Katie's Wedding!!!

A few weeks ago, one of my best friends, Katie, got married in the Portland temple. Katie is one of my best friend and so much fun to be around! We met in Hawaii a few years ago, were roommates for a while, and worked as surf photographers at Turtle Bay Resort- best job ever!! We had so much fun surfing before after and in between lessons and got to paddle board a lot too! We both decided to move away from Hawaii and ended up moving on the same day, Katie to Idaho and me to San Diego! Katie is such an awesome friend and I was so happy when she was able to come to Nate and I's wedding! It was awesome to be able to be there for her and Kip's beautiful wedding too!!!!


The night before the wedding Katie's sister, Holli, and I threw a bridal shower for Katie! It was so much fun making little desserts and decorating for it! There were about 10 girls that came, including one of my old roommates from Hawaii, Hayley! First, we headed to a little Thai restaurant for some amazing Thai food. Then we came back to the apartment and played a few games, had desserts, talked a lot, and frosted and decorating lots of cupcakes for Katie's reception. Poor Nate was trapped in our bedroom the whole night with our living room full of girls.. haha! It was so much fun and I was so happy to be able to help with Katie's bridal shower!


The next day, we went to the Portland temple for the wedding ceremony. It was so beautiful and so awesome to be there!! Afterwards, we took pictures outside. It was raining, so people had to hold umbrellas over everyone and then run out of the frame while picture were taken! After that, we went to the beautiful reception! It was in a pretty house on a hill overlooking Portland! They had hawaiian food and lots of cupcakes! They did a cute slideshow (I was in a lot of Katie's hawaii and surf pictures and Kip told me I was probably in more pictures than him... haha!) Katie and her brother played and sang a song together, The Red House. It's a song that some of our friends in Hawaii made, brought back lots of fun memories!
It was so much fun to be at Katie and Kip's wedding and reception! We met Kip when Katie first started dating him, we wend camping and surfing on the coast. They are so cute and just perfect for each other and we are so happy for them!!!!

Easter

It has been getting warmer here and there are tons of gorgeous blossoms everywhere! We have been loving it! We had a really nice Easter! In the morning we went to church and had a really nice Sacrament meeting, with lots of musical numbers. Nate taught the lesson in Sunday School, he does such a good job. Then came home to get ready for a dinner with our friends, Sean & Erica. We made ham and mashed potatoes and they made rolls, salad, and dessert. Everything was sooo good! I was nervous making the ham, I've never cooked one before, but my dad gave me a recipe that turned out really good! Then we decorated some easter eggs, I still always love doing that. (: After Sean and Erica left, we watched a couple of videos on lds.org about the Atonement.


I am so thankful for Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made so that we can return to heaven.

Spring Break

Nate and I both work for the same school district. One of the reasons we tried to plan that was so we would have the same days off and the same spring break!!! We are all about the holidays (: We decided about a week before the break that we would make a quick trip to Utah to visit Nate's grandparents and then to Idaho to visit Brittany and Matt!

The weekend before spring break I was feeling sick, so we mostly hung out at home and I rested a ton. On Monday, more resting, and then we went into Portland for dinner at one of our favorite places, Urban Fondue. We went there when we both came up to Vancouver/Portland for Nate to have his job interview and for us to see if it was an area we would like to live in. Since then we have been back for fondue a couple of times and it is sooo good!!! I always end up feeling way too full after but I can't waste any of the delicious fondue!!

(These pictures are actually from a different time that we went there, I didn't take any this time.)

After dinner, we met our friends, Sean and Erica, at the International Rose Gardens. Unfortunately,we only found a couple of roses that had bloomed, last time we went there were hundreds! Sad, but there were still a lot of pretty blossoms on trees. We also had fun walking through the neighborhoods and admiring all of the gorgeous mansions!



Tuesday morning we packed up and headed on our trip! The drive up was so pretty and green when we were in Oregon. We thought it looked like we were driving through Ireland with all of the rolling green hills. That is one good thing about the rain out here (Nate reminds me of this daily when I wish for the sun :) ), it makes everything so gorgeous and green!


Poor Nate had to drive almost the whole way (I only drove 1 hour). I was still feeling sick and being in the car for over 12 hours didn't help! Nate was so sweet and made me a little bed in the back seat with lots of pillows and blankets, so I slept and watched chick flicks most of the time. We stopped at Wingers for lunch (Nate's favorites and now one of my favorites). Nate was in heaven with endless wings for lunch! We headed back on the road and got to Layton in the evening where we visited with Nate's family and then crashed.

My movie theatre (:

On Wednesday, Nate took me to Kneaders for the most delicious unlimited french toast with homeade syrup and strawberries. I'm not very good at all you can eat places, I could barely finish the first plate, but it was soooo good! Then we had some time so we decided to drive to the place where the transcontinental railroad met, connecting the East to the West. It sounded cool but ended up being an hour away. I was feeling really sick at that point from being in the car and feeling sick to my stomach, and by the time we got there, it was time to leave and meet Nate's grandparents. We took them out to lunch and had a really nice visit with them. Nate's grandpa had been in the hospital recently, so we were really glad he seemed to be doing good. They were so sweet and kept telling Nate over and over, that he needed to treat me right and like a queen! Haha, it was cute! After lunch, we drove to Salt Lake City and did a session in the Salt Lake Temple. It was sooo beautiful and I loved being there with Nate.


Afterwards we walked around Temple Square and then had dinner at Cafe Rio. On the drive back I felt super sick again and ended up going straight to bed when we got to Nate's aunt's house, where we were staying. I was feeling so sick and so sad because we had been planning on going skiing with Brittany and Matt and would be driving there the next morning. I didn't want to be sick on the drive there or while we were with them. Nate gave me a blessing and it made me feel so much better. I felt so much comfort and peace and was able to fall asleep and sleep through the whole night. I felt much better in the morning. I am so thankful that Nate and I were able to be married in the temple and that he hold the priesthood, it is such an amazing blessing.

Thursday I woke up and was feeling much better. We got huge scones for breakfast and then headed on the road to Rexburg, ID. We got there a lot earlier than we thought so we got lunch at Cafe Rio and then got to Britt and Matt's apartment before they got home from work. Britt got home and it was sooo good to see her! I love my sisters and have so much fun being around them!!! We went to a little antique shop across the street from her apartment and then went the the Rexburg temple (so pretty!) and then to the BYU-I campus to walk around since Nate hadn't seen the campus. It is such a pretty school, I love the campus. Then we headed back to the apartment and Matt got home. We had a delicious dinner made by Britt. Nate and Matt went to play some game and Britt and I just relaxed and watched Arthur(inside joke (: ). Then when Nate and Matt got back, we got frappuccinos (I was in love with the Mexican Hot Chocolate one), and watched a movie.


The next day Matt and Britt made us the BEST aebleskivers ever for breakfast! They had nutella, strawberries, and whipped cream, and I was in heaven!! Then Matt had work and Nate, Britt, and I were going to do a hike called Mesa Falls. We drove for about 45 minutes and then got to a point where the road was covered in about 4 inches of snow. We decided to just park the car and hike around in the snow. It was fun to play in the snow! Nate walked ahead and would make sure the snow wasn't too deep. We still kept sinking way down though, it was fun!


We went back to Rexburg and had a picnic at the park. It was nice and sunny and felt so nice to just lay down and relax after a busy couple of days! Matt came home and we had dinner, got more frappuccinos, and played games. Matt got this game, Killer Bunnies, for Christmas and it is one of our favorites now!


Saturday morning we woke up early and got ready to go skiing!!! I was so excited and also nervous, I had never been before. I just saw a ski resort my first time a few weeks ago. We got to the resort- Grand Targhee Resort- and got our equipment and tickets and headed to the bunny hill. I was picturing taking my time and taking an hour or more to learn how to move around and stop, but after 2 times of going down the bunny hill (and both times I didn't really get how to stop fast, and ended up stopping by falling down multiple times) everyone decided it was time to go on the lift. I was not sure about that and kept getting more and more freaked out as the lift went higher and higher. We got to the top and I was so scared. I really had no idea how to stop or slow down and could just picture myself skiing right off the edge. Nate was such a good teacher and helped me down the mountain. I fell a lot and was getting really frustrated with myself, but he stayed with me the whole time and helped me get all the way down. After that, the guys went on the bigger lifts and me and Britt kept going on our lift. The second time, Britt stayed with me and helped me a lot too! After that, I felt like I finally got the hang of it! It was sooooo much fun once I got it!!!! Me and Britt had so much fun, it was perfect that we could ski together and Nate and Matt could ski together! After a few hours, Nate and Matt met up with us and we had lunch. We had the best hot chocolate, I always pictured it would be so fun to go skiing and get hot chocolate in the lodge, haha! Then we headed back and skied a few more hours. Britt and Ally had gone skiing together a few weeks ago (that had been both of their 1st times) and they had gone down one trail that was supposed to be a children's trail. It was called "Weasel Way" and when they went down it, it was really bumpy and had tons of trees you had to dodge. Britt said we had to try it again, so we did and we both got through without falling! Right after that trail though, there were a lot of really big bumps right below the ski lift. I fell on one and it was steep, so I just scooted down on my bum to the bottom of the huge bump. A little embarrassing with everyone watching as they passed by on the lift! (: It was also so funny how all of the little kids were so good! Britt had warned me that there would be a ton of amazing kids speeding by and she was right!! Nate and Matt met us and went down with us a few times at the end and then Britt and I wanted to stay until close, so we went down one more time. Overall, it was the most fun day ever! Skiing reminded me a little of surfing, the thrill you get going down the mountain felt similar to dropping into a wave. It was soooo much fun and it was perfect being able to go with Nate, Britt, and Matt!!


When we got back, we showered and got ready and then headed to Wingers for dinner! Britt and Matt love Wingers too. We got tons of wings, fries, and shared a pizookie and asphalt (mint w/ oreo crust) pie. It was sooo delicious!! Nate got extra wings to have for his breakfast (they are seriously his faaaavorite!) Then we played games again until we were all so tired.

The next morning, Britt and Matt were so nice and made us a big breakfast. After breakfast, we packed up and had to leave. We were so sad to leave. It was soooo much fun visiting Britt and Matt. It has been so much fun because we both got engaged and married a month apart, so we are both in the same stage right now. Brittany is so much fun to be around and so sweet. She planned so many things for us to do on our visit. Even though it was short, it felt like we got to do so much! Matt is sooo nice and perfect for Brittany! Nate had a lot of fun being able to hang out with him!! We had soooo much fun with them!!! Hopefully we can meet up with them again soon!!!!

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