BIRFDAY TINES!!!

I will have to say that yesterday was the best birthday I have had yet! Birthdays are so much more fun when you're married! I am so grateful for Cortney and for how sweet he is! He's the best! How could I have an awesome birthday without this fella?

It seriously was thee best birthday ever! On Sunday, my mother-in-law made a special dinner for my birthday (and we get to celebrate again with my family this Sunday! Yeah!). It was awesome! She made her famous (and delicious) pot-roast with mashed potatoes. We then had brownies and icecream for desert. Hungry, anyone??


After dinner, we sat around being weird......as usual.........


I had to work the whole night before my birthday. After I got off of work yesterday morning, our friends Ashlee and Scott took us to IHOP for breakfast (lucky us!). It was a lot of fun! Before they came to pick us up, I discovered that Cortney had decorated the house for my birthday! It was awesome! He put up balloons and signs and he even got me a princess ribbon to wear on my shirt throughout the day! At IHOP I was a little tired, but the food and the company was superb!

Yes, we just woke up.....
Ash'n'Scott

Awww, yeah! Delicious french toast!

Los amigos! Feliz cumple! (And yes, Cortney is eating chicken strips and fries for breakfast, ha!)


After the great breakfast, we went home and I slept until 2:30. It was a great birthday sleep! When I woke up, I discovered a princess gift bag on our kitchen table. I quickly emptied the tissue paper to find . . . . . a pink SNUGGIE!!!! If you don't know what that is, here's a picture of me in it reading a book......

Actually that's not me, but it may as well be! Ha ha ha.....Ever since the snuggies came out, I kept telling Cortney that I wanted one. I would joke about how I wanted one so bad, which joking about it, it seemed as though I didn't want one and thought they were geeky (but deep down inside, I really really did want one!) The snuggie gift was completely unexpected! It was the best Birthday present he could've gotten me! For those of you who haven't experienced the snuggie yet, they're pretty inexpensive and can keep you pretty warm. They are great for this type of cold weather we're having right now. The only stipulation Cortney gave me was that I couldn't wear the snuggie in public. So, if you were expecting to see me in it while grocery shopping, you're about to be sorely disappointed! Sorry......
For dinner, we went to Texas Roadhouse (because I LOVE steak!) It was delish! I had their prime rib.....and wow, it was incredible! After dinner, we went and saw the movie, Blindside. It was an awesome movie and I recommend it to everybody! What a birthday! It really was the best ever, thanks to my awesome husband!

Jazz Game vs. Memphis, Novemeber 30

Occasionally we get lucky enough to be able to go to a Jazz game! This time, it was against Memphis. We sat on row 17 and it was awesome! We went with Cortney's little brother, Jesse, and his friend Tucker. It was tons of fun! We decided that it was necessary to stop at McDonald's on the way to buy some very cool Coke glasses. The cool part about it was that it came with a free large meal! Actually, it was the other way around, buy the meal, get the glass. All in all, though, we got the free Coke glasses. They are very cool!

We headed to the game after dinner. It was an awesome game! I just love going to the Jazz games now that I have more time and can get into watching the games and following the team. My favorite player this year is Carlos Boozer. I think he's my favorite because he's actually playing decently this year and has improved a ton from last year. Cortney's favorite is Deron Williams.

GO JAZZ!!! YEAH!

Warming up.....

Lining up....

The jump ball

The Boyz....

Awww, Jazz buddies!



After the game, we went to the memorabilia store where they sell all the clothes and jerseys. The boys both got sweet Jazz pajama pants for only $10! I got a luck Jazz green shirt for $10 too! It was such a fun night!

Thanksgiving and G's Baptism

Yay for Thanksgiving! You may be wondering, "Where are the pictures from Thanksgiving?" I too, am wondering that very same thing..... You see, I went to transfer about 100 pictures from my camera to the computer and when I inserted the card into our computer (after looking at all the pictures on my camera, just seconds before), the computer told me that no photos were to be found on my card. :( Yep, they all got erased. We still don't know how, but they did, and it was very sad. But we did indeed have a very wonderful Thanksgiving with all of my family (my sister, Kim and her family were the only ones missing - they were in Mexico enjoying the warm sun!). After Thanksgiving dinner, we headed to the Taylor's to spend the rest of the evening with them (and to watch the AWESOME Jazz game against the Bulls). It was an awesome Thanksgiving! And it was so great to be with all of our family.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, our niece G was baptized. It was great to see how much she understood the importance of being baptized. She's such a sweet little girl and we're so blessed to have her as our niece. She is always so nice and is always looking for ways to do nice things for people and help people out. To make up for the lost photos from Thanksgiving, I took a lot of extras on her baptism day. It was a lot of fun to be with everyone!

My parents

Grandma and C

My brother Jeff, D, and S

J and E

S, T, and M

T, my weird brother Scott, and C

The two cutest - C and S

M, T, and J
G and Cortney

Grandpa, G, and Jeff

The Nutcracker

Because it's been so busy these last couple weeks, I'm playing catch-up on the posts! The day before Thanksgiving, I had the opportunity to go to the Nutcracker. It was performed by Ballet West at Weber State, where they were doing a dress rehearsal. My niece's school was giving out free tickets to all the elementary school kids. And I got lucky to be included in the deal! I went with my sister, Rhonda and her two girls, J and C , and with my sister-in-law, Colette and her daughter M. It was so much fun to hang out with girls and to see the Nutcracker. I had heard a lot of the songs before but had never seen the ballet before. It was beautiful! Since picture taking of the show wasn't allowed, I didn't take any - but here are some of us girls:

C and M

C, Me, and J

C, M, and Colette

C and J

Rhonda, M, Me, and J

Afterwards, the girls came over to my house and we ate some delicious 5-buck pizza! It was a lot of fun going to the play and spending some time with the girls!

One year ago today....

I can hardly believe how fast time flies! It has been one year since the man of my dreams proposed to me at Fernwood park in Layton. It's been a wonderful year and I am so blessed to have Cortney in my life. Heavenly Father definitely had a hand in our getting together and now His hand plays a big role in our marriage.
Earlier this year, the Standard Examiner was having a contest to find out some creative ways of proposing and I submitted our story. It's kinda cheesy and long (but it's special :) ), so bear with me:

It was a Sunday evening and my fiancé, Cortney and I were enjoying a dinner with his family. During dinner, his mom invited us to an activity the following Tuesday, but wouldn’t disclose to either of us what the “surprise” would be. Two weeks earlier Cortney had mentioned that our rings had come in the mail, leaving me filled with great anticipation to be engaged! I was suspicious at everything we did, everywhere we went, every move he made. The invitation to this “surprise” activity left me suspicious and wondering if this finally might be it!
Tuesday arrived at last! The whole day I was excited, nervous, and giddy! I just knew this was it! Cortney picked me up around 6 and when we got to his home, his family was finishing up preparations for dinner. Meanwhile, his mom requested that we take a plate of brownies to a family in the neighborhood. Little did I know this was a tactic to get us out of the house as well as to let a “helper” know we were heading to the “destination”.
As we were driving home, Cortney mentioned there were still a few minutes before dinner. “Let’s just drive back up to Fernwood for a sec,” he suggested. Fernwood is a beautiful wooded park on the benches above Layton. Although it was a good idea, it was wintertime, and the thought of being outside made me shiver! Luckily, Cortney had suggested I wear my heavy coat. When we got up to Fernwood, we parked and headed outside to a bench overlooking the valley. As we were walking, I brushed up against Cortney’s suit coat and accidentally felt a small box in his pocket. It was then that I knew for sure it was happening! Oh the excitement!
It was a beautiful night and the glimmering lights of the valley made for a romantic atmosphere. We sat reminiscing of the time at that very spot when Cortney had professed his love for the first time. The same words were mentioned once again, but with greater significance. The silence of meaningful reflection overtook the conversation. After about 10 minutes, the silence was broken by the sound of jingle bells. I felt Cortney’s heart beat increase significantly.
As we turned to look, Santa Claus was heading down the hill. As he neared, and his “ho, ho, ho’s” and bells became louder, I thought to myself, “Are you kidding me?” My skeptical thoughts were soon overcome with joy when Santa came over to us and delivered a dozen roses and a gift bag. Santa then wished us a Merry Christmas and took off back up the hill. “There’s something more in the bag,” Cortney said as I took out the teddy bear. I reached back in the bag and removed a beautiful hand-written note. My eyes welled up with tears within the first paragraph and continued to do so as I read on. The note was filled with beautiful and sincere sentiment.
“I love you so much!” I said as I finished the note. “I love you, too, babe!” Cortney said as he took the box out of his pocket and got down on one knee. “Will you marry me?” And without skipping a beat, I replied with the words “Of course!” We embraced and I knew I had finally found and would marry the man of my dreams!
We returned to his house to find the walkway covered with pink rose petals. As we entered through the door, the lights were dimmed and there were rose petals strewn about the floor. We entered the dining room to enjoy an immaculate candlelight dinner consisting of all of my favorite foods. The atmosphere was made romantically complete with music chosen by Cortney of songs that mean a lot to both of us. It was the most perfect engagement ever!





I am truly grateful for all that Cortney does for me! He really is the best husband ever and he treats me like a queen. He works really hard for our family and is very helpful around the house. I am also grateful how he honors his Priesthood. I am grateful for his sense of humor and for making our marriage a very happy one! Most of all, I am grateful for his love and acceptance of me. He truly is my best friend and I would be lost without him! I love you, Cortney!

BOATING: November 16, 2009

Yes, you read the title correctly. BOATING! And yes, the date is correct! A couple of weeks ago, my friend Emily from work called me and said, "Wanna go boating next monday?" (which was still a week away), and I said, "uhhhh.......... I don't know!" I couldn't decide. It sounded super cold and I really wasn't up for getting out in the cold weather to go wakeboarding/skiing. Then came the kicker...."It's my birthday and all I want is to go wakeboarding one last time!" I then thought back to a time when Emily and I went snow skiing and boating the same day in April of last year. It was so awesome and I think we knew we were crazy, but that is why it was so much fun! Then I thought, "It's her birthday, a special occasion. I can't let her down." So I said "YES!"
Throughout the next week, I kept looking at the forecast for monday. It was definitely going to be clear, but day by day, the high for monday kept dropping. When Monday came around, it was so cold! I texted Emily hoping that she might wanna cancel because it was so cold. I wasn't really surprised when she said they were still going. I had to go! Why pass up on something this epic?
So me, Emily, and 4 others (Carie, Lindsie, Vaughn, and Burglar) met at Willard Bay and had an awesome (but very chilly -39 degrees as the high) time! And we did use a dry suit so we didn't get hypothermia. Here are the photos (just think warm thoughts):

The Prep:

Me, Carie, and Lindsie

The girls...

Vaughn

Emily

Getting ready!

Frozen hands.....

Burglar on the wakeboard (FYI, he wakeboarded for almost 10 minutes! Crazy man!)

Lindsie getting out...brrrrr!

Carie the pro skiier....

Crazy Vaughn!


Emily showing that it's so cold, she could see her breath!

Emily

Overall, it was a very beautiful day! Even though it was freezing cold, we had an awesome time!


Happy Birthday Emily!