Easter Weekend

Hope everyone had an excellent Easter!! We certainly did here in Good Ole' Syracuse!!! We had the pleasure of having Maegan and Tyler (Tyler is Maegan's high school boyfriend, but non-boyfriend presently, but who is going on a mission in a few months) come up and spend the weekend with us!!! It was a fun weekend. We dyed eggs and hair, went to the temple, had an Easter dinner, and had fun hanging out. Here is the proof...

Maegan dying Tyler's hair. He wanted to go blue, but the mission wouldn't allow it, so he settled on dark brown!!!
Todd and Maegan dying their easter eggs. Notice the ears...
Todd and I in our ears..
Tyler and Maegan dying their eggs...
(I would make an excellent popperozzi member) This is Maegan and Tyler saying their final goodbyes. In two months Tyler is heading off for his mission in Denver, and this trip was their last chance to hang out before he leaves.

All and all it was a great weekend. We had fun and got to relax, who could ask for more.

The Snowboarding Chick

This is "THE BRIT" snowboarding, I am very proud of her.

Hubba Hubba

I was going through some old photos of Todd's and I ran across this one and it made me smile. I love my Todd and I am super grateful for cameras. If cameras were not around I would not have the ability to see this side of Todd. Black tank top and blue hair, who are you?? I love that even though Todd and I know everything about one another there are still moments when you get surprised.

**I feel 100% confident in posting this post because there are NO old photos of me within Todd's access. **

Paintings and a Red Purse

Well this blog is well overdue, but we have had so much going on lately that I just hadn't gotten around to it, but better late than never.

Our paintings that we bought on the cruise finally arrived and we are thrilled. When I first got married my Uncle Matt sat me down and gave me some friendly advice, he said "There are certain things you just dont do in a marriage. You do not hang wallpaper together, you do not string Christmas lights on a Christmas together, and you do not hang pictures together!" Well I understand all to well that last part now. Hanging these were quite a controversy and we had a heck of a time agreeing but now that we have them up we are excited. Our home is warmer and much more relaxing with these up. So here are the end results...hope you enjoy!!

These are in the piano room. (no we don't have a piano yet but it is going to look fabulous with these pictures accentuating it)
This is my favorite!!! I was drawn to this photo immediately because I thought the man looked like Todd, but once we got the picture home and in the sunlight we noticed the girl looks like me too. She has streaks of red in her hair and her skin coloring is close to mine. This painting was made for Todd and I.
This is in our family room, its a fun one and brights up the entire area!!!
This one is in our bedroom hanging above the bed. Its beautiful and perfect to wake up too every morning.

Pictures do not do this one justice. This is Todd's favorite and the one that he had to have. Its very magical and whimsical. There are sailboats, clowns, flowers, and women dancing, it gorgeous.

And my sweet Mom sent me a gorgeous red purse. I have been talking about buying a red purse for so long now and just hadnt found the right one or wanted to spend the money on it, but my Mom found one that is perfect. It is fun getting things in the mail and my Mom surprised me, I love it and take it everywhere. Thanks Mom!!!

Fun Times

This past week/weekend Todd had a big yearly conference here in Utah, this means all the guys from the field come into town for meetings. Its fun for me because I get to tag along as they go to dinners and play around. There is this one guy in particular that I love seeing, Stephane Salaun. He is the wonderful man that replaced Todd out in TN, and it just so happens that I have a small thing for him, it might be the French accent or maybe the beautiful face, but either way "humadee humm"!!

He and his lovely wife Gail were wanting to go skiing while they were here so Todd and I took them up to Park City for some winter wonderland. I was very excited because I only fell twice (unless I got tired and then I plummeted to the ground), and I successfully exited the chair lift without incident. This was the first trip that I actually had fun snowboarding.

Here are some pics...
Me holding my own...
Todd and I calling it a day...
Stephane and Gail (I'm a sucker for the gray!)...

It was a wonderful trip and we had a good time. If there is anyone else who would like to come out and try the mountain please call us and we will happily escort you, all you have to do is pay the way!!

Best Husband ever....

Todd and I's anniversary is February 26th which is just a few short weeks after Valentines Day. We usually combine the two holidays or do something small on both days. We have never been the couple that gets one another presents or spends tons of money on gifts for each other, we would rather get a four wheeler or new kitchen table. But this year my hubby out did himself. In the past I have told him not to get me flowers. I am weird and don't really enjoy getting flowers. So for our anniversary it has been tradition to go out together and get an exotic variety of flowers and be done with it until next year. Not this year!!!

On Valentines Day Todd came home from work with a beautiful arrangement of white orchids. Magical right?!! Well it gets better, for our anniversary I came home and found two dozen red roses on our counter. My Dad was in town and we all went to dinner and then came back to the house to show him the pad, and there in the kitchen were my beautiful roses. Todd had snuck home and arranged the flowers himself.

I love my Todd, he continuously surprises me!!!!

St. George

This past weekend we took an extended weekend vacation to St. George to help celebrate Todds younger brother Christian's eleventh birthday. We hadn't been down there since we moved back to Utah, so the trip was well overdue. We had a blast hanging out with the family and catching up with old friends.

We had Christians b-day party Saturday and Sunday night and then we went to church with them Sunday morning. We went to the temple Monday morning with Todd's grandma Cottle, Mark and Michelle, and then Monday afternoon we went on a hike before heading out.

If you have never had the chance to visit St. George you are definitely missing out. This is by far one of the prettiest places I have ever been. You can hike the red rock, drive out to the grand canyon, slide in the sand dunes, camp in the mountains, look for Indian hieroglyphics, search for dinosaur footprints, and hike into volcanoes. This place is honest to goodness my second favorite city to visit.


Here are some pics of the hike we went on before we took off.
The family minus Todd taking a break
Top left to right: Me, Amanda (12), Christian (11), Lauren (14)
Bottom left to right: Mark (Todd's dad), Hayden (10), Michelle (Todd's beautiful step mom)
Us girls getting ready to slide down the sand dune...
The boys hiking up the steep hill to Amanda.

Its fun to watch Hayden and Christian look at Todd. Sometime I forget that he has brothers and sisters this young. These kids treasure their time with Todd, and their faces when they see him light up, but Todd's lights up just as much when he is around them. Sweet Todd!!
This is Todd's Mandy. She is adorable and Todd has a special place in his heart for her. They cling to each other and have the best time when they are together.


It was an exhausting weekend but well worth it. We are planning to make it down there more often and we can not wait for the next trip.