Matthew and Amy Maynard

20 Weeks

2011-11-13T18:57:00.000-08:00

Last week, we went to
our 20 week doctor's appointment. It went really well! It was so fun to see her
again. I just love getting ultrasounds. She is such a little wiggler-she didn't
stop moving at all the entire time! We got some really cute pictures. I was a
little disappointed with the 3D ultrasound picture that we got. She was facing
inwards and wouldn't stop wiggling, so we couldn't get a very good shot of her,
but it was still really neat to see her. She currently weighs 11 ounces and is
about 10 inches long- about the size of a banana. Here are some pics..

20 week belly shot.

Look at those muscles!! :)

Cute little fist.

Here's the 3D shot. You can see the side of her face with her arm up by her chin/jaw area. The dang cord was in the way, so her mouth is covered up. Still a pretty neat shot! :)

Zoomed in on her mouth, nose and chin. She's sucking her thumb!! :) SO CUTE!!

Praying arms! :)

Cute little foot..

Poking mommy..

Cute little profile shot.

This week was a big milestone- 20 weeks- half way there! We can't wait to meet our baby girl! :)

Lately..

2011-10-25T21:16:00.001-07:00

About a week ago, I felt my baby move for the first time! It was so crazy..i was sitting in the computer lab with my kids, and all of the sudden, I felt it. This little flutter in my tummy. At first I didn't think anything of it, but then it happened again, and again, and then it hit me, she was kicking! It was so neat. Ever since then, I've felt her every day. Matt has even felt her kicking a few times now, and it's so fun. It makes everything more real. It's still crazy to me that in a few months we'll actually have a REAL baby here with us! I've finally gotten to the point where I'm used to being pregnant, but not that I will be a mom! Don't get me wrong, I'm so excited, but it just doesn't seem real. It feels like it's so far away that it'll never happen. We are so excited, and I just wish the time would go by a little bit faster!

I'm almost 18 weeks now, and growing rapidly!!! I have been SO TIRED this past week. By the end of the day, I have no energy at all! Exercising helps, but running is getting harder. It's frustrating not being able to do some of the things I could do before I was prego, but I guess that's just how it goes. Hopefully my energy will come back soon!

Here are some belly pics..six weeks, 12 weeks, and 16 weeks. :)

Baby Girl Maynard!!!!!

2011-10-14T21:49:00.000-07:00

Profile shot. You can see her little hand right under her chin.

Cute little thing!!

I think she's sucking her thumb! You can see a full

body shot here.

Cute little hand

Blood Flow

Back view, I love her cute little bum!!

Her brain!

So cute..

It's a girl!

Well, we're having a baby GIRL!!! My due date is April 1st, and I am about 16 weeks today. We are SO excited, she can't get here fast enough. This is the first post I have done while being pregnant, I'm just too busy to keep this thing updated! I'm going to try and be better about it, now that I'm pregnant. I'm going to try to use it as my journal throughout my pregnancy. We'll see how it goes!

We found out we were pregnant July 23rd. I had a feeling I was pregnant, but Matt really didn't think I was. We had only been trying for a month. We both thought it'd take at least 3 months or more, so he figured I wasn't pregnant. I decided to take a test anyway. While we were waiting for the results, I left the bathroom and went into the kitchen for something. Matt stayed anxiously bent over the counter two inches away from the test, waiting to see what would appear. Within one minute he said, "ummm babe?? you might want to come look at this." Sure enough, two little pink lines appeared!! So I did what any other girl would do, I took another test, and another, and another, and well about 3 more after that. It started to become a little game, it was so fun seeing the test result each time!!

I haven't really been sick. Weeks 6 to 8 were a little rough (which also happened to be when we were in Mexico, bad timing!!), but nothing too bad. I don't know how I got so lucky. I'm just crossing my fingers hoping it will stay this way throughout the rest of my pregnancy. I'm still teaching, and I think working everyday and keeping busy is real good for me. I don't have time to think about being sick and it just keeps me going. By the end of the day I am EXHAUSTED!! I'm still exercising every day, which is actually frustrating because the scale is still going up, up, and away every time I get on it. I guess that's normal for being pregnant, but it's still frustrating!!

We have had three ultrasounds now. The first one at 8 weeks at the doctor's office was so cool. We were able to hear her little heartbeat and see a cute little blob. The next ultrasound we did at Fetal Foto's and that was AMAZING. We did it the day after I told my family we were pregnant. That's right, I didn't tell them until I was 15 weeks!! It was so hard to keep it a secret. I told my parents at week 8, but I wanted to wait til my brother Michael (who lives in Chicago) was in town to tell the rest of the family. It was so fun, and I was so glad I waited. My entire family was there, and it was so fun.

She had grown SO much from week 8 to week 15, it was incredible. Everything was formed and she actually looked like a baby! She moved around like crazy the whole time. We saw her puckering her little lips, wiggling her legs and arms arching her back, it was so neat. When the ultrasound tech told us what we were having I just started to cry. Knowing that "it" had a gender made it so much more real to me. I am so excited that she is a girl. I can't wait to dress her up, it'll be so fun! The pink wardrobe has already started to fill her closet. :)

Our 3rd ultrasound was today. Matt works at the school's heath center, and the ultrasound tech he works with needs hours for certification, so she offered to do ultrasounds for us. Of coarse we couldn't pass a chance like that up!! It was so neat, she spent a good 45 minutes with us checking everything and making sure everything was growing and forming how it should. And sure enough, the entire time she was wiggling and moving around. It was amazing to see her little fingers moving and legs kicking. She gave us a CD with all the pictures she took, which was great! Above are some of the pictures she took.

We are SO EXCITED to be parents, and can't wait to meet our little bean!!

Bear Lake

2011-07-13T14:19:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it..summer is flying by!! It had been such a relaxing time. Summertime always reminds me why I love teaching so much! :)

Not much has ben going on..matt's got another week of this trimester then he gets a 7 week break, yay! We just booked a trip to playa del carmen, mexico and I am so dang excited to go! I need a beach asap!

Matt's doing really well in school; I'm so proud of him. He's taking such hard classes (pre med) and getting amazing grades. He just got the highest score on his chemistry test out of the whole class! He studies and is such a hard worker. I really admire him for that. There's no way i could do it!

We went to bear lake last weekend for a family reunion, it was so much fun! Here are a few pics..

Hiking!

2011-06-05T18:31:00.000-07:00

Finally summer has decided to arrive and I couldn't be more excited. This weekend we spent our time OUTSIDE enjoying the weather It was so much fun! Saturday we went on a little hike up to "R" mountain. It was way fun! I didn't think it'd be that hard of a hike so I went for a long run that morning. Well it turns out the hike was a bit harder than I expected so my legs were super tired. But it was worth it! We got to the top and had a picnic and just relaxed for a bit before heading back down. It was so nice to get out in the fresh air and just enjoy each other.

School is out now, and I am enjoying summer so far. The last day with the kids was really hard. I will miss them so much! I loved my class this year; they were so dang cute and fun. Being a teacher is just great... it's so rewarding and I LOVE that I have my favorite season of the entire year off to do whatever I want. AMAZING! I am keeping busy with Relief Society stuff, which is good because I start to go crazy if I don't have something to keep me busy. Our ward is sending care packages for a ward in Joplin right now. There is a guy in our ward who's from Joplin, and most of his ward's houses have been destroyed. It has been so neat to see how much everyone has gotten involved and how many people just want to help. We have boxes and boxes full of stuff, so I'm pretty excited about it!

Well, I'm off for a bike ride. Hopefully now that it's summer I will have more time to blog. I just can't seem to do it very well during the school year!

Two years..

2011-04-10T18:06:00.000-07:00

2 year anniversary...

April 8th, 2009

I can't believe it's been two years! These past two years have been wonderful, by far the happiest of my life. I am so blessed to have married such an amazing man. I don't know what I'd do with out him!

It's been a while blogging wise for me. I don't have the time to do it!!! I have been so dang busy with everything lately, any free time I have I spend it sleeping. I just got called as Relief Society President and it has been a lot of work. It keeps me busy for sure. :) Matt is the best assistant EVER! He has helped me so much already. He's constantly by my side, willing to help with anything I need. THe only reason why I have this calling is because he is so supportive and amazing. I couldn't do it with out him.

Matt is still in school....he's finishing up his pre req's and will be done about this time next year. We have been thinking more about Medical School, and are keeping that in mind along with PA school. Matt will be applying about this time next year, and it is exciting to think about where we will be for the next chapter of our lives.

I am still teaching 1st grade, and loving it. My kids are so dang cute. I can't believe this school year will be over in three weeks. It's crazy!! It has gone by SO fast. I will miss my kids. They have taught me just as much if not more than what I have taught them. It is amazing to see the growth they have made throughout this school year. It is such a rewarding grade to teach because they come in to first grade not being able to read and barely write, and leave reading and writing. It's amazing!! I have been so lucky to have the job I do, in the town I do. I didn't realize how hard it is to get a job around here. It seems like everyone and their dog (@BYU) go in to education, and everyone and their dog wants a job. I got really really lucky.

We had a relaxing Easter Sunday today. I made my first ham!!! It was pretty good! This was the first year (besides our honeymoon) that we haven't been with family on Easter. It was kind of sad. I missed being home with my family. However, it was nice to have our own private little dinner together, with just the two of us. :)

24 years OLD!!!!

2011-02-02T20:33:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it, another year has passed and I am now 24. How in the world did I get to be so old? I'm in my mid 20's! AHHHH how did that happen? I still feel like I'm 18...time flies! I had a fun birthday here in the berg with Matt. My birthday was on Friday, and we celebrated all weekend long. It was a blast.

Matt surprised me on Saturday. We went to this resturant we have been wanting to try since we have lived here and some of my good friends were there to celebrate! It was so much fun. I just love these girls, I have made some pretty great friends here!

My cute new boots Matt got me. He did this shopping ALL BY HIMSELF! I didn't even give him a hint at all. He did a great job if I do say so myself. He also got me a nike fit which is awesome, some new running clothes and a couple dresses. :)

There are wayyyy to many candles on this cake!

He made this cake the night before and was up half the night decorating our apartment and in the process of decorating, he fell and accidently crushed the first cake he made, so this was literally an all night project. The cake was SO GOOD! I could have eaten the whole thing by myself.

He surprised me at my school on my birthday and brought my kids cupcakes! They were so excited. They love when he comes to visit. They all want to show off for him and show him all the cool things they can do. They wanted to sing songs for him that we have been learning and it was so cute. We went outside to eat the cupcakes and ended up playing a mean game of tag with the class. It was fun. I love my kids.

On a more depressing note, this is how we have to dress whenever we leave the house. It is SO COLD here. I have never experienced weather like this. This morning it was -30, so school was cancelled (which was awesome, I'm not complaining about that). However, I am really sick of wearing 12 layers, a hat, gloves, face mask, snow shoes, snow pants, and goggles every time we go outside for crying out loud!

COLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Phil didn't see his shadow this morning, which is great.... HOWEVER, I'm sure winter will be here for at least 4 more months. AT LEAST. Locals say that it has snowed on the 4th of July here before. Please pray that that doesn't happen this year! A girl can only take so much. Running outside is a complete joke. They don't plow their sidewalks at all and the whole time I feel like I'm going to fall on my head. I wore those spike things that go over your shoes and that seemed to help a little. The gym was closed here today so I was forced to run outside. HOLY COW. It was miserable. I had about 20 layers on and a scarf that covered my entire face with only my eyes poking out. My face felt like it was going to freeze off. I won't be doing that again any time soon! Well it's off to bed, hopefully school will be canceled again tomorrow. :)

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!!

2011-01-04T17:10:00.000-08:00

What a fun Christmas break!! We enjoyed our two weeks off in Utah, and it is now very depressing to be back to real life in Idaho. I wasn't ready for my break to be over! However, I missed my kids so much - it was so good to see them again. They were so cute and all excited to tell me all about what Santa brought them. I really have the best job in the world! Here are some pictures of our break and what we were up to.

Happy New Year- THE kiss(es)!

Oh my gosh. Lisa and I were laughing our heads off. She is hilarous. So if you can't tell, we both showed up to my family new year's party wearing not only the same shirt, but the same jeans as well...so of course we had to take lots of silly pictures. Matt and Ben were also matching-they weren't as amused as Lisa and I were, obviously.

Me and my boyfriend.

Sisters.

Lisa bought these awesome hats, so naturally we had to take pictures with them!

Happy New Year!

Strike a pose!! My mom was wearing the same color shirt!!

My mom got the boys matching Jazz sweatshrits and tickects to the Jazz game. We were joking around saying how funny it'd be if they all wore them to the game together. Well, the girls went shopping early that morning, so we didn't see them leave...but, when we got home-sure enough, they all wore them to the game! Cuties.

Shopping and lunch with the girls, a favorite tradation of mine! We have been going shopping the day after Chirstmas for a couple years now, and find THE BEST deals ever!! Lunch at Cheesecake Factory, YUM!!

Christmas Eve....

Reading a Christmas story to the kids.

Cutest little thing!! I can't belive how big she is getting (not physically, but age wise) she is such a little bean...I just love her so much!

Out to dinner Christmas Eve...

We were lucky enough to have Matthew home with us this Christmas. He had to come home from his mission for a bit for medical reasons. Hopefully he will be back to Boston soon!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!! :)

Another reason....

2010-12-08T19:00:00.000-08:00

why I love Matt so much....

He's an amazing cook...he made Cafe Rio chicken tortilla soup the other day, it was AMAZING! Here's the finished product:

He knows how much I hate cutting onions, so he pulled out his handy dandy oxygen mask and exam gloves and got to work...

He told me he did this the other day (when I was at work, so I wasn't fortunate enough to see it) and I was dying laughing. I can just imagine him home alone, cutting onions, wearing gloves and an oxygen mask. What a sight to see!

Happy Birthday Matt!!

2010-11-30T19:23:00.000-08:00

Matt's birthday was last week and he is now 24! I can't believe it, we're getting so old! We went home to Salt Lake for Thanksgiving and since his birthday was the day before Thanksgiving, we celebrated in Utah. We went to dinner at Olive Garden and then to see the movie 127 Hours, which was AMAZING. It was a fun day!

24 things I love about Matt on his 24th birthday:

1. He is the most unselfish person I have ever met.
2. Such a hard worker
3. He's very Driven
4. He's smart and has big goals I know he will accomplish.
5. Athletic
6. He's my personal cheerleader, and I know he would do anything for me.
7. He cooks dinner 75% of the time :)
8. He's a neat freak (yes!)
9. Best foot/calf/back rubber in the world
10. Can make me feel better on my worst day
11. He loves kids and kids love him
12. Spiritually Strong
13. He's going to be an amazing dad and is excited to have kids someday
14. Cuddles me to sleep every night
15. Tells me I look pretty in the morning when I wake up (when I KNOW i don't!)
16. Drives me to work on snowy days
17. He makes me oats and a protien shake every morning at 7 before I leave...even when he doesn't have to wake up for anything.
18. He scrapes all the ice and snow off my car and warms it up for me in the morning (in the FREEZING weather) before I leave.
19. His "butt chin" and jaw line :)
20. His long eyelashes and sexy self
21. Sensitive, understanding, forgiving
22. He can fix ANYTHING (including earrings)
23. He's my work out buddy
24. He's my best friend

...just to name a few. I just love Matt so much, and am SO THANKFUL I married him. I dated a lot of dorks back in the day and I am so glad that I finally met a real man that treats me the way every girl deserves to be treated. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I am happier than I have ever been, and I feel like I am in such a good place in my life right now. Every day I realize how lucky I am and how grateful I am that he is in my life. I don't know where I be with out him. I love you honey! :)

October runs...

2010-10-05T21:24:00.000-07:00

October is THE GREATEST time of year for running. It is SO beautiful. Blue skies, changing leaves, the smell of fall in the air, and just cool enough, but not cold. One word pretty much sums it up: AMAZING!!

I went for a run today after I got home from work and I'm not kidding, it was the best thing I have done all day (quite possibly all week!!!) . There's just something about running that makes you feel so good-during and after. It is my "ME TIME" , my therapeutic time...just to run and clear my head. Just me and my ipod...perfect. As I was on my last mile or so my ipod was on shuffle and the song "what a wonderful world" by louis armstrong came on. The sun was setting and it was so beautiful...what a perfect time for that song! It made me think and appreciate all the beauty around me. I am so blessed.

If anyone is considering taking up running, I urge you to do so NOW! October is the best time of year to start!!!!

You will be hooked, so don't say I didn't warn you!!! :)

Happy October everyone!

Provo Half Marathon.

2010-08-13T22:22:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was the Provo Half Marathon. It was so much fun! The run was beautiful. We started out at the top of Provo canyon, and ran down to the riverbottoms. It was so good to have Matt there waiting for me at the finish line! This was the first race where he was there. The other marathons I did when he was on his mission, so he just heard about them through letters. Even though it was just a half, it was so good to see him at the end! :)

Right before I crossed the finish line! 1:57:30 :)

air show....

2010-08-13T17:08:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, Matt and I went to the Blue Angels Air Show. Matt was in HEAVEN!!! I was a little skeptical at first... We were there ALL DAY long!! It was SO hot and there were way too many people crowded into one area. The lines for food and water (of coarse they wouldn't let you bring your own) were literally an HOUR long. People were passing out left and right of heat stoke...it was a little crazy. I was just about ready to die and then the Blue anges came out and rocked my socks. They were amazing. I can't believe some, okay- ALL the things they do. You couldn't pay me enough to do that crazy flying business!! It ended up to be a lot of fun! Here are some pictures.

high class white trash. half the reason i go to these kind of events.

pure awesomeness.

We saw Dog the Bounty hunter and his wife Beth..
:)

Something tells me they get their hair done at the same place, what do you think?

Blue Angels... I'll admit it, this whole situation is just a little bit attractive.

Taking off!!!

This was one of my favorite tricks they did!

paramecid graduation...

2010-07-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

Matt offically graduated from the Paramedic Program today, YAY!!! I'm so proud of him. He was asked to give a speech at the graduation today, and he did such a good job. I was so mad though, I freaking forgot my camera! I ALWAYS have my camera on me...but apparently I just forget it on important days :/. I called Kylie over to take a picture for us when we got home so we'd at least have SOME memory from this day. I took some pics of him giving his speech and the whole pinning process on my phone, but they didn't turn out too great. One of our friends from the paramedic program's mom was there and took some pictures for me, so when I get those I'll post some more. :) One hill down!

happenings...

2010-07-20T22:25:00.001-07:00

Summer is flying by! I can't believe it. I only have another 5 weeks or so of freedom! :(....however, I am excited to start teaching again, and can't wait for 1st grade! Matt's Paramedic Graduation is tomorrow...he's finally done with the Paramedic Program! YAY I get to see my husband again!!...well at least for a little while. He has his summer break now for the next 6 weeks, and I'm so excited! We plan on doing a lot of playing. :)

Can I just say how much I love summer?? Tonight I went for a walk at like 9, and it was SO pretty. The sun had just set, it was starting to cool off, and it was just me, the pavement, and Kenny (on my i pod of course). It was so relaxing to just take a walk and take it all in: the sunset, the smells, the temperature...it was all fantastic. I live for nights like these. :) I start to get really anxious when I think about fall coming. Don't get me wrong, fall is great but it's what comes after fall that's not so great. It feels like it is cold here 85% of the time...and that's just not okay with me. There's just something about summertime that makes me happy.

I just finished reading the book "The Alchemist". I really liked it...it was uplifiting and motivating. It's all about finding your life's treasure and listening to your heart in all that you do. I'd recommend it to anyone. It's a quick read, and really, it just makes you want to be a better person...which is always good.

So the half marathon is two weeks from this Saturday and I'm so excited!! I have been doing a really quick training program, but I think it'll all be good. I haven't run in a race since the St. George Marathon a couple years ago, so I'm kinda nervous. The St. George marathon was insaine. The first 15 miles or so were completely uphill...then the last 11 miles were pretty much all downhill. I thought I was going to die when I started running downhill. My legs LITERALLY felt like jello...ready to collapse at any given moment. It was a beautiful run though and probably my favorite marathon yet. Anyway, I'm excited/nervous for the Provo Half. I hear it's beautiful, so I'm sure I'll love it. I've never done a half before. I think it'll be fun!

Going out on the town!!
Taking pictures by the Rexburg Temple. It was SO windy
and Matt was SO sick of taking pictures...so this is how
the picture turned out. Cute face Matt.

View from the top!!

This was one of the first pics we took.

As you can see...Matt was still cooperating

at this time.

Apparently I do really strange things in my sleep.

The other day when Matt came in to kiss me goodbye,

this is how he found me sleeping. He thought it would just

be hilarious to take a picture so he could prove how weird

I am in my sleep (he tells me all the time, but I never can recollect

anything.) I'm not sure what's going on in the picture to

tell you the truth.

Matt learned how to suture the other

day in class. So he came home, put on his "nerd lamp"

(aka the thing on his head)
and started stitching up a glove. Gotta love him. :)

Charlie's Blessing Day!!! He is so dang cute! I love

how much hair he has. Look at his cute little face!!

Me and Krys just after the blessing. I could hold this

little boy for hours!!

4th of July Weekend!!

2010-07-07T15:29:00.001-07:00

Happy 4th!!!

Last weekend, Matt and I went to Salt Lake to celebrate the 4th with our families. It was so fun! It was a long weekend, so it was really nice to have those couple extra days to hang out with everyone. Here are a few pics from our weekend.

We were able to go up to Matt's parent's cabin, and had a lot of fun. Almost everyone was there, and it was really nice to visit. Their cabin is beautiful and is surrounded by beauty everywhere! Every thing was sooo green and it smelled so nice. It was great to get away for a bit and enjoy the mountians.

We went hiking with my family..

Cute Jack didn't want to ride in this backpack thing at first, but once we put him in, he had a lot of fun and didn't want to get out! What a cute boy.

Tiff's cute family

We made it to the top!!!

Maddie was collecting rocks along the way...

Cute bridge!

My cute neice Carly up at Matt's cabin. She is such a doll!!! I was sad I didn't get a picture with Kiley, Dan and Shannon's baby. She is darling. She let me carry her around and is such a cuddle bug!!

Waiting for the Jets to fly by, an annual tradition. My grandparents live in Provo and have a BBQ every 4th. They live like a block away from the Stadium (Stadium of Fire) so we always go outside and watch the jets fly by. If you know my dad, he is obsessed with airplanes so this is like heaven for him. We have been going to this place to watch they jets fly by since I can remember, what a fun tradition!

Swimming with the kids. I don't know where Maddie was for this picture, but she was there too! I just love them!

Here's a video of the jets flying by. If you haven't been to stadium of fire, or in Provo on the 4th, you really should go sometime. It's amazing to watch those jets fly by! Lisa was freaking out after they flew by, and I quote "oh that's sooooo hot!" haha it's true though. I'll admit, something about a jet is definitly attractive. Maybe it's because of Top Gun. Who knows... :)

Summertime...

2010-06-28T21:09:00.000-07:00

"Summertime is finally here
That old ballpark, man, is back in gear
Out on 49
Man I can see the lights
School's out and the nights roll in,
Man like a long lost friend you aint seen in a while,
You can't help but smile."

Hello everyone!! Yay for summer! It's finally starting to warm up and i serioulsy can't get enough of it. This summer has been so relaxing so far, and man it's FLYING by! I seriously wish I could stop time. Summer is the greatest thing ever.

Last weekend our ward had a camp out. It was so much fun! I just love our ward. Everyone is so nice and we just love it here. I can't believe I am actually saying that I love Idaho. Every time I tell someone from HS or college that i live here, they're shocked. haha. I'll admit it. I wasn't too excited to move to Rexburg at first. Far away from family, small town, no friends. Well I'm happy to say that my opinon has totally changed, and I love it here! I love the small town, the people, my job, our ward, my fun new friends, it's all just so great. I love where we are right now in our life. Every day is a new adventure, and life couldn't be better.

Here are a few pictures of what we have been up to lately....

The other day, we had a bunch of friends over for dessert

and Matt got talking about how he has been doing lifefight.

I made fun of him the first time I saw him all dressed up,

he just looked so silly! So everyone wanted to see what

it looked like, so he went and tried it on. Man, i love watching

his face light up when he gets in "character". It's like my five

year old nephew who thinks he turns into Spiderman when he

puts his spiderman PJ's on. It's just so cute, I just had

to take a pic. Note his expression. He couldn't be

more pleased with himself! :)

Our friends Joel and Brittany and us

brushing our teeth by the campfire!!

roasting away!!!!

Matt taking me on our hourly bathroom trips. good thing he came prepared with all his lights!! haha

a turtle we found at the camp out!!

some of the boys..

some of the girls...

i just love these gals!

so a bunch of girls in the ward have been getting together Monday nights for the Bachelorette. I didn't ever watch it, but it was so fun just to get together and have a girls night. Well, now that I have been watching for a few weeks, I'm hooked. It's so fun to get together and just have girl time. I love these girls! We have so much fun together. :)

Anyway, that's what we've been up to. Life is good.

luck.

2010-06-12T23:49:00.000-07:00

Happy 83rd Birthday!!

Today was a fun day. We started out by having a bridal shower at my mom's house for my cute cousin who is getting married next month. Then we were off to Brigham City to go out to eat at Matt's grandma's favorite resturant-Maddox. It was delicious! We had a lot of fun celebrating with the whole family and really enjoyed visiting with everyone.

LUCK. This next portion of my post is going to be about LUCK. Today as Matt and I are driving home from his parents house something happened. I had accidently left some boxed food (leftovers from lunch) on the trunk of my car. We had driven a little ways down the road before we noticed it, and as soon as we did and we were stopped, Matt jumped out of the car to get it off the trunk. Well, we get back to my house and all of the sudden Matt can't find his cell phone. He called it from my phone, checked the car, called his parents for them to check the car, I called the resturant AND the gas station we had stopped at...and it was no where to be found. As we re-traced our steps I had a gut wrenching feeling that the phone had fallen off his lap (because he tends to keep the phone on his lap -not in his pocket which would have been much smarter) and was lying broken in the middle of the road. I kept calling it and calling it and everytime it would ring just like normal and go to the answering machine. I knew it had to be on and not broken becasue if it was it'd just go straight to the answering machine. So, an hour or so has passed and still no luck. So we decide to drive back to his parents house to see if we can find it. As we came to the corner where matt had jumped out for the food earlier i saw a little black thing in the road. NO WAY that could be his phone, right? WRONG! I was calling his phone at that moment and lo and behold there it was: RINGING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD!! I jumped out of the car and ran across the road (probably not smart, but I couldn't help it) and gave the phone a big bear hug. I really wasn't looking forward to buying another phone. It's amazing that it was in one piece especially after hanging out in the middle of a busy road for an hour. It had a couple of scratches but it works just like new. Now that's what I call LUCK!

We spent the rest of the night with my parents, and Ben and lisa and audy pop. Dinner and frozen yogert after. We had a lot of fun. I love home. :)

Goodnight!

Weekend Fun and Classroom Accessories

2010-06-08T21:24:00.001-07:00

So lately I've been looking for a chair for my classroom. I was looking online today and found this DARLING rocking chair and went and picked it up tonight. I'm pretty much in love with it. We're just going to keep it in the house until school starts and then I'm going to put it by the rug where I will read to the kids. I think it'll look really cute with my new bookshelf! I'm getting excited for 1st grade!! :)

On Saturday we went to this airplane museum that I didn't even know existed. If you know my dad you know that he is obsessed with anything that flies. When we pulled up to the museum he said he was just going to "run in for a sec." Once again, if you know my dad, that's not possible for him :) So him and Matt went in while my mom and I stayed in the car. We thought that by staying the car they would hurry a bit faster...nope not the case. So we ended up going in and stayed for like 3+ hours until they finally kicked us out. Matt and my dad were in heaven. They got a "special" tour (because my dad somehow finds a way to be best friends with everyone he meets, love him). The tour guide let them sit in the one of the airplanes and it was seriously so funny to see the looks on their faces. They looked like little boys on Christmas morning. Hilarious!!!!!! Here are some pics.

my dad in heaven...

matt in heaven...

in heaven together....

Last weekend my parents came to visit and it was so fun! They came out to my school to see my classroom and surprised me with the cutest bookshelf!! I LOVE it!!! Here are a few pics..

I love how you can see the cover of all of the books. It's perfect for the little ones.

I'm going to turn this corner into the "reading corner" and put cute stuffed animals and maybe a small love sack for the kids to sit in while they read.

We spent the rest of the weekend showing them around good 'ol Rexburg and eating out at our favorite hot spots. It was really good for them to come and see everything up here. I just love my parents!

meh...

2010-05-29T19:15:00.000-07:00

so bored. i'm having such a LAME Saturday night! matt is working in the ER today so i get to sit around and be lame. awesome. I'm watching "the break up" and thinking how glad i am that i married matt and not some idiot like "gary" (aka vince vaughn). sad thing is...gary reminds me of some idiots i've dated in the past, what was i thinking! geesh! that could've been bad.

summer is officially here now and i am so excited! next week i have to get my new classroom set up for next year. i have everything moved in but now i just need to get it all set up. i'm excited to get it all done. 1st grade will be a lot of fun, i'm excited. it's going to be a lot more work than fourth, but i think it will be good! the previous teacher in that room is retiring, so she is leaving me all her stuff, whis is AWESOME! that will be a big help. especially since they're giving us new teachers like NO money for classroom supplies. it's pretty sad. but at least i have a job, right!?

another thought on my mind... what's the deal with the weather situation outside? i mean come on, it's almost JUNE! i'm seriously so annoyed. i don't know what happened to spring, but so far i haven't seen it.

Look What I Made!!

2010-05-27T20:25:00.000-07:00

I made my mom one of these for Mother's Day and fell in love with it so I decided to make myself one. I think it turned out quite cute! It looks great on the wall. I'm going to need more projects like this during the summer to help keep me busy. Let me know if you have any fabulous ideas. :)

Oh The Places You'll Go!!!

2010-05-26T21:43:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago we went home to South Jordan and had a wonderful time with family!! One night we had a fire in my back yard with some of my most favorite people in the world. It was great. We love going home and miss it like crazy!! Hopefully it won't be too long until we're back.

I love my Audy Pop!! :)
Future Family Photo...

Roasting Marshmallows!!

Happy 5th Birthday Boyfriend!!! (May 27th)

Only two more days left of the school year! CRAZY! This year has flown by...it's insaine! I can't believe my first year of teaching is over...Geez! Time flies. I have absolutely LOVED my job. I seriously couldn't have asked for a better one. I love my school, and everyone I work with. The ladies (and 2 men) are so down to earth. Truly some of the nicest people I have ever met. I look forward to going to work every day. Not many people can say that! That's how you know you picked the right profession. :)

Next year I will be switching from 4th grade to 1st and I am SO excited! I have loved teaching 4th this year, but the younger grades is really where I belong. I love the little ones. They say the funniest things and are just so dang cute. I'm sure I'll have PLENTY of hilarious stories next year.

I have to move to a new classroom, so that has been kind of a pain this week, but it's good because it's giving me a chance to re organize all my stuff and get rid of junk. I have all my stuff in boxes and am moving it all tomorrow. Should be fun. :/

The last couple days of school will be filled with mixed emotions. I am going to miss my kids like CRAZY! I have gotten so attached to them. I'm just hoping I don't break down in front of them. When I student taught in kindergarten, my last day was HORRIBLE. The kids were crying and I was trying not to. As soon as I got in my car on that last day the tears just started flowing. Oh how I loved those kids! I wish I didn't get so attached, it makes the end of the year not so fun.

Tomorrow will basically just be a clean up day. At the end of the day we're going to play a "web of appreciation" game where we sit in a big circle and throw a ball of yarn telling each student why they are appreciated/what we love about them. After that, I'm going to read them my favorite book "Oh The Places You'll Go" and hand out some goodbye gifts. I have a feeling I might not have much luck keeping my eyes dry. :( I will never forget my kids. They have made my first year of teaching one that I will never forget.

Krys' Baby Shower!

2010-05-22T15:22:00.001-07:00

Last weekend was Krys' baby shower at my house in South Jordan. It was a lot of fun! It was good to see everyone again. I can't believe Krysten is having a BABY in like two weeks! I'm so excited for her, and can't wait to meet the little guy. :)

i always love a man in uniform....

2010-05-08T20:38:00.000-07:00

At school, we are learning about emergencies and what to do in an emercency situation. Well, since Matt is training to be a paramedic, I thought I would have him come and be a "special speaker" for my class. They LOVED it. They love when he comes to visit. He and his friend Aaron (who's also in his class) came with him. They brought the Ambulance and all their gear. It was a lot of fun! Here are some pics from emergency day.

Matt wore the paramedic gear, and Aaron wore their flight gear. This semester, they are going to be flying (like lifefight stuff) so Aaron came and talked about that.

Showing the EKG monitor..

I was so glad Matt could come to help me teach this lesson. What a cute husband I have!!!!

Cinco De Mayo!!!

2010-05-08T20:20:00.000-07:00

For Cinco De Mayo, we went over to our friends Natalie and Zuriels house to celebrate! It was a lot of fun. They are amazing cooks, and made the most delicious mexican dinner ever. It was so good! We also celebrated with margaritas and a pinata that Emily and her hubby brought. It was hilarious. I felt like I was five, and loved it!

Matt breaking the pinata!!

hummmm.........

Natilie

emily..

delicious mexican cake (can't remember what it's called)

The food!!!!

Pinata, margarita, and a lemon... ole!!

We had so much fun celebrating! Earlier that day at school I wanted to celebrate so I made cinnamon sugar tortillas for my kids while they colored pictures of the Mexican flag and other fun Mexican pictures and activities. They loved it! It was a fun day! :)

Audrey's 1st Birthday...

2010-05-08T19:31:00.000-07:00

Audrey is ONE!! I can't believe it. She looked so dang cute at her "Barbie" birthday party. It was a lot of fun. I love you Audy Pop!! Happy 1st Birthday!

cute jack!

silly thatcher...

Me and Madeline.. :)

Me and Lisa

Tiff's cute kids

YAY!!!

Love this pic! She's trying so hard to walk!!

She loved her new fairy tales book from aunt Amy!

Adorable.

Monday off?? YES PLEASE!!

2010-05-03T06:40:00.000-07:00

So just as I was rushing out the door this morning, I checked my phone to see that I had 3 missed calls. Strange, I thought. So I checked my messages and sure enough, school has, yet again, been cancelled for the day!! I guess the water isn't working or something, so, no school. I was just thinking this morning how tired I was and how I would just love to have a day off...apparently someone heard me. :) Well I'm off to the gym!

BBQ fun!!

2010-04-26T21:53:00.000-07:00

not quite warm enough... but dangit I wanted to eat outside.

Our cute little grill!

So Matt and I decided that we needed to buy a BBQ for our deck this summer. It was an awesome purchase, and I'm obsessed with eating outside! It's such a summer thing to do...and we all know how obsessed I am with summer. Since we wanted to eat outside, we needed a little table as well, so good ol Wally World helped us out. What a fun night we had! Here are some pics.

We are LOVING the weather! Can't wait for summer. :) Only 23 days left of school!! YAY!

One Year!!!!

2010-04-10T13:41:00.001-07:00

We have been married for a year, and I can't believe it!! This past year has FLOWN by. A lot of people say that the first year is the hardest, so if that's the case, the rest of our marriage is going to be a breeze!! :) We have had so much fun together, and we just love being married. We have been really busy this past year. Here are some things that happened.

We Got Married!!

Moved to Rexburg

Matt started school

Graduated from SUU

Had my first job interview for teaching

HIRED as a fourth grade teacher

RELAXED before school started

Matt started summer school

I started teaching!

Matt accepted to Paramadic Program

Hawaii :)

Called as 2nd Counselor in Relief Society

Matt found out he will be going to Georgia on his internship

Celebrated our 1st year!!

Here are some pics from our anniversary celebrations. Matt came and brought me lunch and ate with me at school. The kids were so excited to see him. Later that day we went to dinner and ate some of the top of our wedding cake. It was still so delicious!!

This past year has been the happiest in my life, and I couldn't ask for a better husband!!

There's not much selection here for resturants as you can see.

But Texas Roadhouse is always fantastic!!

The beautiful flowers that were waiting for me

on the table when I got home from work.

Top of our cake!

Feeding each other...hahaha

ONE YEAR!!!

We weren't able to do a whole lot of celebrating because it was a week night during finals week, but we plan on taking a trip this summer to celebrate. We're thinking either Mexico, Puerto Rico, or possibly Hawaii. Not sure yet, but I can't wait!!

Easter Fun

2010-04-05T20:01:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures from the weekend. We had a lot of fun in Utah, and wish we could've stayed longer! On Easter, we went to Tiff's for breakfast and then the whole fam-damily came over to my Mom's for dinner.

Matt blowing bubbles with the kids..

My cute babies!!

They love Grandpa

Dying Easter Eggs!

Our Baskets... My mom got us one too.. :)

Out to dinner with the girls...

Me: "Let's take driving pictures!"

Matt: "Honey this is so dangerous!"

(the look on his face says it all)

Audrey ordering her dinner at Texas Roadhouse.. :)

Thatcher arguing with Matt about sharing me as their girlfriend. Hilarious.

Well I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend! It's back to school tomorrow for me. Not so excited about that. It will be good to be busy again. Matt has 2 more days of school this semester, and I am SO excited. This sememster has been insane.

Our 1 year anniversary is on THURSDAY!! I can't believe it. We brought our cake top back to Idaho, so I will post more pics of that later.

My Hot Scuba Hubby

2010-04-02T17:46:00.000-07:00

We are home for Easter this weekend! Yay!! Oh how I love and miss Utah dearly. One day we will be back!...

I went to lunch with Krysten this afternoon and it was so good to see her! Her belly is SO cute! It makes me want a baby. I think I'm getting baby hungry, and that is dangerous. Matt isn't... :(

Well...it's official. Matt is a certified scuba diver! He finished up this weekend and is so excited about it. He's obsessed with his new hobby.

Pleased as punch!

Sweet New Earrings....

Two of my cute students made these earings for me the other day. THey came in before school started, each holding one in their hand, and gave them to me. They were so excited. They had made me a pair to match with theirs.

They were wearing their matching pairs and wanted me to match with them, so I put them in and wore them the rest of the day.

Well I'm off to dinner with the girls while the boys are at Priestood.

More to come later! :)

Really????

2010-03-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

So I guess I lied in my last post. Matt and I are no longer going to be teaching the Family Relations class. Last Tuesday, the Bishop called us in again, (we've had like 14 callings in the past 2 months...haha) to his office and asked if I'd like to be the 2nd Counselor in Relief Society.

WHAT? He's got to be joking, right? Wrong. He was not joking. I was a bit overwhelmed at first, but the more I think about it the more excited I am. I think it will be a lot of fun to get to know all the girls in the ward and really be involoved with everything. The new President is one of my visiting teachers, and she is a doll. I think we'll have a lot of fun working together.

We will be teaching our first, and last class this week, which should be interesting. Speaking of which, we haven't started preparing for it yet. Guess we better get on that. If my husband would be home long enough to help that would be awesome. He has been so busy lately, and it's driving me nuts! But I'm not complaining.

This week at school, we have been reading about wildfires and the effects they have on nature. One of my cute students asked if her dad (who's a firefighter) could come and talk about fires, since we were talking about it this week. I told her yes; what a great learning experience for the kids! I love when parents volunteer to do things like that. As a teacher, you really appreciate supportive parents!! So anyway, today after lunch, her dad came (all dressed in his fire gear :D) and talked to the class about fires. The kids LOVED it, and they asked the funniest questions. Kids are darling. He brought all his gear with him, C-Collar, backboard, cast-like-blow-up things (Matt's not here, so no, I don't know the "technical"name, but you get the picture.) I thought he was going to put one of the kids 0n the backboard and do a demonstration, but no, he chose me! The kids thought this was hilarious. So I layed on the floor and he went through the routine to show the kids what they do when they find someone on the ground who's hurt or something.

First he checked to see if I was breathing, then had one of the kids find a pulse. After that, he and the kids all helped put me on the backboard and strap on all the stuff they strap on. After they were all done they lifted me up and took a picture. It was quite the experience I must say. My kids said I looked like a mummy. One kid said "Hey lets throw her in a lake and see if she floats!" Probably not a good idea kiddos.

It was a fun day.

Update.

2010-03-22T18:02:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a while, so I figured I'd update.

We went home last weekend, and it was so much fun. It's always so good to see family and hang out with my darling nieces and nephews. I can't believe how much the babies have changed since I saw them last! Jack got his first haircut, and makes the cutest face whenever he hears an airplane. He's such a boy!! Audrey is crawling now and does so many cute tricks. Some of my favorites include "what does a cow say?" and "where's your nose?" (it's so darling, she points to her mouth and gives you a huge smile, she's so proud that she knows where her "nose" is!!) ha ha.

While we were home, I did some sewing (tried, I should say) with Lisa. We made some darling curtians and a table runner, it was fun! I have decided that when I get more time I would really like to learn how to sew and make cute things; let the "crafty" side of me come out (not sure their is one, but i'm willing to give it a shot). I think it'd be a lot of fun.

Last week, Matt and I got a new calling. We are now the Marriage and Family Relations teachers for our ward. I had somewhat mixed feelings about it at first. In our ward, this class is pretty big (usually like half of the ward goes to Gospel Doctorine and the other half goes to Marriage and Family Relations) so that made me a little bit nervous. The more I think about it, the more excited I am. I think it'll be a fun class to teach, and I am SO glad Matt is going to be teaching it with me! I really like our ward. Everyone is in the same stage in their life and I think it will make teaching the class a lot easier. Our first class is this Sunday and we're talking about Mothers' Roles in the family. Should be fun.

School is going really well. I love my class, they are so cute. Today I got evaluated by my principal and it went pretty well. My overhead projecter is SO annoying; it makes a obnoxious ratteling noise the entire time it's on. Not only is it a total distraction, but it's super loud which makes it really hard to teach. So anyway, today he came in during math (my projector was on), sat down in the back of the classroom for a few minutes, then got up and left. He came back a few minutes later with a BRAND new overhead projector, still in the box!! I was SO excited, and so were the kids. It serioulsy felt like Christmas morning. He put it together for me right then and there and plugged it in so I could use it for the rest of my lesson. What a nice guy! I have been so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with such a great principal. It's his third year ,so he's a young guy, and you can tell he just loves what he does. He's so good with the kids. One of my favorite things is that he goes out at recess and plays football or kickball with them. There's no way you would have seen my principal out at recess when I was a kid. Anyway, I was just so grateful and excited about the new projector, that my kids and I decided to make him a thank you card. They all signed it and a few of them took it down to his office to give it to him. It was a good day.

Spring break is next week and I'm super excited about that. I get Wednesday thru the following Monday off and I have every intention of sleeping in each and every day. BTW, did I mention how excited I am that the first day of SPRING was Saturday!?! Hello! I have been counting down the days since like October! I just love Spring. Everything comes back to life and the cold ugly winter goes away (at least for a minute or two :/) My grandma always talks about "the magic of green" around this time of year. All of the sudden things start to turn green again, and you remember just how beautiful the world is.There's just something about sunshine, blue skies and warm air that brings hope. Spring is like the light at the end of the tunnel, and it's getting brighter and brighter, finally! Now only if it would stop snowing outside... :/

I have discovered my new obsession this spring. Baby cows ( I guess the proper word is calfs, but whatever). They are SO cute. Everytime we pass cows I get super excited to see their babies. I just want to squish them!! They make me baby hungry, is that weird?? I have decided that baby ANYTHING is adorable. Matt seems to disagree. He tries to make me change my mind by coming up with the ugliest baby animals (snakes, spiders, etc.) but it doesn't work. I still think they're so cute!!

I can't wait for Matt to be finished with school. He is ALWAYS doing homework or something for school. Busy busy busy!! He has a break at the end of July, and I think we are going to go to Mexico to celebrate our one year anniversary. My dad didn't like the idea (imagine that) and said that Mexico was way too dangerous right now. Matt really wants to go there because he has been taking a scuba class and will be scuba certified in a couple weeks. He LOVES it. Let's just say it's HIS new obsession. So we might not do Mexico, but we're for sure going somewhere with a beach. :) I decided that we are going to go on as many vacations as we can before we have kids. Once you have kids your life pretty much ends (at least the freedom of it) so we need to enjoy it while we still can!! hahaha

Well I'm off to grade health tests and cut out bookmarks. Goodnight all!

my baby goldfish...

2010-03-11T18:24:00.000-08:00

So last night I had an awesome dream. I had a dream that I had a baby!! THe strange thing about it though, is my baby was a goldfish. It seemed so normal in my dream, like there was nothing wrong with giving birth to a goldfish or something. It was so real, I seriously felt a connection with my goldfish! It would come to the top of the tank and I would feed it a bottle. So random, I know.

I told Matt about my dream when I woke up. He just laughed. I think it's a sign that we're definitly NOT ready to have kids and that we should take baby steps...goldfish, then maybe a hampster, then maybe a cat, then maybe a dog...and THEN maybe a baby. It's a sign for sure. Haha Matt was relieved with that idea.

I'm so excited for the weekend! Friday is going to be super lame cause Matt has to work a long shift at the hospital. I HATE when he has to do that! But we plan on going and seeing Matt's on screen boyfriend (and mine too...Jason Borne) on Saturday. He has been looking forward to seeing The Green Zone for a while now. It's a total guy show but I am more than happy to sit and watch our boyfriend for a couple of hours. ;)

On a side note...does anyone have a SIMPLE way to put the cute font on your blog?? Last night I tried to do it but it seriously took like an hour, and then i just gave up out of frustration. Is it supposed to be that difficult and take that long?... Or am I missing something?? If you have any advice please share. :)

One year ago...

2010-02-27T20:57:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how fast time flies! Here are some fun pics from a year ago!!

Matt was working as a Security Guard at Rio Tinto. I went and visited him one Sunday, and thought he looked so dang cute I just had to snap a pic. :)

I always love a man in uniform...

Three boys that I miss terribly!!

Baby Jack was born!!

Dinner at The Roof for my birthday...

Where has the time gone!? We've almost been married for a year now, and I can harldly believe it. The first year has been so much fun. Before we got married, a lot of people told us that the first year would be hard; an adjustment to say the least. I'm not sure if I just didn't realize it or something , but there were no adjustments or surprises. He didn't do anything weird, or unexpected, and according to him, neither did I.

My sister always says that her and her husband are soulmates. When I first heard her say this, I didn't really think anything of it, besides that it was kinda cheesy :). After being married I have come to realize that Matt is my soulmate. I couldn't have married anyone else and been completely satisfied. He knows me better than anyone and I don't know what I would do without him.

On a side note, I couldn't be more happy that it's the weekend! Last week was a long. Last night we went to the movie Shutter Island, and it was so good. It was kind of dark, but we still loved it. It totally keeps your interest, and turned out completely different than I thought it would. Go see it!

Today I slept in 'til like 11:00 (fantastic, BTW). I woke up feeling kinda sick, sore throat and achey, so I just lazed around the house and watched Matt do our taxes, (bless his heart). I went to the gym to get my workout on, and then came home took a shower and had nap. We went grocery shopping tonight and then out to dinner at Bajio. It was delicious! Then we stopped by the dollar store and got some St. Patrick's Day decorations for my classroom. Love the dollar store!! Now I am blogging and watching Titanic...it's on TV and I couldn't be more excited about that. Takes me back to my middle school days when I was obsessed with this show. "I'll never let go Jack!!" Oh boy, the drama!! hahaha

Life is good. I can't believe my first year of teaching is almost over! It's been so much fun. I have been so blessed to have such a great job. I look forward to going to work each day. I love the kids and the teachers I work with. Matt has been busy with school. He is gone A LOT, which really sucks for me. If he's not at school, he's working in the hospital, doing homework, working at the station, or at clinicals. Although I hate him being gone so much, I'm not complaining. He's such a hard worker and has so many goals. I'm just so proud of him! :)

Well, that's all I have for now.

P.S. Spring is only 21 days away!

hApPy VaLeNtiNes DaY!!

2010-02-14T22:18:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!! What a fun holiday-especially if you teach 4th graders! We had a contest to see who could make the most "creative" Valentine's box, and here are some that I thought were pretty creative..

Duct Tape Box!!

THis one was my favorite. He had a section for his water bottle, Valentine's and for his candy. He painted popsicle sticks and glued them together to make this "love boat". So cute.

It's amazing what a little bit of glitter and feathers can do! :)

Playing in the car...

The Valentine's I made for my class...

I just HAD to have my own box, so Matt helped me wrap it (i SUCK at wraping BTW) and then I cut out the hearts to make it look a bit festive. I must admit, my kids made my box look like crap. Oh well, I tried. I guess they're just more creative than I am- go figure!!

We had a relaxing Valentine's Day weekend. Yesterday we went to the movie "Valentine's Day" which was really cute- got me in the Valentiney mood!! After the movie, we went to a late dinner at Applebee's (not my favorite, but we had a gift card, so hey, it was free.) It was fun!

I woke up this morning to flowers and candy and a cute homemade Valentine from my hubby. How fun! Why isn't Valentine's Day like once a month? Now, that'd be nice. :)

We went to church, which was awesome because we had a special meeting where one of the 12 apostles came to speak! It was so neat. Not only was it awesome that he was there, but church was only an hour and a half!! Ha ha I could get used to that!!

After that, we came home, ate some lunch, I made Matt a Valentine, and then we took a nap. When we woke up, Matt said he had a little date planned for the rest of the night. We jumped in the car and headed down to Idaho Falls where we went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse (mmmm..my fav.) and then came home and made sugar cookies! It was so much fun.

CheeseBall!!!!

making cookies in the pink Kitchenaid!! :)

Matt's homemade Valentine, gotta love him!! :)

Here are some pictures of the card I made him. I was quite pleased with how it turned out! My mother-in-law, Debbie, got me the Cuddlebug machine for Christmas. I had so much fun using it to make his card!

Back...

Inside of card...

Front...

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful day.

XOXO

I have a dream....

2010-02-12T20:00:00.000-08:00

This past week at school we learned about Martin Luther King. We talked about all the amazing things he did, and why we celebrate his life today. I read several different books to the class, and in one of the books was his "I Have a Dream" speech. While I was reading it, this idea popped into my mind that it would be cute to have the kids create their own "dreams". It turned out SO cute; the kids did such a good job.I was proud of them. Here are some of their "dreams" and how the final product turned out.

This is a report that one of my students did on Martin Luther King. I didn't ask her to do it, she just went home and did this on her own. She came to class the next day all excited about it, and asked if she could share it with the class. I hadn't read it yet, but I told her she could. At the end of the day, she read it to the class and my jaw was on the floor by the end. She did SUCH a good job! I don't know if you can read it, but it really is good!
final product hanging in the hall..

Some "Dreams"

I was happy with how it turned out. I had no idea it would be such a success! Again, this is just another reminder of why I went into teaching. It's SO refreshing to hang with kids everyday. Their innocence, compassion, and curiosity are just some of the reasons why I love teaching 4th grade so much. They really can do anything they want, and I love that it is my job to cheer them on along the way!!! :)

A tribute to my darling babies...

2010-02-03T20:33:00.000-08:00

Well what can I say??? I'm a proud aunt, can you tell? Here are some pictures from Hawaii of my favorite kids in the world. They are so much fun, and I love them all so much! They make me baby hungry...yikes!!!
Lisa's baby girl Audrey Faye. All I can say is WHAT A DOLL!! This little girl is just so much fun. She is hilarious already, you can see that she is already taking after her "chatty kathy" mom and her class clown dad. She is such a boss already, just wait till she can talk! :) She loves music, especially "Party in the USA" and dances to it every time it is on. She loves to play games, and thinks peek a boo is hilarious. She gives the sweetest slobbery kisses and is ALWAYS dressed to kill. Lisa makes the cutest bows for her, she literally has a bow to match every outfit... (see picture above.) She is 9 1/2 months old and love her like she's my own!

Here is my chubby buddy Jack Jack. Wow, what a handsome baby! He is so cute. He just learned how to crawl and he gets around FAST! He loves his mommy and his milkies, and looks just like his dad! His eyelashes are AMAZING, he has the cutest personalty, and is such a happy baby. He will turn one on February 19th. He does lots of funny tricks and different faces that make everyone laugh. He loves his brother Thatcher, and already follows him wherever he goes!
THis is my Maddie girl... the first born grandchild and also the first girl. Lets just say my family went a little crazy when she was born. I'd have to say she was probably the most spoiled baby i have ever seen! SHe has grown up to be a such a sweet girl. She is so compassionate; a friend to everyone she meets. She is the only girl in her family, and her and her mom are Target buds, which I think is so cute. Maddie is an AMAZING gymnast! You name it, and she can do it! She was doing backhandsprings and ariels at age five, and is now doing back tucks, front ariels, and all sorts of other crazy twisty moves! She loves to dance, and will make a great cheerleader/drill teamer some day! When I was a cheerleader in highschool, she would come to games just to watch me cheer. SHe was only two years old at the time, but had so much fun watching. She would get so excited she would dance around and clap her hands in the stands. I love my Maddie girl so much! :)

Here's my crazy bud/boyfriend Thatcher. Thatcher is a handful! Mischevious. Very mischevious!! Thatcher loves anything to do with superheros, guns, tractors, trians, guns, purple barbie blanket (he won't sleep without it. He calls it "purple", and grandpa. He is such a boy! He definatly keeps life interesting, and keeps his mommy busy. Thatcher is going to be 5 in May and will go to kindergarten next school year. THatcher thinks that I am his girlfriend and gets mad at Matt when Matt says that i am HIS girlfriend. THe other day at church Matt and I were holding hands, and this didn't like this one bit. He literally pushed Matts hand away and then grabbed my hand. I love this little one so dang much!

I am so thankful for my darling babies. They each mean so much to me, and I love them VERY much! :) Hopefully I can get some this cute one day!

Late Birthday Present...

2010-02-02T18:35:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple more birthday pics. We were home last weekend, and had a fun time celebrating with the family! I just love my family so much. I also wanted to post a pic of the cute necklace Matt gave me today.

The cute necklace I got today in the mail from Matt (it obviously didn't get here in time for my b-day, but it sure was a fun surprise when I got home from work today!) If you can't see it very well, it says "M&A 4-8-09" (our wedding day). What a sweet hubby I have! I love it!

ThAtCheR playing with my camera :)

Cute Matthew James!

I am so thankful for my wonderful husband, family and friends. They really are THE BEST!

p.s. I am also very thankful for the internet...blogs, fb, email, etc. It's sad, but that's about the extent of my social life! Matt is constantly doing something for school. Homework, clinicals, ER shifts, paramedic shifts, school, sleep, eat...homework, clinicals....and so on. He is such a hard worker, and I absolutely love that quality about him. It will be nice though, when he's all done with school and we can have a social life again! It might not be till we're 30, but hey, someday it may happen!
:)

.::Age is just a number, right??::.

2010-01-29T21:21:00.000-08:00

Do you think I like pink???

Classic Shot!

The house all decorated...

The cute cake! What a sweet hubby I have! He made it all by himself!! :)

I am sitting in my kitchen at my "real" house in SOuth Jordan. (Rexburg is the "fake" house..haha) but it feels SO good to be home. We come home quite a bit, but I just can't get enough of it. I miss home like crazy. We are having fun in Rexburg for the time being, but coming home to South Jordan (eventually and hopefully someday...) will be nice. Matt and my Dad are watching I Am Legend, and I'd rather be blogging, so here I am.

My birthday was yesterday, and it didn't seem like my birthday because it was just another day at school teaching. This is the first year I can say that I wasn't excited to get older. 23?!?!?! I'm practically DEAD! But age is just a number, right??!!?! RIGHT.

anyway....

When I got home from work Matt had decorated the house all cute. He made a cake and decorated it (his first cake...ever!!) and had wrapped my presents then had them sitting out on the table waiting for me when I got home (what a studmuffin!!!). THEN it felt like my birthday. We went out to dinner at Craigo's (yummy pizza place) and came home and opened presents and had cake.

I got a new hot pink iPod (I washed my cute purple one a couple weeks ago. I went running and had it in the pocket of my running pants and forgot it was there. I got home and did laundry and threw them in totally forgetting about the iPod. BTW that is the 3rd time I have killed an iPod due to water. The first time I was running in South Jordan and got caught in a rain storm. Not just a typical storm, I mean like somebody had turned on the shower faucet and I was caught 4 miles away from home in it. Not good. The second time I was running in Rexburg and the same thing happened. Out of nowhere it started raining cats and dogs. I tried to save my iPod by holding it underneath my shirt, but before I knew it, my shirt was dripping wet and just causing it more damage... Not so lucky with iPods as you can see.) He also got me the book Breaking Dawn (I know I'm super lame and haven't finished the Twilight Saga yet, but that will change soon). He says that one more gift is on it's way in the mail, and I can't wait to see what it is!

I just love Matt so much. He is the most kind, thoughtful, and unselfish person I have ever met. I am so lucky to have married such an amazing person. I really don't know how I got so lucky. I love him and am thankful for him everyday.

Here are some pics from the birthday celebrations so far. We are celebrating with the fam this weekend so more pics to come. :)

Goodbyes

2010-01-19T21:33:00.000-08:00

I hate goodbyes. Never in my life has this been an easy thing for me to deal with. Matthew is going into the MTC tomorrow. He was just set apart about an hour ago, and is an official missionary now! I just said my goodbyes to him over the phone. Not an easy thing to do. I got to say goodbye in person on Sunday night before we drove back from his farewell. THAT was horrible. I was really sad that I couldn't be there tonight when he got set apart. I talked to him after and he seemed really calm and excited for tomorrow's new adventures. I know he's going to make a great missionary, and I know that this is the best thing he could be doing right now in his life.

I will miss you Elder Hansen!! :)

ahh the joys of teaching 4th grade...

2010-01-14T23:12:00.000-08:00

Today and yesterday were parent teacher conferences...SO tiring! It was good though to sit down and talk with all the parents. I am loving my job. It's refreshing (and exhausting) to work with kids everyday. It puts in to perspective what really matters and how the most simple things in life are the most important.

When I was student teaching in kindergarten, I told myself that I was going to write down the little funny comments the kids say throughout the day. I swear I could write a very entertaining book. I never got around to doing it, but I really need to start. They say the funniest things. I miss kindergarten for that reason. In fourth grade, they still say funny things from time to time, but nothing like 5 year olds. Although I miss the little ones, I'm loving 4th grade. It is SO much easier in so many ways. (No wiping noses, tying shoes, zipping up coats, dealing with "accidents" and so on.) The kids are A LOT more independent, which makes a huge difference.

I thought I'd share some funny quotes/stories of my 4th grade adventure so far...

"teacher?? can i call you mustard?"
"mustard???...why???"
"because your hair looks like mustard!"

"see mom, i told you my teacher was a teenager!!"

"is Santa real??"
"yes I have seen proof when I was little one Christmas morning"
"really??"
then I told them a story...after i was done a little boy says as serious as can be...
"Welp...that's it! That proves it, he's real!"

"teacher... I've got a girlfriend. She's in 3rd grade and she's HOT!"

While teaching health (always an adventure with 4th graders) we were learning about the digestive system (so much fun, ahahaha). I was trying to be "politically correct" and use correct terms so when i said "bowel movement" a few kids knew what that meant and started to giggle. I tried to ignore it and move on but no, they wouldn't have it. One little girl asks "what's a bowel movement?" and that's when I lost them. A little boy decided he'd answer for her and says, "It's when you poop!" then he does the funniest laugh I have ever heard "huah... huah... huah..." it was this low slow motion old man chuckle, and I couldn't help it and busted out laughing. Really this isn't funny, bowel movements and all, but the way he answered and then chuckled after just set me off. Then the whole class started laughing and I lost all control.

Those are just some that have happened lately. I am going to try to be better about writing things down, because that's half the fun of teaching kids.

We are coming to Utah in the morning, YAY!! I'm so excited. My brother, Matthew is leaving on his mission next Wednesday, and his farewell is on Sunday. I'm so excited for him! It's really weird that I won't see him for two years. I'm going to miss him!!

Well I'm off to bed. I'm soooooo tired. Long day. Hard workout after work, then cleaned the house and did laundry all night...EXHAUSTING!!!!

Winter Festivities

2010-01-09T21:21:00.000-08:00

Me and Krys at Chelsie's wedding

..At the temple..

girls..

Luncheon

Happy New Year!! We had so much fun celebrating the new year at my parents house. My family has been doing this tradition FOREVER and we love it!

Best Friends!

Me and my hunny bunny

Audrey is getting so big!! She is 8 1/2 months now and is getting cuter by the minute!

Offical New Years Kiss!!

Gotta love the pots and pans...best tradition EVER!

Temple Square

Beautiful lights!

Well it's that time of year again...time when I start counting down the hours until springtime. Did I ever mention how much I dislike winter???? ...Yes I do. Anyway, here are some pics of what we have been up to the past couple of months. Although it's been COLD we've been having a fun!

Our First Christmas Tree

2009-12-12T23:02:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!!

Here is a picture of our cute Christmas tree! Matt and I are enjoying our first Christmas season married! Although the snow is HORRIBLE and I HATE the cold, it has been a fun month. Maybe teaching 4th grade has softened my heart a bit to this time of year, who knows. :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Hawaii!!!

2009-11-06T18:53:00.000-08:00

Our last night there!

Me and my dad..

We had WAY too much fun sitting by each other! :)

He refused to smile haha

Cute Jack Jack taking a bath in the sink!

The girls..

Audrey Faye

Laying out at the beach house!

Ahhhhhhhhh...the life.

ALLLLL the girls!

Me and my Maddie girl

Pear Harbor

So cute..

At the beach hangin' out with giant sea turtles!

SOOOOOO PRETTY!!!

Hawaii Temple

Cute Matthew...just got his mission call to Boston!

Oh she is so chubby!

Paradise

Here are some pics from Hawaii. I had so much fun with my family! Unfortunately, Matt couldn't come because of school, but I just couldn't pass up a trip to Hawaii. He was greatly missed, but I had SO much fun! It was a much needed vacation. I just love my family! :)

Reception Video!!

2009-09-09T21:15:00.000-07:00

Temple Video!!

2009-09-09T21:14:00.000-07:00

Home

2009-08-10T17:45:00.000-07:00

Matt and I enjoyed our time home in South Jordan, and I am totally convinced it is the greatest place on earth. I had so much fun with family and friends, it was really good to see everyone! We went up to secret lake the day we left, and it was so much fun! It was so beautiful; we even saw a MOOSE!! Crazy! I am so thankful for my family. I couldn't ask for a better one! :)

Madeline showing off her stunting skills!! :)

Cute Thatcher...
So PReTTy!!

Finding cool rocks with Madeline!

Hiking at Secret Lake

Sammi's Wedding!

ummmm amazing!!!!!!!

2009-07-22T20:52:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USUDlMBR-dQ

I can't wait to see this!! It seriously looks amazing. Anyone wanna go with me?? :)

KENNY KENNY KENNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-07-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

T - 3 days until MR. CHESNEY is in the house! I am sooooo excited I could pee my pants. Seriously. I can NOT wait!

Game Night!!

2009-06-28T22:19:00.000-07:00

Yay!! We finally have friends!! Tonight we went over to one of our friends house from our ward. We played some really funny games, and got to know some really fun people. Yay for friends when you don't have any!!! :)

Coming home in T- 3 days!! I can't wait!! I would really like to go swimming...there aren't any swimming pools here in the good ol Rex, what is that?? What town in their right mind doesn't have a public pool? So strange. So I will definatly need to go swimming when we're back in Utah. Let me know if you're interested!!

Saidie is BACK!!!!!!!!

2009-06-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

Poor Saidie, looks like she peed her pants!!

Nice man's truck... and gas everywhere..

What we hit!! Hello!!!!

....And what a trooper she is!! A couple weeks ago, Matt and I got in an accident on I-15 driving to Utah for the weekend. I know, this isn't a new thing for me--wrecking cars & such, but it was soooo scary! I was driving and I hit a huge big heavy metal thing in the road. Turns out it had fallen off the back of a diesel truck, and it happend to have the license plate attached to it---lucky for us!!! It destroyed the bottom of my car! It was so sad. So I slammed on the breaks (not a good thing to do BTW) and we started fishtailing at 80 mph on the freeway!! I don't know how we didn't filp, honestly! We got out of the car to find my entire full tank of gas rushing like a waterfall underneath my car. As soon as I saw and smelled the gas I started to freak out thinking we were gonna blow up. So I yelled "gas!!" to Matt and ran off. Luckily he handles these kinds of situations better than I do and turned off the car---no explosion... :) Anyway, the nicest guy pulled over and sat and waited for two hours(yes two hours...we were literally in the middle of NOWHERE!) with us until the cops and fire guys got there. He was seriously the nicest man ever. He was right behind us when it happened, and saw the whole thing. He was an off duty trucker, ( I know what you're thinking...TRUCKER?? what in the world were they thinking?? did they want to be killed or something??) and let me just say, he has totally changed my "trucker" sterotype. After the cop and fire dept arrived ( haha speaking of thethe fire dept., it consisted of one man that showed up in his 1985 Chevy with his hand shovel and some dirt.... gotta love Downy Idaho) nice trucker man drove us in to Kaysville where my dad met us and took us home!! Poor Saidie spent the next couple of nights at Doug's towing (rather...his house. Doug is literally the one and only tower in downy) and then was towed to Pocatello to get fixed. I have missed her so much and now she is back! She drives like a gem. So.....watch out for big medal things in the road, they WILL hurt your car!

ApRiL 8th 2009

2009-06-15T12:43:00.000-07:00

From Chimichangas to Star Wars....

2009-06-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

Yummy Chimichangas!!!!!

So I made chimichangas for dinner tonight, and I was very pleased with the outcome. (thank you Tiff.) They were delicious!! The presentation was awesome if I do say so myself. :)

Here’s the recipe if you would like to try it!!

2/3 cup salsa

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. oregano

1 to 1 1/2 cup chicken (boil and cut up)

1 cup cheese

diced onion (can do 1/2 onion)

1/2 tsp. fresh garlic or garlic powder

Mix all ingredients. Put 1/2 cup of the mixture on tortillas. Fold sides and roll up. Place in 9x9 pan (or around that size), and brush with butter.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

(This will make about 5 chimichangas.)

Any good ideas to keep me busy during the day? (besides Oprah, reading, sleeping, exercising, blogging, having babies, etc???)I'm starting to get a bit bored. It was nice for a while but I am ready to be busy again!! I have the whole summer ahead of me..and need some entertainment!! If you have ANY cute (CHEAP) crafty ideas or any other ideas for that matter--let me know!!!

STAR WARS...... oh boy. Matt has to watch the very first Star Wars "The New Hope" (he just said it's actually the fourth Star Wars...excuse me) for one of his classes. So here we are, me--blogging, him---staring intently at the T.V. munching on popcorn, clearly enjoying himself. Boys and Star Wars...what's the big deal!? A gold tin man and a mini robot squeaky machine just doesn't do it for me. Weird.

Memorial Day Weekend and Temple/Reception pictures all in one!!!!

2009-05-28T12:53:00.000-07:00

Yum!! Dinner at Texas Roadhouse!!
Just a little bit cross eyed in this one, she was trying so hard to focus! :)

SOOOOO Darling!!

So, I finally got the pictures back from our wedding!! My photographer was awesome, and I would totally recommend him to anyone I know. Feel free to check them out!

Here's the address...

http://www.solanaweddings.com/amymattwed/

We had such a fun Memorial Day weekend. It was really good to come home and visit everyone. I spent most of my time holding squishy babies, and I loved it! My sisters have the cutest kids ever. I could just steal them!! :) We went up to Matt's cabin on Sunday and it was a lot of fun. We were able to visit with everyone and enjoyed getting out of the city and into the mountians!

...a Sunday AdVenTuRe...

2009-05-17T16:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterdaly, Matt and I got tennis rackets! We have had so much fun with them these past couple days!! Today we decided to pack them in his back pack, get our bikes, and hit the road. We drove all around Rexburg and up to campus where they have tennis courts. It was so much fun! It was perfect weather...nice and SUNNY! We played for an hour or so and then rode our bikes around campus some more thru Rick's Gardens. What a beautiful day!!

TENNIS!!

2009-05-17T16:31:00.000-07:00

awesome headbands!!

my PiNk racket :)

he didn't know I was sneaking pictures!! :)

What a hottttty!!!

Peace yo.

Bike riding....and graduation, a few weeks late:)

2009-05-13T19:11:00.000-07:00

ROCK on..

This was so much fun!! I was laughing so hard..Matt was turned around on his bike snapping pictures of me..haha very dangerous! Don't try this at home :)

My cute new bike!!

My SEXY man!! :)

I love this girl!!

MUAH!

My cute parents!

YAY!! I'm FINALLY DONE!

Lisa's darling baby, Audrey!! I love her cute little smile in this picture!!

She was born a tiny 5lbs 9oz!! SOOO cute!!!

Wedding Celebrations!!

2009-05-12T18:44:00.000-07:00

I just posted some of the wedding pics, I don't have most of the reception ones yet, I just have the ones Krys took!! But there will be more to come of the reception...I love being MARRIED!!

Reception...

2009-05-12T18:16:00.000-07:00

Catch girls!!

First Dance!!

We're MARRIED!!!!!!!

.::Bridesmaids::.

Cutting the CAKE!!

Bridals!!

2009-05-12T17:55:00.000-07:00

Warm weather, new bike, and fun!!!

2009-05-11T14:32:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, Matt and I had one of the funnest days ever. We slept in till about 11:00 (lazy, yes, I know!!) I went for a run (best running weather EVER!!). While I was running, I fantastic idea came to mind. (this happens a lot!! :)) I decided that I needed a bike. Matt has one, but I don't, and how fun would it be to go on summer bike rides together!?? So When I got home, I told Matt about my brilliant idea, and he thought it sounded great. We decided to get ready, go on our picnic, and then go bike shopping. First, we went to the cutest sandwich shop and got a delicious sandwich for our picnic. On our way to the park, we stopped at my FAVORITE gas station here, half the reason why I like it so much is because it is called...HORKLEY'S. Yes, Horkley's...:) It's the greatest place here in Rexburg. Every time we walk inside I feel like I stepped into a time capsule and went back to the 50's. The prices are amazing, it is almost funny how cheap everything is. So anyway, Matt and I needed a drink for our picnic, so we went and got a soda. Don't worry, a 32oz. drink is 45 cents. HA I love this place. So we went to pay, but all Matt had was his card. You have to spend at least 2.00 in order to use your card, so the checkout lady made us go get some stuff that woulod add up to at least 2.00......SO 10 minutes later, after searching and counting out 200 penny candies, yes, penny candies (LOVE IT) we were able to check out. It was sweet, we had never got so much for so little in our entire lives!! THANK you REXBURG!! haha I knew there was something special about this place. Oh, and if you need a refill on that drink, make sure you take your quarter to Horkley's to pay for it!! :) Ahh the joys of gas stations in Idaho. Anyway....

After our gas station adventure, we went to the park and had a picnic. It was perfect. SO warm so nice, sweet park with HUGE old trees, and after a short nap we decided it was time to go bike shopping. First stop, I fell in love. There she was, a baby blue beach cruiser. DARLING!! I had to have her. I got this little bell thing for the bike that is hilarious. It definatly adds to the bike! So we got it home and took 'er for a spin. OH how much fun we had!! We rode all over town, and found ourselves at the BEST snow cone place ever!! We got a snow cone and rode to another park here that is so cute. It has mini ponds all around with ducks and beavers and a bike path so we were able to ride all around the park. The airport is right next to the park so Matt and I sat on a bench and watched airplanes. It was so much fun, and as we sat there together in the sunset I was reminded of the most important things in life. :) It was a good day! :)

My first meal!! :) yum!

2009-05-10T20:33:00.001-07:00

Here we are in our new apartment, proud of my first meal!! It was delicious!! Notice the adorable apron I'm wearing...Thanks Krys, now I'm cookin in STYLE!! YEEEAAAH!!

eNgAgMeNtS

2009-05-10T20:17:00.000-07:00

kiss kiss!!

He was making me laugh so hard!!

This really can't be so difficult...

2009-05-07T14:44:00.000-07:00

This whole blogging business is really starting to get on my nerves! HELP!!!!!!!

2009-05-04T16:36:00.001-07:00

I am finally creating a blog...not sure what I'm doing..if you can't tell. humm...