Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Grandpa Yates

My Grandpa Yates, whom we have the privilege of living with right now, turned 94yrs old on March 28Th. Can you believe it?? 94!!!
Every year for his birthday he likes to take everybody to Chuck-a-Rama. I am not sure when this yearly event started but it goes back long before I can remember. My grandpa mentioned this event for months leading up to his birthday because he loves seeing everyone and he loves being around them all. I didn't get very many group pictures this year but my favorite picture from the day is this one. Happy Birthday Grandpa!!!

Two of my Grandpa's brothers Don and Norman (turning 90 in June), my Grandpa, and his sister Belva.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Vegas

So for spring break and our anniversary we went to Vegas. It has changed A LOT from when I went there when I was younger but we still enjoyed it anyway. The pictures I have posted are not in sequential order but I don't have the energy to fix them. :)

These next pictures are of us at Hover Dam. That thing is HUGE. I didn't think I was going to be that impressed by it but I was wrong. I am amazed at the structure and even more amazed at how they built it. I could never get a really good picture of the Dam but I did get a great picture of the new bridge they are building for cars.

My sisters, dad, and Brighton.

Hoover Dam. Brighton and I.

We went out to eat at a restaurant for our anniversary and this was the desert they brought us.

Brighton and my dad (okay and me too) love to watch the show Pawn Stars. It is about a pawn shop that is located in Vegas. If you have not seen the show it is on the history channel and it is good. So we had to go visit the pawn shop. Since the shop was so popular there was a line to get into it and a bouncer, but it was well worth the wait. That place had some pretty cool stuff in it. The things I loved seeing the most were two super bowl rings that were on sale for $100,000. I have concluded the only people who would have sold their super bowl rings were crazy gambling people. They were awesome.
Proof we were there. My sister and I.
More proof we were there.
Proof that Brighton was there.


Our picture of the store sign while we were waiting in line.

The first night we were there my sister and I rode the New York New York roller coaster. It was crazy fun and I would recommend it to anybody. We also went to the Coca-Cola store and saw the bear.


And of course we went to the M&M factory.



We also saw Lion King, a Cirque de Soleil, and a fashion show. Unfortunately they would not allow cameras so I have no pictures but I would recommend them. One nice thing about Vegas is if they do something they do it well. The performances (minus the fashion show, that was just a small thing) were amazing. I would go back to Vegas just for those.
We had a fun time and I didn't want to come back but when I got back my daffodils had bloomed. Yay for spring!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Three years!

March 16Th was our 3 year anniversary! Brighton sent me flowers at work (I LOVE flowers) and we enjoyed a take out dinner from Pei Wei. Oh how the three years have flown!

Baby Mason

I got the chance to go visit my newest nephew, and the first nephew on my side of the family, Mason!!! My brother and sister in-law live in Nebraska so my mother and I flew out there to help out. We didn't get to stay very long (lame work) but I loved every minute of it and I even got to see the ginormous zoo again!
Here is a picture of Mason doing what most babies do. Sleeping!! He is so cute when he sleeps. And even though you can't see it very well in this photo, I love the outfit he is wearing. It is green and he looked so cute and cuddly in it!!

Here is a picture of their new family!!

Here is a picture of my Mom and now Grandma! I love this photo because Mason's leg is sticking out. Most of the time his legs were curled up but in this photo you can see his leg and see how skinny it was!
Here is a picture of my bother and Mason.

The day we left I got to help my mom give him a bath. For future reference, I am sorry Mason. I am a terrible bath giver.
Anyways, the first two days we were there Mason had his legs all curled up. But the very last day when we gave him a bath and his legs straightened out! He looked so much longer and he looked like he was already getting bigger! This photo is right after we gave him a bath. I LOVE this photo of him.

This is what Mason looks like now!! I am the luckiest Aunt in the world!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Spring!

March is here and I feel Spring in the air!! I am super excited for the new warmer weather and I am enjoying the rain! This month has already brought new surprises and much joy to this year! I was coming home after work one day and realized that my tulips and daffodils are blooming!!! This has been my first year planting them and I am so excited to see that I haven't killed them yet! I already love them so much!
Since my flowers are blooming I thought it would be fun to add a little bit of Spring to my house. My friend Amanda knows a lady who cuts wood and has a bunch of paint, so we went to her house and painted us a little bit of "Spring"! Besides the brightness the colors bring to our little place I love the sparkles on them. You can't really see them in the picture but they do have sparkles!

Tomorrow I am flying out to see my brand new Nephew. I am so excited to see the very first Nephew on my side of the family! Yay for March and all of the fun it has brought so far!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Valentines - weekend

I enjoyed having Valentines on a Sunday this year because we ended up celebrating it all weekend long! On Saturday I hung out with my two best friends from high school, Sara and Jennifer. We made some sweet sugar cookies and chocolate covered strawberries.
Our sugar cookies ended up looking awesome but tasting like biscuits. Who new fast rising flour is made for biscuits! :) Never the less, we had fun making them and we got some good laughs out of it. Our strawberries turned out fabulous. Shoot, what wouldn't taste good covered in chocolate. As we were making them we came up with a whole bunch of ideas of things that we can make covered in chocolate. The next holiday is St. Patricks Day, maybe chocolate covered Pretzels...

On Sunday I made me a necklace using my little jewelry making kit. Then we went to my mom's and had a fabulous Valentines dinner. I was so mad because I forgot to take a picture of the table but my mother always decorates it for Valentines and I love it. She also gave all of the girls flowers for Valentines but I also forgot to take a picture of those. Next year. My mom has been doing that dinner for years and it always makes Valentines a special holiday!

Then on Monday Brighton and I went and saw Lightening Thief and went out to eat at Zupas. Lightening Thief = okay, Zupas = fabulous! I love that place and wish I could eat their daily. Needless to say Valentines was a great weekend!!

Friday, February 12, 2010

Long Time Coming

This post is such a long time coming. You know when your husband, who does not read the blog, comments about how long it has been since I have put something new on the blog. Yes it has been a long time. And I won't lie I have even gotten tired of looking at my marathon pictures. I still like reading the post but now I just laugh at the story. Ah good times. I also decided to change the border on my blog. I left it as the Nike border with the running shoe for such a long time because it reminded me of my dream to run a marathon. But now that I have finally done that, I changed the border. Yea! Now that I have graduated school and run a marathon nothing is really going on in my life. I feel pretty lazy. So unfortunately, I don't have very many fun pictures to show.
I ran a 10k on October 24th. A couple of weeks after my marathon. It was Nike's Fun Run. I actually think it was one of the funnest runs I have ever done. It was free and we got an awesome t-shirt. I felt in pretty good shape while running it but the last mile was still hard. I kept turning street corners looking for the finish line and it was never there. However, I finally found it and finished. Moral of the story? Finish lines are always further away then you think. Keep going. I ran it with my old neighbor Lisa and her sister. I was fun to run with them!! I decided it is more fun to run with people then by yourself. I ran the first couple of miles with them and then I slowed down to my crawl of a run. :)

Here I am finally coming up to the finish line.
Here we are at the end!


These pictures are from Halloween. This first picture is a funny looking picture of us. But we only have these two pictures. I was a hippie and Brighton was a caveman. This picture was taken post tricker-treaters and so we are looking pretty pathetic. Brighton sat outside and scared all of the older kids specifically, the scouts. He is such a good Scout Master. :) It was really funny and probably the best Halloween we have had passing out candy! Brighton's shirt says "Engineering so easy, a Caveman can do it." Weird Engineering humor. :)

Brighton's wig is super messed up in this pictures due to scaring all of the kids. It makes me laugh. He kept saying how his long hair kept getting in his face and mouth. LOL, welcome to having longer hair. He looks super attractive. :)


Thanksgiving came and went in a blur. I didn't even know that Thanksgiving was here until the day before. I didn't take my camera so I don't have any fun pictures from that but it was a good time spent with family. We spent most of our time with Brighton's family and looking back I am eternally grateful for that.
On December 15th Brighton's mom, Ginger, passed away unexpectedly. It was a shock to all of us and we miss her terribly. I have been looking back at all of my pictures and I have been so grateful for the time that she has been my mother.
I have a hard time expressing all of the feelings that I have experienced and things I have learned during that time. But one thing I know is that the Gospel is True and the Savior is always there to lift me up. He has also put people in my life to help lift me up. My friend Sara wrote a poem that expresses my feelings about my Savior. It is based on these two scriptures.

Moroni 9:25
“…may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever.”

2 Nephi 31:20-21
“Ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Where fore if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the words of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus sayeth the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. And now, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God.”

May Christ Lift Thee Up

May Christ lift thee up
All hearts heavy and low
Let not strife weigh thee down
For each prayer He doth know
Linger not in the valley of visions forlorn
Come, share of His solace
The burden is willingly born

May Christ lift thee up
Through His sufferings complete
On a hill; in a garden
Trembling pain He did meet
Even death could not conquer His sacrifice pure
We will rise as He rose
The course to His kingdom is sure

May Christ lift thee up
Past sin’s sorrowful hold
Take His hands of mercy
What love to behold
Look to His salvation, enter in the true way
Redeemed by His merits
To stand at that last, perfect day

May Christ lift thee up
Songs of joy we will shout
Through kept covenants joined
To go no more out
Oh, to bow before the Heavenly throne
Wrapped in His righteousness
To rest, now forever at home

I am so grateful for friends and family that have been here for Brighton and I and I have been so grateful for my testimony of the Savior and the gospel. I will always feel a loss for my mother in-law but friends, family, and gospel have been there to lift me up.

Christmas time was spent with family. I could never ask for a better gift then family. I absolutely love my family and Brighton's. This Christmas I spend a lot of time focusing on the true meaning of Christmas and about our Savior,s birth. I am eternally indebted to everything he has given me.

Since the new year I have been wondering what I am going to be doing with my time. I didn't really have any New Year goals because 2010 kind of snuck up on me! So I have been filling my time with little crafts! I bought a little jewelry making kit and made these earrings! My next jewelry goal is to make a necklace. I know that sounds like nothing but running a marathon sounds easier to me then crafts. :)
My second craft was a Valentines wreath. I stole this idea from my sister in-law's blog so thank you! All I did was tie scraps of fabric to a hanger that Brighton bent in a shape of a heart for me and ta-da, a craft! Here it is almost half way done.

Here it is all done.

And here it is hanging on my wall.

I had fun doing both of these small crafts. They took me twice as long to do them then I planned on but maybe someday I will get better at being crafty. Who knows what I will do next. Sorry for such a sporatic post. I hope to post more frequently and with more pictures!
Well the opening ceremonies are on and I think I might go watch them! Yeah for the Olympics!