"A small town is a place where there is little to see or do, but what you hears makes up for it." --Ivern Ball--

So we've been in Missouri almost two weeks now and as you can tell from my lack of blogging we've kept pretty busy, with all the family, holidays, eating, watching movies, being lazy....I just haven't found too much time to sit and do a blog post. But we did arrive safe in Missouri with no problems...carwise anyway...now Evelyn was a different story. She was NOT a happy traveler! But I won't go into that, I've blocked all the bad parts from my memory. Anyway, we left at noon on the 16th and got to my house on Friday at 5....the longest I've taken to get between Utah and MO! It was sooo nice to be back home though! It's been way too long!

(Mark had one final left to do but it was online so he just studied one night at the hotel and did it then)

(Evelyn during the only time she's good in the car...when she's sleeping! I didn't get any of her screaming, still trying to block that out :)

The fam was very happy to see us and especially lil' Evelyn. She's done pretty well so far with all the craziness that goes on around here and enjoying all the attention from so many other people. We've been enjoying being around everyone too, Mark and I have even gotten to go out a couple times with Evelyn which has been nice. We went and saw Sherlock Holmes, which was amazing, and then Avatar in 3D which was pretty cool too.

(Evelyn and her "favorite" auntie! :)

(I think Evelyn is a wee bit scared here don't you? And she has a right to be! These kids are craaaazzzy wild!)

(But they do love babies!)

I'm trying to spend as much time as I can with Mark cuz he's leaving soooo soon! Today is the last day of 2009 and I only have til Saturday morning with him. I can't believe it's already time for him to go to OCS traning and that it's the end of the year! This year has just flown by. Luckily it's been an amazing, wonderful year with so many good things! Hopefully 2010 proves to be just as great. Well I'm off to bed for now...I'll try to finish posting Christmas stuff soon but probably won't get to it til after Mark leaves.

Happy New Year everyone!!!!

"Don't cry because it's over...Smile because it happened." --Dr. Seuss--

....not that I'm crying cuz I'm leaving Utah cuz I definitely am NOT! I am happy with my time here though...I've met some of the greatest friends ever and have had some way awesome, fun times with them. I've gotten to attend BYU for almost the whole time I've been here although I still need about 2 1/2 semesters before I can graduate, but don't worry!! I will just not right now. I loved going to school though, the classes and professors are so amazing here and I learned soooo much! I don't miss the tests and papers and homework assignments though and don't really look forward to going back to them when I finish...but oh well! I'll make it through it all :)

Of course the best thing about coming here was that I met and fell in love with my wonderful, amazing husband! I feel so blessed to have him in my life, even more so now that we have our beautiful little Evelyn. They make my life so complete and happy! So coming out here to Utah was a very productive decision and I wouldn't trade all my memories here for anything. That doesn't mean that I'm not extremely happy to leave though! I'm sooo ready to move onto the next faze of life...and that means awaaaaay from Provo! Yay! I am so excited to spend a few months with my family, even though they all keep saying that I'll be utterly sick of them by the end, but if I can't stick with them for a few months then how am I going to do it for eternity? I guess this is my test :) :) :) I think I'll be able to deal with it. :) I miss them so much when I'm away so I'm really looking forward to it, I'm gonna need them all around when Mark is gone for 3 whole months!!! That's gonna be hard.

Anyway, right now Evelyn is sleeping and Mark and some guys from church are bringing some stuff over to our storage unit and I'm taking a break from packing and all that stuff. Boy am I tired of packing! I just want to be done and gone!!!! Almost there though....so close! We'll be leaving tomorrow morning after Mark takes his very, very last final. He's been a bit sick the past couple days so hasn't been able to cram in all the studying he wanted to to be able to take all his tests today and yesterday. I can't believe he's 1 final away from being done with his bachelor's degree! I'm so proud of him! He's worked so hard for it.

I have to get back to cleaning and such now so good bye for now! Next time I post I'll be home in Missouri!!!!!!!!

"You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you as you are to them." --Desmund Tutu--

So last Saturday we went and got our family photos taken for the first time by a professional photographer instead of me just taking it with one hand :) worked out much better this way. We got them yesterday though and they turned out so good! I am very happy with them. I found this lady here in Provo that is just starting out and does them at her house in a little studio type area she set up so it was pretty cheap and she did a wonderful job! We picked out the pics we liked the best and she edited them and did fun stuff on Photoshop (oh how I want that program and actually learn how to use it!!!!) So here's a few of my favs of the favs! If youw ant to see all of them go on facebook, they're all there!

"Save Santa a trip: be naughty."

Well I currently don't have internet at my house so I'm doing this real quick on campus. Today Evelyn is two months old!!! So crazy...she's still as adorable as ever though and so much fun! I took her to see Santa today and here is the pic I took. She had just woken up and was yawning, pretty darn cute.



Anyway, Mark is finishing up school and I've been packing away. We leave in a week from tomorrow and are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!!!!

"I've spent most of my money scrapbooking and eating out. The rest I've pretty much wasted."

I've been hopin' and prayin' all year that American Crafts would have their scrapbook warehouse sale again before I leave and it came true! I got an email the other day saying it would open today and I was SOOO excited! I went today of course (I don't want to go next week when it's snowing :) and it was just marvelous. They seriously have the best deals! I got double what I got last year and it was sooo worth it. And it's all different stuff too! Well except for some alphabet stickers, I got some that I've run out of. I got soooo many alphabets though! Probably 50 or 50 or so. I love them!

Alphabets are so cute and I run out of them so fast so I stocked up this time. I also got lots of new cute paper. That's pretty much all I need to scrapbook really...cute paper and cute alphabets! I am branching out though and trying new things and my scrapbooks are just getting better and better and cuter and cuter!

I can't wait to start doing pages for Evelyn's scrapbook. I haven't done anything at all yet and probably won't until I get to Missouri...which is coming up SOOOOO quick!!!! We're hopefully leaving on the 16th, the morning of the 17th at the very latest, so just 12 days-ish! I've packed up half the house already, most of the stuff now is just stuff we are using, plus I need to go out and get more boxes and such. So far the weather has been pretty good...extremely cold but no snow yet! I'm hoping it holds off some more or at least only snows a little before we leave. I do not want to drive in the snow! I hate it.

I really can't wait til that drive is over!!!!! Darling little Evie absolutely HATES the car, she seriously just screams and cries and nothing we do can calm her down, just have to let her cry it out til she falls asleep most of the time. So that should be loads of fun! She has been doing so well though lately (at home anyway). She's been sleeping great and during the day is just so adorable. I love talking to her and watching her face light up with a big smile, it's heart melting! She's also starting to laugh but isn't quite there yet...she kinda does this thing that sounds like a cough/hiccup/almost a laugh...it's pretty darn cute.

Let's see...I guess the only other thing to talk about is Mark! His last day of class is next Thursday and then finals and then he's done! SO close! It's so exciting. I'm so proud of him though! He's been taking classes pretty much straight since last fall, maybe Summer term, I can't remember...but anywho, it's a lot of classes going straight through! He's done so well- his grades are great, his GPA is pretty darn good and he's graduating! Yay! He's not actually going to walk or anything though cuz BYU doesn't have a graduation walk in December, you have to walk in April and he'll be graduating from the NAVY OCS program then. He doesn't care about walking for college though, not a big deal!

He has gotten his official "orders" from the Navy though saying that he has to be in Rhode Island by January 3rd to start OCS on the 4th. Originally he was going to leave at the end of January but they told us last week that they moved him up to fill up this class. So we are pretty bummed out that he is leaving earlier but it just means he comes back earlier! It's going to be a long 12/13 weeks though! I'm just so glad I'll be in MO with my fam.

Speaking of my fam...today is my niece Santana's second birthday!!! I can't believe she's already two! I remember going home for Christmas/Monie's wedding and little Tani was only a couple weeks old and so tiny and adorable! She's still adorable and very funny, I get funny stories about her and her brothers almost every time I call home! Anywho, Happy Birthday Tani!

(Sorry no pics this time, I do have some but my delightful landlord moved and decided to turn off our internet without telling us and won't answer her phone to talk to us!!! So frustrating! So right now we are relying on wireless internet with very little signal so it's very slow. Needless to say I am not happy with our landlord right now! Boy I am so ready to get out of Utah!!!)

"Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel."

Happy late Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday and that you are having a good recovery day! I know we aren't doing much today, too tired and too lazy really! But we had an awesome Thanksgiving and are now just enjoying the rest of the weekend together. We had Amy and Calvin over yesterday and all made dinner together and had a great time! The weather was beautiful, the company was wonderful, and the food was amazing! This was my first time being "in charge" of the meal and I must say we did a pretty darn good job! Mark and I did the turkey first off, I had him help take all the delightful innards cuz I didn't really want to do it.



Then we put some stuff inside to keep it nice and moist, stuck it in the oven and let it do its thing!



I didn't really take many other pics of the prep or anything cuz I was busy making it, but I did get this one of Mark and Amy peeling potatoes. Such good helpers! ;) (Calvin helped too, he was cutting them up after they were peeled, most of the time though they played our new toy, a Wii! We got it as an early Christmas present/Mark's graduation present and it is SOOO much fun! We got Mario Kart for it which is the BEST game ever!)



The Finished product! Isn't it pretty? Me and Mark were pretty darn proud of ourselves. It was darn good tastin' too! Nice and juicy and perfect!



And the ENTIRE finished product. Very pretty as well. I pulled out our "good" dishes and a nice table cloth and it all turned out great! I wanted it to look nice even though it was just us four.



Amy and Calvin, so cute! :)



I took this pic per Calvin's request...



And this one without Amy's permission! :) haha...



And here is the best part of the whole meal! My beautiful double layer pumpkin cheesecake which turned out PERFECT! I was kinda worried cuz cheesecakes can be so tricky but mine didn't crack or fall in or anything and it was SOOOO good! totally worth it. Even Calvin loved it and he doesn't like pumpkin stuff! So I guess I did good.



And of course I can't do a blog without a pic of my baby! She did pretty good yesterday, took a lot of naps and spent some time in the kitchen with us while we cooked (she likes to sit in there and watch me or she likes to stare at the fridge too...I don't know why but she likes it so whatever!). Unfortunately her good day didn't last too long and after Amy and Calvin left she proceeded to take little mini naps when she should have been down for the night and wouldn't stay asleep unless we were holding her or right next to her, usually she does so good going to sleep at night! Then she stayed up til 11:30...ugh! So I didn't get much sleep last night, especially since I got up to go to Target at 5am to get some awesome tv shows on DVD that were on sale for amazing prices...totally worth it although I am extremely TIRED today! She's taking a nap right now though so now that I'm done with this it's naptime for me! I'll just end with a great note of thanks to all our friends and family for everything! We love you all so much and are so thankful to have you in our lives. And of course we are especially grateful this year for our beautiful baby girl and for the happiness she brings to us! We have been truly blessed this year and are very thankful for each and every blessing we have received!

Everyday, you make me smile. Everyday, you make me glad to be a mother."

Here's a few pictures from the past week just to show you that I haven't disappeared or anything. It's just been a chill week, just been taking care of Evelyn, going through stuff/throwing away stuff, and starting to pack! Just 2 weeks of classes left, then finals and Mark will be DONE with college (well with his bachelor's anyway)! And only 23 days til we leave Utah!!!

(who wouldn't LOVE to wake up to this sweet, smiling face every morning? I'm so lucky! :)

(already practicing some boxing skills to keep the boys away or so her daddy hopes and wishes... :)

(After bath time, she's liking her baths now thank goodness!)

(She's also been liking the love sac lately, takes some good naps in it!)

(Chillin' with daddy)

"Daughters are flowers that are forever in bloom."

Having a baby girl is so much fun! There are just so many cute things out there to dress her up in and make her cute and adorable. Unfortunately a lot of that cute stuff is expensive!!! So that's when DIY comes into play. I love the cute little tutu skirts out there, I see little girls all the time at the mall wearing them and they are just adorable! They are pretty expensive though, which is so dumb for something so simple and easy! So I went and made one myself! I went and bought some tulle and elastic and wa-la! Presto chango- I have a cute skirt! :) (My friend Whit made the cute little flower thing to match it and I put it on the skirt).




I mainly wanted to have it because we're going to be getting some pics done at the beginning of the month (we're doing a fam pic so I got a cute little holiday pic and then I wanted to have something ultra cutesy for her to get some individual ones of her). So I thought this was cutesy enough for it! I'm having my awesome little sister Monie crochet some Mary Jane booties for the holiday pic and then some ballet slippers/hat for the cutesy outfit. It's going to be so freaking adorable and I can't wait to get them done!

'Wherever your feet lead you, may they always help you find the way home.'

This is why my stomach felt like it was a soccer ball in the world cup at 10pm every night...



She did this for almost 15 minutes straight last night, it was SO cute and SO funny! Most of the time she just gets going with her right leg and some little moves with her right, then sometimes she alternates them and other times they are sychronized...it's pretty funny! She's such a wiggly little thing though!!! But so cute and so happy and smiley! Too adorable I tell ya...we just love watching her, it's so entertaining!

(I just thought this was a funny pic...she is very expressive with her hands though).

(she's been crossing her feet more lately, which is funny cuz at our second ultrasound she was crossing her feet like that then too!

(so cute!)

(I finally got her hands wrapped up but now her feet get free...I'm never gonna win. But they look so cute!)

(a closer up pic, they're so big!)

"Crunching, crinkling autumn leaves. Spiraling, swirling in the breeze." --Julie Perkins Cantrell--

Happy November everyone! We've had a beautiful first week here in Utah and I've been lovin' it! It's pretty much been in the upper 60's and sunny, perfect weather right there! We've been going on walks whenever we can and it's been great. Evelyn usually likes the walks until she gets the hiccups and then she gets upset...she does not like hiccups!

(out for a walk!)

Other than that not much has gone on this week. Just chillin' and doing some stuff around the house. We're starting to get things planned/worked out for when we move next month (how wonderful that sounds!!!). I'm starting to go through my stuff and am getting rid of the stuff I don't need/want anymore. The great thing is if we have the Navy do all our moving stuff, they are going to come to our house, take inventory, PACK everything, and then store it! Which means I pack nothing! Sweet! Packing sucks...we're still working on how to get them to do it but it should work out.

Let's see what else...Evelyn is a month old today! She is getting so big and is cuter and cuter! She is such a wiggly little thing and still just loves to look around her. She loves to kick her legs like crazy, especially just after she wakes up, it's really funny. She is so long too! Which shouldn't be surprising but she really is, just about everything on her is long, her arms, legs, fingers, toes...very cute. She's much more vocal too...she coos and sighs and grunts and makes all sorts of little noises (I tried to put a video on here but it wasn't working so I'll try to put it on facebook). I especially love her smiles...I LOVE it when I'm talking to her and she just breaks out into a big grin, it's utterly adorable and sooo sweet! She's just too precious :)

(I got her a play mat thing but she hasn't really gotten to much into it yet)

(She holds her head up so well! strong little thing)

(Daddy's home)

(No matter how well I try to wrap her up, she always gets her arms free, but when she has her arms free she flails them around and wakes herself up)

As for Mark this week, he's just been busy with school and such as usual. He's only got a month left of classes though! It's getting closer and closer...This semester is going pretty good though. He's been doing good in getting his homework done so he can spend time with me and Evie in the evenings when he comes home. Although yesterday a majority of his time was spent watching the Alabama football game...not much we could do to distract him from that! :) haha...It was a good game though, Alabama won (they were playing LSU) and are still undefeated and are now the Western SEC champs. Mark's very excited about that, as I'm sure his bro Michael is too. I am as well cuz I'm a Bama fan now (according to Michael :). I don't mind football but it ain't my favorite thing to do/watch. I'd rather watch basketball which is now possible since the NBA season has already started.

Anywho...enough sports. I guess the only thing left is to tell you all of my experience yesterday in cutting Mark's hair for the first time! :) He wanted to get a clipper set and try doing it on our own instead of having him go get his haircut at a salon. So I got a set and cut it yesterday. I was pretty nervous and scared I was gonna mess up, and I'll say it sure isn't perfect but I think I did a fairly decent job! It doesn't look any worse than it did the last time he went to the salon (it wasn't finished off very well). He's happy with it so I guess that's all that matters!

(He was a little nervous too...)

(I just thought this looked funny, his hair was sooo long)

(The finished product!)