Andrew and Megan

My 1 Year Old Little Man

2012-01-16T21:38:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Alex's first birthday on Sunday. I kept telling everyone that this day wouldn't come, I am not ready to be the mother of a one year old. While I love watching Alex learn and grow and interact, it does break my heart a little bit to know he is gonna grow up on me, I want him to just stay my little man.

Alex is such a fun little guy, he smiles all the time and loves attention. I love spending my days with him, I pray every day that I can be a good mother to my wonderful little child and that I can teach him and be there for him as he grows.

Happy Birthday Alex!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had a fun little party with some family and friends. Thanks everyone who came to celebrate with us and Alex!!!

He loved his monkey cupcake!!

And the ice cream.

Christmastime!

2011-12-30T16:33:00.000-07:00

We love Christmas. To us it is definitely the "most wonderful time of the year" and the "hap, happiest season of all." In spite of Andrew's getting sick on his birthday eve (Friday) he felt much better by Dec 24 and had a great birthday celebration. Andrew got to make a request per Megan's (WONDERFUL) tradition and I asked her to make a tasty and ultra-rich chocolate cake. It was d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s. Thanks babe!

All of the Joe K and Marion Holyoak clan was able to be there for the wonderful weekend (though we had to share some of them with in-laws) and we really enjoyed our time together.

It turns out Alex is very good at opening presents. He was so intent on the opening that he generally discarded the contents of the bag or box to find the next thing to unwrap!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

This is a great gift Megan came up with for Joe and Marion. They each received a memory book to fill that their posterity can enjoy. The books are full of questions about their past experiences which they can write out while spending their time up at the cabin. They agreed to make an effort in filling in the prompts.

We just about filled up the basement with all the presents and people. What fun!

Alex really enjoys his gift from Grandma and Grandpa Holyoak. Thanks!

Here Dad helps Alex try out his new rocking horse!

We had a great time in Moab and really appreciated the time spent together. As the new year approaches and we consider our favorite time of year again, we can't help but shout one last time: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Thanksgiving and A Growing Baby

2011-12-17T11:32:00.000-07:00

So this was supposed to be a post about Thanksgiving but it's probably going to end up being mostly a collection of pictures of our bouncing baby boy. Alex is now quite mobile. He took FIVE steps unaided yesterday so walking may not be too far away. We're hoping it'll happen during the break while we're both around to help encourage and cheer him on!

This is Alex in his zen pose. I think he was trying to prep himself for some kind of martial battle to the death he never told us about. Apparently he won because I haven't seen him strike the pose before or since.

We had so much fun playing with the cousins in Heber! Thanks for letting us come stay and play!

There were so many of us we had Thanksgiving dinner at the church. Before dinners we all helped prep or take care of the kids and after activities included basketball, Clue, and Dominion.

The video isn't pro quality by any means but I feel like you capture a lot more of a person's personality in video than a simple picture so I hope you enjoyed!

These three loved thanksgiving dinner!

Andrew's beautiful bride and grandmother. It was Alex's first time meeting his great grandmother Colleen. Thanks for coming GG!

Anna was our clean-up crew. She went around and finished up all the leftovers at the kids table. Waste not, want not!

Obviously there's some bias simply because we're his parents, but isn't he just one of the cutest babies you've ever seen?

We're working on teaching Alex to feed himself with a spoon. As you can see he's only missing a few details :-P

Look at the gleam in that boy's eyes.

We're all ready for Christmas! We'll put up a post in preperation for Christmas soon so you can meet our Christmas tree. Her name is Cilia the crooked pine.

Lions and tigers and bears...

2011-10-30T20:51:00.001-06:00

We got this costume for Alex some time ago. When we found out our ward was having a Halloween party Megan decided we should all go dressed up. She made her ears and Andrew got to make a lion's mane using an old hat, a glue gun and lots of felt. Megan helped on Andrew's mane and ears --thanks Babe!

Andrew (a lion), Alex (a tiger) and Mom (a bear)...Oh my!

We had a great time at the party! Together with our ward we had Halloween treats and carved a pumpkin!

Megan made the tails for she and Andrew. Great job Megan!

Pumpkin Carving!

2011-10-28T11:11:00.001-06:00

We carved our pumpkins on Tuesday and watched The Nightmare Before Christmas. We have now made Halloween cookies and candy, decorated, visited the Frightmares at Lagoon and seen the witches at Gardner Village. The only things left are to finish our costumes, watch Casper, attend the ward Halloween party and hand out candy on Monday. You'll have to wait to see our costumes in another post. I like Halloween now way more than I did as a kid!!

So cute!!!!!!!!!!

Lindsay and Carson's pumpkins
Mine and Andrew's, he would like you all to know that he carved it even though all the pics only show me working on it. He is quite skilled though.

Busy month...

2011-10-23T23:47:00.000-06:00

A lot has been going on since the last post. Things are great and Alex is growing more wonderful every day! Here is a quick glimpse at what's been going on:

Oct 23, 2011. The day before Megan and Lindsay's golden birthday. Happy 24th! We had a great time with some of our good friends that live here in Cedar City.

We played a couple good games and had some laughs...

...and tasty cake and ice cream! Megan and Lindsay liked their birthday brownie (two layers of brownie frosted with chocolate and vanilla icing).

Megan's hard at work With Carson, Lindsay, Courtney and Zach from left to right.

We had family and friends over for some Halloween sugar-cookie decorating. The taste of these cookies make all the hard work worth it in the end.

Here we are back home after the trip up north. Alex and Dad love their story time together!

Alex loved spending some time with Grandma and Grandpa Alton

You never know what the witches of Gardner Village will be up to!!

Here's Alex posing for his mom at Gardner village. We went up north for Spencer Soderborg's blessing. He's Alex's cousin on Andrew's side.

We took an early birthday trip to Lagoon this year. This is one of the most important stops we make. Family bumper cars! Can you spot Jeremy, Megan, Payton, Nathan and Parker? You can tell Parker means business.

Alex loved his time in Lagoon!

Here we see Stacy, Jeremy and Parker make a big splash (above) following Tonya and Nathan's turn going down with the girls (below).

Everybody loved Rattlesnake Rapids!

The little ladies on a boat ride

Holyoak Reunion

2011-09-12T22:58:00.000-06:00

Labor Day weekend was spent in Moab for the Holyoak Family Reunion. I was seriously looking forward to going on this trip for about a month and a half. I was so excited to see my family. We got to see everyone except Jeremy (we always miss you Jer). The weekend was filled with games, family, friends, laughter, cooking, food, service, time at the cabin and reunion staples, watermelon and Stan and Cheryl's homemade ice cream.

I enjoyed this little mini-vacation so much. I always enjoy seeing my parents and chatting with my sisters and listening to my funny brother. Brennan and Emma came to play with us and I got to spend a night laughing and feeling so grateful for life-long (and then some) friends.

Tori and Adam blessed sweet little Cheznie on Sunday and it is always fun to see my huge family fill the chapel. During the "Brothers Dinner" on Sunday Stacy had my uncles share stories about Grandpa Glen since this year would have marked his 100th birthday. That was so fun and special. I feel so lucky to come from such a wonderful heritage. My Dad and his brothers are the best of men and I love being around them and feeling of their conviction of truth, and their love of heritage. They are also some of the best examples of service that you will ever find and I feel so blessed to be a witness to their goodness. In an effort to not sound too sappy I will point out they all can be gruff and ornery as well, and they know how to tell it like it is, that just kind of makes them a little more interesting.

Monday was spent tying quilts to donate to some good causes and working on an addition to Paul's cabin. I'm glad that we were able to spend the day working and doing some acts of service.

I love seeing these two together. My dad loves feeding people.

Alex thought it would be so fun to roll this new little girl around on the floor. Isn't she a new toy?

I just love those big eyes!

I laugh at this picture, but I don't really find any part of it surprising.

My mom wanted Andrew to take a grandkids picture for her. This is one of the better ones. Though the picture is not quite "picture perfect" she told me she put it on up on her piano and when my dad looked at it he said they sure are cute kids. I just love family so much!!!

Kannaraville Falls

2011-08-23T11:41:00.000-06:00

I know I am a little behind. In July we hiked up to Kannaraville Falls with Lindsay and Carson. We had so so so much fun!! I loved spending a day just hanging with my family and not worrying about anything. Well sort of, I did spend the hike worrying that we would find a boot on the car when we got back because they now charge $10 for parking and then put threatening signs on all of the roads below the parking area, even though we did find a street without any "No Parking" signs, I still worried. There was no boot when we got back though so its all good.

Alex was a champ, I knew he would be though because two things that he loves are being outside and being carried around, so riding in the baby carrier up the canyon was perfect for him.

I wish that life would allow for more perfect days like this one.

All tuckered out. He did wake up when dad got too close to the waterfall and he got wet. Ha.

Chocolate Eclairs

2011-07-18T23:03:00.001-06:00

For those who asked for the recipe.

1 cup water
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs

FILLING:
2 1/2 cups cold milk
1 package (5.1 ounces) instant vanilla pudding mix (i used less)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

FROSTING:
2 squares (1 ounce each) semisweet chocolate
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2-3 tablespoons hot water

In a large saucepan, bring water, butter and salt to a boil. Add flour all at once and stir until a smooth ball forms. Remove from the heat; let stand for 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and shiny.

Using a tablespoon or a pastry tube with a large tip, form dough into 4-in. X 1 1/2-in. strips on a greased baking sheet (leave room for them to grow in the oven). Bake at 400 for 35-40 minutes or until puffed and golden. Remove to a wire rack. Immediately remove tops and set aside. Let eclairs cool.

In a large bowl, whisk ilk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. In another bowl, whip cream until soft peaks form. Beat in sugar and vanilla; fold into pudding. Split eclair; remove soft dough from inside ( I didn't do this, they were already pretty hollow). Fill eclairs. Remaining filling can be stored in fridge (I used mine for filling between layers of a cake).

For frosting, in a microwave, melt chocolate and butter; stir until smooth. Stir in sugar and enough hot water to achieve a smooth consistency. Cool slightly. Frost eclairs. Store in refrigerator.

Eclairs, Toys and the 4th of July

2011-07-13T17:26:00.000-06:00

So here is a quick catch up on what we've been doing this month. On Sunday I made eclairs, and they were way easy and so so so so yummmy, I couldn't stop eating them. I was pretty proud of myself (you could probably tell since I considered them worth putting on the blog).

Andrew frosted them for me!

Alex is so lucky to have a fun daddy and a fun uncle nearby who will take time to play with him. The track and cars are a $2 yard sale find. After I took pictures they got more creative with the track, making it go over the bean bag chair and onto the couch.

The guys were sad that the cars wouldn't go around the exer-saucer because of the toys, then they realized they could just put the track over the toys...

Then they had to hold Alex's hands away because he would grab the cars. Ha.

Aunt Tonya gave Alex these great shoes, since I think every one should wear red, white and blue for the 4th of July we got them out so Alex could wear them. He loves them!! Only not so much to actually wear on his feet, they are so great to suck on, especially those laces.

Am I a bad mom because I let my baby suck on his shoes all the time??

We packed the 4th with fun. Andrew and Alex and I went to the parade late, then left early because it was pretty lame. Then Lindsay and Carson came over and we played basketball. Alex was not very happy to be left out so we were all pretty happy when he fell asleep in the stroller so we could play.

We had a BBQ and then tried to make some homemade ice cream. Even though we left it in the ice cream maker for hours it still never got past the consistancy of a runny milkshake. It was still tasty though.

The fireworks in Cedar are not set off from a higher area so we tried to get to a high spot so we could see them. They were still pretty lame, it was more fun watching people set off fireworks at the park near our house.

Though not very impressive, we still had fun seeing the firework show. See my cute family in our patriotic attire? I love the 4th of July!!

Quick Weekend in Cali

2011-07-05T21:20:00.001-06:00

Here are some pictures that we took at the beach during our super fast trip to California. We ended up only taking pictures at the beach (aside from two that I took in the hotel room) but the reason we went was for my uncle John's baptism. The trip was so fun and totally worth the 10 hours that it took to get there. Alex was a champ in the car, we only had to stop once so that I could feed him, other than that he was happy with bottles and rice cereal.

Highlights of the trip were:

The Nestle Toll House Cafe that my mom spotted where she got us each a huge ice cream sandwich

Learning how to accidently call Onstar

The nice man who stands outside my aunt and uncle's gated community telling people the code

The beach!!!!

Alex only waking up once in the night in the hotel room

Purposely calling Onstar when we got lost and were late for the baptism

The wonderful baptism

Getting to spend the weekend with my wonderful parents and two aunts and one uncle!

I sure love these guys!!

This was after Alex face-planted in the sand.

I love the beach! Every time I go to California I am reminded of that, the weather was so great and I just love the flowers and the ocean and the beach and the palm trees. I can totally see myself as a beach bum.

I love this picture!! My mom was nice enough to let me talk her into coming to the beach with us so she could take pictures, then she sat with Alex on the beach so Andrew and I could play in the waves! I know they both loved it, later she thanked me for having her come saying "How often do you get to sit on the beach with your grandson?"

Spring 2011

2011-06-23T13:11:00.001-06:00

Some of the things going on lately....

Lots of people tell me Alex looks like Andrew. Does he??? I just think he looks like a cute baby.

Alex and I get to hang out all day, I love it! Well until Dad gets home, then I will gladly take a little me time.

Saturdays are for family time since Andrew is so busy during the week. Andrew took us to Moroni's Writings.

I was concentrating very hard on my lunch.
Alex has started eating solid foods, he caught right on the first time he tried it. After that it took a little time for him to remember, now he eats like a champ. I do have to ask what it is about having a mouthful of food that makes Alex sneeze?? Do they make bibs for mommy?

He makes me smile!

On this particular day I was instant messaging Andrew and we were discussing the sleepless nights we are now experiencing because Alex's sleeping habits are going downhill rather than improving. I was wondering what I could do to get this kid to sleep better and I turned around to see my little cutie playing in his exer-saucer and just being nice. He totally melts my heart and I can honestly say he is totally worth the sleepless nights and messy diapers and the spit up. I love him so so so much and I can't imagine life without him. (but if you have any helpful ideas on how to get him to sleep better at night I would love to hear them).

My wonderful husband, and son vacuuming while I sat on the couch taking pictures. Andrew loves our little guy too, he is so so cute with him. While they were vacuuming together I overheard Andrew telling Alex about life, this particular time it was about basketball. Andrew loves to talk to Alex and show him new things, when we went hiking one time Andrew kept leaving the trail so he could show Alex lizards and plants and streams and trees. He takes him around the house and lets him feel things like the glass in the window and skins of fruit. Andrew can almost always make Alex laugh too, I love seeing the two of them together. He is such a wonderful dad!

Us

2011-06-23T12:54:00.000-06:00

Lindsay took some fun family pictures for us! Alex got tired at the end because his napping was totally thrown off, although Carson's favorites were the ones of him yawning. I sure feel lucky to have these two cuties in my life!

Campin

2011-06-23T12:39:00.001-06:00

On Memorial Day we went on the first camping trip of the year! Alex did so great, he slept in the tent as well as he does at home (meaning waking up about 3 times so not great but oh well). I think he was warmer than me, especially when I would feed him. We got to go on a fun hike and play games and eat yummy hobo dinners and smores. It was a super fast trip though and I decided next time we go I am not packing alone because that was a ton of work for not even 24 hours. But we did have fun and I love when Andrew gets to go camping because he loves it so so much!

For Aunt Stacy and Uncle Jeremy!

2011-05-24T13:16:00.000-06:00

The following video is of Alex's second introduction to Rex. If you need a pick me up for the day this could totally be it!

Cruisin!!

2011-05-23T12:43:00.000-06:00

This is our, mother's day, father's day and anniversary present!! I was so excited to get it!! The sun has only come out 4 of the days since getting the jogging stroller. I used it 2 of those days, the other two we were out of town. The wind and chilliness of Cedar City are somewhat frustrating but I am determined to run the entire Canyon Trail this summer. Alex loves the stroller, the first time we went out he was looking at everything, he loves being outside so I wasn't surprised, the other time we went out he slept the entire time. Thanks for letting me get the stroller Andrew!!!

Stuff

2011-05-11T23:57:00.000-06:00

Alex and I got to spend the week in Moab while Andrew stayed home completing his finals. It was great hanging with my family and Alex was so good the whole time, he slept way better during the night there than he ever has at home. We got to come back and celebrate Lindsay's graduation, good job Lindsay. We can also celebrate Andrew passing all of his classes, no summer school, good job babe you are awesome!

Payton and Alex reading with Grandpa
Mom's birthday present and birthday cake, I had a hand in making both.
Cute Alex being so so so good at Grandma's house.
Yay Lindsay!!!

Lil Cowboy

2011-05-11T23:52:00.000-06:00

Thanks for the cute jammies aunt Stacy!!!!!!

Easter 2011

2011-05-08T23:48:00.001-06:00

We had a wonderful Easter, complete with dyeing eggs, decorating and eating sugar cookies and an Easter basket full of goodies. I love going to church on Easter and getting the chance to reflect on the atonement and Resurrection.

Its so great having Lindsay and Carson so close so we could have a yummy Easter dinner together and we get to enjoy all the festivities together.

I love my Easter village!!! If you want one I can tell you how to get one.

Snowboarding fun!!!

2011-05-08T23:29:00.001-06:00

Since Lindsay worked in the day care at Brianhead she got free lift tickets that she let us use and she got to drop Alex off at the day care for free, yay!!! This was my first time snowboarding, Andrew kept telling me that I was really good, especially since it was my first time. I'm pretty sure he just said that so I will keep going with him. I fell a lot, and it hurt a lot both that day and the next two but it was a lot of fun and it was great getting to share in an activity that Andrew loves so much. Thanks for letting us go Lindsay!!

Alex's Big Weekend!!

2011-04-17T20:59:00.000-06:00

So it's been a while but I had to clear the camera because it was full so Megan couldn't get to the pictures to post so I get to do it now. The weekend Alex was blessed the Alton and Holyoak clans united for a barbecue and joined Megan and I in our annual Christmas tree burning ceremony.

March 13 was the day Alex was blessed by his dad. Here is our little guy posing for the picture in his cute outfit made by his Grandma Holyoak (thanks Grandma!!).

We loved having so many family members around to take part in this special weekend! There were some long drives but thanks to everyone's help there was some tasty food all weekend! Here's Brian and Alex's beautiful, wonderful, sweet, kind, loving mother!

Let's end with our sweet baby. I'm sure everyone would agree it was worth every minute of driving to be here. Thanks for showing how much you care by coming!

Update

2011-03-30T16:51:00.001-06:00

So I am totally becoming one of those moms who has a baby and then only posts pictures of that cutie! I have excuses though #1 he is just too cute! #2 he is pretty much my life right now and #3 Andrew put the pics of the other events I would like to blog about on his computer so I am only left with pictures of my little guy.

Playing Patty Cake with mom, I love that this makes him happy.

I don't know if Alex really enjoys bathtime, or if he just tolerates it by sitting contently. Either way he doesn't dislike it so that makes mom happy.

His smiles make my day!

I know I'm mean but this picture makes me laugh.

He makes you smile too, admit it.

Alex dislikes tummy time, well he pretty much hates it.

So when mom makes you spend time on your belly and you don't want to...

...you just roll over right?

Life Right Now

2011-03-11T14:51:00.000-07:00

See this mess?? It has lived in my living room for three weeks now. Pretty bad I know. But you can also see the results of the mess below.
I was asked to make birthday cards that could be handed out in Relief Society! It was so fun!! Even if my house was a total mess for so long I enjoyed every minute of it!!!

You know what else I enjoy?? This little guy and his wonderful father!!! When I see that smile and hear those giggles it just melts my heart! Life is good!

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T23:38:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!!!! Mine was great!! Since Andrew has two tests this week we decided to celebrate early. First I got to go out to dinner with these two cuties!!!!
Then we made Valentine monster cupcakes, I think they are so cute and fun!!

I told them to pretend they were a family. Carson didn't want me to take this picture because he said he always looks dumb and then I would put it up on the blog. So of course I had to.

I thought we were done celebrating Valentine's day, but then Andrew asked if he could take me out for ice cream. He's so sweet and totally knows how to make me happy!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

3 Weeks and a DAY!!!

2011-02-06T17:44:00.001-07:00

Okay, I have considered that new parents go a little overboard taking pics of their kid. Problem is, now I'm a parent and I can't stop taking pictures of our handsome son! I would at the very least make an effort to contain myself but I know he has grandparents and aunts and uncles that would love to see him so here are some more pics!

What a cute boy and he has such a beautiful mother!! How'd I get so lucky?!?

Swing!!

2011-02-04T13:48:00.001-07:00

Thanks for the swing Grandma Alton and Aunt Christine and Aunt Andrea!!! Mom and I both like it a lot!!!!

2011-01-23T18:08:00.000-07:00

Here is a small portion of the pictures we have taken over the last 8 days. They aren't in any particular order. So many have asked for more pictures we wanted to make sure they are available for all our family and friends to see! Enjoy :-)Alex likes reading with his dad!
Andrew "watching" the baby...
Holding Dad's hand

Snug as a bug, Alex loves being swaddled
Just after delivery
Mom sure loves our little guy!

Handsome son, Beautiful mother. Thanks to the Katie, TJ and Lilly for the cute hat!
Just after he was born, he's all tuckered out!
Sweet dreams
Holding Mom's hands
Here's Alex with Grandma Holyoak.

Just finished his first bath
He grabbed onto the washcloth and wouldn't give it back to Mom!
Apparently he's going to be as crazy as his dad :-P

Thanks again to everyone that helped us get ready for his arrival and to Lindsay and Carson for being around and willing to help so much and Marion for coming and being around to help with anything and everything and to Stacy, Jeremy, Parker and Payton and Lara and Brian for coming to see and hold the little guy!

Special Delivery!

2011-01-16T22:10:00.000-07:00

Alexander Joseph Alton has arrived!!! He was 20.5 inches long and 7 lb 11oz at birth!

Saturday afternoon Megan started having contractions pretty hard just before 2 pm. We timed them and saw that they were around 5 minutes apart and 1 minute long. After about an hour of that we called the doc and he said to go get checked out... next thing we know the nurse calls Dr. Sanders and says Megan's going so fast going natural might be her only option. The doctor soon arrived and at 4:46 BOOM!! Out came baby Alex. After that mom and Alexander got cleaned up and we got to take some pics!!! We are so excited to have this little angel in our home!

Alex's first kiss came from his mom!

Later Mom caught me having a talk with the little guy.

Thanks so much to everyone who has helped in so many ways and provided help in the way of diapers and outfits and other helpful items. And most of all CONGRATS MOM!! She did a great job!

Final prego belly pics!

2011-01-15T23:07:00.001-07:00

Megan at 37 weeks. Can we be less than a month away?!?!?

Inspired by John and Tessa, Megan and I decided to compare our baby bellies at 38 weeks!

So close!!! 39 weeks and going strong!

Reflections and a New Year

2011-01-05T17:55:00.000-07:00

I know I'm late but Happy New Year!! 2010 was a great year of accomplishments and many ups and downs. My family has grown, four new nieces, and two new brother-in-laws. I ran my first half marathon and I have high hopes of running more. I wrote a senior thesis and actually enjoyed it. I earned my bachelors degree and graduated with the support of my wonderful husband and family. I felt my baby boy growing inside of me and I have learned and grown a lot.

I have seen the strength of my family and while we have all experienced pain through my mom's illness I have been inspired by my wonderful mother's faith and courage and love and strength. She is such an amazing person!! I have also been inspired by my caring and ever supportive and loving father who also has great faith and courage. I am so so lucky to have such wonderful parents who have always loved me and taught me throughout my life.

My wonderful husband has also made this last year outstanding, he is a hard worker and has such a wonderful spirit. He is so excited for our family to grow and I know he will be an amazing father. His strength and support have gotten me through the ups and downs of 2010 and I am excited for the happiness that 2011 will bring us together. I have set some goals, but I already know that "resolutions" are not my big thing so I'm only going to say that I hope to be a good and loving mother throughout 2011 and of course to lose some weight!! Ha!

meggi

Nesting?

2011-01-05T17:30:00.000-07:00

I've been told that I'm nesting, here are some of my newest accomplishments!

Before pic of the little guy's dresser

After, this was a combined effort, Andrew and I worked hard to sand and paint this D.I. find and I love how it turned out!

Reversible Carseat Canopy that took me an entire day to make even though it should have only taken about two hours. I do like how it turned out though!

Easy rag blanket that I did get done pretty quickly! Thanks for the help mom!

Easy afghan for the little guy!

FALL letters that I got done before the end of fall, since winter started just a few days before Christmas that is not really saying much, but I do what I can. I made ones that spell NOEL also but Andrew already put them away with the Christmas decorations and I wasn't willing to get them out.

For this week my nesting gets to focus on cleaning my house and cooking, not near as fun, well the cleaning part at least.

More Belly Pics for Kelsey!

2010-12-04T21:03:00.000-07:00

I am now feeling large and dealing with rib pains and stretch marks, but I am loving being pregnant and I love feeling my little guy move inside of me. I am getting more and more nervous, people keep asking if I am ready for the little one to come out and, I just have to say that I am scared of labor and then taking care of a newborn baby so I'll just stick with being pregnant for now, I think I'm pretty good at it.

27 Weeks

28 Weeks

29 Weeks

30 Weeks

32 Weeks

33 weeks

Crafty Me

2010-10-29T09:51:00.000-06:00

Here are some of the projects that I have been working on over the past few months. I kept wanting to put them up on the blog but I would always say I would get to it as soon as I finished just one more thing that I was working on. I guess I finally felt accomplished enough so here you go! Enjoy!
Two jewelry holders

Jack O Lantern jars

Joy decoration

Afghan for the little guy

Polar fleece blanket for the little guy

Live, laugh, love frame and wall hangings

Christmas Countdown

Halloween Fun!

2010-10-26T10:37:00.001-06:00

We have been doing our best to get ready for Halloween this year!
Caramel Apples!

Sugar Cookies!!

Carson's masterpieces, can you tell??

Pumpkin Carving!!

Pregnant Pictures

2010-10-13T22:45:00.000-06:00

While growing and gaining weight kinda freaks me out I do want to document this experience so here are the pics.

17 Weeks
21 Weeks
22 Weeks

23 Weeks

24 Weeks

26 Weeks (we missed 25)

Tyco Track

2010-10-01T12:54:00.000-06:00

Andrew's mom has been working hard to clean out her storage room, this means that almost every time she comes to Utah we get boxes of stuff to go through. About a year ago she brought us a race track that Andrew played with when he was little. The only problem was that there were no cars to go with the track. Andrew tried to find some cars on the internet but the ones listed didn't seem to have sizes on them so he was hesitant to order any of them.

While I was out of town this last weekend Andrew went to his brother's house and found a box that said "Andrew's stuff" on it and when he went through it he found two cars to go with the track! I came home on Wednesday to find the track set up in the living room. We played with it a little and I did laugh hard but the best was when Carson came over and he and Andrew raced for over an hour. I couldn't breath at times because I was laughing so hard!

The boys take their racing seriously, meaning if your car flies off of the track on a turn then you must knock the other person's car off at the soonest opportunity. Soon they were building a double loop and attaching the guard rails, pens, pencils, highlighters and even my crochet hook were utilized in supporting the track. A good time was had by all. I can't wait to take the track to my parent's house for Christmas to see all the boys race then.

No More Mystery!

2010-09-08T00:17:00.000-06:00

Today Andrew and I went to the exciting ultrasound appointment!! We found out that the baby is a BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As soon as the nice girl started searching around the little guy's legs Andrew and I both knew it was a boy even though it took a while to get a good picture. He didn't like being looked at though and the harder she tried to get a good 3D picture the more he just curled up into a ball, hiding in the placenta with his hands in front of his face. We are both getting more excited now that we know what to plan for. Andrew has told me how happy he is lots of times today.

When I called Stacy to tell her that we are expecting a boy Payton asked if they could come to the hospital to see the baby tomorrow. Ha!! I told her that Christmas should come and go before she can see the baby.

Iron Chef???

2010-08-09T22:35:00.000-06:00

Last night after dinner I was looking up recipes for sticky buns because we were given a bunch of pecans from Andrew's grandfather and that sounded like a yummy way to use them. Many of the recipes had mixed reviews and lots of them took much more time than I was willing to invest. Andrew kept saying he could just make them from scratch without a recipe, I was skeptical but he said if you add enough cinnamon and brown sugar you can't go wrong.

So while I kept looking up recipes Andrew headed into the kitchen to get started. He toasted the pecans and added flour and eggs and margarine. He kept narrating as if he were on a cooking show, "we'll just add another 1/4 cup of flour so we get that nice doughy consistency." After making a few suggestions and being assigned to make the glaze I was given the title of the "Trusty Assistant."

Andrew was so cute and so excited about making the treat, and I must admit except for the bread being a little thick Andrew's sticky bun creation was pretty tasty.

While cleaning up Andrew said he should be on Iron Chef, now I have never seen the show but I am pretty sure he has a little way to go before he is ready for that.

July Adventures!

2010-08-02T20:02:00.001-06:00

For the 4th of July, well actually the 5th we made homemade ice cream. I hope the next recipe we try turns out way better though because I was not a fan of this one. Andrew made us yummy turkey clubs because his pregnant wife craves them quite frequently. I have to include the picture because he for some reason likes to document meals. He's cute!!

Hobo dinners, again with the documenting meals, he asked me to take this pic. They were way yummy though, he did a great job!

Andrew LOVES camping, he seriously gets so excited about any type of camping trip! Last month we headed way beyond the crowded Yankee Meadows to a little camping spot way up in the mountain. We planned to hike a little but it started raining way hard before we had the chance to get started, it was still great to be together and to see Andrew so happy!

Gross!

2010-08-02T19:54:00.001-06:00

I know I shouldn't complain about free couches for my wonderful sister and her new husband but I think this is total proof that some people should not own pets... or furniture for that matter. Luckily the couches have been cleaned twice and smell a lot better. Someone owes us dinner!

Sick I know!!

June Fun

2010-08-02T19:36:00.001-06:00

Lindsay and Carson's wedding!

Fun at Left Hand!

Tori and Adam's wedding!! For some reason Andrew took lots of video of Tori and Adam on the wedding day but no pictures of the couple.

Growing Family

2010-07-02T15:35:00.000-06:00

For those that haven't heard our exciting news yet, we are expecting!!! The little one is should be arriving sometime around January 17th!!

Summer Rocks!!

2010-06-21T20:27:00.000-06:00

Wow! This post is a long time coming... We had an awesome camping trip back in May and have been waiting on me (Andrew)to get the pics from Jake so we could post about it.

After a fun couple of days hanging out with Lilly we collected the traditional firewood and were off for Sand Hollow

along with Jake and Mindy Porter. We pulled onto the beach as the sun was setting and after starting the fire and making camp we took some cool pictures and then ate some tasty tin foil dinners prepared by Jake and Mindy (thanks guys!). Next day we ate some tasty breakfast that had a hint of burnt bacon flavor throughout,

played bocce ball and swam in the so-stinking-cold-you-not-only-go-numb-but-are-in-pain reservoir for a short while. Before long though the day grew hot and the sand burned our bare feet so we took off, vowing to return when the water was only uncomfortably cold.

After Sand Hollow we got to go on an AWESOME anniversary day date where we went to Gardner Village (of course we stopped by Sweet Afton's), went to the Hale Center Theatre to see the Three Musketeers, and ate dinner with Lara and Brian!

Since then we have had a pleasant mix of exciting and somewhat exciting experiences (loving every minute we're together). We had a lot of fun going to play with Nathan and Tonya and their sweet girls,

and loved going to Lindsay and Carson's WEDDING! We also got to enjoy the Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manti Saturday night as well as the blessing of Kayla and Kendra yesterday. Hopefully we'll have more exciting news to post soon!

Summa Cum Laude

2010-05-02T17:36:00.000-06:00

Congratulations Kelsey and Megan!

SUU's Most Beautiful Graduate
(the one with the metal on a blue ribon)

My beautiful bride graduated this weekend as Summa Cum Laude, and was chosen as "Outstanding History Student." We went to a special award ceremony where they said they had over six hundred students, and Megan was selected as being an outstanding student (because she ROCKS!). Her senior thesis was a hit, and her professor mentioned she showed an excellent ability to process information and displayed a strong understanding of the material she chose to study. It is easy for me to tell her she is great and smart, but hearing her instructors praise her work was a great experience for us both! Great Job Megan!

SUU's Largest Graduating Class ever!

Congrats Grad! We Love you!!

Graduation Weekend!

2010-05-02T15:35:00.000-06:00

We sure love our graduate! We also had an AMAZING weekend visiting with Megan's family! Everyone came but Nathan and Tonya (get better soon you two!) and we had a blast! Everyone got here Thursday, and Friday everyone hung out and had a good time, and then we got to go cheer on Megan. After the graduation we went to Winger's, where we all got far too full and had lots of tasty dinner. We also got FOUR pieces of pie because we had two birthdays, a graduate, and a certificate for a free piece of pie! Happy birthday Jeremy and Marion!

The Rowdy Table

The Popcorn Lovers Table

Friday Night we stayed up way too late playing fun games, and watching a movie! After a little sleep Saturday morning we went to the graduation, and then we had fun and celebrated all day!

Bocce Ball was fun, even when the neighbor's dog ran off with the most important ball!

Next we did some shopping down in Saint George, picking up a sweet arm chair for $25 at the Down East tent sale, and having fun shopping at Kohl's and Tai Pan Tading Company! Next we had a picnic of pulled pork sandwiches and other delicious food items, and went on a hike at Red Cliffs (near Leeds). After that, we had some ice cream and went on the next leg of our adventure, Snow Canyon Park! We went down into the caves and had a great time fumbling around in the big dark rooms. On our way out we had some heads jarred by the lava rock ceiling, but no one was seriously injured. Finally we went to Wendy's for a final bit of nourishment, and then we all headed home and promptly went to sleep.

Red Cliffs hike has some beautiful vistas!

Above we see our "Spelunkers" having a go at Snow Canyon Caves

Sunday after church everyone had to leave pretty early, but we got to finish some delicious "Hamburgers."

Below we see the hard work that went into putting the mini burgers together, and we got to try out Marion's new Cupcake rack!

The "Burgers" really aren't hamburgers at all. For more info click here.

Family Tradition

2010-04-11T23:07:00.001-06:00

After Christmas last year Andrew decided that we should start a tradition of burning our Christmas tree after the new year. At first I said no because I thought I would cry at the sight of my beloved Christmas tree being put to death by fire, be he prevailed and we took it out in January. The tree was still pretty wet so it smoked a lot but we roasted hot dogs and had a good time. This year we waited for the weather to warm up and brought along some friends, and we of course roasted hot dogs. If you wait three and a half months the tree is way dry and it goes up in flames fast. It was so fun and the whole time we were out everyone kept talking about how excited we all are to go camping this summer. Come quickly summer vacation!!

Hot Passionate Kisses

2010-04-11T22:50:00.000-06:00

A friend told Andrew about this, I have no idea why they call them "hot passionate kisses" but they do. First you take a grasshopper cookie and you bite a little bit off of opposite sides like so.
Then you hold the cookie partly in your mouth and stick the other half in the hot chocolate.

Suck until the hot chocolate comes all the way through the cookie and into your mouth, then eat the cookie.

When Andrew told me about it I thought he was crazy, then we just happened to be having cocoa and toast for breakfast so he tried it, he said it was amazing so I gave in and tried it too. He was right it was AMAZING!! Go ahead try it!!!

Half Marathon!!

2010-04-11T22:30:00.000-06:00

Andrew kept asking me why I didn't blog about the half marathon. I kept telling him that I didn't have pictures since he took my camera (and lets face it, pictures make a post more worth reading), and that Lindsay posted about it so I would just be repeating what she said, plus I don't think that many people read my blog so it didn't really matter if I posted. But I stole some pictures from Lindsay's camera and since this is a form of family journaling he finally convinced me to write about it.

On March 20th I ran a half marathon for the first time in my life! 13.1 Miles!! My two goals were 1. to not walk at all and 2. to finish in under 2 hours. The last five miles were way hard and I gave up on goal #2. Who cares about time at that point? I just wanted to finish! But when I went into my sprint for the finish I was pleasantly suprised to see that the timing clock said 1:57.17 as i crossed the finish line! Yay!! I did better than I thought I would. My chip time was 1:56.08. Right after I finished my mom asked me if I would do it again, I said I would have to forget how hard it was first. But it was a ton of fun and I think everyone should experience the starting line of a race with almost 4,000 runners, craziness.

Andrew's Spring Break!!

2010-04-01T00:22:00.000-06:00

So I just went on a service trip to the Dominican republic a couple weeks ago with a group of students from SUU along with a local doctor, two nurses, a dentist, and a dental hygenist. We left Cedar City Friday morning at 11 am and arrived in Jaibon sometime in the afternoon of the following day, there meeting up with well over a hundred volunteers from around the US. It was an amazing trip, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat! I got to know some great people from around here, and we got to help the people there and learn a TON! There is too much to list everything so I am including a list of top 10 things that impacted me the most from the experience:

10. Traffic Laws (I mean really... do they have any?)

9. No AC. The only times we had air conditioning on the trip were on the bus rides and in the airplanes (I think the airport in the DR had AC too).

8. Sticky heat (at first I wondered why people were just sitting around but then I realized they were lounging during the day b/c it's too hot to do ANYTHING)

7. Food was amazing! I was ready to get back to American food when the week was over though...

6. Living conditions (we saw countless shacks constructed of plywood and just whatever people had) (Below: an abandoned food shack)

5. Medical professionals that came with us and other groups were very selfless, humble people ready to help wherever they could (Below: Dr. Rick Barnes the Dentist and Tressa the dental hygienist)

4. People -I loved being in a position where I was able to give to these people. We taught in the schools, helped provide medical and dental care, and I even helped build the footing for a small rock wall in front of the orphanage (Below: Greg playing frisbee at school/masses at medical clinic)

3. Getting to know the Doc from here in Cedar City and hearing a little about his experience becoming a physician and about his being a physician (Below: Andrew and "Dr. Dan" en route to the DR)

2. I missed Megan more than I expected. I thought about her more and more as the week progressed. Because she was gracious enough to let me take a pic of her the night before I left I had this pic of her on the camera I got to look at from time to time so I wouldn't miss her too much

1. Monday afternoon I translated for a Doc at the medical clinic. It was as though I were the physician because I asked all the questions and explained the diagnoses. It was awesome and got me so excited for the future!

PS Did I mention we went to the beach Wednesday? And then to another on Saturday?? (Below: Beach at Puerto Plata ...I think)

agression

2010-04-01T00:03:00.000-06:00

Do you ever wonder what your family members think of your spouse? Sometimes I do, but you don't really have to wonder what your sister thinks of your husband when she lets out her pent up aggression. Lindsay just happens to hit Andrew with the ball every time we play racquetball together, I no longer believe it is just coincidence. Tonight she let it all out, the pictures don't show it very well, but his lips are pretty swollen. One side of his face had a nice red circle on it and of course being the supportive wife that I am I laughed every time I saw it. When it happened I was laughing so hard I had to leave to spend some time in the bathroom.

Indoor triathlon!!

2010-03-07T18:02:00.000-07:00

A triathlon club was started on campus and yesterday they hosted an indoor triathlon. Those who can complete a full triathlon would call it a wussy triathlon because it is even shorter than a sprint triathlon, but I thought it was perfect. Three miles on a treadmill, ten miles on a stationary bike and a quarter mile of swimming. It was a ton of fun and I would totally do it again!

Mental note, don't pick the treadmill in front of the window when the sun is coming in.
The running was my favorite part I was so proud of my time and I felt really good when I finished that part.

I don't bike, that is why participating in a triathlon on a stationary bike appealed to me, no hills and I probably won't fall over or knock anyone else over. I didn't train for the biking at all and it was by far the worst part for me. My timer told me to put my level high so I would finish faster, BAD IDEA!!!

Transitions, notice our timers dutifully following.

The swimming was the part I was the most worried about, but I ended up enjoying it a lot.

Andrew had the hard task of taking pictures and he did a wonderful job! Then he took Lindsay and I out to dinner at the Pizza Factory last night because we are so awesome!

Family Fun!!

2010-03-01T23:14:00.000-07:00

My little buddy Parker was baptized on Saturday, we are so proud of him for making this great decision in his life!!!

It was so great getting to share his special day with him and it was fun that we got to be together as a family.
My dad took us hiking and we had so much fun! My dad is so great, he is always willing to show us new things and make sure we always have a good time!

The boys wanting to get as high as possible.

Its so fun to be together! We missed Tonya though, but the babies are doing better so maybe next time everyone can be there.

Valentine's Day!!

2010-02-14T23:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our activities for the day included a romantic picnic and dancing as well as candy and cute socks.
The fun ended with decorating sugar cookies, my Valentine's tradition.

Thanks for making the day so fun Andrew!! Love you!!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's day!!!!!!!!

Just Life

2010-02-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

This is me avoiding studying for a Geography test. Spring semester is always so much harder to stay focused for. I am very ready to be done.

My blog was feeling neglected but I sadly don't really have anything exciting to report. I spend my days in class and running and doing homework, my highlights are cooking and getting the house clean. Andrew spends his days at school and work and doing homework his highlights are sleeping and eating. And of course we both cherish the two hours after work but before bedtime that we get to spend together!

Such exciting lives!

Last First Day and Christmas Fun

2010-01-04T22:13:00.000-07:00

Today was my last first day of classes!!! (Well if I pass all of my classes this semester)

Here are some of the highlights of our Christmas festivities!!

Lindsay came home!!!

Some people tried unique food from China
We of course played games

Sugar Cookies!!

My WHOLE family (cept Jeremy, sad) staying in my little home so we could go to the Forgotten Carols together!! So much fun!!

Andrew's birthday party!! Happy Birthday babe!!!

Sledding against my will and popping Nathan's tube. Sorry again. Parker and Payton were so helpful in pushing us down the hill. We didn't ruin the fun though, with some rope and a 4-wheeler everyone still had a good time, and a few of the big boys had sore behinds.

After the trip to Moab the camera never made it out of Andrew's backpack but we had a fun New Years party with his parents and siblings and then went to Jacob's baptism. We played games (Andrew and I are amazing at Twilight Scene It) and went and saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie, so good!!

We hope everyone had a great holiday season!! We are excited for the new year, hopefully we will improve ourselves and have tons of fun!!!

Christmas Time is Here!

2009-12-02T23:04:00.000-07:00

Here are the new additions to our home!! First is Freddy the fir tree in his green, gold and red glory.

The pictures do not do his beauty justice!!

The next addition is the beautiful Christmas Village!! I came home from school to find that my wonderful husband had set it up on the amazing chest that my mom gave me for my birthday! Thanks mom and Andrew!!!

My home truly feels like Christmas now and I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday Fun!!

2009-11-22T16:29:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I made scones for breakfast and then I made homemade bread!! First time without my mom or sister to tell me what to do. I know they don't look very good, but they taste amazing. I didn't even have to call my mom for help!

Then Andrew took me to the fall ball put on by the institute. The pictures didn't turn out very well because the camera was being difficult so I couldn't post very many.

What can you do?

Happy Halloween!!!!

2009-10-31T20:21:00.001-06:00

Andrew and I got all dressed up so that we could go to a Halloween party thrown by a member of our ward. We started putting our costumes together at 5:00, Andrew did such a good job on the homemade swords. Andrew told me the party started at 8:00, then at 7:30 he checked the invitation and found that the party actually went from 6:00-8:00 oops. We had time to get our picture taken and get a goody bag, we also got to watch other ward members play games. A good night overall. I did have fun giving out candy to the little kiddies, well til I fell asleep while Andrew was making the swords and he was left with the task. Hope everyone else had a fun holiday!!!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!!

2009-10-25T21:48:00.001-06:00

Andrew worked so hard to make my birthday wonderful!!! He got up and made me french toast for breakfast, he played games with me then took me to Roberts so we could browse the Christmas decorations. We went to the homecoming game and SUU even won!! Andrew bought me pizza and invited friends over so we could play games and eat the yummy brownies, then we went down to the Snow Canyon caves to play! Thanks for making my day so wonderful, I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful husband and such great friends and family who showered me with birthday wishes in the form of phone calls, text messages and emails. Thank you!!!!

This is the brownie treat that Andrew stayed up until four in the morning making for me. I like brownies more than cake so he made me birthday brownies instead of a cake. He did such an amazing job!!

Pumpkin Carving!!

2009-10-22T16:54:00.000-06:00

Question: Am I the only person that has to spend 20 minutes messing with the pictures to get a post to look decent?? Seriously, I always think I've got blogspot figured out but no, I have to fight with it every time. Wouldn't you think that clicking on "align right" would mean the pictures would actually align on the right? Anyway onto the post.

We're getting ready for Halloween!!!

The this last Saturday was the only chance Andrew and I would have to carve pumpkins before Halloween so we did, even though I do realize that by the time Halloween comes they will be all shriveled and distorted (Carving book says you can soak a jack-o-lantern in water and it will un-shrivel).

Brennan and Emma came to carve with us, and we finished the night by watching Coraline, which totally creeped me out.

Andrew's is farthest left, then Brennan's, then Emma's, and mine is the one with the pathetic candle in it. I never remember to buy candles for the pumpkins so we had to light them with decorative candles left over from a wedding, there were only three of those though, so my pumpkin was lit with a scented candle that had a very small wick. My pumpkin did smell the best though, cinnamon!!

2009-10-16T20:31:00.000-06:00

Hey this is Andrew, I found this video on LDS.org and it really caught my attention. It is a reminder of our responsibility to help protect religious freedom.

Coming up for air

2009-10-14T11:53:00.000-06:00

Have you ever experienced that euphoric feeling when you finally completed a huge task?? In this case the huge task is the 25 page research paper that I just grabbed off the printer and will turn in today. Ever have that wonderful feeling? Then have you had that sinking feeling of remembering all the stuff you are now behind on because you have devoted so much time to that huge task? I have two papers, a test and a book panal and another book presentation to prepare for all in the next six days, plus a 300 page (boring) book to read. If you have never experienced these feelings, you can not relate to how I am feeling right now. I seriously need a break.

Weekend FUN!

2009-10-01T21:30:00.000-06:00

I love my Family!!!!! I think it is so fun that we can all get together and enjoy each others company!!

We all love each other and can work together.
We can chat and laugh and play games and work on the dreaded puzzle at the cabin!!

Thanks for making it so fun to come home, it is something that I always look forward to and I'm sure that will never change!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Crystal!!!!

We missed you Lindsay!!

Nursery Leaders and Graduation Papers!!

2009-09-21T19:38:00.000-06:00

Yep, after volunteering to help in the Nursery one week you are extended the calling!!! Andrew and I now are Nursery leaders in the ward, yesterday was our first day officially, not the first since we'd already been in there due to Andrew volunteering. Things went smoothly, except we don't have a manual yet so we kind of just wing it, which we will probably do even when we do get a manual, we just will feel worse because then we'll know what we should be doing. Anyway, we are enjoying ourselves so far, the weird thing is that we'll only be in there once a month, twice if there is a fifth Sunday, because we combine with another ward for nursery so it might be harder to get a routine going. Oh well, we are excited to serve!! (p.s. this is making Andrew super baby hungry!)

My other exciting news is that I turned in my graduation papers today!!! Now it just has to be approved, I have to pay for a cap and gown and diploma and then pass all my classes this semester and next and I will be done!!!!! The papers aren't even due until October 16th so I'm totally on the ball with this. Go me!!!

Food Storage!!!

2009-09-10T20:23:00.000-06:00

Who loves the semi-annual case lot sale at Smiths?????

We do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Week

2009-08-28T16:06:00.000-06:00

So I just completed my first week of school for this semester, I always find the first week very overwhelming, as if the teachers are trying to scare everyone out of their classes in the first few days so they don't have as many tests and papers to grade. So I'm telling you the enjoyable parts of my week, the ones that made me excited to be back in school.

Day 1 of History Seminar: Professor asks a girl if he can borrow her pen, then refuses to touch the pen because of germs and the swine flu...then he did it again.
Day 1 of Hitler and Nazi Germany: Professor says a kid looks too nice to be in that class. Professor also keeps lapsing into a german accent (hes not german) and tells us that this is a german studies class and we will emphasize efficiency!!!
Day 1 of Constitutional Law: Professor tries to grab a girls water bottle for a little object lesson but she grabs it too and they proceed to fight over it for a full 5 seconds. She won.
Free T-shirts on Campus!!! I even got my size this year!!!
Free ice cream at the Institute!!!

Fun Weekend!

2009-08-25T20:16:00.000-06:00

Congratulations Lara and Brian!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Due to the fun wedding of Andrew's sister Lara we got to spend the weekend in South Jordan with Andrew's entire family, and there are a lot of them. When we first arrived on Friday night we felt like we were in the opening scenes of Home Alone with 17 kids running around and even more adults. But we had so much fun!!!

Brian's father acquired a soft serve ice cream machine for a picnic the night before the wedding and then for the reception as well. I believe the record for most ice cream cones eaten was 17, I was surprised none of the kids threw up.

Happy Birthday Andy, Lara and Ben.

Food and games and talking and family make a fun weekend for me!!

Summer Project

2009-08-13T14:08:00.000-06:00

This is the main project I assigned to myself and Andrew this summer. My parents gave us this old coffee table when Andrew and I got married. I decided that it needed to be darker, especially since the color it was exactly matched the doors and cupboards in the duplex that we used to live in, and I didn't particularly like the color that was probably very popular in before the 60's. So we have spent time sanding, conditioning and staining, we finally finished last night (though I started at the beginning of the summer, moving and traveling put the project on hold for quite a while), Andrew was so nice to get up this morning and put the finished project together for me. The stain is a lot more red than I thought it would be, but I do love the darker color. Any suggestions for my next project, well after we make the hand-me-down end table match the made over hand-me-down coffee table???

The New Place!!!

2009-08-05T17:49:00.000-06:00

The spare bathroom

The wonderful kitchen!!

See the beautiful quilt my mom made!!! Thanks mom!!!!

Here are a few pictures of the new place, I only included my favorite rooms. Sorry the pic of the living room has the stair railing in it, thats the best angle I could get with my camera, it doesn't zoom out much. We have two spare rooms and lots of blankets, we would love some visitors!!!!!! Thanks for coming to see us Mom, Dad and Lindsay!!!

Catching Up

2009-07-27T20:36:00.001-06:00

Well we finally got all moved and unpacked, and
now we have the internet again, yay!!! I'll probably post pictures of the new place later this week.

Piles of stuff ready to move out of the duplex

Loading the truck

Cleaning the carpet

So much stuff!!

I must admit the place looked like this for weeks, we have spent June and July traveling and SLOWLY unpacking

Ready for the 4th of July parade in Heber, AZ

Time for fireworks

The baseball field at the high school the place to watch the fireworks because they are shot off at the football field. You get to be so close!!!!

There were so many people there!!

So I totally stole this idea from Katie because they were so cute!!!!

These were the treats we took to the Pioneer day BBQ!! While the fireworks were being set off (the ones that the cops didn't take away) the kids kept sneaking into the house, when we went back in they were all gone. They were yummy though, I don't blame them.

Packing Fun

2009-06-10T20:24:00.000-06:00

For those of you who haven't heard, Andrew and I are in the proccess of buying a condo. We are super excited, and even though the closing date hasn't even been chosen I am packing. I am still having nightmares about the last chaotic move so I want to be on the ball with this one, not to mention we are planning on being in Moab the weekend we should be moving, great timing I know. So this is us packing and the messy messy duplex.

Anniversary Trip!!!

2009-05-27T16:17:00.000-06:00

A little late I know, but for our anniversary Andrew and I went to Salt Lake for the weekend, we had a ton of fun, some of the highlights of the trip were:

Treasure Island at the Hale Centre Theatre, I was very impressed with the stage!!!!!!

Gardner Village!!!! So so so so fun!!!! Its a good thing I live hours away from there or I would spend most of my time (and money) there.

Random trip to Target

The Gateway, I had never been there, another place I should live far away from.

Temple Square!!! They were doing construction on the temple grounds so we didn't take any pictures there, this is us in front of the Conference Center.

This last year has been the best of my life, I'm so glad a married such a wonderful man who loves me and will support me and encourage me and put up with my craziness, I love him so much!!!! Life is good.

FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-05-01T16:31:00.000-06:00

I'm done!!!! I turned in my last two finals this morning and now I'm finished. Here is a list of the things I've been putting off, that I now plan on doing this summer.

1. Give myself a manicure and a pedicure

2. Read a book a week all summer

3. Go running/exercising at least 5 times a week

4. Make the afghan that I bought yarn for 6 months ago

5. Deep clean every room in my house

6. Scrapbook!

7. Go for walks with my husband

8. Bust out some of those cook books I got for wedding presents and still haven't used

9. Finish the 2nd season of lost, and then some

10. Go camping!!!

11. Go hiking!!!

12. Make hats with the loom that I bought 6 months ago

13. Go on picnics with my husband

14. Practice Spanish

15. Relax and enjoy the summer!!!!

(the pic has nothing to do with the post, its just me talking to my mom while charging my phone, thats why I'm balancing on the edge of the bed)

Web 2.0 -What does it really mean?

2009-04-24T17:45:00.000-06:00

This is an unusual video. I am finishing up a CSIS class that has been pretty nifty and for the last assignment I had to create a blog (already have one) and post with a link to a video. Just click the link, sit back, and enjoy the music! It is all about the web and the way it is changing, but approached in a very anthropological way. It really is a little mind boggling to think about the world wide web. I mean all it really comes down to is a giant conglomeration of networks all spliced together so you can access information from around the world with just a click of the mouse.

So close!!

2009-04-20T19:34:00.000-06:00

I just finished writing my third research paper in a two week period. YAY!! Its not even due until tomorrow morning, this is a first for me, I normally finish just before class. I am amazing I know. Now I have three assignments and four finals and I will be done with the semester, so so close!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What has 49 keys, no lock, and fits under the couch?

2009-03-29T17:40:00.000-06:00

Happy anniversery to me! In celebration of our upcoming anniversary Megan got me a Casio Keyboard and a packet from the LDS distribution center that is pretty much going to turn me into a master of the Simplified Hymns. It starts from the basics, like time and notes, and goes through basic keyboard playing skills. It even has a case so I can take it to work this summer when I am sitting in front of the computer with nothing better to do. I have been talking about wanting to learn how to play the piano for quite some time so when we saw it she said we ought to get it!

Healthy Snacks!

2009-03-29T16:58:00.000-06:00

So you could say Megan and I have turned into
health nuts (I prefer the term "nutritionally aware"). We are finding all kinds of opportunities to replace the snack of yesteryear with some new and exciting snack that is fun and nutrient rich! Sometimes we even spice up these new healthy snacks by adding a little something special (see the m&ms replacing every other raisin on my peanut butter and celery snack).
Really though, we are working on weening ourselves off the sweet stuff that seems to dominate our free time. We are looking for some alternative snacks that are still tasty so please do share! Thanks!

A&M

Mmmmm

2009-03-20T15:40:00.000-06:00

The other day I made cinnamon rolls for the first time. I had no idea that they took so long, well until I called my mom for help and she told me that they take about 4 hours. That was rough, i'm just like a little kid, checking to see if the dough has risen every two minutes. I had to go into my bedroom and read a book while I waited. The total process took about three and a half hours, and they did rise way more than I was expecting in the oven meaning I have to clean the gooey mess out of the bottom, but they were totally worth it!!! The frosting is pink because it is leftover from Valentine's Day.

Suprise!!!!

2009-03-20T15:27:00.000-06:00

So Andrew's mom has been telling him that she wants to get a computer, and Andrew keeps telling me that I need a new computer, and I keep telling Andrew that I am perfectly happy with the computer I have, even though it is slow and has a few problems. But guess what came in the mail on Wednesday.......

It's so little!!!!! Itss cute and light and it my anniversary present, even though it is two months early. So my computer is going to Andrew's parents, hopefully after Andrew makes it work like new. Luckily this one wasn't near as expensive as I thought it would be. The keyboard is different so I'm working on getting used to that, but it was an exciting surprise. I have such a sweet hubby!!!!

LDS.org - Liahona Article - Come unto Him in Prayer and Faith

2009-03-11T23:20:00.001-06:00

I am doing an assignment for my CSIS class in which I have to find a new Firefox Extension and write about it, so I found this quote and am posting it with Dashblog. It is pretty neat and easy. I hope you enjoy the quote from lds.org!
"If our desire is to discard all doubt and to substitute therefor an abiding faith, we have but to accept the invitation extended to you and to me in the Epistle of James:

'If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

'But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.'

Have times really changed? Don’t we today, as always, love our children and want them to live righteously? Don’t we today, as always, need God’s divine, protecting care? Don’t we today, as always, continue to be at His mercy and in His debt for the very life He has given us?

Times have not really changed. Prayer continues to provide power—spiritual power. Prayer continues to provide peace—spiritual peace."

This comes from the first presidency message this month by President Monson. These words are so powerful! I think we need prayer today as much as ever. I know I couldn't get by without the strength the Lord provides when I ask in faith.

Picture Tag!!!!!!!!!!

2009-02-25T21:56:00.000-07:00

I got tagged!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. go to your my document/my pictures
2. go to your sixth file
3. go to your sixth picture
4. blog about it
5. tag six people
(no cheating!!!)

This is Christian, sorry the quality is bad, it was taken on my cell phone. Some friends had come to visit me when I worked at Sherry's Country Store. Christian decided to get decked out as a cowboy and we all thought his get-up was hilarious, or maybe it was him acting like a "real" cowboy that was hilarious.

I tag, Andrew, Lindsay, Alli, Kelsey, Lesa, Kim and whoever else hasn't been tagged!!

Time to Dance!!

2009-02-13T13:48:00.000-07:00

The stake held a Sweethearts dance on Thursday and Andrew asked me to go with him!!! I was so excited to get dressed up and go out. We went to dinner first (that was the best part) then to the dance. I've never been a big fan of dances but I must admit that we had a fun time, the decorations were great and it was so fun dancing with Andrew and getting to spend time together without the worries of school for a night.

Fun Weekend and a Sweet Husband

2009-02-10T22:47:00.000-07:00

This last weekend my parents came to visit and it made me so happy!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for coming to stay with us mom and dad and for playing games with us!!!! Dad even took mom and I to Mountain Meadows, it was fun, but way too cold!!

Another thing that makes me happy is my sweet hubby, on Sunday when I didn't feel well at church and asked him to take me home, instead of dropping me off and heading straight back he held me and sang hymns to me until I fell asleep. This week he has shoveled the snow off of the driveway 3 times because of the neverending snow and because he knows that I don't like having and icy driveway. Last night he got ice cream for me and made us hot fudge shakes!! I have such a sweet wonderful husband!!!!!!!!

Andrew Loves His Bean Bag Chair!

2009-02-08T23:34:00.000-07:00

Thanks Nathan and Tonya
for the sweet bean bag chair!

The Lives We Lead

2009-02-08T23:18:00.000-07:00

Saturday

Megan's Saturday Study Pile

Tuesday Night Study Piles

Wednesday Study Piles

Our lives are so exciting!