MAY

May 5- Basement Bathroom Remodel

In less than 2 months Jesse remodeled the basement rental bathroom.  The kitchen is the final thing that needs updating down there. But it'll do for now. 

 The rest of basement Jesse, myself and a little bit of help from his parents, mudded all the big paint holes in the walls, sanded them, re-textured, primed and painted all the walls with a new color. Painted baseboards and ceiling white again. Switched out every almond color outlet and light switches to new white ones. New silver dorknobs for all 6 gold ones. New heater vent covers. Carpets professionally cleaned. Everything cleaned and vacuumed. Needless to say we had several late nights getting that basement ready for the new tenants.

 This door is a new addition since we moved in. Last summer when we excavated down to the footings to have a flat driveway, we cut a door into the foundation to provide a separate entrance for the renters. That door you are seeing there used to be the door to my front door. Also there was a window that was to the right of that which Jesse covered up. From the outside that window will be covered by the new stairs that will lead to our front door upstairs.

 Now this bathroom turned out better than I could have imagined. Especially since we did it so quickly. And it's just going to be easier to keep it clean. The flooring is 100% waterproof too.

 Before pictures to show you the difference. Unreal huh? Jesse is legit!

 May 7- 14 Year Anniversary

With only 3 days away from Recruit school academy Graduation, and Jesse still had "class" on the day of our anniversary, we kept things extremely low key. So low key that when he got home from class we last minute decided to go see the latest Marvel Movie. Jesse grabbed dinner on the way and I ate almond flour crackers and sheep cheese for dinner (I can't do wheat or cow dairy anymore). We took a picture in the parking garage and made it just in time for our movie. Lol. I'm pretty sure it was Jesse's year to plan something for our anniversary, but with Graduation on his mind, our anniversary this year was simple.

 I collected a few of my favorite photos of us together the past year and wrote a few thoughts about it on that day....

"14 years closer to forever!
I kept thinking about what I could say and the chorus of a new favorite song seems to say it best.

We fit together, you make me better
Whatever it takes, I'm here forever,
Bad things will happen, but none of that matters,
We'll find a way, as long as I'm with you, I'm OK.

This past year has probably been THE hardest year on us. But coming out from the other side of it has helped us grow significantly as a couple and individuals. So ya, bad things can happen but none of it matters. Cuz as long as we have each other, we are OK!

Love you forever Jesse! Happy Anniversary Babe!"

May 10- Salt Lake City Fire Academy Recruit Graduation: Class 43

Man oh man! We never thought we would make it to this day. We have had many proud moments in our firefighter family, but that day was probably the proudest! Jesse endured the best of the best training and on that day he graduated and was sworn in. The 15 weeks leading up to that day were HARD so it made that day even more rewarding!

 The ceremony was so official. Color guard and bag pipes.

 They brought each recruit up one at a time. Introducing them. A few of the things that they said about Jesse was...
--- "He always had a smile on his face."
---"We would ask him how his back, knees and shoulder were holding up and he would always say 'Everything's Great!" (which by the end of recruit camp Jesse's shoulder was pretty injured)

 Jesse didn't just train with guys for SLCFD. South Davis Metro Fire and Sandy Fire send their new guys to SLC's training. It's THAT good. And THAT hard! So here's a picture of all the whole class.

Jesse and the other Salt Lake Recruits getting sworn in together by Chief Lieb. The other Sandy and South Davis recruits were sworn in by the Chief of their Department.

 Then each recruit got to have a significant other come up and one by one pin their badge on.

 When it came to our turn I remember feeling SO NERVOUS! haha. Not exactly sure why? It's not that hard to put it on, but all eyes just on us 2 made my heart just pound.

 I couldn't go without kissing him!

Ain't she a beauty?

 They played a video of footage from the whole 15 weeks of what they had to go through. Which is was really neat to see because everyday Jesse would come home and tell me about his day and what they had to do. It gave me an idea of what he went through and then seeing it in the video was just WOW!!!

My friend Jenny came to the graduation and she told me afterwards that she would hear me and Jesse talk about his training, but it wasn't until the video that made her just awe at what he had to endure.

 Here is a picture of all the newly sworn in SLC Firefighters with Chief Lieb. During academy they made sure that the guys weren't called firefighters until they graduated. So until this day he was a RECRUIT not a FIREFIGHTER! So Jesse joked "Yay I'm a firefighter again!" haha

From left to right: Kris Jenkins, Sam Ashman, Jesse Smith, Alex Graser, Chief Lieb, Casey Wettstein, Brent Strong, Nate Philips, Chris George, Deputy Chief Fox and Deputy Chief Milne

 Can you just see how happy Jesse was on that day? Such a proud guy right there. He did it!

 We had lots of support come. Jesse's parents, Mike and Heidi.

My mom with her parents, Grandma and Grandpa Schrader.

 My Grandma Goodrich came too.

 Tessa came with her little Max! Can't forget all of Jesse's old fire buddies and my friend Jenny that we didn't get pictures with them before they had to leave.

He got his new helmet!

 Kris and Jesse met in Ogden and became really close as they worked together. They both got hired on with SLC together and went through recruit school together. Sadly in the last week or 2 of recruit camp Kris ruptured is Achilles tendon. But thankfully they were far enough into it that he was still able to graduate. Boot and all. 

 They really are good friends. Almost too good. haha. I tease Jesse that Kris is his work wife.

After all the celebrating we were treated to lunch by Mike and Heidi. And then I had to rush off to work that afternoon. 

I asked Jesse to write down some of his thought from his perspective. Here he is....

 I had been so excited to have made it through the process to get to SLCFD.  It was a stressful journey and I was so excited to have gotten so high on the list of people accepted to move forward.  I had expressed a lot of anxiety about making it because there were so many people with so much more experience credentials and other things like military rankings.  Turns out I did very well in the interview so I got #2 overall. I was just so excited...until the orientation night.  They drilled into our heads how difficult it would be and how we would have no free time.  It made me feel a little nervous about the whole process.  A day later or so I was talking to Ashley and I said "I've been working on one of the busiest response units in the state(Rescue 1), prepping and working to get hired at SLC, and putting endless hours into our house remodel. It might be nice to have a steady schedule and not worry about anything else.  Maybe even after a bit I'll get used to it, get my feet under me and then I can continue to make good progress on the house......"  famous last words  haha.  It was much more difficulty then anticipated. 

    There we were, all 14 of us, standing at attention at 7 am.  Most of us did not really know what was expected or even how to stand at attention.  I knew from the beginning that so much of this was to weed out those that did not have the attitude or endurance to make a good team member of a firefighter crew.  Despite knowing that I have looked back and been a little disappointed in myself for not having a better attitude for the duration. There was a time when I was working with a broken engine.  I tested it that morning and it would not go into pump, but I did some things to trouble shoot it and it worked after that. During a drill that day it was doing the same thing again.  The gears were grinding so I did the same thing I did that morning to get it to work and the Cadre thought I was just losing my cool and doing a bunch of things wrong. I felt a little frustrated and picked on for a while after that.  Looking back I realize that they were seeing something different. They did not want to hear my side of things, and I didn't want to give excuses so I just took my lumps but felt frustrated about it.  Oh well.. that's life and it is all good now. It was very physically demanding.  There was a LOT of pressure to pass all tests so it was intellectually and mentally demanding as well.  The hardest part lasted until Hell week.  Which did not turn out to be too bad.  We had firefighter survival week before that. That was difficult with dragging each other around so much, doing practice drills and other things that were very demanding.  After that we had our 24 hour shift and 16 hour shift which were tiring and difficult but also more fun.  So much of that first part of academy had a negative vibe and was not building at all.  In talking with different people since then it is sometimes like that but other times have been way better. Patrick Russell for example loved his and had a much better experience then we did. It will be interesting to look back as time goes on and see if I still feel the same.  

    The challenge with the 2nd portion of academy was not getting too bored.  We had to do ADO, Hazmat, and Wildland certifications.  All of which most of us laterals already had.  It was boring and felt like a waste of time but was necessary and ended up being a good review and good opportunity to improve our skills and knowledge with those things.  Graduations was a huge relief.  We started at the beginning of academy counting down the month that quickly turned into counting down the days, and not long after that we were counting hours to our lunch break or going home. So making it to the end was a big deal.  The Cadre's interactions with us improved a lot and became much more cordial.  There was still some trepidation in joining a crew and being a good "boot" but that could wait....a couple days. It was a good day with lots of support from friends and family!  It was nice to hear some positive things from our Cadre.  It was also great to make some friends during academy and be able to celebrate our achievement together. They are some great new friends that I'm sure will be life long friends.  

    I couldn't have done it with out Ashley. I knew I was going to need her help and support to get through and she did a great job!  It took some time for me to realize how big of a sacrifice she made and how difficult this whole process was for her as well.  She worked so hard preparing all my meals and just being there for me EVERY DAY!! She is AMAZING and and huge blessing in my life.  

It was an interesting and I'm sure a good experience for me to go from a respected paramedic in Ogden and Association president.  I had been talked to by every Battalion Chief there about becoming a Captain as quickly as possible.  I felt important there.  Then I went to a nobody in SLC with no clout or importance.  I have learned through life that God has a plan and to trust his hand in the path of life. I've had very many offers or opportunity to leave Ogden and go to other departments. It never felt right.  This felt right the whole time.  Having that feeling and belief that God answered my prayers and I made a good decision did make it easy to tell people all the time that I don't regret the change. There have been times where I have thought what might have been had I stayed in Ogden but those are quickly overpowered by the memory of the answer to prayer and I know I'm in the right spot.  

 Then that night we took my mom to dinner to celebrate Mother's Day!!!

 Love you Mom!

 May 11-MOTHER'S DAY

I was treated to a breakfast made by all 4 of my boys.

 Given the prettiest flowers.

 And after church we went on a hike with the Noall Family up Adam's Canyon. Spending Mother's Day in Mother Nature!

 Jenny and Jeff Noall with their 3 kiddos: Tyler, Lacey and Sadie.

 I can't express well enough that I really do love being a mom of ALL BOYS!!! I get comments alot telling me that I need to have a girl. And I honestly feel so complete with these 3 boys. And a day to hike with them makes me so happy. Spending time with them in God's creations.

 Fynn was cold at the top by the waterfall so I gave him my flannel to warm him up.

 Seriously so pretty!

May 15- First Official Day!

It felt SO GOOD to start a new chapter of our lives! New schedule! 2 days on, 4 days off. Much better than Ogden's Modified Kelly schedule.

Speaking of Ogden. Jesse kept hearing from guys that more firefighters were leaving Ogden. Alot went to SLC. About 70 of them. But most recently the medics in Ogden were just not getting treated the way they should. Well I think it took losing 4 Medics (Jesse, Kris, Nate and Brent) laterally in this last hire for Ogden to change things up. Chief Matthews of Ogden personally sent Jesse a letter telling him of the new changes for the medics. Like going to the 48/96 schedule, raising their pay, and not having to be on the ambulance so much. I know if those changes would have been in place a year before Jesse wouldn't have even considered leaving Ogden. But I don't think they would have made the changes without losing their top medics. So Jesse left his legacy in Ogden for sure.

So the start of the new job! He's now the boot again. Back down at the bottom for seniority! But that's ok. He's going to be great! (And he has been!)

I just thought I'd put this in here to show what pretty sunsets we see from our home!

 May 16- A day of Fynn

Marking up his little scriptures just like his brothers...

 ...Bringing his construction toys where ever he goes...

 While I was a the Chiropractor getting my neck worked on, he made himself at home with all the exercise equipment. I look over and see him planking like this on the foam rollers and just laughed.

 May 17- Girls Night
Gotta love having girlfriends that I can go to a movie with.  Jenny and Tessa!

 May 24- Last Day as 2nd and 5th graders!

What the what? These dudes are just blowing through the time way too fast! Ugh. Please stop it!
Look how cute they are.

May 27

The chicks out grew their little cardboard box so I had to go buy a large bin at Lowe's to put them in until Jesse could get the Chicken coup finished!

May 28- A Fun Filled Day to kick off the Summer

First started off with the boys playing with Mr Prickles.

 Then we headed to the salon for haircuts. Cy wanted something cool. So we went with this Mow-hawk!

 Ryker got a fade with steps. Summer cuts!

 Then we headed to the TRACY AVIARY!

My first time there and it was great! We pretty much had the whole place to ourselves since everyone else is still in school.

 What is it about animals and wildlife that lights up a child's world?

 And seeing the world in their light is a much happier place to be.

Haha These boys!

 I am a lucky mama!

Jesse started his rotations out at Station 8. Its' really close to the Tracy Aviary. So when we were done we stopped by to say hello on our way home. While we were there he got sent out on a quick call.

 But the boys got to explore the Fire Truck. Which makes the Fire Engine look so small. We learned that there is a true difference between a Fire Truck and Fire Engine! The truck has a driver in the front and the back and the ladder is HUGE!

 Then, we went to go visit the litter of puppies that we were picking one from. They were born on May 13 so they were only a few weeks old. And oh my goodness were they they cutest things. My friend Tessa's brother had the litter. They were first time breeders and didn't have a wait list. When Tessa told me about it she knew that I was wanting a Goldendoodle. I had been looking around for awhile and nothing ever seemed to work out. Either they were so much money or you had to get on a waitlist for a litter that would be born in 6 months. And most of the time the wait lists were mostly full so we would be at the bottom which means we would be last pick of the litter!

So when Tessa told me about her brother's puppies and that we would be the first pick and they were charging $700-$1000 less than other breeders, it felt like God answering the yearnings of my heart. 

We went down there to get a feel for what puppy we might like.

 And boy oh boy we were in love with all of them.

 They each took turns holding them.

 We wanted a boy puppy and had 4 to choose from. It was tough! We did take Jesse back a few days later and we did finally set our hearts on the blue collared one (which is the one Ryker is holding). The plan was to bring the puppy home the middle of July when he was 8 weeks old.

So that gave us some time to think about what we wanted to name our puppy!