Returning to my roots...

Hello, I'm ol' blue eyes from the last post. 

Few people know this about me; I was born in Manti, Utah.  Never heard of it?  That's because the town is about as big as its name.  It's a small town in central Utah with a population of between 2,000-3,000 and a single stop sign in the middle of town.  My family moved to Riverside, California when I was about two years old, but we would go back to our house every summer to visit friends.

I am the youngest of 8 children.  Yup, eight!  And, as the youngest child of any large family can tell you, I am grateful my parents decided on one more child (though my brother just above me insists I was an accident!)  My mother was born and raised in California.  My father was born in Kansas, but moved around the South/South West with his family until they finally settled in Utah.  He did spend many of his formative years in Texas, though.  I would often tell people that since my dad was 'from' Texas, us kids were weaned with guns and cards, as evidenced in our fascination with firearms and our enjoyment of playing card games.  Most notably Pinochle.

Most of my early memories involve sleeping under the stars on warm summer nights in that little town of Manti, swimming at the public pool, and doing what boys do best: getting dirty and having fun!  Pleasant memories...

Riverside was a metropolis in comparison with a population of around 200,000.  We had a neat little house just big enough for my seven siblings, my parents, and me.  Other than school, my years in Riverside were spent much like my summers in Manti.  I was running around getting dirty, swimming in neighbors' pools, catching snakes with my best friend, 'camping' in the backyard, riding our bikes halfway around the world! Ok, it seemed like it was halfway around the world.  Turns out it wasn't even half way through the city.

I grew up very active in my church and attended almost every week.  When I was old enough, I started the Scouting program with the ward den and troop, 606.  It took me longer than my brothers, but I did eventually earn the rank of Eagle Scout, making me number 6 of 6 boys in my family to earn that prestigious award!  It was touch and go for a bit, but I got it done.

Mostly what took so long was my involvement with sports in high school.  I attended La Sierra High School in Riverside where I ran cross-country, wrestled, ran track, and swam.  I met and made friends with some of the most loyal and amazing people ever!  We called ourselves the Big Dogs and had the best times together.  We became such good friends we called each others' parents mom and dad.  We still keep in touch and hang out whenever we can!

I thoroughly enjoyed swimming and running cross-country and track, but I participated in those mainly to stay in shape for wrestling.  I was super passionate about wrestling! Partly because it was a family tradition (all my brothers wrestled during high school and my dad even wrestled for BYU), but mostly because it has always been recognized as the preeminent form of martial combat.  Like chess, only man-on-man with strength, wit, and stamina instead of with little carved pieces.  During wrestling season, nothing else existed for me, not even girlfriends.  It was nothing personal, it was just wrestling.

The summer prior to my senior year, my church hosted a beach party in Oceanside.  I, of course, went with my best friend, Darren, in his dad's 15 seat passenger van.  We had a great time at the beach!  By that time in my life, the beach was my home away from home.  During the summers, if I wasn't in Manti with my family, I was at the beach with my friends.  As the party wore down, we gathered everything together and loaded it in the van.  We even managed to pick up two extra passengers; a cute little brunette and her blond sister.  They sat in the row behind Darren and me.

I am a huge fan of Depeche Mode.  Their music is incredible.  I've listened to Depeche Mode as long as I can remember, so every chance I got to pick the music, DM would be playing.  Darren was a big fan too, so we popped in one of our CDs.  We were driving along talking and listening to Depeche Mode when I heard a voice, for the first time ever, from the seat behind me ask, "Is that Depeche Mode?"  I replied, "You know who they are?"  She flashed a sheepish smile and just nodded. "I have to marry you," I said.

I learned that the Brunette was named Heather Webb.  We talked off and on after that at school or church, but not much more.  Sadly, I never even took her on a date.  Not by choice. Oh no, I thought she was a very cute girl and wanted to, but several people in our church told me, in front of her, that I should take her on a date.  I agreed, but I didn't want it to seem like it was someone else's idea.  I wanted her to know I was taking her on a date because I wanted to.  It never materialized.

I eventually served a two-year mission for my church in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.  There, I learned to speak French and to love poutine (look it up.  It's delicious!) and forgot the names of the Big Dogs.  I remembered Darren's name because, against all odds, he was called to the same mission!  I did later learn that the Big Dogs would often visit with my parents, while I was gone, to see how my family was doing.  Best friends a man can ask for!

Anyway, when I got home from my mission it took me a bit to remember everyone's name.  The only exception was Heather.  I ran into her at church one day and immediately recognized her.  We had a great 'catch me up' conversation and spoke together every week at church.  When I finally was comfortable enough with being home (it is a weird transition between mission life and home life) I decided I wanted to start dating.

One Sunday, I was sitting with the choir at the front of the church.  I had a perfect view of the entire congregation and was looking around to see who I would ask first.  As I looked around, I saw Heather in the row in front of me.  I got the warm and fuzzy feeling that she would be a great person to date.  She was not an easy target, though.  I persisted for several weeks calling her, stopping by her apartment, and even talking to her at church.  Finally, when I was on the verge of looking like a stalker, she said she would go on a date with me.

We hit it off right away and casually dated for a few weeks.  On October 28, 2004, I asked her to be my girlfriend.  We spent a lot of time together and both felt strongly we were right for each other.  I asked her to marry me on January 31, 2005.  On May 21st of the same year, we were married in the San Diego Temple and haven't looked back since.

Our nine years of marriage have been quite a journey so far that led us to a small town in Utah.  I can't wait to see what other adventures it brings.

Big city girl, small town life.

Growing up in Norwalk California was an amazing adventure. We were about 30 minutes from the heart of Los Angeles. And 30 seconds from my Grammie and Papa.
Life was busy in the city, big city noise, hot blacktop summers, and there was always something going on.

Most of all I remember spending most days never inside (unless it was at Grammie and Papa's.) We would ride our bikes to the Santa Ana river bed and ride along see what trouble we could find. We would walk to the local grocery store, where we would sit in the freezer section cooling off, while my sister Amber poked the eyes of the packaged dead fish.

Life got a little quieter when we moved a further inland the summer before my sixteenth birthday. Little did I know this is where I would meet the man I was going to marry.

We moved in a week before a big youth beach party. My parents forced my sister's and my anti-social butts out the door that day. We got a ride there with the anticipation that someone else would take us home (thanks mom and dad.)
We mingled as best we could, talked with some people and slowly made our way around the group. It was then I noticed a group of guys horsing around and playing beach volleyball. I saw one guy with dark brown hair, striking blue eyes, amazing jaw line, and a killer body. He looked my way and shot me a thousand watt smile. People faded and all I heard was the most awesome rendition of Berlin's "Take My Breath Away."

The party was coming to a close and we had to figure out who to get a ride home with. We ended up riding with the scoutmaster in his fifteen passenger van. And guess who was sitting in the middle seat... You guessed it, ol' blue eyes himself, Mike Berry. My sister and I hopped in the back and quietly talked to each other. We were well into our drive when I heard a familiar song come on the CD player that blue eyes and his friend were listening to. I quietly asked, "Is that Depeche Mode?" Mike turned and looked at me, no smile, nothing, he just stared right into my eyes and replied, "you know who they are?" I couldn't even squeak out an answer, I just nodded. With a smile he said, "I have to marry you!".

Now you think at this point we fall into each other's arms talking and making out all night. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Mike and I became friends, mostly only talking at church or ever so briefly in cross country.  We dated other people and he eventually went on a mission. I had forgotten about him while I was in college. I was carefree and had no interest in settling down. It wasn't until I saw him again at church years later and we started talking that he came flooding back into my mind. He had asked me out on a date and it took me weeks to answer. Was I really ready to finally go on a date with blue eyes? This man that always seemed beyond my grasp. My roommate finally convinced me to call him back. That was it.  I was smitten.

Here we are, ten years and countless adventures later, in a small town as far from civilization as this girl has ever been. Living in an amazing home and happily married to ol' blue eyes...  How far I have come from that little girl in the big city.

Forget Christmas in July

There is one season that is more anticipated than Christmas in our home by fur child and human alike. That season is bird season.  It's a season we know is coming from the weather change and naughty dogs' behavior.

I don't know who gave our Labs a calendar, but these two know when it's coming. They run to the garage every time Mike and I go somewhere because they are afraid they are going to get left behind.  They also start sleeping less and bouncing off walls more.  They run laps in the backyard and stare at every bird noise they here.

This madness started 8 years ago when Mike and I were still living in California. We had come to Utah to visit family just before the Holidays. There was a day during our vacation where Mike took me to see the Great Salt Lake.

It was there that I saw them:  three men and two pre-teen boys climbing into an aluminum boat covered in reeds, pulling two dogs in with them. It was snowing rather hard when they shoved off onto that cold lake.

I watched in awe as this group of men headed on to that cold lake covered in camo and that smile that was plastered on each mans face.  This, I wanted to do this.  I wanted to feel what they felt heading out on to that lake ready for the day and what was in store.

I know now Mike thought I was insane.  Infact he told me so, but I could not be deterred. I wanted this.

Fast forward to the present, we now have 2 amazing hunting dogs (yes a his and a hers) who we love dearly and wouldn't dream of any other hunting companions.  We are now those people that wake up before the sun and head to the freezing lake.

I love those mornings, when it's Mike and I (with Max and Bella) sitting in the reeds, watching the sun rise, and feeling the chill in the air as we silently wait to hear the flapping of wings and the unmistakable quack of tonight's dinner.

Trusting your GPS on your journey.

Have you ever found yourself traveling along a road, feeling comfortable and excited about your journey, having it planned out exactly how you think it should go, then suddenly your GPS has you take some unexpected turns here or there? Our life has been a lot like that.
We have come to expect it and even find it comical and quite adventurous at times.
We always manage to get to our destination, but it's always when and how Heavenly Father wants us to get there.

This is how we got to this point in our life.

We always knew we wanted kids, and we thought we had it all planned out on when we would have them. Little did we know that Heavenly Father would guide us in a different direction.
After several years of trying, three miscarriages, and all the different kinds of medication one human and marriage could endure, we decided we could live a happy life being the best aunt, uncle, and pet parents you have ever seen (to be honest, we were already rocking those statuses pretty well!)

But then we were told, in no uncertain terms, we needed to venture into the world of adopting.  Although our super star status as pet parents and the coolest pseudo parents was working for us, we knew we needed to be more.

This is our story. And this is where our journey starts...