started dating then…but it didn’t go so well and it only lasted a couple months. We were both on the rebound from our previous serious relationships. We liked each other, but weren’t ready for another relationship just yet. I moved back to Provo to finish my degree and we occasionally talked and George would take me out when I came to Cedar City to visit family. My brother-in-law, Joe, made a generous job offer to me after graduation so I found myself back in Cedar City (with no intention of dating George again). In fact I didn't even tell him that I'd moved back to town. He happened to stop by Sara and Joe’s house and found out that I’d moved back to town. He invited me to go with his group of friends to Havasupai Falls (a beautiful vein on the south end of of the Grand Canyon). I couldn't resist an invite like that and it turned out to be a great trip. We continued to spend all summer long together...but we were nothing ever more than just friends. We even took a trip out to California together when I for sure thought he’d kiss me, but nothing! I was a little mad at him by that point, because we'd spent so much time together but hadn’t had any DTRs (talks - defining the relationship) and he hadn’t held my hand or kissed me. But finally in November after not talking to each other for 3 weeks (a minor fall out, mostly on my part) we came to terms that we liked each other (talk about stubborn!) George finally initiated the "talk" and gave me a smooch. We've been exclusive ever since. We definitely have our ups and downs, but it's mostly UP and I love how real our relationship is. It will be such an adventure being married to George and I can't wait for it to begin!

We plan on being married in the LDS Manti Temple June 7th. The reception will be held the day before up a canyon just outside of Cedar City at a place called the "Mountain Center". We will keep everyone posted...but please send your address if you would like an announcement.

I love you George!