BYU vs UofU...Way to go COUGARS!!

We had planned on studying all day Saturday after Thanksgiving, but when three BYU vs UofU tickets came available priorities kind of changed. I told Dave that I was just going to study, but when he didn't want to go without me I told him I would go. By that time the tickets were being decided between people and we decided that they would go to my father-in-law, Andy and Jason. Dave and I decided that we would go and see if we could just buy tickets at the game. It was pretty risky because tickets were being sold online for over $100! We decided that we would take out things to study and if we found tickets for $20 then we would go, if not then we would study. Either way we would have fun and get to spend time with each other.Dave was able to talk a scalper into selling us the tickets for $20 so we got to go! This was definitely the game to be at. It's the biggest game of the year and everyone goes wearing their colors.



Of course we had on our blue and white! Dave loves this game because the two teams make red, white and blue! For half-time BYU and the Utes combined and they did a really cool patriotic half time performance.

The game was so exciting! Dave started feeling sick at half-time, but stayed the entire game! I kept telling him that we could go because he didn't look too good. He is definitely a trooper. It wasn't as cold as the week before, but it was still pretty chilly. We shared a hot dog at half-time and ate some fruit snacks to hold us over. We were planning on going to Tucano's (Brazilian meat restaurant), but once Dave got sick we decided to go straight home after the game. At the end of the game we were tied! The Utes had just kicked a field goal and tied last minute. In overtime the Utes got another field goal, but that wasn't enough because we got a TOUCHDOWN and won the game!! The crowd seriously went crazy...everyone started to rush onto the field. In the span of like 5 minutes the entire field was covered with people cheering and celebrating.

We went to the store before going home to get medication for Dave. After that we made Christmas cookies for his parent's Annual Christmas Craft. Everyone was using cookie cutters so we decided to get creative. We made a Jack Skeleton Santa.

Happy Thanksgiving...

It was such a nice week! I had one class and work 2 days. Other than that We just relaxed and enjoyed our free time. I think we deserved it because the week that followed could probably go down in our history as "the worst week ever", but that is another post all on its own!! There were about 40 people for Thanksgiving. Tons of food, family and fun! Thanksgiving was at the in-laws this year.

We had some time before dinner and of course we played around with my new camera. Andy (Dave's little brother) volunteered to be our Guinea pig. We wanted to show another cool function on the camera. It can make people smile!! Some look super funny, but others look pretty realistic. You can make your own judgment on how Andy turned out...


Dinner was fun. We sat with some cousins and got to talk with everyone. We had some yummy desserts. Dave had apple pie and I had pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin pie...I was pregnant at the time so technically I was eating for two. I had also lost about 5 pounds so I figured the extra dessert wouldn't hurt! Oh yeah, we had decided to tell the family that day that we were pregnant. It was a big surprise...but the other surprise came the following week (the worst week ever).

My super cool birthday present!!!

For my birthday Dave bought me a super cool camera! It has a smile detector that you can turn on and then it will only take pictures when people are smiling. We had tons of fun with it and have a bunch of fun pics. We went to IHOP for some yummy breakfast and as we waited for our food I read the manual for the camera while Dave snapped a bunch of photos!

After breakfast we went back home to get ready for the BYU vs air force football game. A classmate had extra tickets for sale and I figured if I wanted to go to a game before I graduate then this would be the game. It was really fun and really cold. We went with Jason (Dave's cousin). It ended up being like a sports weekend. The night before the three of us went to Throwdown mixed martial arts fights. It was actually pretty fun. I think I got pretty desensitized because after a while I was cheering on all the fighting. I missed the first part because I went to the temple...yeah doesn't really make sense the temple and then MMA fighting.


Anyway, we had a blast at the game football game and I have never seen so much blue and white. BYU fans are true through and through! Go Cougars!!



That night we went to our new favorite Thai food place for my birthday dinner. Oh the food is soooo good! That was actually our second weekend in a row eating there. It is in a cute little house. The decor and service is wonderful. If you are ever in American Fork check it out: Thai Village. We stayed in our BYU game day gear and had a wonderful relaxing dinner. After dinner we went back home and watched a movie. Dave also gave me some therapeutic books for children on divorce and death. He knew that I had been wanting some for my office and he actually looked a bunch of books up online to review them. Unfortunately, his top books were not available at the store when he went so he bought me a few others that he picked out. He is so wonderful. He said that he wanted to give me a fun gift (my new camera) and a thoughtful gift (my new books). He did a wonderful job and made my birthday weekend unforgettable!

Kevin on a mission!!

Kevin left for his mission in September, shortly after Dave's birthday. For our last meal together we went to get some sushi. The boys had sushi and I had some tangerine chicken. It was pretty good, but I don't think we will be going back there.Actually, our other last meal we had with Kevin was at a hot wings place. Now that place was really good! We all really loved that place. We miss Kevin, but are so proud of him out in California serving the Lord. The Sunday before he went home we had a dinner for him. Dave and I bought him a journal so that he could keep all of his fun mission stories in there and share them with us when he gets back.

Happy 25th Birthday to DAVE!!!

It was such a busy weekend! Friday night Dave was playing Halo with Kevin and I waited up with them until midnight so that I could tell him happy birthday and give him present number one. At exactly midnight I gave him a hug and kiss and told him happy birthday and then went to the room and grabbed his gift. He opened it and was super excited about his new golf bag!! I worked so hard to pick out a good one and even got help from a couple guys in my social work program (we are very good multi-taskers during our classes). He was in great need of a new bag! His first one wasn't a stand alone bag so he would have to lay it on the ground when he was golfing...embarassing. The second one he got not too long ago from his father who got it free from a garage sale. That bag was sort of a step up, well it had stands on it, but no strap so he had to carry it by its handle and it looked like a frankenstein bag because it was stiched up every where! It's no wonder why the people gave it away!! After he took it out of the wrapping and checked it out good I spend a little more time with them and then went to sleep. Dave and Kevin kept playing until who knows what time.
The next morning I woke up around 7am! I woke Dave up and told him happy birthday and then because it was still so early we watched a movie, Taken, which we have seen before and love. After the movie we went to Denny's for breakfast. Dave wanted a skillet and I remember Denny's having a bunch of good skillets, but I guess their menu changed because they only had 2! He got his skillet (but I think I'm going to take him out another morning so he can get the real skillet he wanted with potatoes and not hash browns) and his orange juice and enjoyed them both. I made sure to take a picture of him since I am trying to be so good about keeping this blog updated.

As soon as we got home he asked me to go and get his new bag from the basement and he went to the garage to get his old one. He wanted to change out his clubs as soon as possible!
He hurried up and changed them to his new bag and then retired his old one. We checked out all the pockets and made sure there was a space for everything. He looked so happy. I'm glad that he enjoyed his birthday gift.


After that adventure I'm pretty sure he played halo again while I got ready. When everyone was ready we headed down to Provo to play some Laser tag at laser assault. It was really fun and the best laser tag place out here in our opinion. Thanks to Tamara I wasn't the only girl! Dave's dad, little brother, Ryan, Christian, Kevin, Tamara, Dave and I all went. The girls had some sort of a luncheon with other people so that's where they were. We ended up playing against a group of younger boys around 10 and 11 who were also there celebrating someone's birthday...LOL!! As usual Dave got first place. He is really good when it comes to laser tag. We all had fun and those little boys enjoyed themselves too! They commented on Dave telling them all that they did a nice job everytime they shot him (he even said nice when they missed because he wanted to make sure that they enjoyed themselves). A group of boys even found me afterwards and told me that they were the ones following me around the whole time.

Dave's dad dropped us off at the house and then we went to the store to get some birthday treats. We got a berry pie and some ice cream for later that night and then some candy and juice for Dave. We headed back to the house and relaxed for a bit, well I relaxed while Dave played some Halo with Kevin. We got ready and then we went out for his birthday dinner. We went up to Salt Lake and ate at Benihana. Dave had been wanting sushi and I was looking for a nice place to take him to and decided that this would work. We had a cool couple at our table and enjoyed the whole meal. We had this onion and mushroom soup to start, which tastes a lot better than it sounds. Then we had shrimp for an appetizer and we got the chef's special which included rice, shrimp, chicken and beef. We loved the beef the best it was so tender. It was all really good, but the beef was the best. It was so neat to watch the guy cook. I saw someone else who had their birthday and they sang happy birthday to them. I told the waiter it was Dave's birthday and they brought out ice cream (our choice of flavor and included in our meal) and they sang in English and in Japanese. It was really fun. He enjoyed himself and that was all that I wanted for the day.


When we got home we helped Kevin take down the lights from the trees from Dave's sisters wedding and then had Pie with Kevin and Dave's parents. Tamara and Christian came as we were cutting the pie so they got some, too. It was really yummy. I was exhausted by that point. Dave wanted to watch a movie so we all went down to the basement and watched a movie together. I fell asleep like ten minutes into it so didn't actually get to watch it. After the movie Dave and Kevin stayed up and played Halo. I stayed asleep on the couch even though Dave woke me up to put me to bed...he had told me earlier that he would carry me to bed if I fell asleep. I stayed out there until they were done playing halo and then Dave helped me get to our bed and I fell right asleep. By the time the night ended and we were both in bed it was 3am!! It was a long, but wonderful day...

Wedding time...

On 9/11 (Friday) Dave's sister got married. It was a long day...week actually! She looked so pretty and her and her husband were so happy. I took advantage and took some pictures of Dave and I. The wedding was at 10am and then we took pictures right after. I noticed Dave's finger nails were black because he had been painting stuff for his dad and us the night before. I made sure his hand's were in his pockets during the pictures so he didn't have ugly nails showing. We left as soon as we were done and headed back to the house. We hung out with some of his cousin's until it was time for the luncheon.

The luncheon was at a club house up the street from the house and we ate pizza and cupcakes. They had the best man and woman give their toasts. Tamara was so nervous, but did an excellent job. After each toast Dave would say "here here" and we would all knock our rootbeer bottles together and they would make really loud clinks. After he did it the first time it kind of caught on and other people had started to say it, too! After the toasts they had everyone go around and introduce themselves. The first table went and then Dave started again with his "here here". They got pretty loud at some points and we all enjoyed it. Dave introduced our table and then after everyone in the room was done we watched a picture video of Cassie and Clint. Dave took some groomsmen shots and then we headed back home for a nap! When we got up I went up to the kitchen to help finish set up and with the food. Dave and Kevin were supposed to put the cake on a very unsteady round table, but it totally didn't work! The cake was on a huge square plateau and the table was not solid on top so the plateau kept falling through the holes and the table was very shaky. The boys put the cake on a table and we ended up changing the table out with the one Dave had painted the night before. We put a white cloth under so that the table wouldn't get scratched. Dave takes care of the things that he paints and I think the cake looked great on it. Everyone finished setting up and then enjoyed the rest of the night. Later that night his cousin's, sister and aunt wanted to watch our wedding video so we went down to the basement and showed it to them. They enjoyed it and as usual I did as well...I love that video! We were so exhausted by the end of the night. Dave and Kevin helped his dad take down all the tables and chairs and take them back. After that the boys went down and played some Halo...

Huge Update!!

So I made a new goal to keep up on our blog…we will see how I do. It might get kind of boring because we don’t always take pictures, but we do have an ever changing and super busy life with plenty of possible updates. There have been so many changes in our life in the past 5 months. I finished the first year of my social work graduate program. Over the summer I completed my first internship at Wasatch Mental Health-Vantage Point, which is a crisis residential and receiving center for teenagers. I was able to get a good handle on individual and some family therapy skills with the clients at the center. It was a really good first experience and I was able to work with a great group that taught me a lot! Dave has been studying like crazy for the LSAT. He took a break from school over the summer to focus on the LSAT. He is still working for the Provo City Prosecutor’s office and enjoying every minute of it. He works with a great group of people.
In July we moved in with Dave’s parents! Yes, we are living with my in-laws. They have been so kind and we are super grateful that they are allowing us to live in their basement. Here are a few of the things that have happened since living in the basement: I found a snake outside of the garage (first one they have seen there and I am the lucky one to find it) and it totally freaked me out! That same day I found a spider with me in the shower and because of a few other things that happened it tipped me over the edge and I had an emotional breakdown. Dave is such a great husband and is always so sweet, especially when I have my moments. We have found several spiders and a few other random bugs so we bought some spray and use it every so often. For some reason I am the one that finds most of the spiders and bugs. I think that has been the hardest thing for me, but it has gotten a lot better since we have been spraying. One morning I felt something crawling on my leg and I brushed it off. Dave kind of woke up and said it was probably nothing. I stayed on top of the covers and couldn’t go back to sleep because I was overly terrified of what it was. A few minutes later Dave started freaking out so I jumped out of the bed...IT WAS A MILLIPEDE!!! I think that was the worst bug experience yet. I guess I'm getting used to it or something because the other day I found a millipede in the shower with me and I was actually able to kill this one on my own. Okay so enough about the bugs.
We have been doing a lot of wedding preparations for Cassie's wedding. I helped sew the table cloth tops and then sewed a baby blanket and pillow cover for a Christma present. I guess I got in the sewing mood so I took advantage. Yesterday we helped put up some lights in the yard, but Dave has been so sick that we cut out early and I put him to bed. He had been working all day yesterday sanding a table that he wants to paint and working on a spice rack that he is making for his sister's wedding present. He is so thoughtful and helped as much as he possibly could.
School has started for the both of us. Dave is taking a lighter load so that he can focus on the LSAT. He needs to do well so that we get into a good school in a good area...we don't want to live in the middle of no where so his score really needs to be good!
I have started my second internship at the Primary Children's Center for Counseling. It is a 20 hour a week internship and I am really looking forward to it. I am going to get tons of experience in individual counseling and group therapy. I also have a job at the BYU Comprehensive Clinic where I am getting experience doing intakes. It is also a really good experience that I am totally enjoying. I'm still teaching Zumba, but am down to 2-3 classes a week. This is so much more enjoyable than teaching 9 classes a week. I am taking my second to last semester of school and it is so wonderful I am really looking forward to my classes. I probably shouldn't admit this, but I actually bought my books this semseter because they all looked so interesting. Some of the classes I am really looking foward to are my marriage and families class, child and adolescent class, and play therapy. The other classes are for my research project and for my internship.
I guess this is a good start at updating our blog. I'm hoping to keep it more up to date and current. Oh and we will even try to get some more pictures on her too!

Zumba Mania!!!

So I decided to go for it...I'm starting my own Zumba class!!! I have been teaching at a place in Lehi and Orem, but realized that it is time to venture out and start my own business. I will still be at these places and just add my own classes for the time being. I have the place, the website, and everything else is falling into place. It is going to be at a studio in Orem, UT. I just finished publishing my website to the web and am adding and changing as needed. It is my first time creating a website so go easy on me.

Check it out! www.zumbautah.com

Anyway, I love Zumba and the results you get from it. It is so much fun and it is a great way to take a break from the real world. If you have not tried it...TRY IT!!!

The best and funnest reception ever!!!

It was such a beautiful reception. So much fun! Good food and lots of dancing. I am so glad that I left everything in my parent's hands! It was a risk, but not a big one because I know how great they are. My mom made all the table cloths and bows and of course THE CAKE!! My dad made all four bouquets (bridals, wedding day, reception and bouquet to toss) and he did the flowers. Together they make the perfect team. Everyone came together that morning to set up and get everything ready while Dave and I relaxed in San Diego and took our time getting to the reception. We made it to the reception, Dave's bro-in-law Ryan and my sister Christie toasted, Tamara sang, we cut the cake, tossed the bouquet and garter, we danced, and danced and danced! We had such a great video highlight by our videographer from the temple and beach the day before. We heard great things, but didn't have a chance to watch it. Luckily he was able to send us a copy for the open house in Utah and we got to watch it in our home. We absolutely love it and cannot wait for the actual DVD to come. Here are a few pictures from the reception.
Enjoy...


Our first dance...what a wonderful moment and such a great memory!


Makayla was really eager to dance with us and was super excited and happy that day...you can tell by her smile and clapping. The daddy-daughter dance was really sweet. We danced to the song "I loved her first"...


The money dance...this was a fun way to dance with lots of people and get a little extra for the honeymoon!!


Oh man the cake was sooooo gooood!! There was not much left over at all. It was my favorite: white chocolate cake with strawberry and french cream filling. There was one layer with raspberries that was really good, too! The garter and bouquet toss went well. We had a good group eager to catch...they boys had some assistance because the garter was tied around a nerf football with some cash!



TIME TO HIT THE DANCE FLOOR!!!



It was such a fun night. By the end of the night my feet were soo sore!! I kept my heels on the whole night. My wonderful little sister massaged my feet and when Dave and I got back to the hotel he got some ice for me. Such a sweetheart.