California

What better way to spend Nate's last week of recovery than to go to California for a quick weekend trip with the whole family?!  The purpose of the trip was to see cute little Blaine get baptized, but of course we squeezed in a little Disney Land and some beach time with the family!  It was a blast.

 The very bright sun in front of "It's a Small World."

 Enjoying a nice dinner at Club 33.

 Cute family pictures.

 A little jumping on the beach....

 ...and a little kissing on the beach.

 One of my favorite pictures of Nate and some of the kids.

And last but not least, a ride on the Ferris Wheel at the Spectrum Mall with a very cute boy. I have always wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel with a cute boy and I finally got my chance. It was perfect.

What a wonderful weekend full of good memories with the family. And we are so proud of you Blaine for choosing to get baptized!

Nate's Big Adventure

2012 has started out with a big bang. Being the giving and selfless person he is, Nate decided to donate his kidney to his best friend Trevor. And when anyone asks him about it, he just says, "It feels good to do something for my friend, he would do the same for me!" I keep telling him he has to stop doing all these good things in his life because he is going to get translated and then where am I left? But I am sure proud of him and couldn't imagine marrying anyone better.  

It's been quite the process for Nate seeing if his kidney was a match. He had do go through extensive testing and blood matching and everything looked great. (Coincidence...I think not!) He has been so excited through the whole process and never had any doubts (unlike his wife). But we are grateful Nate was able to do this for Trevor and that both surgeries went well and that both boys are on the mend!

Here's a little summary of his adventure...

 Nate as excited as ever 30 minutes before surgery.

Trevor a bit anxious and nervous for surgery.

Shanna and Kayla waiting for their hubbies to get out of surgery. (Sorry for the blurry photo).

Don't be deceived by this photo. This was Nate day 2 after surgery. He wasn't too excited to go on walks but he always made sure to have a positive attitude. They had Nate up and walking just a couple of hours after his surgery. It made me hurt just watching him.

 My regular spot in Nate's hospital room. Notice that I have 2 blankets, my coat, and a scarf on. Yeah, Nate liked his room at a brisk 65 degrees. If it was any higher, he would complain of how hot it was.

 Best friends reunited!  Trevor got moved up from ICU to Nate's floor only a couple of days after surgery. Nate was sure excited to see him, but not feeling so great. It's amazing to see how quickly the person receiving the kidney recovers. I love this picture.

The night before both boys were released, they wanted to watch a football game together so Nate ventured down to Trevor's room.

The long drive home 4 days after surgery. Amazingly, both Nate and Trevor got released the same day!

Now Nate's at home taking it easy and watching every sporting event there is on t.v. Although it's pretty annoying, I'm proud of you bub! We hope to see you soon Trev!

New Years Celebration

After Christmas Nate and I decided to take a little get-away to celebrate the upcoming New Year. So being the good husband he is, he planned us a little "Lover's Get-Away" in Salt Lake. Our first stop was checking in at the Armstrong Mansion Bed and Breakfast where we stayed the night.

 Then we headed to the Grizzlies Hockey Game.

 We had pretty sweet seats sitting about three rows back and right behind the penalty box for the other team.

 We were pretty excited when one player got put in the penalty box...

... Even better was four...

 ...But the best was five! Hockey games are about the only time I feel right in "heckling" players. We pretty much fit in with all the other fans. It was great fun.  

 After the game.

And enjoying a little bubbly to celebrate the new year. (The picture is blurry because I was playing around with my new sweet I-Phone). It was a much needed weekend and a great way to celebrate 2012!

Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Bragging Rights

Nate and I went bowling last weekend and I have to say I wasn't too excited because I knew I would lose...or so I thought! Usually Nate bowls around a 190 or 200, but for some Christmas miracle I beat him. Twice!  So this was definitely something I needed to share. Plus on our first game I beat my personal best! I'm not much of a bowler so this is a great feat for me! (Sorry Nate. I know you will probably be embarrassed by your worst bowling scores ever, but what's a gal to do?)

13 Days of Halloween/Fall Fun

It's that time of year again. The time where Nate I and do silly things for 13 days to enjoy our favorite season. Things didn't turn out the way we were expecting because the World Series was going on at the same time. (Nate wasn't disappointed at all!) Our 13 days was put on the back burner a few times (hence the lack of pictures and dressing up), but we still had fun. Here's the breakdown:

Day 13: We kicked off the celebration with some home-made Halloween cards to each other.

Day 12: We were suppose to work on Halloween costumes for Mel and Kel's party, but alas, we could not go. So we ended up watching a World Series game.

Day 11: Drank some hot chocolate from the local Maverik. That's some gourmet hot chocolate.

Day 10: I dressed up for a running club I am involved with. We meet once a month and do a "fun run". For October we got to dress up so I decided to dress up as an out-of-shape runner.

Day 9: We enjoyed a walk through the beautiful fall leaves at Freeman Park.

Day 8: We ate a full pan of squash.

Day 7: We were suppose to take Skip for a walk in the dark around the neighborhood but it was cold and we were tired. So we decided to turn off all the lights and walk around the house in the dark. Yeah...we are pretty awesome.

Day 6: We told some scary ghost stories to each other under the covers. I'm pretty sure that's why Nate didn't sleep well that night.

Day 5: We made Caramel Apples. They didn't quite turn out how we were hoping. That's why there is no picture.

Day 4: I made pumpkin bars. Enough said.

Day 3: We watched a Halloween movie on T.V. Well I actually watched it while Nate rested his eyes.

Day 2: I made some pumpkin dip to take to work for a Halloween party. I wanted Nate to taste it but ended up getting him a little messy in the process.

Day 1: We enjoyed Halloween at our house by passing out Halloween candy. Oh yeah, and wearing our sweet Halloween shirts we made last year.

Until next year!!!

September Adventures

Where to begin. Our September has been packed (as usual) with lots of fun. Of course one big highlight was that we made it to the annual Spud Days. Yes, our favorite event in little Shelley Idaho. Unfortunately we only had time to make it to the Disc-Golf Tournament. Enough time for me to win 2nd place and make a few bucks. Gotta love it.

But our favorite event of September was getting a quick invitation to see a Rockies Game in Colorado with T.Jay and Julie. Nate of course can't say no to baseball and when he found out food was also involved , we had to re-arrange our schedules to take a little drive down to Denver in the middle of the work week. It was a trip well worth it!

 Our amazing view in our awesome suite!

 I don't know if this picture really expresses how excited Nate was to see a baseball game and to eat free food.

 Of course we had so much fun playing with the cute kids!

On the way back home we decided to make a few stops to make our trip longer and visited the Lincoln Monument on the side of the highway.

Thanks for the quick and fun trip T.Jay and Julie. Our baseball watching experience has changed forever!