Sister Time!

Since Brig and I didn't go home for Christmas this year, one of my little sisters came to us! It was so much fun to have family around for the holiday season! I loved it and Brigham was very patient with our feminine ways and giggling.

Our first night reunited after six months of separation.

Chinese food night with my new wok!

Ladies night at a hotel.

Home made pizza night

Italian moostaches to go with our Italian culinary skills

Nothing like a cuddly book reading session on a cold winter night.

Temple trip to do baptisms

At the famous Nashville Bluebird Cafe

Touring the Belle Meade Plantation

The Broadway Strip

Christmas lights at the Opryland hotel.

Saying goodbye. Love my sister!

We did a lot of other fun stuff but blogger was having a hard time with photo's today so the rest will have to go on facebook. Can't wait to see the rest of the family next summer!

More Car Mishaps

A few days after the below post about Brig's car breaking down, I got in my car to go to work and it wouldn't start. A short time later we determined that it needed a new battery. Luckily we had Brigham's car running again so we could use it to go buy the battery and some jumper cable's.

Brig doing his manly duty, again.

Brand new and ready to run.

About a week later Brighams car wouldn't start, again. It needed a new battery. Luckily, the mitsubishi was running again so we could use it to go pick up another battery.:)

Battery number two for car number two.

All in all our recent car repair purchases have included: 4 tires, 2 batteries, and one pcv valve diaphram. Good thing I've got all the free labor I need.:)

Handy Man

The Monday before Thanksgiving Break Brig turned his car on to go to school and there was a huge popping noise. After that the engine wouldn't even turn over. I took him to school and went to work. All day I was anticipating having to try to tow the car somewhere and pay 100's of dollars to get it fixed. Yuck. When we got home Brig took a look under the hood and found where a piece had blown off so hard that it dented the metal back panel of the engine area (please forgive my lacking knowledge of car terminology throughout this post). He fished out the piece and did some computer research to figure out what it was. Apparently it's something called a pcv valve diaphram. Whatever that means. He ordered a replacement that was waiting for us when we got back from the break. The next day, after looking over the damaged area again and a trip to Lowes for a few more parts, He had our little '95 Volkswagen running like a champ. All in all in cost about $65 and only three school days of sharing a car. Not bad at all. Talk about a blessing!

The broken piece

Greasy work man hands

Shiny new part. It's that black piece in the back. You can see where the old one blew off and dented the back panel.

Applicable side note: Brigham also fixed our broken couch base this month, after many weeks of sitting on the floor and me looking at couches online. It's now sturdier than it was when we got it.:)

Brig and his parents have told me about how when he was little he would take things apart just to see how they worked and try to put them back together again. Conveniently for me, all that childhood misheviousness is paying off.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving for us was a much needed break (especially for Brigham, school is crazy) and so much fun! On Wednesday we drove down to Arkansas to spend the holiday with Brig's brother Rob and his wife Kristi. We spent the weekend relaxing, playing games, watching movies, and eating lots and lots. I got to go see Breaking Dawn with Kristi and Rob and Brig got to play ball and work on their muscles. We stayed up late and slept in late. It was pretty much perfect. I'm already looking forward to next year. I feel so lucky to have family close enough that we can drive there in half a day! Of course I was too busy playing and being lazy to take many pictures but I do have a few.

Cutting into the bird. This is the only picture I took of the food. Too busy eating it I guess.

Cute, cute kids. We totally threw off their routine and took over their bedroom but they were so much fun!

Picture War.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Friends and Callings

Good thing I didn't commit to doing this everyday right? To kind of make up for it today I'm thankful for two things. Because it's Sunday, my awesome primary class! They are so cute and so funny. They make me laugh every week. I love their innocence and their little prayers. Today one little boy prayed, "please bless that every one will get a turn to pick a wiggle song." I think that line was meant a little more for my ears than the Lord's but still pretty sincere.:)

The turkey on the left doesn't seem to like pictures.

Next I am thankful for all of the good friends we have here in Nashville! I was surprised at all of the invites we got to various Thanksgiving dinners. It's comforting to know that we have so many awesome people to be with over the holidays, when being with family and friends is half the fun of celebrating. We are so blessed to be surrounded by such loving people and amazing examples. As a bonus, I am thankful for this post for making me realize that I have almost no pictures of our buddies here. I will be working on that this holiday season.:)

Sunday Naps

I am so thankful for Sunday afternoon naps. They are awesome. It catches me back up to speed on any hours of restful slumber I may have missed during the week, and it gives me a chance to cuddle with the hubby. I know I should appreciate them now because once the kiddo's come along, (unless they get all of mine and Brig's sleepy genes) I hear sleeping time will be on their schedule.  Sorry no picture, I was asleep.:)

Sweet Jobs

#2 thing I'm grateful for right now is the awesome family I nanny for. I can't believe how blessed I was to find them so randomly. I was disappointed about not finding a full time teaching job but this has worked out so well that I almost wouldn't have it any other way. They are so flexible, kind, and generous. At least half the time I come home they send me off with extra little presents and notes. They always talk to me about my family and life. It is crazy how nice they are. Sometimes I can't believe I get paid to hang out with their kiddo's.

Post babysitting goodies. I think that was the 3rd bunch of flowers in 6 weeks. They're keeping our apartment bright.

The little rug rats.



This one's happy too, He just doesn't always look it.:)



Gratitude Month

Since it's the month of Thanksgiving I thought it would be fun to do a couple of posts about some of the things we're thankful for. I was originally thinking I would do one every day but I don't think I'm ready to make that kind of commitment.:) We'll see how it goes. I'm excited about having a chance to blog every day though, one of the reasons our posts are few and far between is that our lives are pretty consistant. Who wants to see a picture of Brig studying at his desk everyday (even if he is good looking hunk a' man)? So this should be fun.

This is the view from our parking lot

I am SO thankful for Nashville weather and a nice long Fall. Not only is it beautiful but it is ideal for cold blooded people. Today, a week into November, it was a sunny 74 degrees. I miss the mountains and skiiing, I love the snow, but if I only have to wear a coat one month out of the year instead of 7, I am not complaining!

Pumpkin' Carvin'!

Our warm up pumpkin (the spider one). We had a carving party earlier in the week with some friends in the ward.

All the necessary preparations for a successful gourd sculpting session.

Concentrating...

Once again, my pumpkin failed so I ended up carving the back side.:) I chose a pumpkin face that could express my feelings of frustration at having spent two hours carving a very ugly pumpkin. Also once again, Brig's pumpkin is awesome. Grrr.

My sad looking failed side.:( It is scary, that's the point right?

The awesome pumpkin. What a good looking Frankenstein!

The Vaccinator

I do not like needles. More than that, I hate the smell of those doctory gloves and that sanitizing stuff they put on your arm. Ewww. I'm not wimpy, I just have a sensitive nose, ok? But as one who is constantly surrounded by germ carrying children Brigham thought I should get a flu shot, and who better to give it to me than my own gentle husband? Now that I look at the pictures and see the smile on Brig's face I think He may have had alterior motives. Actually though I wanted to get a flu shot so that I could witness and judge his shot giving skills for myself. I gotta admit, it was not too bad.

Dr. Brigham. Looking confident.

That's the smile I'm talking about. He enjoyed it a little much...

Me not looking at the needle piercing my big muscles...



Successfully Vaccinated.



End of Summer

Welp, one month later, here is the last portion of our summer cross country road trip adventure. Now that we've been back for a while it feels like we never left and the whole thing was just a super long dream...

Cacti somewhere between the deserts of southern California and  southern Utah.

St. George

We drove straight from Carlsbad to Topeka to visit the Mooney's and new baby Raelee. If some of the pics look familiar it's because I had to scavenge them off other blogs.:) One day I'll learn to remember by camera.

Awesome breakfast, we could have happily stayed here for much, much longer than we got to.

Some of the bugs we met on the road. An impressive collection from at least 12 different states.

After spending one night at home in Nashville it was back on the road again with some friends from our ward. We ventured out to Gatlinburg to spend the weekend in a cabin in the Great Smokies.

We spent most of our time eating great food and playing games at this table. Here is most of the group, minus one wife.

All the girls on a short day hike.

Sweet spiral staircase in the cabin.

The Smoky Mountains

My Smokin' Man

We had about one week between our traveling and the beginning of school. We spent it on a few good adventures, most of which I don't have pictures of. Here's one though, we finally tried the famous avacado popsicles from Nashville's popular Las Palentes.

We also paid a visit to Radnor Lake, a gorgeous area with walking, biking, and hiking trails just 20 minures from our apartment. Who knew?

 Now it's back to school and back to work. After all that partying we're almost ready for it! Bring on the Fall.