We Bought A House!

About a month ago, we bought our first home. It's nice having more space than our previous apartment, for sure. Of course, we miss our old ward, neighbors, and even the dog upstairs. Our first Sunday in our new ward, we realized very quickly that it was not like our previous one. There are babies constantly crying. You can pretty much guarantee you'll find a cheerio stuck to the floor or an abandoned sippy cup in every room of the church building.

Our last ward had one half sized nursery, with six very well behaved little children. This ward, however, has three full sized nurseries.

Speaking of nursery, I was called back into nursery and Josh was called as the Assistant Ward Mission Leader (which I think is perfect for him). We're looking forward to serving in these callings and getting to know more people in the ward!

Josh started his second year of teaching at Maple Mountain. We were both so happy to see the growth that happened in just one year of teaching. Josh really does seem to be the perfect fit for this program. Yesterday was the annual dinner at Sundance with Summerhays. We had fun eating good food, talking amongst other music educators in the area, and getting excited for competition season to begin soon!

The kids at Maple Mountain are doing fantastic this year. We welcomed on a new staff member that both Josh and I knew in high school: Mikae Osborne. We have loved having him around and love the dynamic that he brings to the group. He began his first year teaching at Mapleton Junior high school just last week. We look forward to working with him for many years to come!

I've been having fun entering giveaways on Instagram lately. Recently, I won a free photoshoot! Of course, I took Josh and we got our photos taken :). I love how they turned out!

A few weeks ago, we went to Mirror Lake in Kamas, UT with Josh's dad, step mom, and some of the siblings/kids. We had a great time canoeing, playing games, and eating yummy food! It was fun to be back in Kamas, where Josh started his teaching career. I remember when I told me he was thinking of accepting this job and all I could think was, "What?! You're leaving me to go to KANSAS?!" Luckily, it was much closer and I was able to go and visit on numerous occasions. We fell in love with the kids in that area and had fun visiting again a year later :).

I have the most darling mother with the cutest ideas. We made a 50's music video for an event coming up and had a great time getting dressed up and dancing to the music.

We also got our family pictures done. Oh, what fun this always is. Mom got the tripod out and we all smiled in front of the camera while Josh secretly pressed a button behind his back to make the camera take photos. Luckily, the rain held up and mom was able to decide on a spot :).

A few weeks ago we went on an anniversary trip (yes, it's a little early but when ya marry a band teacher you take what you can get!) to Salt Lake. We had planned on going back to where we spent a night for our honeymoon at Alaskan Inn, but the power was out and there was a fire blocking the canyon. Unfortunately, we weren't able to stay the night there but we made the best out of it. We shopped, ate so much good (but so bad for us) food and enjoyed the alone time together.

Our current favorite place to hang out is The Good Move Cafe in Provo. They have hundreds of game, great food, and you can stay as long as you like (not past closing time, though of course). We got there around 11:00 and stayed until midnight playing games and eating Hungry Hungry Hippo burgers and Candy Land snacks.

While we were gone, my parents came and decorated our house. My dad put up a fan in the living room and turned our coat closet into a much needed pantry space. My mom bought new pillows and a rug and even put decorations up on the outside of our house! Someone day asked where I lived and when I told them, she said, "Oh! You live in the house with all the cute decorations outside!"

The beautiful lady sitting right next to me gets married this Saturday! Guess what else is on Saturday? Our one year anniversary!! I'm so excited that we share the same wedding day! My mom through her a beautiful shower a few weeks ago and it was so much fun to have all the friends there to celebrate this bride-to-be. We are SO excited for them!!

Hollie has been having a hard time in a new environment (high school), so I surprised her last Friday by taking her to lunch. It was so much fun to spend some time with her and get to chit chat about what classes she's taking and how much she's enjoying being on the drill team!

Josh is a darling husband and took me out to Olive Garden for my birthday! We were so excited when we found out we got to take a free dessert home. YUM! Josh surprised me with some yummy chocolates and a fun new game to play (we love games)! We're looking forward to Josh's birthday this Thursday! Lot's of celebrating is happening this time of year around these parts!!