Happy 4th of July!

I skipped a week! I didn’t write last week, and now that means that this is going to be a very long post. I can’t say that it was because I was busy, or tired, or anything that may be a slightly good excuse. I just didn’t. but hey! I haven’t made any promises to anyone, except for to myself.

Well…. last weekend wasn’t too full. last Friday Hans had his championship volleyball game, which was a lot of fun, and they even broadcasted it online so some of our family got to watch from places other than here. It’s sad to see him play his last semester of volleyball :(

That Saturday, we did some homework, group meetings and such, and then we went to Idaho Falls! We really didn’t have a reason to go, but I wanted to shop around at the mall, and it ended up being a really good trip! I got a shirt and some flip flops, and Hans found some really good jeans. I have had the hardest time finding him jeans that fit him correctly since he is so skinny and tall, but this time he found them by himself! I sent him off with an assignment to grab 4 different pairs of jeans in his size, and then go try them on (with me ). The very first pair he tried on looked great and fit him perfectly, AND he found them on the clearance rack for $15 plus 30% off our total purchase. WOW, we felt lucky.

Of course we had to stop at Winco, because we were already in town. Now, Hans loves this snack called peanuttles. it’s a sugary coated peanut snack. Winco used to have them, but we haven’t seen them there for 6-8 months. So… as soon as we walked into Winco they were right there! I saw them and pointed them out to Hans, and he was so happy. It was a pretty lucky day :)

This week has just been another week, filled with school. It has been SO hot lately. It has gotten up to 90 degrees on some of the days. We don’t have air conditioning, so it’s been a little stuffy. I think it feels a lot hotter for me because i’m pretty sure my body is better at heating itself up, instead of cooling itself down. I believe it is because I have lived in cold places for most of my life. I really need to get used to the hot though, because we are going to be in California for over a month this summer.

also, a few weeks ago I got to shoot a fire extinguisher in class. here are some pictures of that

One of the nights this last week we had a big thunderstorm, they even gave a warning on T.V. about it. I Love thunderstorms! especially in the summer, because they come on so quick. it’s definitely something that boosts my mood and makes me happier, more so than the sun does. I took a video.

Now, on to more exciting things……

This weekend was the 4th of July weekend…. your know what that means… time to party it up! our weekend has been full, but I wouldn’t have it any other way :)

I found out that there was a rodeo in town so I looked it up and asked Sarah and Jaren if they wanted to go with us! I’m so glad I have Sarah because she is a planner too, and we both get so excited about things and want to go all out. We have become the best of friends! She got us some bandanas and cowboy hats, and we were ready for the rodeo! it was a fun rodeo, we had a good ol’ time :)

Here are some clips of parts of the rodeo

The kids had to try to get all the money off of the little bulls

here we are, so happy :)

On Saturday morning we got up and started packing our lunches, and we headed to the park for the parade with Sarah and Jaren. The parade was nice, and they had vendors set up too, so we looked around for a bit afterward.

Due to Hans’ lack of 4th of July type T-shirts I made him one, haha

Professional right? I mean, It took me about 10 minutes….

here we are at the parade, they gave out free chocolate milk.. mmmmm

Here we all are…. a little cold. It wasn’t too warm that morning

After walking around a bit, Sarah and I had to go run some errands, so Hans and Jaren played some frisbee, and then waited for us for a while. We of course, got a call saying that they were hungry and asking where we were. When we got back we found that they had bought some popcorn to eat, they couldn’t wait! haha. here they are

Then we had our picnic!

I made us some cupcakes.. I know I know, big suprise right? everyone knows me for my cupcakes now. I told Hans today that I was going to make something other than cupcakes and he was so happy. ha.

a J and an H!

We were at the park until about 3, and then we left to go got ready to go to the lake! after coming home and changing, we went to the lake. It was such a nice day….. So nice,  we all got sunburns!

We caught some tadpoles at the lakes, and put them in a little hole.

See this ones little legs?

We had fun soakin up the sun there

We were tired, so we went home and took a break for a few hours.

We decided to get pizza for dinner. A lot of the pizza places were closed because of all the festivities going on, so we went to Pizza Hut in search of cinnamon stick goodness (I confess, I wanted them, and I wouldn’t rest until we got some).

So I asked them about cinnamon sticks, and they said they had some. we asked about the price and how big they were an such. a single order was 3.99 and a double was 6.99. as the cashier was telling us this, one of his co-workers said “ oh you have to get the double order, I was just eating some” I replied to him saying “Well, are you going to pay for them?” haha.So we order the single, and the cashier said, I might just accidently get you a double order just because he said that. So we laughed and didn’t think anything of it.

While we were sitting and waiting for our order to be done, I hear the one guy say to our cashier “oh… you got them the double order didn’t you?” AND…. sure enough… he did! I was so happy about that! What a nice guy!

We went to go watch fireworks, and eat pizza after that, it was a little chilly but still a good time. Of course, we had to pop pop its! here is a picture of us with our pop its

  All in all it has been a good few weeks, and a great 4th of July weekend! We love our friends!

Tomorrow I’m going to get an eye exam and then we are off to Pocatello in search of a place to stay in September… wish us luck!

Happy Father’s Day!

Hi everyone, you might be a little surprised to hear this, but Steph isn’t writing the blog post this week.  Her loving husband is finally taking her “advice” and writing on the blog.  I told her that I’m not very good at blogging, but she thinks I’ll do ok.  Either way, it’s her fault if this isn’t a very good blog post. ;-)

To start off, Steph and I want to say a big I LOVE YOU! to our Dad’s on their special day.  We wouldn’t be where we are without them and we love them soooo much! I hope that I can be as good as my Father and my Father-in-Law one day when we have our own kids.  You are my inspiration.

I also want to let you know how much I love my wife Stephanie.  She is the most beautiful, sweetest, most diligent little wife I could have ever hoped for and Father’s day makes me love her even more :)

So…our very exciting week started off with a girly activity thing.  This involved me walking home from my class to find Marilee and Jessie laying on our blow-up mattress talking to Stephanie.  They came to visit in preparation for their impending departures to the mission field!  Marilee is going to the LA visitor’s center and Jessie is going to San Juan, Puerto Rico?  They went shopping for mission clothes and talked and stuff.  that’s all I know.  Oh yeah, and Steph got new scrubs to wear for her Medical Assisting labs.  They are very cute.

That night we had family night with Sarah & Jaren and Mike & Stacey since it was Mike & Stacey’s last week here before he left for boot camp.  We watched a short video on temples and then had a 2 hour, grueling game of 4-square in the lounge.  We duct-taped the floor into a big square and played together forever.  I won the competition for who could stay in the King’s square the longest :)

FYI: If you hit the ball onto an inside line you were out.

On Wednesday we went to go do sealings at the temple.  We both love to do sealings so it was a good trip.  We’ve decided that Wednesday is a good day for us to go to the temple since it’s the only day I don’t have volleyball.   I practice on Tuesday and Thursday night and have games on Fridays or Saturdays.

My volleyball team had its last season game on Friday night.  We played the Hawks.  Both teams were undefeated and it was an intense game.  They won the first, we won the second, they won the third, we won the fourth, and they won the fifth game.  We barely lost to them so that means that they are ranked #1 for next week’s championship tournament and we are #2.  Hopefully we will beat them in the championship this Friday. Go Spartans!!!!

Steph planned a game night for Saturday and invited a bunch of our friends to play games in the lounge.  We had a ton of fun. We played “Would you rather”, some card game called “Go Bananas”, and talked about random stuff.

On Father’s Day we were invited to Aunt Barbara and Uncle Wayne’s house to enjoy a super delicious meal of barbecued hamburgers, potato salad, fruit salad, chips, and cake and candy for dessert.  We took Emily and her boyfriend Mike with us and had a great time eating and enjoying good company

I finally received an email from ISU saying that the graduate program had finally received my application for the MBA program I submitted 2 months ago.  They said that I need to send them my resume, 2 letters of recommendation, and a statement of purpose and then my application can move forward to being approved.  Wow.  I didn’t realize how big of a hassle applying to a master’s program could be.  Hopefully I’ll get everything turned in and be approved in the next couple of weeks.

Well, I guess that’s all for now.  next week should be more interesting because Steph will be back in the saddle again doing her famous work as a blogger for our happy little family.

Another Update

We don’t have much to report on, but I try to write every week, so Ill give a quick update!

After the campout, our air mattress was wet, so we blew it up when we got home and we have left it out all week… I really like it, although it takes up most of our living room, haha. On Sunday Sarah and Jaren came over and watched planet earth with us again! here is a picture… including the air mattress…

Hans made a delicious veggie tray for us to snack on

He named this little guy, Reggie the Veggie!

later during the week, we had a TON of laundry to do, and it took forever. when Hans brought it back up, he decided to throw a bunch of clothes on me… and then he took a picture because he thought it was funny…. ha

We’ve been a little on the messy side this week….

But I have been loving that mattress!

The best part of this week was that Kim had her baby! It was such an exciting time! She went into labor on Thursday night, that night Cynthia and Daryn and I went out and got some balloons for her, and then we went back to our apartments and waited. Her baby, Katie Corinne, was born at 5:32 Friday morning! Of course we were all asleep and I had class until 11, so Cynthia and I went to visit her that afternoon.

I was so happy for her! I felt so much joy and happiness, and excitement for her, I can’t even imagine what it will be like when we have a baby, and I am so excited for it, what a blessing! To be able to bring such a sweet spirit into this world….. it really is such a sacred thing.

I have always been excited to have my own….. I think when I told Kim something to that effect, she said “ well make one then!” haha. And it really is special to be able to have the power to make a life.

and we are excited for that time to come….. just not soon…..

But I am so happy for Kim and Brad! I’m sure they are extremely tired by now, but they are probably the happiest they have ever been!

That was the highlight of this week….. month….. months… haha.

On Friday night Hans and I went to see How to Train Your Dragon, which ended up being a pretty good movie! I’m not really into the animated movies, but this one was good! I know that Hans really liked it.

On Saturday morning Hans had a volleyball game that they ended up winning! the rest of the day we just hung out and did homework. for like 6 or 7 hours…. I really got caught up! Then we went to the store, and we went to Bambinos,…… I had never been there before. They make scones and put all kinds of different things inside them. we got a barbeque one and a chicken ranch… they tasted really good! Then we rented The Spy Next Door. But first when we got home, we played Super Mario Bros for a long time… so fun! and then we watched the movie!

So it has been a nice weekend, just Hans and I. We don’t get those very often. I really love the time we have together just us, when we can do whatever we want! I try to just love the time we have just us, because I know when we have kids,we will wish we had more time to ourselves!  :)

Oh! I almost forgot! I found and Externship!! I’m really excited for it. I’m going to be working at a Women’s Health Clinic in Pocatello, starting in September. It is 200 hours unpaid ( I know, welcome to the medical field) in no less than 7 weeks. I’m sure I will learn a lot, and get a feel for what it is like to work in a clinic. Hopefully I will be able to take the CMA exam to become Certified at the beginning of December!

Hans hasn’t gotten his letter of acceptance from ISU yet. They keep messing things up and getting confused about everything and Hans has had to call the school numerous times. But we expect to get the letter sometime this week, and then we will go look for places to live in Pocatello at some point this weekend…………. so things are just moving along!

Camping!

Well, of course as soon as we got back from Colorado, we were back into reality, which meant back to being busy busy busy! Hans had a lot of homework to catch up on, as did I, as well as some tests that I hadn’t really been anticipating. luckily I was able to do very well on my tests!

Because we were so busy, we weren’t able to fully clean and unpack for a few days. I really am convinced that there is no way that everything is going to be completely clean. I can try to clean up every day, but it never ends. I don’t even want to think about what it will be like with kids… ah!

Other than our ordinary everyday stuff, on Friday there was a ward campout!  that day we drove down to Idaho Falls  to go get some stuff, and we stopped by Big 5 to get an air mattress. We saw in the ad that they were selling air mattresses for a good price, so we went to check it out! We got a queen size,  pillow top, air mattress, with a built in pump, for only 50 dollars! It is really nice!!  Now we have a bed for people to sleep on when they visit. Come visit us!

So we left for the campout at around 6 with Mat and Daryn and Sarah and Jaren, and we got there around 7. It was a rainy day, so we were a little worried what it would be like that night. When we got there we had dinner right away, good ol’ hamburgers and hot dogs :) after dinner Jaren and Hans got to work putting our tent up, (we didn’t have a tent so we shared a big tent with Sarah and Jaren). We blew up our air mattress and got it inside the tent. Sarah and I made our beds!

Here we are:

This is our side of the tent, they were on the other side, and there was a space in the middle.

We hung around the campfire for a while. I sat down around the campfire by Kim and Cynthia and then Sarah joined, someone commented that we were all wearing brown hoodies, so we took a picture! haha

Due to the fact that our husbands were off telling mission stories and such, Sarah and I spent a lot of the night together! We made some smores… Sarah roasted while I got together the other essential ingredients…

The bishop brought some huge marshmallows!

Aren’t we cute?? K I look a little crazy, but Hans is looking good!

After smores and hanging around, everyone got together to play mafia, and it was a lot of fun. before we we went to bed we took some pictures

Sarah and Jaren’s side

Our side

all together!

Hans and Jaren started talking about… stuff, I’m not quite sure what it was, but it wasn’t interesting to us, so Sarah and I took some random pictures :)

Sarah has a creepy eye

Hans is explaining something to Jaren

so Intense! haha

It was a cold night….. that’s actually an understatement… it was FREEZING. maybe we complain a lot, because it didn’t seem to me that anyone else had as much trouble as we did. we didn’t get much sleep at all that night because it rained the entire night, and we were freezing to death. The tent even started to leak, our blankets got wet, and our pillows and Hans said he got a drop in his eye. haha! other than that it was way fun though! We loved spending time with everyone, and the food was really good :)

When we got home on Saturday morning, Hans went to a volleyball game and I took a very refreshing shower (I know, it was only one night, but still!). We did homework, took a long nap, then we went to the store. We blew up our air mattress again and watched a movie on our projector. We had pizza, and we were going to have an ice cream bar with different candies and things to put on our ice cream, but we were too full… so we’ll save that for another night! All in all it was a good week/weekend!