Christmas Past

I'm just blogging about this for me, even though these things occurred over a month ago.

We got together with my family the week before Christmas to make gram cracker houses. Fun was had by all.
I felt like this was kind of our first Christmas because last year we'd only been married 10 days and were living with my parents and extended family (the Bruderer's, Elggren's, Daniel and Sara, and Sara Anne). Not that it wasn't fun; it was a blast. But this year was very different. The Vance's had a family party on the 23rd and we spent Christmas Eve just the two of us. It was nice, we started our own traditons and just enjoyed the Christmas spirit.









Santa definately found us! Aren't our PJ's darling?! We visited all the Vance's and met up with the Weston's for quiche and scones. De-lish!















The rest of the break consisted of tiling my parents house and hanging out/playing games with family. I love that both of us are on a school break schedule. I don't think it'll be like this again.

-blogger is being funny with my pictures, sorry about the misorder.

What A Week!

Well, it has been a roller coaster week. We celebrated our first anniversary at the Roof restaurant in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and just had a nice night out. Unfortunately, we couldn't do much due to me (Anthony) being in finals week. So we had planned to do something later after finals. Monday was a wonderful day and it was a great anniversary. Lynette received a dozen long-stemmed roses and I received a pair of cufflings for my new suit (one of my Christmas presents). It was a wonderful night.



What an amazing view. We got to see the lights turn on and the temple grounds just looked wonderful.

As many of you have noticed or seen, we have removed the baby ticker and our post about us being pregnant. On Tuesday morning about 5:3o am we thought Lynette's water had broken. We hurriedly rushed to the ER to see if it had. After spending a few hours in the hospital and having an ultra-sound, we were told the baby did not seem to be under any stress and that all looked as it should. We later confirmed this with our personal doctor. We felt very fortunate and left feeling like everything was OK.

Wednesday was a different story that began the same way. I was awakened by Lynette at 1:30 am with a terrible case of the chills. She was running a fever and no matter what I did I could not keep her warm. She also told me that a miscarriage had begun. We called the on-call doctor and he recommended Tylenol for the fever and pain, and she soon began to recuperate. She slept momentarily until the contractions and miscarriage really began. At 5:30 am we headed to the ER knowing that we were in fact having a miscarriage. After about 2 1/2 hrs, they sent us on our way to be at home and rest. They helped with the miscarriage a bit and that seemed to relieve much of the pain that Lynette was having (Lynette now loves Morphine).

We feel very blessed that the miscarriage came and went so quickly but feel as though something was taken from us. We know the Lord has a plan for our lives but wished it involved having children at this time. Whatever the case may be we are doing well. We have been surrounded by so many good people. Family and friends have sent beautiful flower arrangements and have prepared meals for Lynette and I. We love you all and thank you all for your love and prayers. We know that without much of your help, this week may have been worse. So, again from Lynette and I, thank you to all those who have made this time easier.

Christmas Stockings

Anthony and I were married last year just before Christmas and it was a crazy time. We were living with my parents because they were about to leave on their mission and I didn't have time to make any Christmas stocking. So the day before Christmas I had Anth run over to Target to pick us out some stockings. Here's what was left. They just aren't me.

My goal this year was to make some and my sister-in-law Jaime said she had a pattern I could borrow. This weekend my husband and hers are out of town so it made for a perfect late night sewing party. Complete with takeout from Royal India, twangy country and Christmas music! (Jaime has made four for her family and needed to make one more for their youngest. She also started making Christmas place mats.)

The pattern was easy and I made both our stockings in about 4 hours. They are very plain looking but I'm not a frufru kind of person and eventually I'll have our names put on them but they'll work great this year! I'm very pleased with how they turned out! Thanks Jaime for a fun night!

UTAH vs TCU

I attended my first UofU Football Game. They played TCU. It was a great game. The U won in the last minute 13-10. It was one of those games where all emotions are felt. Disappointment, fear, sadness, ecstatic joy, happiness, etc. It was fun to the see the stadium in black and the cool uniforms. My wonderful husband answered my most likely dumb questions and helped me understand the game of football a little better. It did feel a little weird cheering for the U, b/c in the past I've been a Utah State or BYU fan. But I guess this is what happens when you marry a UofU student. (Notice the black U on my face, I have many talents and apparently drawing U's with eye liner on my face is one of them.)

We had the wonderful opportunity of sitting in the student section. I kept telling Anthony that USU never had students who used such questionable language. But overall I'm glad I went. I can't wait for the UofU vs BYU game. I'm planning on braving the cold and bad language to see this momentous show of skill.

The last picture is of our neighbors pumpkins. He grows huge ones every year and usually is in the paper for them. I thought they went nicely with this post.

New York

(Caution: Long Post)
Anth and I went to New York on October 11-20. I've been meaning to post but just haven't. It was a fabulous trip, filled with high adventure and plenty of near death experiences! (Would you expect anything less?!)

Day One: Nonstop flight to JFK. We were excited for the whole "nonstop" part but it was actually the worst flight either of us have ever been on. There was turbulence to rival any plane crash movie, including screaming people holding on for dear life. But as you can see in the picture below, we made it to JFK with said plane intact.


Yes, our main reason for going to New York was to see my parents in Palmyra but Michelle lives in New Jersey and Arlo lives outside the city so we spent some of our time with them.

Part of Day One was used in traveling by airtrain, subway, and train to Trenton, NJ to meet Michelle. We made it safely and were so glad our traveling was finished for the day!


Day Two: Church in Shamong with the Bruderer's. Lovely afternoon walk. Delicious dinner. When I have previously been in New Jersey I wasn't too impressed; Shamong, NJ is beautiful! We were there the perfect time of year, with all the fall leaves changing and falling! (I don't have any pictures of Day Two, sorry. Ok, I do but Anth won't let me post it. It has to do with him styling my hair and me styling his. Hehe.)

Day Three: Drive about 45 min to Atlantic City. I really didn't know too much about it except that it's supposed to be a Las Vegas on the East Coast. That and Sara Anne reminded me the movie "Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken" took place there (how could I have forgotten that!?). We walked the board walk, ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe (Adri had to cover her ears most of the time and kept repeating "I knew we shouldn't have come here" because of all the noise and scary animals), played on the beach, and shopped at the outlets. Atlantic City is a great place and better than Vegas for those that don't gamble.





Day Four: New York City. Michelle is an experienced New York driver! She did a fabulous job of driving us in. It was planned that the whole Bruderer family was going to come into the city to see the sights, etc. but instead Super Steve took the day off to spend it with his kids while Michelle came into the city with us. We had a blast. One of the best parts is that we got to see Sara Anne! She was on her way back to Denmark and had couple hours to hang out with us before her flight.
We parked the car and met her at Arlo's work, 51st and Lexington. Grabbed a bagel and headed to Central Park. I could have stayed there all day. The leaves were perfect, it was beautiful!!


(Notice that we're standing oldest to youngest and blue, purple, then red. Pretty fun!)

Next we headed over to the Rockefeller Center. We had a pretty clear view of the city and felt pretty high up. We had a fun time asking the guards to take pictures of us and just enjoyed the view.





Next we picked up Sara Anne's luggage from Arlo (such a good holder of luggage:), took a short subway ride and ended up at the Brooklyn Bridge. Sara Anne only made it about 1/4 of the way over before she headed to catch her plane. (We loved seeing you Sara Anne, even if it was for just a few hours, and can't wait to see you in May!!) It was a neat expereice walking across the bridge. Michelle said it was one of her favorite things to do in the city and I agree. The Bridge was once the tallest in the city. We had a fabulous view of the city and the Hudson. After we crossed we ate pizza at the famous Grimaldi's Pizza, which was delicious, and yummy ice cream, which also is the worlds best but I can't remember the name.




After the Bridge we headed over to Canal Street or perhaps better known as China Town. Michelle , Anth and I all bargained for stellar deals and came away happy. Michelle-purses for her girls, Anth-Cologne, and Me-a purse.

We then dropped Michelle off at the car, said goodbye and headed for Time Square. As we were about to come up from the subway to Time Square I asked Anth if he was ready. He said "Is there something I shoud be prepared for?" It was like being with a kid at Disneyland or on Christmas morning. His eyes got big and round and he kept saying, "Holy cow, wow, holy cow, wow." It was so much fun!!! We were going to see Wicked but Anth wasn't feeling well and he's just getting over mono so we thought it best to call it a night. We boarded a train to Poughkeepsie, Arlo and Kara's house. We arrived safe and happy to be with the Weston's.

Day Five: We got to sleep-in a little, which was much needed and then headed over to FDR's Hudson Valley Mansion. It was amazing and both Anth and I fell in love with the fall acreage and views of the river. At the mansion there is a memorial from the Berlin Wall. The part of the wall the figures are cut from is part of a memorial for Winston Churchill.




After the mansion we picked up Tyler early from school and went to an apple orchard to pick and eat apples. Ella loved the pears and Tyler loved the wagons. We had a fun time finding our way through a corn maze and posing for pictures.






That night Anth taught Tyer how to arm wrestle. Bad idea. Tyler totally schooled Anth. It was great!



Day Six: We toured the Vanderbilt Mansion. Incredible. It is the smallest of their homes. Used just for entertaining a group of 18 people. But has 50+ rooms. I totally understand, it gets crowded. Again the grounds were amazing! Anth kept asking me if we could buy a couple hundred acres. I said yes. Ella loved all the gardens and it was fun taking pictures of her and Kara.





Because we didn't get enough tour at the mansion we went and toured The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. I absolutly loved it! It made me want to go to culinary school and it brought back all kinds of memories from college. We ate the most delicious meal at the Apple Bakery and Cafe. I had their squash soup and fries. Then we got about 4-5 desserts and all had a small taste of each. It was perfect! They didn't allow pictures so none were taken.

We loved being with Arlo and Kara! Anth would live in Poughkeepsie in a sec. Thanks for the great food and fun talking! Your kids are so adorable. Good luck with selling your house and finding a new one! We'll definitely be back!

Day Seven: We got up early and borrowed Arlo and Kara's car to drive to Palmyra. (Thanks so much Arlo and Kara!!!) It was a beautiful drive and after about 4 hours we arrived in Palmyra. Dad and Mom showed up a few minutes later and we headed to the Smith Farm. Next it was the Sacred Grove and the Grandin Print Shop. These sites were everything we expected and more and of course having our own personal tour guides wasn't too bad either. Thanks Dad and Mom for some behind the scene tours.



Day Eight: After we visited the Whitmer Farm we drove through the countryside to a slate canyon, Watkins Glen Canyon. It was beautiful. We hiked up the trail taking pictures, getting wet, and getting slate souvenirs (thanks Dad). After the canyon we ate at a yummy Thai restaurant. We got back to their apt. in time to layer up and head to the grave yard. The Historic Society in Palmyra does a grave yard tour every October where volunteers dress as famous people from Palmyra, who are buried there (Winston Chruchill's mother and grandmother were from Palmyra). It was very entertaining.




Day Nine: We went to church, hiked the Hill Cumorah, went to a baptism and ate a delicious flank steak and creme brule dinner! We also drove 4 hours back to Arlo and Kara's in preparation to head home the next day.

Thanks Dad and Mom!! We loved being with you and enjoyed seeing your life now. Hopefully we'll be able to visit again.

Day Ten: Up really early to make the 4:45am train, to make the subway and airtrain to the airport by 8:30. We did it! The flight home wasn't as bad as the one there. It was a busy but great trip. Thanks Bruderer, Weston and Weston families for letting us come visit!!!

I told you it was going to be long.

Corpus Christi Bound

Athony and I will be moving to Corpus Christi, TX in June or July of 2009. This past summer we were there for an internship with a chemical company, Celanese. (They are like DOW Chemical but smaller.) They loved him so much that they offered us a job after he graduates in the spring. We really loved the people there and can't wait to see then again. We're a bit concerned that we'll be living in a place where our home could be destroyed every year by a hurricane but there are natural disasters everywhere. We're excited but know we'll miss our family and friends here in Utah. So start planning a vacation to CC!