Tim & Steph

7 Months!

2012-01-26T20:10:00.000-08:00

Asher turned 7 months old last week. He has sure changed and learned so much in the last month. It really is so amazing to see him grow so fast! He is so much fun and already seems to have a sense of humor. He makes us laugh everyday.
He has become a much better sleeper this month. He sleeps through the night almost every night now. He goes to bed at 7 and sleeps until at least 4, usually longer. Most of the time he makes it until about 5:30 or 6. He falls asleep in his crib on his own even. Most days he takes one 2 hour nap, and two 30 minute naps.
He has started to chatter a lot. The first sound he repeated was baba. He now also says dada and an occasional mama, (not referring to us) baba still seems to be the favorite though. He has gotten really loud and loves to yell. He does it all the time, whether he is excited, happy or mad. He also laughs at just about anything these days. I must need to work on my speed diapering because lately he decided he has to go almost every time I take his diaper off. The funny part about it though is that every time it happens, he laughs! I think it must tickle when it gets him but he thinks it's hilarious. Silly boy!
He sits like a champ now and rolls all over the place. He seems to want to get around but still doesn't love to be on his tummy. I think he is getting more motivated to crawl though so maybe by next month! However, he is way more into walking than crawling so we'll see!
He also got his first tooth about a week and a half ago. It's so cute! He really wasn't too fussy with it. He woke up crying once the night it came in and had a pretty runny nose but other than that he was as happy as could be.
He is now eating solids regularly and doing great with it. He has liked pretty much everything he has tried, except avocado and green beans (who can blame him?). I make all of his baby food and I really like it. I like knowing that it's fresh and much healthier for him. It has been super easy so far. He also is learning to drink from a sippy cup. He can drink from it if we are holding it. He tries to do it himself but just can't seem to tip it back far enough, which is funny cause he has been holding his bottle himself for at least 2 months now.
Overall, Asher is doing great! Here are a few pictures from about 6 1/2 months old.

We love our silly, handsome boy!

Asher's First Christmas

2012-01-26T19:19:00.001-08:00

Yes, I know Christmas was over a month ago. I have been putting off blogging about it because I am disappointed in the pictures we have from Christmas, and yes, I know that is a silly reason. Now it's time to blog about other things though so I have to catch up.
We had a wonderful Christmas. Even though Asher is still too little to know what's going on it was still so much fun. He did like the wrapping paper so he actually did help open his own presents. We started out Christmas Eve at the Tim's parents. We were able to visit for a while and exchange gifts. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera so we have no pictures from Christmas Eve. We had some on my sisters camera but they didn't turn out very well :(
We headed over to my Dad's next for dinner. We also decorated cookies for Santa. It has become a fun tradition to go over there every year on Christmas Eve. Asher opened his Christmas jammies while we were there and he looked so stinkin cute in them!

I stole this picture of me and Asher from Ashley's blog, at least she got one with Asher in his Christmas pj's!

Christmas morning we got up and went over to Ashley's house to have breakfast with her little family and my mom and Rudy. We didn't even open presents at home before we left since we didn't have a lot of time, and we didn't think Asher would mind waiting :)
We had a delicious breakfast and a lot of fun! We even played a little Just Dance on the Wii. Here are a few pictures from our day.

Asher with his cute new hooded towel, it even has his name on it!

I'm going to pretend like he really is trying to open his present here.

Here he is with some of his fun new presents

Tim and Asher, love my boys!

Going through Asher's stocking after we came home, his new walker from Santa is in the back. He loves it!

He got a new highchair from my mom and Rudy. We put him in to try some of the Puffs that were in his stocking. He made this face a lot. It was pretty funny. I guess he just needed to get used to them because now he loves them and smiles every time I pull them out.

He also got an exersaucer from my Dad and Leslie. It's super cute and he really likes it, he loves that he can jump around in it.

We had a great Christmas this year spending time with our sweet Asher and our extended families. We are so blessed!

FREE photo shoot giveaway!

2012-01-02T19:54:00.000-08:00

Be sure to head on over to Patchwork Photography and enter my New Year's giveaway. I'm super excited for 2012, I feel like I finally have to opportunity to invest the time in my business that it deserves. What better way to start off the year than with a free photo shoot? Don't miss out, the giveaway closes Sunday.

Cute cousins!

2011-12-26T20:14:00.001-08:00

Ashley and I wanted to take some photos of our kids together to give to our parents for Christmas. It was not an easy task, to say the least. None of them were very into getting their picture taken so it's a good thing they are all so darn cute! Merry Christmas from Hunter, Asher and Brinley :)

I can never decide between color or black and white, so here's both!

6 months!

2011-12-26T19:48:00.001-08:00

Asher turned 6 months old this past week. He is becoming more fun everyday and learning so many new things! He had his 6 month check up Thursday and it went great. He did so good with his shots and only cried for a few seconds. We found out that he definitely will not need a helmet, which made me very relieved. I was pretty sure he wouldn't but it is nice to not have to worry about it anymore. Here are his 6 month stats:

Weight: 16lbs 15 oz- 40th percentile
Height: 27.5 inches- 81st percentile
Head: 16.7 inches- 18th percentile

So he is still one tall boy! His cheeks have sure filled out but his body is still pretty thin. And he is just as handsome as ever!
He is learning new things all the time and it's so much fun. He knows and responds to his name. He has been close to sitting up alone for a long time now and pretty much mastered it today. He went from sitting up for about a minute yesterday to sitting as long as he wants today. He still loves to play with his feet. He always pulls off his socks so he can put them in his mouth. Half of the time he will have the next one off before we finish putting the other back on. In fact, the other day while I was getting him dressed he pulled his sock off, put it in his mouth and left it there. It was pretty funny. He is always doing silly things and making us laugh. He definitely has an opinion now and likes to make it known. He is pretty loud when he wants to be. He has started to play with his toys now instead of just putting them in his mouth. He is always kicking his feet. He has really started to like bath time lately and will just kick his feet the whole time and then laugh when the water splashes his face. He smiles every time he sneezes. We love our silly boy!

These pictures were actually taken about a month ago but he just looks too darn cute not to share them :)

5 months!

2011-11-22T19:36:00.000-08:00

It's true, our little baby is not so little anymore! He is getting to such a fun age and we love it! He is growing so fast and getting so big. I know I say that every month but I'm always amazed at how fast it has gone by. He has been with us for such a short time but it feels like he has always been here. I really don't remember what it felt like to not have him with us. He just fits so well.

He is super smiley these days and is much easier to get laughs out of. He will even laugh now when we talk to him, which is pretty much the cutest thing I have ever seen! He has been rolling from tummy to back for quite a while but just rolled the other way for the first time on Saturday. He has been so close for so long but he really does not like being on his tummy so he hasn't had much motivation. I'm not sure he will be doing it all that much still but at least now we know he can! I'm sure he'll be sitting up anytime now. He is getting really close and does great with minimal support. He cannot get enough of his feet lately. He is trying to eat them all.the.time. I would even be willing to say his feet are his favorite toy. He has also found his voice in the last few weeks. He of course has been babbling and cooing for a long time but these days he likes to yell. I think he just likes to hear himself and he sure is loud! Sometimes when he wakes up in the morning or from a nap I don't go in right away because I like to listen to him through the monitor. It makes me laugh everytime to hear him in there grunting and squealing while he waits. He has also mellowed out a bit and has gotten past the fussy newborn stage. He does seem to be developing some seperation anxiety/stranger danger lately, though. As long as Tim or I are holding him he does just fine but when someone else takes him he gets a little unsure. I don't really mind it though, soon enough I'm sure he will be dying to get away from us so I'll take what I can get :)

Like I said, he cannot get enough of his feet!

How are babies this flexible? It makes me smile.

I may be biased, but I'm pretty sure I have the cutest baby in the whole world :)

Love the silly faces!

We love our handsome little man and we are so blessed to have him in our family! I ask myself everyday how I got so lucky. We love you, Asher!

Starting Solids!

2011-11-22T19:24:00.000-08:00

On Sunday we gave Asher his first taste of solid food. We started with some rice cereal and I would say it was a success! It was really just for fun and to help him start getting used to a spoon but he did great!

First bite, he's not so sure yet...

A few bites in and he started to get a little more comfortable...

By the end he was loving it, even though half of it ended up on him instead of in his mouth!

Asher's First Halloween!

2011-11-11T19:25:00.001-08:00

I have already decided that holidays are a lot more fun with kids, and Asher is only 4 months! It was so much fun just to dress up Asher and see how cute he looked in his costume! We didn't actually do much on Halloween. We just put Asher in his costume long enough for some pictures and then passed out candy to the few trick or treaters that came.

Here are some photos of my cute robot!

With his cute Halloween Build-a-Bear

Ha ha I love this face he is making!

We spent the night before Halloween at my dad and stepmoms house. They always have such fun activities whenever we go over for any holiday!

Asher and Grandpa Kevin

Tim and Asher

Painting my bat pumpkin

Asher and Ryan- Asher was loving his costume ;)

Like I said, holidays are way better with kids. I am excited for all of the future Halloweens with our little man when he will actually care!

Go Packers!

2011-10-25T20:08:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Tim was able to go with his Dad to Green Bay, Wisconsin to go to a Packers game. The McDonald's are very faithful Packers fans and Tim has always wanted to take a trip to Lambeau Field. He LOVED it, and that is probably an understatement. He had a great time with his dad and has informed me that he now wants to move to Green Bay, I'm not so sure that I'm convinced yet :) Asher and I missed him at home but he had so much fun that it was worth it. My mom even came to stay with me while he was gone so we wouldn't be alone. We are very lucky to have such generous family! Tim even brought some souvenirs home for us, a shirt for me and a pennant to hang in Asher's room. I'm sure one day Asher will love the Packers as much as Tim does.

Here are a few photos from his trip. You can see they had AMAZING seats!

4 months!

2011-10-25T15:42:00.000-07:00

That's right. My sweet boy is 4 months old! I am totally missing the newborn stage but I'm so LOVING this age! He is so much fun! He smiles for us all the time and even laughs quite a bit these days. It is pretty much the cutest thing I have ever heard. We had his 4 month check up yesterday.

These are his 4 month stats:
Weight: 14lbs 13 oz- 46%
Length: 26 inches- 88%
Head: 16.3 inches- 24%

Yes, you read that correctly. He is a whopping 26 inches! He has grown almost 6 inches since he was born! His appointment was great (except the shots, of course. He did NOT like that part). The best news of all is that he is over his torticollis!! I have to say, I'm pretty proud of us. After countless stretches and exercises for 2 months we were able to overcome it without going to physical therapy. We did meet with a physical therapist a few weeks ago for an evaluation and they gave us some stuff to do at home. We have been super diligent and it was so worth it! He still has a small flat spot because of it so we will continue to reposition his head whenever we can in hopes that it will resolve itself. He also has a condition called pectus excavatum. It means he has a sunken in chest, there is a small cavity between his ribs. It is pretty mild and will most likely not cause any problems. We really won't know for years if it's something to worry about. He could grow out of it so that is what we are hoping for! It seems like he has these weird problems but really we are very lucky that he is a healthy, growing boy!

He is rolling over all the time, tummy to back. I think it's really because he hates tummy time so he tries as hard as he can to end it. Sometimes he even gets up on his knees or toes. You can just tell he wants to be on the go already. I'm pretty sure he will be an early crawler, he already tries so hard.

We have also been doing sleep training the last week and a half. Asher had been napping in his swing everyday because that was the only place he would nap for longer than 2o minutes without being held, which is weird because he sleeps in his crib at night... We had to stop using the swing all of a sudden after going to the physical therapist because it was not good for his torticollis. So after a week of going crazy from either holding Asher for 2 hours or putting him down only to wake up after 20 minutes I decided that we needed to make some changes. He now sleeps in his crib for every nap and will stay in there for over 2 hours. I can even put him down drowsy for naps and nighttime, that never happened before. I have learned a lot through this whole process and will hopefully be able to avoid the same problems with our next child. Asher usually wakes up once a night now but will sleep all the way through every now and then. He was sleeping through the night for a while but unfortunately it didn't last. It finally seems like we may get back to that soon, yay!

3 Months!

2011-09-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

Asher is 3 months old already! He is getting so big and getting cuter everyday! He is very smiley these days and even giggles for us now and then. He weighs about 14 pounds but his body is just long and skinny. He is getting some cute chubby cheeks though! Unfortunately, sleeping through the night didn't last too long. We moved him to his crib in his own room a couple of weeks ago since he was getting too long for the bassinet. The transition has taken some time to get used to but we seem to be getting back on track. He will sleep through the night once every few nights and then others he will make it til about 4am before he wakes up to eat. Mostly I just have to give him his pacifier if he wakes up though and he'll go right back to sleep. My poor little guy also got a cold about a week ago so that has thrown us off a bit too. Luckily, we are coming to the end of that.
We are still doing stretches with him daily for his torticollis. It definitely seems to be improving. I am certain that his neck will be just fine but I am still worried about his head. The torticollis has caused Asher to develop a small flat spot on his head. We try really hard to be consistent in making sure he does not sleep on that side, we don't lay him on his back when he is awake unless he is on a special pillow we found him that is supposed to help. He will only nap in his swing so we make sure to use his pillow in there too. It is basically a head support with a hole in the back so it does not put any pressure on his head. We have also been working a lot on tummy time. If it does not correct itself then he will most likely need a helmet for a little while. The more we keep him off of it though the better it seems to be so hopefully it only gets better from here, especially in a few months when he starts sitting up.

One happy boy!

Hanging out with Daddy

My two handsome boys

This is probably the cutest sad face I have ever seen! We tried for days to capture it on camera and finally got it at just the right moment.

He always does this with his hands when he is tired/fussy. I always imagine him thinking "Please, Parents, you are stressing me out."

We love our little man!

Asher's Blessing

2011-09-26T08:00:00.001-07:00

Asher was blessed by his dad on September 4, 2011. It was such a great day and Tim did an amazing job giving Asher a blessing. Asher did great also. He didn't even cry during the blessing. In fact, he smiled at his Daddy through the whole thing.

After the blessing we had a little get together at the park and enjoyed spending time with our families. Unfortunately, not everyone we love was able to be there but we were grateful for those who were able to come. Asher is one lucky boy and sure has a lot of people who love him.

Our little family

Asher and Daddy

Asher and Mommy

He was sure tired out by the end of the day!

I am so incredibly grateful for my little family. I am even more grateful that we have been sealed together and get to be with our sweet boy for eternity. I am also very grateful for our families who love us and who love Asher. We are very lucky to have so many wonderful people in our lives.

So Proud!

2011-09-02T21:09:00.001-07:00

I am one proud mama these days, I am also one lucky mama. Asher has been sleeping through the night for the last 5 nights in a row!! It has been fabulous. I feel like a whole new woman after getting a full nights sleep. He has been sleeping from about 9pm to 7am. He still wakes up a couple of times as it gets closer to the morning but he is happy to take his pacifier and go right back to sleep. It makes me feel like he is really starting to get big now that he can make it through the night. I still cross my fingers each night though that it will last! If he continues through the end of the week then we are going to try and move him into his crib in his own room. I am still very torn about this decision. I love having him right next to us all night and it makes it easy to give him his binky so he can go back to sleep. He is getting to be too big for his bassinet though and he will probably sleep better in his own room, I will just miss him so much! I know a lot of moms have a hard time sleeping with their baby next to them making noises all night but I do not feel that way at all. I feel so much better having him so close and I don't think I will get any sleep the first night without him there. I guess I have to let go sometime though!

My cute Asher also rolled over last week! I'm still not sure if it was a fluke or the real thing though. He did it twice in a row the same day but he has not done it since. It was pretty cute although he did not seem to like it. He cried as soon as it happened (especially the second time). He does not particularly enjoy tummy time though so it is hard to get him to stay there long enough to try again. I did get the second one I video, it is so cute I have watched it like 50 times. We also got a cute little laugh from him the other day but we are still waiting for it to happen some more. It was pretty much the cutest sound I have ever heard! He is "talking" all the time now. My favorite thing to do is just sit and talk to him and he will coo right back. He sits in his bumbo now and does so good in there! I try to put him in there whenever he is awake and I'm not holding him (which I guess isn't a ton...). It is supposed to be good for babies with torticollis because it helps them build neck strength. He doesn't seem to mind it at all. He will sit in there and watch me clean and make dinner and doesn't complain at all. He also LOVES to suck on his hands lately. He has always liked his hands, but apparently I had no idea how much he really could! He sucks on them whenever he can. It is actually pretty cute and it makes it less dramatic when he drops the pacifier. I don't mind the hands so much but whenever he gets his thumb in there I try to pull it out and give him his pacifier. I would much rather have him want the pacifier than be a thumb sucker, I can't throw away his thumbs!

Tim and I sure got lucky to have such a special boy!

2 months!

2011-08-23T10:29:00.000-07:00

Asher had his 2 month birthday on Sunday. He is getting so big and I love it! We had his 2 month appointment yesterday and it went great. He had to get 3 shots and he took it like a champ! He cried during the shots but calmed down once I picked him up and was asleep by the time we made it out to the car. I really can't believe how big he has gotten. He is even bigger than I expected, these are his 2 month stats:

Weight: 11 lbs, 10 oz- 49th percentile
Height: 23 1/2 inches- 75th percentile
Head: 15 inches- 21st percentile

How did we end up with such a big kid? I'll never know! He is sure filling out and is cuter than ever. It seems he is still dealing with some acid reflux and spits up all the time. Our dr recommended switching to soy formula so we will see if that helps. She said it would be best to avoid medicine if we can, it does not seem to be painful for him so medicine probably wouldn't do much anyway. He also has a minor case of something called torticollis. It basically is like he was born with a kink in his neck that he cannot get rid of. He tilts his head to the right and is more comfortable looking in that direction. He also always sleeps with his face to the right, no matter how we put him down he always ends up that way. We have some neck stretches we have to do with him everyday to try and correct it. Luckily, he does not have it severely so we should definitely be able to fix it with the stretches. We have a lot of motivation to do the stretches because if we don't he could end up needing physical therapy or even a helmet! I am determined not to let that happen! It should hopefully be fixed within about 2 months from the stretches.

My favorite thing about Asher getting older so far has been all the smiling! He started smiling at about 6 1/2 weeks and it is so fun! We cannot get enough of his cute smiles. He is especially smiley when he wakes up in the morning but he is smiling more and more everyday. He seems to think tongues are pretty funny so we are always making funny faces with our tongues sticking out. He coos all the time and I love the "conversations". He is starting like his swing more all the time and it is getting easier to put him in it when he is awake instead of only napping in it. He also loves his mobile over his crib. He is still sleeping in our room but sometimes I put him in his crib just so he can watch his mobile, he now smiles at it whenever I turn it on. He is spending more time awake everyday so we have a lot of time to play. He is sleeping longer at night as well, he can go for about 5 1/2 hours before waking up to eat. Unfortunately, that doesn't always mean much more sleep for me since I usually go to bed about 3 hours after him but we are starting to get on more of a schedule lately so that is helping.

As for me and Tim, we are just enjoying being parents and learning more about our little guy everyday. I have been lucky enough to be home with Asher everyday. I also love living by my sister, Ashley, because she makes sure I do not sit in my house all the time! Asher is sure going to love his cousins, he is lucky enough to spend a lot of time with them. They are so sweet to him!

Tim and I went on our first "date" over the weekend and had a good time. We finally saw Harry Potter, which I loved! Tim's parents were kind enough to babysit for us while we were at the movie. I had a little bit of a hard time leaving him for so long but he was in good hands!

Here are a few photos of our sweet Asher from the last few weeks

Smiling big for Daddy (my favorite picture ever!)

He likes to stick his tongue out

Hanging out with Mommy

He likes to watch the mobile on his swing

Sitting in his "Asher" chair...

... it didn't last very long

Napping, looks like it's time to move to the crib, he barely fits anymore!

Asher and I went to Silver Lake with Ashley, Hunter and Brinley. This is how much fun Asher had.

Just finished his bottle before bedtime, doesn't he look relaxed?

Birth Announcement

2011-08-05T22:04:00.000-07:00

I FINALLY printed Asher's announcements. Better late than never.

One month!

2011-07-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

Our sweet Asher turned one month old yesterday! He is growing so fast. We love to watch him grow and change everyday. It already makes me a little sad because I know that soon he will not be my little baby anymore. He is pretty alert and loves to stare right into our eyes. He is starting to stay awake for longer periods of time so I spend a lot of my day just talking and reading to him.

Now that he is one month old I have decided to try and start a routine for him, especially for bedtime. I don't know that he will really understand it just yet but I don't want to get into any bad habits. Most nights he falls asleep in our arms and we hold him until he is into a deep enough sleep that he won't notice being moved to his bassinet. When he naps during the day I have usually let him stay in my arms because I just can't bare to move him. If I do move him it is usually into his swing rather than his bassinet. It is probably more for me then for him that I let him always sleep in my arms. I love my sleeping baby cuddles! So the past few days I have been trying to put him to bed sleepy but not asleep, he does not love it. He does not really love to be swaddled because he hates his arms down. I was swaddling him in a blanket until a couple of nights ago but the first thing he would do when I put him down "sleepy" or when he woke up was fight his blanket. He would wiggle and grunt until one arm was out the top, one through the middle and his feet totally out. We got a little pod blanket to zip him in instead which seems to work a little better because it has some stretch in it so he can wiggle a little more without waking himself up too much or pushing a blanket into his face. I still feel that teaching him to fall asleep in his bassinet may take some time and a lot work though. Good thing we love him so much!

His clogged tear ducts seem to be getting better already and I am so grateful for that. They still are moist a lot but they are not getting crusty like they were before. Poor Asher already got his first cold though :( I really don't understand how. He has never been out in public (other than the pediatrician) and we have everyone sanitize before they hold him. I'm not really sure how he got it but it sure was sad. It made for one day of literally holding him all day long. Thankfully he is doing much better now and is just a little stuffy in the mornings.

I love that we learn new things about him everyday and get to know his little personality. He loves to suck on his fingers when he can get them into his mouth and does a pretty good job at finding them, when he can't get them he's happy to accept his pacifier. If he does not get his hands in his mouth he at least always has one resting on his face. He does NOT like baths, except when we wash his hair. He calms right down for that part. He wiggles all the time, except when he is tired, then he loves to cuddle up to one of us to sleep. He makes the cutest little noises all the time. The hair on the back of his head is super long and he has some cute bedhead everytime he wakes up. Whenever he is upset we "shhh" in his ear and it always calms him right down. He sure loves his mom and dad. There are so many things that we are still learning about him and parenthood all the time. It really has been an amazing experience. We are so excited to see what else is in store with our little guy.

Just relaxing

In his little swaddlepod, he still manages to get his hand out the neck hole. Silly boy.

We love you Asher boy!

My boys

2011-07-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

Tim and Asher are so sweet together. Tim has been such an amazing dad already. He helps so much with Asher and around the house. I definitely don't know how I would do all of this without him! He is so good at taking care of Asher when he gets home from work so I can have a little time for myself. He loves Asher so much, he is probably the cutest dad I have ever seen. Asher sure loves his daddy too. He loves to fall asleep on Tim. This is how they cuddle every night before bed.

Tim is already teaching Asher about soccer. They are watching the RSL game here. Don't judge my messy house please, I do have a newborn :)

I sure got lucky with my two cute boys! Luckily, I get some cuddles of my own too.

3 weeks

2011-07-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

My baby turned 3 weeks old yesterday! I can't believe it! He is getting so big and has changed so much since he was born!

These are his stats from his 2 week appointment:
Weight: 8lbs 4oz- 32 percentile
Height: 21 1/4 inches- 67 percentile
Head: 14 inches- 17 percentile

This time has gone by so fast but I also can't remember what life was like before we had him. He is such a good little baby. He is so sweet and calm. He loves to cuddle with us and I think it is my new favorite thing to do :) He does seem to have a bit of acid reflux and it makes me sad for him but even when it is bothering him he still hardly cries, he is a tough little guy. He also has a clogged tear duct on each eye so his eyes are always wet and get pretty goopy when he sleeps. I am hoping that it clears up on its own soon. If it does not clear up by the time he is one then he would have to have surgery to fix it. Hopefully they clear up much sooner than that though, a year is a long time to have to have goopy eyes! Overall he is doing great and we can't get enough of him.
Tim and I are also doing pretty good. We are still adjusting to the whole parenting thing. Actually, it is probably more accurate to say we are adjusting to doing anything else at the same time! We are trying to figure out how to keep our house clean, make dinner, make it to the grocery store and still have time for eachother. It is starting to get easier though, I have finally figured out how to eat lunch and take a shower before Tim gets home from work! It is totally worth all the changes though. We love our Asher and can't imagine life without him! These are just a few pictures from the last few weeks...

Asher's first photo shoot

2011-07-12T12:54:00.001-07:00

Of course I had to take some photos of my sweet boy. It was only the first photo shoot of many to come. He better get used to the camera :) These are just a few of my favorites, you can view them larger on my photo blog patchworkphoto.com. He is 9 days old here.

He's Here!!

2011-06-27T11:38:00.000-07:00

Asher James McDonald
Born June 21, 2011, 5:57 am (right on his due date!)
7lbs 120z, 20 3/4 inches long

So our little man is finally here, and almost two weeks old now! Time has gone by so fast and it has been so wonderful! It all started last Monday. I was getting pretty frustrated that I had not gone into labor yet. The Thursday before I had a dr appointment and I was 4cm dialated and 80% effaced. When Monday rolled around I couldn't believe I was STILL pregnant. This whole pregnancy I was certain this little guy would come early. I had another dr appointment Monday hoping she would schedule an induction since he still hadn't come on his own. So she scheduled my induction for Wednesday morning, one day after my due date. She stripped my membranes (for the 3rd time), I was then dialated to a 5. Thinking that NOTHING would work to get this baby to come on his own I was not counting on meeting him until Wednesday. Since we now live in Bluffdale and my dr is at McKay Dee I had about an hour drive to my appointments so Ashley was kind enough to drive me there so I didn't have to drive myself, which turned out to be a very good thing. After the appointment we ran some errands and headed to my Mom's for a while. My back was hurting pretty bad but that was pretty common for most of my pregnancy so I didn't think much about it.

Ashley and I decided to head home and realized in the car that my back pain was probably contractions. We started timing them and they were about 10 minutes apart. Once we were almost home Tim called and had locked his keys in his car at the gas station. Ashley took me home to get the spare key and then back to Tim at the gas station. By this time, my contractions were about 5-7 minutes apart so we decided it was probably time to head to the hospital since we were about an hour away.
We arrived at the hospital at about 8:30pm and I was monitored until about 10:30 when they finally decided not to send us home and move us into a delivery room. Up until this point I still wasn't convinced I was truly in labor, I thought they would for sure send us home. The contractions were not nearly as bad as I thought they would be. I still requested to receive my epidural as soon as possible. At about midnight I got my epidural and then my dr broke my water. She was able to tell that the baby had already had his first bowel movement, which could cause some issues for him but she didn't think it was very much. After that we just had to wait. My mom and sister came to wait with us so they could be there for the birth. It all went pretty fast after that point. By 3am I was feeling a lot of pressure so my nurse checked and I was at a 10. I felt like I needed to push and didn't think I could keep him in there. My doctor had another patient at the same time who was just as far progressed as I was so she was having to "take turns" between the two of us. I had to wait until just after 5am for my doctor to come in so I could start pushing. Throughout the whole time we were waiting I was pretty tired and because of my epidural I was also a little loopy. I was not totally aware of what was going on the whole time. Once I started to push the doctor could tell there was more meconium than what she had originally thought. She let us know that when he came out he may not be moving much and that he would not be able to take a breath until they had cleaned out his mouth so that he would not swallow the meconium. While I was pushing he was not coming out at quickly as my doctor wanted and his heartbeat was starting to drop. She said we would need to use the vacuum and if that didn't work quickly then I would have to have a C-section, which I so did not want to do. At this point I was pretty scared but luckily the vacuum did it and at 5:57 our little man was here. He was covered in green meconium but we were very lucky that he did not swallow it and did not even need to be taken away from us. After he was born I started bawling because I could not believe he was actually here. The vacuum caused a pretty big bruise on his head but other than that he was perfect! We did not decide on his name until a few hours after he was born. We had a few names we were deciding between but Asher was the only one that seemed to fit!

Getting cleaned up

Daddy holding Asher for the first time

Relaxing with Mommy

Coming home!

These last 12 days have been so amazing. We love Asher so much and cannot imagine not having him now. It is like he just belongs with us. Tim is the best dad already, he cannot get enough of our little guy. He is probably the proudest dad I have ever seen! I am so grateful for my little family. Even though it has been tiring and a lot of learning so far I would not trade it for anything. I have wanted to be a mom for so long but it is so much better that I ever imagined. I love having the opportunity to take care of Asher, he is such a good baby! From the moment he was born he has been so calm and content. He has the sweetest spirit and already loves his mommy and daddy :) We couldn't ask for a more perfect baby.
I also have to say thanks to our wonderful families. We have had so much help and support already. We love you all!

One week old!

Waiting...

2011-06-18T16:25:00.000-07:00

39 weeks & 4 days

That is about all I am doing these days. Just waiting for this baby to get here. With my due date only 3 days away we are definitely ready. Up until now I thought he would for sure be early but he sure seems to be taking his time. I have made enough progress that I am surprised he is not here already. At my last appointment on Thursday I was dialated to a 4 and 80% effaced. To me that means I should be in labor by now but apparently not! It seems as though my doctor is set on making me go on my own too. I have been having contractions a little bit but they have mostly been in my back and they have not really been very regular. On Thursday night I was having contractions for a few hours but they never really got closer together and once I decided to go to bed they stopped, since then there really hasn't been much else going on. I have officially started my maternity leave now so I have had the last few days off. It has been nice to have some time to relax but I wasn't planning on having this much time even!

So even though I have had some time to relax I have not been sitting around too much. I have been trying to stay active to help get this baby out. My sister and Tim have both been walking with me so I have been able to go on some nice long walks everyday. Yesterday my sister and I were so determined we went on a super long walk up some big hills. It ended up being more of a hike than a walk really, which if it had worked would have been well worth it but no baby yet so I'm not so sure! We have also tried rubbing my feet hoping that would put me into labor but I guess he is just not ready yet!

During our "hike" yesterday

Ashley

16 Days

2011-06-04T21:58:00.000-07:00

Only 16 days to go until my due date. Tim and I have been spending the last couple of weeks making sure we have everything ready for our little guy to arrive. We are just finishing up the nursery and then we are all set! I cannot wait to meet him! Also, I am totally ready to be done being pregnant. I really shouldn't complain because I have had such an easy pregnancy, but the discomfort has sure set in. It is kind of funny to think a few weeks ago I was totally okay with the baby taking his time to get here because I was so nervous about the whole labor and delivery process, but now I am so uncomfortable and anxious I just want it to happen! There is a very good chance baby McDonald will make an early arrival. I have been making some good progress and should be able to be induced at 39 weeks if he has not come on his own by then. I am pretty determined to get him here soon though so I am shooting for next weekend :) I am still working and will be until I deliver so that also gives me a little more motivation to get him here early.

We are all moved in and settled into our new place and we are loving it. I never thought I would be able to say that I lived in Bluffdale but it has been great so far. I always thought Bluffdale was in the middle of nowhere but we are actually so close to everything. We also only live about 10 minutes from my sister, Ashley, which has been so much fun. It has been a long time since we have lived so close to each other so it has been great. I am excited to have Ashley around to give me baby advice too, she is a great mom and hopefully I can learn a few things.

I will try to post some pictures of the nursery this week. I am so excited about it! It is going to be super cute thanks to all the help from my parents!

Time for an update...

2011-05-05T15:57:00.000-07:00

Well it's time to update again! We have had so much going on lately that things have been a little overwhelming, it has all been good things though! Just a lot of changes all coming at once.

We were incredibly grateful when Tim was offered 2 jobs a couple of weeks ago. One at Overstock.com and one at Universal Systems. He was really hoping for the second one because that is more of an IT job whereas Overstock was more web design. So he accepted the one at Universal Systems. It is such a great opportunity for him. He will have the opportunity to learn a lot of things that will be so beneficial for him. They will be putting him through some training to get certifications that will really help him and set him apart in the future. We are so grateful for such an amazing opportunity, especially after waiting so long for him to find something good.

Since Tim's job is in south Salt Lake we decided to move that direction. We found a great condo in Bluffdale that we will be moving into on Saturday. It was a long and stressful process to find something to rent, especially because we did not have a ton of time. I think we made a good choice though. It is little further south than we wanted to end up but the condo itself is great. It is somewhere that we can be comfortable and feel safe, which is what is most important. Anything closer was really expensive unless we lived somewhere that we weren't totally comfortable with. I am a sad to be leaving our house here but I am excited for all the changes that are coming our way.

Baby McDonald is doing great. At my appointment last week weighed 4 pounds, which puts him in the 37th percentile. (I thought 4 pounds already sounded huge but I guess not!) He is head down and right on schedule! I have to admit that I am getting a little scared about the whole labor part of it. I have to keep reminding myself that once he is here it will be worth whatever pain/grossness I have to go through! I really can't wait to meet him though. I am just over 33 weeks now and it seems so unreal that he will be here in just 7 weeks, or less! My mom and sister, Ashley, threw me a fabulous baby shower on Saturday. It was so much fun. There was delicious food and fabulous company. We are so blessed to have so many people supporting us! Baby received some wonderful gifts and it feels nice to be a little more prepared for his arrival. I am excited to move so we can put his room together and start getting all the little things ready. Unfortunately, I did not get pictures of the shower, I was too busy having fun :) I got one picture with a few of my friends there but that was pretty much it. Thanks so much Mom and Ash! It was a great shower!

The only decent picture I left with :) Me, Megan, Nicole, Kate and baby Lauren

Where to begin...

2011-04-13T20:12:00.000-07:00

So a lot has been going on around here lately! I don't even know where to start! Lets see... A few weeks ago we finally sold my car. It was a little sad since I had that car for so long and I loved it so much. We really wanted something with 4 doors though to make it easier once the baby is here. We found a 2008 Corolla for a great deal though and that has been great. I was excited to get one step closer to being prepared for baby to get here. Just after that Tim was called as the ward clerk. Not an assistant ward clerk, the actual ward clerk, which is basically a part of the bishopric. He was set apart about a week ago and has already had a lot to learn and a lot of meetings to attend. It is a super busy calling but it is also a really great one. THEN, 2 days after Tim was set apart in his new calling we sold our house! We couldn't believe it. After having our house up for sale for a year we thought we would end up being here forever! I still can't really believe it. It feels weird to think we will be living somewhere else. We moved into this house 3 days after we got married. I am really excited to be moving into this next phase in our lives but I have been super stressed all week trying to figure out where we will live. We are going to be renting somewhere for a while until we are ready to buy again and know exactly where we want to end up. We have been waiting for Tim to hear back on a couple of jobs before we really decide where to move so hopefully we will know by the end of the week or early next week so we can start making some plans. We have to be out of here by May 12! It feels so soon.

As far as the baby goes, everything has been great. I am 30 weeks as of yesterday! We have a dr's appointment tomorrow and then will be going every 2 weeks after that. I am excited to hear his little heartbeat! We don't have ultrasounds at every appointment so it has been a while since we have actually seen him. He sure is getting big though. He moves around like crazy, especially while I am trying to sleep (which I should probably just get used to since I won't be getting a good nights sleep for a LONG time). I do love it though when he is moving. I feel so grateful that he is so active and to constantly know that he is doing okay. It is starting to hurt a bit and get a little uncomfortable but that's okay. I am just grateful to have him there! The only thing that has been a problem is that I am pretty sure I'm having issues with my sciatic nerve. It has been bothering me for quite a while now but has been getting worse lately and causing pain all through my lower back and leg. I'm sure the fact that I am standing at least 40 hours a week at work is not really helping either. Only ten weeks to go though! I can't believe how soon he will be here! It is a little scary actually but I am way more excited than scared!

Tim and I also had our 4 year anniversary last week on the 7th. 4 years sure has flown by. I had to work the night of our actual anniversary so we had a nice dinner at home a couple of days before. We had candles and music and actually sat at the kitchen table! (We always sit at our bar). Tim is such a great husband, I am so lucky to be married to him :)

I feel so blessed for all of the amazing luck we have had the last few weeks. Our lives will be very different so soon but I am excited for all that is to come. It has been so amazing to see the Lords hand in our lives and I am so grateful for all the blessings we have received. I feel truly blessed right now and can't wait to see where life will take us next!

Here I am at 30 weeks

Grateful.

2011-03-23T21:34:00.000-07:00

I have not been as good at blogging as I want to be lately. Tonight I am feeling especially grateful though and I wanted to make sure not to forget it. With the baby coming we have been anxious to figure out what exactly our lives will be like. Will we be able sell our house before June? If so, where will we live? Will Tim be able to find a good job before then? Will I have to go back to work afterwards? It has been a little scary not knowing what to expect with all these big changes that could be happening. In the last year or so we have wondered a few times why things can't just work out easily. I think we have a learned a lot from our experiences though. I feel like we have learned to have more patience, see our blessings more clearly, and have faith that everything will work out.

A few days ago I was feeling a little nervous/down about all the unknowns. I was saying to Tim how nice it would be if everything could just work out the way we wanted. He said something to me that really helped me to remember what is important. He said that of all the things that could be happening how we want, we have the most important thing going so well. We have a baby coming into our family that has been perfectly healthy throughout the whole pregnancy, and has been growing exactly how he should. We may not have a big house, we may not be sure exactly what we will be doing 3 months from now, but we know that we have this amazing little guy coming into our family. What could be better than that?

I can't even explain how in love I am with this little boy already. And I love how much Tim loves him already too. I am grateful to have a husband that is going to be such an amazing dad. We can't wait to meet him and see him grow. He is constantly moving now and I love it. He is so active, I'm sure we are going to have our hands full with him :) Every time he moves I am reminded of how lucky we are and how excited I am to be his mother. I already know how special he is and how happy he already makes me. I am so grateful for our growing family. I have the best husband and the best baby on the way. I love them :)

I know that things may not always happen just the way we want, and things may take more work and patience than we expected, but that's okay. Everything will work out and everything will happen in its own time. I feel so grateful and comforted to know that our Heavenly Father knows us, he knows our needs, he knows how to teach us and he loves us and wants us to be happy. He will never leave us alone and is always there to help through. He has a plan for us, even when we don't know what it is yet. We have so many things to be grateful for and I am excited to see all of things He has in store for us.

20 Weeks!

2011-01-31T19:20:00.000-08:00

So we had our big ultrasound a few days ago and it was so cool! I loved being able to see every bit of him and he is perfect! Everything was just as it should be and he is right on schedule. Oh, and he is definitely still a he! That was one thing he was not shy about at all! I was a little disappointed because our ultrasound was not 3D like I thought it would be but that's okay, it was still so neat. He wasn't very cooperative in giving us a good profile/face shot but we did get a couple at the very end.
He is moving like crazy now and I love it. At about 18 weeks and 1 day Tim was able to feel him move and we could start seeing his little kicks. I love that he is moving so much now and that Tim can feel him, it makes it feel so much more real. It also makes me get even more excited for him to be here, even though I am only halfway there. I don't know how I can wait all the way til June!
Unfortunately, I learned yesterday that 20 weeks pregnant and the flu make a BAD combo. I was feeling a little off yesterday morning and once I got home from church I got in bed and was there the entire rest of the day. By 7:30 I was vomiting and miserable. I was up pretty much the whole night sick and not able to even sleep. Luckily, it didn't last too long. I have been feeling mostly better today, thank goodness. I have had the entire weekend off of work and I have to go back tomorrow so I definitely cannot be sick. I can't believe I had made it through the entire first half of my pregnancy without throwing up once, which I was very proud of, and then get the flu. It has been no fun!
We are so happy that our little guy is doing great. We were thrilled at our appointment to find out how well he is doing. We love him so much already!

18 weeks

2011-01-18T19:10:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I am already 18 weeks along. It has already gone by so fast, but still not fast enough. I just want my little guy to be here already. So far, I can't complain too much about being pregnant. In fact, I'm sure just about anyone would say I have had it pretty easy. I had morning sickness pretty consistently (all day, everyday) until about 12 weeks but since then I have been feeling pretty good. I am still super tired, and end up falling asleep in front of the tv and sleeping til almost noon more than I would like to admit, but I can't say that never happened before either.

The BEST thing so far has been feeling him move around. I started feeling flutters at about 15 1/2 weeks. It was just a few here and there but just in the last few days they have turned into little kicks and jabs. I love that I have little reminders that he is doing okay in there. It helps me to be less paranoid about not knowing how he is between doctor visits.

Our "big" ultrasound is in about a week and a half and I am super excited/anxious for it. I can't wait to see how much he has grown and make sure that everything is developing the way it should be. Also, it will be nice to confirm that he is still a he. The doctor was pretty confident that we are having a boy but I would definitely like to double check just in case! Before we found out we were having a boy I was 100% sure that it was a girl. I have always wanted a girl and pictured myself having girls. I was like "there is no need to even have the dr check, I know it's a girl!"I knew I would be happy either way but once we found out it was a boy, I was thrilled. Even though I may not get all the cute bows and dresses like I thought, I could not be more excited. I have been able to get excited about all the fun boy things and start planning his nursery.

I am so grateful to have this amazing experience. No matter how sick/tired/uncomfortable I feel I am just so lucky to be getting ready to have our little boy here with us. Tim has been so great the whole time. He cleans up the house, makes my lunches before I go to work, helps with dinner, rubs my back whenever I need it. He even helps me put on my socks when I can't quite reach that far comfortably :) I love that he is so excited and how much he already loves our little baby. He has not really been able to feel the baby move yet but I am sure he will really soon. So far, I love being pregnant. I hope that lasts the whole time :) This little jacket is the only thing I have bought so far and I love it. I can't wait til warmer weather clothes come out so I can get more for him!

The verdict is in...

2010-12-27T23:08:00.000-08:00

We found out the sex of our baby today and we are super excited to announce that it's a...

We are thrilled!! I am still a little early but the doctor was pretty confident that he is definitely a boy. We can't wait to meet him!!

Christmas

2010-12-27T22:34:00.000-08:00

We had a FABULOUS Christmas this year. As usual we were super busy running around to visit everyone, but that is the way I like it. It has become a tradition to celebrate Christmas Eve at my Dad's house. My step mom always makes a delicious dinner and we frost sugar cookies to leave out for Santa. They were so generous this year and gave us a crib, changing table and dresser for baby along with some other things. I LOVE the baby furniture. It is exactly what I wanted. The dresser is the only thing that is set up so far but it is all SO CUTE!

We started out Christmas Day with breakfast at my Mom's house, that has also been a fun tradition we started a couple of years ago. After breakfast we did gifts, then Ashley and I had a dance off with the new Just Dance game my parents got with their new Wii. All year I have been wanting a sewing machine and I was thrilled when my mom gave me one for Christmas. (I also got one from my Dad but I of course will only be keeping one.) I really don't know how to sew but I have been wanting to learn for a while now. I am so excited to get started with a sewing project!

After breakfast we headed to Tim's parent's house and relaxed a bit while visiting with everyone. We definitely got spoiled this year! Tim's parents gave us a video camera, which is great, especially with baby on the way!

We ended the day in Brigham City with the Farnsworth grandparents and got home at about 7 to spend the rest of the night together. Even though holidays can be pretty hectic with all the different places to go I love to be able to see everyone. It is my favorite thing about the holidays.
I am especially grateful this year for my Savior and that I have the Gospel in my life. Now that Tim and I are starting our own family I am truly grateful that we have had the blessing to be sealed together and have our family forever. We have been so blessed in so many ways. For a while I was a little focused on all of the things that I wanted to happen for us, but when I take a step back it is easy to see how much we already have from our Father in Heaven. That is what I am trying to focus on now :)
Thanks to everyone who made this Christmas a great one with us!

Finally, something to blog about!

2010-11-09T20:11:00.000-08:00

I am not a very good blogger, but now I have a reason to be a little more dedicated. We will be adding a little one to our family this summer!! I am due June 21, 2011 and we could not be more excited! I have been debating whether I should post this so early or not but I don't think anyone really reads this blog anyway and I want to remember this time :). I am 8 weeks today and cannot wait for June to come, or at least til the end of December when we will find out if we are having a boy or a girl! Hopefully now I will be better at updating the blog :)

New Website and update

2010-10-06T21:34:00.000-07:00

I am so excited, I finally have a customized blog/website for my photography business! It has been going great lately. It has picked up so much over the last couple of months and I have loved it. Tim was so wonderful to make my beautiful blog for me. He is so good at that stuff! It is still being tweaked a bit but I absolutely love it. Check it out at patchworkphoto.com.

Also, it is probably time for a bit of an update with us. We have not had too much going on lately so I haven't really felt like blogging. Like I said I have been doing a lot of photo sessions, which has been fabulous. Also, I went back to my old job at American Eagle at the end of June. I was really ready to be done working at the bank so when my old position at AE opened up again I thought "Why not?". So far it has been a nice change, but I'm not gonna lie, I am sure missing having off every weekend!

Tim has been busy job searching and I think that soon we should have some luck in that area. We decided to wait on the Masters program for now so Tim could focus more on getting some IT certifications and finding a good job.

We still have our house for sale. It has been a long process but I also feel like we are getting a little closer to making some progress. We have had a few people lately who have been really interested so hopefully something good will come of that. It is due after all :) It has been a little frustrating lately waiting for things to happen so we can make some changes but I know there is a plan for us and things will work out when they are supposed to! We have just been trying to remember that :)

Maui and Girls Camp!!

2010-07-06T18:59:00.000-07:00

So we have had a busy couple of weeks recently... and it has been SO much fun! First of all, we went to MAUI!! Thanks to my wonderful in-laws. They took to us along on a fabulous vacation. It was so nice to get away for a week. Tim and I had not been on a vacation in like 2 years. Our hotel was right on the beach. We spent a lot of time at the pool, walking along the beach and relaxing. We also did some cool hiking through a bamboo forest. I seriously can't thank my in-laws enough, it was amazing!

At the hotel pool

Beach right by the hotel

Iao Needle

Pool area at our hotel

Blow hole

Hiking the bamboo forest

Waterfall at the top of the hike

Black sand beach

Best Vacation Ever!!

Then, last week I went to girls camp. It was such a neat experience. I came home filthy, exhausted and missing my husband but it was a lot of fun. I am so glad that I got to go. When I was called as the assistant camp director a few months ago I was a little nervous but everything turned out great. I think it helped that I am already a young women adviser so I already know all of my girls and they are wonderful. They are all such good examples to me and I LOVE being a YW adviser. My testimony has been strengthened so much in the last year and a half and girls camp helped it to grow even more.
We also had a great speaker while we were there, Richard Paul Evans . He is the author of the Christmas Box and the founder of the Christmas Box House for abused and neglected children who are being placed in Foster Care. We found out a few months ago that each ward had to make a quilt but we were not told why. We were told on our last night at camp that they would be going to the children at the Christmas Box House and I am so glad that is where they are going. I have a special place in my heart for the Christmas Box House after being able to do a lot with them in high school and in college to help the kids.
Camp was a great experience and I hope I have the opportunity to go again someday!!

Graduation!!

2010-05-16T14:01:00.000-07:00

The long awaited day has finally come. Tim graduated last Friday. He received his bachelors degree in Information Systems from the University of Utah. I am so proud of him! We are so excited to have finally gotten to this point, although I can't say we are in the clear just yet. Tim was just accepted into the IS Masters program at the U. He will most likely start that in the fall. It is only 3 semesters so he would be done at the end of next summer. Even though he is definitely ready to be done, and I am ready for him to be done, it will still be a great thing! He is also still looking for a job. It has been a little discouraging but I know that if we have faith everything will work out the way it is supposed to. Here are a few pictures from the big day.

Tim and I

Tim and his proud parents

Tim and his grandpa

Tim and I also celebrated our 3rd anniversary last month. 3 whole years. It has gone by SO fast. It seems like I was just posting about our 2 year anniversary! We celebrated by going to the temple and dinner. I feel so lucky to be sealed to Tim. 3 years down, an eternity to go!

Also, we still have our house for sale. The showings have slowed down a TON in the last couple of weeks since the tax credit ended. I am pretty sure we will be right where we are for a while longer!

FREE PHOTO SHOOT GIVEAWAY!!

2010-02-27T19:03:00.000-08:00

To get my name out there I am giving away one free photo shoot. Check out my photo blog for details on how to enter. I will be choosing a winner on Saturday, March 6 so be sure to enter before then. Tell your friends and family!

It's about time for an update...

2010-01-31T12:53:00.001-08:00

I have been a slacker again. Since it is coming up on almost 2 months since my last post I thought I would give it a shot. I don't ever feel like there is a whole lot going on with us but there is one thing that I am super excited about. Tim is in his LAST semester at the U!! I couldn't be more thrilled. He is still debating on whether or not he will be doing a masters program but either way we are excited to be getting to this point! He will be graduating in May with a bachelors in information systems. Hopefully a good job will follow!
We have also celebrated Christmas since the last post. It was great, as usual. We spent Christmas Eve at my Dad's house. That has become a great tradition the last few years. Christmas morning we had breakfast at my Mom's house and then headed to the movies to see The Princess and The Frog with Tim's side of the family. After that we ended up at Tim's Grandpa's for some dinner and games. We were super spoiled this year between Christmas and our birthday's with iPod touches, camera equipment, a wii and some games and some cash. We have the best families and I am so glad we live to close and can spend holidays with everyone.

On another exciting note, we have put our townhouse up for sale. We are pretty sure that when Tim graduates he will most likely find a job somewhere between SLC and Utah county, since that is where all the IT jobs are. It has been for sale for about a month now and we really haven't had anyone interested. Maybe in the spring it will pick up a bit? We are not really sure where we will end up but we are excited to be moving forward. So if anyone is looking to buy a townhouse let me know!!

Happy 24!

2009-12-11T19:21:00.000-08:00

So I know I am really late on this because Tim's birthday was December 1st but I couldn't not post about it! I was able to take the day off work so we could spend the whole day together. Tim still had to go to school but it was only one class so it didn't take too long. After that we went to PF Changs for some delicious lunch and then headed to the Gateway for a little while. We mostly relaxed at home and then had Tim's parents come over for some cake. Tim is not really into celebrating his birthday so we mostly just took it easy. It was so nice to just hang out with each other. We have both been so busy lately that we haven't had a lot of opportunities to do that. I feel so lucky to be married to Tim! He is such a good husband. He is always so supportive and loving. I am so grateful that I get to be with him forever. I couldn't ask for anything better. I love you honey! <3

Tim with his new RSL shirt. Too bad it didn't fit :(

Blowing out the candles... I know it looks like a sad cake,
instead of 24 candles we did 2 and then 4.

Long weekend,,,

2009-10-18T15:18:00.001-07:00

I probably don't need to say that I am not very good at blogging. I don't feel like we do very much that is really that exciting to share with everyone. I have decided that I would like to start doing better. I am just going to blog about the things I want to remember, even if it's not very exciting! We didn't do a whole lot this weekend but we had so much fun together. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures to post.

Since Tim was on fall break from the U all last week I decided to take Friday off work so we could spend some quality time together. With Tim's school and soccer schedule we haven't had much of that. We thought it would be the perfect day to go to the temple. We went with Tim's parents to the Salt Lake Temple and did a session. We were married in Salt Lake but this is the first time we have done a session there. It was so neat. I love the temple more than I can say. I love the peace I feel while I am there. Tim and I have not gone as much as we should so I am making a goal to go more often. Afterwards, we spent the evening at home relaxing and just being with each other. It was a great day.

Saturday we went to Tim's soccer game. He is just about done for the season with only 2 weeks or so left. We spent most of the day relaxing. We also celebrated Tim's brothers birthday with some home made ice cream in the evening.

I love Sundays. I love my calling as a young women leader. I also love that I don't have to worry about anything but spending time with my husband and our families. We are getting ready now to go to my Mom's for some delicious dinner! What a fabulous weekend!

Catch up time

2009-09-13T15:20:00.000-07:00

Obviously I am not the best blogger. It has been almost 2 months since I posted last. I would like to say that it is because we have too many fun things going on to take the time to blog. Sadly, that is not the reason. Even though we seem to always be busy we don't have very many exciting things to blog about. We have just been chugging along with normal life. Tim has started his last year at the U for his bachelors degree. He will be graduating in the spring and I cannot even begin to say how excited I am. It feels so close now! He is still deciding what to do after that. A masters program will happen most likely right away so I guess there is a little while left but it just feels like such a huge milestone. I am so proud of him! He is also still playing soccer for the U and has about a month and a half left for the season. I have just been working and trying to get the whole photography thing started. I am also still the beehive advisor in the young women program and I absolutely love it. It is such a fun calling!

We have been up to a few fun things though so I have to post some pictures! Labor Day we went to Willard Bay for some wakeboarding. Ashley and Devan were able to come with us so that was a lot of fun. We haven't had many chances to go this summer but I'm glad we were able to go a couple of times. I am certainly not the best wakeboarder but I am having fun learning!

Tim

Devan

Ash and me

Last night we went to Orem to go to dinner for Tim's cousins birthday. It was just the cousins getting together so it was a lot of fun. We couldn't pass up the chance to go to PF Changs!

Me and Tim

Tara the birthday girl

Aaron, Amy, Ryan, Me, Tim and Jonathan

Patchwork Photos

2009-07-19T20:47:00.000-07:00

I know I have said on here more than once that I would love to be a photographer. I have had a lot of fun lately getting some practice on some super cute families. I have a new photo blog with some cute new pictures on there, so make sure to check it out! Also, if anyone is interested in a session just email with what you would like done and I can give you pricing info. Check out a few recent sessions at patchworkphotos.blogspot.com!

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-05T17:26:00.000-07:00

The 4th of July has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love the barbecues, hanging out with family and of course the fireworks! This year we spent most of the day relaxing at home since the rest of our week had been so busy. We went to Tim's parents for dinner for some yummy burgers and hot dogs. After dinner we went on a walk around the neighborhood and had fun just visiting.

My wonderful in-laws!

We then went to the Layton Park to watch fireworks with Ash, Devan, Hunter and Brinley. Even though it is a zoo there every year I still love to go! It was really fun to go with my sister and her family because it has been a few years since I have been able to spend the 4th with them!

Cute Davis family!

Tim was such a good sport, he even wore red so we could be festive :)

Sisters

Tim took some great pictures during the firework show!

Thanks to everyone who spent the 4th with us! We had a blast!

Thanksgiving Point

2009-07-05T16:45:00.000-07:00

We started off our weekend early Friday since I was lucky enough to have the day off. We had to take advantage of it! We went to Thanksgiving Point with my Mom, Rudy, Ashley, Devan and their kids. We had never been there before so we weren't quite sure what to expect. They had a ton of stuff to do there though. We started out at the Museum of Ancient History. Even though a lot of it was for kids I still really enjoyed it. There were tons of cool dinosaur bones and fossils.

Me and Tim!

Tim hates having his picture taken, unless it is of him stabbing a mammoth, then he was very willing!

Doesn't my mom look scared?

After the museum, Tim and I walked through some of the gardens. We just went through some that you could do for free but they were still really neat. They had so many pretty flowers and we got some great pictures!

Afterwards, we went back to my Mom's and had some yummy Maddox for dinner! Thanks for the fun day Mom & Rudy!

LaRee Payton

2009-07-02T21:18:00.000-07:00

LaRee is Tim's grandma on his Mom's side, she passed away on Monday. She was a wonderful woman and I wish I would have been able to know her better. Just from the short time that I knew her I could tell how kind and loving she was. She always seemed to be happy no matter what. It is easy to see how much she touched the lives of her family. We will miss her very much. It makes me so grateful to know that Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us and that families can be eternal. I am grateful to have known LaRee even though I have only been in the family for a short time. LaRee Payton

LaRee (G) Payton 1941 ~ 2009 "The Definition of Mother" Our beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother LaRee passed away Monday, July 29th, 2009 from head and neck injury caused by a fall in her home. Born August 30, 1941 in Kanab, Utah to Grant and Zelpha, LaRee is the fifth child of seven. She was 67 years old. LaRee's early years were spent in the red rocks of Kanab where she developed a love of nature. Pre-mature death of her mother caused reinforced extended family bonds, before moving to Provo at 10. There she eventually met the love of her life LaMar (Wilbur) Payton, married December 19th 1958 and later sealed in the Hawaiian LDS Temple December 15th, 1962. LaRee was blessed to be the mother of four children, the loves of her life, oldest and youngest born in California and the second and third in Hawaii. Family outing with her husband and children to beaches and mountains provided memorable family stories told over and over. Two support systems furthered her tight family values. Primary support came as a member of the Church of Latter-day Saints, where she faithfully served in various functions from Den Mother to Young Women's President. Secondary, as a naval wife she developed strong life friendships and experiences as the family moved around military bases. LaRee is survived by her children, Dennis, Stephen, Karey and Angelia. LaRee was blessed by added loves of 11 grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, numerous close nieces and nephews and many friends. She is preceded in death by her parents, two brothers and brother-in-law. She is loved by all and will be greatly missed by all who loved this beautiful mother, wife and woman. Funeral services will be held Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 2 p.m. at Lindquist's Layton Mortuary, 1867 No. Fairfield Road. Friends and family may call Thursday one hour prior to services at the mortuary. Interment, Lindquist's Memorial Park at Layton, 1867 No. Fairfield Road. e-mail condolences to the family at www.lindquistmortuary.com

A little of what I've been up to lately....

2009-06-28T17:18:00.001-07:00

Lately I have really been trying to learn all I can about photography and get as much practice as I can get. I have actually even started a new blog that is just for my photography. There is not much on there yet but I will post more as I go! You can check it out at patchworkphotos.blogspot.com. Hopefully in not too long I will have a real website! There are more pictures from the sessions below on the blog right now so make sure to have a look!

I was able to do a fun session with some cute cousins. They were 5 kids under the age of 7! I was a little nervous at first but it turned out so great!! These are just a couple from that shoot.

I think this picture is so cute, even though little Gracie on the end looks a little terrified!

A couple of weeks before that I got to practice on my cute nephew Hunter. My sister is always willing to let me use her children as models!

It's probably time for a new post,,,,

2009-06-26T19:16:00.001-07:00

Well it has been quite a while since I blogged last. Even though we haven't been up to much lately I thought there were a few things we could catch up on. On Wednesday my little brother Mathis left for a 2 year mission to Madagascar. We were able to go to dinner with the family to Tepenyaki on Tuesday for Mathis' last dinner before he left. It was a lot of fun! Afterwards, we went to my Dad's house where Mathis was set apart as a missionary. We are sad to have him leave for so long and will miss him. We know he will be such a great missionary though and teach a lot of people about the gospel.

After Mathis' farewell a couple of weeks ago

Mathis enjoying his yummy dinner.

Wednesday was my Mom's birthday so I went to her house for some cake and ice cream that night. Tim was unable to come because he had a soccer game. I have a great Mom and I am so grateful for her!

Happy Birthday Mom! Love you!

As far as things go for me and Tim, there hasn't been much to blog about. Tim has been playing soccer like crazy still but that should slow down a bit until about August. I have been really trying to work on getting into photography and will post some pictures pretty soon here. We are just hoping the rain will stop coming back so we can enjoy summer!

Soccer TIMe!

2009-04-20T17:44:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Tim made the soccer team at the U. I am so excited for him! He had his first game on Saturday, and won! It was way fun to watch him play and he had quite a crowd. His parents and sister came and so did my mom and stepdad. Here are a few pics of the game...

My Mom and Stepdad

Karey, Amy and baby Dylan

After the game, I went with my sister to our grandparents house to make freezer jam. It was the first time I have ever made jam and it turned out pretty tasty!

My sister Ashley

My grandma Colleen

This is just the beginning of all the jam we made...

A lot of Easter!

2009-04-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I have blogged last and I feel like I have a lot to catch up on. We (more like I) had lots of fun this year doing some cute Easter crafts. I really don't have any spring decorations so it was fun to make a couple of things. A couple of weeks ago, while Tim was at priesthood session, I was able to make this cute Easter tree with his mom and sister. It was super fun and turned out way cute!

The next week we went to my Dad's house and made panoramic Easter eggs. They were so fun to make because there are so many different things you can do with them and they turned out pretty cute!

We spent a lot of time Easter weekend hanging out with my side of the family and it was way fun. Saturday night we went to my dad's house for a delicious dinner. My stepmom is great at planning fun things for holidays and always goes way out. Easter day we went to my mom's house for dinner and more Easter fun with the family.

We also had another exciting day last week. Our anniversary was April 7!! That's right, we have been married for 2 years now. Boy does time fly. It sure has gone by fast but at the same time it feels like we have been together so much longer than that! We celebrated by going to PF Changs (our favorite) for dinner, nothing too fancy but it was great. I just feel so lucky to be married to such an amazing guy! I love you honey, you're the best!!

Photo shoot #2

2009-03-30T20:36:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I was able to take some more pictures of my adorable niece Brinley and my sister. It helps that they are both so beautiful and makes my job much easier! The photography is certainly not perfect but it has been way fun to learn new things. Thanks for being my subjects Ash and Brin! Here are a few of my favorites...

Madagascar?

2009-03-04T20:10:00.000-08:00

So my younger brother got his mission call today and we are so excited for him! We are also pretty shocked... he is going to Madagascar! Now, if you are like me you are like me you may not know exactly where Madagascar is. It is an island just off the coast of Africa. He will be speaking French, which I thought was a little weird... We were glad we got to be there for him to open it and way excited for him, he will do a great job! He will leave for the MTC on June 24.

Trying out my photography skills...

2009-02-24T18:02:00.001-08:00

So I have thought for a long time now that I would LOVE to be a photographer. So over the weekend my sister let me come over and take some pictures of her new baby Brinley for practice. I am still totally just a beginner and have A LOT to learn. I am hoping though that with lots of practice I can get pretty good. I just think that it would be the best job ever. It would be so much fun and then when we have kids I would still get to be home with them for the most part. I did have a lot of help from my sister and Tim. Ash helped a ton coming up with cute ideas and Tim is teaching me how to use photoshop. A lot of the pictures look a lot alike because there is not a whole lot that I know how to do yet! So thanks for all your help guys! Also, if anyone has some constructive criticism I could use the suggestions, just don't be too hard on me. This is my first try!

Welcome Baby!! (no, not our baby...)

2009-02-17T18:53:00.000-08:00

So I haven't had much to post about Tim and I lately so I thought that I would post about our new little neice. Brinley was born about a week and a half ago and she is so pretty! I am so excited to have a little girl in the family. Don't get me wrong, I love our little nephews but it is a fun change. Here are a few pics...

I also thought I should at least give a little update on me and Tim. There is not a whole lot to tell about. Tim is still going to school full time at the U and getting closer and closer to being graduated. He is doing so well this semester and I am so proud of him! As for me, I have a new calling at church that I have been in for about a month now. I am the new Beehive advisor in the Young Women program. It has been way fun but has also been a huge adjustment from nursery. It has been a lot of work but totally worth it. The girls are great and I am lucky to have such a good calling! That's about it for us!

Late Christmas Present...

2009-01-01T10:25:00.001-08:00

This year, all of Tim's family thought Christmas came a little late. Tim's younger brother Aaron came home from his mission on the 27th. He was in Argentina doing a great job the last two years but everyone is thrilled that he is home. It was like getting a late Christmas present! Aaron left just four days before Tim and I got engaged so I never really got the chance to get to know him very well. Now that he is home I am excited to really get to know ALL of Tim's family! Welcome home Aaron, we are glad to have you back!! Please don't judge me anyone for being the worst sister in law and not taking any pictures!!

Merry Christmas!!

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

I hope everyone had a a great Christmas holiday because we sure did. Christmas Eve we went to my Dad and Stepmoms house for dinner. It was a lot of fun and we even decorated cookies (for Santa of course.) We started out Christmas morning at my Mom's house for breakfast and bingo, and don't worry, Tim and I won almost every time. It was super fun. After that we headed to Tim's parent's house to visit a little. Then we went over to my grandparent's house in Brigham City for some more visiting. We have a lot of family between the two of us but it makes for some really fun times. Christmas is my favorite because I love to spend so much time with all my family. I think Tim is still getting used to being so busy on holidays! Here are some pictures from our Christmas...

Tim's new toolbox

Tim even helped decorate the cookies!

Our completed cookies

Tim in his new hoodie

The girls. Grandma, Mom, Me and Ash

We've been busy...

2008-12-15T20:17:00.000-08:00

We sure have had a lot going on the last few days and it doesn't seem like it will be slowing down much for a while. Even though we have been busy we have still had a lot of fun. So this is what we've been up to...

Last Thursday we were able to go over to my dad's house and make gingerbread houses. They were way fun and turned out super cute. Here are some pictures of our night and how the houses turned out.

Saturday was my birthday, the big 23. Even though I am pretty much an adult now I still get really excited for my birthday. For the most part we just had a normal day. Tim had to go to school to take a test so I did some Christmas shopping with my Mom. After that I was brave and cut off my hair! I ended up cutting off about 5 inches. It doesn't sound like a ton but it sure feels like a lot. Tim and I spent the rest of the night together and also hung out with some friends. It turned out to be a really fun birthday. I also got gifts that I absolutely love. Tim gave me a digital photo frame. I was so excited for my present that he even let me open it at midnight the night before! I also got the Willow Tree nativity set that I have really wanted from my in-laws. My Mom gave me a jacket that I love. I also got a lot of other things and I am so lucky to have a family that cares so much! Thanks so much to everyone who helped me have a fabulous birthday, I love you all! Here are some birthday photos.

Me with my new digital photo frame and new jacket

My new Willow Tree nativity set

Then tonight the family birthday celebration continued. We went to dinner with my Dad, stepmom Leslie, my little brothers (except Mathis who had to work), Ashley, Devan and Hunter. With all of us together there were 5 birthdays to celebrate! Me, Tim, Ashley, Devan and my Dad all have birthday's this month between the 1st and the 19th. It was a lot of fun to get together with everyone and celebrate. Althought, I doubt the waitress believe us when we said there were 5 birthdays at the table and brought us all dessert!

Happy 23 Tim!

2008-12-03T17:55:00.000-08:00

Tim in his new birthday hoodie and cake. (Too bad we forgot to take the picture until after we started eating the cake.)

Tim's birthday was on Monday so I just wanted to say happy birthday to him and write a quick post about our night. We just had a quiet night at home. With Tim being so busy with school it was kind of hard to find the time to celebrate. Also, Tim's not super big into his birthday. We were able to have some cake though and Tim's parents and brother came over for a quick visit.I also want to take this chance to say just how much I love my fabulous husband. There are so many things that I love about him I don't think that I could name them all, so I thought that I would just name some of my favorite things about him. I love that Tim is always so sweet and always takes care of me. I love that he is so super supportive of everything that I do. I love that Tim is so smart, it has always been one of my favorite things about him! I love that he is a worthy priesthood holder that I get to spend the rest of forever with. I love that he always wants to fix things right away whenever we have an argument. I love that he works so hard at school because he knows that it's important to me. I also of course love that he is so handsome! I am so lucky to have such a great husband and I can't imagine what I would do without him. I love you so much baby and I hope you had a great birthday!!

I'm Thankful For...

2008-11-28T12:20:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is definitely one of my favorite holidays and this year was a lot of fun. We ate dinner this year at Tim's parents house and it was great. It is just so much fun to get together with the family and enjoy each others company. After dinner we went to my Mom's house for some (more) dessert. I love Thanksgiving because not only do I get to spend time with my family but it also reminds me of the things I should be thankful for all year long. I have been very blessed and am so grateful for that. I am especially thankful for Tim. I am very grateful that I have a wonderful husband who could take me to the temple and that I get to be with him forever! I am also very lucky to have such a wonderful family. Our families support us so much and are always there for us and we love them all very much! I am incredibly thankful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It is so wonderful to know how much our Heavenly Father loves us and to have so much comfort in that. I am also thankful for my calling as a nursery teacher. I have learned a lot from being in there this past year and I am so excited to go each week because they are such wonderful kids! There are so many other things that we have to be thankful for and my goal is to remember those things daily and not just on Thanksgiving!

Weekend Update

2008-11-23T19:01:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I have blogged so I thought that I would just tell a little about our weekend. It was a pretty girly weekend for me. Saturday morning I got up to go see "Twilight" with my mom and sister. It was pretty good and I definitely recommend it. Even my mom loved it and she has never even read the books. I was a little unsure about the cast at first but they turned out to be great, especially Bella and Edward. They were pretty much perfect for the part. I am already excited to see the next one!

That night, while Tim was watching the Utah- BYU game, I thought it would be a good time for some crafting. Tim's mom gave me this cute flower vase craft to do a while ago but I didn't have any scrapbook paper that I liked for it. So I finally decided to go to the craft store for my supplies. This is how it turned out. It's kind of hard in the picture to see exactly what it looks like.

Other than that we haven't really been up to a whole lot lately. Tim has been working really hard at school and is getting ready to finish up the semester. I have pretty much just been working and I am finally feeling pretty comfortable at my somewhat new job. For the most part we have just been trying to find time to enjoy with eachother! You will probably be seeing a lot more posts from us in the next month or so. December is a pretty busy time for us with the holiday season and a ton of birthdays in our families, including both of us. So soon we will have a lot to share!

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T16:44:00.000-07:00

Tim and I decided that we would spend Halloween with our families this year so we definitely made the rounds. We started out at my Mom's house, then Tim's parents house and finally Tim's sister's house. Since we don't have any kids yet Halloween isn't that much fun on our own. We thought it would be more fun to hang out with people who did have kids. We were super excited to see our nephews all dressed up in their costumes and excited to trick-or-treat. They looked so cute in their costumes! I am really glad that we decided to spend our Halloween with them! Maybe we are getting old when we'd rather hang out with our nephews on Halloween than with our friends! Here are a few pictures from our night.

Tim and I at my Mom's house

Cute Hunter as a pirate

Tim and cute ninja Ashton

My cousins Katy & Kiersten

My Poor Car

2008-10-04T13:39:00.000-07:00

Notice anything missing from this picture?

Maybe this will help...

That's right. My mirror is gone.

Last week I was on my way to work one morning. I was driving down Riverdale Road, which is a mess right now with construction. So I'm just driving along through the lanes that they made with those orange cones. Then, before I know it, I see a cone flying away from my car and realized what I had done. I hit the cone with my mirror and it was hanging by a wire. It was pretty embarrassing I have to say. I had to drive around for a day with the mirror barely hanging on and scratching the side a little. When I went to have it looked at they were able to at least take it off so it wouldn't bang up my car. It's still not fixed yet though but I do plan on doing that soon. The worst part of the story is what I did just days before that. This time I was pulling into the parking garage at work, (I had already survived RIverdale Road). I was getting ready to scan my badge so the bar would lift when I hit the pole wih guess what.... My driver side mirror. This time the mirror didn't come off though. It just broke the cover for the blinker on that mirror.Now, I have had my car for three years and up until now it has been pretty much perfect. Then within a week i have taken out both of my mirrors! So if anyone knows any good repair shops it looks like they will get a lot of business from me.

Here is what my driver side mirror looks like.

Goodbye Glasses...

2008-10-02T18:35:00.000-07:00

So three weeks ago today I was FINALLY able to do something that I have been waiting SO long for... That's right... Lasik! I guess I should clarify and say that I actually had PRK. It's the same basic concept just the procedure is a little different. Also, with lasik you can see well pretty much immediately. With PRK it takes 3 to 5 weeks til you actually see well. It was better right away, just not perfect, and in the last few weeks it has improved a ton. The other difference between PRK and lasik is the recovery. WIth lasik there's not really much pain and you can get back to your life really quickly. With me, it was a little different. I had to take pain medication for about 5 days and was sleeping 80% of the time because I couldn't really do anything else. So you are probably wondering, why have PRK instead of lasik if it's all that trouble? I didn't really have a choice. With my prescription and a few other factors lasik just wasn't a good option for me. I am so glad I did it though and couldn't be happier with it! it's so nice to not have to put in contacts every morning or have glasses that just get in the way! It is definitely worth all the trouble! I also have to say thank you to everyone in my family who was so supportive and helpful! I especially so grateful for TIm who took care of my constantly while I really couldn't do anything, I love you! Oh, and I got to wear these super cool goggles whenever i slept (remember that was 80% of the time) for a whole week!

This was just a few hours after my surgery

Blog Crisis

2008-09-27T23:14:00.000-07:00

If you have read my blog before then you may know that my sister takes care of all my blog maintenance, I was getting a little tired of the template I had and since it's a little late I decided I would take care of it myself. How hard can it really be? Apparently for me, very hard. I erased about half of my blog and all of the cute things that my sister added for me! So I'm really writing this to Ashley... I need your help! So when you see this, PLEASE help me put all that stuff back! Next time I promise I'll have you make sure I do it right so I don't erase all of your hard work!!

Soccer Star

2008-09-27T21:33:00.000-07:00

So a lot of you probably know that Tim is good at just about everything he does. So no surprise that he is a great soccer player, even after a four year break. He is now playing on a recreational team and has games every Friday night. It is so fun to watch him play because he does such a good job! He is also going to start playing on Monday nights at Weber State. Soccer is one of his favorite things to do. He has played pretty much his whole life and even played on the high school team. I am so excited that he is getting to play again, oh yeah and he is pretty excited too:) So here are some pictures from his game last night.

Whats new with us...

2008-09-03T19:58:00.000-07:00

So it's been a really long time since I have been here so I thought I should just give a quick update on what is going on with us. Tim is back at school at the U with only 2 semesters after this one. He is getting so close I am so excited! I'm also so proud of him because most people are not that close to being graduated at our age. Tim is also of course getting anxious to be done but he is almost there! As for me, I just got a new job a couple of weeks ago. It's a little crazy that I left American Eagle after almost 6 years but I felt like it was time for a change. I am now working at the Flying J corporate offices for Transportation Alliance Bank. It is definitely a huge change of pace and I am still getting the hang of it. I am very excited about it though because I am now have off all weekends, nights and holidays! Another exciting event coming up for us is my lasik. It is only one week from tomorrow and I am so thrilled because we have been planning this for months and it's finally here! Even though we love fall we are a little sad that summer is ending. Too bad we can't go boating all year long. Tim gets a little sad when wakboarding season is over! Here are a few of our pictures from our last wakeboarding trips.

4th of July Fun

2008-07-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

So Independence Day is definitely one of my favorite holidays and we had a great time celebrating it! We went to Tim's aunt and uncles' house first in Orem and had dinner. After that we went to The Stadium of Fire at BYU. It was the very first time I have ever been and it was so fun! They have dancers, a concert and awesome fireworks! We saw the Blue Man Group and Mliey Cyrus. We aren't really huge fans of Miley Cyrus' music but it was still super fun. It turned out to be a great night for it too because it wasn't too hot outside but it didn't rain like we were worried it might. We had a lot of fun visiting with Tim's side of the family that we don't get to see a lot. Here are a few pictures from our night. The last one is a video of some of the cool fireworks. I did take pictures of Miley but Tim didn't want them on our blog :(

So much fun!

Blue Man Group

Offically Summer

2008-06-30T22:06:00.000-07:00

So all summer I have been totally bummed because I haven't been able to do any summery stuff, until today. We were finally able to go wakeboarding for the first time this year and it made it feel like it was really summer. Tim and I went with his dad, his brother JJ and JJ's friend. It was a blast to see everyone do such a great job for it being the first trip this year. We weren't able to go until this evening because I had to work until 5, but it ended up being just the right amount of time. Here are some pictures from our fun evening!

Do I look like a pro?

Here's Tim who really does look like a pro...

Happy Fathers Day!

2008-06-15T20:02:00.000-07:00

So Tim and I had a super busy day planned today so we could celebrate Fathers Day with all of our family, but it didn't really work out that way. Tim woke up this morning feeling really sick and wasn't able to do much today. We were supposed to have church, then my mom's house, then Tim's parents house and then to my grandparents in Brigham City. I went to church without him so I could go to nursery (by the way I teach nursery for those who don't know) and then came home to take care of him. Tim wasn't really feeling well enough to go all over the place so we stayed home a while so he could rest. We ended up only going to my grandparents house to visit for a while. It was so fun to just visit and see everyone that I don't really get to see much. We were sad that we couldn't see all of the dad's in our lives but it still turned out to be a good day! So Happy Fathers Day to all our Dad's, hopefully we still get to celebrate with everyone! Here are some pics from our day.

My nephew Hunter

My grandparents

My Dad

Thanks Ash!

2008-06-10T23:39:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it? This is my second blog in 3 days. This is definitely a record for me. So I thought that I should give a little shout out to my sister, Ashley. Ashley decided one day that I needed a blog and consistently told me to make one until I finally did. While I was trying to make it all cute and get some pictures I had some questions for her. She was like "just give me your password and i'll add some pictures I have of you guys...". So I did. Now, six months later she still uses my password to log in and make changes to our page. Whenever she thinks I have had a layout for too long she puts a new one on there. She even adds the music and everything. I just thought that I should say thanks to her for making sure I have a super cute blog (even if I hardly ever use it.) Thanks Ash for helping me out. Where would my blog be without you? :)

The happiest place on earth!

2008-06-07T20:29:00.000-07:00

So this week Tim and I were able to go to California with his parents and little brother. We left super early Monday morning and got home late Wednesday night. Monday we went to California Adventures and Disneyland. We went to Cheesecake factory for dinner and it was so delicious! Tuesday we went to Disneyland all day long! Wednesday we were able to just relax. It was our first time there together and our first trip since our honeymoon. It was so much fun to just get away and enjoy the warm weather. We had a so much fun hanging out with family, thanks for everything! Here are some pictures from 0ur trip!

My favorite thing about Disneyland!

Indiana Tim

A Bugs Life

The Zoo

2008-03-13T20:57:00.000-07:00

So a few days ago I was able to go to the zoo with my sister and cute nephew Hunter. It was so much fun! I hadn't been to the zoo in years and it was the perfect day for it. The giraffes were my favorite! I think I may have enjoyed the zoo more than Hunter did!

Tepanyaki

2008-03-09T21:34:00.000-07:00

So last night Tim and I were able to go to dinner with my mom, Rudy and his mom. We went to Tepanyaki, which was a first for both me and Tim. It was so fun to spend time together! The food was absolutely delicious and Tim even caught a shrimp in his mouth! (my attempt didn't work out as well...) Thanks mom and Rudy it was such a great night! Next time we do something fun like this I promise to take pictures!!

Free running

2008-02-29T17:37:00.000-08:00

http://parkore.com

This is a link to Tim and his friends' website. It is of them free running. It is a cool kind of sport he likes to do. It looks a little dangerous but it is really neat. In fact, my mother asked if we had life insurance for Tim after she watched these videos. Don't worry, he's careful! Check it out!

Tagged by Ashley

2008-02-05T19:48:00.000-08:00

Tagged, I'm it!I've been Tagged!!!
A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B: Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 Years Ago: Let's see, ten years ago I was just 12 years old. I had just moved to Layton from Brigham City and was starting at a new school. I was totally missing my old friends but it turned out to be great! After all, that is where I met my fabulous future husband!

5 Things On My To Do List Today: This will be for tomorrow since today is over... 1. I will be going with my sister and nephew to visit our grandparents. 2. I will hopefully be painting my cute craft that I got yesterday. 3. Go to math class :( 4. Make dinner.
5. Spend some quality time with Tim!

Snacks I enjoy: My weaknesses are cookies and brownies. I like yogurt when I'm trying to have more self control...

What would I do if I were suddenly made a billionaire? Probably buy a new house and a new car for Tim. Tim would probably want a boat for all that wakeboarding, and I probably couldn't help buying clothes! We would probably save most of it and see where life takes us!

3 Of My Bad Habits: 1. I never return phone calls. 2. I am mostly always late.
3. I like to buy a lot of clothes that I probably don't really need.

5 places I have lived: Well I don't think there are 5 but here is the whole list: Clinton, Layton, Perry and Brigham City. I was close.

5 Jobs that I have had: Again I don't think there are 5 but here it goes... I was a lifeguard, I worked at Dillard's as a "fragrance specialist" for about a week, and now I am an assistant manager at AE.

Things people don't know about me: I love to read when I can find a good book. Harry Potter and Twilight are my favorites. (Okay, probably everyone knows that...) My favorite thing to do is stay home with and watch movies with Tim (even though I can never stay awake.) I love to make dinner for my husband. We have root beer floats almost everyday. Last summer I learned how to wakeboard.

Our First Blog

2007-12-28T21:01:00.000-08:00

So lately it seems like just about everyone has a blog so I decided to give it a shot. I thought it appropriate to start by telling just a little about us. Tim and I were married April 7, 2007 in the beautiful Salt Lake Temple. We are now pretty much used to married life and loving it! Tim is currently a full time student getting ready to start back at the University of Utah this January. He is studying finance and only has 3 semesters left! I am still working at AE and getting ready to go back to Weber State. We both just celebrated our 22nd birthdays this month and had a lot of fun with each other and our amazing families! December is always an exciting time for the both of us! Well we are currently awaiting a new camera and don't really have one right now so hopefully soon we will be able get some fun pictures up and make this blog a litttle more exciting!