San Diego!

Summer is over! To top off our already wonderful summer, we just returned from San Diego for a family reunion on my mom's side. It was so nice to see extended family and everyone was there!! A big thank you goes out to my Grandma and Grandpa Allen for organizing and planning this trip. We stayed a week in brand new suites and cramped in as much fun as we could! I took so many pictures from this trip and it was hard to choose which ones to post so I kinda posted a lot! Here is a taste of some of the awesome things we did!
Padres game!

Only in California would they need an address like this!

Playing games in the hotel lobby! We had a few loud nights of this and I wonder if the hotel staff were glad that we finally left so they could have some quiet nights!! One of the cool things about my mom's side of the family is we all love to play games! Since Matthew and I drove out there we brought a huge stack of games and almost played them all!

More games! This is my dad, Matthew and lots of cousins playing.

We spent a day at LegoLand! What a cool idea for an amusement park! It was actully really fun and so very cool! We went with my parents and sisters and loved going on rides and seeing everything made from Legos!

A picture with the Lego man!! My little sister, Kayla, went up to him and asked him to dance with her and he did!! It was halarious! They were already done dancing by the time I got my camera out!

Cade loved LegoLand!! We were on little boats here that took us on a cute little path were we saw scences from different fairy tales all made from Legos!

More things made from Legos!

This was the best ride!! We were on teams in these fire trucks. We had to peddle our trucks up to the desplay of houses that were on "fire," then pump water while someone else aims the water at the house, and then once you put out the "fire" then peddle your truck back to the starting line!! It was hard work!! We were really panting when we were done! This was our team and we lost by a split second to the rest of my family.

MiniLand was one of the best parts of LegoLand. They had differnet parts of big cities all made out of Legos!! Here we are standing in front of New York! It was so cool so see all the details of the buildings and cities. We saw Washington D.C, Las Vegas, New Orleans, and others all made out of Legos. If you know our family, then you know we all love mini things so this was like the ultimite mini find!

In the San Diego harbor, there was a museum of a Navy airplane carrier that was used in World War II. We took an audio tour through it and it was very interesting. We are sitting in pilot seats that would be used for an escape from a plane in an emergency.

I'm a pilot!

We also went to the San Diego Zoo!! Check out this character!

Matthew beside some big, burly sort of animal in the background. I can't remember what it is!
I found a mini gazelle looking animal!

Bike riding along the beachfront!

Matthew and I drove up to LA one of the days to go to Six Flags. We had so much fun. We both enjoy roller costers and we had a great time.

While we were in LA we visited some friends later that night! Matthew has a cousin living there and I had a good friend from college living there. Turns out they live about a mile away from each other! It was so good to see both of them. Matthew's cousin and his wife have two kids and one on the way. I'm so sad I forgot to take a picture of them before we left! But I did remember to take one with Taryn! I finally got to see her little boy and he is so cute!! It was so good to catch up with family and friends!! MAtthew and I both agreed that we should have spent more of the day with each of them even though it was a very late night driving the 2 and 1/2 hours back to San Diego!

The last day there the boys (and Ciera) got up way early in the morning to go fishing while the girls went shopping! Later that afternoon, we went to the San Diego Temple with Jenna and Cole. The Temple was so beautiful inside and out!! I loved it! We passed it on the highway a few times during the week and its just so huge and white that it completely stands out from anything else around it!

Overall, it was an awesome week to spend with family and I am so grateful for my parents and grandparents for helping make it such a great way to end the summer!

Pioneer Day

I have never really celebrated Pioneer day growing up and I think that is because I didn't live in Utah!! Pioneer day here is celebrated just as much as the 4th of July!! So we made sure that we had a good day. We got together with Jenna and Cole, and Melissa and Jeff and went to this little water park in Provo. It was so fun. It really is designed for young kids but we were playing just as much as they were! Later that night we went to a minor league baseball game in Orem. We all laid out blankets and sat on the grass. It was nice and the sunset was beautiful over the mountains. Too bad we lost. But the best part was that there were fireworks at the end of the game. They were probably some of the best fireworks I've seen!! So we definitly had a wonderful Pioneer day.

Down in Alabama

We just got back into town from visiting Alabama. The Graffs now live in Alabama and Matthew's sister was getting married. It was such a fun visit! I am so glad we were able to go. I was surprised how hilly and green Alabama was. The wedding was very nice and Aubrey looked so pretty. I absolutly loved her dress. I thought it looked so good on her! The night before the wedding we had a big swim party at the club house in the townhome complex where the Graffs live. It was the perfect place. They live kind of in the woods with the big Coosa River behind them. The view from their backyard is amazing. I felt like I was visiting a resort or on vacation somewhere not in Alabama! Then the next day the wedding was wonderful. They had a beautiful ceremony in the Birmingham Temple. Everything turned out perfectly. That night the reception was at the same clubhouse. Here are some pictues.

Here is the view from the Graff's backyard! So pretty! We actually went kayaking down this river one of the days after the wedding. It was an all day event. It took us about 4 hours to finish! We went over rapids, went swimming and got tipped out of our kayaks! It was so fun but I couldn't bring my camera but it would have gotten destroyed!

Here is the happy couple just coming out of the temple!

Matthew and his little sisters outside the temple.

Matthew and I at the reception

Aubrey's brothers carrying her while her new husband is below!

The wedding party

Bridesmaids! We kept getting asked all night if we were sisters! This is Aubrey's best friend from when they were 12.

The newly weds leaving the reception!

Matthew dancing with his sister!

Matthew and his brother played rockband for a significant amount of time while we were there!I actually got pretty good on the drums!

Snowbird with Emily!

One of my good friends from college, Emily, invited Jenna and I to come up to Snowbird Resort to spend the day with her family. Her family has a timeshare there and they go up every year. She was so nice to invite us up. Emily now lives in St. George with her husband and little girl so we don't get to see her much. We had such a blast. We were able to see the beautiful mountians of snowbird in the summer time (I usually see snowbird covered with snow during ski season). We played tennis with Emily and her siblings, we found a little park for Cade and Emily's little girl to play at, went swimming, went down the alpine slide and had some wonderful cooking from Emily's family. Ok I have to tell a funny story about the slide. So Matthew and I started down the slide at the same time seeing who could get to the bottom the fastest. When I reached the bottom I looked to see where Matthew was and poor thing, his scooter had flipped from under him and he fell out! It was actually kind of funny because he did it right in front of where everyone watches people sliding down. But he really got scraped up! His ear, elbow, and knee now have some ugly scars. Probably not so funny for him. Well we really had a great time and loved our day with Emily and her family! Here are some pictures of the fun we had.

We wanted to go to this park but the trail was a little difficult to bring strollers but here are Cole and Landon (Emily's husband) offroading up to the park!

This is right before we left in the evening! We hadn't took a picture of just the three of us the whole day!

Cade somewhat enjoyed the swimming. We went in the evening and I forgot how chilly it gets in the mountains! Good thing the pool was warm!

Matthew and I getting in line for the alpine slide. What beautiful mountians!

The boys getting ready to go down the slide!

The girls getting ready to go down the slide!

4th of July!

We didn't do a whole lot on the 4th but it was nice to have a fun, relaxing day. In the morning we got together with two other young couples from our ward and all made breakfast together--wait, I should rephrase that.... The men all made breakfast while all the girls went in the other room to talk! But it was a fun get together and a good way to start off the day. Then in the evening we drove out to Matthew's aunt and uncle's house and had a BBQ. Matthew has lots of aunts, uncles and cousins in Utah as well as grandparents. It was nice to hang out with them and to see them. We really don't see a lot of them too often. We had lots of food, games and when it got dark we enjoyed our own fireworks while we made somores! It was a great way to spend the 4th. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera!

Time to Update!

I can't believe how fast time flies! It seemed to me like I just made a post but really its almost been a month! So here are some of the things I have been doing the past few weeks.

Matthew's brother Dallin, reported to the MTC this week. He is going to the Mexico City West mission. The exact same day, Matthew's other brother Brian came home from his mission where he was serving in Houston, TX! Although that is kinda cool, its also sad because now Dallin and Brian won't see each other for 4 years. So to avoid this long time no see situation, Brain's mission president allowed Dallin to get set apart as a missionary and then go down to Houston for 4 days to be with Brain out in the mission field! I think that was a very cool experience for both brothers. Matthew was actually quite jealous! Then Dallin flew to Salt Lake to report to the MTC. Since Matthew's family lives in Alabama, Matthew and I were able to take Dallin to the MTC. This was cool for me because I have never been able to see any missionaries off since I don't have brothers! So it was really neat and Dallin looked ready and excited to be a missionary. He kept trying to speak Spanish the whole way to the MTC which was really funny because Matthew had to keep correcting him! Well we are also very glad Brain is back and even more excited to live close to him when he comes to BYU in the fall!

Something else exciting that has happened is my birthday was yesterday! I am 23 now! I had a very good day thanks to my wonderful husband! Neither of us had to work so we went to Seven Peaks Water Park in Provo. I had never been there and Matthew loves water parks! It was really fun and I got scared on some of the rides that just drop! But it was very enjoyable. I didn't get any pictures because I didn't want to get my camera wet. Too bad. But later Matthew took me out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants Magleby's. So this is the birthday dessert I got there. Thanks to family and friends for wishing me a happy birthday!

A couple weeks ago we made a trip down to Texas and I am finally posting about it! My cousin Katie got married in the Dallas Temple and it was so nice to be there for it!! She looked so pretty and I am very happy for her and Jason!
Family picture at Katie's wedding!
We also went to Texas for my little sister's high school graduation!! Ciera is coming to BYU in the fall so I am way pumped to live close to another sister! She is so ready to come to college! I didn't get a picture of her in her gown but here is the family celebrating at Fuddruckers!

Family picture!
Matthew's schedule this summer is pretty flexible with only one summer class and then working in a BYU research lab. I was suppose to teach summer school but last minute I was told that it wasn't going to work out. So now my schedule is pretty wide open until the fall. So Matthew and I decided to try and do a lot of fun, Utah summer things. This is us hiking up Stewart Falls. Its not a very intense hike but it was very pretty and hike to be around nature!

Cruise to Mexico!

Look at my little ice-cream swan!

Having dinner on the ship

The famous arch in Cabo

On our way to go snorkle. The rock formations behind us were so cool and tall!

The amazing midnight buffet!

Pelicans with our cruise ship in the background!

Standing on the deck with Cabo San Lucas behind us

Shopping in Ensanada!

School is out and summer is here! To start off the summer right, Matthew and I went on a cruise for our 2nd wedding anniversary. It was so nice and relaxing. We spent most of the time laying out, reading or just enjoying time together. We stopped at Cabo San Lucas and Ensanada. We went snorkling, swimming in the ocean, shopping and had awesome real Mexican food! The boat was huge and really nice. At first we paid for the cheapest room we could without a window but come to find out we had been upgraded to a room with a window which was really nice. The dinners on boat were all so fabulous! Our waiters were so friendly and helpful. I think I had seafood or steak just about every day! It was fun to get to know the people sitting at our table. There were four other couples sitting with us. However, one of the couples missed the boat and got left at the port of Ensanada! I remember them telling us they go there often and it isn't very far from San Dieg0 (where our cuise took off from) so i'm not sure if they did that on purpose or if they just had a little too much to drink in Ensanada! But the boat also had some really good shows in the evening. One night a hypnotist came and called people up from the audience to hypnotise them. It was halarious! He had them doing all sorts of dances and crazy things! We also perticipated in a dance off and our team won! Ok- funny story. So Matthew and I both put our names in a raffle the spa was having for a free massage, free haircuts, and other stuff. So while they were drawing names they called me! I had won!! However, I had won a free shave! So I had to give it to Matthew! But since I have a wonderful husband he got me a pedicure while he was having his shave! Matthew did great at some karoke in the evening while I cheered him on. There were some really interesting song choices and performances from people who decided to drink a lot before coming up to sing! Anyway it was a really good getaway and I am so glad we were able to go! Also I decided to chop off seven inches of my hair right before I left so here are some picture of me with a new summer do!

I'm Hooked

I started reading the Twilight series and I am officially addicted! I read the first book in two days! Now I am in the middle of the second one. I never thought I would get sucked into a sappy, dark romance novel but I did. But Stephanie Meyer has a way of writing that hooks you into it the story. I love her style of writing. It's an intense love story but its also tastefully sensual. If you haven't read it, read the series before the movie comes out in December!

Modbe Swimwear Party

One thing about summer coming around that I really do NOT look forward to is swimsuit shopping. I usually get so frusterated in trying to find the right one. Everything is either not modest, or very modest and hideous. So this summer I actually tried looking on line. I found ajmodbe.com and fell in love with thier swimsuits! Then I found a consultant near me and she told me to come by and I could try on their suits to find my size. That really made me excited because I reallly don't like buying anything without trying it on. I love Modbe's swimsuits because they are very modest and very stylish! So I bought one and wanted to spread my exciting find! So to celebrate I am hosting a Modbe party. If you are in the area you can come see and try on all the differnet styles and sizes available. I am having the party Thursday, May 22 from 7-8:30. If you are not in the area at least check out the website to see thier selection!

Spring Break

Today brings to a close the wonderful week of Spring Break! It was a very much needed break. However the only down side was this week was Matthew's most crazy week out of the whole school year! He had end of semester projects, finals and he took the MCAT on Friday! He is also going down to Galveston, TX to present some of his research he has been doing in his lab on campus so he has spend lots of extra time working. So I took the week to do many productive things and many relaxing things. Here are some of the highlights:
-Breakfast with old roommates
-Scrapbooking
-Reading
-Hanging out with Jenna and Cade
-Going on an afternoon date with Matthew
-Sleeping in
-Going to aerobics classes
-Playing games with our new neighbors
- Going to my school and grading papers with no students there
-Shopping
-Got two cavities filled (I guess that's not really a highlight)
-Bringing lunch to Matthew on campus
-Surprise visit from a friend (that was fun Emily!)
-Organizing my house
-Enjoying the spring weather!
It was a great week. Now real life starts up again tomorrow. (5 weeks of school left!)

We Moved!

I know I haven't posted in a while. We have had a lot going on and now finally have a plan of what we are going to be doing for the next couple of years. Matthew thought he was going to medical school but has now changed his mind. Very last minute he took the GRE with a week to prepare and applied for a BioChemistry Masters program at BYU. He did amazing on the test and got in! So he is very excited and I am very proud of him for making this decision. He feels really good about it even though he is not quite sure what he will be doing for a career yet. He now has a couple of years to decide. Another big change is that the family who lived above us has asked us to leave so their son can move into the basement. We told them we would move sometime this summer and they were fine with that. Well, we were looking and found a cute little duplex in Spanish Fork for a really good renting price and location and took it! It is right off the highway which is nice for me to go to work and it cuts my drive time in half!! Also there is a bus stop near by for Matthew to get to BYU. The only down side is it is about a third the size of the basement we were in. We have just collected a ton of stuff over the past year and were worried it wouldn't fit! Fortuntely we fit but it's just a little snug. We are planning on selling some stuff and almost have enough for our own garage sale. Hopefully we can find someone else having a garage sale and hook up with them! Here are some pictues of our cute, LITTLE place!

Here is our little bedroom that has a sliver of a closet! That really is the only thing that I'm not sure what to do about yet. We do have a second bedroom that is kind of an office. So Matthew gets the second room's closet while I get the master's closet and about 1/3 of the second bedroom's closet!

Tiny bathroom!

kitchen dining area.

Kitchen. Notice no dishwasher!

Front room!

The outside of our duplex. I love that is has a porch!

Only Students in Utah!

Being in Utah I know a lot of my students are LDS. So its really funny to see how it comes up in class. Here are a few examples

I gave my students a homeork assignement to find a newspaper, magazine, or book and read about a paragraph to find prepositions. Then they were to list out as many prepositional phrases as they could and to underline the preposition. (For ex. through the house, under the bed, into the garbage, around the tree, etc.) I had one girl come up to me the next day and tell me "Umm I couldn't find anything in my house to find prepositions so I used the scriptures." I kinda laughed and said that was ok. Then later as I was grading the homework I couldn't help but laugh out loud when I read her paper. Here is some of what she found:
1. Always abounding
2. In good works
3. May seal you
4. May have everlasting salvation
5. through Christ the Lord
I never would have thought I would see that in a classroom homework assignement!

The day after parent-teacher conference night I was telling the class how glad I was to see so many parents there and one boy raised his hand and said, "Sorry my parents couldn't come last night, they had to go to the temple!" I assured him that it was ok and we could reschedule.

Once every week I hand out an envelope of cut out letters to every student. Then I ask, "What 3 letter words can we make with these letters?" Then I list out the words they come up with. Then I ask for 4 letter words, 5 letter words and so on. When students can't find any other words I tell them to try and find the big word using all letters. Some of them are easy but others are hard. One time we were on 6 letter words and a boy raises his hand and said "We can spell 'mormon!'" I checked the letters and sure enough it worked so I added the word to our list.

Without fail, every party we have in our class the differnet moms who volenteer to help will say "Hi, I am Sister So-and-so, I mean Mrs. So-and-so!" I'm not kidding, without fail.

Also once a week, I give the class a topic such as tools, scientific words, outside jobs, etc and let the students have one minute to write down all the things that come to mind. Then we go around the room as list them. But if one students has something that another students has written down they have to cross it off. We are looking for words that are original and creative and students get rewarded if they come up with something that no one else has. So one week the category was jewelry. I told them to be as specific as possible. We got to one girl who said "CTR ring." It was definitly original and she was able to use it!

Just some of the funny LDS lingo that comes into the classroom!

Fun Winter Projects

I really enjoy having my student do art projects. So January's project was snowflakes. My class really had fun doing them. I had them all fold the paper a certain way and then let them cut it any way they wanted. Most of them turned out nice. We also made giant snowflakes! They really thought that was cool. I hung them all out in the hallway for everyone to see!

Funny Now But Not at the Time

So my car does not do very well in the wintertime. It just really doesn't like the cold, especially because we do not have covered parking. So many days require scraping the car from ice and snow. Sometimes the doors will get frozen and will not open. (We have been late for church a few times because of this. One time we just decided that we were going to have to walk to church, luckily someone gave us a ride about half way there.) Sometimes, but not often, the driver side door will open just fine but then when you close it, it will just bounce back open. It won't latch together. Tuesday morning was one of those days. Usually when that happens I can just slam it a couple of times and it will close. But this time it didn't. I wasn't worried at first, cause eventually it always closes. So I just blasted the heat and waited for the car to heat up a little bit while I keep slamming this door..........20 minutes later the car door still will not close! By now I am getting very frusterated. I called Matthew realizing that he can't really do anything about it because he was already on the bus going to BYU campus. But I didn't know who else to call. He suggested to try and wiggle the latch in the door and was trying to describe to me what it should look like in order for the door to close. All this did was get my white gloves dirty. Then I saw my neighbor leaving his house so I asked him to take a look and his suggestion was that my car door was broken. Not helping!! By this time I had spend a half hour in my driveway and was on the verge of being late for work. I came to the conclusion that my only choice was to drive to my school holding my door closed. For the whole 30 minutes down the freeway, I had one hand on the steering wheel and one holding my door closed. Not a very fun drive. I was so scared the whole time my door would swing open. Once I got to school, I told my 6th graders the story and they thought it was halarious. By then I agreed with them and thought it was funny. But it certainly was very frusterating at the time. (Now when I leave in the mornings I choose to climb though the passengar door!)