Ashley and Andrew

DMU Winter Gala

2012-03-11T17:06:00.000-05:00

Last minute we decided to go the DMU Winter Gala, or "medical school prom." I am glad we did! It was a fun night of getting dressed up, going out to eat, dancing, and eating yummy treats. We went to Olive Garden before and then headed downtown to the Veteran's Convention Center for some dessert and dancing. It was fun to meet all of Andrew's school friends and see some our friends from church too. Thanks Andrew for a fun night! :)

The Smith's:

Kim and Todd:

And of course the fabulous Bell's:

Yum!

Also, as I do teach first grade, it was recently Dr. Seuss's birthday and this year's theme was The Lorax, since the new movie is out. It was fun to read all the Dr. Seuss books and do some fun Dr. Seuss activities. Andrew has missed out on the fabulous writing of Dr. Seuss as a child and I have had to introduce it to him.

Happy Dr. Seuss Day from me and the Lorax. :)

Andrew

2012-02-12T20:15:00.003-06:00

Andrew has gotten into these crazy shows lately. (I have to admit they are quite addicting, but I am in awe that these are REAL people!)

Here is the list:
Swamp People
Dog the Bounty Hunter
Billy the Exterminator
Gator Boys
River Monsters

With the season 3 premier of Swamp People starting this week it got Andrew in the mood to really experience the deep south and Cajun lifestyle of Louisiana. He really wanted to try Alligator. He googled restaurants that served it, and to my surprise there was one close by: Jethro's BBQ n' Jambalaya. So of course we had to take a spontaneous trip to get gator for dinner.

The original Jethro's is downtown which we tried when we first moved here, except that one doesn't have gator: http://ashleyandandrewgraff.blogspot.com/2010/10/man-v-food.html

I was not brave enough to order 'gator' but my pulled pork sandwich was sure yummy. Here are some pictures of Andrew's crispy fried gator sandwich with creamy jalapeno corn. Wow! Our waitress told us that their gator is much better than other alligator because they soak it in buttermilk so it is not as chewy (what?! who knows how gator is 'normally'.) I admit I tried it too so I could say I did. It is like fish mixed with chicken in my opinion. A little weird, but Andrew liked it.

Iowa Energy!

2012-02-12T19:53:00.001-06:00

The Iowa Energy are the feeder team for the NBA here in Des Moines. It was Military Appreciation Day, so Andrew got free tickets to a game. It was Quin's birthday, so we decided to invite them to join us. At first it was the worst basketball we have ever seen! However, we decided to stick it out and it got really exciting at the end, we barely won AND we got free pizza from Dahl's because the Energy got over 110 points! Yay for free tickets, free pizza, and fun friends!

The mascot: Surge

I was digging the "military" uniforms for Military Appreciation Day! :)

Iowa is known for its corn and caucuses

2012-01-21T21:17:00.000-06:00

Iowa is an exciting place to live during any presidential election year! This year we are electing a Republican to run against President Obama in November. Iowa is the first state to have a caucus or primary, so all eyes were on us in January. We got lots of phone calls and mail telling us where to vote and who to vote for.

Andrew's cousin, Hans, is a lawyer from Omaha on the Mitt Romney campaign. He invited Andrew to go with him to see the action at UNI and look for any "foul play." Andrew got to meet several candidates (Newt Gingrich and Michelle Bachman) and got to Mitt Romney's "after party" to hear him speak. Mitt Romney squeezed by with a win of only 8 votes to Rick Santorum. (However, a recount said Santorum won by 22)

Michelle Bachman:

Newt Gingrich:

Andrew and Hans above all the action:

At Mitt Romney's after party celebration giving his victory speech:

Look at all that press!

I didn't go with Andrew, but I did go with our friends the Bauer's to the Caucus to vote for our precinct--number 315! It was interesting to see how it all worked. Each candidate had a representative speak in their behalf for 3 minutes and then we all hand wrote who we wanted for president on a slip of paper and they counted them up and announced a winner. Romney won by a landslide (46%) in our precinct! I is surely an experience I will never forget and makes me grateful to live in a country where we can choose our leaders. What a fun and exciting night!

2011- in review

2012-01-21T21:03:00.001-06:00

January-Holiday's with the Matekel's, Andrew started his second semester of med school.

February-We experienced our first Iowa winter! It definitely is colder here with the coldest I've ever felt at negative 30 and a buried car! brrrrrrr!

March-road trip for spring break to Colorado Springs, Tooele, and St. George.

April- Andrew turned 25!

May- I got hired for a new job teaching first grade at Oviatt Elementary in Norwalk, Iowa! I went to the Pella Tulip Festival, We went to Wicked in Omaha, and we threw a fun Cinco de Mayo party.

June-Andrew ran the Dam to Dam 20k, Andrew went to Army Basic Training Boot Camp in San Antonio, Texas for 6 weeks. I turned 23!

July- Andrew was still in Texas, so I visit family in Utah and Puyallup. We celebrated my Grandparents 50th Anniversary. Andrew surprised me by coming home a day early and we went to the Indianola Balloon Festival.

August-We went to the Iowa State Fair. We visited the Bailey's in Minnesota and Andrew went to a Vikings game. Andrew started his second year of school and I started my new job!

September-We went to Illumifest and Andrew joined a softball team with his classmates, we went to Minnesota to help when Xander was born.

October-We threw a Halloween party and we were soldiers this year.

November-Thanksgiving at the Ipson's--game show style!

December- Christmas with the Graff's in Park City!

St. George

2012-01-21T20:12:00.000-06:00

After Christmas in Park City we headed first to Tooele, and then to St. George.

We stayed with my grandparents, the Hullingers first. They treated us to some good food ( including the much missed Cafe Rio and Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Caramel Apples) and the War Horse movie. It was fun visiting them, along with Grandma Matekel and the Kimball's and I am glad I had a chance to see them as our visits aren't as common now that we live in Iowa.

Then, we headed to St. George for a few days before we flew out of Las Vegas and back to Iowa. We relaxed a lot, but also explored the town a bit. Andrew showed me where he went to sixth grade--a historic building downtown with a fun shop across the street where he would get breadsticks and cheese every day for lunch, which of course I had to try! We also visited Brigham Young's home and learned some neat things about him and St. George. We also go to have In and Out and Cafe Rio before heading back to the MidWest!

breadsticks with cheese:

Andrew's school:

yum--burgers, fries, and a strawberry milkshake!

Christmas Eve Extravaganza

2012-01-21T20:02:00.001-06:00

It is a Graff tradition to have a talent show, nativity, and pajama elf on Christmas Eve. This year was no exception. First we had a deliscious dinner of Brenda's famous Texas brisket and then the festivities began. The Graff's have an abundance of talents to share. This year Adam and Austin demonstrated some wrestling moves. The grand kids sang and danced to quite a few songs. Alexis sang. Andrew showed us all how to treat an abscess. Arnold played his saxophone. I read "The Night Before Christmas." Ashton told us about Jerusalem. We all got to participate in the Nativity this year. I was a wise man and Andrew was a shepard. Xander got to be baby Jesus with Abigail as Mary and AJ as Joseph with Riley as the Angel. The pajama elf them left us all new PJ's on the porch and we went to bed. On Christmas Day, the Bailey's blessed cute little Zander and Brandon's house. It was a great holiday in Park City. When we weren't relaxing in the cabin, we were outlet shopping, ice skating, eating, and playing games. The boys played a lot of XBOX. Merry Christmas!

Family Pictures and Ice Skating in Salt Lake

2012-01-21T19:47:00.000-06:00

We had Graff pictures taken at the cabin. It was quite a feat to get every one smiling, I can't wait to see how they turned out. Here are a few of our "pre" shots.

Salt Lake has a fun outdoor skating rink that we went to before Christmas. It was so fun! It was Abigail and AJ's first time skating too and they did awesome! I also ran into my cousin Lauren at the end! :)

The Annual Graff Gingerbread Competition

2012-01-21T19:27:00.000-06:00

This year we were in Park City for Christmas at the Bailey's beautiful cabin. This is where we held the Graff Gingerbread Competition. This year it was trains. They don't skimp when it comes to decorating materials etiher! Check out this spread:

We took second place and Austin took first. Brenda (Andrew's mom) took third. Here are the results:

Ashley and Andrew's

Austin's First Place Train:

Brenda's Third Place Train:

Alexis's:

Arnie's:

Kim's:

Ashley's:

Brandon's Creepy Train Wreck:

Hot Chocolate Bunco Party

2011-12-31T21:06:00.000-06:00

We threw a hot chocolate, bunco, and white elephant party at our clubhouse. The Bell's, Nielsen's, O'Bryant's, and Becky Allen came. It was fun and the white elephant gifts were funny consisting of DI lingerie, massage oil, fireworks, etc. :)

Thanksgiving in Omaha

2011-12-31T20:57:00.000-06:00

For the second year in a row we headed to the Ipson's for Thanksgiving. Life is always an adventure with Hans and Jessica! :) This year, not only did Hans deep fry his first turkey, he turned Thanksgiving into a game show similar to Deal or No Deal entitled: TRADE OR GIVE THANKS complete with the FIERY RING OF CHANCE. It consisted of ranking what each other was thankful for, picking one meal item from turkey to cranberry sauce and then trading for your Thanksgiving meal. Here is some pictures of the crazy festivities! :)

First up: Hans in his homemade safety outfit for deep frying his turkey

Jessica vs. Hans--they both were delicious, though the looks may be deceiving :)

The Thanksgiving crew:

The game show:

You could take the chance to trade in the fiery ring of chance...you could get an extra entree or have to give up some of your food.

I ended up with rolls and Andrew ended up with pumpkin pie.

After the trading round Andrew's meal was yams, rolls, stuffing and mashed potatoes with gravy. Ashley ended up with rolls, turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie.

Thanks Hans and Jessica for a fun weekend!

Breaking Dawn

2011-12-31T20:33:00.000-06:00

Love me some vampire movies :) I went on opening night with a bunch of ladies from the ward. Andrew was sad I ditched him, but we will have to redbox it later ;)

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-15T18:52:00.001-06:00

So, I love Halloween! Some people just want to skip it and head straight to Thanksgiving and Christmas--not me! I love dressing up, eating candy, making themed food, and all the spooky decorations. We threw another Halloween party this year! It was fun to get together with friends and play games and eat yummy treats. Check out some of the great costumes:

The Sheperds: Paul Bunyan and Babe the Big Blue Ox

How cute is this! The Bells from the movie UP!

The Adams as The "Adams Family!" :)

Brittny and Hawkins as rock stars!

Somehow I missed this little Zombies parents, but their kid is sure cute!

I told Andrew to look tough in this picture and this is what I got :)

Now check out all the creative food people brought, YUM!

Remember Ilumifest...we made the paper!

2011-10-17T20:32:00.001-05:00

So I was flipping through the West Des Moines living magazine that comes in the mail every month and much to my surprise...I see Andrew and I.

Click the link We are the second picture down painting lanterns...ya, we are pretty much famous!
http://iowalivingmagazines.com/pages/westdesmoines/2011-10/pdf/WestDMOct_13.pdf

Also, on a side note...another funny story from my kiddos. I was teaching them about Christopher Columbus and I told them he lived way, way before they were even born, in 1492 he sailed to America. Well one of my little ones raised their hand and said: "Mrs. Graff, since it was before we were born, did you know Christopher Columbus?" Ha! Does it look like I am 500 years old!? :) I love my job!!

Illumifest

2011-09-26T20:38:00.000-05:00

Our community has an annual festival called illumifest and it was so fun!! The best part is everything is free. Free paper lantern making, free paddleboat rides, free hot air balloons, free entertainment. This year everything was based on Tangled, a movie which I LOVE! Andrew and I made paper lanterns that light up (just like the movie!) and rode a paddle boat around the library lake. We also watched a chinese dragon and saw the sights. Later that night they showed Tangled on a big outdoor screen and had fireworks.

However, we left before the movie so that I could make it back to listen to the Relief Society General Broadcast. I especially liked the talk from Pres. Uchtdorf about the forget me nots. It was a good reminder to not forget the little things. I especially liked the don't forget to be happy now. That is sometimes hard as a beginning teacher with a med school husband. I need to remember that life is great, and will only get better :)

DMU Softball

2011-09-26T20:27:00.000-05:00

Andrew joined a softball league with some of his friends from school. They do pretty good for not being to serious and just playing for enjoyment and a break from pharmacology! The first team they played were seriously into it...and DMU won! :) Andrew played catcher and outfield. He did a great job hitting and catching! What a stud!

Minneapolis Trip and Vikings Excursion

2011-09-26T20:14:00.000-05:00

At the end of August we visited the Bailey's in Minneapolis. Brandon is doing a pediatric dentistry residency up there for 2 years and we are excited to have more family within driving distance. We saw their new home, visited the Como zoo and gardens...the best part it was all free.

Ethan was obviously a little tired at the end :)

We watched the Spark the Sea Lion show which was a hit with the kids!

However, the highlight of the trip was that Andrew went to a Minnesota Vikings game with his sister. It has been his dream to go to an NFL game and since it was pre-season the tickets were pretty cheap and they sat in an awesome spot....50 yard line!

Next time we will skip the football and go to the Mall of America, right Andrew?!

I need to update and some IOWA STATE FAIR!

2011-09-26T20:00:00.001-05:00

So I have been neglectful updating life since the middle of the summer. Life has been a little crazy out here in Des Moines. Andrew jumped right into studying as a second year medical student at DMU and I was BUSY BUSY BUSY setting up and starting school with my new class of firsties. They are dang cute, so funny, and so FULL of energy. I am lucky to only have 18 little first graders,but those six year olds sure keep me busy (and laughing) all day long. My most recent favorite is we were learning tallies and I told them to tally their age. With all seriousness several of them asked me how to do a half tally as they were 6 1/2. I forget what a big deal that is :). I also tie probably 50 shoes a day. Also today was Johnny Appleseed's birthday (I can't believe you didn't know that!) One of my little boys told me we shouldn't celebrate his birthday because he is dead and he proceeded to show me a picture of his grave from a book about Johnny Appleseed. We tested out different types of apples and it was hilarious to see them take being a "food critic" so seriously. I just about died hearing them say...the Fuji is way better than the red delicious. I thing the Gala is juicier than the Mcintosh. The funny moments make up for the shoe tying and endless staff meetings. :)

Here is the update from our summer

First Quinn and Nicole moved into our ward from St. George. Quinn is a first year D.O. at DMU. Andrew and Quinn were in the same first grade class, can you believe that! We went to the farmer's market and have spent some time watching plenty of BYU football with them as well :)

Next, we went to the Iowa State Fair. It is a BIG deal here. It is a combination of deep fried foods, animals, carnival rides, and concerts. It as fun and the weather was wonderful! Last year it was so hot and humid I could have melted. I was grateful that this year it was not so hot!

Here is the baby animal pens. This is the calf. Next to him is a sign that says "do not let cow suck fingers." I can see why based off how he posed in my picture :)

The fair is full of great photo ops:

This year they had a new addition to the deep fried goodness: DEEP FRIED BUTTER. What?! I was too scared (and a little disgusted) to try that one. Andrew chose a corn dog and a deep fried twinkie for his fair snacks and I chose a funnel cake and boy were they tasty!

Iowa is know for their corn and being John Deere headquarters. We live in a cool place, huh? In all seriousness we really do love it here! We have made lots of friends and had lots of great experiences.

This year was a big deal as it was the 100th anniversay of the butter cow. Yes for 100 years they have a statue of a cow carved completely from butter. Pretty impressive for a butter sculpture :)

This is Summer

2011-08-01T18:06:00.001-05:00

Lawn chairs. sunsets. snow cones. ribbon taters. good friends. hot air balloons. This is Iowa in Summer.

This past weekend we headed off to the big kick-off of the Indianola Balloon Classic Festival. We didn't know what to expect, but it sure was fun. We went with the Allen's and the Bell's. Essentially, this is a place to get an early taste of Iowa State Fair Food and watch tons of hot air balloons take off. It was awesome! The weather was even perfect once the sun went down (it wasn't too hot at all!) Here are some highlights of the day:

Filling up:

The Allen's:

The Bell Family:

A few of the shaped balloons:

Army BOLC

2011-07-29T14:42:00.000-05:00

Andrew is quite the soldier! From June 13-July 25 he was in the blazing heat of San Antonio, Texas learning how to be a soldier in the U.S. Army. He had quite the experience! He got bit by his first Texas fire ants, got up at the crack of dawn (or earlier) most mornings, shot m-16's and handguns, went through the gas chamber, pretended to be both the good guy and the terrorist on practice missions, ate a lot of mre's, made some new friends, battled the heat, and FINALLY came home to me! Six weeks was a long time, so here is a little bit of a picture overload. I made him promise to take pictures, and he did a great job! I love my soldier! :)

his room when not in the field:

His closet:

his gun he had to carry everywhere!

MRE's or Meals Ready to Eat...not his favorite, but at least some came with candy bars!

My handsome soldier:

The tents they slept in when in the field:

Gas masks for the gas chamber:

Land Navigation:

EARLY morning PT:

His roomie Sean:

Brock and Andrew: friends in BOLC and DMU

It wasn't all bad. He got weekends off and on the Fourth of July he had a three day break and rented this little car to visit Uncle Sam and Aunt Patty in Houston. He also saw the Alamo, Riverwalk, and went to restaurants and movies with his new friends.

The BEST thing was I expected him home Tuesday afternoon and he surprised my by getting an earlier flight and showing up at the door Monday night with a flower in hand (thanks Analese and Richard for helping him out!) I was so shocked and so happy! I had no idea, he was such a sneak! I sure do have a winner of a husband! It is so good to have him home!

Strawberry Picking

2011-07-09T16:52:00.002-05:00

Puyallup Valley grows the most delicious strawberries and our family loves to pick and enjoy them! Connor, my mom, and I headed out to get some of these delicious strawberries, and boy were they tasty!

The only downside to strawberry picking? Berry stained hands and dirty jeans :)

Also: An added bonus to being home for a few weeks is I get to see great friends and have cheesecake with the family.

Fourth of July and Stadium of Fire

2011-07-09T16:30:00.000-05:00

I love the Fourth of July! I love the fireworks, I love the parades, I love the patriotism. This year the Saturday before BYU put on its annual Stadium of Fire and we were lucky enough to go. This was my third time going and it is an awesome show every time. This year the entertainment included the Utah Talent Search top 3, Stadium of Fire Dancers, Parachuters, jet fly over, David Archuleta, Brad Paisley, and some awesome fireworks!!

Then, on the actual Fourth of July was the Freedom Run in Tooele. I was too wimpy to run in it (I prefer to watch the parade), but Grandpa, Jordan, Connor, Abi, Emily, and Melanie all ran in it and were paid by grandpa for the effort! They all did a great job! Jordan even took 14th overall!

Rosie the Rooster

2011-07-09T16:12:00.000-05:00

Meet Rosie the Rooster. He was supposed to be a she when he hatched at the McKinney's house. They have two roosters and 8 chickens. Rosie is the meanest of them all (and the noisiest). The McKinney's thought it would be pretty funny if they let poor Rosie go in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard. They (luckily I did not) woke up at 4:30 to a rooster in the backyard. He crowed about every 5 minutes after that until Doug, Sydney, and the girls came to get him. What a good joke! I learned that I never want a pet rooster :) The night before Jordan told me he saw a weird creature outside the bathroom window that had green feathers. I told him he was crazy {apparently he wasn't!}

Snowbird!

2011-07-09T16:02:00.000-05:00

Snowbird has this fun all-day pass where you can do these fun summer activities in the cool of Snowbird and Little Cottonwood Canyon. The crazy thing about this year, is that there was still snow. You could actually ski on the Fourth of July! When we were up there riding the tram we saw a guy skiing down the mountain in a tank top and shorts!

We weren't up there to ski, but we were up there to ride the tram (where we snapped some family pics and had a SNOWBALL FIGHT {in JULY!}:

We also did the bungee trampoline:

Mechanical Bull:

Zip Line:

Rock Wall and Ropes Course:

We sure did have a blast at Snowbird! :)

Pedicures!

2011-07-09T15:40:00.000-05:00

Vacations are all about a little R&R right?! My mom and I took some time out to get a spa pedicure and it was fabulous! I know no one wants to see my toes, but indulge me so I can remember. My toes never look this good :)

Ophir

2011-07-09T15:30:00.001-05:00

A trip to Tooele isn't complete without a trip to Ophir! We love visiting the beautiful cabin, four-wheeling, making s'mores and banana boats, and enjoying the great outdoors and cool mountain air. We had a great time with the McKinney's and Grandma and Grandpa!

Happy 50th Anniversary!

2011-07-09T15:13:00.000-05:00

One of the main reasons for going to Utah, and the highlight of the trip: my grandparent's 50th Anniversary Party. My aunts surprised them with an invitation in the mail. Grandma was worried that no one would come...they know the whole town and people steadily streamed in 10 minutes early until the end! It was a fun night. We put a lot of work into the decorations, food, and atmosphere. There was a slideshow of pictures of them, 50's music playing, a desert bar, bbq meat and rolls, pasta salad, veggie platter, and punch. Their wedding color was purple and gold is the 50th anniversay color, so that was the theme. Here are some pictures from the night.

the invitation:

opening the book that I helped put together with my mom and aunt's super scanning help:

The table decor:

dessert bar and meat trays:

Happy 50th!!

Grandpa and his best man Sluga:

Them Now:

Them Then (don't they have the best wedding pictures!):

Lagoon!

2011-07-09T14:53:00.000-05:00

I love Lagoon...who doesn't?! My family and Linda, Dallen, and Rose headed out to spend the day. We rode all the wild rides like Blast Off and Wicked. We also rode some of the classics like the planes and the swings. I even rode a few of the kiddie rides with Rose.

Blast Off:

Samurai:

Planes:

Waiting for the Train:

Eating Corn and the Pioneer Village...YUM!:

I didn't want to get wet, and usually you don't on the Cliffhanger...just a little mist. Not this time, I've never seen the water jets go so high!

Family Day

2011-07-09T14:37:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday (June 21) just my immediate family headed to Salt Lake. We did some shopping at Fashion Place Mall, toured Snowbird and Little Cottonwood Canyon and ate dinner at Market Street Grill. I had my first Prime Rib...it was DELICIOUS! They even end the meal with Haagen Daas Ice cream...Amazing!

Utah!

2011-07-09T14:30:00.000-05:00

I decided that staying in Iowa ALONE, with no summer job, for SIX weeks sounded terrible. So I hopped on a plane for a three weeks to visit family in Utah and Washington. I had a blast spending time with family, but was sad Andrew was sweating away in Texas alone.

My family picked me up from the airport and we met my mom's side of the family at Chuck-A-Rama! I knew I was back in good old Utah when I saw this sign:

After dinner we went to this garden in Salt Lake with some sculptures and plants and I managed to snap a few picks of my cute family:

the brothers (minus ryan)

(cute cousins Abi, Emily, and Melanie)

Lovin' Grandpa's new hair accessory!

Grandma,Cari, Sydney, and Mom

I'm in the Army Now!

2011-07-09T14:07:00.000-05:00

Andrew is done with his first year of med school (HOORAY!), but that meant his summer was cut short as he headed off to Army Officer Basic. He spent June 13-July 26 in the HOT HOT heat of San Antonio, Texas. I made him promise to take lots of pictures, so hopefully there will be another post later about his adventures. He sure does look good in uniform!

Our awesome Iowa friends also took Andrew out for a night on the town before he headed out to Andrew's favorite restaurant: Red Robin! :) Thanks O'Bryants and Nielsens (and to the Bell's for planning it, even though you couldn't come!)

Happy Birthday to Me

2011-07-09T13:50:00.000-05:00

I am officially 23! I spent my birthday in Iowa. Even though Andrew was already away at Army Basic, I have great friends who made sure I didn't spend my birthday alone. Thanks Analese, Sarah, and Wendy! :) We had Panera (YUM!), watched a movie, and had snickers ice cream bars for dessert (my favorite!)

Dam to Dam 20K

2011-06-07T19:31:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday Andrew ran a 20K called the Dam to Dam race. It is the largest 20K in the country. They run from Saylorville Dam to downtown Des Moines. He has been training for a while with his running partner from the ward, Paul. It was hot and humid, but he did great! GO ANDREW!

Memorial Day Weekend/ Omaha/ WICKED!

2011-06-07T19:18:00.000-05:00

We went to Omaha to visit Hans and Jessica over Memorial Day weekend! We had a fun filled weekend full of playing Ligretto, eating Jessica's fabulous guacamole, a brat barbecue, breakfast at Hy-Vee, gaming on the X-Box, and the highlight of the weekend: WICKED! Andrew and I had never seen this musical before and it was fantastic! It is the story about the Wizard of Oz and how the Wicked Witch of the West became wicked. We loved it!

The Bachelorette

2011-06-07T19:04:00.000-05:00

We {Even Andrew} love to watch The Bachelor/Bachelorette when it is on. This time around we had an season opener party! We had a whole bunch a ladies {plus Andrew and Richard} over for the show and some tasty "engagement ring" treats! :)

Tulip Time

2011-05-07T20:25:00.000-05:00

In Pella, Iowa there is an annual Tulip Time Festival. The whole town is modeled after Holland and there are so many fun Dutch things to see and do. Andrew was busy studying for all his finals so I headed off without him, but still had a great time with Analese, Sarah, and Todd. Here are some highlights:

The Dutch buildings, like this windmill.

You can't visit "Holland" without a trip to the tulip gardens:

Yummy pastries and breads from the Jaarsma Bakery, including the famous "Dutch Letters." I brought Andrew home a pillow puff and some Dutch apple bread too--so yummy!

Watching performers clog in wooden shoes in traditional Dutch clothing:

Fun Dutch accents like these wooden shoes:

Cinco de Mayo!!

2011-05-07T20:08:00.000-05:00

We love any excuse to celebrate! Happy Cinco de Mayo! We had a Cafe Rio inspired meal of pork barbacoa salads and burritos, game playing, and some Just Dance 2 on the Wii. Thanks to everyone who came!

Happy Easter!

2011-05-02T20:53:00.001-05:00

I am huge fan of holidays. I just love them. We had a few friends over to color Easter eggs. We were also spoiled immensely with treats from Andrew's and my mom. We are blessed with great parents! We loved our cadbury eggs (I am addicted to them! yum!) and other tasty goodies. Easter is my favorite holiday for candy. That stuff never gets old! A wonderful couple in the ward also invited us over for a fabulous Easter dinner feast! It was so nice to have the traditional home cooked Easter meal of ham and potatoes with delicious sides, deserts, and appetizers! We really are spoiled!Here are some highlights from our egg coloring EGG-stravaganza!

Our Easter cupcake treats to share:

Andrew and I with our egg creations (well some of them belong to Analese!):

Sarah and Todd:

Analese with her favorite eggs!:

We love coloring eggs and Andrew loves egg salad sandwiches! Here are our finished creations:

And we cannot forget the TRUE meaning of Easter:

Happy Easter!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

2011-04-18T17:11:00.000-05:00

We had a week full of celebrating for Andrew's big 25! After he got over his depression of being half way to fifty we go to celebrate! He had a test on his actually birthday (BOO!) But he still made time to get a free birthday burger from his favorite place...Red Robin! I also made him s'more brownies and sent him on a scavenger hunt for his birthday surprises! He was spoiled this year with lots of treats, a gps running watch, running outfit, and cash to spend any way he pleases! The following weekend we went out to Chili's where he got another freebie, a brownie sundae! Happy Birthday Andrew, I love you!

Andrew with his "burnin' love" burger! yum!

So I tried to put 25 candles into warm brownies...let's just say that failed miserably. So his birthday candles ended up in a chocolate marshmallow easter egg,

A Walk on the Wild Side!

2011-04-18T17:00:00.000-05:00

As many of you know, I am a cub scout leader for the bears in my ward. I discovered from kids that I substituted for about an animal center in the mall. Yes, inside the Merle Hay Mall live cougars, wolves, foxes, and even a baby bear! Needless to say the bears LOVED seeing the baby bear and other animals. We especially loved petting a baby bear, baby possum, and a skunk! Andrew came a long too, because how often do you actually get to pet skunks and bears...NEVER! It was so fun! :)

This was the baby possum, they really are cute as babies!

Here are about half of my bears with the baby bear!

Here is flower the skunk!

Andrew petting the baby bear, Kiowa.

Here is a close up of baby Kiowa!

April Fool's!

2011-04-02T12:39:00.000-05:00

I have never been big on April Fool's Day. I just am not much of a prankster, but this year I decided to play some tricks on Andrew :) In his lunch I put some jokes and switched around the contents of his lunch by resealing packages with double stick tape. I put a marshmallow bunny in his granola bar package, nuts in the fruit snacks, and carrot sticks in a gum pack. :)

For dinner Andrew was surprised to find we were having cupcakes for dinner! (he thought that was the joke) However, they were meatball cupcakes with mashed potato 'frosting.' He also had a cup full of 'kool-aid' that turned out to be jello! April Fool's Andrew! :)

A Little Catch-Up: a few more midwest experiences

2011-03-28T19:43:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pictures from the past few months that I thought I should post about our adventure out here in Iowa, I can add these things to the list of new experiences Iowa has granted me:

1. DIGGING my car out of the parking lot in -30 degree weather. Awesome. not. We literally had to get a shovel and have the maintenance man help. It was crazy. Thank goodness there was no school that day, so that we had time to dig it out!

2. Tornado season is upon us. I officially have made 72 hour emergency kits because I am scared of these bad boys. Luckily, the first tornado of the season happened while we were on spring break in Utah. This bad boy was spotted 20 minutes from our house. It didn't do too much damage but it did kill a few cows and geese. Hopefully, this year we won't be seeing too many of these guys!

3. On a positive note about Iowa, we have made great friends and love our ward! Here is a few other first year students from our ward celebrating Analese's birthday!

Spring Break 2011

2011-03-28T19:29:00.000-05:00

Since I am substitute teaching this year, I could take off work the same days Andrew had his spring break from DMU! We decided to take a last minute trip (literally, we decided Wednesday and left Thursday night) to Utah and we are so glad we did! We started off by driving to Omaha and spending the night with Hans and Jessica. We then made the 11 hour drive to Tooele, Utah to visit my grandparents. We spent time with Grandma D and Grandpa Sid shopping, cruising the town, watching March Madness, and eating great food. We also got to play games with the cute McKinney girls. We also watched the BYU game--which took us to the Sweet 16 with Grandma Matekel and the Kimball's! It was exciting to see our alma mater make it that far in March Madness!

After Tooele, we headed south to St. George to spend the rest of the week with Andrew's family. There we helped out with the big garage sale, relaxed, sun bathed, read lots of books, watched lots of movies, and enjoyed the much needed break from work and school.

At the end of our trip we stopped in Colorado Springs to spend the night with Andrew's sister and her family. We enjoyed playing with Abigail and Ethan and eating Brandon's fabulous cooking!

I am sad I failed at taking many pictures this trip, but here are a few:

Andrew and Dallen enjoying BYU ball and CAFE RIO (a much missed treat!)

Did I tell you how much we missed Cafe Rio? We ate their several times during out week stint in Utah, we love pork salads! :)

Cute Abby and Ethan at our stop in Colorado Springs! We are excited for them to move to Minneapolis!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-03-28T19:07:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that this is our fourth Valentine's Day together! Time sure does fly! This Valentine's Day we spread little activities over a few days. We went to dinner at P.F. Changs and got my favorite lettuce wraps along with fried green beans, honey chicken, and sesame chicken. It was DELICIOUS!

Then we went to Justin Bieber's Never Say Never in 3D. We have the Beiber Fever!

Finally, we topped off our weekend of celebration with delicious Reese's peanut butter chocolate cake cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory...it is to DIE for. You really can't go wrong with dessert at the Cheesecake Factory, but this kind is the BEST I have ever had! yum!

I am glad I married someone who can do silly things with me and it still be a blast! Happy Valentine's Day 2011!

20 degrees and SO HAPPY! :)

2011-01-27T19:22:00.001-06:00

I guess we are officially Iowans, because today it was 20 degrees and I thought it was spring. Sad, I know. I was seriously rejoicing. I had recess duty today, and I didn't need to layer on the clothes and winter gear... AND the sun was shining. You may think I am crazy, but the past few weeks it has been in the negatives...like -15. So 20 degrees is a welcome 35 degrees warmer! I have spent the past two weeks doing indoor recess (yuck!) because the kids can't go out unless it is at LEAST ZERO degrees. I have never been more cold in my life. Iowa has some serious cold compared to the other places I've lived, and everyone is telling me that this winter is WAY milder than last year. My new hobby is comparing temperatures of West Des Moines to other places in the world on my ipod touch weather app. We are consistently at least 15 degrees below everywhere I look, including Juneau, Alaska! We will have to see what the next three years bring....but until then I CAN'T WAIT FOR SPRING!!!!

Happy New Year!--reflection on 2010

2011-01-04T19:50:00.001-06:00

2010 was an eventful year for our little family.

January--

We also took a little trip to Leavenworth with my WHOLE family! Andrew also interviewed at Des Moines University for medical school.

February--

I was loving my Second graders, I was loving teaching in Heber and Andrew was working on at his last semester at BYU and anxiously awaiting to hear from medical schools.

March--

Andrew got into medical school!! We decided to got to Des Moines University! GO Andrew. Ryan got his mission call to the Las Vegas West mission! I also finished up my Teacher Work Sample to finish up my BYU career--76 pages later I was DONE with college!

April---

April was a BUSY, BUSY moth for us.

The highlights: GRADUATION! Andrew and I both graduated from BYU. I got a BS in Elementary Education and Andrew got a BA in Communications and Austin graduated too with a degree in Business! Andrew turned 24, and we went house hunting in Iowa, and Ryan went through the Mt. Timpanogas temple...phew what a busy month!

May--
Ryan left on his mission to the MTC.

June--

I turned 22, I finished my first year of teaching, Andrew finally had no school to worry about, and we went on a cruise to Alaska! On a negative note, Andrew got bit by a poisonous spider and had to get daily IV antibiotics for a week--scary! We also went parasailing for the first time in the Puget Sound and Andrew was sworn in as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

July--

We went to a Real Salt Lake game thanks to Adam and Lauren--FRONT row, we saw Carrie Underwood at Stadium of Fire with Andrew's family, and we went to Tooele so Andrew can run the race with Grandpa Sid. We also MOVED across the country to IOWA! We went to Nauvoo, Carthage, and spent time with Hans and Jessica in Omaha. June and July sure were the TRAVELING months!

August--

Andrew started medical school at DMU and had his White Coat Ceremony. I also went on vacation with Andrew's family to Texas for a week at the beach house. We also tested out the Iowa State Fair for the first time! We also celebrated our two year wedding anniversary!

September--
I started substitute teaching and Andrew dove head first into medical text books. I got called as the Bear leader and Andrew as a Primary teacher for the same group of boys. Our life revolved around school.

October--
I love Halloween. I made some decorations and we through a Halloween party for some of our new friends in the ward!

November--
At the beginning of the month, we got our first visitors---Andrew's parents. Hooray! Andrew ran the CRAZY Living History Farms Cross Country Race. We also spent Thanksgiving at Hans and Jessica's.

December--
Finally, the last month of 2010, we spent in Washington for Christmas and New Years ( you can read more in the post below). It looks like we have come full circle as we started 2010 and ended 2010 with a trip to Leavenworth.

We really are BLESSED to have such great family, friends, and experiences in our life. I can't wait to see what 2011 will bring!

Christmas in Washington

2011-01-04T18:55:00.001-06:00

I love the holiday season. I love the Christmas lights, I love the shopping, I love the baking and eating, I love that everyone seems a little more giving and that we can turn our thoughts towards family, friends, and our Savior. This year we went to Washington for the holidays and we had a great time--thanks mom and dad! Here are a few highlights:

Christmas morning waiting to see what Santa brought :)

Look at the triplets :)

Lots of reading and relaxation

laughing at Connor's antics

catching up with great friends

bowling at McCord

Other highlights include talking to RYAN on his MISSION in LAS VEGAS (although he is in Califoria right now), after Christmas shopping, Leavenworth (see 2 posts down), seeing one of my best friends from high school get sealed in the Seattle temple, and just a nice break from school and work.

Merry Christmas to All!

The Ultimate Gingerbread House Competion

2011-01-04T18:45:00.000-06:00

We had 45 minutes...we were in teams of two: Andrew &Ashley vs. Mom & Connor vs. Dad & Jordan

This is what we started with:

These are the finished products:

I think ours won...but I am a LITTLE biased :)

Tradition...Tradition! Leavenworth 2010

2011-01-04T18:36:00.000-06:00

When I was growing up in Washington state, my family and I would go to Leavenworth every Martin Luther King Junior Day. It looks like we traveled to Germany, even though we only drive 3 hours in the mountains. Everything is modeled after Germany...the food, the decor, the shops,etc. It is SO fun! We always stay at the Enzian Inn and enjoy the fun winter atmosphere. This year we went right before Christmas and here are some of the highlights:

Cross Country Skiing

Check out Connors "retro" ski pants...they really are my dad's from high school...too funny!

Yummy Gelato!

Fun Christmas atmosphere...caroling, cider, trees, snow

A delicious breakfast buffet including a Alpin Horn player in real lederhosen

Other highlights include swimming, hot tubbing, shopping, raquetball, games, sledding, and eating out at our favorite mexcian restaurant.

Turkey Day

2010-11-28T20:29:00.000-06:00

This Thanksgiving, we spent time in Omaha, Nebraska with Andrew's cousin Hans and his wife Jessica. Hans' parents and two of his sisters were there as well. It was a fun break from school and work and a time to enjoy family and delicious food. Here are some highlights:

1. Gaming online with the xbox 360 with Hans

2. A DELICIOUS Thanksgiving meal!

3. spending time with friends and family

4. going to the movies...and Andrew got to take his pic with Justin :)

5. Andrew got to test out his Christmas present early (a shotgun) at the shooting range!

6. Black Friday Deals!

Thanks Hans and Jessica for a great weekend!

Living History Farms Cross Country Race

2010-11-21T14:36:00.000-06:00

This saturday, Andrew ran a 7 mile cross country race. This is no ordinary cross country race. There were 8000 people from 32 states participating. It is the largest cross country race in the country. It isn't just running on a trail, either. It involves running through rivers down ditches up muddy slopes, etc. You aren't in it for the time...you are in it to finish. Everyone dresses up in costumes and has a blast. Andrew ran with our friend Paul, in our ward.

crazy costumes+good friends+mud+29 degrees =one fun race! Good job Andrew!! :)

Our First Visitors!

2010-11-13T17:34:00.000-06:00

I didn't know if anyone would want to come visit us out here in Iowa! Luckily, the first weekend of November, Andrew's parents came out here to Des Moines. We had a lot of fun. We saw the movie Red, ate out at Outback, and celebrated Arnold's birthday! We had an awesome time and hope they come back soon! 45 or 54? He definitely still looks 45! :) Happy Birthday!

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-13T17:26:00.000-06:00

I love Halloween! This year we decided to throw a Halloween party for some of our friends we met out here in Iowa. We played lots of games and had lots of treats! We even had a dice roll game for the losers of the board games to roll. Even numbers were treats like marshmallows and gummy worms or tricks like cold hot dogs and buttermilk.

We dressed up as cowboys this year :)

camping

2010-10-24T19:35:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of October we went camping with some of our friends we met at our apartment complex. Here are some pics from the night:

Andrew was the ultimate fire builder. Yay for the Eagle scout. :)

Andrew and October

2010-10-24T19:25:00.000-05:00

We have been busy this Fall. I am loving Iowa in the fall! The weather has cooled, the icky humidity is gone, the leaves are changing color, etc. etc. I LOVE IT!

First, just so you know, my husband is the best. He had been studying a lot and really busy. One day I came home to this:

Gerbera daisies are my favorite and I sure love snickers ice cream bars! thanks sweetie!

However, I also came home to this one day:

The day before I bought THREE bags of chocolate bars for Halloween. I came home to 1 snickers bar and Andrew saying "but I left you your favorite." Needless to say, I didn't buy any more Halloween candy yet. I will be doing that on the 30th as it will disappear mysteriously if I do not.

getting crafty...

2010-10-24T19:23:00.000-05:00

I wish I was craftier and more creative. This October I wanted to decorate our apartment for Halloween and I didn't have very many things or a very big budget...so I made some. Here are the results:

Modge Podged Boo sign:

Witch's brew ingredients: bottles and jars of things like dehydrated bats wings, poison, werewolf eyeballs, swamp fog, moon dust, and vampire fangs.

Happy Halloween banner made of newspaper and card stock:

Hopefully it makes the atmosphere for our Halloween Party!

Invitations to our Halloween party:

I am enjoying trying new things that I have never done before! I really enjoy making things. I hope I can come up with some more things for Thanksgiving!

Man v. Food

2010-10-06T20:54:00.000-05:00

Here in Iowa there are some unique restaurants. One of which is downtown Des Moines by DMU and Drake University. It is called Jethro's and it has great BBQ food. We went there about a month ago because we had a buy one get on free sandwich coupon and it was very good. It was there that we found out that man v. food would be visiting as well and today it was featured on the Travel Channel. There is a sandwich called the Adam Emmenecker. It is HUGE. It weighs 5 pounds, plus you have to eat 1 pound of waffle fries in 15 minutes to complete the challenge! Andrew got a sandwich called the Jethro that was about 1/3 that size and it fed him for days!

Man v. Food couldn't even complete this challenge! However, if anyone wants to visit us in good old Des Moines, we will take you to Jethro's! Are you up for the challenge?

Man Day

2010-09-25T21:53:00.000-05:00

Man Day...Everything and More

We went to Omaha to visit Andrew's Cousin Hans and Jessica this weekend. It started with a delicious meal at our go-to restaurant Chili's. Hans also recently bought a new handgun. This resulted in a shopping excursion to Dick's Sporting Goods to buy a gun cleaning kit and talk to the gun man behind the counter about guns they have and want to have. This was followed up by a trip to Cabela's and a trip to the shooting range to test out Hans' new gun. Of course, Jessica and I decided to go shopping at Kohl's, TJ Maxx, and Gordman's, instead. We can only look so long at guns and camo hunting wear. :) Here are some pictures from Andrew's dream "man day." After we got home he topped it off with some football! The only thing that could have made it better would have been some fishing! I especially appreciate their classy taste in targets.

My New Look

2010-09-11T15:39:00.000-05:00

Be Jealous:

I am the new bear cub scout leader in my ward and I get to sport this HOT new outfit. :) This is one thing I thought I would never have to wear...and I have to wear it weekly. The boys are fun though and Andrew gets the opportunity to teach most of them in primary too!

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-11T15:35:00.000-05:00

This Labor Day weekend was fantastic for several reasons:

1. Andrew got to go fishing with our new friend Ben Bauer at a little pond by the library. Ben is an avid fisherman and let Andrew try out fishing with his extra fly fishing pole:

2. BYU beat the Washington Huskies in their first football game of the season. Even though we are in Iowa we still are die-hard fans! Go COUGARS!

White Coat Ceremony

2010-08-28T21:43:00.000-05:00

On August 28, 2010 we had the opportunity to attend the Des Moines University White Coat Ceremony where the students donned their white coats for the first time! I think Andrew looks great in his new doctor look. :)

Texas! ( and a photo overload)

2010-08-28T21:35:00.000-05:00

August 17-22, 2010

I used to live in Texas (actually a three different times) when I was growing up, but I haven't been there since I moved from San Antonio when I was 15. This time I got to go back for Andrew's family reunion in Seaside/Galveston in the Houston area. Although I had to go alone (Andrew had his first test at DMU and was stuck at home), had to spend the night alone in Dallas because of a missed connection, and we apart on our two year anniversary... I HAD A BLAST! (sorry Andrew)

The whole Graff and Young family was there (minus a few husbands) and some of the McFadin crew. It was great to finally meet EVERYONE in Andrew's family!

Here are a few highlights:
1. HUGE beach house ON the ocean!

2. Sailboat rides!

3. Bungee rides:

4. Crabbing

5. Geocaching:

6. SHARK (and catfish) FISHING!

7. Sister Bonding

8. Mini-Golfing in Galveston

9. Bonfires

Thanks for the awesome trip Arnold and Brenda! :)

THE IOWA STATE FAIR!

2010-08-14T18:58:00.000-05:00

We heard that the Iowa Fair is must see attraction here in Iowa. It is known for its fabulous food options. It seems as if everything is fried or on a stick. Here is a list from the website:

Fair Square
Chocolate-covered tiramisu on-a-stick
Turtle mousse bar on-a-stick
Strawberry cream bar on-a-stick
Twinkie log on-a-stick (frozen Twinkie dipped in white chocolate and rolled in cashews)
Octodog (hotdog in the shape of an octopus)
Frozen s’more on-a-stick
Chocolate-dipped cake on-a-stick
Chicken club on-a-stick
Buffalo chicken on-a-stick
Chocolate-covered peanut butter round on-a-stick
Chocolate-covered key lime round on-a-stick
Carmellows on-a-stick
Pretzel rods dipped in caramel or chocolate
Pickle on-a-stick
Pork chop on-a-stick
Corn dog
Cheese on-a-stick
Cajun chicken on-a-stick
Sesame chicken on-a-stick
Carmel apple
German sausage on-a-stick
Teriyaki beef on-a-stick
Corn on the cob on-a-stick
Cotton candy
Veggie dog on-a-stick
Turkey drumstick
Nutty bar
Fried pickle on-a-stick
Hot bologna on-a-stick
Shrimp on-a-stick
Chicken on-a-stick
Monkey Tails (chocolate covered banana on-a-stick)
Taffy on-a-stick
Honey on-a-stick
Ice cream Wonder Bar
Deep fried Snickers bar on-a-stick
Deep fried Milky Way bar on-a-stick
Deep fried Twinkie on-a-stick
Lamb on-a-stick
Meatballs on-a-stick
Deep fried hoho on-a-stick
Fudge Puppy (waffle drenched in chocolate syrup and topped with whipped cream)
Chili Dog on-a-stick
Funtastick Pork on-a-stick
Dutch letters on-a-stick
Turkey tenders on-a-stick
Deep fried hot dog on-a-stick
Chocolate covered cheesecake on-a-stick
Potato Lollipop (4 thick slices of russet potato deep fried and on-a-stick with dipping sauces)
Pineapple on-a-stick (Fresh pineapple dipped in funnel cake batter and deep fried)
Chicken lips on-a-stick (breaded chicken breast smothered with hot sauce, served with blue cheese dressing).
Cornbrat on-a-stick (bratwurst dipped in corndog batter)
Chocolate covered Ice cream cookie sandwich on-a-stick
Rock candy on-a-stick
Salad on-a-stick
Hard-boiled egg on-a-stick

I didn't know that all those things could even come on a stick. We decided to go healthy :) and get deep fried oreos to share, I got a deep fried snickers bar and Andrew got a deep fried twinkie. They sure were good!
Here are our treats:

Also at the fair they had butter sculptures, something I have never seen before:

We even got to see Ryan Cabrera in concert for free! Here is a clip from the concert:

We love the fair!

Farmer's Market

2010-08-14T18:30:00.000-05:00

Andrew met a new friend Tyler at school. We went to the Downtown Des Moines Farmer's Market with him and his fiancee Christine. I LOVE Farmer's Markets! We got some yummy corn, green beans, and peaches. It was a fun morning looking at different vendors and sampling lots of homemade goodies! We decided after taking this picture that Tyler and Christine are going to have really tall children as they are 5'10'' and 6'5'' and our poor children are doomed to be short.

Iowa Cubs Game!

2010-08-14T18:21:00.000-05:00

Our neighbor Calvin and his wife Tina invited us to an Iowa Cubs baseball game. This is a minor league team and feeder team for the Chicago Cubs. They were even playing the Washington state Tacoma Rainiers! Yeah! I didn't know who to root for, but we sure had a great time!

I'm in the Army Now!

2010-08-03T19:40:00.000-05:00

Andrew got the Health Scholarship and joined the Army. He took his oath of office and is officially a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army. My dad swore him in. The Army is now paying for all of his medical school! I am so proud of you Andrew!

Kansas City

2010-08-02T20:26:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, July 31, we took the trip from Omaha to Kansas City, Missouri to go to Oceans of Fun water park. We loved going on the rides and it was such a hot day we were thankful for the cool pools.

Kansas City is known for their Barbecue. So, of course, we had to go get some after the water park. We went to the world famous Arthur Bryant's BBQ!

We all got the combo plates of two meats on a plate. Just look at that greasy goodness. I loved the pulled pork and ribs! Yum!

We loved tasting a little piece of Kansas City culture, even though we look like bums after a full day at the pool. :)

Here is Hans and Jessica! Thanks for the fun trip!

Omaha!

2010-08-02T20:13:00.000-05:00

Andrew's cousins live in Omaha, Nebraska and they have been so nice to let us stay with them a few times on our travels, but now that we are settled we went to visit and have fun with them! Andrew and I spent Friday, July 30 at the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo. This was the best zoo I have ever been to. It was HUGE and had fantastic exhibits and hundreds of animals. Although it was really hot, it was so fun. My favorites were the rain forest and aquarium exhibits.

Later that night we went to Texas Roadhouse with Hans and Jessica. Yum!

Carthage Jail

2010-07-29T21:08:00.000-05:00

Visiting Carthage Jail was a very unique and spiritual experience. There is something surreal about visiting the place where Joseph and Hyrum smith were martyred. This was my favorite stop of our whole trip.
This is a picture of Carthage Jail. Joseph Smith fell out of the second story window shown when he was shot.

This is a picture through the bullet hole in the door that killed Hyrum to the window that Joseph fell out of.

In Nauvoo, there is the Smith Family Cemetery, where Joseph Smith, Hyrum and Emma are all buried.

Nauvoo!

2010-07-29T20:44:00.000-05:00

Living in the midwest has its perks--we are so close to so many church history sites! We had the great opportunity to visit Nauvoo and Carthage this week. Andrew went on a church history tour for his graduation present in 2004 and I have never been. It was a great experience. We started out in Nauvoo. We did a session in the Nauvoo temple, which is beautiful and designed to look just like the original. There is such a special spirit there.

Then we toured all the buildings of the town. My personal favorite was the brick yard where the senior missionary there kept telling me how lucky I was to marry such a hunk! He then proceeded to tell him that he was thicker than a brick ****-house(a.k.a.- out house) you can use your imagination on that one. That really made us laugh coming from a missionary. :) We also saw homes of former prophets like Wilford Woodruff ad John Taylor, tasted bustle oven bread and ginger snaps, and read the history of the area.

This is the blacksmith shop where...

we got our "prairie diamonds"

The end of the night ended in the Nauvoo Pageant. It was a great music and dance presentation of the history of the original Nauvoo and the sacrifices the saints had to go through. We loved our visit to Nauvoo and hope to go back again!

a more domestic side...

2010-07-29T20:22:00.000-05:00

We were planning a trip to Nauvoo, it was recently pioneer day, and we happened to buy and entire case of overripe apricots from Costco :(...All these events brought out my more domestic side and Andrew and I spent a few hours making Jam. It all started with an idea to use our apricots...we ended up with apricot, strawberry and plum raspberry jam. Andrew and I have never made jam before, but we gave it a go and are VERY happy with our results. We love homeade jam and now we have LOTS to eat and to share.

I even pulled out my fabulous cricut to make tags to deliver some of our many jars to our new neighbors. We love our jam!

Iowa

2010-07-28T22:01:00.000-05:00

So, since we have lived in Iowa, I have seen a few things that I have never seen before.

1. Acres and ACRES of corn fields. We may live in the state capitol, but cornfields are found everywhere we go. I have never seen so much corn. It sure tastes good though!

2. Everything is named after animals. We are in the Raccoon River Ward and we live in the Turtle Creek Apartments. I found out why when Andrew took out the trash one day. We found THREE raccoons living in our dumpster.

3. I have never seen lightning that has filled the ENTIRE sky. We haven't been here long, but there has already been several lightning storms.

4. It is SO HUMID! The temperature is 91 degrees but it feels like 110. No Joke. It is so wet and muggy here. yuck!

The Big Move!

2010-07-28T21:48:00.000-05:00

We made it to Iowa! After packing up our entire house into this GIGANTIC truck (Don't worry, it was only half full, but it was the only size they had) and a drive through Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Iowa we made it safely in Des Moines. For those of you who don't know, we moved to West Des Moines so Andrew can go to medical school at Des Moines University. It is very hot and humid, but we like our apartment and our new ward.

So we stayed at the Gator's Travelyn right on the border between Wyoming and Nebraska. It was the most disgusting hotel we have ever stayed in, but it was the ONLY hotel in the WHOLE city.

Double Date

2010-07-28T21:30:00.000-05:00

Andrew and I have been friends with Cory since we lived at Liberty Square. He just got married to his cute wife Emily and we decided to go on a double before we moved out to Iowa and he headed to medical school in Houston. We went mini-golfing at Liberty Land in Lehi and ended with Sub-Zero Ice Cream! YUM! We will miss you guys!

It's Independence Day!

2010-07-28T18:41:00.000-05:00

I love the Fourth of July and this year was a great one! This year we had to celebrate it on Saturday the third, as the fourth was on a Sunday. Saturday morning we spent in Tooele. Grandpa, Andrew, Abi, and Emily ran a 5K Freedom Run, while I went to the parade with Grandma and the McKinney Family. They did a great job!

The highlight of the evening was STADIUM OF FIRE! We went with the Graff family and had a blast. The highlights were definitely the best firework show in Utah county and CARRIE UNDERWOOD! We had a fantastic Fourth!

REAL soccer!

2010-07-28T18:27:00.000-05:00

Andrew's brother, Adam, got an internship with REAL Salt Lake Soccer! Adam got us AMAZING tickets to a REAL game. It was so fun. We sat as close as you can get, right next to the field. We could see what the players were saying, we were so close. There were also fireworks after and we got to sit on the field! Thanks Adam and Lauren for a great night!

A view from our AMAZING seats!

Parasailing!

2010-07-24T22:26:00.000-05:00

My dad surprised us with a trip to the waterfront in Tacoma and a trip in the Pugent Sound PARASAILING! We had a blast, although Andrew did discover his fear of heights. We were 700 feet in the air, that is equivalent to the Space Needle in Seattle. It was crazy! Here are some shots from the day:

Here is how high up we went: CRAZY!

Up first was Mom and Jordan:

Then was Dad and Connor:

Then we were up!:

This is what they call the "toe dip:"

Strawberry Pickin'

2010-07-24T22:12:00.000-05:00

When I was a kid, we would go to U-Pick strawberry and raspberry fields. It has been years since I have done this and this summer we spent a few days with my family after our cruise and we went strawberry pickin'. We even made the local news! The strawberries were so delicious! We even bought some raspberries that were the best I have ever eaten!

British Columbia, Canada-Friday, June 25

2010-07-24T21:56:00.000-05:00

In British Columbia, Canada we took a 2 hour bike tour of the city. It was a fun and relaxing way to see the sights and stop whenever we wanted. We visited this beautiful park where we got to feed peacocks and ducks!

British Columbia also has beautiful ocean views and architecture:

We also visited a totem pole park. It was very cool to experience some of the Native American heritage.

This is a place we would definitely love to come back and visit!

We loved our cruise!

Ketchikan, Thursday, June 24

2010-07-24T21:41:00.000-05:00

Andrew loves to fish! In Ketchikan he went deep sea fishing! He even hooked some salmon! He loved the experience. I spent my time shopping at all the unique shops by the marina. There is a shopping strip call Creek Street in Ketchikan. When Ketchikan was a mining town, it was the Red Light district (or lined with brothels). I had to walk a trail called Married Men's Trail to get to the shops that now fill the buildings. I found that quite ironic. :) Amazingly enough, Ketchikan was the only place it rained on us in all of our Alaskan adventure!

Here are some pictures from Andrew's fishing adventure:

Sitka, Wednesday, June 23

2010-07-24T21:32:00.000-05:00

Have you ever seen the movie, The Proposal? Well the main character, Andrew, in that movie is from Sitka, Alaska. We had the opportunity to go there, as well. It was absolutely gorgeous. It was some of the most beautiful landscape and scenery we have ever seen.

We also went to the Alaska Raptor Center. This is a place where they rescue injured birds. They release the ones they can and keep the ones that will not survive on their own. It was so cool to see up close eagles, hawks, and other Alaskan birds.

We also hiked on this beautiful trail. It looked like a perfect bear habitat. It made me quite worried. There were raspberries growing, a stream, lots of trees...and then we found this sign. Needless to say, that made Andrew a little nervous too.

Hubbard Glacier, Tuesday, June 22

2010-07-24T21:20:00.000-05:00

If you have never seen a glacier, it is way cooler than I thought it would be. There is something very eerie and magestic about a HUGE glacier. It is the largest tidewater glacier. Glaciers appear blue because they are compacted ice with a crystal structure that absorbs every color on the light spectrum but blue.

The craziest thing was seeing ice chunks and mini icebergs floating in the ocean. All we kept thinking about was TITANIC! Luckily, they didn't even phase the cruise ship.

Juneau, Monday, June 21

2010-07-24T21:08:00.000-05:00

Our first stop was Juneau, Alaska. All cities in Alaska are this green. Juneau is the capitol of Alaska, however there is only one main road and it does not connect to anything else. The only way to get to Juneau is by boat or plane.

In Juneau we got to go whale watching! Neither of us had ever been before. Although whales are very hard to photograph, we saw several humpback whales. You could tell their location from the water they blew up from their blowholes. We loved when they would flip their tails! We also saw sea lions, harbor seals, and bald eagles. We went with Captain Larry on the purple Odysea. We had a blast! We even left from Andrew's Marina!

Here is Captain Larry!

Alaska!

2010-07-24T20:21:00.000-05:00

June 19-26 we went on one last vacation before medical school and "real life" happens. We went aboard the MS Rotterdam on the Holland America Cruise Line. We spent 7 days exploring Alaska and Canada.

Here was our itenerary:

Saturday, June 19: Sail from Seattle, WA, 4:00pm
Sunday, June 20: Sea Day
Monday June 21: Juneau, Alaska 12:00n 9:00pm
Tuesday, June 22: Hubbard Glacier1 1:00pm-6:00p
Wednesday, June 23: Sitka, Alaska, 8:00am-5:00pm
Thursday, June 24: Ketchikan, Alaska, 7:00am-1:00pm
Friday, June 25 Victoria, British Columbia, 6:00pm-11:59pm
Saturday, June 26: Debark Ship Seattle, 7:00am

S...

2010-06-06T21:36:00.000-05:00

S is for slugs, skunks, slithering snakes, sickness, and SPIDERS. (obviously nothing good)

This past week has been interesting. Last Sunday, Andrew came down with an AWFUL infection in his leg. We are almost positive that this is the culprit:

It is a Brown Recluse Spider. It is VERY poisonous and bit Andrew sometime last week. He was on an antibiotic that wasn't working and ended up with a new oral antibiotic along with 4 days of IV antibiotics and one antibiotic shot. After exactly one week of Emergency Room visits, it is finally going down. The doctor said he hadn't seen a bite this bad. The bite started out black with a red infection area that took up his entire thigh. It was bad. We are so glad he is feeling better and the infection is FINALLY starting to go down. It has been a scary week.

Almost over...and the BIG butterfly release

2010-06-01T19:10:00.000-05:00

I only have 5 1/2 days left of my first year of teaching. If you don't know, I have been teaching second grade for the past year and I have 22 wonderful (most of the time ;)) seven and eight year olds. We have learned about rocks and nutrition, about life cycles and butterflies. We have learned multi-digit addition and subtraction. We learned about fractions and started multiplication. We learned tons of amazing vocabulary words. We learned how to read so much better. We wrote animal reports and did our own research in the computer lab. We caught Lex the Leprechaun. We laughed, we cried, we danced, we ran, we played, we learned. We had a blast, and I am actually sad its over. I have had my challenges as a brand new teacher, but I love my kids and I am sad to see them go. But, they have all grown inches and are ready for third grade. Here are some pictures of my classroom and our butterfly release. Sadly, I can't post pictures of my kids on the Internet, but I found a few where you can't tell who they are :)

Here is our vocabulary words bulletin board. We did three to four a week. I was impressed on how well these seven and eight year olds could use words like bellow, glimpse, clatter, sparkle, smudge and more! They really are pros!

Here is our morning work board. It has our birthday and lost tooth chart, along with the calendar, weather, and days of school.

Here is our wildly wonderful work! On display now are our butterfly habitats complete with nectar flowers, host plants, water source, and noodle eggs, caterpillars, chrysalises, and butterflies!
Here is our rules, job chart, and class store info.

Cruisin'

2010-05-17T22:13:00.000-05:00

Since Andrew is going to Medical School in August, we decided that he, and of course I ;), needed a little vacation....so we are taking a CRUISE in June to Alaska. It is a week long and we already booked an excursion to go whale watching! I am SO excited! We went on a cruise to Mexico for our Honeymoon and loved it. This time we decided to try something different and we can't wait. We are traveling on the Holland America line on the Rotterdam. We will be cruising the Pacific from June 19-26. I am most looking forward to the food and seeing the whales. We are addicted to cruising and there is no better time than this to have one last BIG vacation before medical school, kids, etc. are there to keep us busy.

i hope they call me on a mission...

2010-05-17T21:59:00.000-05:00

to LAS VEGAS WEST!! Ryan is officially Elder Matekel and entered the MTC on May 12, 2010. He will be serving the Lord valiantly for two years and we couldn't be more proud! He couldn't be in a better place, doing a better thing. He is awesome! GO RYAN!

Graduation

2010-04-24T18:29:00.000-05:00

On April 22 and 23 Andrew, Austin, and I graduated from Brigham Young University. Andrew got a Bachelor of Art in Communication Studies, Austin a Bachelor of Science in Management, and I got a Bachelor of Science in Education. We attended commencement in the Marriot Center where the speaker was Elder Christofferson and we all graduated in my department the next day. Here are some highlights from the day:

The grads with Granny Graff:

Some friends from my teaching program:

Connor celebrating with homeade root beer at Brick Oven:

Road Trip

2010-04-24T18:15:00.000-05:00

During my spring break and Andrew's reading days, we took a trip to Des Moines, Iowa to find a place to live. It was quite the adventure. Andrew got a speeding warning in Wyoming where they warned him that every cop in the state now has his information. We also had to get new tires on the way. We saw dozens of cornfields and thousands of cows. Because of those cows, we decided Nebraska is the smelliest state ever! We did find a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment in West Des Moines called Turtle Creek. We put down our deposit and are ready to move in in July!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW!

2010-04-24T18:04:00.000-05:00

We went to Tucano's for Andrew's birthday dinner. Later that evening Andrew and Austin both invited friends over to our place to celebrate their 24th birthday. Andrew has reached the age where I have to use an entire box of candles on his cake! Next year I have to buy two boxes! Happy Birthday sweetie! I love you!

ER birthday party

2010-04-24T17:59:00.001-05:00

Andrew volunteers in the Orem Community Hospital Emergency Room every Sunday night from 9 until 1 am. At midnight the nurses there threw a birthday party for him. I went and brought cupcakes. It was fun to wish him happy birthday right at midnight. Happy 24th Andrew! :)

Temple Trip

2010-04-24T17:50:00.000-05:00

My brother went through the temple on April 10th in preparation for his mission to Las Vegas in May. My Grandma Matekel and Aunt Linda came as well. It took place in the Mount Timpanogas Temple. Here are some pictures from the day.

Easter

2010-04-24T17:44:00.000-05:00

This year Easter fell on Conference weekend. Andrew and I went down to St. George and we brought my brother, Ryan. We had a lot of fun watching conference, painting eggs, baking cookies, and eating Easter treats. We even had a egg hunt with our legs taped to a partner.