Nap Time

Darren and I are playing on a co-ed softball team at school this semester and today he got his glove in the mail. He was so excited to play catch with me but ended up falling asleep wearing his glove. I thought it was pretty funny so I had to take a picture!

Semester Break

Over the semester break Darren and I went up to Portland to see his family and to meet the newest addition, baby Kylee. I seriously can not get enough of that sweet baby! I just wanted to hold her all week long!

Darren liked to hold her too! He learned lots of "Daddy skills" this week and he even changed his first diaper ever!

We had Kylee overnight for 2 nights while we were there and it was fun to see what it would be like to have a baby! A lot of work, but totally worth it when you get to stare at that precious face all night!

We had such a fun and busy week! We got there Thursday night and of course we had to go to Chipotle :) I actually first met Kylee in Chipotle. Now there is even more reason to love that place :) I can't remember what we did those first couple of days. I know we went to a lot of craft stores to buy lots of craft supplies for me and then on Sunday it was Easter. Easter is my favorite holiday and I am glad that we were able to spend it with family. It is so great to be reminded of Jesus Christ and all that he has done for us. I think the resurrection is such a happy thing because it means that I get to be with my husband and our families forever.

{Kylee on Easter}

Anyway, we had a big Easter dinner and Darren's Grandma came over and tried to teach me how to knit. I wasn't very good at it but I just need to practice! On Monday or Tuesday, I can't remember, we went to the Portland Japanese Gardens with Alan and one of his friends that he knew from BYU Idaho. The gardens were so pretty and peaceful and it was neat to walk around and see all of the pretty trees, plants and waterfalls.

On Wednesday we ended up getting free tickets to the Blazer game from Darren's uncle. The seats we had were so good! We were on the 8th row or something like that! Even though we like the Lakers more it was really fun to go to an NBA game since I have never been to one. The players looked so huge being so close to them and it was a really exciting game! The Blazers won and they scored over a hundred points so we all got free chalupas. That was pretty exciting too.

On Thursday we went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory with Darren's sister Bonnie, our sister in law Kathy, and of course the baby. It was pretty cool to watch them make cheese and read all of the facts about cows but our favorite part was the cheese samples. We went through the cheese sample line at least 5 times. They also have a Tillamook ice cream place in the factory so of course we had to get some ice cream, which was really delicious.

{Baby's first trip to the Cheese Factory}

On Friday Darren's parents came with us to go tour a DO school in Lebanon, Oregon. The school is brand new and it was really nice. It was fun to get a glimpse of what our future might be like. Darren really liked the school and that will definitely be one of the places he applies to. The school is about an hour and a half from Darren's parents and is in a pretty small town. At first I was opposed to doing the whole small town thing again but we learned from the tour that they have a lot of plans to build up the city. Also you can buy a really cheap house there that is brand new and beautiful and pay less a month than what we pay to live in our dingy basement apartment! After we went on the tour of the school we went on a little house hunt, just for fun, picking up all the for sale fliers. Maybe one day we will move there, but who knows. The rest of the week I spent a lot of time crafting and playing with the baby. She was a great little model for all of the headbands I make and she looked darn cute in them!

{My cute baby model}

We are back home now and I miss being with family and I am sad to be back in Rexburg. This is Darren's last semester but I still have a couple left. We can't wait to be done and find out what the future has in store for us!

Health

I have been wanting a juicer for a while now. I just think they are really cool and I love how you can juice so many fruits and vegetables and it tastes delicious! About a month ago I asked Darren if I could get a juicer but he didn't seem that into it. I tried to convince him but eventually gave up. But a few days ago Darren had to do this little test for one of his classes about his chances of getting cancer. It was just a survey type thing and we did it together...Anyway after doing it we decided that we didn't eat enough healthy things. When I make anything Mexican Darren doesn't want lettuce, tomato, avocado or anything else healthy on his food, he just likes the meat and cheese! I love all the extra toppings but I don't eat as much fruit as Darren does. Anyway this was a great time to bring up the juicer again. Darren loves any kind of drink so a juicer is a perfect way to get all your servings of fruits and vegetables in without having to eat them. Darren was convinced now that he wanted a juicer so off we went to buy one. We love our juicer! It is so fun to juice all of the fruit and vegetables and then we have a healthy, yummy drink to sip on throughout the day!

50 Degrees and Sunny!

Last weekend it was really warm, well 50 is really warm for around here, so Darren and I decided to go rent a tandem bike at the ORC. We had really been planning it all week because we knew the weekend was supposed to be warm but when we got there the last two tandem bikes had just been rented out! We were so bummed but we went and got lunch and had a picnic at the park. The park was really crowded, because it was so sunny and warm but it was nice to just sit and feel the warmth of the sun again! Maybe we can try and get a tandem bike this weekend...but Darren has a chemistry test, so probably not. Anyway we had a good day basking in the sun. Hopefully we don't see anymore snow for a while and the sun sticks around!

Baby Kylee

Darren and I became first time Uncle and first time Aunt on February 6th. Darren's brother Jared and his wife Kathy had baby Kylee and we are so excited to have a precious little niece. I am so sad that we can't be there to see her as a newborn but we are planning a trip to Oregon to go see her over spring break. I am really excited to hold that little baby!

The Andrus Ranch

On President's Day we spent the day at the Andrus Ranch in Lava Hot Springs and there Lava is pronounced with a long a. We had a lot of fun and we did a lot of things. Kevin Andrus was Darren's roommate his first semester of college and he invited Carlee, Maddie, Jordan, Darren and I down to his ranch. In the morning Kevin castrated some horses and we were invited to witness that but we arrived too late. We did get to see the remnants of them littered about the ground and were even offered to eat them but I guess they used too strong of drugs to put the horses out that it might have traveled all the way down to the nether regions. Anyway I would have NEVER eaten them, even though Kevin's uncle claims they are a delicacy and delicious, but Jordan probably would have. After we visited the newly castrated horses Kevin took us up to see some new baby lambs but on the way up to the lambs we met this little guy... Meet Thomas my boyfriend. I LOVE this dog and I am pretty sure he is in love with me too. He followed me around and wanted me to pet him all day. He was the biggest, fluffiest, friendliest dog I have ever seen and I wanted to keep him. He was definitely the highlight of my day. He may have only loved me so much because he doesn't get much lovin' because he is just a guard dog for the sheep and not a pet, but I gave him a lot of lovin' that day so we bonded. I hear that there is a Mrs. Thomas around somewhere but we never found her on that big ol ranch. I told Thomas to go find her and make me some puppies though, so hopefully they get on that! After I bonded with Thomas we got to hold the baby lambs. They are so cute but they are hard to hold cause they wiggle around like crazy! You really have to grip them tight! The mama sheep are a little scary and they make weird noises, but they make cute babies.

Oh, and here is me with my boyfriend again :)

Later on in the day we got to feed the cows! There are so many cows around and it was a little intimidating at first, but guess what? Cows are scared of you! If you just talk to them they walk away. Here is a picture of me and Carlee with the cows.

And Darren was there too...

While you feed the cows someone drives the truck and someone pulls the hay off and shoves it onto the ground for the cows to eat. Darren drove the truck and Kevin, Carlee and I rode on the back to feed the cows. It was a little scary at first because there was so much hay on the back of the truck and hardly any room to stand but once Kevin had taken some hay off there was more room and Carlee and I moved our way to the back of the truck and started to pull the hay off and kick it to the ground. It was really a lot of fun even though I ended up with hay in my eyes and all over my clothes. Overall it was a great day at the Ranch and those ranchers are pretty impressive! After we froze our little tootsies off we headed over to the hot springs to warm ourselves up. I love the hot springs, they are so toasty warm and I love the gravel bottoms. When we were done soaking we went out to dinner in a little hotel that we have eaten at before and then headed home. It was a great day off and thanks to the Andrus family for teaching us a little bit about ranching!

Basketball

Darren is playing on a rec basketball team this year at school and he loves it. His team is pretty good and it is really fun to go watch all of his games. He is pretty studly if I do say so myself. Last night at his game he had me take pictures because he needs a picture of him doing a recreational activity for one of his classes. I handed the camera over to Jordan to get some good pictures but it is kind of hard when you are sitting far away on the side lines and everyone is running around like crazy. Here is what we got...

Before the game

3 points!

The gangster in him comes out when he plays...

Free throw

I guess this has something to do with shooting 3's. Never seen it before...Jordan told me what it meant

Passing the ball