The Holiday Break Down

This holiday break has been so much fun. However, I thought I would for sure find some quality time to blog this break, but somehow we were still busy...but in much more exciting ways than the usual busyness goes. We got to spend most of the break in SV which is always really fun for us. We love getting to be with our families. They are such fun and hilarious people to be with. Good times had by all: ). Christmas was really fun. Emers caught on to the "tearing colorful paper off of wrapped boxes to find exciting and fun things inside" real quick. She got a toy puppy with a leash she can pull it around with, but was much more impressed with the just her size baby stroller she also received. (I noticed Pearl also was a recipient of this awesome gift PMB) It's so fun to watch emyri with her babies. She is already a cute little mother hen who insists on having her babies wrapped in blankets before carried or put in their stroller. She cuddles them, pat's their backs (have you ever noticed how much you tend to pat your baby on the back? Maybe it's just me, but I realized I did it all the time when emyri would start patting Chad and I on the back too whenever we'd pick her up: ) Funny girl), and she's constantly taking off each of her dolls clothes so she can give them a "baf" (bath). We love our baby girl, and needless to say Christmas with her this year was loads of fun: )

We also got to go to my family's Christmas party which is always a blast. I honestly love everything about our Christmas party from the loads of food, getting to chat it up with all of my hilarious cousins, seeing how many new little kids their are, all the way to watching the boys betting on their basketball shots, the pathetic yet funny talent show, participating in the brawl of a game called "the grab bag", and watching grandma take all of the happenings in and realize that because of her and grandpa all of us are there that night having so much fun. My favorite thing this year was being able to share all of this family tradition with Chad. He's been there before, but this year he was comfortable enough to thoroughly immerse himself in all of the mayhem and I loved watching him enjoy it so much. Emyri also had loads of fun running around with the other twenty something little kids.

We're headed back to school tomorrow morning to hit the books again for another semester. I'm coming to the harsh realization that between my 22 hr. a week internship and chad's full schedule of classes and work that I may only get to see my precious husband a few hours a day
...which is already a reality for many of you (I honestly feel for you)...I was just hoping it wouldn't come so soon. Oh, well we'll just have to make the time we do have together high quality fun.

Welp, we'll end the post here with the many faces of emyri (or at least the one face she keeps flashing in every picture we take: ).......
At Missy's (my sister in law) salon After bath time grin...she loves her bath time
After bath photo #two Washing dishes with grandpa....if only I thought washing dishes was that much fun Our pretty girl And last but definitely not least......
Don't even ask.....I'm not sure what in the world she was thinking: )

Some Thoughts I've had Recently

Should I be more concerned that my nephew just pushed my daughter down the stairs? (It wasn't really that bad. It was only down the last three steps. But pretty much he was just curious as to what would happen if he were to give her a little nudge. It resulted in him being in some major trouble and asking emy if it would make her feel better if he took her to mcdonalds with them. She enjoyed her fries, but still flinches every time Jack gets a little too close.)

Did that seriously just happen? Did my baby just actually drink the remaining contents of the almost empty beer can she found in my step father in law's garbage? What the?!? Do I need to be concerned about what that may be doing to her body? What kind of mother am I considering I was right there typing on the computer not paying attention enough to notice my toddler was consuming alcohol? Needless to say after removing the booze from my child's paws I hurriedly looked up online whether or not I should be concerned, I removed emer's beer stained clothes, gave her a bath, and didn't mention a thing to anyone until Chad got home. Upon sheepishly telling him in private he burst out laughing and proceeded to relate the story to his entire family. I was embarrassed, but all things considered, it is a pretty hilarious story: )

(upon walking in the front door...) Sweet! He cleaned the house! He's the best!.....sniff, sniff,.......but what is that awful smell? (then entering the kitchen....) beans.....nasty, stinky beans. (I remember all over again why I dislike them so) But hey, the house looks great!

Why is it that whenever I start cooking dinner I end up cleaning the entire kitchen instead! It may lie in the fact that I like to do things that I know I can actually accomplish. It's hard to find satisfaction in something that I am so terrible at. I may be the worst cook in the midwest, maybe in the entire west.

Is cold cereal considered a decent enough meal?

I can't believe Chad won the photo contest!...and when I say"can't believe" it isn't referring to his photography ability....it's just that we really needed that 100 dollars right now. Once again...we are looked out for by someone so much greater than ourselves.

Pretty sick! How odd is it that a goat's milk tastes like a goat smells.....and for those of you who just haven't ever had the invigorating experience of taking a whif of a goat, let me just tell you....it's not pleasant.

(this was more of a conversation/string of thoughts) "No Jaxton (another nephew), you can't have a brownie for breakfast." (I open the cereal cupboard) "Why don't you have some cereal instead. Look, you can have some Captain Crunch, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Puffs, some Cookie Crisps, err (my voice begins to trail as I suddenly realize the true nutritional value of cold cereal and I think to myself "or you could just have some brownies broken up with milk poured on top") (I glance over and see some bananas) "Hey Jaxt...what do you say to a banana and a brownie?" (He whole heartedly agrees and I feel justified...at least he got a serving of fruit,right?)

The Terrible Twos (well, kind of)

My friend Anna and my friend Mandy both sent me this little survey the other day so I decided that I might as well post it with the possibility that someone may find some amusement out in it all. Here it goes...

Terrible Twos Survey

Two Names You Go By:
1. Van

2. Maaawwwm!

Two things You Are Wearing Right Now
1. A Bra

2. And Shoes.......and that's it: ) j/k

Two Things You Want in a Relationship:
1. deep, real, and meaningful bestfriendship

2. and bring on the laughs!

Two of Your Favorite Things to do:
1. Be with my Boy and baby girl
2. Reminisce

Two Things You Want Very Badly At The Moment:

1. I'd love to get to hang out with all of my friends right now and all of the funny people I've met throughout my life. (I miss you guys: )

2. I want to be able to sing at the top of my lungs while playing a really awesome song I've written on my guitar and have it actually sound good: )

Two names of pets you had/have:
1. Bubbles (my first kitty; not a big cat person anymore however)

2. Kynoah (my dad heard that dandelion leaves were good for parakeets....apparently they aren't....I found him lying dead in the bottom of his cage...one sad day) *do you remember kynoah laura?*

Name two people who will fill this out first
1. Ruthio ; )

2. Everyone...come on guys: )

Name two things you did last night
1. Got to be with all of my super rad family gorging ourselves at the Olive Garden

2. Helped Chad pick out the coolest looking characters when he'd get to buy them on guitar hero III.....and I got to snuggle with my awesome baby emers!

Name two people who you live with

1. Chad

2. and Emyri..........of course

Name two people you talked to last
1. (besides the usual Chad, Emyri, immediate fam....) I got to talk to Mandy H. who just back from her mission to brazil (she is one awesome girl)

2.and Dallin Olsen (still happy as ever and working at the town library....he loves it! : )

Name two things you will do tomorrow
1. Play a little lawn frisbee with my husby (lately we've been on a little frisbee kick while emyri plays around outside....goodtimes: )

2. exercise (is it weird that today Chad and I ran relay laps around my house for our workout because we forgot our stroller so we didn't have anyway to bring emyri on a real jog?)

Two favorite holidays
1. Christmas (it's the most wonderful time of the year, right: )

2. it's beginning to be Halloween simply because I love watching how excited chad gets about it all....he's definitely in to the scary season.

Two favorite beverages:
1. Ice cold water (I honestly love it)

2. and hot chocolate with marshmallows (mmm mmm good)






Thanks for humoring me folks....now it's your turn. TAG you're it!

This is just a random but really cool picture that Chad took of emyri and I. I found it while looking for some of the pictures for this post. Pretty neat huh: )
(this looks so much better unpixilated...sorry)

What the....?

I'm actually making a post because I have a little time on my hands right now....and why does she have a little time on her hands right now you might ask. Well it all started when I woke up this morning and got ready for my 7:45 class. I didn't wake up until about 7:10 so I was bookin' it getting ready. Then I hurried outside to see if my ride was ready or not, we're currently down to one car because of a broken belt in our other one that we keep putting off getting fixed because it'll cost us 80 bucks. I get a ride with Anna's husband Aaron, so I keep watching for him a waiting....by now it's 7:36 and no Aaron. So I run inside tell Chad that I'm just going to have to take the car and then leave class early to come pick him up for his next class. Then I head for the door, making a quick stop to fill an empty milk jug up with hot water, our newly found way of eliminating frosty morning windows in less than half the time (I should advertise: ), then I rushed for the car, doused the windows with the scalding water and was off in a jiffy. (what a funny little saying "off in a jiffy"; do you suppose we got that from the british?) Anywho, so I'm doing good, hitting all the green lights, but it's still about 7:47 by the time I pull up to campus....but something seems awry when I pull into the what is usually a very crowded and busy parking lot even at 7:45 in the am but is now a very desolated empty one. What the....? Sadly enough, my first thought was, "Is it some kind of holiday or something and I missed it?" "Could that many of teachers really have canceled class all on the same day?" But then I take another gander at our trusty car clock. Could it honestly be so? Did I really forget to change the time on my alarm clock by the bed? Have I sheepishly become another victim to the semiannual daylight savings ritual? And yes folks.....I truly had. And now I'm sitting here by myself in the computer lab with only the early morning janitors in the hall to keep me company. The only good news about this, besides the fact that I was finally able to find a little time to make another post, is that I'm so blasted early to my next class there's no way I'll be late. But yet, this truly is a little blessing in it's sad disguise because I've been trying for over two weeks now to make time to blog, but it's been so crazy busy with homework, calling stuff, mommy stuff, wife stuff, etc. (you all know what I'm talking about....except somehow you still manage to blog: )...my bad) Anyway, I'm glad that I finally get to update you on our lives a little.

Halloween was really fun. Chad is a holiday fanatic, with Halloween being one of his top picks. He's been wanting to be a mad scientist for almost a whole year now...and let me tell you, he ended up being a pretty sweet mad scientist. Emyri and I dressed up as his assistants with me being a gothic nurse and emers being a tiny hunch back named Igor: ) Absolutely hilarious! We had a friend halloween party and all of the little kids were dressed up in these cute little pumpkin, tigger, and cowboy outfits and then there was Igor hobbling around with a massive tumor on her back: ) The party was really fun though. We got together with a bunch of SV friends that are down here and ate pizza, played pictionary, and had donut eating contests. Pictures of all of this and more are on the way. This party was the day before Halloween, but on the actual holiday we got to go to my brother in law and his fiance's party. It was tons of fun too. We ate and talked and ended up playing the newly wed game which was tons of fun hearing everybody's answers. Good times.
This last weekend was really fun too. I was able to meet up with two of my old roommates from Snow and we went with our husbands (and emyri) to the BYU football game. It was the first one I'd ever gone to and I couldn't believe how many people were there. It was tons of fun too. Emyri didn't know what to think of all those people making all that noise at first, but before long she had joined in and was clapping, singing, and dancing right along with them just as if she herself were a raging BYU fan: ) It was so fun seeing Jamie and Courtney. I wished all of my old room mates could have been there. (I was blessed with awesome room mates). After the game we realized that we'd each paid seventeen dollars to pretty much talk to each other the whole time, which was funny, but so worth it. I love those girls. They truly are so awesome. After the game we went to Courtney's little duplex (way cute courtney by the way), and had yummy sloppy joys and talked even more. It really was such a fun weekend and I'm so glad I got to see them again.
Okay, so I have so much more to say and so many pictures to post, but there's a class congregating in here for their 7:45 am class (in reality), and my pictures are on our camera still at home. I'll get 'em out though asap (which is hopefully really soon) See you all, it's nice to be back again. Take care out there!

Stretching

I knew something like this was coming…I’ve been asking for it. What is holding me back from reaching the next level that Thou would have me be on? One of the answers: You need to be a better friend. You need to think of others more than yourself and your comforts and conveniences. You need to overcome your fear of reaching out, getting involved, loving more deeply, and taking life by the hands. And even though I’d been asking for it, the lesson came more painfully than I ever thought it would. Surprisingly painful. And maybe that’s how it is in life. We think to ourselves, this changing will undoubtedly not be pleasant, but unpleasant becomes poignantly painful oh so quickly. And maybe that’s how He has to get it deep enough in our hearts so the lesson’s seed won’t merely be blown off with the first passing wind. It’s got to be deep to take root enough to grow; make a lasting impression. But the planting hurts, maybe so we’ll more easily remember. You don’t really have to ask why it’s happened when you were the one who asked for it. You just make the connection and know that’s how it is; how He works within you. Now you just have to get all you can out of it, learn the right lesson. Is this what it feels like to have a change of heart? And you thank Him…and you love Him for it…because you can see what may become; what you may become. This stretching has purpose; these thoughts fill your mind as your eyelids fall before you sleep. And somehow you already feel the growing. Somehow your heart feels just a little nearer, a little more like His. You’re learning the right lesson it whispers.

“If a sudden, stabbing light exposes the gap between what we are and what we think we are, can we, like Peter, let that light be a healing laser? Do we have the patience to endure when one of our comparative strengths is called into question? A painful crisis may actually be the means of stripping corrosive pride off of that virtue.

Can we remain silent when silence is eloquence—but may be used against us? Or will we murmur, just to let God know we notice the ironies?”
(Irony: The Crust on The Bread of Adversity, Neal A. Maxwell)

He's My Best Friend

I got to write this for my building eternal marriage class, so I thought I might as well use it as a post as well: )

(that pic. was taken on our second year anniversary on top of "our mountain")

I first ran into Chad in the sixth grade when my best friend Mandy and I decided to go the movie together. The movie had started and we were sitting comfortably in our seats, when suddenly out of nowhere we noticed that kernels of popcorn were being hurled at our heads. We looked behind us to see a group of seventh grade boys trying to act unsuspicious. Among them, oddly enough, was my future husband, though I would have never guessed it in a million years. Though that was the first time I met Chad, our story didn't begin until a few years later down the road. The thing that means the most to both Chad and I and the thing that amazes us the most about our love story is looking back and seeing just how intricately and perfectly God's hand was a part of it all. We look back and see He was there every step of the way, even when we were so unsure at times. The timing of it all was both a hard thing to understand at times and yet was an incredible blessing and witness to Chad and I. Chad asked me to my first prom when I was sixteen years old. I couldn't believe that Chad Walker would ask me to prom. At this point in time in both of our lives we needed a change, we just didn't know Heavenly Father would bring it to us in such an amazing way. From about eighth grade up to my sophomore year I'd been struggling with some things at home that left me uncertain and confused about who I really was and about what love really was. By the time Chad asked me to prom despite my constant efforts to be at peace, I was in more pain than ever. Chad was also looking for a change that would bring him closer to his Heavenly Father. Our prom date was really fun and I was amazed at how easy it was to be around this hilarous, fun, and kinder than ever boy. We became instant friends and since both of our groups of friends were friends we'd get to see each other all the time. Chad said he could feel it from the beginning that he loved me, but it was harder for me to be convinced of my feelings. Much harder. I was unsure that two people so young could really feel true love, but looking back now, I feel otherwise. I also knew I didn't want and shouldn't want a steady boyfriend, but Chad was okay with that. That's what amazed me about him. He was okay with everything. Because of some of the turmoil I was feeling at the time, I'd push him away time and time again, but yet again, he was okay with that and he'd still stay by my side. As our friendship grew and grew not only was I able to see more clearly that what we had was good and real, but so much of the sadness I felt would disappear when I was with him. He could make me laugh harder than anyone I had ever met, and I guess I must have made him happy too, because no other boy would have stuck by my side that long. I knew he really cared about me and liked me for who I was because he never even tried to kiss me at all through highschool. We were content going on sunday bike rides, playing connect four and tetris, laughing our guts out, playing with our nieces and nephews, and whatever else sounded fun for the moment. Anywho, to try and make a five year long story a little bit shorter as both of us grew closer together we also grew so much closer to our Heavenly Father. It was feelings like that and many other little witnesses and miracles that let me know we had been led together so early for good reasons and that what we shared was something Heavenly Father was happy about. Needless to say, though it was a very long process, we both became that need and love and support and healing that each other needed more than we realized. We had our first kiss, and my very first kiss, two months before he left on his mission to Mexico, and that in itself is another funny yet super neat story. He left for Mexico while I finished up high school and headed off to Snow. I dated a lot and had fun, but nobody compared to Chad. No one made me as happy as he did. I realized I truly loved this boy about one year through his mission. He came home in January 2005, and it was as if we had never been apart. We got engaged two months later in March and were married May 27th, 2005 in the Bountiful temple. It was an amazing day. More amazing than either of us ever thought it'd be. Now we've been married for over two years and have loved every minute of it. Nobody ever told us that marriage could be so much fun. Now we have a little one year old girl named Emyri who is seriously the coolest little person we have ever met. We love her to death and life together is amazing!

A Shout Out

As of two days ago I was certain that my somewhat measly little blog was only viewed by about four people, four way rad people however, but nevertheless probably only about four people. But Friday afternoon I got an unexpected call from my long lost roommate Ruth. As we were talking and catching up on things she told me that she was an avid fan of the vdub's blog. We had a great conversation cuz she's such an amazing girl.... (; ) it's true ruthio), but as I hung up the phone I was left to wonder just who else is out there finding enjoyment and satisfaction (hopefully: ) from my little musings. I came to the almost scary yet pleasing conclusion that One can never be quite sure who reads there blogs, someone across the country could have happened upon them and made checking it's contents a happy part of their daily routine. With that being said, I wanted to put something extra special attached to this post in hopes of making my little anonymous reader's (if I'm lucky enough to even have any of those) days just a little brighter: ) For all of you out there reading along.... I present the one and only hilarious Hyperactive boy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCTyEXOnQ-g
The Quadruplets! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcCZABr_G1k
Little Superstar! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx-NLPH8JeM
and Potter Puppet Pals (for all you potter fans)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx1XIm6q4r4&mode=related&search=


*sorry you'll probably have to copy and paste those links in your web browser to get to the links....I'm a little blogging technologically deficient: ) enjoy!