FHE Easter Games April.25.2011

So monday night I went to the stake center for FHE & in the spirit of the holiday we decided to play easter games (who said adults can't play games?!?!)

Well the first game was an egg toss & you had to have a guy as your partner so I grabbed shea (a guy from my ward) and we headed over to toss some eggs! Well just our luck our egg cracked in mid-air...go figure! It never even hit the ground but sadly we were still out :(

But even after that bad luck we still came in 4th place-WOOHOO! And I scored some Robin Eggs...

well I've went on a no candy/soda kick so I gave them to my roommate Carlye and she went like this :D So that made me happy!

Tulip Festival April.23.2011

What better way to spend a cloudy afternoon then to walk around the garden of tulips & see the waterfalls at Thanksgiving Point-ok a little sun may have been nice but at least it didn't rain

(too much lol)

I had such a fun day with my dad, cricket, Britt, Brooklyn, & Jaxson!

I love being an Aunt. these two kids are adorable and are giggly (most of the time) which makes my life so happy!

It was a great afternoon and then dinner at Goodwood bbq for dinner which added to the awesomeness of the day!.....p.s. my sister drinks A LOT of water lol (she had the waiter filling up her glass roughly every two mins-it was hilarious to watch!)

Easter Sunday April.24.2011

Sun shining, breezy, & smiles-perfect combo for a family photo lol

After church I convinced the fam to take some photos (I figured we were all dressed up-why not?!?! lol)

Well the family dynamic is quite funny-so in the upper right hand corner we have AT&T...we raise the bar in this family lol (cody won't stop growing lol and sadly my dad and I have :( )

Everyone in their Sunday best to attend church and to celebrate this Easter season. Church was amazing-talks on the atonement and how we can become better individuals (definitely made the spirit come :] )

Hoppy Easter everyone!

The hunt April.23.2011

Ready. Set. Go! My dad opened the door & there we went!!!

Have you ever seen a group of adults run around a back yard to get eggs? Oh I have/ did lol! My bro in law T and bro Brandon even tackled each other to get one-that was priceless lol!

Jaxson even helped out a bit :D
Then we went inside and opened our eggs-i scored 4 bucks!!!

The kids had their gifts on the couch-paige got the shark one, brooklyn the giraffe, and jaxson got the monkey one :)

Easter breakfast April.24.2011

The smiles, giggles, opening gifts, playing outside with chalk, walking around with my niece...these are a few of my favorite things!

The family came over to the house for Easter this morning-easter egg hunt for the adults, then breakfast, & then we sat and chatted which was fun!

..... April 22.2011

Forgot my camera in Parkland.

Focused on school (tests)

Worked my butt off

Packed for Utah

Met my future sis in law Korrine

played the Wii with my dad

chilled

chatted

I need sleep so goodnight!

p.s. I promise to blog once I get photos of my activities!

9 months-No transfer, no photo,no baby April.14.2011

Today marks 9 month out for Elder Schott (time is kinda flying I'll admit, I definitely don't feel like its been that long since I've seen him)

So I gotta explain my title a bit...this week Elder Schott sent out his email (which I got :D) and it said that he and Elder Loveland (the one in the middle) would be staying companions for another six weeks! So no transfer!

And Elder Schott is a stinker and won't send me any photos...apparently there hasn't been anything "worth of a photo" so ya I'm still waiting for one..so instead I took a photo of his calender :) day 274 Ya BOI! creeping up to the top of that spiral :)

And about the no baby part--> Kind of a joke-you see he has been out nine months and I'm not in labor nor pregnant so we were good kids (laugh now!) lol but I wanted to put this one here cuz a few weeks ago I had a dream where I was in my life right now and pregnant because of Nate (which freaked me out like no other!) so ya I wanted to tag this on the end. No baby yet folks-give us a bit of time lol the man still has 15 months to go lol ;)

S'mores April.11.2011

I failed to blog about this on tuesday from Monday (we did s'mores for FHE)! So under this picture is Tessa who I caught off guard as she tried to eat the s'more (candid shots are priceless lol) The picture with the unassembled s'mores was taken while Tessa was trying to explain to me the "proper" way to assemble them. However I disagree with her method of splitting the graham cracker after the chocolate and marshmallow is placed on it because it makes it like twice as hard to not get it over the place...I think I'll stick with my method ( I get myself messy enough when I eat it lol)

My picture got a little blurry but may I say that it was DELICIOUS :) I sure know how to toast a good marshmallow

So the picture of Tessa and I shows how badly I look after getting minimal hours of sleep *cough five cough* ya it was a rough night sunday-monday lol but I pushed through it and those s'mores were SO worth it!

& then Electra....as she modeled her s'more she squished it (made for an awesome photo lol) and a messy aftermath BAHA!

1 and 1/2 years April.12.2011

"Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction."

I believe this totally applies to my current situation, Elder Schott and I are not able to gaze into each other's eyes but we are able to look together towards an eternal perspective :D

Today marks our 1 1/2 year anniversary, I can't believe I have been blessed to have Nate in my life!

So since I don't have him with me to go out on a fun date and take cute pictures to post on here for ya'll I decided to google cute love quotes instead :D

Some of them are super cheesy but bear with me I am kinda a sap when it comes to Nathaniel :)

I went to the beach this past summer and actually wrote his name in the sand and as I was taking the photo the water washed it away! So this one seemed fitting:

Nathaniel called Taylor Swift's song "you belong with me" the stalker song so when I saw this photo I thought of him :D
Nathaniel always tells me "never forget that I love you and that I ALWAYS will"- I'm thinking this would be cute vinyl for our bedroom wall :)
This one pertains to every girl because they find their man super cute :D
I believe Nate is my other half. I finally found my missing puzzle piece who makes me feel whole!
This last one makes me think of my current life, with him not here I smile from just thinking of him (which happens quite often so basically I smile A LOT!) :)
Happy 1 1/2 year Anniversary Nate :D I'm so grateful for you in my life and this is just the beginning of our LONG life together :D

A year ago today... April.11.2011

I can't believe a year has passed since my papa left this earth. Not a day goes by that I don't think of him and wish he was still here. I remember the day he passed so vividly which makes it harder to move on. But its been a year and we are slowly getting our lives back together, my Nana is doing really well considering she lost her husband, companion, and best friend.

I remember as a little girl up till the time he passed away whenever I saw him sitting on his lap. Me being 5'2 and him being a giant lol like 6'5 ish or something (giant to me at least) I could still pull it off.. :) which is something I truly miss but I definitely appreciate all the times I was able to do it.

I loved whenever my Papa would greet me, he would give me a HUGE hug and say "hello Bratlin", I can still hear him saying it to me and sometimes I think he still whispers it in my ear to encourage me to keep enduring through my trials and to bring a smile to my face. I loved having him wrap his arms around me and me kissing his cheek!
I can remember my grandparents coming to all my birthday dinners when I lived in Washington at the Old Spaghetti Factory. I loved having them there and will truly miss my Papa not being there. My last birthday memory of him was of him trying to figure out how to take a photo with his touch screen. Old people and technology crack me up-I will definitely cherish that moment forever.
A year ago we said goodbye to this beloved man but he will stay in our hearts forever. He made such an impact on our lives, mine truly. He taught me the fundamentals of a good work ethic and the importance of using my brain to do operations rather than relying on technology which came in handy in my future. He was always my support in my school activities and I hate that he never got to see me dress up for my High School prom or graduation but I believe he was looking down at me from heaven and still does :) Papa I love you!

Chris Hooker's Farewell April.10.2011

Well tonight I got the chance to say goodbye (for two years) to a good friend of mine who leaves next Saturday to travel to Utah to head to the MTC! Elder Chris Hooker has been called to Rapid City in South Dakota! He is super excited to be going and serving the Lord and I can't wait to hear all about it!

It is weird to see all my friends slowly slipping away off to their missions (don't get me wrong I am excited for it just sad to see them go!) Another friend of mine-the cheeser lol (the one on the left in the blue) just turned in his papers so he will be hearing back shortly for that-I'm excited to see where he will be called :) The other guy in this photo is actually his brother who just returned this past September from his mission. So it was nice to see all my friends in one place :D I loved being able to catch up and then sadly say goodbye :/ but two years will go by quick and I will see them again soon!

Easter Box April.10.2011

Wow April is flying by..its already been 10 days of this month which means I need to hurry up and get Elder Schott's easter box ready lol...So onto the contents: I realized that I didn't have the SD card in my camera as I was taking the step by step photos (I have a real knack for doing that haha)

So first off I took M&Ms, Twix, & messages inside each egg :D

Then I filled the box with the green "grass" that is a must with Easter boxes!

Then I placed the big eggs on the four sides of the box so that he would have to "find" some of them lol

Then I laid the others and extra twix on top of the "grass"

Then I placed photos from home on top of that (I'm pretty sure that's his favorite part!)

And of course I had to put a tie in it lol...whats a missionary gift without a tie haha!!! that poor kid is going to have SO many ties by the time he gets back :D

Hoppy Easter Elder Schott! Hope you enjoy the box and share the candy lol...there is a TON in there :) But what's easter without some chocolate haha

new clothes April.9.2011

I have a confession-I kinda like shopping lol ok I love it :D But hey when you find cute clothes & they are on sale-how could someone possibly pass them up? (not me!)

So I found this skirt-so cute...pencil skirt that goes to my knee with such an awesome design!

And I fell in love with this green shirt...it looks kinda like a regular t-shirt but its not cotton so i can use it as a "dressy" shirt (perfect for my new job!) I loved it so much I decided to get two :)

Maybe? April.9.2011

I went for an interview at The Old Spaghetti Factory this weekend :D I love this place! The awesome smell of the food, the great service, & good memories have always made me come to love it and want to work there. I applied for a summer job so I have to come back for a follow up interview in May so keeping my fingers crossed till then :D

Me all dressed up for my interview!

My favorite movie :) April.8.2011

Ok I love this movie. Confession :) This little baby walks all over these three adults throughout the city and its hilarious! I love how he can out smart these guys and has the cutest facials expressions! I switched the channel and BAM it was on Nick :D Premiere!!! Ah brought a smile to my face :D If you haven't seen this then I would HIGHLY recommend it :)

I LOVE the sun! April.8.2011

Ah I love the feeling of the warmth of the sun on my skin :D Breaking out my capris and getting to wear a light sweater and be A-Ok...Ahmazing!!! Oh YA! So after an awesome afternoon I made it back to Parkland (Ptown baby lol) and went over to Wapato Park to go hang out with this cute little girl (a.k.a Jenna)! Jenna is about three weeks off of her training wheels so she is all excited to go and ride whenever she can! lol And with a day a like this how could you not want to go out and soak up the glorious sun?!?!?!

Jenna's friend Annamarie came to play with her too so they got to ride their bikes around the park with Annamarie's Dad Wayne while Craig and I chilled on the grass!

Then they played a little in the water, not yet warm enough to play in it for too long lol.

While they were in the water I stole Jenna's

bike to ride it for a bit....shockingly I am TOO

big for a kids bike...BAHA! But ya

it was fun lol :D Good day in the sun and it made me super excited for summer to come....8 weeks needs to hurry up lol :)

Last day of tutoring :( April.7.2011

Well the day has come, tutoring (my job) is ending for the year and it has come for me to move on to bigger and better things (which I am excited for but sad to say goodbye to these cute kids) The girls in the picture with me are the ones I have been with for majority of my time at B.F.Day Elementary school. (from left to right it goes Alena, Rifqah, and Annabelle-adorable girls who were in second grade class)

And the little guy with me is Isaiah :) he was in first grade and loved playing connect four with me! He was so good at it too..I lost majority of the times but it was fun lol!

The lady in the photo with me is my boss Mrs Beth Tesh, she is the kindest person I have ever met! She runs this after school tutoring program on her own doing through volunteering while she continues her education in college-very impressive :) The girl with the flower in the picture is Alena, I was lucky enough to work with her for majority of my time there (she made the flower as a gift to me). It was awesome getting to work with her, she has an attention problem so it was great for me to work with her to help me with my patience and it gave me a chance to teach her how to read and do math which was nice!

The other picture is with Rifqah-oh my goodness this girl was adorable...from the first day I had her she gave me a high five (so cute!!!) and she did it for the whole time I was there. she was awesome to work with and we got to master tying her shoes throughout the time I was there at B.F. Day-go girlie! I will sure miss working with these awesome kids but I have had such a great time and have learned quite a bit not only about them and how to work with kids (which will definitely help me in my future) but as well as learning about myself. This has been a great opportunity and I am very grateful for everyone at B.F.Day Elementary School!