Back in Utah...For Now

Well we have been back in Utah for awhile now but it has taken Some time to get back in to the swing of things.

I've started back work at the optometry office until the baby comes and Robert is still doing Vivint but not knocking doors currently. There is a lot of prep work that is done in the off season. 

Since we have been home, life has been crazy and we are still playing catch up. 

While Rob was in Washington in September our poor Camry got hit by a tire that was flying across the highway. Rob took it to a shop where they zip tied it together to help him make it back to Utah. We just barely got our car back this last weekend after it had been in the shop for forever. Luckily we still had Robert trusty old car from High School affectionately name Harvey Dent. I'm so glad that the tire didn't cause Robert to wreck.

It has been so nice being home and being able to spend time with family and friends though. That is what we live for in the off season of work. 

We have been able to go and watch Tay play tennis for her school. She is pretty dang good and it's fun to cheer her on. Robert is still working on his Tennis etiquette however. 

Over the LDS General Conference weekend we were able to watch conference with our families and spend time with them. Conference was so great. I'm so grateful for the reminder to constantly strive to be better in all aspects of life. Even in simple things like being more friendly. 

A couple of weekends ago, Vivint had there annual company party. They had a private carnival and rodeo for us at the Spanish Fork Fair grounds. It was fun even though I wasn't able to go on most of the rides. Robert got to swing from a trapeze and do some other thrill seeking things. We ate tons a fair food, played games, and rode the Ferris wheel. We had a blast. 

The trip also happen to allow us to spend time with Rob's brothers and their families. We love seeing them. And one evening we were able to sneak away to Robert's mission reunion. It was fun seeing friends there that we haven't seen in a long time. 

Ken and Breaunna

When we got home from that exciting weekend apparently we didn't think we had partied hard enough so we rented a car and drove down to Vegas for a couple of days just Rob and I. We ate a lot of great food and saw the Cirque Du Soleil show Mystere. We loved every second of it. We still can't believe the strength and talent of those performers. 

The following weekend we headed up North again. Our good friend Joe and his Fiancé got married in Bountiful. It was fun to be there for their big day. We spent more time with Rob's fam. Just hanging out. And we drove up to Brigham City to spend time with my cousins and see my cousin Clark who just got home from his mission in Florida. 

Rob and Joe went Go Karting for Joe's bachelor party.

It's been an eventful month so far but we have had so much fun. Now it's time to calm things down for a little bit and get ready for the arrival of our baby. We have 6 weeks left to get a nursery thrown together and some other to do's done. We are so excited and feel so blessed. 

Breaking News!

Well we finally found the time to take a picture to announce that we are expecting.

We have known for quite sometime but wanted to keep it a secret until my sister McKenna got home from her mission. Since her mission aloud her to get on Facebook we couldn't put anything on any social media account because we couldn't risk having Facebook break the news to her before we did. 

We are due Dec. 4th and couldn't be more thrilled!  The first 20 weeks were rough between exhaustion and bad morning sickness. I am so grateful that I didn't have to work during that time. But the last 5 weeks have been really great. 

So there you have it! Baby boy Lawrence coming very soon!

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Would you believe it if I told you we moved again? Some of you probably would, some of you would probably just think we are crazy. I'm not going to lie though, I'm grateful to be back in Mountinous regions. Those Tornado warnings are scary stuff. 

Before we get to Albuquerque though we will back track a couple of weeks. 

So much has happened this summer it's crazy! One of the most exciting things though is that my beautiful sister McKenna is back from serving an incredible LDS mission in Halifax, Canada!

We missed her like crazy while she was gone for 18 months but we couldn't be more proud of her hard work. It's so fun to have her home. 

I was suppose to fly home from Kansas to be in Utah in time to hear her speak in church. As it got closer to my departure date, Rob got word that the team would be moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

I somehow managed to talk my husband into adding 14 hours to his drive to New Mexico in order to surprise our families for the weekend. 

The morning of my flight I texted my mom at 4:00 in the morning telling her that my flight had been rescheduled, and that I had a friend that would drive me into town so she didn't need to worry about picking me up. Little did she know that Robert and I already had the majority of our car packed up and we're getting ready to embark on our 16 hour drive through Kansas and Colorado. I have to apologize to my mom for adding more stress to her plate with her already preparing for tons of extended family and friends coming over. I'm sure now she will tell you it was worth it though.  

It was so fun sneaking into my parents house and having Robert with me. They had no idea! Plus, we got to see a lot of cousins from my mom's side of the family.

Afterwards, we went to Robert's parents new house that they bought while we were gone to surprise them! Rob's brother Ken answered the door! Turns out his family was there too! It was the perfect weekend for Robert to make a quick trip home!

We went over to my sister-in-laws Heidi's house to say Hi the following evening, and to our surprise Jamie and her daughters were there on a surprise visit from Arkansas! It was like a little family reunion. 

Before I knew it, the weekend was over and Robert was headed back to work. I was going to stay home for the remainder of the summer but we found out that Robert had an Apartment in New Mexico instead of just a hotel, so I booked a flight to go and spend more time with him. 

We like New Mexico quite a bit. It's quite a bit like Southern Utah but dustier. I also had no idea how huge the city of Albuquerque really was. There is no way I'll see the whole city in my few weeks here. We did take a few hours to explore Old Town Albuquerque. It's such a fun little shopping area. The buildings are mostly old Adobe buildings painted bright colors. They have everything to buy from pottery to jewelry to extremely hot Hot Sauces. 

There was a really pretty old chapel near the center of the shopping area. 

And they also had the Gazebo in a little park where the Albuquerque Tango team was dancing. So we stopped and watched them for a minute. 

It was a really fun little touristy place to go and visit. 

One other thing that I have loved about my stay here is that we found a Bahama Bucks! When I lived in Arizona, my roommate Amanda and I use to go there and get the best shaved ice you have ever had. Seriously, it is absolutely perfection. If you ever get a chance to go you have to get a Bahama Rama Mama. It's your choice of flavor shaved ice with Vanilla Ice Cream on the bottom and their Tropic Creme on top. It's soooo good!

I will try to get out and explore a bit more before I head back to home and back to reality. But that's all for now. 

Boredom Killers

So not working during the summer has its advantages and disadvantages but it really is all how you look at it.

"There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so." -Shakespeare

I love that when I am at home I am able to keep the house clean and make good meals.  Laundry gets done and so do the dishes.  I have a lot of fun out here hanging out with the other girls exploring the town and trying new things.  Also Vivint has a women's club that we are all part of called Elevate and it helps us plan a monthly activity and usually involves prizes.  We have had book clubs and service projects and I try to stay busy.  Sometimes the days can seem a little long when Robert works from 12:00 pm to 10:00 pm.

This month for elevate we had to put together a little service project.  We decided to do random acts of kindness.  It was a lot of fun.  We made little notes and drove around town doing different things.

Leaving a code for a Free Red Box rental

Putting dollars in the dollar bins at target

Leaving quarters in the candy machines

A free car freshener for some one at the car wash

It always brightens my day when I do something to brighten someone else's.  It was also fun seeing how excited the kids were to do something nice too.

Other things I do out here to stay busy include:

1. Blogging :)
2. Reading

Current reads

3. Going to the pool

4. Journaling

5. Trying new recipes

6. Going to the gym

7. Making posters to hang on the wall 

   (It makes the apartment walls less bare)

8. Calling family

9. And lately I have been enjoying listening to TED talks

I really think there should be no reason to be bored. Most of the time you just need an attitude change.  I love the summer because I feel like I get to grow and stretch a little.  What do you do to kill boredom?

July 4th Festivities!

So the 4th of July is my favorite day of the whole summer! Rob only works a half day, and it is so fun to have him come home long before 9 PM.  It's the absolute best! I do have to admit that I miss some of the traditions back at home.  Fireworks with the Andersons or going up to Brian Head to party. I guess it's just time to make traditions of our own that we can do where ever we end up in the country!

Kansas City is actually pretty fun the whole week leading up to the 4th of July! These people party hard. There was a patriotic celebration somewhere almost every day this week. The other girls and I weren't able to go to all of them but we did do some fun things.

We went to a Flag display in Merriam called Flags for Freedom! It was really neat. There were hundreds of flags set up which made for some super cute pictures for the other girls Kiddos! The rest of the week was filled with swimming and shopping and other fun adventures.

Of course I had to make a festive treat.  This year I made a fruit tray.  I thought it turned out quite cute!

On the actual Fourth of July, Robert got up and headed out to work and I went to a parade with Brandi and Annie.  The kids loved the parade.  We were near the end of it so they got lots of candy which wound them up for the rest of the day.  My favorite part of 4th of July parades is when the flag comes by.  I love to see everyone stand up and honor it.  They also had a bunch of Veterans that came by after the flag everyone was clapping, cheering, and thanking them for their service.  It gives you hope to see that people still care and understand how blessed we truly are.  Afterwards we went and got lunch together.

Waiting for the parade to start!

Robert was able to be off work around four! He came home and we went and ate at Cheesecake factory with the rest of the crew.  Yes, I ate out twice in one day.  It happens.

After dinner we headed into town for some fireworks at the park.   We had fun just sitting and chatting with everyone. We played catch and busted open some patriotic glow sticks. When the fireworks first started they were shooting low ones.  We were right behind a huge tree and thought we were going to miss the whole show.  It was pretty funny.  No worries though, they soon shot some higher into the air and it was actually quite a good show!

Robert and his patriotic socks

I hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th of July! I also hope you all took a minute to think about what we really were celebrating! Love you all!

At it again in Kansas City!

Hey everyone! It has taken me forever to get around to blogging about living in Kansas.  Partly because I have been super bad about taking pictures out here and wanted to wait until I had some to post and partly because I have been lazy. Let's be honest.

Anyhow, life in Kansas has been great! The first week we got here I all of a sudden realized that we were living in Tornado country and spent the entire week studying what to do in case of a tornado.  We live on the third floor on the end of our apartment building which only added to my concern.  Lucky for us, we haven't had one tornado warning! But don't worry I still have my plan just in case!

The month of May it rained like crazy here.  The poor guys would get soaked while they were out working! It's nice though because everything out here is super green and beautiful!  After rainstorms we could often find frogs and turtles and other creatures by the lake at our apartment so that was fun.

A baby turtle we found. And we got caught in the rain at the team BBQ!

We overall have loved being in Kansas even though it has recently gotten very hot and humid making my hair a frizzy mess 24/7.  

We have done a lot of fun things while we have been out here.  That is one of my favorite parts of moving to a different place every summer. We get to see so many different things!  We took a trip to some beautiful botanical gardens.  They had cool train exhibits set up there. Works of art were displayed through out the gardens. They also had fairy houses that had been built into trunks of trees.

Our Friends Dane and Juanita came with us to the Gardens!

We also were able to go to the Zoo! It is a huge zoo. We literally walked 5 miles while exploring the whole place.  Our favorite exhibit was the penguin exhibit but that's because the  building was so cold. It gave us a chance to cool down before heading out again.

Robert's sister Jamie and her family came to visit on their way to moving to Arkansas!  We had fun exploring the mall here that has a sweet Lego store and an American Girl Doll store.  They also were able to go to church with us the next day and stayed for lunch. It was so fun getting to spend time with them.  It definitely is a summer highlight!

While Robert is out working.  I get to hang out with the other girls that are out here. We get to do a ton of fun things.  We have been to the Aquarium. We spent time at a farm feeding goats and fishing with real live worms.  I even baited the hook with it. I was pretty proud of myself.  We have been to the mall.  On Saturdays we usually try and go and get lunch somewhere.  We have been to Farmers Markets and festivals.  And the pool is one of our favorite hang out spots.

Another favorite thing that we have been able to do while we have been out here is visit the temple once a week. It is a small one, but still beautiful and great!

We have had a ton of fun exploring and Robert has been working really hard.  It's been really fun.  We have made some great friendships and memories so far! That sums up the summer thus far pretty well. I will try to be better at taking pictures and not being lazy ;)

Cruisin' to Ensanada + Zion + An Update

Robert and I recently went on a cruise to Ensanada Mexico and we had so much fun.  We definitely ate too much but we loved every second of it!

The weather was absolutely perfect and the sunsets were incredible. The first night we had fun roaming around just exploring the massive boat.

The next day we arrived in Ensanada! It was such a beautiful day in fact it was hot!  Don't worry I wore lots of sunscreen.  We had fun walking through all the shops.  Robert loved bartering with the shop owners. Trying to talk prices down was not my strong suit so Robert did all that for me.  Ha ha ha thank goodness someone loves making deals!

We had a blast exploring Mexico but we also had a ton of fun just hanging out on the boat. We went to shows, played on water slides, I beat Robert in miniature golf  and did I mention we ate a ton! We spent Valentines day on our cruise! Dinner was awesome complete with a cute valentines day dessert and they gave all the girls aboard a red carnation! It was really sweet!

It was so nice having someone clean else cook, clean, and take care of  everything for us. We were sad to go!

We came home on Sunday and Monday was President's Day...So we had the day off!

Party in Zion!

My cousin Rachel and our friend Dan and his little brother came down so we grabbed Tay and went to hike Angels Landing.  It was such a nice day. It seriously felt like summer.

We made it to the top and didn't even have any fatalities so it was a success!

Other news in our lives Robert and I have been house hunting and we actually put two offer is on different places but both times the seller decided to pull the house off the market! So weird! 

Anyways Robert still going to school and I am still at the eye doctors.  Life is good and we can't complain!