Paradise Island

For Spring Break, we were able to go to Hawaii.  We had the greatest time. We were on Oahu staying in a cool Marriot timeshare in Ko Olina. We were there for about 6 days and the weather could not have been more perfect. I've been to Hawaii and so has Kurt, but he was a little younger, so he doesn't really remember it all that well, so it was nice to go when he could remember!  We got in late Sunday night and were so tired from flying all day, so we basically just crashed. On Monday, we explored the Temple grounds and took lots and lots of pictures there. Then we drove over to the North Shore so the boys could catch some big waves. There were some pretty decent waves because of the tsunami that had happened a few days prior. We got shaved ice at Matsumotos and ate really good tai food. I know all the good places on North Shore. On Tuesday was our day for the Polynesian Cultural Center. We spent all day there and it was great. We enjoyed ourselves learning about all of the polynesian islands while playing their games and trying their tasty food. 

We were so bummed when we tried to go see Pearl Harbor on Wednesday because it was windy, and because of that, the boat that takes you out to the memorial, wouldn't let the people get off and see it. I think Kurt was a little bummed because he wanted to see that and he really like history. I told him he can see my pictures, but he didn't like that idea so much. 

Thursday was an awesome day! Our timeshare has either 3 or 4 private lagoons for their guests and a little ways down from it is another little lagoon. This lagoon had sea turtles! They were so awesome. We got to swim with them at no price and got to snorkel and see many colorful fish of all different sizes. This was Nichole and Casey's last day, and it turned out really great! We had everything planned throughout the week until they left, then it was whatever we wanted. So on Friday we checked out Waikiki beach for a little bit, the boys were not really impressed with it. So we ended up going over to North Shore again so they could play in the big waves again. We were there for like three hours. Saturday was just a day to chill at our pool and get the last bit of sun that we could. We ate dinner at a restaurant that was next to our lagoon and watched the sunset and listened to a man sing. Kurt made a suggestion to the man, and dedicated it to me, but the condition was that I would dance with Kurt in front of everyone. So I did. He can be so romantic sometimes. :) 

And now our vacation is over, going back to work and school is so hard. Especially because we are not getting the sleep that we need. 

The Old Farts

My grandparents are the best grandparents anyone could ask for. I am truly grateful for them and am glad that they were able to come down here and spend a little time with them. I miss them a lot while they are up north and we are down here. They are both so loving and grandpa, he always has lots of good advice about life and marriage, money, you name it, he has it. Grandma knows everything there is about the gospel, any kind of reading, she knows it all. They both know so much about life and it's nice to have them be there to give us a little bit of it.
While they were here, we were able to eat breakfast at Bear Paw, some place I had never been before. On Sunday they came over and enjoyed a delightful dinner of Taco Soup, thanks to Kaysie for the recipe and ingredients. And on Monday, we were able to enjoy a nice lunch at the Painted Pony, another place that I had never been. It was really delicious and it was so nice to just spend some grandparent alone time. So sad to see them go home.

PrInCeSs PaRtY

This last weekend was an eventful weekend. On Friday night, it was my neice Alayna's 3rd birthday. (I love her cute little outfit!) We celebrated it by having cake and ice cream and OF COURSE opening presents. Kurt's brother Chad and his wife Melinda and their two girls were also able to come down for a couple of days, mostly for Alayna's birthday. Alayna's mom, Rakel, made her cake. She even did those cute little flowers. It was so cute!

Saturday was Princess Alayna's ball with 2 of her friends; Ariel & Snow White along with her cousin Sleeping Beauty aka Princess Aurora. I went along and took pictures. Rakel did such a great job at setting it up and coming up with the cutest princess games. It  couldn't have been more perfect for such princesses. When they first arrived, they all made pink crowns bedazzled with diamonds. Once they were done bedazzling, they dug through the deep sand to find their elegant earings to match their all silver rings dashed with emeralds. They looked so ravishing! They had to look their best on their next adventure, the treasure hunt! Oh there were so many gold coins lying around everywhere! The king must have dropped them on his hurried way to play mini golf with Prince Austin. 

You'll never believe what they had to do next........they had to kiss the frog! With their eyes closed! Can you imagine? Those brave little princesses! From all the hard work they did, it was time to sit down and have a little snack to fill them up before opening the precious gifts. Oh, but the fun doesn't stop their quit yet. The mean old witch was still out to poison Snow White, for she was still the fairest of them all. But since their were 3 other fairest princesses, they had to fight over which one had to eat the poison apple by playing hot apple. (hot potatoe)  Princess Alayna has never had such a wonderful ball thrown. It was magnificent. 

Our First Love Day

                                Kurt was really exited to be going out as you can tell

It was Kurt's and my first Valentines Day. We were lucky enough that Kurt had the day off from work. It started out a little odd....since we went up north for the weekend, we all know that no homework got done. and we don't do homework on Sunday, so we tried to go to bed early so we could get up at 4:30 that morning to do it. Yes I know, crazy. It was going to be a long day! I could not keep my eyes open for the life of me in my spanish class, thank goodness the teacher did not call on me, because I was too focused on staying awake. I was a little nervous about work, but I had a lot of stuff to do so that helped me stay awake. As soon as I got off work at 5, we got ready and waited 45 minutes to be seated at Outback Steakhouse. It was a really good dinner, and we had only been there twice together and I know how much Kurt loves it. We probably ate way too much! Afterwards, we drove up to the black hill on Foremaster and surprisingly we were the only ones up there. We had lots of pillows and blankets and brought P.S. I Love You to play on our laptop while we laid in the back of Kurt's car and left the back door open so we could see the city lights. It was pretty romantic if you ask me. It was a really nice night and glad that we didn't have homework or work to get in the way of our special night.

A weekend up North

                                    Kurt and baby Max
    
                                                                    

Over the weekend, we were able to go up north and see our nephew Max for the first time for his blessing. It was so good to see everybody, both on the Gardner side       and Mikkelson side. We had a wonderful dinner at Goodwood on Friday night and then the boys all went to the Jazz game. It was Kurt's first time to see a live game. Too bad they lost, that's a bummer. While Kurt was at the game I went home and spent some time with my mom, it was nice to catch up on things and to hang out just her and I. Only because everyone else was gone. Just kidding. On Saturday, Kurt helped his brother, Troy move into his new apartment which happens to be about 5 minutes away from where my mom lives. While Kurt did that, my mother and I went shopping at Gardner Village, that was fun and it was actually really nice weather outside, which was good because you have to walk from store to store. Chad and Melinda, Kurt's brother and wife, came over on saturday night and we played games with my family.  And Sunday finally came, the day we were all waiting for! Max's baby blessing! He is way adorable and are glad that he is doing good. It was fun to play with all the nieces and nephews as well.
To make our trip more splendid, we were getting gas on our way home, and my phone fell out of my pocket right as Kurt was shutting the door for me. I always thought my phone was indestructable because I always drop it and the worst that happens is my battery falls out. Not this time, the door hit it at just the right time, it amazingly fell to the ground in one piece, but the inside screen was shattered. Goodbye phone. Luckily we were still in Draper so we went home and grabbed my old blackberry phone. We still laugh about it.

I used to love to take pictures...... :(

Last year for Christmas, I received a really nice camera. I loved taking pictures and I always wanted to take a photography class. So I did, I took a class at SLC and I loved it. It helped me learn how to use my camera and the different elements in photography. I had this dream that I wanted to have my own photography place. When I moved down to St George in June, I took a few pictures, but ever since lover boy came along, I have not really been into it that much. So yes, I am blaming this one on Kurt. Here are some of my favorite pictures: (p.s. lets just say the stg is a good place to take pics)

Firework!

As of right now, my favorite song is Firework by Katy Perry. I could listen to it all the time.

                                   Kurt making shish kebabs

We had such wonderful weather for a while, and then it got a little bit colder and now I think it is getting warmer again. We were able to go running outside and go for a bike ride. Except when we went on our bike ride, there was this ferocious wind that wanted to get us. Our bike ride was about 6 miles long and the wind would come and go. There was a point to where we were passing this girl who was walking and I think we were biking as slow as she was walking....it was that windy. It probably didn't help that Kurt was in front of me. ;)

Anyway, we went on a date with some of Kurt's friends, BC & Jewls  and it was really fun. We went to Laser Mania and played some mini putt putt....and let's just say that I need to get some lessons or something.

I made a really good recipe the other night, it was easy, it was fast, and it was a crockpot! I got it from a lady in my ward up north when I had my bridal shower. So if any of you would like to try it, here is the recipe:

6 chicken breasts

3-4 cans cream of chicken soup

8 oz cream cheese

1 packet of good seasons italian dresssing(dry mix)

Cut the chicken into chunks. Place them on the bottom of the crockpot. Pour the soup on top, cut the cream cheese into smaller pieces and add the dressing. Stir occasionally and cook for 4-6 hours. Serve over cooked rice or egg noodles.

Since I am just feeding 2 mouths, I did half the recipe, and we still had left overs. We used the rice, and it was really good. Like I said it was easy, and we basically had all of the ingredients anyway.