Summer Projects

Since I did not work this summer I had a list of projects I wanted to complete, but things never go as planned. I did finish finish a few so I wanted to show them off. Here is a cute party skirt that took most of the summer to make. However it turned out way cute and worth all the hard work.

These are my new hall way decorations. I covered wooden frames with scrape book paper and printed the words. I also put a piece of sheet metal in a frame so that I could put pictures on it and be able to change them when ever I want.

Last but not least I made this super cute jewelry hanger that matches my bead spread to hand all my Homemade jewelry on.

My apartment is looking really cute with all my home made decorations, and hopefully there will be more to come thanks to my silhoutte.

5 Year Anniversary!!!!

I have officially been married to the most amazing and sweetest guy in the whole world for 5 years. It has not always been easy but we have always been there for each other and our love for each other has grown. I love Curt even more today then the day we were married, I am so grateful for all that he does and the great times we have together. Enjoy some pictures from our wedding, our life together and this anniversary.

This is from our first Anniversary we are enjoying an after noon at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City.

A beautiful Sunset Kiss on the beach in California during a family vacation.

Graduation from USU with our Bachelors degree's. Yeah!! We did it!

Disney Land trip with my family!

Picture's our friend did for us for our Adoption profile.

We are still hoping for a miracle to happen.

Camping with Friends!

For our anniversary this year we went miniature golfing and to see Captain America (Awesome Movie). And tonight we are going out to dinner. Then on Saturday morning we are heading up to Glacier with my family. I am so excited!!

For our present I got this beautiful new bed spread, Curt approved because it was tan and plum not purple. We also got Snow Shoes so we can go snowshoeing all we want this winter (since it lasts half the year :).  Happy Anniversary, I love you!  

Hiking and Tomatoes

We have enjoyed going hiking up Logan Canyon, to get out side and get ready for Glacier National Park. We are going up to Glacier and Canada next month for family vacation. This will be the first time I have ever left the country. I know that I will only be going an hour across the boarder but it is still outside the USA.

While hiking up Crimson Trail in Logan Canyon Debbie and I found giant dandelion flowers to blow. They were actually kind of hard to blow but it was worth the effort.

Curt and I are trying to grow a tomato plant on our back porch, we can't keep any thing alive so we are excited that we actually have tomatoes growing. I can't wait until they are rip I love fresh tomatoes.

4th of July weekend.

On Friday we watched the fireworks with our friends. We sat close enough to the stadium that we could hear Diamond Rio performing and the music they played during the fireworks. While waiting for the fireworks to start we played games and ate treats. One of my friends brought glow sticks that the adults had as much fun with as the kids. We made a giant circle of them and let the kids play in it. We decided to wrap Curt up in them and turn him into a Christmas tree. The fireworks were amazing, but the kids were not sure what to think and by the end Emma was crying.

On the 4th Curt, my sister, my brother, and my dad all ran the Clearfield Freedom Run 5k while my mom walked the 2 miles. I am proud to say that I finished and was not last out of everyone, just last out of my family. It was a great accomplishment but I don’t know if it was the smartest thing to do after not running for a few months. My sister invited Curt to run with them and I really had no intentions of running it until a couple of days before because everyone else was and I felt kind of silly walking with my mom. Curt thinks that he would like to run some more 5k's but if I run them with him I will have to train before. I am still very sore.

That afternoon we went to our family reunion it was good to see my cousins that I have not seen in a while. I guess I should have gotten some pictures of them but their kids are a lot cuter. One of my cousins little girls attached herself to Curt and I. She told my cousin’s husband that Curt was her new best friend.

After the reunion we went to see Kung Fu Panda 2 with my family it was a cute show, but we decided that it reminded us a little of Star Wars, Harry Potter, and the Story of Moses combined.

Camping and Friends

Curt and I went on our second annual Friend’s Camp-out with some of our friends from Aggie Village, Holmes, Dutsons, Monroes, Lofleys and a few others. We decided this year we would invite a few more friends to join in the fun. We had a couple extra friends come up and roast marshmallows but only one other family spent the night. We went up Green Canyon in Logan, usually the river bed is dry but with all the rain there was a nice river running though the canyon. One of our friends built a bridge so that we could get across which was wonderful, but everyone else who camped near us used the bridge and cut though our camp. Luckily we did not have any one cutting though the night, but we did have some crying kids :).

We enjoyed a nice evening of tinfoil dinners, S’more with Reese's :), dutch oven cobbler, camp fire and stars. It was so nice to get away from regular life and white walls to enjoy an evening outdoors with friends.

The little kids were so fun! One of the little girls, Audrey Holmes really wanted to help Curt with our bed and even helped pump up the air mattress. (We really enjoyed our new tent and sleeping bags we got the kind we could zip together :). The next morning the kids enjoyed playing in the field while we made mountain man breakfast. I went out and played hide and go seek with the kids and took picture while they picked flowers.
Later that night we had a barbecue with some of our friends that used to live in Aggie Village but have since moved away. The guy in the hat is Rusty Hansen, one of Curt's best friends from high school. They are now living in Layton and he is working at an accounting firm. The other couple the Anderson's are friends we met while living in Aggie Village. Him and Curt bonded over a sports games and we have been good friends with them ever since. They are moving to Missouri to go to med school. We will miss you Talon and Nicole and hope that we can stay friends for a long long time.

Girls Night, Barbque, and horses!

While the guys went to the Father and Sons Camp-out, the girls had a spa night. We soaked our feet, painted our toes, and put on face masks. Then we ate dinner on fancy china and watched Nomeo and Juliet. It was fun to spend time with just the girls.

The next day for my sister in law Julee’s Birthday we went up the canyon. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows (we put Reese’s on the S’mores yummy!!) and homemade root beer! All my nieces Emmy would eat was Cheetos and s’mores. What a great dinner.

After dinner we rode horses, the kids love the horses and I actually got to go on a ride as well. It was fun even though it was only for a few minutes, I want Curt to take me on another real horse ride one day.   

Nanning- 3 kids for 3 days

I have so much more respect for my parents. I love children but did not realize how much work they really can be. Babysitting kind of shows me what it would be like to have children, but not like the three days Curt and I spent Nanning these three cute girls.

We watched these girls the second half of the week that their parents were gone to Lake Powell. We learned a lot and had fun but I am so glad that I don't have to do that every day. And we know now that I don't think that I could foster older kids. I like the Lords plan one or two at a time and you raise them form babies so you get used to them and all their little ticks one trick at a time. The little girls were 8, 6, and 4. They were like any sisters best friends one minute and fighting the next. The oldest girl could be a great help and really fun to be around, but sometimes she would boss around, tease, or pester her younger sisters until they would cry. I had to send her to her room a few times and she would throw a fit and cry in her room. I kind of felt bad but I knew that she was just trying to test me because I was not her Mom. The middle girl was really cute and fun, but was kind of defiant. Curt had to pick her up and carry her into her bed one night and she tried to tell me that I had to give her everything she wanted. And the youngest girl was a doll and said the funnies things, but when she got tired she would kick and scream. I am sure most kids are like this but being thrown into the middle of it was a bit much at times. It is not easy to try to care for and discipline someone else’s children, especially if you don't really know them. Hopefully things will go better with my own children.

We did have fun making colored pancakes (Pink and Green), making cookies, jumping on the tramp, playing outside in the sprinklers, going to the fun park, reading lots of books and playing games (especially Uno). We had fun and learned a lot from the experience. We are excited to be parents one day, but I don't think we could handle a whole family all at once.

Summer!

I think that summer has finally come to Logan. I can finally go outside without a coat!!
Also I am finished with work!!! It is nice to take a break from the before school reading program, after school homework club, during school reading and math power hour groups, and the one on one reading. In addition to everything else we were required to do on top of that. I will admit that I had a lot of fun I really came to love some of the students I was working with and I absolutely loved the girls I was working with. There were some tense times (but what job does not come with stress), but we had a lot of fun together. Plus I kind of got burnt out by the end of the school year. I am not sure if I am going back next year there have been so many budget cuts, although I would probably go back if I could.

The students were so funny at times. There was one little girl who would come up and give me a hug every time she saw me and one boy who would call out my name until I would say hi. There were these two adorable little first graders who I enjoyed working with. One girl was in my first grade reading power hour group and she was always excited to read. She gave me a hug at the end of the year because she was so happy that her reading was improving. The other little girl was in homework club. She did not start out as one of my favorite because she was so sassy, (she smiled when one of the other students said she was evil:) But as the year went on she became by little friend, I would still have to figure out ways to increase her reading speed but at least we enjoyed working together. One day when she finished early I let her play with magnetic ABC’s and she spelled out “I Love Yuo.” Getting little notes like this and realizing I am helping them made all the stress and headaches worth it.

There were also some kids that I never figured out how to work with but we won’t mention them I am just glad that I will at least have a summer break from them.

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For Memorial Day we drove up to the Idaho Fall Zoo with my brother Allen and his wife Kathy and met up with Curt's brother Ryan and his family. (As you can see summer had not come to Idaho yet :). It is a cute little zoo that had quite a few animals like lions, tigers, bears (oh my) camels, zebras etc. My little nice Emmy, wanted to climb in and pet all the animals. And the niece Hannah on Curt’s shoulders by the monkey cage was so excited to see the monkeys. We had a fun little afternoon at the zoo and had nice little picnic at the park. It was good to see our nieces and nephew since we had not seen them in almost a year.

Here are pictures of me and the kids-


And her is curt and the kids-

As for the rest of our life Curt is taking a summer class and is one month away from being half way done with graduate school. He will graduate next summer and then who knows where we will be going.

I am just relaxing, hanging out with my sister and babysitting for my neighbors.

Tonight we are heading up to Kamas for the Father and Sons camp out. Curt is going to go camping with his dad, brother and nephew and I am going to have a girls night with my nieces, sister in laws and mother in law. It will be fun to go spend time with the family.

Spring Break Daycation!

During my spring break from the elementary school I went to Twin Falls, Idaho with my sister and my parents, Curt had to work :(. It is a beautiful little place hidden up in Idaho. They have their own Niagara Falls called Shoshone Falls which is actually taller than Niagara Falls but not as wide, and their own mini Grand Canyon.

While there we got to see base jumpers jump off the bridge, it was fun to watch but the coolest things was when the instructor stood up on the railing and did a flip off the bridge.

Twin Falls is a beautiful place I would visit again and possible live, since it has a Junior College called CSI- College of Southern Idaho where Curt could work.

My New Toy

I have been saving up for a while for a craft cutter machine and finally had enough so I bought a Silhouette. I love it! It is kind of like a cricut except it is hooked up to your computer and you can design projects on the computer and download die cuts off the online store. You can also cut fabric and heat transfer paper. I have not done much with it yet mostly just figuring out what it can do, but here are a few cards I have made with some downloaded die cuts. I am going to have fun making cards designing scrapbook pages, customizing clothes, making decorations etc, once i figure out how to do it all :).

Also here are some card I made at a card party I had with some friends in my ward, my design is the pink one with the presents.

Better Late then Never :)

Here are pictures from my Birthday, the flowers were from my Dad, the card and candy bar from the Relief Society and of course Curt made the cake (chocolate whip cream and strawberries yum). But the main present is the Kinetic that I got from Curt. It is so fun!!

For Valentines Curt made a fish and veggie Dinner. Curt likes to arrange the food like he is preparing food on Iron Chief. He is so Cute :). I got Curt the only type of dog we can have in our apartment right now (Curt really wants a dog) and Curt got me Anastasia.

This past weekend we went to Angie's, a local restaurant and "Cleaned the Sink" with our friends the Kjars, or in other wonders ate a lot ice cream out of a little sink. We got a bumper sticker for finishing it all, but it wont be going on my car.

Just the Same

Just the Same

By Diana Lynn Lacey

Sometimes—
God sends rain
Straight from the sky
To nourish the young flower
and it grows.
Sometimes—
God sends rain from the sky
To the mountaintops,
Then over hills and through valleys
Until it reaches the flower
and it grows, just the same.
Sometimes—
God sends a child
Straight from His realm
Into a mother’s arms
and love grows.
Sometimes—
God sends a child
From heaven to another’s arms,
Then over hills and through valleys
Until he reaches the arms of his mother
and love grows, just the same.

I really love this poem. It helps me remember how much the Lord really does love me.
My children may not come the normal way but I have faith that the Lord will still bless me with children, my children just have to take a longer path to get to my arms.

Snow Shoeing!

Curt and I went snowshoeing on Saturday with my little sister Debbie, my older brother Allen and his wife Kathy. We went up green canyon, a smaller canyon in Logan. The weather was great, we actually ended up getting to warm but we had a lot of fun. Now we are considering buying some snowshoes so that we have a way to be more active in the winter.

We tried going again on Monday with my sister since it was a holiday and the place we rented them from was closed but the weather decided to warm up and it rained melting all the snow away. Oh well at least we got one good trip out of the rental.

Christmas Fun!!

We had a really great Christmas, we both got bonus's so we splurged and bought an XBOX 360. I got Lego Harry Potter (which we spent a lot of the break playing) and Curt got Halo 3. I also got, clothes, a sewing machine, sewing supplies, beading and scrapbook supplies. Curt got clothes,a pocket knife, Books (the new books written by the author of Percy Jackson and a redwall) and painting supplies.I know you guys were waiting with anticipation, so here is the present I got from the student at my school. I have used the mugs but I have not used the hot cocoa or made the S'Mores (Brigham and Chelsea this made me think of you guys). This is a nice gift to be getting from a student I know I never gave my teachers this nice of a gift. We spent Christmas at Curt's parents house. We made a Chinese dinner for Christmas Eve. We made cream cheese wantons, egg rolls, sweet and sour chicken, sesame chicken, and Teriyaki beef. It was delicious.

We spent a lot of our time playing games and watching movies. Here is a picture of us playing Lumber Jack on the Wii, they are all chopping logs. We had a great Christmas and really enjoyed spending time with family.

After Christmas we went and spent time with my family. We spent a day in Salt Lake going to the zoo, the aquarium, the planetarium, and the Lion House for lunch. We also went to Crystal Hot Springs and sat in the hot tubes during a snow storm, which is a really cool feeling. It is fun to be with family.

I don't have many pictures of our trip but her is a link to my sister blog if you want to see more pictures http://debbiegales.blogspot.com/2011/01/family-time.htmlMy parents have two birds that like to talk and climb all over you. I never new that birds could have such personalities and be so fun of play with. I think Curt may want to get a bird someday because he enjoys playing with them when we go down to visit.