Long Over Due

I have had all these pictures that I've been meaning to post and haven't got around to it. Most of them are from Blake's graduation. Did I mention how proud I am that he finished college and now has a new job in Seattle?! Graduation was long, but also so great to be there to see cross that stage and receive his diploma. Such an awesome accomplishment.


Halle and Cole had a sleepover at our house. We had so much fun.



Blake's brother Brandt came and visited us all in Utah when he was home on a short leave from Iraq.



Mikell also graduated from BYU with Blake

Seattle Here We Come!!!

As you all know Blake just graduated from BYU. We were still up in the air about what we would be doing and where we would be in the next few months. Well our answer came last week after several interviews, tears, worries, and still having a little bit of faith. Blake got offered a job at a company that he's really excited to work for and it happens to be in Seattle. We are so excited to be closer to our parents and other family. We have loved being in Utah and have really enjoyed being so close to Blake's siblings, but we are looking forward to this move. We are thinking that we will be making the trek out to Washington at the end of the month. It's funny when people ask us what we're the most excited for with the big move and we both agree that we can't wait to get a dog. We love dogs, or should I say that I really love dogs, and Blake's just along for the ride. We aren't too sure of where we're going to live, but we have family to stay with until we figure that out. It's going to be an adventure and we are looking forward to it.

What's New

The last few months have been nothing short of busy! Blake and I are finally feeling like things are somewhat getting back to normal around here. Between Blake interviewing for numerous jobs, my trip to the ER on Easter (by the way we just got the bill-YIKES and PS I'm fine), Blake graduating this past weekend from BYU, family being in and out of town, birthday parties, weddings, baby and bridal showers, and Blake and I trying to enjoy the nice spring weather; crazy, crazy, crazy.

Recently Halle and Cole had their first sleepover at our house. They did great, and completely forgot how much they missed there parents the minute we went to the movie store and picked out Lion King 2 and Barbie and the Princess Castle. (Did you know they made a Lion King 1 1/2 and 2?.. Blake and I were laughing at how bad the second Lion King was in comparison to the first one). It was fun to have them spend time with us, and nice to give Heidi and Jeff a little break to have more time with William and the newest addition to their family; Andrew. He's super cute and we love him.

Graduation was such a huge accomplishment this weekend. It literally brought tears to my eyes when Blake was able to get his diploma. It feels like a long time coming, and he deserves to be done and enjoy life a little. He's been so crazy busy lately between work, job searching, and finishing school. Now he can maybe get to bed before 2am on a more regular basis.

As far as what's to come in our near future...we don't know. We're in as much suspense as you are. Blake flew out today for a few more interviews for job positions in California and Seattle, and there's also a possibility we'll be staying in Utah to work for a web design company. We don't know yet, but we will keep you posted on what's to come.

February Recap

I've been so bad about updating our blog....sorry. Our past month has been busy, and Blake has the better computer between the two of us and he's always on it. By the time I get my laptop out, get it turned on, and try to connect to the Internet 30 minutes has come and gone. I know excuses, excuses. This past month I've been lucky enough to not have to work at the Gap on the weekends so we've been taking advantage of that. We've done a lot of cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and the occasional mountain biking (except on the road only). The weather is starting to tease us with a little glimpse of spring which gives me hope for sunshine around the corner. Blake and I both agree that we love the winter, but there's something about March, daylight savings around the corner, and spring on it's way that makes life seem a little brighter-no pun intended.




Blake and I had a great Valentine's Day this year. We decided to go cross country skiing up Vivian Park. We keep trying to make it to the top of the saddle, but we're always pressed for time. We thought if we tried cross country skis instead of snowshoes we could make it for sure because it takes less time. No such luck. We had to turn around to make it to dinner. So after skiing we headed in our snow gear to Sundance to have dinner at the Foundry Grill- it was delicious. We felt a little out of place because everyone was dressed up for the big date night, and here we are all wet and hat haired. After dinner we headed to Baskin Robbins where we picked up my favorite ice cream- Love Potion 31. It's the best and it only comes out around Valentine's Day. I would recommend checking it out next year. After ice cream we headed home to get cleaned up and watch a movie. It was a great day, but apparently it was too great because I ended up giving Blake a black eye that night with my head. See picture below. I felt so bad and it kind of put a damper on our movie watching, but I think Blake liked telling the story the next day at church.

Back to Life

Blake and I flew home for the holidays and never saw anything quite like we did this year. We were lucky to not have any hiccups with our travel, but it was sad to see the same didn't happen for many others. Washington I think had a record amount of snow. People always laugh and say that the Seattle area closes down when it snows an inch, well it snowed a lot more than that and it did close down! Blake and I were so clueless about it all until we flew into Seattle and saw hundreds of pieces of abandoned luggage at the baggage claim area. Little did we know that the Portland airport had been shut down due to weather, and Amtrak and the Greyhound were not travelling out of Seattle for the same reason. After spending one night at my parents house we travelled to Yakima to spend Christmas with the Gibbons family. We had so much fun with everyone there. Our break consisted of Wii tournaments (which by the way I won the biggest loser bracket), building a gingerbread house, eating homemade cinnamon rolls every morning for breakfast, making Playdough faces, playing games at night, going skiing (which was an adventure in itself for me), and just laughing and telling stories. Now that Christmas has come and gone we're back in the swing of things. Since we've been back Blake has still been trying to get me to LOVE winter sports (if you would have seen me skiing in Washington you would have thought it was a lost cause, but Blake's persistent), so in leau of this we went snowshoeing this past weekend. I don't think my calves have ever been so sore in my life, but we had a great time!




We got really creative with Playdough...who
says it's only for kids!







Cole got these in the Christmas gift exchange
and they were hilarious!

The Christmas season has sprung

Today my heart is full! We just got back from church and I was pondering about the Christmas season and thinking of all the blessing I have in my life. Blake and I just celebrated our one year anniversary. It's weird for me to think back to that day one year ago when we were so excited, nervous, and seeming so naive about life and getting married. As I think about our last year as husband and wife I have grown to have a deeper love for Blake, and everyday I find myself being reminded of how lucky I am to have him by my side through life. Another blessing in my life is my family. Blake and I were able to go to Colorado to spend Thanksgiving with my brother and his family, as well as my sister. It was so nice to be around family for the holidays and to visit with them since they live so far away. We were able to meet our new niece, Payton and see how much Hunter has grown. They are such a joy and blessing to have in our lives. What is it about kids that makes life so refreshing? Now that the Christmas season is well underway...lights are hung in the apartment and yes we decorated the outside of our complex and are hoping the landlord doesn't get mad, Christmas music playing at home and from my computer at work, presents being wrapped, and goodies being made for the neighbors I hope that through all the chaos that I can remind myself of the things that matter most to me. The blessing of having such a wonderful, loving family and having the Savior in my life.




We taught Hunter how to frost Christmas sugar cookies. He's really funny because whenever you tell him to say "cheese" for the camera he looks up towards the ceiling.



My sister, me, and my brother. It snowed so much for 2 days in Colrado. We tried to make a snowman but the snow out there doesn't stick to well. We decided to not take a picture of our creation. It was that weak!



The kids got their pictures with Santa so Blake and I took advantage of the pretty decorations for our own picture.



Hunter loved putting on Blake's shoes and walking around the house in them. It was so cute!

Fall is in the Air

I love this time of year! The leaves around our house have fallen and the crunch sound they make when I walk on them....pure bliss. I think I enjoy this time of year so much because growing up in Washington we didn't really have trees with leaves; just evergreen trees and any leaves that did fall were soggy-not crunchy. It wasn't until I went to college in Montana that I really appreciated the fall. The brisk air, the vibrant colors of the trees, snuggling in blankets, hot chocolate and apple cider, warm comfort food, and getting together with family for the holidays. I have really been missing Bozeman, Montana lately. It all started last week when I went into Kneaders to grab some lunch and it reminded me of the quaintness of Bozeman and how I wished my girlfriends and I were having lunch together, or just catching up over some warm drinks-I miss those days. After my kneaders experience a few weekends later a huge group of us went to Moab to do a little mountain biking before the snow comes (Windie my new mountain bike rode like a dream) and I totally saw Kurt and Craig our next door neighbors from Bozeman. They live in Colorado now and were there with some of their friends for a little mountain biking too. I haven't seen either of them for such a long time and there they were. Oh, did I mention that I have a new niece. Her name is Payton Elizabeth. I haven't seen pictures yet, but I'm guessing she's adorable!