2013 So far...

January - I had to work New Year's Day this year so we didn't even stay up past midnight. We went to Disneyland at the beginning of January before Weston went back to school and it was so cold, but we had a lot of fun!

February - For Valentine's Day Weston bought me a glow light that I kept seeing sold on the side of the road down the street from our house. We went to Firefly for dinner since we have been wanting to try it for a long time. The bacon wrapped stuffed dates were so yummy!

March - We went to Brianhead to go skiing with Weston's family. Weston got a couple of free lift tickets on campus at UNLV so we wanted to go while there was still snow. I had never been skiing before, but we went up to some high lifts anyway. I hurt so bad after, but it was really fun skiing with Weston and his parents.

April - We celebrated Tylee's 1st birthday at a park with some family and friends. Christen and Mike celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary this year and wanted someone to take care of their kids while they went to Maui. Weston and I were able to go for the first few days they were gone to take care of Skye, Larkin and Blake. It was so exhausting, but worth it to spend time getting to know those 3 cute kids :)

May - We celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary by going to PF Changs for dinner. I had our brother-in-law Devan build Weston a new computer because Jace would be taking back his computer when he got back from his mission. I took a couple of days off before Weston went back to school for the summer. It wasn't much of a vacation because Weston was studying for the DAT and so I just cleaned the house and got to sleep in. Weston took the DAT and got a 22! I am so proud of him for studying so hard and getting an amazing score.

June - Weston and all his gaming friends, Devan, Bruce, Sean, and Jace got tickets to MLG (Major League Gaming) to see the professional League of Legends players in Anaheim. All the wives tagged along so we could go to the beach and get pedicures. They had a lot of fun at the tournament and I am sure it won't be the last one we attend.

July - We did our annual Durham-Milne 4th of July pool party/BBQ at the Milne's house. It was fun as usual and we had a lot of red, white and blue themed food. The annual Milne Newport trip didn't turn out how we would have liked. I started getting sick on Thursday and by Friday I was worse. We headed to California anyway because I wanted Weston to be able to see his family. Saturday my fever kept rising so we came back with Weston's family that night and I went to the urgent care. My temperature got up to 103.7 and I was told I had mild bronchitis and bilateral ear infections. After antibiotics and a week of rest I felt much better. Two weeks later we went to Los Angeles with the Durhams  to go to a couple of Dodgers games. We went to Tito's Tacos, Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles, and ate a lot of food at the games.

Grateful

       I guess I should be writing this after Thanksgiving, but I have had to reflect on what I am truly grateful for this week. Tuesday night, when the president was re-elected, I was angry. I don't like that I tend to react before I think about what I am feeling or doing or saying. I have come to accept, though, that that is something I really need to work on. Weston knows me well enough now that he lets me have my moments then waits for my apology for being crazy. I freaked out after the president won and I wish I hadn't. I said many things I shouldn't have and I was also angry that my husband wasn't reacting like I was. I kept asking him why he wasn't upset and he said he was, but didn't want to let it out or else he would get even more angry. I wish I was more like Weston. He is my inspiration to be a better person. I know that our country is not going to fall apart even if it isn't being run the way I would like it to be. I know that I still have my family, my home, and the Gospel. After a night of rest I said our usual family prayer in the morning while Weston slept. I realized that it was not Heavenly Father's will for Mitt Romney to win the presidency. We prayed multiple times that Mitt Romney would win if it be His will. Well, he didn't win. I know that this world needs to get a lot worse before it will get any better. So, these are just a few things I am truly grateful for:

1. A loving husband who accepts all my flaws and inspires me to be better.
2. A loving family that cares so much about us.
3. Wonderful in laws. I really have the best in laws anyone could ask for and I love them.
4. The Gospel and the temple which gives me a refuge from the world
5. A country that allows me the freedom to worship how I wish
6. A roof over our heads and food in our cupboards.
7. A job that allows us to be comfortable and provides a way for Weston to go to school debt free.
8. A healthy body that allows me to wake up each day and live my life to the fullest.

There are so many other things to be grateful for. I keep thinking about the twelth Article of Faith and how no matter who is President we need to respect that office. We live in a democracy and the majority of people voted for him and I need to accept that and move on. I need to work on not being crazy too :)

Summertime

I am really bad at blogging when we don't have anything big going on in our lives so I will just lump our whole summer thus far into one blog post. This summer has been fun filled and has gone by way too fast.

June - Weston started summer semester of school. He did well in both of his classes and I am proud of him for working so hard to get As. At the end of June we went to Mormon day at Dodger stadium for Pop's birthday since it was on his actual birthday. The next day we went to Santa Monica Pier. It was a fun, quick trip with my crazy family :)

 
July - We went to St. George for my friend Marnie's wedding. She looked beautiful and I was so happy that she found a good man to be sealed to. I love going to sealings because it reminds me of our wedding day. I cried so hard during our sealing that I barely remember it, but I know that being sealed to Weston is the biggest blessing in our lives. While in St. George we were also able to stay with Weston's sister and brother-in-law Rachel and Devan and see cute baby Tylee! She is seriously the cutest thing and we love any chance we get to see her. 

August - Every summer Weston's extended family goes to Newport for a week long vacation. This summer his grandparents took all of their sons and wives on an Alaskan cruise so we decided to have a Newport trip of our own! Weston, me, Marisa, Trent, Rachel, Devan and Tylee went down to Costa Mesa on Friday night, checked in to our hotel and went to the beach. The next day we went to breakfast and then Target to pick up some supplies for the beach. We got to the beach around noon and played for 3 or 4 hours. After we rinsed off we headed back home. It was a quick trip, but a lot of fun spending time with Weston's family.

       Last year we did a little much for our birthdays so we said we weren't going to spend so much this year. Well I have a problem with wanting to spoil Weston so he got a birthday week this year. We both took a week off of work and enjoyed being together since we don't already spend enough time together :) Monday, I took Weston to Texas De Brazil for dinner because he has been talking about eating there ever since I can remember. After, we headed to the Wynn where we saw Le Reve by Cirque du Soleil courtesy of my sister Emily's employee discount. It was the weirdest show ever. I called my mom afterward and told her "First of all, who thinks of these shows, second of all, who watches them and thinks this will be an amazing show!" It was just freaking weird. Tuesday, we checked in at the LVH since we got a Living Social deal for two days there. That night we ate at Beni Hana since it was part of the deal and we also ate there last year for Weston's birthday. We love the experience and food there, but it is a once a year kind of place. Wednesday, we slept in and then ran some errands. We ate lunch at Chili's and headed to UNLV to get some things straightened out for this next semester. Thursday, we went to the pool at the hotel and packed up to go back home. I have decided staycations aren't really all they are cracked up to be. The strip is dirty and when you have your own house you just want to be in your own bed. We decided when we have kids a staycation might be more appealing. We went to a dealership later in the afternoon to look at cars, but nothing they had was what we wanted or in our price range. Plus, I didn't know like being there at all! The guy we met with was a friend of a friend so he wasn't too pushy, but pushy enough for me not to want to ever have to buy a car at a dealership. That night we played volleyball at the church which we do every week. Friday, we bought a new car! The Honda has been giving us problems for awhile and when we got one problem fixed another one happened. We called the guy that bought Kylie's car from the auction, told him what we wanted and he came through Friday morning. We got a 2011 Nissan Altima since I wanted a bigger backseat for when we have kids. Weston's mom came over to help us paint the rest of our hallway since that was his request for his birthday. We left before we could finish so we could pick up the car and his mom did the rest of the painting. I really have a great mother-in-law. We went to see Bourne Legacy that night at our favorite theater. Saturday morning I went to a baby shower for my friend Michelle while Weston hung out at home. That night I asked where he would like to go to dinner for the day before his birthday, since it was on Sunday this year, and of all places he picks Panda Express. My husband has an obsession with Panda and it is my last choice to eat when I pick. Sunday, we enjoyed birthday cookies with our CTR 4 class (we got that calling a couple months ago). I made chicken rice casserole for dinner and we had Weston's family over. After dinner we had dessert with Weston's family and then my family came over after. I made 3 desserts for Weston's birthday! I really like making dessert, but Weston told me sometimes I need to simplify things. He was happy to have it all though! I made homemade ice cream cake, oreo cake balls, and chocolate chocolate chip cookies.

       

Our week off was much needed for me from work and it was nice to get to sleep in. I told Weston I felt like we didn't get much done and he just laughed at me. We did do a lot and I am grateful for this time we get to spend just the two of us before we expand our family.

HAWAII

 Monday - We woke up at 3:30 am to catch our flight to San Francisco at 5:30 am. We flew from San Fran to Maui at 9:30 am. It was five hour flight so we were really hungry and antsy once we got to Maui. We ate at a restaurant in the airport and finally left for Oahu at 2:45 pm. We arrived less than an hour later and got picked up by Roberts shuttle service. They gave us leis and our driver talked to us about places to see while we were there and some of the history of Hawaii. We checked in at the Hilton Waikiki Beach and showered before dinner. We walked down to the International Market Place and found a place called Okonaymiyaki Chibo to eat at for dinner. Weston tried a japanese pancake and I had teppanyaki teriyaki chicken. We walked down to Waikiki Beach through the Royal Hawaiian Hotel which is one of the oldest hotels on Waikiki.

Tuesday - We were picked up by Maui Divers Jewelry in a shuttle for a breakfast Expedia had to help us book activities to do on the island. I set up swimming with dolphins before we left for our trip,but it was so nice to have someone to set everything up for us for the rest of the week. We ate spam, pink hot dogs, fried garlic chicken and teriyaki beef at Fat Boys. When we got back to our hotel we decided to go to Diamond Head. We waited for the bus for about half an hour, but a taxi driver saw us waiting and offered to drive us up there for a dollar more than what we would have paid for the bus. We hiked up to the top of Diamond Head, which was not as easy as I thought it would be. When we got down from the volcano we ate a snow cone and walked back down to the bus stop. Weston wanted to take a taxi back, but I wanted to try the bus. Well I should have listened to my husband because we waited over an hour for a bus back to Waikiki. We went swimming when we got back to the hotel and laid out for awhile. We were really tired that night so we decided to order room service and watch TV.

Wednesday - We woke up around 7:30 am and went to breakfast at McDonalds where we ate scrambled eggs, rice and spam. We were picked up by the Sea Life Park shuttle at 8:45 am and got to the park around 9:30 am. We put on life jackets and walked onto a platform where we were waist deep in the water. We were able to touch, kiss and dance with a dolphin named Itsy Bitsy. Another item checked off my bucket list! We changed our clothes and walked about the park until the dolphin show started. We saw sea turtles, penguins, and seals. The dolphin show was the best part of the park besides getting in the water with the dolphins. We didn't want to wait another hour for the shuttle to pick us up, so we took the bus back to our hotel. It took about an hour because we had to keep stopping to pick up kids that just got out of school. When we got back we walked to the corner shop for another snow cone. We walked back to the hotel so we could shower before dinner. We ate at Sansei because Weston was craving sushi. We walked down the main strip of stores and looked around before we headed back to our hotel.

Thursday - We woke up early so we could pick up a rental car at 7am. We wanted to eat somewhere local for breakfast so Weston found a place online called Ray's Diner. It was a hole in the wall place with like six tables, but the food was yummy and it was definitely an experience. We stopped at Waimea Valley so we could walk to Waimea Falls. It was a beautiful hike and totally worth it once we got to the waterfall. The lifeguard offered to take our picture and it was my favorite of the whole trip. We stopped at Sunset Beach at North Shore to lay out and play at the beach for a little while. We saw a crab on the beach and it was the least crowded beach either of us had ever been to. We heard about all the shrimp trucks on the drive to North Shore so we of course had to try one since Weston's favorite food ever is shrimp. He thought it was really good except that he had to crack the shells off all the shrimp. We kept driving to Laia where the Polynesian Cultural Center is and got there around 1 pm. We ate lunch at the snack area then walked around to the different villages. The boat parade was really fun to watch because each village showed the dances they do on their islands. The luau for dinner was delicious Hawaiian food and we got to dance on stage. We took the tram from the Polynesian Cultural Center to the temple and BYU Hawaii. The Laia temple was beautiful and it was cool to see what BYU Hawaii looks like. When we got back to the Cultural Center they took us to the stadium to watch the show HA Breath of Life. We drove back to the hotel and got back around 10:30 pm. It was a fun, but exhausting day.

Friday- We slept through our alarm and woke up at 6:25 am, five minutes before our shuttle was supposed to pick us up for our tour of Pearl Harbor. Our shuttle driver was really funny and gave us a detailed history of Hawaii and Pearl Harbor. We stayed there til 11 am, then headed back to the hotel. We were so tired from the day before and waking up so early so we took a nap for a couple of hours. We still had the rental car so we decided to eat at Rainbow Drive-In which was on the show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. We drove to Hanauma Bay to go Snorkeling. It was windy and cold so we didn't really enjoy it as much as everyone told us we would. We drove the rental car back and dropped it off. We walked back to our hotel and ate shaved ice again :) This time we got a snow cap on it which is condensed milk squirted on top. We decided to hot tub and then shower before dinner. We ate at the restaurant in our hotel called MAC 24/7.

Saturday - We woke up at 7 am so we could get breakfast before we took a shuttle to Lanikai.
We got snorkels and a boogie board and walked to Kailua Beach. It was so windy that it felt like needles were poking our legs. We made the best of it though and went out snorkeling. Weston boogie boarded and we built a sand castle. We got back to the hotel around 3 pm. We went up to the hot tub again and showered before dinner. We wanted to eat at Roy's, but it was graduation weekend so they were booked for the whole night. Instead, we ate at California Pizza Kitchen. We walked the strip of stores and bought some souvenirs for people. I packed our bags when we got back to our room so we would be ready to go early in the morning.

Sunday - The shuttle picked us up at 3:30am. No one was at the airport when we got there because they close at night! We waited for awhile at security and then ate at Starbucks since it was the only place open that early. We flew to San Francisco at 6:45 am. We had to run and get food before our flight back to Vegas. We got home at 5:30 pm that night. We are so grateful we were able to spend a week together in Hawaii. It was a much needed week of relaxation before summer school started for Weston.

1st Wedding Anniversay

Weston and I decided to only go out to dinner for our anniversary since it was on a Monday and we were going to Hawaii a couple of weeks later. Weston visited me at work to give me a kiss and brought me beautiful roses. When we both got home that night, Weston surprised me and took me to Top of the World restaurant at the Stratosphere. I had heard both good and so so things about the food so I was excited to see if it was as good as the view. It was a beautiful view of the city and we spun almost all the way around by the time we were done with dinner. Weston ate the Turf and Quack with filet mignon and duck. Neither of us has ever had duck so we wanted to try it, but we weren't that impressed. I had a cheese stuffed chicken breast. It was really delicious food and really expensive. We probably won't spend that much on dinner again for a very long time. I still love being married!

Baby Tylee

Weston is officially an uncle on his side of the family! Rachel had a baby girl named Tylee Mae and we are so excited to have another niece. She is beautiful and we hope to see her a lot this summer.

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