Re-do & a Re-cap

I attempted to start a blog last year, but was never quite sure what to do with it or how to do it. So I decided to start over...and give a re-cap of what has happened in our lives the last 10 months or so.

APRIL-We got married on April 16, 2010 in the Mesa, AZ temple. It was so fun to have family and friends from all over celebrate our special day. The next day we flew to Florida where we spent the night and then boarded "The Liberty of the Seas" (a Royal Caribbean Ship) where we spent the next 7 days visiting Mexico, Belize and the Grand Cayman Islands. We were able to swim with and hold sting rays in the Caymans, swim with turtles in Mexico, go cave tubing and zip lining in Belize and tour ruins in Mexico. We had a blast! If we could only go again! We got back to AZ, packed up the car and headed to California for an open house. A few short days after the open house we drove to good old Rexburg...where we've been ever since : )

MAY-I can't really remember what happened in May, other than we celebrated my 22 birthday and Brandon got me a gift certificate to Massage Envy for a massage...something I had never had before.

JUNE-In June I headed to AZ without Brandon for my sister Antoinette's wedding and loved the opportunity to soak up some sun. That's one thing about living in Rexburg...not much of a summer...not like an Arizona one that's for sure!

JULY-In July Brandon and I had lasik eye surgery in Boise, ID..no more contacts or prescription glasses for us! What a blessing it has been to wake up and be able to see. We were able to visit with Brandon's parents at about the same time and then headed back to Rexburg where my family (yes all 1 million) came to visit and stayed with us. It was a blast, but our home was crowded to say the least.

AUGUST-In August Brandon turned 27...old huh? Haha. Shortly after his birthday we flew to DC where we were able to spend time with my aunt and uncle's family and do the tourist thing in our nation's capitol. Brandon had never been to the East Coast so it was a fun experience. We were able to do a lot of walking from Georgetown where we ate delicious Georgetown Cupcakes (DC Cupcake show) across key bridge to the Arlington Cemetery and then to the mall in DC. I definitely wore the WRONG shoes...flip flops....opps. We were also able to spend some time at my aunt and uncle's cabin in Maryland where Brandon wakeboarded for the first time and did awesome! It was so much fun to visit with family and have new experiences together.

SEPTEMBER-In September, Brandon passed his test and became a private pilot! Needless to say we have been able to spend lots of time in the air! Brandon is a great pilot and I always feel confident and safe when we're in the air. My sister, Maddie came to school here at BYU-Idaho for the fall and I was SO excited to have some family close! Especially, since she is amazing at doing hair...I was spoiled and so was Brandon.

OCTOBER-In October I met some of my family in SLC, Utah for General Conference and to celebrate my nephew Lincoln's birthday. Brandon was planning on coming with me and then the day we were going to leave he got called to go on some wildland fires in Salmon, Idaho. Later that month we surprised my dad in Arizona for his 50th birthday. All the siblings got there and my dad kept saying "I'm so glad this was the surprise and that you didn't have a huge party." Well little did he know the very next day was the huge party. Antoinette our creative sister made a cake for him that looked exactly like a baked potato and was huge! It was so cool! We had a great time visiting family and getting some warmth before heading into winter in Idaho.

NOVEMBER-In November, Brandon had an Emergency Services conference in SLC, so I was able to go with him and have some fun in a real city. We went to a Jazz game where they didn't do too hot and had lots of yummy food and did some shopping. Later that month we headed to Boise, ID for Thanksgiving with Cameron and Jamie and their Family where we saw "Tangled" and loved it. We wanted to fly so we would be able to spend more time there, but winter came early in Idaho...surprise, surprise, so we had to drive. We were also able to see Brandon's sister Slyvia and visit with her family in Emmett, ID.

DECEMBER-In December, we had Brandon's work Christmas Party and lots of other fun parties. We were able to spend some time in St. George with my grandparents and went to Las Vegas and saw the Bodies exhibit before heading to California for Christmas where our flight was delayed and we missed our connecting flight...but we finally made it. We had a fun time visiting with family and meeting up with some of Brandon's friends from growing up. We came back from Christmas and Brandon had two "surgeries" in a row. I say "surgeries" because they weren't as intense as "surgery" sounds. They basically put a laser in both legs through a vein and as they pulled the laser out it sealed the veins shut. We had met our deductible so we wanted to hurry and squeeze in the "surgeries" before the end of the year so insurance would cover it...wise move.

JANUARY-This past month was a definite downer for us. We came back from California and while we were gone we accidentally turned off our heater completely instead of turning it down. Thankfully our pipes hadn't frozen, however our house was a whopping 40 degrees and although warmer than outside in Rexburg it was still freezing. Shortly after we returned home we were both feeling super sick, so we went and got some medicine and I was not feeling any better. Went back to the doctor where they did some x-rays and found out that I had pneumonia. Never had it before and never want it again...can you say miserable? Brandon was sick too, but not as sick and the poor thing did EVERYTHING for me. I appreciate him so much! Lesson learned...turn down the heat, DO NOT turn it off.

Brandon and I are excited for the New Year and ready for some new adventures! And hopefully I will be able to figure this blog thing out and continue to update it!