A Snowy 3-Day Weekend

Midterms are over and we've survive halfway through the semester. The stress of it was building up and Ryan and I really needed a nice relaxing break. We couldn't wait for the long weekend to come! We'd been planning it for a while. Our neighbors had invited us to go to their cabin up in the mountains in Utah near Park City. So on Friday we packed up and set off with two other couples for the weekend. It was a blast! We drove as close to the cabins as possible and then got out the snow mobiles and loaded them down for the rest of the ride to the cabin. The snow was waist deep and the ice-cycles hanging off the roof were as long as me! The trees surrounding us were breathtakingly beautiful and the snow came down so peacefully!
We spent the weekend playing in the snow, snowmobiling, playing games, watching movies, and telling stories! It was great! Hailey had fun too! She's now starting to crawl and loving it! I can already tell she's gonna be a trouble-maker! But she is so dang cute! We even covered legs in a plastic bag (so she wouldn't get wet) and put her in the snow! She was so confused!!! What an experience! Haha. Everyday is a new adventure with that girl. I guess that's life with kids! :) It's so wonderful!

Travesty of Valentines Day

Love. Hearts. Pink. Chocolate. Candy. Movies. Flowers. More Love. Did I cover it all?! Everyone loves to get these for Valentines Day! I got my favorite Sweet Tart Hearts, my favorite chocolate candy bars (Twix), and a movie with my hubby (This Means War- very funny!). I got up early to make Ryan a big breakfast and he set aside homework to make me a yummy dinner! We even got a surprise gift at our door from my parents for Hailey! A bouquet of flowers with a cute fuzzy teddy bear! Overall- a great day.

I do believe that Valentines Day is the day to show the people you love and care about that you really do love and care about them. It's the day for husbands and wives who have been slacking to pick up the pace and take initiative. It's the day that some people use as the day to make up for lost time and lost love. But why should there be a day like that? People should act like every day is a special day. I am lucking to have Ryan in my life. So I should treat him like every day with him is the best one! Not just one day of the year. I should not let any day go by without expressing my love to him and letting him feel like a King in my life. Isn't that what love and marriage is all about!? Ryan is my King and I his Queen. So don't let a day go by that you don't show your Queen or King how much you love them. I believe that every day should be a Valentines day.

New Discoveries

So since I last wrote I have discovered Pinterest! I love it! It's like the portfolio Ive always wanted to make of all the things I love. It's awesome! It makes me crafty and creative without ever having to leave my couch! :) Maybe one day i'll actually get around to doing all those great ideas! Hahha.
School is going well, but it's hard to concentrate and get things done at home with hailey being such an attention grabbing cutie! She continues to suck her toes, grab her pacifier, and has discovered the many ranges of her voice! She makes very loud, but very cute experimental noises! She is now 4 months old now! Going on 5! I can't believe it! She had another Doctor's appointment on Monday. I made Ryan go with me so I wouldn't cry again! It was still heartbreaking though to watch her get more shots. BUT! The Doctor said we could start trying out some baby cereals. So we got some rice cereal and this was the result:



Needless to say, she hated it! Either that, or she is too frustrated with trying to swallow it that she screams at me. More to come soon!

Surprise Weekend

This last weekend was a holiday- meaning NO SCHOOL! So we decided to take the extra long weekend and go down to St. George to surprise Ryan's parents! We didn't decided until around noon on Friday! It was just a spur-of-the-moment kind of trip! We drove down with my sister-in-law, Ashley and her husband, Chris. We didn't leave Rexburg until 6:30pm so we didn't arrive until 2:00am. Well, Dennis and Kyle (their dad and brother) were out for the night on a camping trip. So Annette (their mom) was home all alone. We debated the whole way whether we should scare the wits out of Annette by banging on the doors and windows in the middle of the night or by breaking in! Well we finally decided on breaking in. We got in and snuck downstairs and to find beds to sleep in. We thought for sure she would hear us- but no.


The next morning she left to go help clean the church and when she got home she met a surprise when we were all sitting on the couch waiting for her! She was super excited we had come! And so were Dennis and Kyle when they got home. We had a great weekend hanging out playing card games and watching movies! As you can tell, Hailey sure did enjoy playing games! She's headed for the tables in Vegas! haha
It was worth the 8 hour drive (even if Hailey fussed the whole way down- she was much better coming back).

To New Beginnings

Well Christmas Break sure was exciting and as always- ended way too soon! It was great to see my family again and they sure enjoyed meeting Hailey for the first time. All her little aunties were going crazy over her! We played lots of games and ate lots of delicious foods! We definitely came home with a few more pounds than we left with (and not just in christmas presents). We spent our actual christmas holiday in NY up by West Point with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins. It was beautiful up there and they have a lovely home! We all really enjoyed spending time with them.

As for the new year, Ryan and I both are back in school and managing Hailey at the same time. It's going to be difficult, but I think we're up for the challenge. Thank goodness for friends and family that are so willing to help out. Hailey has started the new year off with a brand new tricks! She has found her toes and spends countless hours grabbing and counting them! She is practicing to bring the pacifier to her mouth on her own. And she and daddy have been practicing their balancing act! And as always- her slobber volume is through the roof! :) We sure do love her to death! She's almost 4 months old now! Can you believe it?

'Tis the Season!

Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year! I love the beautiful christmas lights! The christmas songs! The christmas cookies and most of all the Christmas spirit! i couldn't wait for Black Friday so that I could put up my Christmas tree and all my Christmas decorations! I wanted to be able to enjoy our own apt in Christmas cheer before we left for VA for 2.5 weeks. It's been great! But I also feel like time is slowing down as we get closer to leaving time! I am SO excited to go back to visit my family for Christmas! This will be the first time my sisters will meet Hailey!
This week we had our ward Christmas Party and we got to decorate gingerbread houses! It was a lot of fun. We didn't win, but i think it looks pretty neat! There's a hot tub and a fire pit! Anyway, we can't wait for Saturday to come so that we can leave for our VA/NY vacation! Woohoo!

A Thanksgiving Holiday

So last weeks Thanksgiving Holiday was a blast! The day before Thanksgiving all the alarms in our apartment complex went off with their ear-splitting siren and strobe lights in every living room! It was crazy! The fire department came and everyone was outside watching, or in their cars staying warm. It was 30-45 min before the alarm was turned off. It was SO loud! Turns out there was no fire- just someone boiling water.... stupid alarms.

As for Thanksgiving itself- Ryan's family came up to Rexburg (since most of them live here already lol) And we crammed everyone into a little apt for our thanksgiving feast. It was cozy and lots of fun- plus lots of tasty foods! Then we met up with even more people (close family friends) for dessert! It was nice to be with so many people we know and love.

As most people know, Thanksgiving is a time for reflecting upon the things we are thankful for. I just want to say how grateful I am for my wonderful husband and our marriage. Before I was married people would always tell me how hard the first year of marriage was. And then again when we were about to have our first baby people told me how it would try our marriage like never before. Well I've never had to experience any of that hardship. Yes, marriage took some getting used to (and we will always have things to work on) and yes, having a baby is difficult and emotional- but not once have I felt like what I was going through was the hardest of my life. I have been truly blessed with a wonderful husband who completes me and with whom I can talk to and work things out with.

Ryan- I am SO grateful for you and for everything you do for our little family! Words cannot describe how lucky I feel to have you as my husband. I cannot wait to spend an eternity with you, and now, our daughter as well! You are everything to me. I love you.