Ok i just gotta...

I am teaching preschool this semester the 3 year-old class and it's the funnest thing I have ever done. I absolutely love it! So I just wanted to post a few pictures and stories that go along with it. 

SO MUCH FUN!!!

We were learning about going to the doctor

We learned about brushing our teeth. Scrub, scrub. 

Dr. Kevin was looking at my x-rays. I broke my knee. Ouch! He told me I had to get out of the office because I was a woman. Who does that?

He diagnosed me with a whale in my tummy. So... naturally I had to have surgery. 

At snack this little boy said, "Please pass the delectable oranges"- so cute!

Here we are in our Valentines Glasses

I made leaf hats when I was in school so I decided we'd make leave hats and pretend to be trees

Valentines... a little late

We went to Las Vegas for my birthday. Daniel took me for my first time ever! I loved it! We had SO much fun. It was so hard coming home. We went and explored mostly. Ate at In and Out many times and just walked. I was trying to get my head around what I was seeing. It was amazing. The pictures tell it all. 

This is where is all started in the real Venice:-) 

We also got to go to the temple in Vegas, a little different than the strip but so much fun. 

I LOVE Iron Chef America, and Mario Batali is an Iron Chef. I got so excited when I saw his restaurant. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory in Caesars Palace. YUMMY! Best fish and chips I have ever eaten, which isn't saying much because I hate fish- but these were dang good. 

Daniel also showed me the Bilagio where I saw the chocolate fountain with 3 different kinds of melted chocolate cascading down from the celling. Oh, it was beautiful. And of course right when we went out the main doors the beautiful fountain came to life. It was just wonderful. We swam with the fishes and just enjoyed everything around us. We just loved it. 

We've Reached A Decision

After months and months of debating and worrying and praying and researching every nook and cranny of the medical schools in Colorado and Missouri- we have finally reached a decision! (only because the deadlines had come and gone:-)) Daniel has chosen to attend Rocky Vista University in Parker, CO. There were pros and cons to both institutions and we really would have been happy in both places. It was a very difficult decision because they both were excellent schools. It all came down to where we felt was right. We had been waiting on the Air Force to see what they say, but there was too much to be done and they haven't gotten back to us yet. We are hoping to join the Air Force so they will pay for medical school and so we have a better opportunity to live over seas. So cross your fingers everyone. 

We aren't sure exactly when we will be leaving. But it will most likely happen in the early summer. There are vacations and trips we are going to be taking so we have to schedule around that. We're really excited to go!! Yeah! Anyone know of cheap apartments in Parker? We are going to miss our family here in Utah terribly! So so much, but we will visit! A plane ticket to SLC is only like $70! So you haven't seen the last of us! 

(This picture is of Zina. So you all better understand the cuteness of the story at the top of the page) 

Christmas in Colorado

Merry Christmas to all! It all started with the trip to the wonderful state of Colorado. Melinda, Afton, Bree, Daniel and I all drove out. Just missing a ginormous storm in Utah- whew! Everything went flawlessly until we hit Denver... Afton, being 4 months pregnant was getting sick so we pulled over. She asked for shoes to go outside. Being the generous, kind sister that I am I threw her the shoes (slippers) I wore to our wedding and right as I threw it it met up with her sick...:-( Sad. Its ok Afton, it happens. To start things off Daniel and I celebrated our one year anniversary on the 20th! I can't believe its been one year since we were married. Time flies when your havin' fun. Our anniversary happens to be on the same day as my parents so we celebrated it together in a little Japanese restaurant in Parker, CO. Best sushi and food I've ever had! Absolutely delicious.

We celebrated Christmas all week long by: making goodies, going shopping, shooting, lounging around the house and watching movies. It was so relaxing and wonderful to be at home. 

We made fudge, homemade doughnuts, puppy chow and candy caramel cereal mix something. 

This is what Daniel and my brothers did the majority of the time... playing the Wii. Heck, its Christmas and a vacation! 

A tradition we have in my family is to get pajamas Christmas Eve. This year our theme was Superman. You can't tell but the girls pants are superman, with just a touch of femininity (I spelled that right the first time, I'll have you know!) The reason I look so goofy is because I had to push down the button on 3 cameras so I had to jump into the picture before the timers ran out. 

This is Daniel and I Christmas Morning. We have a tradition in the family to all sleep in the same room Christmas Eve night, but because our family is growing we weren't able to do that this year. However, I still got not a lot of sleep and it was early in the morning. 

Matthew got an iPod shuffle and was so excited!

Bree got a new hat and coat from uncle Matson. She was so done with the attention she was getting. 

The day after Christmas we were going to fly home for Amy and Bens wedding! But then our flight got canceled:-( We were in the airport for a long time and saw 'Carlton' from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air!! That was awesome! Anyway, we missed her wedding because of the weather. I cried. We got there in time for the reception thank heavens and it was beautiful. Amy and Ben were so happy. All of Daniels family was there. We got to have Daniels brother Jonny and his wife Andrea and their two children up at our house. They are so much fun, we had a great time! Then New Years Eve we played games and ate junk food with Lizza and Jerad, Daniels sister and brother-in-law. It was so fun! I need to get a new phrase... According to tradition Daniel went and jumped in the river at 12am. I didn't get a picture but you probably wouldn't have been able to see it anyway. Its tradition! We had a great vacation- with so much family and the spirit of the holidays. 

Now Daniels senior year begins. We will be deciding which medical school we are going to. I am teaching pre-school this semester and we are planning a huge 92 hour U.S. tour this summer which will include the church history sites, a reunion and a visit to Daniels mission. Yeah! I'm excited! Anyone want to come with us? 

Changes... + Additions...

Alright, so it has been one month since I pulled out in front of another car and sent our dear sweet subaru to car heaven. We have looked at dozens of cars. Daniel became quite the expert at car lingo and what was and wasn't a 'good deal'. Finally we brought one home and we are so excited!! Shes a Honda Accord so we hope to have her for a long time. And here she is: Please excuse my expression I had just woken up and didn't have quite enough time to practice my smile:-)

In other news, I chopped and dyed my hair. Now, short hair is not a new thing for me. I have had short hair a ton. However, never in my whole life have I colored my hair so this is a first. At first I thought that I was going to keep trying to grow it out,  but then I talked to Afton and well just decided to try one more short cut. While getting my hair cut Daniel called and told me he had been rear-ended in our brand new car. The roads were super slick and someone bumped into him... yeah it was a good thing I was getting my hair done:-) No major damage was done, we will need a whole new bumper though... lame! We should just hire a driver! 

Merry Christmas!

Here is our very first Christmas tree in our very first house for our very first Christmas, well besides the last one- but that didn't count cuz we were getting married! Thanks mom for getting us our sweet tree. We are going to Colorado for the first part of the holiday to play with my family then on the 26th we are heading out for Amy and Ben's wedding and to party with the Jacobs! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving! Daniel and I sure did. We went up to the Jacobs cousins in Sandy and had such a wonderful time with the Jacobs, Nelsons, Lakes, Swensons and friends. Our meal was delicious and the company enjoyable. We love love love our family! After we snuck out of the festivities Daniel and I went and watched Dark Knight, which I have to say was a lot better the second time around. I love the holidays! 

This will mark the first anniversary of Daniel and I and I'm so excited to decorate and shop and be with family! Eeee- so excited. Can you believe we've been married almost one year!? Plus we are stoked for Amy and Ben's wedding and to find out the sex of Matson and Aftons baby. Ye-haw, aren't the holidays awesome?! 

So just to keep everyone in the know, Daniel has been excepted to every medical school he has interviewed at, except the University of Utah but they won't let us know until March... I'm not too worried :-) Our choices are: Colorado, Missouri, Tennessee and Florida. We are still weighing the pros and cons of both and haven't decided where we will end up. Its an exciting time for us. Isn't Daniel so amazing? 

In other news, Stephanie crashed our family car this past month....

It was my fault, I'm an idiot. But no one was hurt, my car for sure got the brunt of the impact. The other cars tire got smashed and thats it. So we are in the market for another car. Not by choice so its really hard. We've never bought a car before! I don't like it :-) Daniel is gun-ho about it and being wonderful, but I just want a car and be done with it. We loved the Subaru but we test drove one and I freaked out so we'll have to have that be our second first car. Anyway, we are hopefully getting a car this weekend! 

I think that's about everything. Happy Thanksgiving. Dasvidanya:-)