Spring Is Here!

And that means, Spring Cleaning! Matt has been outside working hard the past couple of weekends and sometimes during the week to work on our back yard. Provo City has a dumpster for anyone to just bring things over to dump for free till the end of April so we're taking advantage of it and getting rid of everything! Our goal is to have the backyard done by the end of May. Matt also tackled the messy job of finishing cleaning out our garage of crap that's been left through the years from the first owner. We cleaned the bottom half of the garage last year but we still needed to clean the storage spaces above. It was a dirty job and I'm very glad Matt did it and without me. I can't stand dirt and since that stuff most likely has been there since the 1940's, there was a lot of dirt and dust up there. There was some pretty interesting things stored up there. One in particular a Santa head with out it's body. Later we found the body and we think it's a planter. The other thing was an old frame that my brother Nathan took and will clean up. We can't wait to have a finished back yard where we can play and hang out as a family.

Easter Weekend

We had a wonderful Easter/Conference weekend. It was especially fun having them the same weekend. I wish we had Conference more often instead of every six months. The talks were inspirational and I loved how they talked mostly about families. Ballard, Holland and Bednar's talks jumped out the most but they were all so good. Can't wait for the Conference Ensign to re-read them. With Easter during the same time, it just made it extra special and fun. Easter and Conference needs to happen more often as well. Friday night we dyed Easter eggs with Evan. This was our first time with him and he enjoyed it. I was watching him like a hawk though. He only spilled once so I didn't have that much to clean up so it was nice.


Saturday is when we have the Easter Bunny visit us. We like separating the Bunny part from Sunday so we can focus on Chirst and his Resurrection. The Easter Bunny didn't disappoint this year even though it was small.

We invited a bunch of our friends over for a big breakfast and egg hunt before the fist session of conference. It was just Cadence and Evan for the hunt at first but two more kids came buy later and recovered the rest of the eggs they didn't find. There were also some left for the adults to enjoy.


We stayed home Saturday for both sessions. Michael and Julie stayed and watched with us and then the boys were off to the Priesthood Session shortly after that. My MIL came by and watched Evan for me so I can go off with Aubrey and her two sister's. We had dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe and then we went shopping. Aubrey and I got some baby outfits since we're both expecting and only a week from each other. It was a fun evening with them and I enjoyed getting to know Shan and Michelle better.
I stole these from Aubrey's blog :).

Me and Aubrey showing off our belly's. I haven't posted one in a while but this is me at 34 weeks. Aubrey is 35 weeks.

On Easter we spent the day with Matt's family by watching both sessions and having Easter dinner for lunch and then we had another Easter dinner at my parent's house at dinner. It was a nice relaxing day for us.

Love Week

For Valentines this year Matt spoiled me. He's such a sweetheart! On Friday he came home a little early and surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of red/orange roses. I love how he picks out the best flowers and I love how they brighten up a room. They also smell really good! Saturday he spent the day working on a Honey Do list. I didn't have a list written out but he knew exactly what I wanted and needed done. He did everything and he even had time to take Evan and I out to dinner. On Sunday we went to my families house and my Dad made a delicious steak dinner for the entire family, which included a boyfriend and girlfriend of my siblings.

On the 18th Matt and I celebrated our four year anniversary. Has it really been that long? It seems like we just met! I don't think I ever blogged about how we met but I will keep it short.
I moved to Spanish Fork with my family just a month before he came home from his mission and we happened to move next door to him. I wanted to attend the singles ward but I had no clue where and when they met so I went to the family ward the first Sunday. There is when I met his Mom and one of his sisters. They introduced themselves to us and his mom asked how old I was. She had a huge smile come across her face when she heard I was turning 21 in a few weeks. She told me she had a son on a mission and was due to come home in a month. I was curious and went to look at his plaque. I thought he was cute but wasn't anticipating anything. I started dating a guy that I met in the singles ward but it ended the week Matt came home. I didn't end it so I was heart broken about it but its funny that it happened at the same time Matt came home. Matt and I saw each other for the first time helping a neighbor clean up their yard since they were building. Shortly after that there was a singles dance and he made sure I went with his sister. He was very interested in me but since the recent break up I wasn't too interested in him, plus I knew he was looking for a wife. For some reason that really scared me. I ended up hurting him that night by ditching him because I got a call from the ex. Since then he didn't pursue me. A few weeks passed and the singles were at an activity and I over heard a guy talking to Matt about him meeting the parents of a girl he was seeing. I got really jealous at that point. My best friends brother got married that weekend and I went to his reception and took Matt's sister with me. On the way home our conversation was about Matt and she mentioned that he wanted to date me. I wanted my date so I ended up calling him and asked him where it was. We decided on a date and it ended up being bowling at the Y and root beer floats at A&W afterwards. I honestly was very disappointed at what was planned but I had a lot of fun with him and he had fun himself. Later when we were engaged it turned out he didn't want to take me anywhere so he wanted it cheap as possible and he brought a friend to double date with us to keep him company. I'm glad he didn't really need him. Matt was still dating that girl but things were at a stand still so he took myself and his sister up the canyon. On the way up he got a call from her so he basically ditched me. We were even :). It turns out the girl went back to her ex but Matt wasn't heart broken :). From there we saw each other daily and had a relationship that escalated to engagement a month later. He proposed to me on November 1st by carrying me blind folded up the Grotto Trail that ended with a Winger's candle light dinner. The Grotto is where we had our first kiss and decided to get married so it was a very special place to us. I was happy he officially proposed to me there.

February 18, 2006 we were married in the Salt Lake Temple

It was one of the happiest days of our lives!

Since the 18th was during the week and things were crazy, I just made us a delicious dinner before Matt had to go to his meetings. I made him Pot Roast (his favorite).

On the 20th we officially celebrated by going to the Manti Temple. We went through that Temple for the first time coming home from our Honeymoon so it's also a very special Temple to us. We love the feeling when we go. Since a lot of our friends haven't been to that Temple we make sure to extend an invite when we go. Stephanie and Craig came with us this time and they felt the same exact feeling as we always do. They really enjoyed it. After the session we went to the Manti House for dinner like we always do. It's a must when you're down there. The food was amazing as always. I ate everything in front of me and thats not an easy task with a baby squishing your stomach but it was simple that night because I was so hungry and it was so good.

I'm looking forward to the rest of my life and eternity with Matt. He's such a great husband and Father. I'm lucky that he picked me to be his wife.

Hands Full

Please excuse the lack of updates but I guess I'm not too far behind. My hands have been full trying to juggle a few things. I haven't had much time to do things because about a month ago I started to work away from home. It's only temporary until I get accounting under control. It looks like it will be another 2 weeks or so before I get to be back home with Evan. I'm really looking forward to it because I miss him. My mom and mother in law have been so willing to watch him for me and I really appreciate it. I know he's in good hands so I have nothing to worry about. When I am home, I try to stay off the computer to spend time with Evan and Matt but also try to catch up on things around the house. When I'm home alone with Evan (which happens very often with Matt's calling), I work on that cross-stitch I blogged about earlier. I do it more when Evan's asleep. I've gotten a lot done since then so I'm very proud of myself.


The update on Evan is that he's now in a twin bed. We got an amazing deal off of it so we couldn't pass it up even though we don't need it right now. It's just something we wanted before Alex moves into the crib but we also didn't want Evan to think Alex was taking his place. Having him in it now will hopefully avoid that and it will also help me get more ready for Alex. Evan's bed has three drawers underneath it so we didn't have to buy a dresser. His clothes will be moved from the changing table to there so I can start putting away baby clothes. I'm excited that we're basically ready for Alex to come. I just need to bring up all the baby stuff that's in storage and start organizing everything and see what we need.
Evan has entered the phase "my way or nothing!" It has become a real challenge for me since Matt isn't always home to team up with. Changing diapers and clothes is the biggest one. Evan got a rash not too long ago so he was so determined to keep a diaper off himself. I don't blame him so I would have gladly let him run around with out one but I knew he would pee everywhere. Once he actually did that he understood why he needed a diaper so he let me put one on him. I hope a rash doesn't happen any time soon but I'm hoping I can get him potty trained when I'm back home so that will never happen. I'm not sure if he's ready though. Today was one of those days where I was alone and had to get him ready for church. We're at the 9:00 session so this morning I had to wake him up. Not a very good idea because he was cranky but I had no other choice because it was coming up on 8:30. Evan didn't want his bottom "jammie's" off him but I did get them off and luckily changed his diaper with little fighting from Evan. Once I started taking his top off it was no go from there. I got his arms in his white shirt but there was no way he would let me button it up. I was starting to panic a little but I made myself stay calm because I knew if I wasn't calm, Evan would never calm down. I felt I needed to call Matt and see if he could come home and help and thankfully he was able too. Evan was still picking a good fight against us but we ended up getting him somewhat ready and out the door thanks to the snow. We at least got his church pants and shoes on. He was wearing his "jammie's" underneath them because we thought it would help us get his clothes on but we still weren't able to persuade him. His white shirt stayed off but his "jammie's" shirt was covered with a sweater jacket during Sacrament. Amazingly enough, we were on time for church and I just prayed that he will let me change his clothes later. I didn't think I would last through Sacrament without having to take Evan out but he stayed in the entire time thanks to Amy because she sat with us. Cadence and her helped distract him and it turned out Evan and I helped distract Cadence. It looks like we'll be sitting with each other from now on since we're both Sacrament Widow's. Before I took Evan to nursery I had to change his diaper and that allowed me to take off his jacket and put on his white shirt. His "jammie's" were put away in the diaper bag :). I really hope this phase doesn't last long because it's hard on us. Any idea's that can help us? Last but not least with him, he loves "doggies" (101 Dalmatians). He could watch it all day if I would let him. Same thing with Blue's Clues. For some reason he likes to call them Pink Clues.
I'm 28 weeks with Alex. That means we have 12 more weeks left. I can't believe the time is almost here! I'm now doing the two week appointments, I'm measuring a week ahead and I'm gaining a lot of weight! I say that because I gained only 29 lbs with Evan and I've already gained 20 lbs with this one. It makes me scared knowing that I will most likely gain a lot more in the next few weeks because this is the time when the baby really grows. I find it crazy that I'm still wearing my regular jeans at 28 weeks. Will that change? I can't tell but I'm probably carrying him higher then Evan. It makes sense to me because most evenings I have a hard time walking because it's hard to carry the extra weight. I recently purchased a maternity belt to help give extra support and it's been helping.
This is it for now. I have more things to write about with pictures but I will have to do that another time. I want to spend some time with my Hubby!

Progress!

One of my New Years Resolutions is to work on my never ending picture of Christ. My goal is to work on it daily even if it's a few stitches here and there. It's at least getting me closer to finishing. My thought was to get it done by the end of the year but since Matt has his new busy Bishopric calling, I've decided to shoot to get it done in half the year. It will be even better if I can get it done by the time the baby is born because at that point, I will have to stop till I get the hang of two kids.
I blogged about this back in May of 08. I've worked on it since then but not much. Here's a picture of it then.

And where it's at now. It's getting there!

Opportunity to Serve

Last week we were called in as a family to meet with the Stake Presidency. When we arrived at the church,there were people warming up for a Stake Basketball game. As most of you know, Evan is obsessed with basketball(hoopie). He was so upset that he couldn't play. In an effort to calm him down, he was given a basketball to take in the meeting with us. Eventually he was satisfied with throwing the ball in a garbage can for a little while. Then Evan began passing the ball back and forth to everyone in the room. I'm sure this will go down as the Stake Presidency's first time ever playing catch during the duration of an interview.
Well, despite Evan's best efforts to distract everyone, a call to serve was given. On Sunday Matt was sustained and set apart as the First Counselor in the newly reorganized Bishopric. We are grateful as a family to continue to serve all the members of the ward that we have come to love so much over almost three years we have lived here. May each of us look to the example of the Savior and try to emulate His attitude of constant love and service towards others.

Baby Number 2 is a....

Well, we had the gender ultra sound on Dec 22nd. We finally know what we're having so it was a perfect early Christmas present for Matt and I. Do you want to know too?


First off, lets look at some pictures! Here's me at 20 weeks and 3 days.



Awwww! Look at the face! At least some of it since Baby #2 was facing my back. The tech had a hard time getting a good shot because of it.



Here's a picture the baby giving us a thumbs up! Or is it hang loose :)?



This baby is going to have some big hands!!!


Now I have to tell you how we told our families. We were so cruel and made them wait till Christmas Eve! We originally told them Christmas Day but surprised them a day early. We made two Rainbow Chip cakes (yum!) and hid plastic pacifiers through out the cake and only one was the color of the gender. I also hid yellow and white ones just to throw them off. The funny part about it is that both Mom's found the right piece and both were so HAPPY! We were too excited to even think of taking a picture so there are none but take my word for it, they were very excited and so are we!

Baby #2 is going to be a BOY!!!
If you are shocked, we are just as shocked as you are. I seriously thought I was going to have a girl but we are yet again blessed with having another boy and we couldn't be happier.

Broke Part 2

This evening Evan picked what he wanted to wear to bed.

We think this is his way of fixing his Elmo pajamas.

Evan's First Train Ride

Yesterday we spent the day riding a "Cho Cho Train". Evan has become a fan of them lately so we took him on one. We drove up to Sandy to catch Trax to Salt Lake City. As soon as we got in the car Evan started saying "eight". It took us a second to realize that he was refering to song number eight on the CD. Evan had memorized his favorite song on the CD that had been in the car the last couple days. All he can see from his seat is the track number. After the song would finish, he would either say "again" or the track number to his other favorite song. It's a good thing these songs are our favotites too, because he wouldn't let us listen to the other songs on the CD.

Once we got to Salt Lake we got on the Front Runner. We sat on the top of the train since it was a double decker. Evan was being silly with the guy sitting behind him. Evan would stare at him till the guy looked at him and then Evan gave him the cheesiest grin and would laugh and then hide. The gentlemen thought he was really funny. I got a picture of some of it.

Once we got into Davis county I got to see the old house my family grew up in Layton. I also got to see the beauty school in the distance, but the sad thing about it is that it's now a Marinello Hair School. I checked the school's website and it says they're a member of Merinello but I wonder if Fran Brown is still owner. It makes me sad if she's not because she's been in business for as long as I can remember.
Anyways, the Front Runner goes as far as Ogden. We stayed there for 20 mins till it went back to Salt Lake. We sat in a different compartment then before because it had more room for Evan to move around.

Once we went back to Salt Lake we waited for the lights to come on at Temple Square. We kept warm in the Joseph Smith building, listening to a group singing Christmas Songs. The lights were pretty and we saw the different nativity scenes.

Santa Came!

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday so I'm sad to see it end. We are so blessed this season, full of wonderful family and friends, near and far and the blessings Heavenly Father has blessed us with all year long.
Just like last year we spent Christmas Eve with the Felt's. They have their big Christmas feast and this year we had Duck! Nathan and Elizabeth made it and they did an amazing job! We also had mashed potatoes, salad, rolls, vegetables and yummy sparkling apple cider. After dinner we had the traditional reading of Luke. Ellen, Evan, Abby, Matt, Mom and Ammon acted it out for us while Dad read it. We had dessert and then we opened up presents! I'm getting horrible with remembering to take pictures but Evan was so excited to open his along with Abby. We were spoiled as always and we visited with them for a little longer but before we went home to get Evan to bed we dropped by the Thompson's for a little bit. We also had some dessert with them and then went home to set up for Christmas once Evan was in bed. The next morning (today) Evan woke bright and early. I didn't think it would start this early with our kids but it did. He woke up at 5:00 but went back to sleep but woke every thirty mins after that until Matt got him at 6:00. I couldn't sleep at all so since Evan was bright eyed we just got up with him and opened our gifts. His reaction to his basketball hoop (Hoppie) was so cute! I'm glad we had a way to record it.

He played with it for a while and wouldn't touch his other gifts till we started to open ours.

Before we headed back to our families, we stopped by Amy and Austins house. I couldn't get over how cute Cadence was being playing with his baby piano. We got to play Wii with them for a little bit.
On our way up to Spanish Fork Evan fell asleep and there was no way of keeping him up.

He was gone! He stayed asleep even after bringing him into the house. We stopped at the Thompson's first because they were waiting for us to open their gifts. I think it's fun watching them. Evan woke up after awhile and joined in on opening the presents. I actually took my camera out for this.


After the presents we had yummy Cinnamon twist. We hung out and played with what we got and then we went to my families again. I vegged out on more food and we played Wii some more. Evan was getting a little tired so we went back to the Thompson's. It' nice having them next door. They were in the middle of a movie so we laid down and watched it with them. Matt and I ended up falling asleep and Evan not too long after.

Dinner was not too long after that. We had ham, cream corn, mashed potatoes, olives, ribbon jello, rolls and more sparkling apple cider. We played a few games after that and headed home.
We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!!