Darrin, Rachel, & Logan

projects

2012-01-28T19:34:00.000-08:00

No...I haven't just been taking pictures of Logan all day. I do try to accomplish things, but some days I am A LOT more productive than other days. Logan has been teething and he wakes up a lot at night when that happens so I haven't been too motivated to do much, but here are some projects I've completed. I've been wanted to keep a record so I can come back to them if I want.

Baking... I like to bake, but I don't do it that often. Before we moved I decided to do a little baking. I hope I can make time for it in the future because it's fun.

Here I made some chocolate eclairs. These turned out well but I would change the chocolate topping next time to milk chocolate.

This was called egg bread, but I think it is basically Challah-a Jewish bread. It was fun to make because they turned out pretty :)

Sewing...haha, this first dress I made from a shirt that I had. As you can tell, Darrin wasn't too thrilled about me dressing Logan up in it, but I had to make sure it would fit...the bow is just to complete it. Maybe I'll get a/some cute girls in the future, eh?

This project was so frustrating, but I'm glad I ended up finishing it.

I also made this vest for my nephew for Christmas. This was made from an old pair of dress pants. I followed this tutorial. I thought it turned out cute and I'm thinking about making Logan one soon.

I've made a couple more things, but those will come later. I'm also thinking about working on a quilt, stitched quilt squares, and perhaps a quiet book.

It's nice to see finished projects because it motivates me to be more productive. Lately days have been hard as far as motivation, so maybe this post will help me...and you!

8 months

2012-01-21T12:40:00.000-08:00

Well...seeing as how Logan is almost 9 months now, I thought I better get to posting about 8 months. It seemed like so many things started changing by the time he hit 8 months.

-He started holding his hands up when he wants picked up

-He constantly had his bottom lip under his top lip, even when he smiled.

-He realized he could make a lot of noise and started to yell.

-He likes to pull blankets off his head.

-Started crying when mom or dad leaves the room.

Firsts

-First move (from Provo to Payson)

-First Christmas!

-Has 2 bottom teeth and shows them off while he smiles :)

-Just barely started getting up on his hands and knees (though not sure what to do after that).

baby's 1st christmas

2012-01-10T13:29:00.000-08:00

This year for Christmas we went to Idaho. Both my sisters were there too, so it was almost my whole family. (We missed you Jeff, Jackie & kids!!). There are lots of pictures, so I'll let them do most of the explaining...

Here is Rose (9 months) and Matthew (3 yrs). We put Rose in the stocking. Their faces pretty much show what they thought about that!

Rose again (9 months) and Logan (7.5 months)...yes...she is older :)

Logan got to follow tradition by opening a gift on Christmas Eve.

Though...he wasn't quite sure what to do with it.

He got some Christmas pajamas. They were actually given to us as hand-me-downs, but I don't think Logan really cared. He still looked cute in them.

Our 1st Christmas as a 3 person family.

Here is Lincoln (2 yrs) in his Christmas pajamas. He liked to put the "cars" on his feet. He even tried to get them on his mom and dad's feet too.

Lincoln (2 yrs) hugging Parker (10 months) on Christmas Eve. Patience & Mindy in the background.

My sister gave us her Johnny Jumper and Logan loves it. He spent a lot of time in it over the break.

Here are Matthew & Lincoln on Christmas Day.

Rose on Christmas.

Daddy helping Logan open his stocking on Chistmas.

Mindy & Parker before heading off to church.

Parker, Mindy, Lincoln & Jesse

Lincoln is a pretty picky eater so it was funny to see him eat the prime rib straight off the bone. He loved his "chicken"!

The family on Christmas eating our traditional prime rib-yum! Thanks mom!

My great aunt Violet and her husband, Don, joined us for dinner.

I helped my nieces Hannah & Hailey make chocolate houses. Later, Darrin & I made one too.

It was a fun break and fun time with family! Thanks for hosting, mom & dad!

long overdue

2011-12-18T19:54:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving we got to see a lot of family, which was wonderful!

We spent the actual day in Payson at Darrin's dad's house. The food was yummy and we got to see everyone from's Darrin's family other than Kurtis, plus 2 of his step-sister's and their families. Mallory, one of Darrin's step-sister has an adorable little girl and she said Logan's name in a really cute way- "Loo-koo". It made us smile :)

The day after, we drove to St. George to spend time with my family since they all gathered there for the festivities. Mindy and Jesse hosted for the 2nd year in a row! Thanks!!

Sadly, these are the only two pictures I took of the Thanksgiving break...

Logan loved Lincoln & Parker's stuffed dog that played music.

He snuggled with it while we explored St. George.

We went to Tuacahn for the Live Nativity. It was really cool.

Darrin & I decided it was the perfect length--plus they had real camels on stage! :)

Here's a picture of Mindy's cute little family at Tuacahn visiting Santa.

Logan turned 7 months at the beginning of December.

He got his first 2 teeth--they weren't even expected where they showed up. His two middle bottom teeth popped through before I noticed what was happening. He seems like a happier baby now.

Here's an attempt at me trying to show his new teeth...didn't really work. He hates showing them off:

His favorites: his vibrating frog

mini stuffed elephant

Darrin's really old toy dinosaur

He can: Now roll from his back to his belly. He is actually enjoying being on his belly now.

-spin in circles. He hasn't quite figured out how to use both arms to move forward.

He has also tried a lot of new solid foods. This boy can eat!

He also went through a phase where he hated his car seat. Thank goodness that's pretty much over!!

Here he is arching his back as we try to put him in:

He is very excited for his first Christmas, as you can see!

Travel safely, and have a wonderful Christmas!

halloween, 6 months, and other adventures

2011-11-11T08:43:00.000-08:00

I have a lot to catch up on, but I'm too lazy to do it in separate posts, so here it is in one post.

I already posted about Logan's Halloween costume, but we did a few other activities for Halloween, and even more than I have pictures of.

We carved a Cookie Monster pumpkin, made spicy pumpkin seeds (yum), and I made meringue ghosts for a Halloween party I went to. These were all even before Halloween!

Halloween night we went to Payson--carved another pumpkin, made homemade rootbeer, and hung out with family.

November 3rd marked Logan's six month mark!

A few things our cutie pie has been up to:

-Trying rice cereal and oatmeal for the first time (he highly disappointed me by not even making a face. He likes it...)

-LOVES his daddy (he always has, but he can often be caught staring at Darrin now)

-He has found his thumb more often (he wants to be just like his cousin and mommy)

He has also:

-rolled over consistently

-started scooting on his back

-likes peek-a-boo

-started grabbing at faces

A week or two ago I was cleaning up our garden stuff before the frost came. I was cutting all the basil off our plant and I went to cut one leaf off and noticed it looked weird. It turned out to be a leaf bug! I put him on the ground and sort of forgot....I squished him. oops!

Here's a bowl full of basil I picked from our plant and in the next picture the leaf bug above a very large basil leaf.

ah! real monsters

2011-11-01T14:38:00.000-07:00

Anyone else remember that really silly Nickelodeon cartoon?

Anyways...Logan was a monster for Halloween. I really hope I can use this costume more in the future because I sure thought it was cute.

I would love to say he was all smiles, but this was one of the few smiles we got on Halloween night from our little monster. He was pretty neutral in his costume. I think the hood bothered him a little. He was always trying to eat it.

Getting ready to roll over. Yay! He FINALLY can.

He was snuggled a little by Grandpa and his costume was really warm so he fell asleep for a while instead of going trick-or-treating. Oh well.

Logan's cousins came by after their Trunk or Treat. Maia as Ariel, Lilly as a butterfly, and Josh as Bumble Buzz (without his Bumblebee mask)

And now for the real monster...

This is the culprit for many nights of Logan waking up twice. Two canine teeth coming in at once! Can you see them?

Hope you all had a great Halloween!

And Happy Birthday to that baby born 57 years ago on Halloween--Dad!!

a little late

2011-10-07T16:59:00.001-07:00

5 months. That is how old Logan is now. Crazy. I can't find my camera at the moment...so I will post some pictures later.

Here are some new things about Logan:

-He has discovered his feet. He doesn't seem that flexible though so he touches them from afar...

-I think he's teething because he has a remarkable amount of drool and he hasn't been sleeping as well.

-He grabs objects and brings them to his mouth

-He stays on his tummy longer

-He has rolled over 2 times (from tummy to back). Yep. Only twice. At least I know he can do it.

-He started not liking his car seat. When we put him in he will arch his back so we can't strap him down.

Darrin gave him a nickname that I personally hope doesn't stick, but at the same time I can't help but call him it. Darrin mixed Chubby and Logan together to make Cho-gee. Oh dear.

Well, that's all I can think of right now.

swings

2011-09-21T11:05:00.000-07:00

Little buddy likes to swing.

Well, he is actually somewhat neutral and will sit in them and swing for a while as he contemplates other more important things. These pictures are at the park during his second time swinging.

His new love is his fist and he is constantly sucking on it.

At the end he got super tired and looked half asleep in the swing.

fall=football

2011-09-17T18:41:00.000-07:00

BYU football that is. Right now the BYU vs Utah game is on and here is what my boys are up to:

And this is how they feel about BYU football:

So cute.

And...Logan's 4 month stats:

Length: 26.5 inches, 85th percentile

Weight: 16 lbs 1 oz, 66th percentile

I love seeing the percentiles, I get excited every time he has a doctor appointment to see how much he grows.

4 months!

2011-09-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

Our big guy is already 4 months old! Time is flying and Logan is growing!

Milestones this month:

-He started grabbing on to toys, just a few times

-He started the beginning of a laugh, not quite all the way though

-He started sleeping through the night, usually 7:30/8pm until 7am. Wahoo!

Here's Logan being happy in his big boy clothes.

One of his new favorite toys. He loves watching the lights and listening to the music and grabs at the toys every once in a while.

-He has also started making spit bubbles when he's happy. It happens a lot under this toy.

Here he is grabbing onto one of the toys (although he doesn't seem too interested in that particular toy...)

I enjoy giving him shirt turbans on his head while I am getting him dressed. He also makes the funniest face when I take his shirt off over his head.

Another one of Logan's favorite toys. He has a fascination with the orange lion. He could stare at that thing for a long time!

-Logan has started loving to stand. He would rather stand than sit on your lap and looks so proud of himself when you help pull him up to a stand.

-He visited Thanksgiving Point twice this month! With $2 Tuesdays, we went to both the animals and the museum. We went to the animals in the middle of the day when it was really hot so this is what Logan was doing the entire time:

Poor little guy was so hot and tired!

Here's a friend we met there.

He still doesn't quite know what to think about baths. He just sits there and watches me. He HAS decided he hates getting out though because it is way too cold.

Here are those spit bubbles!

And for your enjoyment...his almost laugh:

Happy 4 months cute boy!

Ely

2011-08-16T13:11:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we went to Ely, Nevada, for Darrin's grandpa's funeral. It was somewhat expected because his grandpa was 91. It was like a family reunion because all the uncles, aunts, and cousins were there from Darrin's mom's side. It was fun to spend time with family and get to know family that I didn't know as well before.

Here is Logan at the park across the street from Darrin's grandpa's old house. When Darrin and his siblings were kids they would play at this park a lot and catch crawdads at the stream close by.

At one point, most of the men went golfing and the girls and the kids went to a drug store with a soda fountain. Here is Darrin's sister and her kids there. It was a cute 50's style diner feel in there.

Here are Darrin's other two sisters and his brother on the stools by the soda fountain.

Here is Darrin's cousin's little girl. Big smiles! (sorry it's kind of dark...)

It has been sort of a tradition to go the Mexican restaurant in town with the whole gang. There were around 35 people that they found a place for at the restaurant. Here is Darrin and Logan at the restaurant. My camera was really funny in this light.

Our nephew Josh trying on the birthday sombrero. It was his dad's birthday that night. We had 4 birthdays around that day so we sang happy birthday to them and they all got to wear sombreros :)

We had a fun time in Ely, and hopefully we'll make it back there sometime even though there is no more family there anymore.

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Remember these chairs I had planned on doing something with before Logan was born. Then he surprised us and came early...

Well, here they are now! We painted them white, I made cushions for them, and then we found a table and painted it to match the chairs. I think they turned out so well! They just make me happy now.

three

2011-08-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

Logan boy is 3 months old today! I was looking through his newborn pictures and wow! has he grown! He's our little chubby boy. He's usually happy and up until recently has been good at going down for naps. I think he has now realized that crib equals bedtime, which he decided he doesn't like.

This month Logan:

-started smiling a lot more.

-got a virus that sent him to the hospital for a couple days :(

-makes many happy noises.

-reached double his birth weight. Like I said, chubby boy!

-hates tummy time.

-had a change to his cry. He no longer sounds like a newborn.

-has mom and dad wrapped around his little fingers.

This is what Logan has been up to the past month:

Stretching

Sleeping (this is him in the hospital. He felt awful)

Cooing and Playing with His Hands

Staring

Smiling

Tummy Time

Sleeping Some More

Playing

Adding Rolls to His Legs

Happy 3 months baby boy! We love you!

all smiles

2011-08-02T12:13:00.000-07:00

pizza recipe

2011-07-27T09:40:00.000-07:00

My friend Amy wanted me to post the recipe I used for the pizza in my previous post. Here you go!

Tomato Basil Pizza

I used this recipe for the crust. (Sometimes I let it rise longer than this recipe says)
I topped it with pizza sauce (I just used blended tomatoes with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and onion powder), mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, and fresh mushrooms.
I baked it according to the crust recipe.
Then topped with slices of fresh tomato.

Enjoy!

a couple projects and 4th of july

2011-07-22T15:46:00.000-07:00

This summer I have been cooking (or at least trying) more often. One day I decided to make a chocolate pound cake with a bundt pan I got for 50 cents at a garage sale. Well...oops. I didn't realize my pan was smaller than what the recipe called for so it overflowed into the oven and smelled our apartment up for a while.

But that same night I had a cooking success. I made a tomato basil pizza with our fresh basil from our garden and a fresh tomato from our garden. So yummy!

My next project was what I saw on this blog. I wanted to make one for Logan for when he gets older. He's wearing the one I made in the pictures below. It's obviously too big for him now, but hopefully it will fit him either this winter or next winter. If not, maybe for our next boy. I love how it turned out! Not too hard of a project either!

The picture above is also evidence that Logan has gone WIRELESS!!! He no longer is connected to his apnea monitor. That thing will make Darrin and I hear beeping forever. The pediatrician even said she had new found appreciation for me for dealing with it because of how often it went off for no reason. We are grateful our little guy is healthy enough to be off oxygen and his monitor!

We went to Idaho Falls for the 4th of July again this year. I have to say I love this holiday! The last few years our traditions have been: Breakfast on the Boulevard, frisbee golf, lunch together, and then fireworks. Here is how Logan was through the whole fireworks show-what a good boy!

Family picture at the river before the fireworks started.

Over the 4th of July weekend, Logan turned 2 month old. Here are his 2 month stats:

Length: 24 inches, 78th percentile

Weight: 12 lbs 15.5 oz, 71st percentile.

Big baby!

Here's a picture of him at about 2 months:

A little bit of a smile to end off with. (We haven't successfully gotten a picture of a complete smile...)

look alikes

2011-07-17T18:17:00.000-07:00

Darrin and I were looking through some old pictures when we came across this picture. Darrin could barely tell that this wasn't Logan. This is Logan's now 2 year old cousin, Lincoln. I went back on my sister's blog and looked at his 2 month pictures and they look SO much alike. My sister and I don't really look alike, so it was funny to see how much these two look alike, at least at this age. It will be fun to see if they look alike as Logan gets older.

8 week pictures

2011-07-09T13:55:00.000-07:00

My good friend Amy, who went to Romania the same time as me, took pictures of Logan while she was in Provo a couple weeks ago. She is so talented and a great photographer. I was so lucky she did this for me! Thanks Amy! Take a peek at some of the pictures on her blog:

http://thewrightlens.blogspot.com/2011/07/baby-l.html

Love them!

summer fun

2011-06-30T07:15:00.000-07:00

After I found out Logan didn't pass his first oxygen test I needed a little pick-me-up. My mom suggested coming to Idaho, so we left for Idaho on a Friday and came back on Sunday. A quick trip, but it was well worth it to see family and to get a little break from the ordinary. We stayed at My sister Angela's house-thank you!

Here is Logan and his cousin Rose. Angela bought them matching outfits, don't they look cute? Logan is almost 2 months younger than Rose, but by seeing them you would never know it!

Here is Matthew sporting his dad's shoes and no pants (with backwards underwear, but you can't tell here...) Also, Hannah holding Logan. She is getting so old!

While in Idaho, we went to the zoo because Darrin had never been. It's a pretty good zoo for such a little town. Left to right- Angela holding Rose, Matthew giving the penguin a hug, Hannah and Hailey doing a craft, and the lion.

On the 19th of June, also Father's Day, we blessed Logan in our student ward. My entire family came! It was so great to see everyone and it was so nice of them to come! My brother and his family came all the way from Los Angeles. It couldn't have been any better!

A few of Logan's cousins, Vanessa and David on top and Parker and Lincoln on bottom.

We went to the Hogle zoo with my sister Mindy and her family, my parents, my cousin Patience, and Darrin's sister Laura and her kids. Here is a lemur and a sign on the outside of their exhibit saying baby lemurs were born on Logan's birthday!

Here are all the Enos cousins before the blessing-all 10! (number 11 is on the way!)

Here is most of my family (my brother and his family had to go) Me holding Logan, Darrin, Jesse holding Lincoln, Mindy holding Parker, Tom behind Hannah and Hailey, Angela holding Rose, Mom, Patience, and Dad holding Matthew.

Darrin's side of the family that was able to make it: Melanee, Randy, Natalie behind Josh, Darrin, Me behind Marlene, Michelle behind Laura holding Lilly, Mallory holding Teagan, and Wendell.

And just a couple pictures of Logan, just because we love him! (He has now been off oxygen for a week!)

We're off to a great start of a summer!

no internet stinks

2011-06-03T12:09:00.001-07:00

So we don't have internet as of late. It stinks. But...I came up to campus to post some pictures of our little guy, see as he is already 1 MONTH OLD!! Ah! I can't believe he is already a month old.

1 Month Stats:
Weight: 9lbs 9oz 44th percentile
Length: 22 inches 68th percentile
Head: 3rd percentile...haha

Well, we have a big boy on our hands, especially considering he was a premie... here are some pictures of his last month of life. Oxygen is hopefully coming off within the next half a week or so. Apnea monitor stays on another month-darn.

Yes, I look oh so tired. Many trips to the hospital does it to you!

One of the few times I saw his eyes open at the hospital. He's a little tired boy!

Darrin was sick when Logan was born. This is maybe the first time he held Logan without a mask on :)

Finally at home. Logan likes to help dad with his homework. It is exhausting though.

He even likes to help hold his pacifier in.

He smiled right before I snapped this picture. How convenient!

He likes to watch the mobile on the swing we are borrowing from Mallory and Wendell (thanks guys!!!)

Daddy loves his little boy! Happy early Father's Day, Darrin! We sure do love you!

birth story (very long...)

2011-05-25T13:54:00.000-07:00

So, I figured I would write this down so I wouldn't forget it, but first...Logan is finally home! He got to come home on Saturday. He did come home on oxygen and on an apnea monitor, but hopefully those will leave soon. I'll post pictures later, but for now, here is how everything happened to get him here:

Looking back I had a lot of signs that told me I was in labor, but being my first pregnancy I didn't want to jump to conclusions. It started in St. George, when I went for my nephew's blessing. We were eating lunch and my belly hurt. I thought maybe it was just a stomach ache. In the car later it still hurt and my back was hurting a little too. For the most part it went away, but I would still feel a tiny pain in my back throughout that day (Saturday). Sunday I felt back to normal, just pretty tired.

On Monday, I went back to work. It was a stressful week; we were putting on Shakespeare plays. My back started hurting pretty bad. Most of the day I would give out an assignment and then just sit down. I remember wincing a couple times while trying to give directions to my class. I was a little worried, so I called my doctor. I talked to the nurse on-call and she said to notice any contractions, sit down and relax, and put my feet up. I thought this was stupid because number 1, I was at school, and number 2, any contractions I had I didn't feel pain so it was too hard to tell how regular they were.

When I got home, I put a heating pad on my back and it felt much better. Ironically, Darrin and I decided to pack our hospital bag that night. I was reading about preterm labor and we thought it would be smart just in case. Around 10:45 or so, we laid down to bed. As I was drifting off to sleep, my water broke. I said to Darrin: Well, I think my water just broke. Either that or I wet my pants. Of course I was joking around, but Darrin hopped out of bed and started getting things ready. I was surprised at how fast he was moving.

Our neighbor, Teri, ended up driving us to the hospital because Darrin had just taken some cough syrup with Codeine in it :) When we got to the hospital, the nurse checked me and I was dialated to 4cm. I felt pretty good at that point and told the nurse I didn't know if I wanted an epidural or not. I had to be put on antibiotics because I hadn't been tested for group B Strep yet. The nurse told me she needed the labor to last 4 hours for the antibiotics. Around 12:30 the contractions were getting awful. I felt like they were right on top of each other. I wasn't getting any relief between them so I told the nurse I wanted an epidural. The anesthesiologist was called but was at home so he didn't show up for about a half hour-the longest in my life. Right after the epidural the nurse said I was at 9cm. I realized that was why it was so painful, it was happening so fast! Boy was the epidural wonderful :)

In order to get more of the antibiotics in me, the nurse told me to hang out for an hour and then I could start pushing. Darrin and I tried to get some sleep but with the constant noise and blood pressure taking, it was worthless. After the hour, I started pushing. When the nurse told me pushing usually lasts from 1-4 hours I gave myself a goal of an hour and wanted the baby out by 4:15 am. Logan was born at 4:12 am, just making my goal :)

When I saw Logan pulled out by the doctor tears just streamed down my face. I hadn't even felt a buid-up of tears, they all just fell out. I was so happy. The NICU team took him on a table to work on him. He was crying but then stopped and was doing what a nurse called "grunting", which she said is an outward sign of an inward problem in the lungs. They held him up for me to see and then rushed him out of the room. It was 2 long hours until I even got to see my baby up close and touch him. I didn't get to hold him until the next day after I had been discharged from the hospital.

This whole experience was different than I ever imagined. It was not fun to have my baby in the hospital for 2 1/2 weeks or bring him home with all this equipment, but it was completely worth it to have a healthy, beautiful baby boy.

May 3, 2011

2011-05-04T14:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday our little Logan was born. He was 5 weeks and 1 day early, quite a surprise to all of us. He was very big for his age, weighing 6 lbs 10 oz and was 19.5 inches long. He is now in the NICU, learning how to breathe on his own. It has been quite an emotional ride, but he is progressing and I can't wait until I can take him home. I am leaving the hospital in a couple hours without him and I think it will take its toll on me, but Darrin has been so great supporting me.

Logan James Bronson

May 3, 2011

6 lbs 10 oz 19.5 in

projects 2-5 and an anniversary

2011-04-24T18:46:00.000-07:00

An Anniversary-It is Darrin and my 2nd anniversary today!

Also, Easter, never thought that would happen. Easter is just late enough this year. Poor Darrin is sick in bed with what might be the flu. It makes me so sad to see him feeling bad. Needless to say, we had a very low-key anniversary celebration. He did get me these pretty flowers though:

Project #2-Herb/Flower Garden

On Friday, with Darrin done for the semester and me on spring break, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and planted our little garden in pots for the 2nd year. We started a little later than last year and figure we'll have our hands full with baby, so it is smaller, but still fun. The big pot has spinach in it, a smaller pot behind it has a strawberry plant, and the one in front of course has some pretty flowers.

Here are the herbs: we planted basil, chives, dill, and parsley. Some more little pots of flowers. Also, in this picture is a future project. We are going to sand and paint these chairs white and I'm going to make some outdoor cushions for them.

Project #3 & #4: Crib and Bed Skirt.

We found a bargain on the crib we had wanted on KSL-still in the unopened box! So, on Wednesday, we spent a little part of our morning putting it together. I just love it!

I also made the crib skirt that is on the crib. The picture doesn't show very well, but it is white fabric with little blue and yellow polka dots on it, matching the curtains.

Project #5: Curtains.

I made these curtains with the same fabric as the crib skirt-white with blue and yellow polka dots and of course, the blue. They turned out not too bad. For a while, I was worried that I would mess them up :)

Well, there goes my spring break. I feel better about going back than I had anticipated. I still feel like I would rather stay home and have my baby sooner, but I can enjoy the last 6.5 weeks of school and then get my turn with baby.

Sisters and Babies

2011-04-20T09:04:00.000-07:00

Baby Rose Evelyn Kohler was born on March 22, 2011- cool birthday eh? (32211). She was born at home and weighed only 6 pounds 2 ounces. This is my sister, Angela's, fourth child, third girl. She is so cute!

I got the chance to meet both Rose and Parker two weeks after Rose was born. My two sisters and my mom came to Provo for a visit. They came on a Friday night and that school day couldn't have gone any slower. I was really excited to see my mom, my sisters, and their new little babies. Below is a picture of Angela holding Rose and Parker. This picture doesn't really show the size difference in the size of the two babies. Parker was quite a bit bigger

Here is me with my two sisters, Angela and Mindy.

This week is spring break-Wahoo!!! This break has been long awaited by both me and my students. They wanted to leave on Friday almost as much as I did. I have a lot planned for this week and some of those plans include doing a few projects. Here is the first project I finished on Monday: a car seat canopy. I don't quite have my car seat yet so you might not get the idea...but here it is. I think it turned out pretty good. Yesterday I finished some curtains for the nursery, but they aren't hung yet, so I'll post pictures soon.

update

2011-03-19T08:52:00.000-07:00

I haven't been very good at keeping up with the blog lately. I can't upload pictures with my school computer and I don't like bugging Darrin to use this one. So, I guess being home alone with Darrin gone for most of the day is the time to update the blog.

Here are a few things that we have been up to:

1. Freshman roommate reunion.

This is the first time we have gotten together in almost 2 years. Since we have all been together, 3 of us got married, 3 served missions, and 1 baby on the way. It was so fun to have dinner with them and hear all about what was happening!

From Left to Right (me, Kendra, Katie, Stephanie, Holly, and Maren)

2. 6 month picture.

This was taken a couple weeks ago at around 6 months. 3 to go! (2 1/2 now...)

3. Rex Lee Run

Darrin ran the Rex Lee Run with his good friend Boomer. They had run this before Boomer left on his mission and now Boomer is back so they wanted to continue this tradition. I had to take some pictures of Darrin in his running garb, and of course he had to pose a manly pose.

...and the running pose

4. Baby Bird #2 was born!

I became an aunt again. Little Parker was born and I had to show this adorable baby off. I haven't seen him other than pictures. I'm excited to meet my new nephew! Congratulations Mindy & Jesse!

Not much else has been going on around here-just school and work everyday. Darrin is ready to be done with this semester and I'm ready to be done with the school year, but we'll make it through...hopefully.

You guessed it...

2011-01-30T21:25:00.000-08:00

Yep! You guessed it! We're having a baby boy in June! We got our ultrasound on Friday and we are so excited. Both Darrin and I thought/hoped it was a boy, and we were right! We are lucky guessers :)

We made the cute onsies at a Relief Society activity. I'll be making more! They are so easy and cute!

Here is me at 20 weeks, which was more than a week ago. I definitely look more pregnant in dresses, at least I think so...

I hadn't posted anything about Christmas/New Year's, so here are 3 of my nieces playing together right after Christmas.

And this is what we did on New Year's...

4 months (17.5 weeks)

2011-01-02T15:31:00.000-08:00

I got some cute pictures over the last two weeks during the break, but I left my camera at the in-laws' house. So, instead here is a picture of me at 4 months. (This is for you, Katie).

#1-I don't know what is wrong with my neck here, just ignore it :)

Darrin thought I was sticking it out, but I wasn't. I think usually my pants hide it pretty well. Above my pants I just look a little chubby. Below my belly button has grown the most so far. I guess that's all until I get the pictures off my camera.

Thankful.

2010-12-02T14:32:00.000-08:00

Thankful is the word of the season. I don't know if I could be more thankful than I am this year. Darrin and I went to St. George to my sister and her husband, Mindy and Jesse's, house for the Thanksgiving holiday. We were surrounded by family, cute kids, good food, slightly warmer weather, and plenty of Martinelli's :)

I think one of the best things was being together with my two sisters and my mom. I don't think I realize how much I miss seeing them until I do get to see them.

Jesse's family has the wonderful tradition of going around the room before eating Thanksgiving meal and having each person say what they are grateful for. This is when I felt how much I really am and should be grateful for. I had a hard time not just bursting into tears.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm grateful for my sweet husband Darrin, family, friends, the wonderful season, and baby on the way. :)

California 7/2010 and other stuff

2010-10-17T20:16:00.001-07:00

For a sort of replacement honeymoon (because we got married on a Friday and I had to get back to school on Monday) we decided to make a trip to California. This trip also had two other goals: 1) see family and 2) visit some temples we haven't been to.

The trip started with the St. George post I did about a month ago, where we visited my sister, and went to the St. George temple. The next leg of the trip was Los Angeles, California. My brother and his family have lived there for a few years and I haven't gotten to visit them very often.

On the first day in Los Angeles, Darrin and I explored downtown. We saw a few scary areas, but we also saw some things that were at least a little exciting for us:

Here is Darrin standing outside the Staples center-where the Lakers play. Darrin wanted to go see if Kobe Bryant was home, but we never made it inside.

On our walk downtown, we also visited China town. We went to a bakery and got some Chinese treats that Darrin has been missing like Mochi and pineapple bread. Here we are at the entrance of China town.

Our next stop was the Getty, an art museum in Los Angeles. My brother had taken his wife there for her birthday and she recommended it. It was pretty cool. We really liked the gardens outside too.

Jeff (my brother) and his wife, Jackie took us and their kids to one of their favorite beaches-Zuma beach. It was a pretty cold day, but we still managed to have fun. This was Darrin's first time at the beach! We built a sea turtle, can you tell?

Here is cute Vanessa. I regret that these are the only pictures I got of my brother's family. I guess we'll have to go back soon. :)

After having fun in Los Angeles (and going to the temple), we took a drive down to San Diego. Neither of us had been there before and we're both glad we went!

Our first stop was the zoo. Wouldn't we fit in a safari?

Here is Darrin outside the polar bear cage-one of our favorite exhibits.

Next stop: San Diego temple. Even though it was under construction on the outside, the inside was soooo beautiful! Probably my favorite celestial room ever!

On our last day (or so we thought) in San Diego, we went to Sea World. It was a lot of fun, but we don't know if we'll go back because it was so expensive!
The Killer Whale Show:

We ended up staying in San Diego an extra day because our car broke down-I was not happy. Luckily, Darrin knows how to cheer me up. Because we stayed longer, we got to go to a beautiful white, sandy beach and collect some shells two times.

Our last trip of the summer was in August, to Idaho and West Yellowstone, Montana. Darrin had never been to Yellowstone Park (while it seems I grew up there), so I had to take him. We also went to a show at the Playmill Theater, Beauty and the Beast. Amazing. As always.

Here we are waiting for Old Faithful to go off:

And here she is! The wind was being annoying and making all the steam get in the way of us seeing the actual water. Oh well.

That was our summer. Now Darrin is super busy with the accounting program and I am busy teaching my sixth graders science!

St. George & Angel's Landing 7/2010

2010-08-16T21:04:00.000-07:00

In July, Darrin & I took a week-long trip. In a way, we were making up for the honeymoon we never got because I had to get back to school right after we were married. The first stop on our trip was St. George. My sister, Mindy, and her husband, Jesse, live there so we got to spend some time with them and their little boy, Lincoln.

On a Saturday, we drove into Zion's National Park with Mindy & Jesse. We decided to do Angel's Landing, a famous hike in Zions. It was a really hot day, but we still made it. On Angel's Landing there are some cliffs that drop off so at parts they have chains that you can hold on to.

Here is a picture from the top, you can see how small everything looks down below.

Here we are at the top-We made it! :) Jesse, Mindy, Darrin, & Me

We ate a snack at the top to keep us going so that we could stop in some shade on the way down to eat our lunch. I thought it was funny that Darrin chose a Butterfinger as his snack before lunch.

Here is Mindy, eating a little bit more nutritious snack.

Darrin and I at the top. It was so pretty up there!

After St. George, we headed to Los Angeles, where my brother and his wife and three kids live. We did a lot of driving on this trip and going through the Mojave Desert was hot and bright. Darrin needed a little shade for his eyes and so I let him borrow my flowery sunglasses.

This last one might only interest those who have read Fablehaven. There is a prison in the series called "Zzyzx" and I was happy to find another place named the same thing going through the desert. No wonder he named it that...

More to come on our trip: Los Angeles & San Diego

Part dos

2010-08-04T07:53:00.000-07:00

Above is a video of our cute niece, Maia. We got to have her stay at our apartment overnight when her parents went on a getaway for their anniversary in June. Before we put her to bed, we watched a little Tom & Jerry on Netflix. She thought it was so hilarious. Every time one of them got hurt she laughed at least this hard. We had to get a video of her cute laugh.

For the 4th of July, Darrin and I went to Idaho Falls. They always have a big fireworks show, among other things, so we decided to go. I didn't get pictures of everything we did, but here are some things we did:

-Ran the annual Freedom 5k: My sister, dad, Darrin, and I ran it together. I hadn't run in a 5k race since high school and it was fun.

-Went to the annual 4th of July breakfast: A woman in my parents' ward holds a breakfast in her backyard for the whole neighborhood and 2 wards. It is so generous of her! (and yummy!)

-Had a barbeque in the backyard

-Went to the annual fireworks: It is put on by a wealthy guy and he likes to top other fireworks shows around. We sat further away this year so it wasn't as good as usual.

-Roofed our shed: Darrin was so nice to stay extra long to help my dad and brother-in-law put new shingles on our shed.

Here is my mom with my cute nephew, Matthew. He is so fun to be around and his personality shows more and more each time I see him.

Hannah, my oldest niece, with my sister (and her mom) Angela in the background. Hannah likes to be silly and I thought this made her look a little like a duck.

Princess Hailey. She is a very girly girl and very quiet. She is growing up so fast!

Matthew showing off his "smile" for the camera.

Matthew and I. Matthew calls himself "Eye-oh". Darrin and I picked up some of his language while in Idaho and continue to use it.

Thanks Mom and Dad for a great time!

summer fun: part uno

2010-07-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

Never in my life had I even seen a gun in real-life. Pretty pathetic, eh? Especially considering I am from Idaho-a place full of hunters. I was determined not to go my whole life like this, so I got Darrin to take me shooting. I knew he had taken at least one other girl shooting for a date, which made it that much more important that I got to go with him too.

We set off up Spanish Fork canyon with Darrin's old roommate, Nate and his fiance Laurel.

You can tell how excited I am to be there. I think Darrin is just excited for me :)

Me, Darrin, Nate, and Laurel

Darrin showing off his skills with the pigeon thrower. I'm not too sure why he looks so angry...probably because I kept taking pictures :)

I didn't know how good of a shot Darrin was until this outing. His first time with the gun he shot all five of the clay pigeons. (that's my husband!)

And, I couldn't leave without evidence that not only did I see a real-life gun, but I shot it. Right after this picture was taken I shot the clay pigeon-the only one hit by either of the girls that night... I never said I would be good at it.

I had a fun time and my shoulder didn't even hurt afterward. I did learn how much I dislike earplugs though, those things are impossible.

More to come: Our trip to Idaho, St. George, and California...

good news!

2010-06-07T13:08:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to say how proud I am of Darrin because he...

Made it into the BYU Accounting Program! WAHOO!!!

I'm so proud! Good job Darrin, I love you!

(see below for our latest adventure)

here comes summer

2010-06-07T12:39:00.000-07:00

Summer officially started on last Thursday at about 3:50pm for me. At 12:45 earlier that day, all my students RAN out the door (it didn't make me sad though...) and I had to finish cleaning up my classroom. So I guess I survived my first year of teaching. The thing that keeps me going is what every other teacher says: "You'll never have another first year". All I can say is Hallelujah!!! I had a rough year, but I can honestly look back and see times that I really did love teaching. Did I love it all the time? Absolutely not. But...I believe each day will get even better.

One of our first summer activities was going to Kennecott Copper Mines. They are just west of Sandy. I saw them all the time when I was at school. This is something that Darrin and I had wanted to do for a while, so we went on Saturday. After we drove up there, we came back through Sandy and stopped at Frogurt, a frozen yogurt place with lots of flavors and toppings. It's pretty expensive but one of my students got me a gift card so it was perfect! Darrin was really funny because he got a lot more frozen yogurt than he had planned on (he claimed he didn't know how to slow it down) and so his was really heavy. He got really giggly because of all the sugar. It was just him and me and one worker in the pretty huge place. It was a lot of fun, we haven't laughed that hard in a while.

This is what Kennecott looks like when you are driving up toward it. I'm sure most of you have seen it if you look west after you go north of the point of the mountain.

Here's Darrin looking at the pamphlet they gave us.

You can see how windy it was when we got up there. My hair was going crazy!

This is the mining pit from the visitor's center at the top. It is one of the biggest mining pits in the world. The little dots everywhere are giant trucks hauling the rock up and down the pit.

And this is a tire from one of those GIANT trucks!

playing catch up

2010-05-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

A lot has been going on and this is my attempt at catching up on all that happened. I'll try to do it in order, but I'll try not to make it too long :)

First, since spring started appearing in Provo a while ago (and has since disappeared, reappeared, disappeared, etc.), Darrin and I wanted to plant some seeds in pots to see how we do at the whole gardening thing. Since planting the seeds they have grown a lot and no longer just look like the picture below of dirt in pots, but I was proud of our little garden.

We also wanted to do something fun one Saturday night, so I got some craft paint and we painted the little pots that we planted our flower seeds in. It ended up being really fun. Below you can see the results. We are pretty happy with our colorful pots.

Next, on April 22nd and 23rd, I graduated! Yipee! It was a little lame because my name wasn't even on the program (I postponed graduation to keep BYU insurance until August so my name will be with the August graduates). But, it was still nice to have a little closure. I forgot to take a picture of me in my cap and gown, but it wasn't a big affair, so it wasn't a big deal not to have pictures.

The very next day, April 24th, we celebrated our 1 year anniversary! I can't believe how fast one year went. I love Darrin even more than I did the day I married him. It just makes me that much more excited to be with him year after year until forever. For our anniversary we went up to Logan for the night. On the way we went to the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy for Darrin's birthday. I made him touch a stingray :)

Making for an eventful weekend, the 25th was Darrin's 24th birthday. One of the presents I gave him was a remote control boat. Later that week we took it for a test drive at the little pond by Heritage Halls on BYU campus. The water there is nice and clean, not like the pond at the bottom of the hill. Here Darrin is trying his new boat out:

While we were there, we saw baby ducklings. I thought they were so cute so I followed them for a while and got a bunch of pictures. Darrin was more interested in his new boat :) This picture reminded me of one of my favorite books when I was little, Make Way for Ducklings. It made me really happy, to say the least.

And, to end my super long post, last weekend Darrin and I went to Kodachrome State Park for his Kenyon side family reunion. Darrin and I didn't end up staying very long because my parents had come to town, but the time we did spend there was very fun. We went on a small hike through a slot canyon. A creek made its way through a somewhat tall canyon and we followed it. We had to jump over the creek several times, which made it a pretty fun hike. This picture is of Darrin's little sister, Natalie, and his dad, Randy.

I can't resist the silly pictures, even when it makes my nose look ginormous...

Darrin liked to make his jumps a little bigger than the rest of us by climbing on the walls and jumping off of them. Makes for a pretty cool picture.

One of his favorites: the Spiderman stance.

A great picture of the slot canyon, it was like this most of the way. It was really pretty and the color of the rock and mud was so pretty. The mud was bright orange, not a color you would think to see in nature, other than on flowers.

Well, hopefully that wasn't too long and if it was, you shouldn't have looked at the whole thing. I am a bad blogger, but I'll do better...maybe.

Oh Boy...

2010-03-23T10:13:00.000-07:00

I do love my boy. He is so nice to me. He is so much more than I deserve.

Last night I had an awful headache. It was probably the worst one I have had in a long time. The medicine didn't even work. As soon as Darrin got home from work he gave me a back and neck massage and then sent me to bed. When I woke up he brought me dinner and was so sweet to me.

Boy, do I love him! Thanks for being a sweetheart, sweetheart :)

More Drawings!

2010-02-21T15:01:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple more drawings we have done with the oil pastels Darrin got me for Christmas. It has become an activity that we like to do together and maybe we'll keep improving while we're at it.

Darrin did this one above of the apple. He did great! Every time we use the pastels he gets even better, what a natural.

And I did the one above of the calla lily. I love these flowers so I wanted to at least try. It is hard doing white things because the white won't go over other colors, so what you see that is white is the paper.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-21T14:03:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks before Valentine's Day, Darrin got me some flowers and on the card he asked me to go to our stake dance for Valentine's Day. It was cute of him, especially knowing how he feels about dancing. The Friday before Valentine's Day, I had a really bad sinus infection, I couldn't sleep because my face hurt so bad. Luckily, we got to the doctor on Saturday morning and by Saturday night I felt so much better and ready to have a good Valentine's Day.
We went out to eat at Mimi's Cafe-yum! Then we went to the dance. Below, are some pictures we got before we went. It was a great first Valentine's Day as a married couple-Thanks Darrin!

Here are the flowers he got me, so pretty!

A couple pictures before dinner. Doesn't he look cute?

And the picture they got of us at the dance. It was a pretty good turn out. I was afraid I would feel over dressed because my mom sent me a dress I had worn at a high school dance, but luckily, many other girls had the big fancy dresses, so it turned out perfect! We had a lot of fun and got some fun pictures from it.

Christmas in Idaho

2009-12-31T10:29:00.000-08:00

Darrin and I spent Christmas in Idaho this year, with my family. I hadn't been home for a while, so it was nice to see everyone there and to feel the comfort of my old home (which doesn't quite feel like home anymore). My sisters were both there with their kids so that was fun. I love seeing my nieces and nephews and seeing how much they change between the times that I get to see them. I was a complete dumb dumb and forgot my camera, so I don't have any pictures of the cute kids, but you'll just have to take my word for it...

Lincoln, my sister Mindy's little boy is now almost 6 months old. His eyes are always opened wide and he looks surprised as Mindy's in-laws say. He is a very good baby.

My nieces, Hannah and Hailey are cute as ever as well as full of energy. It is tiring to be around them for a long time because of how much energy they have-I don't know how Angela does it, she's a great mom!

Little Matthew is so cute too! He is always happy and full of energy, just like his sisters. He was into everything, including my chocolate bar that he managed to unwrap and get a bite out of before my mom caught him.

Well, the pictures I did get were after Christmas. For Christmas, Darrin got me oil pastels. I have never used them and he thought that they would be a good thing to learn together. He is so sweet. They turned out to be a great thing to do together. We did them the day we got back to Provo and here are the results:

Here are the oil pastels with the sketch book he got me (he got two, one for me and one for him!)

My first attempt at using the pastels, not bad for the first time. I think I'll really love this new hobby of mine.

Here is Darrin's first page of using the pastels. He has never taken any art classes and I was amazed by how much natural talent he has.

Our first Christmas as a married couple was wonderful, even though I forgot the camera to capture any of the actual day...oops!

Ely, Halloween, & Christmas!

2009-12-05T15:55:00.000-08:00

Although when just thinking about the past couple of months I don't feel like that much has happened, a lot more happens in our lives than I realize. I will start with a while ago and work my way to today!!!

Darrin's grandmother passed away in October. She was 93 years old! We traveled to Ely, Nevada, where Darrin's mom was raised to go to the funeral. I guess it wasn't too unexpected, but it was still a sad funeral. It was especially hard for me to see Darrin's grandpa and how he was dealing with his wife being gone. I don't think it would have been as sad if I weren't married now... just thinking about that makes me so sad!

Below is our niece, Maia, on the car ride to Ely. We rode with Darrin's sister there. She is such a happy girl!

We also went to a favorite of the Bronson family--Garnet Hill. It was pretty cool. All you have to do is watch the ground as you walk around and you see sparkling red--you guessed it, garnets! Here is Darrin standing on the hill, and below I am holding a small handful of the garnets we found in less than an hour of looking.

Halloween Time! For Halloween, Darrin and I got a giant pumpkin. It was so big the grocery store scale couldn't measure it, so we were given the 30 pound price :)

Darrin is doing part of the dirty part-digging out the guts!

I was in charge of the mouth and Darrin did the eyes. Together, it was a masterpiece! I loved how my teeth turned out and Darrin created perfect eyes to compliment them!

More guts!

Here he is, all lit up. On the back we did the Chinese symbol for dragon backwards so that it would reflect behind the pumpkin. It worked...sort of :) but it looked great all the same.

Our Halloween decorations. Ghosts hung in our window and our giant pumpkin (looking not so giant in the picture) next to the door.

Today, we picked up a Christmas tree at Home Depot. I was so happy! It was a really good price, especially for a real one. It is so cute and fits our apartment perfectly. My goal is to keep it alive for next Christmas too!

All cutely decorated with silver and blue, plus my ornament from Kendra that she brought me from Jerusalem. I think it looks great!

While we were at Home Depot we picked up some sandpaper and paint and sanded and painted our little end table. We had gotten it for free from our last apartment complex but it needed a little tlc. It is outside drying right now and I'm excited to have another good piece of furniture!

One last exciting bit is that Laura, Darrin's sister, had her baby! She was beautiful and Laura was so tough, giving birth naturally. Her name is Lillian and we are so excited to have her here. Welcome to our family, baby Lily!

just my luck...

2009-10-14T17:55:00.000-07:00

I really like the blog that is on the side bar of my blog called How About Orange. They have free fun things like templates for thank you notes or notepads and stuff like that. Along with that is a giveaway every once in a while. And wouldn't you know it... I won! I had never entered in any of the giveaways before because I figured I would never win, but I just decided to for some reason on this one. Here is a picture of what I won:

Cute, eh? Maybe it's a way of giving back to me for the not so wonderful weeks I have had. I got sick a couple weeks ago and had probably the longest cold I have ever had, which I am finally over. Also, school has been...well, not the most fun for me. Lately, I've been longing for a job in which I can come home and not have more work to do at home. Yesterday I came home and worked until nine grading papers and stuff. Not to mention I have an observation by BYU and by my principal on Monday. Life is crazy, but I guess not void of rewards :)

a few adventures

2009-09-22T17:59:00.000-07:00

So...I guess if you don't want to see a lot of pictures, you better stop reading now and go to a different blog. Here are Darrin and my adventures in the past month. I just haven't had time to post for a while. Who knew teaching would take up so much of my time?! :)

First thing...Darrin and I moved! Yay! I was pretty excited to move because this apartment is nicer and has a few things that our other apartment didn't have--mainly a dishwasher and a washer and dryer. I LOVE them both! Here are two of my favorite rooms of the house because they are such an upgrade from our last apartment.

The kitchen:

and the bathroom: (we got a cute new shower curtain too)

We got a cute little googly-eyed fish and named him Jared. Then...they both died :( Hermano (the bigger fish) was our great pet for more than a year--we had him about when Darrin and I started dating.

Our next adventure is exploring some Mayan ruins (or so Darrin called them). He saw this structure from the highway and decided that one day he would explore them, so one Sunday, on our way to Payson, we did.

Here is Darrin before we got there--we had to hike a little ways up. (He's way excited)

Here they are close-up. We both agreed they were a little more impressive looking from afar.

Here was my favorite piece of art that someone so thoughtfully spray painted on the ruins. Aren't they cute?

The next adventure was going to St. George for Lincoln's baby blessing (Mindy & Jesse's little boy). Here are two cute boys sleeping in the back of the car. How sweet!

This is sometime in St. George. Hannah is getting so big and grown up--now in Kindergarten! This almost looks like a future family photo :)

Here's a close-up of cute little Lincoln. He was very content sleeping. He likes to stick his tongue out when he sleeps.

Whenever Hannah sees Darrin she always tackles him and he is a good sport about it and plays along.

And Matthew showing off his recently attained walking skills. With Hannah tackling in the background.

And those are some of our adventures in the last month. Hope you enjoyed!

i am now officially an adult...

2009-08-27T15:11:00.000-07:00

Wow. That is all I have to say right now. I started teaching third grade yesterday and I have made it through two whole days of teaching. After yesterday, I wasn't so sure of the career I had chosen, but I have flip-flopped since. Today went much better. One way I know this is because my throat doesn't hurt as much :) I feel like I can now say that I am officially an adult because I have a real job (by that I mean the one I went to college for). I just hope more days can be like today than they will be like yesterday. I was so grateful to have Darrin the last week. He knows how scared I was and helped me through all my first day jitters.

Waterbury & Boston

2009-08-04T14:01:00.000-07:00

We got the chance to go to Connecticut on a trip with Darrin's family. Darrin's dad got married in the Boston temple. The temple was beautiful and it was such a good experience to go. We just went for three days but it was fun being around Darrin's family and meeting Melanee's family, the woman Randy married.

Here we are waiting in the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.
Darrin was pretty bored, so I decided to entertain him by
taking a few pictures :)

What can I say? He likes me...

As I'm sure you can figure out, he didn't know I was taking
a video. I thought it was pretty funny.

This is the Boston Temple. It is so pretty and the grounds
are really pretty too. There were all kinds of flowers
there. There were all kinds of trees in the East,
I had no idea! I'm just glad I didn't get a picture of my hair.
It HATED the humidity.

Here's Darrin snuggling his dad before the wedding.

The happy couple right outside the temple.

Darrin's niece, Maia. She liked my tube of
lip gloss. She might have just liked the taste of it though...

We went to this historic house, built by Josiah Bronson,
an ancestor of the Bronson family. It was built in 1738 and
most of the house is still in its original condition. It was really cool.
I just can't say that he was a good-looking guy-maybe
if he smiled.

Here's Kurtis, sitting in an antique chair in the Bronson House.

The Wedding Pictures!

2009-07-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

Yay! The wedding pictures are here! Randy Collier did our wedding photography and he did a great job! We are excited to have them. I'll start out with some of my favorite funny ones...

Common Darrin and Rachel faces.
(Don't worry, we really are happy that we got married...)

I thought it was funny that Matthew was the only

one willing to cooperate. And he's the youngest!

Darrin and his brother, Kurtis, from Alaska

This is what I think of the guy I just married :)

And here are some of my favorite traditional ones. It was so fun to look through them and remember those moments.

I was so happy that all of these friends could make it! Angie
and Kim were my roommates, Tara, a great friend from
high school, and Audrey, my next door neighbor, who is also
the daughter of the photographer.

Here I am with my beautiful sisters. Mindy has a baby now! :)

I never thought my family would be this big outside the
temple when I got married. It makes me so happy to
see what great families Darrin and I have!

I'm so grateful for everyone that helped: Connie for the flowers, Penny for the cake, Randy for the luncheon and open house, Dad for the reception, Bernie and mom for the reception food
I'm also grateful for all of our family that was able to make it to the wedding and reception: Kurtis from Alaska, Mindy & Jesse from St. George, Jeff from Los Angeles (I'm sorry Jackie, Veronica, and David couldn't make it), Kim and Angie from Denver, Audrey and Randy from Sandy, Tara from Salt Lake, Melanee from Connecticut, Randy, Michelle, Natalie, Laura, Shane, Josh & Maia from Payson/Provo, and for Tom & Angela's family from Idaho Falls. Thanks for everything! Thanks Mom and Dad! We love you!

Our First Christmas!

2009-01-28T10:08:00.000-08:00

Here we are on Christmas morning

I know this is really late, but I figured that I would still write about it. For our first Christmas together, Darrin and I stayed at his family's house in Payson. We went there the Sunday before Christmas and stayed there until the day after Christmas. It was so wonderful! For a while, our plans were to have me go home for a couple days over Christmas and then I would come back to Provo to be with Darrin. Then, I got the idea from my mom to surprise him by coming back on Christmas Eve, but Darrin kind of ruined the surprise :) He kept telling me that he wanted to come to Idaho with me so I ended up just telling him and we decided to spend the whole break together. What a great decision that was! We went to Idaho for New Year's (wow, I made that a pretty terrible holiday for Darrin... we played the longest game of Phase 10 EVER).

Now we are both back in school and the semester is going pretty well. It is so much better having Darrin in school with me. We get to do homework together (instead of me staying up later or waking up earlier to do it so I could spend more time with him). I am in my second semester of the teaching program and Darrin is doing his prerequisites for the accounting program while he works on his Chinese major.

This one's for you...

2009-01-07T16:24:00.001-08:00

So...this is for all of you who told me that I should get a blog. Yes, that's you. It might take me a while to actually get going on this, especially since we are starting on a new semester, but at least I got it going.

Here's my story...

Darrin and I met in our BYU ward, yes the typical BYU experience, but that is great because I got to meet the greatest guy ever! :) So, we dated for about 5 months and have been engaged since November 30th. We are getting married on April 24, 2009 in the Idaho Falls temple. I'm excited to spend eternity with such a wonderful person! I will post pictures later!