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~Merry Christmas~

Love,
Todd and Whitney

Turkey Day

This Thanksgiving Holiday was one I won't be able to forget ever! Thanksgiving Day itself was pretty normal. It was our year to spend Dinner with Todd's family. I love that both of our families are very relaxed and low key about holidays. We had a fabulous dinner and ate a ton of fabulous food. After dinner we headed over to my parents house to see all my extended family and enjoy a little dessert. We love being so close to both of our families. It makes it so nice to see everyone during the holidays.

Now for the part I won't forget. My brother Justin and his family were able to join us the weekend before Thanksgiving to play for a few days. They were gone during the week but then returned the weekend after Thanksgiving. That same weekend my other brother Nate and his family showed up. This was the first time we have all been together as a family since before Todd and I got married.

We didn't do much but sit around and chit-chat, eat, and take family pictures. I only have one picture on my camera from the week but it's of 2 of my favorite kiddo's. We can't wait until we get another weekend where we can all be together again!


They were very focused on the episode of Curious George they were watching!

COLORADO!!!

For my birthday this year Todd let me go to Colorado. I haven't been back there since I lived there when I was 9 years old. I have always wanted to go back. I really loved living there. This summer my good friend Heather and her family moved there so why not go now that we had a free place to stay. My friend Tara and I left and were there for 5 days.

We started our trip up at a ski resort called Breckenridge. It was FREEZING but absolutely beautiful.







After Breckenridge we headed down to the Denver area. We went and saw the Denver Temple one evening. We also went to Parker which was the town I lived in.



I also got to go visit for a day my best childhood friend Jaime! She lives in Boulder and we had a blast shopping (which is what we do best). Sadly, I didn't get any pictures while I was with her so I guess I will have to go visit again soon!

Fall

We had the chance to go to the corn maze again this year. We went with our good friend Tara as well as Jon and Sarah. We got lost in the corn maze for a while and then ended the night doing our favorite thing... Pumpkin Blasters!




The school I worked at this fall had their annual Halloween Parade. I took a few pictures of my students. They all dressed up pretty cute!


Notice the boy in the pink granny outfit...



All the 3rd Grade teachers decided to dress up as Pirates. Here we are!

Were Still Here...

Don't worry... we haven't died but life has been rather crazy around here! I PROMISE we will update next week with a fabulously wonderful holiday post! Until then... Happy Holidays!

Blankety-Blank Weekend

This weekend we went to one of my only 3 cousins weddings. It was such a nice weekend. They are going to UC Santa Cruz currently and my cousin has a deep love of the ocean so it was perfect place to have a wedding. Her hubbie is from the UK which made the evening full of fun, laughter, and an awesome accent. It was also nice to catch up with relatives I haven't seen in a while. Here are a few pics of the weekend.

Fabric-Finished

I found the perfect fabric for $3 in a fun home fabrics store. Here is the final product!



I used ribbon for the ties

Final project of the summer

NOTICE: This is in NO way an announcement of any kind...just know that before you read ahead.

A few weeks ago my friend gave us her rocker-glider that she didn't want anymore. It will be perfect when we have kiddo's. It was a little outdated so I decided that before I put it in the garage and forget all about it I should make it worth the extra space it is going to take up.

Here is an example of what it looked like before (I didn't take a picture so I found one similar online)


I sanded it down completely, primed it, and painted it a creamy white color, then finished with a coat of polyurathane.


My next step in the project is to get some fun fabric to cover the awesome green color the pads are. I am thinking something like...


or

or

or

or

or maybe


I guess I will have to pick something eventually but all I was really worried about was getting the tough part done. The fabric is going to have to wait!

The End is Near

I can't believe that summer is already almost over. Our summer started off pretty slow yet crazy but picked up in the middle of July with a lot of fun.

We were able to head up to our families cabin a few times. The first time we were able to go all of Todd's siblings were there which was really fun. It was especially nice to be able to see Todd's brother and his family who came from Utah.

Right before a great dinner

All the kids playing an eventful round of duck-duck-goose



We were able to go back again this last week by ourselves which was fun. We had a few friends come up as well for a few days to keep us company which was a blast. Sadly though, I am not the best with my camera so I never took any pictures, oh well. Lots of hiking, swimming, and reading made it a wonderful week!


In the middle of our two cabin trips I was able to head off to San Fran with my Stake YW Presidency and enjoy a girls day. We had a blast eating and shopping!

All of us on Bart after one very long day!


Summer also included gaining a new niece Adele Ann Blank who was born the end of July. We can't wait to meet her when their family moves back in November (they live in Australia)!

I love this picture because you can totally tell which brother is super excited and which is ready for some much needed sleep!

Keeping Busy

I have had a lot on my plate these past few weeks but every now and then I get a little down time. I am not the best at relaxing so here are 2 things I have been working on.

I have made 2 baby blankets for my friends. I forgot to take the little boy blanket picture but here is the little girl one.



I also made some festive 4th of July deco with McKae today! I think they turned out pretty cute!

Dear Mom,

I figured since you are gone right now I will give you a sneak peek on a few of the projects I have been working on since you left. Enjoy!



Love Ya!

Let the Summer Projects Begin

Back a few years ago my parents got a new kitchen table and I got their old one. At the time we had a friend who offered to paint the table for us since I wanted it black. When they painted it they never put a protective coat over the top. That would be fine except I had the table in storage for over a year before we got married and into our own place. The paint started chipping really bad and pealing off so it needed a face-lift.

Having said all that, one of my projects on my list of "to-do's" has been to refinish this table. (here is the only pic I could find, but you can see how the paint is chipping and scuffed)



So I sanded it down, re-painted it, distressed the edges, and then put a much needed protective coat over the top!


Half sanded half not


1st coat of Paint


Finished Top


Finished Bottom

The only thing missing now is the chiars being finished. Those will have to wait for another day!

Dancing+ School= CRAZY

Dance festival has consumed our lives for the past few months. The performance is in 9 days so the countdown has officially began! We are so excited to see the kids perform and at the same time, so excited to get our Tuesday/Wednesday/Saturday's back again!

I also took over a maternity leave for a friend at a school for the last few months of school so I have been crazy busy getting a classroom ready for open house. As blessed as I am to have had steady work for so long this school year, I am exhausted and definitely ready for Summer!

Todd has been working really hard this semester both working and taking some ridiculously insane science classes! He is free during the days and I am free at night. If only our schedules matched!

Maybe we will do something fun to post about soon! We are ready for a well deserved "get-a-way"!

Family Pictures

I want to make it a tradition that we always take pictures as a family once a year! Its still just the two of us so they look more like engagement pictures but either way I thought I'd share a few of our favorites. My friend Liz took them for us! She did fabulous!

An Anonymous Friend

I just came home from a typical CRAZY Sunday visiting 2 different wards and found this on my front porch... the card says it's from ?



Thank you my friend, who ever you might be... you definately brightened my day!

March Madness

As crazy has this month as been for the two of us, we don't really have many pictures to prove it. Besides me working 3 jobs, Todd working 2 jobs and going to school, Stake Dance Festival which we are very involved with, church callings, and trying to work out… we never see each other so don’t be offended if you never see us! This is the kind of busy we have been. Luckily we have had a little time to do a few things we like to think of as fun and exciting.

Back at the beginning of the month one of Todd’s best friends was married in the Oakland Temple. It was a beautiful ceremony and the day couldn’t have been more beautiful.



The Tulips were absolutely amazing! They were huge!



They were married on a Friday morning so, in order to have a zero stress morning we went up on Thursday night to Oakland. The most exciting part of going up early is not the “awesome” hotel we stayed at in the heart of Oakland but for me the excitement of going to IKEA! Todd is always a great sport and puts on a happy face as I walk around IKEA for hours. It is always fun to day-dream and figure out each other’s likes and dislikes. I even was able to come away from the trip with a new bed headboard and footboard and dresser. LOVE IT!




I also have been working hard to perfect my pizza making skills. I know this is random but I was really proud of it. I have made pizza a few other times since we have been married but these were the first pizza’s that were actually round! This was Todd’s “manly” pizza with all the different meat on it (he doesn’t need to know that the crust was whole wheat). The pizza that actually turned out better I didn’t take a picture of, but it was my yummy Hawaiian pizza.



Next, since it is getting to be such nice weather here I decided it was time to decorate for spring. Here are a few of the little decorations I threw together. All this for under $10!




And finally today since I didn’t have to work and Todd had a break after class we decided it was time to set up the back patio for the wonderful weather we’ve been having. We pulled out all the patio furniture and washed it all off. It was gross but as always, turns out fabulous in the end. Now it’s time for a bar-b-q… who’s coming???

Nursery doesn't scare me!

It seems that these days with being the Nursery Leader I tend to go up and down when my desires to have kids. I think that the reason wards put the young marrieds with NO kids in nursery is a means to warn them what they will be getting themselves into. I have come to realize though that I will most likely never have 9 3year olds at any one give time in my house (except for maybe a birthday party or two but parents will be there then). So, their little trick isn't working very good on me anymore!

So until we are ready for our own kids.. these two little cuties are welcome in our home anytime!



We love when the Belo kids come to play. Addie likes to walk in and go right to the closet where we keep the toys. There aren't many for her to play with so we are always coming up with other ways to keep ourselves entertained. This last weekend it was playing on me like I was a jungle gym. I don't mind it, it's good exercise, right?





Thanks Katie and Steve for giving us a baby fix once and a while! We love it... and your kids!