DC

So I have definitely neglected the blog for a bit. I've just been enjoying summer :-)
As soon as school was out we began our summer fun by taking a trip to the East Coast. We were lucky to be able to experience so many fun and exciting things while we were there. In DC we had the chance to tour the Capital...so many neat things there including the bust of Brigham Young. We stopped by the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress for some pictures.

Capitol

Doors to the Supreme Court

US Supreme Court

               Brad was very excited as our trip got closer because he realized that his favorite hockey team would be playing in the finals while we were there. So we of course could not miss that since neither of us had ever been to a NHL game. It was a very exciting game and the Lightening won! It was awesome to see them win other than we were among about 5 Lightening fans there. There were a lot of angry fans, one cute little woman even told us good luck getting home safe but not to count on it. haha really? There ended up being a ton of police all throughout the streets and the metro because it was the night Bin Laden was found. We decided not to go to the White House and just head back to our hotel. The next day when we did visit the the White House we saw President Obama walking his dog with his daughters. We couldn't believe how much security was needed for walking a dog haha. 

We also went to Ford's theatre. The history in DC is incredible. We were also able to visit a few of the Smithsonian's....so much fun! It was impossible to see everything but we sure gave it a try :-) I really liked seeing Julia Child's kitchen! Brad was such a good sport and let me stay there watching all of the video clips and everything. He even pretending like it was a big deal when I explained why people left butter there haha poor guy but he humors me so that I can have fun.

We did a lot of walking and visited all of the Monuments, I liked the view from the Lincoln Memorial the most. The monuments are amazing at night!

   



World War 2 Memorial

We had time to visit Arlington National Cemetery and see the changing
 of the guard.The one thing I had requested was that we visit Mt. Vernon.
 It was so beautiful. We took a tour and we were the only two people
with our tour guide. She showed us things that weren't open to the public
and a few things from the National Treasure 2 movie. (Brad thought we
 had both seen it but I hadn't haha but we watched it when we got back home)

We spent a night in Gettysburg seeing where Lincoln's address was, and taking a segway tour of the battlefields. The segway tour was totally worth it. Again we were the only two people with our tour guide and we were able to see so much and learn things we would not have picked up on if we had done it alone. Plus lets be honest segways are a blast!

Okay I'm sure most females can agree with me when I say a town of chocolate is pretty much the best thing ever! So with that being said we could not miss out on driving to Hersey Penn could we? Nope! Brad was super excited to have the chocolate milk :-) We made our own candy bars and did chocolate tasting from around the world :-) Um yes A-mazing

 

We loved this part of our trip and when it was over it was time to continue on to Boston

Vegas & BYU

Every year Brad & his brothers go to Vegas together. The past two years when I have been a part of this fun trip it has been conveniently timed with the Mountain West Tournament. Obviously with the way BYU played this year it was made even more fun. It also falls on the day of our first date. To some it may not be a big deal but our first date was on Friday the 13th, its a big reason we chose a Friday the 13th for our wedding so we try to do something to celebrate that while we are down there.

Butterfly house

Right before the game Brad surprised me with a shirt that said "yeah he shoots from there" with Jimmer's number :-) So cute! The game was awesome! We were there to see Jimmer score 52 points in a single game :-) We played at the casinos. This means my sister inlaw and I played penny slots while the guys played craps. I played a little but stuck mostly to the cheap stuff. I made 29 cents haha luckily Brad did better than me!

Since I missed out on the girls shopping trip, Brad was super sweet and took me shopping the next day...for most of the day. We saw a lot of fun things, walked through some animal exhibits, ate yummy food and of course since it was the 13th we stopped by one of our favorites Serendipity! We love the frozen hot chocolate that they make...its amazing!

A little bit after we made it back home, BYU beat Gonzaga. Brad came home from work a little before midnight and said "they just announced that BYU is landing in Provo soon. I almost went but then I thought maybe I should just come home because you were waiting for me." He is thoughtful but I said "lets go right now." So we did. We called his brother and his wife so they could come along and we rushed to the Provo airport. We made it there just after they landed and it was packed!!! Jimmer had a ton of security and didnt stop for anyone but we did snag a quick picture with Abouo. It was a quick fun adventure that I felt deserved notice. And yes I am wearing my pajama's under that coat haha

6 months and Valentinesday

Normally I try not to go on and on about the lovey dovey mushy stuff but I think there are a few exceptions this being one of them.
Brad and I made plans to go to Ogden to see one of my friends and to visit my cousins who I was missing alot. After school we hit the road. When we were just past Lagoon we found out that my friend would not be home afterall...kinda sad because we havent seen eachother since before Brad and I got engaged and I was supossed to get a box of movies back for my brothers. Of course I still wanted to see my cousins because we hadnt seen then since the wedding so we continued on. I have the cutest cousins and they were so excited when we made it to their house. We all went out for frozen yogurt and did a whole lot of laughing :-)
Brad said that since we still had a lot of time before the Jazz game he wanted to take me shopping at the Gateway. Like I'm going to turn down shopping! While we were there I turned the tables and convinced Brad to get new shoes for himself. I know I love shoes but really I don't need more and he has been wanting new DC's for a long time.

After when we were heading to the Jazz game brad pulled into the Little America :-) One of the places we went during our honeymoon. He had a room for us. Then when were unloading our bags that Brad had packed, my mom called. I know he was trying to make it so I couldnt hear but I know her voice very well.
I bugged him until he told me we were meeting them at the ticket office. This was the Jazz's first home game since Jerry left so I was excited we would be meeting them.
We headed over and as we were about to pass Ruths Chris I said "we need to take my parents there like we promised." Seriously as soon as I had finished my sentence we passed through the light and Brad turned in haha what a sneaky buggar.
My parents were already there waiting to have dinner with us.I love spending time with them so it was the perfect touch. It was such a nice evening and I was even able to feed my crème brule love!

We had breakfast and the most delicous hot chocolate the next morning at the hotel. It was such a sweet surprise expecially coming from my cute husband who has a very difficult time keeping surpirses.

Don't worry I had planned a 6 month/Valentinesday surprise for him as well. Since he lost his wedding ring at Thanksgiving when we were sledding I knew I wanted him to have another. But he insisted on getting it himself this time around...well I waited    and waited    and waited. Then I decided if it was a gift he couldnt say no :-) I wanted it to be more than just -here's a new ring!- so this is what I did.

I made these cute fortune cookies from flower wire, felt and ribbon. Then I put little slips in each one of them. The slips were all fun little coupons. I made one fortune cookie a little bigger and put tiny pink hearts on it and that was the one with the ring inside.

So there you have it. The 6 months and Valentineday lovey dovey mushy-ness.

Snow fun & Jazz games

This post is a little bit late. I have no excuse. I simply keep forgetting to post it. We had a super fun day and some cute pictures to go along with it so I dont want to completely neglect it though so here it is.

We decided it would be fun to take my parents with us to spend the night at the Tuttle cabin. We had origionally planned to spend Friday night and return Saturday. But then my parents realized they had no one to stay with their dog and my dad might not be out of work in time so we changed our plans and decided to go Saturday morning.

We later learned that my brother Brandon decided to go play basketball instead of coming with us so he could've watched the dog and my dad left work early....oh well such is life.

We drove up to where the snowmobiles are kept. Unloaded....okay lets be honest the guys did most of the unloading and we just put the waterbottles in our backpacks and kept warm in the truck :-) Then it was off to the cabin. Can I just say the mountains are gorgeous when it snows!

We played games, ate yummy treats, and enjoyed hot chocolate by the fire. When we went back outside my wonderful, sweet, caring husband decided it would be in his best interest to throw me into the snow. Well obviously that means war so my mom took pictures of us tumbling down the hillside in the snow. Super fun! Not so fun trying to get back uphill when I kept sinking to my waist....but we had a good laugh.

We went and played around the hills and on the lake for awhile and then had to head back.
We had planned on heading back much much much earlier but the timekeeper decided playing was more fun :-)

So after grabing lunch in Heber we made it home with 15mins for me to shower, change and get ready to go to the Jazz game with some of the Tuttle clan. I flew to get ready but really as most of you girls know, it is very difficult to achieve all of that in such a short period of time. So I left with wet hair haha the rest of me was ready so maybe that counts.

We had so much fun! We drove to SL with Aunt Marie, Patty & Grandma Tuttle. I have to tell you Grandma Tuttle is the cutest sweetest Grandma and her and Brad are very close so it is always fun to see them together.

I have to admit I am very easily distracted when we are with her because she has the best stories! So we wispered back and forth through a lot of the game :-)

So it was a fun-packed day! Time with both families and really we had a blast doing everything

Child Care 101

What do we love about our aparment? Well many things. We love not living in a busy complex. Not having to fight for parking because we have a garage and plenty of room if we choose not to use it. The yard...okay I may love the yard more but thats because Brad mows the lawn. One of the best things about not living in a complex is the noise level/privacy. Its so much quieter than any apartment I have lived in and we have much more privacy. (except on Sunday when the neighborhood kids use the backyard as a shortcut haha)

On most days, and nights for that matter, these wonderful things have all held true...that is until Saturday night/Sunday morning.
I worked until midnight and then I drove to Brad's work and kept him company until he was off of work at 12:30. We drove home and I promplty jumped in the shower because working at the hospital....well I always feel like I have to shower right away. I know, I know I'm a bit of a germ-o-phobe. I promise the shower in important to my story because it adds awkwardness.
So shower aside I'm in the bedroom getting ready for bed when we start hearing this crying and talking.....before either of us could do anything to react other than give eachother "that" look (you know the one) this 3 year old walks into our bedroom. Remember the shower? well I'm still in a towel and now there is a 3 year old, I've never seen before, crying in my bedroom putting his arms up to be held. I put him on our couch so I could get dressed and then figure out where he came from.

After talking with him we found out he was staying with our landlords who are his Grandparents. His dad was staying there as well but he didn't know where he was sleeping. He kept telling us he wanted to sleep on the couch and even though we figured he was talking about our couch we didnt want his grandparents to not know where he was. We thought about waking them up but then decided waking up a couple in their 80's as 1am may not be the best plan of action.
We ended up talking him into showing us where he sleeps. After we had him all tucked in he of course wanted a story. So we read a Sesame Street book.
By the time we made it back to our apartment we both just started cracking up. What a random night. We told his grandmother about it the next day and she thought it was the funniest thing that no one in their home had heard him (or us.) We learned that he was here from Tenn. with his mom and his dad. His dad was staying with his own parents a few minutes away so he really didnt know where he was sleeping but his mom was in the room right next to him :-)
All in all it was pretty funny and we were all able to have a good laugh about it.

Okay so it's a new year and I still haven't caught up on last year haha so get ready for the catch up and picture overload.

Here is a recap of 2010......

     After celebrating our first New Years together I flew in February to see my family in Mass. and be a part of "P for Patty." It was a full breast cancer awareness/ fundraising week that my mom's sisters hosted in honor of her.

It was so wonderful to see all of my family and be a part of such a showing of support. It was incredible how many people rallied around my mom to support her and our family

She finished treatment just before summer began. This was my family at the breast cancer walk in Salt Lake. Brad and I were unable to attend because we went to Missouri to visit people from his mission. We also found time to go to a few church history sites including Nauvoo, attend the ground breaking for the Kansas City Temple, and Brad simply could not miss the peal jam concert. Such a fun trip!

Soon after our trip...May 25th to be exact, Brad proposed! It

did not go how he had planned because of course I could not

make it that easy on him. I had forgot to tell him I was oncall

when he asked me to go to Bailey's (our favorite little place to eat.) So about 2 minutes into dinner I get called into work. I knew that I had time to eat but then I would have to hurry home to grab my work stuff and head to the E.R. Brad did not eat at all and fed me some story about how he wasnt hungry. I thought it was odd that he wanted to go to dinner when he wasnt hungry but let it slide. In the mean time he had contacted both of our mothers to put his little plan into high gear. haha the poor guy. I was so excited when he asked that I said "seriously?!" (I guess I watch a little too much Greys Anatomy) I was so beyond excited when I got to the ER to sit with my patient he said "I know I'm the patient and I'm the one who is out of control but maybe you should split my xanax with me." haha. Luckily they had compassion and let me leave early so I could see Brad...I was so giddy it was comical. And like every woman out there I am so in love with my ring!

 Three days after getting engaged we headed down to St. George with my family. It was a fun getaway. We also found some time to go Brad's family cabin the weekend before we were married. Two weeks before we were married we took a trip to Moab with my family and my mom's friend from the Army. We went river rafting and it was such a blast. My cousin Olivia was already staying with us to look at schools and be a part of all of the wedding excitement (or craziness.) Since neither her or Brad had been to Arches we spent a little bit of time there as well. We love love love our family so it was a blast.

                                                                      

I can't forget to mention that my brother Ben received his mission call. He is so sweet. It came the day of my bridal shower so he waited through the entire thing and until every was gone from our house and we were home from the shower to open it. He was called to Ventura California. He left Oct. 13th, exactly 2 months after our wedding. So far he is loving it!

 Since he had his call we were able to go through the temple together :-) Then a little bit before he left, at the begining of Oct., my family was sealed in the temple! What a blessing for us!

 

The layer we cut was confetti cake



Brad & his nephew Deacon taking
on the great responsiblilt of the boquet



favors: cake boxes that said
"have your cake & eat it to"

Okay so jumping back to August....We got Married! That has to be the biggest thing to mention for the year. It was so incredibly crazy leading up to the actual day but it was so worth it! It was AMAZING. I loved everything. I know I am probably very biased but really the flowers, the dress(s), the guys looked so handsome, the food was super yummy, everything was gorgeous and I loved that we were able to add so many personal touches. We had our parents wedding pictures in BW on the sides of one of our wedding pictures. I made the decor for the signin table with the help of my cousin Amanda. She also helped me make our sign in book. We wanted to do a toast but I'm not a huge fan of sparkling cider so instead we used bottles of coke. The groomsmen walked around pouring it and the bridesmaids had a kids drink as well. We had snowcones at the recption from this cute place that we practically live at during the summer. And I love grey...people kept saying it wasnt a wedding color but I was very happy with how it turned out. I had so much fun dancing for hours with all of our guest and I couldn't believe how many people danced until the end. Having my toss boquet break up into smaller boquets so a few girls could catch them was fun to watch. The sparkler send off was awesome and I loved our cute red truck that we left in. So yeah I know I am biased but really it was an incredible day!                                                                       

                                                 

So remember before when I said we love love love our families...well to give you an idea how much, the day after we were married we went to Seven Peaks with my family. I know I know first day as newly weds but I had so many family members fly across the country to be here and I didnt get to spend time with them before the wedding and I wanted them to have some time with Brad that didnt involve weddingness. The 2nd day we met all of Brad's family in Park City for dinner :-) So yes we love our families but dont worry there was plenty of time for us and we really had so much fun relaxing and haning out with the fam.

BYU vs TCU game in Florida with
Lavell & Patti Edwards

we decided to skip the group breakfast
& go with breakfast on our balcony the
1st day

 Next on our list of adventures was our Tuttle family vacation in September. We flew to Atlanta, drove to Florida for the BYU vs TCU game. It was so stinkin' hot but so fun to be there. Then the day after the game we left on a cruise. Really does life get any better...? I think not

  

 

1st stop Haiti

Shannon & I avoiding heading
back to the ship

We loved the flow rider



The Tuttle Girls minus Kathryn &
sweet little Kyla

 

Sharing dessert with Shannon

 We had so much fun relaxing on the ship, playing in the ocean during the day and hot tubing at night. We loved our dinner server, he was so funny. We hiked up a water fall in Jamaica and Mary Jane, Shannon, Brad and I went swimming with the dolphins. We were able to go snorkeling with stingrays. We also went to 7 mile beach which is so gorgeous, it was my favorite beach. We also spent time listening to an amazing guitar player almost every night with Brad's parents. The wholevacation was so fun
!


There were so many fun things I can't possibly describe them all but needless to say we were very sad to have to go home. Work and school just dont compare haha but we had an awesome vacation!

 



Snowed in with Amanda



Okay so then skip ahead to Thanksgiving. My Aunt Robin and her family came to visit. We went to see them in Park City the day after they flew in and we got snowed in! My parents were kind enough to get us a hotel room since everyone else was staying at the condo together. It was fun to have some extra time with them. We were fortunate to be able to see both of our families on Thanksgiving day.

 We spent 2 nights at the Canyons with the Tuttles before Christmas. Christmas Eve we drove home to celebrate my Birthday and Christmas with my family and went to Brad's Aunt's for a gift exchange. We spent the night at the Tuttle's and Christmas day there as well. My mom surprised by dad with tickets to see the Cowboys play Christmas day so it was nice that we could celebrate the night before with them. I was able to talk to Ben twice and it was so amazing. He sounds great and is just loving the whole mission experience. Then New Years we spent with my family. Brad had to work so I stayed there until he came home at 11:30 just in time to ring in the New Year!

So there you have it. 2010 was an AMAZING year!!! I really don't know how it could get any better but I am excited to welcome in 2011 and see what it holds.









First Letter

Okay so my little brother...well let's be honest he is by no means smaller than me but he is younger....left for his mission on October 13th. I was so excited this past Tuesday when I recieved my first piece of mail from him. I have in fact received 2 emails which has been wonderful but his girlfriend has been mailed 3 letters! Yes I know 3! I will be the one to for sure wait for him until he comes back and I have even hung out with her to be nice since he has been gone but she is the one to have 3 letters! Okay so mine was just a postcard but it was super sweet. Plus last week I was having a hard time dealing with friends. To me being married is the greatest thing ever and has been such a blessing. Two of my closest friends have completely disowned me since the wedding which for some reason I took a bit hard at first. One because I chose to spend time on a weekend trip that we had been planning for 2 moths with Ben 3 days before he was leaving on his mission and by doing so I missed her bridal shower. The other well I don't really know...we've been friends for 19 years and then after the wedding she refused to talk to me. I mean really completely ignored all of my attempts even when I showed up with a boquet of flowers for her birthday. Well Ben had the nicest things to say and really cheered me up. I knew my husband would have nice words to say because he is my husband and that is what he does but hearing it from my brother who is known to be very blunt in all situation was comforting. I figured if I had been in the wrong he would have called me out for it but instead he had comforting words which was just what I had needed. I am so happy for him. He is loving his area, he loves his trainer, and

thinks everything is amazing. Its been so nice to see the great blessings his misison has brought.