We love Mrs. Barth!

I have been working at the same school this entire school year so far covering for a 5th grade teacher who was out on maternity leave. The Friday before Christmas was not only the last day before Christmas, but it was also my last day! My students definitely make me feel like I did a good job! Here is my LOOT they gave me!

I'll post Christmas festivities as soon as we get home from VA! We are out helping my brothers family during the holidays!

Busy, Busy, Busy...

November was a crazy month all around. We started the month off with our anniversary. The next week we went to Monteray to celebrate our anniversary plus my birthday! We had a great time and enjoyed the opportunity to get away.

This year for Thanksgiving it was our year to be with Whitney's family. Whitney's mom left 2 days before Thanksgiving to go be grandma so we were left with her dad to be the hosts of 4 British visitors and Whitney's family. Her cousin is engaged to a guy from England. His family just so happened to coming to the states for a visit and it happened to be during Thanksgiving. We made sure to give them a true American Thanksgiving. We went all out which was fun but a little stressful not having mom around. Overall it was a fabulous day and we realized how much we had to be thankful for!

As for Whitney and her attempts at crafts... SUCCESS!!! She and McKae King found a cute wreath made out of ornaments on a friends blog and they decided try it. They turned out great! they were both very proud of them. Whitney has since made another one for her mom in different colors and is in the process for making one for Cami in exchange for some bows she made.

December has started a crazy month and has no signs of slowing down. We are headed off to Virginia to spend Christmas and New Years with Justin and Hannah. We are going to miss our California families but are excited to go be Aunt Whitney and Uncle Todd.

Happy...

Anniversary!!!
I can't believe that it has already been a year! It's been a fabulous year and we can't wait for many more to come!

The beautiful flowers Todd bought me and our cake... Haven't tasted it yet but Todd made me wait a whole year to eat my favorite flavor so you bet were going to try it tonight!

FALL!!!!

I love the fall! The smells, colors, and everything fun that comes from it. Here is our little patch of decoration on our front porch.

We also went to the corn maze a few weeks ago with Mckae and Nate. It was a blast! It's amazing how even though there are a thousand people there, you don't run into too many while lost in the gigantic maze!! Thanks Kings for inviting us. We had a blast!!!

Projects, Projects, Projects!

So.... if you know me, you know I love holidays. I grew up in a house where my mom always decorated for holidays so now thats all I want to do this time of year. (Right now I'm on a pumpkin kick) Last year I wanted a Christmas Tree really bad. So Todd got me one! It has fun colorful lights on it along with all of our silly ornaments. The only thing that was missing was a tree skirt. I decided that since the holiday fabric just came in I should get some while it was still there (and cheap). So I made a tree skirt. If i didn't make it right away, I know I probably wouldn't have done it at all!

The other project that has been keeping us busy, mainly Todd, is this tv cabinent. My mom called one morning and said that she and her girlfriend had seen this when they were walking that morning. It had a FREE sign on it so they went back and got it for me while I was at work. When I got home it was sitting on our front porch. We worked hard on sanding it... and sanding it again, and after 12 cans of spray paint....

We got this!!!

I absolutely love how it turned out! I think Todd thinks I'm crazy! He didn't think it was needed but it's so much cuter than what we had before! Now I can hide all his nintendo stuff! Gotta love FREE!!!!

Wicked!

Last month we had the opportunity to go see one of my favorite musicals. Wicked!!! It was my third time going but Todd's first. We started our day by going to the temple for a good friends sealing. Then we hopped on to Bart to head into the city.
We had a blast seeing Wicked with our good friends the Jacksons and Mauchelys. After the show we all headed back into Pleasanton and met up at Cheesecake Factory for a delicious dinner and dessert! Overall it was a long day but soooo worth it!

A little about us!

I was tagged by my good friend TaNelle! Here it is...

What are your middle names? Lee and Christopher
How long have you been together? together--- as friends probably 12 years... as a couple off and on probably 4ish years
How long did you know each other before you started dating? 6ish years
Who asked who out? I waited until Todd got brave enough
Whose siblings do you see the most? Considering mine live on the other side of the country and in the Philppines... definately Todd's
Do you have any children together? Not yet...
What about pets? If only we could agree on a dog
Did you go to the same school?Just BYU-Idaho.
Who is the most sensitive? definately me!
Where do you eat out most as a couple?My parents house!
Where is the furthest you have ever traveled as a couple? Virginia/DC
Who has the worst temper? If I had to pick i guess maybe me but I think it's a toss up!
Who does the cooking?Todd used to cook, until I made him realize that I could. OOPS!
Who is more social?Definately me!
Who is the neat freaks? Me again! Todd could care less. I drive him crazy with it.
Who is the most stubborn? Todd!
Who hogs the bed? I will admit it.. it's me!
Who wakes up earlier?I do. Work starts much earlier than school!
Where was your first date? Before or after the mission?? We'll go with after... dancing in Sacramento
Who has the bigger family? Todd! lots of sisters and a brother
Do you get flowers often? every now and then
Who eats more? TODD
Who sings better? Todd- his whole family is great! That is one area I definately don't fit!
Who does the laundry? Todd washes, I fold
Who's is better with the computer? Me
Who drives when you are together? Todd usually.
Who picks where you go to dinner? Which ever of our parents are paying!
Who is the first one to admit when they are wrong? Me... Todd's too stubborn to ever admit he's wrong!
Who wears the pants in the relationship? Todd with somethings, me with others. It's a tossup!
Who eats more sweets? We both like them!
Who cries more? ME!
What's your best day together? Probably the day we went to our friends sealing and then to SF for Wicked... it was a great day!
Where did you honeymoon? Lake Tahoe (Thanks mom and dad Barth)
Favorite date night? Red Box and me actually staying awake through it!
Favorite TV show to watch together? NCIS
Couple I imagine us growing old like? either of our parents would be just fine with me!

Thanks TaNelle... I was due for an update! I tag... McKae, Katie, and Natalie!

Our Crazy Summer!!!

This summer started off a little crazy in the Barth Family. In the beginning of the year I was asked to be the 4th year counselor at Turlock Stake Girls Camp. Along with being in charge of 30 girls, I was also in charge of the "overnight hike" the 4th years go on. Luck for meTodd was asked to go as preisthood for the hike. The girls did great all week with not too much drama! Aside from being up sick all night (FYI- NOT prego sick) the day before we left on our 13 mile hike everything went perfectly. The only problem now is that Todd told me we are no longer aloud to have girls... I think girls camp was a little of a shock for him!

4 days later was Todd's birthday and the day my mom and I headed to Australia to visit my oldest brother and his family. We had Todd's b-day dinner on the way to the airport as well as presents in the car.



My mom and I were in AU for 2 fun weeks. I'm just glad that my awesome husband let me go for that long. I guess the perk for him was dinner out with my dad and a few rounds of golf!

Vanessa and I petting a Koala

My mom and I at the beach...

These are 2 of the many beautiful birds that are all over

The swimming pool from the Sydney Olympics

In front of the Sydney Opera House

Hanging out with the Kangaroos





We had a quick trip up to the cabin for the 4th along with Todd's parents and 2 of his sisters.

Finally on July 10th our good friends McKae and Nate King were married in the Oakland Temple. They are such a cute couple! We had a blast up at the temple with them and then that night at the reception.

Jamie, McKae, Me--- The Turlock Girls--

Memorial Day

Memorial Day was started off with a wonderful morning of sleeping in. I don't think I've slept in for at least 2 months! It was great. Poor Todd wasn't able to sleep in though and was up by 7am. Then we relaxed and cleaned up the house a bit. Later that afternoon we met up with Whitney's dad and grandpa and played a nice round of golf. The weather was perfect... our games, not so much! We ended the night off with a great dinner at MiMi's Cafe and a trip to the grocery store. Overall we had a great Memorial day!

Our Place

So, this post is mainly for the siblings who live out of state and the country. We thought we would give you a little tour of our place.

Our Little bathroom

The Piano

Kitchen/Dining room... notice the lovely CARPET under the table. We eat extra cautiously!

The bookshelf next to the loveseat (Todd didn't get any pictures of the whole wall with the loveseat on it)

The awesome hand-me-down couch that has been passed down from uncle to brother to us!

The office bookshelves. Sorry about the chair in the way.

The bedroom

Virginia

During spring break I had planned to go to Virginia to visit my brother and his family but while when I bought the tickets my brother surprised us and bought Todd one too! We had a blast while we were there. It ws sad to have to come home back to reality. Sienna, Porter, and Whitney- Pay no attention to the fact that Whitney just woke up!

I absolutely love this picture of the DC temple. I couldn't resist with how beautiful the tulips were.

Out in front of the Washington Monument

Handsome little Porter

Sienna and her new bike

We had so much fun visiting the sites and just spending time with everybody. We can't wait until we can go back.

A Weekend at the Cabin

A group of us went up to Barths cabin in Pinecrest. Todd, Tara, and I went up on Friday night right after work. Heather joined us the next morning bright and early. Tom, Natalie, and Jacen joined us later Saturday night.

We spent the day playing games and EATING food.
Notice how the girls are the ones in the kitchen... thanks for the help boys.

I was really sick that weekend so most of the time I was in bed or by the fire keeping warm.

Tara and Heather

Tara was definately excited for the weekend away from life.

I do...

Well, it's official. We were married on November 1, 2008 in the Oakland California Temple. It was a cold and VERY Rainey day in Oakland but we were determined not to let that ruin our day. We had a lot of support from family and friends who were positive even though they too were completely soaked. Todd was able to have 3 of his 4 siblings there which was great. His sister was expecting a month later and was advised not to travel out of state but she was there in spirit. Whitney had 1 of her 2 brothers there (Justin). Unfortunately Justin's wife and daughter couldn't make it on account that she too was expecting and due the same day as Todd's sister and couldn't travel. Whit's other brother and family sent their love from Australia where they live. We joke because it rained on his wedding day 7 years ago so he just sent the rain to let us know he was there in spirit. Luckily we were able to get a few breaks in the downpour to get some amazing pictures.

The reception later that night was at Whitney's parents’ house in Turlock. We lucked out and didn't have any rain until we were driving off after our reception. Everything turned out perfect and we were so happy. There were a ton of people who came to support us which we are so grateful for and feel so blessed.

After the reception we headed off on our honeymoon. Todd's parents lent us their time-share and we headed up to Lake Tahoe for a week which was such a great way to relax after 2 months of wedding preparations.

Now the wedding is over and life has begun. It has it's been a wonderful 2 months and we can't wait for what’s more to come!