The Best of 2012 (january- june)...

I had a horrible realization today when Scott asked me to update our blog and I saw that my last entry was in January?! Whoa... Where did the past six months go? Well... let me tell you.

In January, Scott and I took Ben to the Israelsen cabin to ring in the new year. It was Ben's first time on a snowmobile, and hopefully not his last.

In February we cooked ourselves some lobster tails, steak and Gorgonzola ravioli for Valentine's Day, complete with a delicious mango lassi drink (I know, kind of a strange combo, but BOY was it good). I also surprised Scott with two tickets to Italy. Yes, he was very surprised.



In March we went through the hardest trial thus far in our marriage- we had to say goodbye to our baby Bono. For those of you who know us at all, know that Bono was our pride and joy. He was our gorgeous 2 1/2 year old Siberian husky. We raised him from a puppy, and just after his first birthday, he had his first grand mal seizure. He continued to have seizures and was soon put on phenobarbital, which mellowed him out to the extend of him seeming more like a 12 year old dog rather than a 2 year old dog. There were so many wonderful things about Bono that we miss each and every day: the way he ran around the yard with his tail between his legs, the way he LOVED to go hiking and camping, the way he never barked, the way he would growl in the morning when he was so happy to see us, the way he would shake at 4 am to make sure we knew he was still there, the way he hated swimming, the way he loved our nieces and nephews, the way he would poop in the back of the truck JUST because he knew how bad Scott hated it, the way he would "visit", the way he would curl up in a tight little ball, the way he would cuddle with his stuffed animals, the way he would stop to smell the flowers, the way he made us feel safe, the way we could trust him with our chickens and bunny, the way he loved bear lake just as much as we do, and the way he chose the cabin to be his final resting place.

  That last day that we spent with Bono could not have been more perfect. We took him on a beautiful walk and he seemed the happiest he had been in years. Then after a 15 minute long seizure with Scott there by his side comforting him, and me crying uncontrollably, our sweet Bono went to join Scott's first dog Maya in heaven. We would like to think he passed away peacefully and that he didn't have to suffer through that last awful seizure. And we will be forever grateful that we were able to be there with him, and that we could be in a beautiful place like Bear Lake.  We buried him under his favorite tree at the Ballam cabin and plan on having a little plaque made in his honor.  I know I probably sound like the biggest loser every to be going on like this over a dog.... but he was our baby. He was our first son. And for those of you who have ever lost a dog, you will understand how hard it can be. It has been three months now since he died, and quite honestly it feels like it has been years. We miss him terribly, and not a day goes by when we don't talk about Bono and our love for him. He was a special dog. He was our sweet companion, and now our beautiful angel. We miss you B-diggity.
 

Another part of March was the cruise to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Fun times were had by all! The highlight of the trip (besides all of the glorious food, whale watching and snorkeling) was the para-sailing!!  Then poor Tennessee ran away and was found over two weeks later still alive! Talk about a major miracle.


In April I finished my first semester of my second year of nursing school. Which means I am ALMOST done. The end is in sight. I got to go to the Wyoming State Hospital and do a clinical there with crazy cowboys and schizophrenics. I did an activity called "voices" where I got to experience what it is like to be a "voice hearer". It was an incredibly eye opening and humbling experience for me. Scott also got a hive of bees, which has turned out to be a very fun thing for both of us (even though I have already been stung once).


In May- I turned 25. HOLY COW. A quarter of a century down. Scott threw me a lovely birthday party and my sweet, sweet friends and family joined us for an evening of pasta making and frivolity. Scott and I also had the incredibly opportunity in May to take that trip to Italy. My dad was kind enough to let us tag along with him for 2 weeks as we traveled to Florence, Verona, Luca, Rome, Venice, Cinque Terre, Pisa, and my very favorite - Pistoia. My family and I lived in Pistoia for 4 months when I was 18- which needless to say was a great time in my life. It was wonderful to be able to go back there and see the wonderful people we grew to love so dearly, but the best part of all was the fact that I was able to take the love of my life to all of those special places and see the expression on his face when he got to experience the joy of Italia. Of course, our dear Italian friends all adored Scott. :) How could they not?!

I also gifted Scott the chance to learn to fly a helicopter. He thought that was pretty cool :)

In June Scott and I both started working full time again and have had a total of TWO days this month when neither one of us has had to work. We are looking forward to this weekend, however, because we will get two more whole days of NO WORK. We also have spend a LOT of time working to renovate our back yard. Scott built a super awesome deck out of pallets and I bought him a grill to live on it. We also threw a big surprise 40th anniversary party for my parents last weekend and had the whole family there to celebrate with us. Another wonderful piece of June was when Ben received his mission call to HAWAII!! He will be leaving August 12th, and as excited as I may be for him..... I can't think too hard about him leaving because all this saline solution starts to leak from my eyes. Not good.

 

 Well folks... looks like I've got you all up to date on the life and times of Nate Scott and Ester Biggs. If you lasted through the enormity of this blog, I am unbelievably impressed. Well done.

See you next year.