2013 in a Nutshell

I know that I have zero followers but I have to start blogging again so I can actually remember everything that we have done! I am so sad that I didn't keep this updated because we did so many great things that I wish I would have written about and documented but here is my way to at least remember some of the things!

January

-We celebrated Grant's 24th birthday

-We hosted foreign exchange students, Peter and Stego. They taught us so much and we learned a lot about   different cultures.

February

-We took off to St. George and Las Vegas with our great friends Maddie and Weston. We stayed at the    Coral Springs resort, if you haven't been, you should definitely go! We ventured around and enjoyed some    time away!

-We celebrated Valentine's day and Grant surprised me with tickets to Kauai!! Holy Cow best surprise!

-I sadly went to Reno with all of my siblings for my Grandma's funeral. Although it was a sad setting, it was    nice to spend time with family we hadn't seen in years.

-We also got a new niece Ashlynne! She is adorable and has the cutest grin you ever did see!

March

-We went on another weekend get away with Maddie and Weston to the amazing Zermott Resort up in  Midway! We had a blast eating at this cute little pizza parlor, playing lots of shuffle board and swimming in  the warm crater!

-My old boss gave us free 4th row tickets to the Jazz game and we loved every minute of Jazz beating those  Bobcats.

April

-Honestly I cannot remember much of what happened in April but I know we had a blast  at the first Bee's  game of the season:)

May

-We finally got to go to Kauai!  We flew out on May 16th and returned on May 24th. The was such an  amazing vacation and deserves it's own post, so I will get around to blogging about it because it was that  INCREDIBLE!

June

-We got a new nephew names Joshua! Boy is he a cutie and constantly sucking on his little fingers.

-We celebrated my 21st birthday with squeeze its and a new Bosch!

-We enjoyed another Bee's game with our friends Ali and Mike and finished the night off with our favorite,  Nielsens!

-We also found the closest thing to a real Hawaiian shaved ice and it was the size of our head.

-My cute friend Maddie and I started our company Love Hadison and enjoyed Thursday nights at the  Bountiful farmers market!

July

-We spent the fourth of July with family watching fireworks and enjoying summer BBQ's. Hit up the    Bountiful parade and took lots of pictures!

-We utilized Grant's parents pool and their boat multiple times! I am slowly but surely getting better at wake  boarding!

-We went to the world cup qualifier games at REAL stadium and had a blast even if it did down pour like  you wouldn't believe.

August

-We celebrated 2 years of marriage with some Italian food and delicious creme brulee!

-The Butters took us to the fabulous Lake Powell where we enjoyed warm water, great company and  awesome tan lines!

September

-This month was the most exciting thus far because we found out on the 25th that we are expecting our first  little one. Grant has officially titled it the dobbleganger for now.

October

-We made delicious caramel apples and dressed up as a box of nerds for Halloween!

-We attended many fun Halloween parties.

-Booked flights to Washington DC with Maddie and Weston (are you seeing a pattern here?) We clearly  love our travel buddies!

-And my favorite part of October was telling our families about the little one on the way! Our families gave  us the exact reaction we were hoping for and we are so blessed with all the love and support we have  received!

November

-On the 1st, we boarded our flights to DC and took off to the East Coast! We had another amazing vacation  that deserves its own post as well!

-We had our first ultrasound and got to see and hear the heartbeat! Words cannot express the love I already  have for this little human!

-We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Butters and my mother in laws side of the family! It is always a blast  when you are with the Williams and this year did not disappoint!

December

-We were spoiled again that our doctor let us do a random appointment just to simply see the baby again!

-Grant and I are both in the youth programs in our ward and were lucky enough to take the amazing kids we  work with to temple square to see the lights!

-We decorated for another wonderful Christmas holiday and made a gingerbread house that Grant took very seriously!

-We spent Christmas Eve with my side of the family eating delicious Chinese food!

-We spent Christmas day with Grant's family and got to skype my cute brother in law Dallin. He is serving in  the Boston Mass mission and loving it!

-And we spent our last day of 2013 up in Eden, UT with Maddie and Weston. We enjoyed Maddie's  parents cabin and snowmobiles. We had a fabulous relaxing New Year's Eve.

It is so easy to say that the Butters have been blessed ten fold this year and my gratitude for life, the gospel and my family are growing each and every day. I am so excited for the year 2014. I know our lives will change and that becoming parents is not going to be easy but I can honestly say there is no one I would rather be enjoying this journey with than Grant. My life is so full of love and joy and I am eternally grateful for everything that I have.

Happy 2014 everyone. I hope your year is the best yet!

Bump Update Week 18

How Far Along:   18 Weeks! 2 more weeks and I am half way!

Size of baby:  7 ounces and 5 1/2 inches long, the size of a bell pepper!

Total weight gained/lost:  I'm  sitting at about a 4 lb gain. That is saying my parent's bathroom scale is accurate.

Maternity Clothes:  For the most part I am wearing all my normal clothes. I can't button the pants but rubberbands have taken care of the problem!

Gender:  We find out on Thursday January 2nd!

Movement: I have only felt a couple of flutter kicks and flips and it is so cool!

Sleep: I have stopped waking up in the middle of the night..for now that is. I can't really sleep on my stomach anymore and that's sad.

Symptoms:  My lower back gets really sore by the end of the day and I have been more tired this trimester than I was the first.

What I miss:  Nothing really. I have had it pretty easy.

Cravings: I'm not really craving much lately. I'll eat pretty much anything these days. I do want pizza haha

Best Moment this week:  Spending Christmas with our families and feeling the baby move some more! 

What I am looking forward to: Finding out the gender! I am so ready to know what this little babe is!

Bump Update Week 15

So the news is out and has been for awhile. We are expecting and we are so excited! I am updating this more for my own memory so I can remember all the things that came along with this pregnancy.  So far I have zero complaints. I feel SO grateful with how smooth this whole process has been up to this point. I have very little nausea, just some mid afternoon/evening nausea, but anyone can handle that! I have been able to keep my energy pretty high so far and have not felt too many side effects from the whole thing ;). I cannot wait to start feeling the baby move and see it grow more and more. I 'popped' early on but then my bump has stayed about the same size for the past few weeks, which is fine with me!

Here is the update:

How far along are you? 15 almost 16 Weeks! 

How are you feeling? Still feeling great! Never got any morning sickness just a little afternoon nausea and I haven't been nauseous since before week ten. I have started to get headaches and leg cramps but I can handle that!

Do you have stretch marks? Nope.

Have you felt the baby move? No! They say anywhere from 16-20 weeks so I am hoping sooner rather than later!

How big is the baby? I have heard apple and potato so somewhere in between! It is about 5 inches long!. 

Maternity clothes? I can uncomfortably fit into my regular jeans so I prefer some maternity pants but I still wear all my normal, loose shirts.

Sleep? I sleep pretty well most nights. I do wake up about 1-2 times a night just depending. 

Food cravings? Not really. Just mainly salty things, no sweets! That is a good thing!

Anything you miss? Not really. Eggnog this season.

Best moment this week? We get to see the baby tomorrow and I am hoping we can maybe find out the gender! That is if the baby cooperates and Grant wants to find out!

Renovation

This is going to be a quick post but here are the photos of the new updated house. I have had a lot of people ask for them. So we have only done the bedrooms and living area. We have yet to do the kitchen, bathrooms and basement because overall they are incredible shape! Also it is not done being decorated but you know you never have everything you want when you are first married but I can honestly say that I am very grateful for what we do!

Anyway, we have been extremely blessed but also worked very hard to get what we have. And to be honest, I am so grateful for the renovation. It definitely is not easy to balance life and to focus on your marriage throughout a reno, and emotions are high to say the least. haha but we are very happy with how it turned out and are extremely happy that it was a growing experience for us. It is soo neat to know that we did the work ourselves and that it is OUR home! So enjoy!

Same ol' thing

Like I said in our last post, we have been pretty busy the last couple months remodeling a house and getting settled, school, work etc. You name it, we did it. But I can say that even though we have pretty packed schedules, we do know how to have some fun as well!

Grant and I celebrated our one year anniversary. We were in Lake Powell over our "real" anniversary (can't really complain about a free vacation) so we didn't get to really celebrate. Although Grant and I had Wendy's on our wedding night and we did in fact have Wendy's on our one year anniversary. That's real celebration right there! haha Anyway we decided to celebrate the next weekend. All I wanted to do was sealings and a nice date with my husband. So that is exactly what we did. We went to the temple in the afternoon and then headed to the Lion House for a yummy dinner. We went home and had a yummy dessert and took in the nice summer air, star gazed in our backyard and just talked. It was such a great day, simple and relaxing just the way I like it. 

Next, my parent's bought my family tickets to see Wicked for Christmas last year. We were so excited to finally enjoy that present. I had never seen the play before and I absolutely LOVED it. It was incredible and I was seriously obsessed with the music after. I think the songs were stuck in my head for weeks. It was a perfect night out with the parents and siblings. Family nights will never disappoint.

Grant and I got a new niece in September and she is soo dang cute. I honestly cannot get enough of her. She was born September 5th and gave her mom a run for her money. My sister is such an amazing women and delivered little Avery without her husband present. My brother in law Kyle was in Basic Training for the Army and until this past week, had not met his little girl. They are an adorable little family and I am so happy for them. I know that Kyle and Chels are both incredible parents and Avery Lynne is one of the luckiest little girls alive. She honestly is not lacking in the love department :)

Also in September, our good friend Maddie and Weston invited us to the state fair. It was such a blast to just people watch and enjoy a night out. Honestly, the state fair is just a different place. The crowd, the food, entertainment, all of it is just great. It never disappoints.

I know that all of this is random and does not really flow but oh well. Next on the list is a wonderful hike up to Elephant rock. I will be honest, moving to Bountiful when we first got married was a real struggle for me. I know that Sandy is only 30 minutes away and I can go there all of the time, but it was just different. I can now proudly say that I LOVE it here and can see why Davis county people never leave haha. There are so many great things up this direction and don't even get me started on the views. Grant and I decided to go for a hike after work one Friday. It was the perfect free and fun date! We packed pb & j's and ate dinner up on the giant rock. It was the perfect way to bring in fall. 

sorry for the terrible quality! phone pics

Another thing we did was get family pictures taken with Grant's family. Grant's one little brother just got home from a mission in June for Halifax Canada and his other little brother (when I say little brothers, I mean BIG brothers just younger haha) left on Wednesday for Boston Massachussetts for a two year mission for the LDS church. I am so proud of his decision to go and I know he will be one incredible missionary!!

Lastly, we made grape juice! When we bought our house we loved the backyard and all of the fun things that come with it but I never realized how much I would love our garden area. In our garden area there are multiple fruit trees and 4 grape vines. We are talking long big grape vines haha. I underestimated how much fun it would be to grow our own fruit and reap the rewards of doing so. Grant's sweet Grandma and Grandpa came over to our house, helped picked grapes and stayed up all night teaching us how to make grape juice! It is the yummiest most delicious grape juice I have ever had and plus it is pure and so healthy, no sugar, nothin!

We Bought A Zoo

Well Folks, you heard it. We bought a zoo?? Whaaa? Well although that is not completely true, it sure seems as if we had.. When Grant and I first got married, we knew that we wanted to get into a home as soon as possible. We decided to start saving up and looking around for what we liked. And boy did we look. 6 months of home tours, should we's and we'll pass is what it took for us to find the home we wanted to buy. One day I was looking online for homes in the Bountiful area and I came across a descent size home that was an easy fixer upper. You see, I wanted to build a home but the Mr. was not having it. He wanted to live up on the east bench right below the temple, and for those of you that know the Bountiful area, there is not one single home that is newer than at least the 70's. So we made a deal, we would get a fixer upper now but we would be able to make it new! Anyway back to the story, I found the home I wanted so I called on it. It had only been on the market for a couple of hours and the realtor said there were already 2 offers and multiple calls. I felt defeated and very sad because it was finally a normal looking rambler (unlike some of the crazy odd homes we had seen) and it was on a quiet street with a BIG beautiful backyard. Well I will cut the story short, but after many weeks and calls with the realtor, we were able to go look through the home. Now even an hour after we got home, we submitted our offer and before we knew it, they accepted our offer! We were ecstatic and unsure of how we got soo lucky to get this home. Really though, this house is a GREAT deal and somehow we got it..On Monday July 16th we closed and went straight to work. Grant and I headed over to the house and started the long awaited remodel. We ripped out the baseboards, the nasty ORIGINAL carpet from 1962, the old light fixtures, the popcorn ceiling. You name it, we did it. It took us about 3 weeks of full remodel until we got to move in. We moved in on August 4th and I was soo excited. It is sooo amazing to own a home. Although there is a lot of work that goes into it, it actually feels like home. So we textured, primed and painted the walls and ceilings, we added in canned lighting throughout the entire home, we recarpeted and put new baseboards and crown moldings. We still have a few projects cough the kitchen, bathrooms, and don't even get me started on the basement but it is home. But we were lucky enough that the kitchen and bathrooms are in excellent condition and we will eventually get to that. And on a random note our backyard is huge like I said, but it had a small vineyard and a small little orchard! They both produce the yummiest fruit!!

The remodel was easy for Grant,  in high school, he had helped his parents remodel all of the apartments that they own. Me on the other hand, I was sooo sick of painting and of home depot, but I must say it was worth every minute and penny. We love our home!!

Sorry these pictures are pour quality but it is the best I could do! These are all of the before pictures. I will do a whole other post for the afters!!!

Master Bedroom looking in from the door

Living room

Entry way

My Saturday job, painting all of the moldings and baseboards

One of many "Home Depot Lists"

Another Living room shot

Dining room overlooking our backyard (sorry about the lighting)

Nasty shelving in one of the rooms. This was one of the first things to go

Some of the ugliest nastiest carpet I have every seen

One of the upstairs bedrooms. (turquoise and orange carpet)

The past little while

It has been a LONG time since I have posted and I realize that I really am only doing this blog for a journal for Grant and I, so I guess I better catch up on life.

For Valentine's Day Grant bought be photo shop because I really have wanted to pick up on it. I really cannot wait for school to be done so that I can actually have a fun hobby. Later that night we went to dinner and to "This means War." Loved the movie, it was so great and even Grant liked it...which is a huge improvement...we are making progress on the chick flicks!

A couple weeks later for spring break Grant, Ali, Mike, Dani, Kurtis and I decided to venture out to Zion's National Park. We headed down on a Friday night and stayed till Sunday. We stayed at the Zion's ponderosa and it was a blast! I am so grateful for all of the amazing people we have in our life and for the happiness and fun they bring. We seriously have been so blessed.

In April, Grant finished his first semester in the Health Administration program up at Weber. He did an awesome job and it never ceases to amaze me his dedication to school and the effort he puts into our future. I am so grateful for his example to me, because honestly I struggle gaining any motivation to study or do homework. Speaking of which, I will graduate with my Associates in July, which is really not a big deal, but it does mean that I get to start the Child and Family studies program up at Weber. I hope to end up getting my masters in Family and Marriage counseling.

Our little nephew Nathan has O.I. and so this great charity (Angel Hands) put on a day at the zoo for all the children at Shriner's hospital. Our family went and we had a blast! Grant was so excited about the tiger's and went picture crazy.. but I am not so sure they liked it because one of them jumped up on the knit fence right into Grant's face and let out the loudest roar I have ever heard! It scared us so bad and I just don't even think words can describe how crazy scary but amazing it was!

This is not even close to what it looked like but its the best I have.

On May 19th, my side of the family was at our niece Kamdyn's birthday when all of us decided to just go for a spur of the moment cabin trip down to Nephi. Every year I look forward to my "first"cabin trip of the year because it means summer is finally here! I just love it down there and I love being able to spend time with family!

This is the best I could get. They would not all look at once!!

We then spent Memorial Day up at our friend Maddie's parents cabin up at Pineview. We just lounged, ate the most amazing cinnamon roll pancakes ever, watched movies (including Never say Never, yeah that's right the boys loved it haha), four wheeled and had our first boating trip of the season! It was freezing but it was still so fun! It was the perfect getaway.

So far this summer we have swam, barbequed, played crouquet, enjoyed fires etc. We are so excited for the summer season and to mayve spend some more time together even though we both are taking jam packed semesters... I just have to keep telling myself it will all be worth it...maybe...hopefully.