Me.. a Mom?

Fathers day, mothers day and this little babe constantly tap dancing around my belly button have got me thinking. But mostly its got me terrified.

The thing is that I feel like I am the luckiest girl in the world! I have had the best examples raise me and love me and teach me everything I know, I don't know how I possibly could have asked for better parents!

The thought of being a Mom doesn't really actually hit me yet. Im 30 weeks pregnant today and that means in just 10 weeks not only will I live far away from my Mom but I will be totally and completely responsible for this little man. Each minute he doesn't kick I worry myself sick, and even when he moves so much my whole body gets jolted to a new position I feel so happy that he must be more comfortable now. Its crazy to think that I love him so much and all I can do is feel him, soon we will be able to hold him and look at him and talk to him. I am really starting to realize becoming a parent really must be the closest way we can understand Gods love for us. 

I just can't wait sometimes, and yet I just can't feel ready at all. I watch our dear friends Mari and Blake and Dax and Melanie start their own families and have the most adorable little boys, and never seem stressed or like parenting is anything but the most incredible experience of their lives. I hope we can be like them, calm and just love it! I hope we can be like our own amazing parents. I don't know how people do it really, but I am so grateful every day that we get a chance. 

Little boy I hope you know we will do our best! 

Picture Update

The weeks have flown by! Don't worry I am still very pregnant and loving the summer time! Way back in April -- which seems so long ago and just like yesterday all at the same time-- Marsh and I graduated from BYU! Marsh was so sweet and gave me the most amazing Cannon Rebel Camera that I just can't get enough of! And since you can probably tell that I am not the best at writing (and it can be more boring!) I think I'll update what our summer has been like so far with a slew of pictures! Sound good?

I wish I had a million words to say how wonderful it feels to have graduated! BYU was such an amazing experience and I can't believe it is over, but it feels so good to have graduated! I loved being in school with Marsh and walking together was so much more fulfilling!

At our graduation party with the family, we taught the kids about what a graduation is and had them practice "graduating"! With the traditional graduation song playing in the background (Marshall loves that song!), we had them stand in line, come up one at a time as their names were announced, and each received their "diploma", which was in reality their plates so they could get dessert!  It was awesome!  Thanks to everyone who came!

Baby and I have been growing just great (me maybe a little bit more than I would like!), but everything is going so well and we could not be more grateful!


We went to a lot of softball games for my little sister who played for Layton High School's varsity team as a freshman! She is so athletically gifted its really quite unfair! Although as I don't just love softball, it was so fun to watch her and just relax outside in a chair with the family.  Good times!

The first few weeks of May we took a trip back east and saw Marsh's sister Aimee and her husband Mark and their kids in North Carolina, and also traveled down to Georgia to see Aaron and Sara and baby Grant!
The last couple days of the trip, we also went with Aimee and Mark and their family to Washington D.C.. Marsh got to see Washington D.C. for the first time ever.  He was so excited about going that he had us stay up till 2 AM watching National Treasure 1 and 2 just so he could really feel like he was in D.C.! I think he liked it!

The picture on the left is us in front of our favorite place in D.C.--the Lincoln Memorial.  It was an amazing place.  It made us feel way more patriotic.  The picture on the right is my sweet man imitating the scene on National Treasure 2 where Nicholas Cage tells his friend he's going to steal the Declaration of Independence. Don't worry we went to see the Declaration next. 

While we were on our trip my dear friend Nique Wakefield got home from her mission, so the high school gang got together again to play.  It was so much fun!

I have loved sleeping outside this summer! We have slept outside 3 times already this summer, complete with a TV and way to many treats!  This is a picture of the morning after we slept outside with our niece and nephew Emily and Curtis!

This is the darling Baby shower my mom threw for me! She did such and amazing job, and I was so proud of how cute it was.  It was so great to see friends and ward members that I haven't seen in so long, visit with everyone, and just be excited about this little man coming into our lives. 

Dad also finished making the baby cradle.  Isn't he amazing?  I was so excited about it! (Yes, that might be a baby doll in the crib!)

My amazing sister-in-laws and mother-in-law also threw me an adorable baby shower for Marsh's side of the family! Sadly, this is really the only picture that turned out okay for some reason, but the shower was so fun and amazing! The women in Marsh's family are all so beautiful and amazing!  It was so great to spend the night with them being excited about our baby!

Last but not least, we just got home from the cabin at Yellowstone.  It is my favorite to be up there! This was my first time going in the summer, and it was so pretty up there.  Don't worry though, it snowed the first day too, so Marsh and I found these beautiful matching BYU jackets from the 70s in the closet to wear.  We had so much fun with the family just relaxing, laughing until I cried, and seeing beautiful things!

                                                                      I love these two!

                                               little sister Joy gathering her buffalo chips :)

It has been an amazing summer so far! I am slowly realizing that it will probably be our last real summer for a long time.  Next year with the military and medical school Marshall, only gets about 5 days of summer.  So we are soaking up every moment we can now!

Heads Carolina, Tails California

Well, we did it! We graduated! And now we are off celebrating! This week we are in North Carolina! And if all works out well we will be in California soon!

More pictures and updates will come from graduation, but right now we are enjoying the heat and humidity with family! We got awesome tickets back in October for $130 round trip to North Carolina to see Aimee and Mark and their kids. This weekend we drove down to Georgia to see Aaron and Sara and their new baby Grant. It has been an amazing trip so far and I can't wait to write about it all!

For anyone that wonders, I am 23 weeks pregnant now and showing way too much; but people down here have been so sweet and excited to see a pregnant person. Maybe it's not as common in Georgia than it is in Utah, but it makes me feel like a celebrity! So far everything has been good. This little man loves to move around right as I go to sleep and consequently I wake up with a sore, tender stomach. I also just keep forgetting that I can't move as fast as I used to, but I'm getting there.  It is an amazing thing to feel him moving around and know he is healthy.

P.S.  For graduation Marsh got me a new camera--it's AMAZING! So I promise the pictures are going to start getting better and more frequent. Sorry, but they will probably be of everyone else and not my awkward pregnant stage right now. But here are a few preview pics of the trip, thank you iPhone.

Marsh and my Daddy exploring the UGA ( Georgia bulldogs) football stadium

Our amazingly Large BBQ baked potato... southern food has been amazing!

The Georgia peach that welcomed us on our drive, how perfect!

Liza and Kimball--hanging out with these cuties has been a blast, and way too entertaining. I am so glad we get to go back and have more time with them!

Crazy Changes

Well, the day has almost arrived, tomorrow I will take my last final at BYU. A part of me thinks that I am putting it off on purpose.
So much has changed since I started here, I can't believe I used to look like this, an immature teenage freshman that thought everything was so cool. I'd like to think I have grown up a bit, but mostly things have just changed right before my eyes and I don't know how it happened!

On Friday we are graduating from college, this summer we will move to Kirksville Missouri, Marshall will start medical school, and we will start our own little life with our own little family and a sweet baby boy! That's right, were having a baby! Change is a crazy thing, and it is just going to get crazier, but we really can't wait.

more to come when life calms down I promise.

BYU Favorites

Its hard to believe tomorrow is our last day of classes at BYU. Marsh and I will be graduating next week, and while we can hardly wait there are a lot of things we are going to miss. This week we got talking about our top memories while at BYU. Most of mine include him, but I want to highlight a few of the best moments of my BYU career. Its been an amazing adventure and I am really sad to see it end, but there are so many things I will never forget and always love. So here is a quick look at my TOP 5 BYU moments:
( in Chronological order)

1. Being a crazy freshman, we gathered up the girls and decided to enter the BYU costume contest. Inspired by a recent episode of "America's Next Top Model", here is what we came up with---

 I think taking 4 crazy hours to make them was more than half of the fun! we thought we were so cool!

The best part is we actually won the group costume contest... a whole $10 to the BYU bookstore! Oh Freshman year!


2. My second moment happened a lot actually.  Sophmore year living at Liberty Square I got to be roommates with this gorgeous girl LaLa (her real name is Lauren Hill!).

She was the greatest roommate... until Marsh of course! I love her to death. We used to go to sonic at 1 or 2 in the morning at least once a week for some fresh limeades and mozzarella sticks.  One night, I remember, we had just finished talking to boys till way way late and La decided she wanted to go to Sonic.  I told her I was too tired and started to run down the hall to our beds that are lifted up way too high,  and as soon as i got to my bed I jumped up right as she grabbed my memory foam sheet and pulled me back off the bed to the ground. I remember laughing so hard I became wide awake. Of course we then went to sonic. Those were the best nights with the best talks! I miss that girl so much.

3. The 3rd great moment also took place my sophomore year when I ran into Marshall Hill, The Service Man as we called him. Back then I only new him as this--

In a service sweater vest and always helping people.  One day, as I walked past him on my way to the library I sporadically said "Hi!" I honestly didn't think he would know who I was, but he did, and he was heading to the library too... We walked in together and he just kept asking me questions and being so nice.  We made it through the atrium and to the middle staircase on the main floor, and there at the top of the stairs we talked for more than and hour about who knows what from love lives to the scriptures to service. I was so impressed by him I could hardly stand it. When I realized what time it was, what was supposed to be an hour of studying had turned into the best hour of getting to know the sweet boy that would change my whole life! Really though, who would have thought, but that day in the library started off an amazing adventure that led to a wedding and it just keeps going.... Obviously a favorite BYU moment!

4. The fourth moment also played a big role in Marsh and I coming together-- doing the Special Olympics.  We were on a committee to organize the summer games at BYU. It was an amazing experience I will never forget.  So many sweet people, and seeing them so excited after they had taken last in a race just because they finished. Everyone was always so happy and and cheering each other on.  In some ways, I think it is what sports might be like in heaven, :)  Everyone wants to do their best and everyone wants to help each other.  Plus, I got to spend time with this sweet boy, walking around feeling cool with our walkie-talkies, making sure everything was going okay. But really, it was such a neat experience to serve so much together that year.  I will always be grateful that service was the foundation for our marriage. 

5. I know I'm cheating, but our last great moment -- well of the top 5 that I can currently thinking of -- is actually two great moments, and they both have to do with sports! The first was of course watching Jimmer last year!  Marshall's parents have third row, amazing seats right behind the team, and somehow we randomly picked the San Diego State game to use the tickets. Turns out it was the best game of the season! If you remember, BYU was ranked 9th and San Diego State was ranked 4th in the COUNTRY! If you want to remember a little more you can go to this ESPN link. Both teams were undefeated in the conference, and there we were on the 3rd row as we watched BYU beat San Diego State.  Jimmer had 43 points. It was all around an amazing game to be at. 

Then we wrapped up this year's football season in the President's Box with the Service Council. We had missed our chance last year, and Casey was nice enough to invite us again this year.  The experience was amazing! The football... it was okay, but it was great to see the last home game.  We were spoiled with food and good company, and we even ran into Elder Evans, the man who sealed us, and his son.  My favorite surprise thoough was walking over to see a play and hearing someone say "Well hello Lisa Jane Hill!"  I turned to see Elder D. Todd Christofferson reading my name tag. "I'm Elder Christofferson," he said!  Like I didn't know who he was! He proceed to talk to me and Marsh about our plans and about his days at Duke with President Samuelson.  We even talked about football and Dogwood trees in North Carolina. He was so nice! I would have never had the guts to go up and talk to him, but I am so glad he talked to me! 

We're not exactly in this picture (we're just to left outside of the picture), my camera doesn't want to download my pictures from that night for some reason, but it was amazing!

Thanks for humoring me with such a long post.  I just had to reminisce on all the great experiences we have had at college. I wouldn't trade it for the world!

One Shining Moment

To quote a favorite song:

Time is Short and the road is long, in the blinking of an eye, 

ah that moment's gone,

And when it's done,

win or lose, 

you always did your best,

cuz inside you knew...

That one shining moment, you reached deep inside

one shining moment you were willing to try. 

Dear sweet Hills,

you always did your best, and were willing to try. 

But I won! 

better luck next year! 

Love,  Lisa Jane 

P.s. For any of you Hills, or Kansas Fans, or Duke fans that are having a hard time with this great upset, I would like to refer you to a talk by Elder Holland given yesterday. It can be found at lds.org 

Great Weekends

Weekends are becoming my favorite. No longer filled with the stresses of tests and studying as it is the calm before the storm of finals. Its my favorite time of year. Walking around campus is actually fun! It makes me think I'm going to miss college life a lot more than I have been thinking I would.
It's so nice to sit outside and feel the sun on my face, or bounce around a little on the tramp with the nieces and nephews. Tractor rides are becoming more frequent around our house, and Marshall or Camron up in the barn playing the drums while we all dance have been some of my favorite memories for sure!

This weekend was filled with family time for Conference. Friday night we met up with Dan and Andrea Hill to go see Jimmer and the Kings play the Jazz in SLC. Such a fun night, but then we all stayed up way too late chatting and playing games--I loved it! I could talk to those two forever. We stay up way too late talking to them way too often!

On Saturday I surprised myself and Marsh by waking up early ( not necessarily by choice ), but it was the first time all year on a Saturday! And before Marsh woke up I had cleaned the whole house! Luckily for me there were no dishes; I really just cant stand dishes! I don't know why, maybe someday I will learn! But I even managed to clean my "closet room" as Marsh calls it; it's always a disaster, but I started to get control and even put away some clothes I won't wear until next fall again. It actually made a big difference!

Conference sessions were all amazing! I only slept through one talk in the morning but Marsh said it was amazing so I am really grateful you can already go back and watch them online! We watched conference, ate good food, and talked with family; there were more kids on tractor rides, more drumming, and then we gathered to have a little FHE lesson and discuss the things we have learned this conference! Dad and Mom drove down for Dad to go to conference with Marsh and the boys, and mom and I met up with cousins and aunts to go to dinner. It was a great time, we came home, chatted, tried on clothes, and then drove up to Layton for Sunday.

Once again a great day! Relaxing, delicious breakfasts, great talks by amazing men! Elder David Evans, the man who married us, spoke in the Sunday Afternoon session and it was AWESOME! We love listening to these men and the things they teach us.  I know that the things that they teach us are true! I can't wait till tonight when Marsh promised we could talk about all our notes and the things we learned. It's going to be a great FHE.