Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas everyone! We had an amazing Christmas this year. It was our first year together as a married couple and it was incredible!

We began our Christmas break up at Colter's grandparents house for their annual get-together. Then we were able to go see the lights at Temple Square and visit Colter's other set of grandparents.

Best part- we got to go home!!!! It was a short visit, but we were able to see all of our family. We had a blast! We've only been gone a few months, but it's amazing to see how many things change in such a short amount of time. We celebrated my 21st birthday at Colter's old work- Phantom Canyon.

On Christmas Eve we went to Colter's parents house, where his brother, sister-in-law, cutest niece, and my parents had dinner and watched Christmas movies. Christmas day was pretty much the same thing- hung out, ate candy, opened awesome presents. :) We also spent time with my family- I'm amazed at how everyone has changed but is still the same. It probably means that we're the ones that have changed. Anyway, we had an amazing Christmas. We are so blessed to have both of our families close to each other. We love them so much and miss them terribly!

Thanksgiving thanks!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

Colter and I went up to Salt Lake to spend Thanksgiving with his grandparents. It was amazing! Great food, company, and sports!!! We spent a couple of days up there. Nonnie and I went to New Moon while Colter was at work. It was....interesting. That's about all I can say. We're so grateful for our family. We missed spending Thanksgiving with our immediate family but we're so grateful for extended family that love us just as much. We're so grateful to be here at school, even though it's probably one of the hardest things we've ever had to do. We're grateful for this church and for the blessings it brings to our lives. I'm also grateful I remembered to take some pictures finally!

The BEAUTIFUL table Nonnie put together...

Busy in the kitchen...:)Rusty waiting for his turkey. Or as Nonnie calls it, praying.

October fun!

Due to this semester being crazy, I haven't updated our blog in months. A lot of things have happened, so I'll do my best to cover everything...


School is going great! I absoutely love my classes. After this semester I'll be completely done with my pre-reqs for my major. Next semester I'll be heavy into my major. I'm so excited to finally get started! If we go spring and summer terms, I might graduate in Dec. next year! Colter is doing great in his classes. He has an incredibly hard schedule but he somehow manages to always do his homework on time and the readings! We only have a few weeks left before this semester ends, and we're so excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas break!


Colter's parents and my parents were able to come visit us for homecoming weekend! We had a party with my old roommates then spent saturday at the parade, which I danced in with the Ballroom Dance Company. It was amazing to have our parents there. It makes us REALLY miss home. They came to all of our classes and spent everyday with us. We got to eat lunch on day at the Museum of Art Cafe, which is where Colter proposed to me, which was the first time our parents had ever seen it before. Colter's father had his neck brace finally removed, three months after his accident. What's the first thing he did after it was removed? He went on a bike ride for 3 hours... I swear, he has no idea how much anxiety he causes his family. ;)


Halloween was the most uneventful night ever. Colter had to work late, and I bought 4 bags of candy, thinking we'd have a ton a trick-or-teaters since we live in Wymount. We didn't have a single trick-or-treater! So sad...


Well, that's all I can think of right now. I'm terrible at takin pictures, so the only pictures I have of this past month are from the Homecoming Parade. I promise I'm going to try harder to take more pictures...

This is our view in the complex. I LOVE autumn!!!!
Colter and me waiting for the parade to start!

Exciting news!

No, we're not pregnant, in case that's what you were thinking.

As many of you know, ballroom dance has been a huge part of my life. At the end of last semester, I thought my dancing days at BYU were done. Well, I'm pleased to say that not only am I back on the Ballroom Dance Company, but I've moved up on team!!! I am now on the Back-Up Tour Team which means I'll be one below the tour team!

There sure is a reason for everything. We're so grateful and happy for this blessing and new adventure. We're not sure how we're going to juggle everything, but somehow we'll manage! So everyone needs to come to the dance concert in April next year to see my name on Back-Up's list. :)

Weddings, Callings, and Colorado!

This blogging stuff is hard to keep up with. So much has happened since last time I posted and it seems like whenever I sit down to post something I forget everything. So... sorry.

I finally got a calling for church! I'm a relief society instructor! Yikes, I know. I'm terrified. I teach every third sunday so my first time teaching will be Sept. 20th. If anyone has adivce, it woud be more than welcome. I've never taught before so I have no idea what I'm getting into.

One of my best friends, Cara Hervey, got married this past week! It was so amazing to share that expereince with her and her family. Hers was the first live sealing Colter and I have been to since our own. It was amazing!

I also just returned from a short 'trip' to Colorado. It was the first time since we've been married that Colter and I had to be apart. Holy crow, I had no idea it would be so hard! I thought we'd be ok, but wow that was hard. Good thing is that my dental surgery is all done and taken care of forever! Major stress relief. I was able to visit my family, old and new one. Colter's dad, Rick, is doing really well after his terrible car accident. The last day I was there we took him fishing. After sitting at home doing nothing for 2 weeks, he was very happy to be up and about. All I can say is he's crazy trying to fly fish with 6 broken cervical vertebrae, 2 broken lumbar vertebrae, and 9 broken ribs. But he did it! Thank goodness for the power of prayer and faith that got him through this accident. It was really scary there for a while.

School starts next week so we're going to be crazy busy again! Both of us are taking about 12 credits each and we're both working. I don't know how we're going to do it, but somehow I know we'll manage.

Here are some pictures from our fishing trip!

Lots of Updates...

Hello family and friends!

Sorry it's been a while since the last update. Lots of things have happened....

1) We were able to spend 4th of July with our family in Evanston, WY. All I can say is you have NOT experienced the 4th until you've gone to Wyoming. Non-stop fireworks from 7pm-3am... It's insane. A few weeks before that, Colter's parents came to Evanston for Rick's bikerace. We got to spend the whole weekend with them. It was so great spending time with them, we miss them so much.

2) Colter found a job working at a Country Club in Draper! He started Wednesday and he works most nights. Its great, but it does mean I now have my evenings free... not much to do...

3) Colter got his calling to be a Gospel Doctrine teacher. His first sunday teaching is tomorrow and he's pretty nervous. There's probably 50 people in our class and he's used to teaching 10 Elder's Quorum guys... :)

4) School is going great for the both of us. We finished up taking our midterms and so far, so good. Colter is staying on top of all his readings, which I gave up doing a long time ago. I hate reading when it's required....

5) Tueday night we made a pretty dumb decision to stay up till 3:30 in the morning going to the Harry Potter premier. The movie was really good, everyone should go see it right now. The only bad thing is that we're still recovering from being in line for 5 hours and staying up till the early hours of the morning.... We had tons of fun though. Colter was the only guy in our group. We went with my old roommates, Monica, Christie, Jesi, and Jaci (Jesi's sister). We had such a good time making fun of all the crazy people dressed up. But who's to judge when we're in line 5 hours early...?

I know there's a ton more stuff, but I really can't think clearly right now. I'll have to keep a notebook near me and write down what I need to put up here. Here are pictures of what we've been up to!

A shout out for Fathers...

I know Father's Day was a couple of weeks ago, but in my Family Foundation class, we studied the importance of fathers. It struck me so hard how essential fathers are.

Nowadays, about 33% of children do not have a resident biological father. That's 1 out of every 3 kids! I couldn't believe that. Also, 38.7% of babies are born to unwed mothers. Almost half! These statistics are staggering. I never knew how many people do not have fathers. Fathers are vital to a healthy, happy family. Children who do not have regular contact with their fathers are 5x as likely to live in poverty, 2x as likely to commit a crime, and 2x as likely to drop out of school. Fathers are soooooo important!!!!

After learning all these heartbreaking statistics, I am so grateful for all the fathers that I know. My professor (who extensively studied fatherhood) has concluded that the number one thing fathers can do for their children is to BE THERE. Be there to read bedtimes stories, to go sledding, to make smores, to build a fort, or to protect your daughter from the scary spiders. :) I have to thank my dad especially for this. He was always there for me and is the best dad's I know. I want to thank all fathers I know for being there.

2 Month Anniversary!!

Colter and I celebrated our 2 month anniversary yesterday! I can't believe it's already been 2 months. Time flies! I made sour cream enchilada's and I think Colter doesn't mind that he married me anymore since he's getting fed now :)

Things have been going pretty well. Colter is keeping on top of all his schoolwork, and I'm procrastinating as usual. (In fact, he's a whole week ahead in one of his classes) Reality is a shocker and I'm not sure I like it. Both of us are gone pretty much all day and the only time we spend together is a night, when we are both doing our homework. Oh well, that's life, right?!

Happy fourth of July! We hope everyone has a wonderful, safe, and fun holiday! We're heading up to Evanston tomorrow and lighting off fireworks (first time ever for me). Colter has a job interview on Saturday so everyone be sure to keep him in your prayers!!!! Have a great holiday and sorry this post a little boring...;)

Getting Started...;)

Hello family and friends!!!

After tons of pressure, I have finally taken the time to sit down and get a blog started. Be patient with me- I'm still trying to figure this stuff out.

Colter and I have been married for 40-something days now! I still can't believe we're married. Married life is way different than anything I'd ever imagined- it's way better. It might be because I married such an amazing guy...;) We've moved to Provo and are starting school on monday!! Colter is still adjusting to a "Utah Mormon" lifestyle and I must say it's been a little entertaining to watch. ;) Our apartment looks pretty amazing, we're finally getting settled in and there's not quite so many boxes.

I'm sure there's a thousand more things I should be writing but I thought a general 'howdy' was appropriate for a first blog. I'll post more blogs after this weekend since we're heading up to Evanston to see Colter's dad race!!! Wish him luck! We love everyone!!!