Jen & Josh

Life in the making...

2012-01-22T12:41:00.002-07:00

I am so grateful for all the sweet comments, congrats, well-wishes and compliments

we have received since sharing our exciting news!

We feel extremely blessed to have our own little "life in the making". Especially when many of my friends have not been able to have this opportunity yet. But there is a reason for everything, God does have a plan for everyone. And nevertheless, I am extremely happy and blessed for the opportunity!

It's been a little surreal. At my last appointment we were able to hear the heart beat, which made it more real to me. Up until then, it didn't seem to be true.

I haven't been way too sick, haven't thrown up (thank goodness), haven't had too many unusual cravings/aversions, and haven't had the "usual symptoms" through the first few weeks, which I guess made it even more hard to believe for me. I do gotta give credit to my mother-in-law who has given me a lot of whole-food prenatal vitamins from a big-time Dr. up north. She said it would help through 1st trimester and the sickness. And they definitely have. Although I have a hard time getting them down most of the time, they have definitely helped me, I'm sure I would've been in much worse shape without them.

The main thing that hit me was the FATIGUE. Boy, have I been tired! I still have been- even though I'm through the 1st trimester, I still find myself getting so tired throughout the day and wanting to go to bed no later than 9:30/10. Sometimes I feel like all i want to do is sleep...:)

Through the first 10 weeks or so, I would feel nauseous, and not want to eat anything.

Or, I would want to eat anything and everything I can get my hands on one minute,
then be totally picky and not want to eat anything the next minute.

My patient husband titled this behavior "food swings" :)

The cravings depend on the day, or the week.

At first all I wanted to eat was salads for a week or so. (that's good, right?)

Then it was pizza for a couple days, then cereal, then sweets, etc. Nothing too unusual. I've noticed recently it's been sour stuff... and citrus. I've been trying to drink a lot of water. I guess I've also been needing to drink a lot of water too. I bring my water bottle everywhere I go, although lately, I've fallen into the temptation of drinking soda... :-S I've noticed COLD water tastes SO GOOD to me. I've always preferred ice cold water over out-of the-tap temperature water, but COLD water is a must now.

I hit my14th week so I am just beginning my 2nd trimester. Any sickness I had has mostly disappeared now- although any smells that made me sick then, still do now... certain foods, cigarette smoke, scents we used to cover the cigarette smoke (from neighbor), etc. I am still plenty tired. I have most of my energy back and have been able to head back to the gym a few times the past few weeks. But still, at the end of a work day, I am pretty much zapped. Mornings are the worst, when it comes to waking up. So hard..! I look forward to Saturdays every single day- when I can sleep in..:) Guess I need to get used to being tired and the sleepless-ness, right? at least according to my other mother-friends. ;)

Everyday I can't help but find myself thinking about what this little guy or girl is going to look like.. Is she going to be a mini-me? Is he going to be a mini-Josh? dark hair? blonde? curly? green/blue eyes? brown? tall? so many possibilities...:) I love seeing my friends' kids growing up and developing their personalities. I also keep wondering what our little child is going to be like. Shy like I was? Cute & friendly like Josh was?
It's so fun to think about.

I don't really have anything to compare it to besides others' stories & experiences, but so far, this pregnancy hasn't been too bad for me. I've been blessed in that way.

I certainly feel like I'm starting to show although other people deny it;) At least I'm feeling much
bigger, or fatter... tighter jeans...bigger stomach...etc. I just haven't "popped" yet.
I don't really know how to do these picture-things, but
here's me at 14 weeks:

I'll try to stay updated with my progress and also get the "stories" of our finding out and announcing to families on here real soon as well!
1 trimester down, 2 more to go! :)

A special someone's birthday

2012-01-22T12:40:00.001-07:00

We celebrated a special someone's birthday last weekend!

can you count how many fingers he's holding up?
yep, he's only 9! (+20)

The big 2-9!
Woohoo!
haha, he wasn't too excited for celebrating this year... he thinks he's getting old...
I say you're not 'old' til 30... ha ;)

I am so lucky to have him in my life.

He is my everything.
He is so patient with me, especially the last 3+ months through my ups and downs and hormone changes :)

I still learn new things about him all the time, and I can't help but love every thing about him and what he brings to our relationship. I am so excited to see him become a daddy this upcoming year.

We celebrated with all his closest friends at Texas Road House, and of course we had to do their ultimate birthday celebration. At least he got a nice big brownie smothered with ice cream out of it :)

We also went to the movie "War Horse" which is really good! -better than I expected.

Then we celebrated the next day family.

Happy Birthday to you, babe!

I'm so grateful to have you in my life!

I love you!

New Years & after-Christmas festivities

2012-01-13T18:23:00.003-07:00

After spending Christmas with my family, and spending the day after Christmas home SICK doing nothing except lounging around in my PJ's ALL day (literally), sleeping, and watching TV...

we headed on up to good ol' northern Utah to spend some some with Josh's family.

We went to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert (so fun! see previous post), went shopping, to movies, relaxed, and hung out with family.

New Years Eve was spent at the Kastleman home with some Martinelli's, dessert, the live showing of the NY Time Square celebration, and watching the fireworks all around the town. Josh's parents live on a hill with a beautiful view of the Timpanogas Temple and surrounding area so it was cool to see all the different fireworks that people were putting off.

Funny lil' story- It was 10 seconds before midnight and we started counting down with time Times Square celebration.

5...4...3...

then all of a sudden the screen turns black with a blue little box saying

"You are outside of your viewing hours "

.... what??

Since we have DirectTV, we knew what it was, but

Josh's parents have DirectTV and it lets you set your own viewing

hours to when it automatically shuts off the program and you can unlock it with a code.

Apparently theirs was set to midnight... {or a few seconds before;)}

After a few seconds of shock and disappointment, I finally started counting down again from 3.

Yeah...we were probably a little late from the "official time" but who cares, we still celebrated...

and we got our New Years Kiss, that's all that matters ;)

After the clock struck 12, a toast and a kiss, we started hearing the boom of fireworks so we went outside to watch. The fireworks were cool and all, but I think the main attraction and amusement of the night was a so-called little blue "UFO" in the sky that was flying around everywhere that the boys were going crazy over and couldn't figure out what it was. I figured it was one of those glider-airplane thingys, but little do I know.

I know, it looks like a planet in this picture. It was hard to capture on camera, but I guess I got a little speck of it.

We never did figure it out though.

{cue scary music} ;)

..................

We are so excited for this upcoming year, for all the new and exciting things that will happen, major changes, and for the addition

to our lil' family that this summer will bring :)

Happy 2012 to everyone!
Hope it turns out to be a great one!

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Concert

2012-01-13T18:15:00.002-07:00

A few days after Christmas we headed up north to visit Josh's family for a

few days before getting back into reality.

As noted in a post earlier, I surprised Josh with tickets to the

Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert as a graduation gift.

They definitely did not disappoint.

We both left saying that it was A-MAZ-ING.

If you ever get the chance, you should go to their concert sometime - really cool!

Us excited to start the show!

Josh has been to many more concerts in his lifetime than I have in mine.

And he said that this concert was the best show he has seen.

The band consists of maybe 5+ "main" band members, including guitarists, singer, drummer,
and a couple violinists.

but they also have keyboardists, and a group of 8+ orchestra members, and a narrator for the Christmas part that made up the whole concert.

Also, everywhere they have a concert, they have a different "chapter" of the orchestra. The band introduced the 8 orchestra members performing as the "Salt Lake Chapter" orchestra.

And I guess there's 2 different groups of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra that

perform different places at the same time.

Pretty big group, I'd say.

Not only did they play music but they also had a light/laser show the entire time with a huge LED screen in the background, and a giant platform that came down above the front audience that they played on.

To us, the real 'stars' of the show were the people behind the lights and show ;)

I can't imagine the amount of people, time AND money that goes into this set-up!

and to think- they only had it set up for 2 performances in SLC on the same day, then were headed to Vegas to perform the VERY NEXT day.

Crazy!

Anywho, that's just a little info about them,

but here's a little sample of what we saw.

and a couple videos-

{Of course, my little digital camera video doesn't do it justice. Just know it was cool ;)}

Christmas 2011

2012-01-13T18:05:00.005-07:00

Ok, I gotta admit, I do have a hard time staying focused on posting on my own blog.

It's so much more fun reading {stalking} other people's blogs... :)
Hence, the late Christmas post.. :P

But, I do want to post about our Christmas, so here goes.

Christmas was spent with my family this year.
On Christmas Eve, we had our traditional Lasagna dinner at my parents, visited, and watched the Nativity videos found on the church website. (filmed in Utah, and really good)
Unfortunately I wasn't the best at taking pictures this year...:( most of these are from my aunt's camera. (thanks!)

Since Christmas was on a Sunday this year, we waited til after my parent's 9:00 church to do our gifts.
We went to my parent's ward, where my dad {being Bishop} gave a wonderful talk
alongside a musical program by the ward.
I have to admit that at first I had mixed feelings about Christmas landing on a Sunday this year.
{I know, I know, where's my Christmas Spirit, right?}
But, in the end I was grateful to attend church with my family, on such a special day and focus
all your attention on the life of our Savior, for just over an hour.
Besides, he IS the reason for the season ;)

After church, the hubby and I then came back to our place,
and did our own little Christmas before heading to my parents.

I got him a nice jacket, a tool box, and a few clothes.
He got me a cute shirt, and a photo-editing software called Lightroom!
I felt spoiled, as always.

Then after a while, we headed over to my parents when everyone
was meeting over there and did our gifts with the family.

showing off a gator head and other gifts from my missionary bro in Lousiana!

"VooDoo" dolls

This year, we made personalized calendars for everybody in my family with collages
of family pics from last year. It was a fun gift for everyone and I think they enjoyed looking through them!

And we got even more spoiled over there.

the new "fish eye lens" I got from my brother :)

Then, just like every family with a missionary does on Christmas Day, we got to talk to my bro! :)
Although we saw him just 3 months ago {for his surgery...click here to read about it} it was still fun to talk to him.
And... after working out a few complications with computers, speakers, videos, etc....
we finally got to talk to him AND see him on Skype :)

We got to talk to him for a good 2+ hours, and when it was time to say goodbye...
well, I'm sure you could guess how it went with the mother...;)

BUT we get to see him in just 3 short months when he RETURNS for good.
And right when we hung up with him, through her emotions,
my mom was also ecstatic that that was going to be the
LAST phone call with a missionary on Christmas.. ever. :)

Then after our delicious Christmas dinner, we headed over to my aunt & uncle's house for desserts and visiting!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday as we did!

Merry Christmas!!! Love, the Kastlemans:)

2011-12-25T11:47:00.000-07:00

a little brag moment...

2011-12-21T22:13:00.004-07:00

... about my amazing husband,
the graduate!

After many hours spent just like this in front of the computer
designing websites, projects, and designs...

and many textbooks read...

{The text book from his favorite course this semester... a course literally about "nothing", ha}

...and many papers written...

...He is finished! Done! Complete!

with his college career at Dixie State College!

Wahoo!!!

To celebrate, my parents took us out to dinner to our favorite place :)

and I surprised him with a little graduation gift.

2 tickets to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert
{a rock band/orchestra. If you haven't heard of them, click here... this is probably their
most popular song that's most used on the houses with the "dancing lights"}
I thought it might be a fun graduation gift and a good excuse for us to splurge a little and have fun while on break ;)

Congrats babe! I'm proud of ya!

Why I love teaching...

2011-12-21T22:05:00.005-07:00

Teaching definitely has its ups and downs.
Good days and bad days.
Kids that you just love and kids that just drive you nuts...

But here are a few of the many things that I do love:

Love it when I get notes/ drawings/ pictures/ homemade paper gifts from my students.

... and I get soo many...

{maybe a few too many...}

I've noticed any free time they get, the majority of them love to draw/color.

When they make ones for me, I put them on a bulletin board behind my desk, until it gets too full.
Then I filter them out and put them in a file folder...

I especially love when they're something like this

{after a little disciplining... and maybe a few calls to parents;)}

totally makes my day :)

I also love the things the kids say.
Ever since my mom started teaching, she always came home
with some funny story of what a student did or said.
She teaches 1st grade.
I've noticed that since 3rd graders are older, they don't always say the "cute & innocent" funny things that you hear from 1st graders. But they are still quite funny. Here are some examples....

~ One of my little girls came up to me the other day-
Student: "Teacher, I want to tell you a secret SOO bad, but I don't know if I should because I might get in trouble."
Me: ~~Yes, I love secrets! please tell me! I want to get you in trouble!~~ ok... just kidding :)
"Then maybe you shouldn't... I don't want you to get in trouble."
{student, with a sigh goes back to her desk for a few minutes... then comes back to me}
Student: "But I want to tell you SO bad... I... I just want to get your advice on something."
{She then proceeds to whisper in my ear}
Student: "Do you believe in Santa Clause?"
Me: {probably with a surprised look on my face, not expecting that} "Why yes, of course I do!" {not wanting to ruin any secrets, just in case} "Do you?"
Student: "No. I know the secret... he's not real".
Me: {with a wink} "Ok but don't tell anybody okay? You don't want to ruin the surprise for anybody else!"
Later in the day, while they were lining up to go to computers, she came up to me again and gave me a big wink {with the whole head nod} and said "OK... I will. About our little secret earlier".

~ Our school counselor comes in once a month and does "character presentations". Last month's presentation was on "setting goals". In the middle of it, she started asking students "what are some goals you have for this year? next year?" etc. She then asked "What goal would you like to have when you're 17 or 18?" I don't know if some of my kids didn't hear the "when you're 17 or 18" part or if they're just determined little munchkins... but I heard a few comments like, "I want to buy a house!" , "I want to go on a mission", and "I want to have a family!" The counselor took it well and said "those are all good goals for later ages! but maybe not when you're 17 or 18.."

Thanksgiving Break

2011-12-21T22:04:00.000-07:00

Our Thanksgiving Break was nice, relaxing, and oh so needed.

We headed up north to spend it with Josh's family this year, and boy was it splendid.

Nothin' better than getting together with a whole bunch of family and eating a nice big feast!

We also did a lil' shopping, movie watching, family picture-taking (that I'll post later), and sleeping in.

Oh how I loove the sleeping in.

Here are some pics from the fun day

Cute Klara

Josh and Ben playing away

Krystal & I

Madalyn practicing her writing

The "after effect" of the big feast

Then, after some lounging around, the boys decided to get out and played some ball.

It was a great weekend and we were sad to say goodbye.
But reality calls and we had to get back to it.
I love the holiday season!

A day in the life of a teacher

2011-11-09T19:15:00.010-07:00

So I guess you could call today "one of those days"

It wasn't a terrible day, per se.... it was actually a generally good day for some part.

{I mostly just wanted to come home and write about the "bad parts" of the day so I can look back and laugh} :)

The things that I had the hardest time with today were:

the whining...

the complaining...

the tattle-telling...

the "do we have to?"'s

the "my ________ hurts'"

over and over and over.........

Seriously, these are many of the questions, comments, and complaints I heard today...

{names are changed for privacy}

"My elbow hurts" .... "I saw Sam push Dan" .... "My hand hurts when I write" .... "I don't know if this is tattle-telling, but... John and Ellie are talking" .... "My head hurts from thinking so hard".... "I think I'm allergic to someone in here" .... "Do we HAVE to write right now? Can't we draw?" .... "Can I go to the bathroom?" (literally right after they come in from recess, nonetheless).... "Sally and Sue are being mean to me".... "Dave bumped me" .... "But I don't want to" .... "It's too loud in here, I can't concentrate" (believe me, I know.) ..... "Where do we turn this in?" (after directions were given) .... "What are we supposed to do when we're done?" (after directions were given) ..... "What are we supposed to do on this assignment?" (after directions were given AND directions written on paper)

Now, just to to clarify, I don't consider myself a careless teacher, and I did my best to take care of the "real problems" when kids were actually hurting or down. But it just seemed like SO much today.

Hence, you can see why I was losing a little of my patience by the end of the day... :)

I texted (vented) to my mom and hubby at the end of the day, and my hubby offered to take me on vacation :)

and my mom said her kids (first grade) were the same way... {must be the weather? the season?} then she assured me that this isn't the end of it...from now until Christmas it's gonna be pretty crazy.

Oh joy.

On the other hand...

I do have a VERY sweet class, in fact, I saw this being passed around the class today to be signed...

the birthday girl just recently had a tragedy in the family, and the kids have been SO supportive and caring to her, and have been showering her with love and friendship especially today, on her birthday.

I even helped the class a little and asked her to come to my desk for something

to "distract" her while the students around her signed it ;)

And I love being their teacher. We have a ton of fun and laughs throughout the day as well.

BUT some days........ some kids.......... ;)

School Dance Festival

2011-11-05T23:44:00.000-06:00

My school does a school dance festival every year.

The last two years that I've been at this school, I've had

the honor of choreographing the dance for the 3rd grade.

This year's theme was "Broadway" and each of the grade's dances were SO cute and well done! There was a Lion King dance, a Mary Poppin's "Chimney Sweep"dance, a Hairspray dance, and Phantom of the Opera.

3rd Grade danced to Grease's "We Go Together". It was a fun song to dance to,

and I think it turned out so cute.

I was so proud of my kids :)

Thanks to my hubby for filming (again)!

He wasn't able to zoom out and get the whole dance together,

so he zoomed in and got closer-up shots of kids.

{There's parts where the boys and girls are doing different things}

Halloween!

2011-11-05T23:34:00.000-06:00

Spent the day with my 23 sugar-loaded, excited,

talkative, out-of-control, fun, and lovable munchkins

Spent the evening with good friends and family...

We spent the evening at my aunt's annual Halloween dinner.
Unfortunately I forgot to snatch pictures til the end, so I didn't get everybody:(

and spent the night with my hero.

Oh, and warped into a dancing zombie-pirate through the night.

'Twas a wonderful Halloweenish holiday

August Rush

2011-09-05T00:07:00.002-06:00

Playing Catch-up!

(warning: lots of posts)

It's amazing how much can happen in one+ month! I'm trying to catch up and post some pictures that I've had for a while and other stuff that I've been wanting to document, and I have so many!

For the purpose of not having one huge post, I've broken them

up into several different posts following this one.
(they've been in progress for a while)

These are mostly for my document/journal purposes, but also for those of

you out there that like keeping up with the Kastlemans.

Enjoy. :)

School

2011-09-05T00:06:00.004-06:00

School started the 2nd week of August, and I have found myself going, going, going. I love it more and more every day as I am feeling more confident. I have a really cute and bright group of kids, but they sure can be talkative! There has only been one day so far that I felt went terrible, where I thought to myself "what did I get myself into?" cause the kids were being crazy and not listening, but since then, it's been a lot better and I haven't had any more days like that... yet (ha.)

It's crazy how fast I started to care for these kids, and wanted to do everything I can to help them learn and grow and feel cared for. It's so hard to get to spend one-on-one time with these kids though, with everything else you gotta do in the day. But, I'm trying. It's been a great experience so far, and it's still hard to believe that I'm a "real teacher" but the more I do it, the more I love it.

I am out in a portable, which is a bummer sometimes, because I'm so far away from my team(the other 3rd grade teachers), and from bathroom/drink accessibility for the kids, but it hasn't been too bad. The worst thing being out there so far is not having any of the technology that all of the other teachers have. Many of the teaching programs rely on "smart boards" or other technology, but I'm still waiting on mine. Trying to be patient though... ;) hopefully they come soon!

Since I don't have technology, such as a mic for the classroom out there, I've been having to talk a lot more, and louder than I would need to. Consequently, I have basically lost my voice :-/ I've been trying to stay as healthy as I can by taking vitamins everyday, etc, but I blame it on the stress. Since I've been going, going, going, since school started, I was finally able to have a little "down time" last week, which is exactly when the cold hit me :( Stuffy nose, cough, raspy voice, the usual. I've been trying to relax whenever I can to not over-do it. I've been feeling better, but like usual, the cough and runny nose are lingering.

Thank goodness for 3-day weekends!

Here are some pics of my "royal-themed" classroom.

My Classroom

5 year HS Reunion

2011-09-05T00:06:00.001-06:00

My 5 year High School reunion was this summer.

It's crazy to believe it's already been 5 years!

It was so fun to see a lot of people I haven't seen for a while, and catch up with them.

It was well done and I've gotta give props to a friend, Kami, who mostly put it together,

along with some of the student council. It was a Luau theme and they did a hula hoop contest, the limbo, and had yummy hawaiian food.

There weren't a ton of people there, but it was fun to see the people that were.

My hubby filmed some of the events and is planning on putting together a video for it.

In the meantime, here's some pics:

The dress for the occasion was supposed to be semi-formal or hawaiian themed.

We felt a little silly being one of the few dressed hawaiian.

But... it was worth it, we dressed the part,lol ;)

Don't ya just love that hat on him? ;) haha

My birthday & Park City

2011-09-05T00:06:00.000-06:00

We were lucky enough to be able to spend my birthday up in Park City this year with Josh's family.

It is their annual end-of-summer vacation to spend a week at a time share they have there.

Before we went to Park City, Josh took me shopping for my birthday. Besides the school shopping I wanted to do while we were up there, he spoiled me with shopping for myself.

We scored some pretty good deals on some cute clothes though.

Every year it's so nice to get away from the heat, and have a few days of relaxation and time with the fam. Unfortunately I was only able to stay a day and a half because I needed to get home to get ready for school and meetings, but nonetheless, it was still a nice little break.

The condo we stayed in this year. so nice!

chilling and relaxing

the DELICIOUS strawberry shortcake my mother-in-law made me for my birthday :)

the hubby and I eating the delicious cake

beautiful Park City

We took a little stroll around the area, and for some reason, I loved the set-up of this dining place.
I just had to take a pic of it. Love the red chairs

My birthday celebrations lasted a whole week and a half because of all the different events and end-of-summer vacations that everyone in my family was doing. But when everyone got home a week later, we were able to celebrate with them.

I felt so spoiled and loved! I love my family and friends, they take such good care of me :)

I had a great birthday week.

National Dance Day

2011-09-05T00:05:00.001-06:00

If you're a dancer

(or watch So You Think You Can Dance at all)

you've probably heard about National Dance Day (NDD). This year was the 2nd annual NDD and I, being the dancer I am, just had to be a part of it.

To get my fix of dancing in, I've been going to the new Community Center since the beginning of the year and doing their Zumba and Hot Hula classes. The instructors there are amazing and SO much fun. I've also been going to a hip-hop dance class when I can, with the Kalamity Dance group, which is a dance group that does benefit concerts for people in need.
(check them out here. So neat and amazing dancers!)

The dance community here in St. George put together a National Dance Day event in the parking lot of Walmart. They had different performances from different dance groups, including the Hula class that I did, and then did Zumba with the many different zumba instructors. There were So many people there and it was really hot, but a ton of fun.

Me and the other dancers doing the hula

On SYTYCD, they posted a few dance combinations for NDD choreographed by different choreograpers. At the hip-hop class, they were learning the NappyTabs routine, so I went and learned it.

Not the best quality of video, but it works

My hubby was such a good sport and even wanted to come with me to NDD event. Although he didn't get in on the Zumba and dancing, he went around taking pictures.
He loved it, and I was even ready to leave before him ;)

Props to him for these awesome pics!

July Update

2011-08-06T01:19:00.000-06:00

Oh my, this summer is goin' by faster than I want it to!

Here's a little update of the last few weeks....

It's been fun having Josh home from his mission, even if it is for a while. (see previous post). He recently went in to change his cast and the Doc said he should be out of it by mid September. Josh is still determined to get back out on his mission, but he's enjoying the time while he's here. He's a trooper!

<> In the middle of July, most of our family spent a night at the Dixie cabin up in Pine Valley. It was nice to get away from the heat and just watch movies, take photos,eat yummy food and relax...

<> The Mr. and I decided to go to the Movie in the Park that they do every month in the summer down at Main Street Park. They were showing the movie called "The Fly Boys" that was actually filmed here in St. George.

We went to that movie together a couple years ago as one of our first dates, and we both loved it! Ever since then, I've been trying to find it to buy it, rent it, borrow it, anything! and I've had NO luck. I finally got desperate enough to call them and email them because I wanted to get it for Josh for a birthday or Christmas present. They said they aren't going to have it available until they re-release it (to make more money supposedly?) I was bummed about it, but after we heard that they were showing it at the movie in the park, we decided to go.

{As we were walking through the park finding a spot to sit, I saw a friend of mine in my ward growing up. She told me they were doing drawings for 2 tickets to Sea World. So I went and signed up and after all the entertainment and other drawings, they did the "big" drawing for the tickets. They had 3 pairs to give away and they announced the first two winners, then the last name they drew was "Jennifer Kastleman"!!
I never win things like that, so I'm sure you can tell how excited I was!

But, after all the excitement of winning them, we aren't even going to end up using them. :( The tickets expire at the end of this year, and since the summer is almost over for us with lots of other things going on, we were trying to find a time we could work it out to go. Unfortunately, with me about to start teaching and Josh working and going to school, it wasn't gonna work out... so we gave them to another lucky couple-my brother and sis-in-law for my brother's birthday. Their 1st anniversary is coming up, so we thought it would be a good excuse for them to go... and Kelli has never been to Sea World, so we wanted them to celebrate}.

<> And of course you can't have July without fireworks! I love living in the state of Utah, because we get to celebrate and do fireworks twice in July!

On the 24th of July (Pioneer Day) my hubby accompanied me to the park to watch the fireworks. I wanted to snap some shots of the fireworks so we headed out a little early to get a perfect spot at the park.

We got some of these great shots!

<> Summer is also the peak time for birthdays in our family, so of course there's been a few celebrations/family get togethers for those.

and also get togethers and BBQs with other family and friends

we were trying to balance the teeter-totter :)

<> Besides all the fun summer events, I have just been busy getting stuff ready for my classroom.
It was kind of overwhelming not knowing exactly where to start and what to do.
BUT, I think I have a good start with it, and I've had TONS of help from my mom, friends, and my hubby.
I'm trying to do a "castle/royal" theme because I thought it would go well with my last name.
(Kastleman... castle theme... get it? ;)
It's honestly been hard finding materials and supplies already made, so I've been making a lot of my own stuff.
I keep thinking I shoulda' done a simpler theme, like jungle animals or something (cuz' they are So much EASIER to find), but after all my hard work, I think it's comin' along...

Now I just need to start preparing for all the actual "teaching stuff"... :) ha.

Elder Decker Update

2011-08-06T01:16:00.000-06:00

My brother, Josh has been serving a mission in the Louisiana, Baton Rouge mission.

He's a Spanish speaking missionary, and you can tell he has loved his mission!

He was playing football with some of the members and elders on the 4th of July at a mission BBQ, and unfortunately got "clipped" and broke his leg! My parents were contacted that day, but didn't find out how serious it was til a few days later when the mission president, and the mission people in Salt Lake decided he needed to come home to have surgery instead of having surgery there.

They made the plans and he flew home (with a broken leg in a cast, nonetheless... poor guy) on that Friday and we had our family and his close friends come to the airport to welcome him home.

My parents were calling around to different doctors and surgeons to see who could get him in soonest to have the surgery. Fortunately, one of Josh's good friends' dad was able to get him into surgery on Monday!

He's been in a cast ever since and just went back to the doctor and he said Josh is recovering pretty quickly, which is a blessing because Josh is determined to go back on his mission to finish it.

They hope that he will be able to be out of the cast by the middle of September.

He's had his best friend, Ryan, who also needed to come home for health reasons, here to keep him company so they've been each other's "companions" :) They are also both Spanish-speaking missionaries and with my husband and dad speaking Spanish as well, that has kinda turned into the dominant language around here ;)

He's been catching up on lots of movies, shows and games, and is now getting the point where

he can get out and about to socialize with friends.

We recently (finally) created a Missionary blog for him.

So if you'd like to keep updated with him, head on over to:

elderjoshdecker.blogspot.com

It has NOT been updated for a while (since before he broke his leg), but we will get on it soon! ;)

Pictures from his homecoming:

His plane arriving

The anxious friends and family!

Josh walking down on the ramp with his crutches, poor guy

The sign that Josh and I made for him :)

all the greetings and hugs

Welcome home, Elder! And Get Well Soon!!

We are glad you are back, even if it is only for a little while ;)

4th of July Weekend

2011-07-08T12:30:00.001-06:00

It's crazy to think that the 4th of July already came and went!

Boy, this summer is flyin' by!

On Saturday, some of my family decided to join my aunt & uncle, cousin & her girls at their cabin to enjoy the nice cool air, good company, playing games, and lots of food!

On Sunday, my hubby and I went on a lil' walk to enjoy the cloudy weather and

got some pretty cool pictures with the sunset & clouds.

I love monsoon season! That is one of the things I miss most about living in AZ.

Then, on 4th of July, we had a pretty chill day and just went to work out and swim at the rec center for a while, then got together with some friends from our ward for a BBQ, visiting and to watching the fireworks!

I am so grateful to live in this country and for the privileges that we have, and

I'm so grateful for all the troops that are out there serving for our country!

Happy Independence Day!

Mom's 50th Birthday

2011-07-05T21:25:00.001-06:00

We celebrated my wonderful mom's birthday on Thursday, June 30th!

I'm sure she wouldn't want me to announce how old she turned {just ignore the title} ,

so I'll just say that she is

~~half-a-century~~.. ~~5 decades~~..

1 year older (and wiser),

AND she is as young and beautiful as ever! :)

To celebrate her on her special day...

- My dad gave her the traditional breakfast in bed,

- we went to a movie of her request,

- Josh and I gave her a beauty photo shoot :)

- and the whole fam took her out to eat at Texas Road House.

And if you've never seen a b-day celebration at Texas Road House,

they have an awesome {and somewhat humiliating..} way of honoring birthdays.

and oh yes we did...

Then when we got home, we had some time to just relax and digest all the food we completely over-ate.

After a bit of relaxing, my dad nonchalantly asked my mom to take "a drive" with him

to go on a romantic walk and maybe a lil' shopping.

In the meantime, us kids got busy decorating for her surprise party.

we invited a lot of her close friends and family and it was a great turnout!

We decided to do a Hawaiian theme, and there was lots of yummy food, fun decorations and great company.

Over all, I think she had a great birthday.

She is definitely the best mom in the world and she

deserved a great ~~50th~~ birthday :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!

We love you!

I'm gonna be a "Miss Honey"!

2011-07-05T17:34:00.010-06:00

Do you remember Miss Honey?

Miss Honey was the sweet, compassionate and loving 3rd grade teacher in the movie 'Matilda'.

When I decided that I wanted to be a teacher, I decided I wanted to be just like her.

I mean, who didn't love Miss Honey? :)

When I got into the Elementary Ed Program, I would often get the question, "what grade do you want to teach?" I would always reply with, "3rd or younger", with a personal preference of 2nd or 3rd.

I've always loved 3rd grade, specifically, for some reason.

(not that I don't love the other grades)

It could've been Miss Honey that had the impact on me. ;)

(oh don't mind my silly childhood fantasies;))

It could be that I loved my own 3rd grade teacher and my whole 3rd grade year.

It could be that I loved learning multiplication tables and the fun things you can do with it, and the other 3rd grade curriculum.

whatever it is, I am happy to say that
I am going to be a 3rd grade teacher
this coming school year!

I will be teaching 3rd grade at LaVerkin Elementary, which is the exact same position I did the SEE Program (similar to a yearly internship). I had an amazing mentor teacher as an example that was also very influential and entertaining to the kids.

I have been VERY blessed to have received this position.
For one, teaching jobs are hard to get now-a-days (along with pretty much any other job).
For another, I already have experience at the school, and in the position that I'm going to teach.
This will definitely help us with our income, and we'll be provided with benefits! :)

I may not be as sweet as Miss Honey, or as entertaining as my mentor teacher, but I hope I will influence at least one of my students somehow, like my own 3rd grade teacher did to me :)

I know it's going to be a busy/fun/crazy/stressfull/overwhelming year, but...

I'm Excited for it :)

{W} newborn photos

2011-06-26T22:07:00.000-06:00

This cute lil' family asked me to take these newborn pictures when they first found out she was pregnant!

I was so happy and honored to do them.

They are such a fun family with two adorable little girls.

I think they turned out so cute!

love this one! so precious!

Father's Day Weekend

2011-06-20T20:07:00.000-06:00

First of all, I want to wish my dad, dad-in-law and all the other fathers out there a
Happy Father's Day!
We both have AMAZING fathers and would be nowhere we are today
without their guidance and example.
They are both amazing in their own individual ways, yet amazing in a lot of the same ways as well.
They are excellent examples of what a priesthood holder and patriarch of the home should be, fun to be with, very spiritual, easy to get along with, humorous, great husbands to their wives, witty, and caring.
Both my hubby and I look up to them for so many reasons, and often turn to them for guidance and advice in the confusions of life.

Thanks for all you do, you two! You're the best!

I'm also looking forward to the day when my own hubby becomes a great dad like them.

On that note, I am so happy to have this Mr. (and future daddy down the road)
home from a long weekend without him.

He had the weekend off of work and decided to head up north to visit his family and friends since he hadn't seen them in a while, and to be with his dad on Father's Day. I had other obligations here at home, so I couldn't go with him.
He was gone from Wednesday to Monday, and my parents had youth conference from Thursday to Saturday, so for 2 whole days, I had the house to myself.
To be honest, it was really nice to have a few days of an empty home all to myself.
I got a lot done.
But... at the same time, I sure did miss my hubby.

So what do you do when you have the house to yourself?

Order cafe rio take-out of course,

and eat in the family room in your comfy-clothes and watch reality shows like
So You Think You Can Dance.

I also finally got the motivation to get caught up in my scrapbooking.

Now, I know I'm behind the advances of the world, and everything is digital now-a-days,

including scrapbooks.

But, there's just something about scrapbooks you made yourself that you can hold and flip through while flashing back through the memories of those pictures that I like, I guess.
But, yes, it is a lot of work, and creates quite the mess.
However, in the end, after all that work of cutting, glueing, finding just the right decorative papers to use, finding the right places to put pictures, and using words to describe the events, creating a mess, and cleaning up the mess, it's worth it...
most of the time.
I just wanted to get caught up of our first year of marriage, and our dating days, since those are the majority of the pictures I have printed out, then I just might go digital?

Other events of the weekend included:

- hosting a book club that my sister-in-law created.
We read "The Greatest Salesman in the World" which was a recommendation a couple years back from one of my best friends. It is a great book, and very influential and inspirational.
Check it out here if you want.

- Helping one of my best friends with a bridal shower.

all put together by her!

(great job Jess!) :)

- going to a fun ward "Clue" activity,

photo from our ward facebook page

- and enjoyed a nice Father's Day steak dinner with the whole fam (minus the missionary--and hubby)

What a Dream it would be...

2011-06-13T18:03:00.004-06:00

to go to Paris!

The Mr. and I have dreamed, and dreamed, and thought about {and almost made it happen}, and then dreamed some more... of traveling to Europe.

But . . . what is holding us back?

The mula of course :-/

However, I recently came across this super cute blog called Oh Happy Day.

Maybe some of you have heard of it.

The creator of the blog is a party planner and has a ton of cute and fun ideas from home projects, to home decor, to invitations to free printables.

Go ahead and check her out.

http://ohhappyday.com/

This month, she is doing a Paris giveaway for two!

and... 'figured it was worth a try :)

Maybe I have the luck 'o the Irish (or the French?) with me. . . maybe not. We shall see.

The deadline is June 20th,

So if YOU would love a chance to win a trip to Paris,

All you need to do is go to this website and the details to enter are there.

Go for it, it's worth a try anyway :)

Afterall, Paris does hold the key to your heart!

Ooh La La!

http://ohhappyday.com/2011/06/goes-to-paris

{W} Family Photos

2011-06-12T19:32:00.000-06:00

I was recently able to take these cute family's pics {finally!}
We had been trying to set this up for about 2 months before we actually were able to, but every time we would schedule it, something would come up, such as one of us leaving town, too much going on, or the unpredictable St. George weather!
But, we were finally able to schedule it and the weather was gorgeous for us.
Their little boy is so cute, and such an explorer! He loved walking around and exploring the big park.
It was a fun session.

The End :)

Hi-Ho Cherry-O

2011-06-07T22:10:00.000-06:00

My parents have a big cherry tree in their back yard, which produces lots of yummy, scrumptious, and juicy cherries this time of year.

But, not only does this tree bring yummy fruit,

it unfortunately also brings these {cute} but pesky little fellas, which eat and nibble at all the cherries.

However, this year, we have found that we have a new best friend in our backyard.

Our neighbor's cat,

{Sassy}

I have seen this cat wandering around the neighborhood for quite a while now.

And I've tried to befriend it, but she just wouldn't have it . . . until now.

She has found a new home -- at least during the day.

Since the boys have found a tool that keeps these birds
away for a little while at least, we have a new friend.

If they get one, she takes it away.

She has even caught some on her own. We think she has a solid diet for birds now.

Although I do not participate in shooting these innocent little birds,

{nor do I think it is humane}
it does help us protect our cherries 'til we can pick them all,

and helps us gain a new friend and a temporary daily pet. :)

We've picked and picked these cherries and we have more than we can eat now AND

plan to share some with neighbors and friends.

But . . . there's still a ton on the tree!

So, I just say share the wealth now. Those birds can't be that harmful right?

In the meantime, I'm just looking forward to making and eating some of this

and this :)

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-06-06T16:01:00.000-06:00

Memorial Day weekend was a fun weekend for us. We started off by going on our first camping trip of the season with our good friends, the Andrus'.

They invited us and started planning for it like a month and half ago, because they are pro-campers and know how fast campsites get booked up. And sure enough, the campsite was full for like the rest of the summer! Good thing we have them :)

It was Such a fun weekend with them even though they had a few unlucky incidents with their car right before we left. But they were still very prepared and it turned out to be a fun, adventurous camping trip.

They were great company to be with and I'm so glad they invited us!

Then, on Saturday night, my cousin invited my family over for a pool party, dinner and a movie.

That was also a great night with some great company, and the YUMMIEST tacos I have ever had.

Thanks Jono and Alicia!

The boys starting a race. Can you tell who the "professional" is with the perfect starting dive? :)

I think Jono ended up winning :)

Mom and baby Sherrie. She is so dang cute!

On Monday, some of my family decided to take a drive out to Black Rock Mountain and we had a picnic out in the woods. I took my camera, but I sadly didn't end up taking one picture.:(
We were able to spend a few hours up in the mountains where it was nice and cool.

After our picnic, we took a little hike and found a spot where you could see ALL of St. George. it was so cool! it was hard to see, but I spotted the temple as a tiny little white speck.

Then when we got home, we had a nice little restful barbeque with the family.

It was a nice and eventful weekend!

california vacation

2011-05-27T10:42:00.000-06:00

let me just say, it was a great start to summer! although I did miss the 2nd-to-last week of school (most of the fun stuff in other words) and I did miss being with my little 3rd graders, our California vacation was awesome.

After us inviting them to come with us on a trip that fell through, Josh's parents decided to take us to California as a break/graduation gift for me. We got everything booked, worked it out with our work, got packed and headed on our way on a Saturday morning and stayed a whole week.

We stayed in a nice condo that was just a block away from the beach. We went to Knott's Berry Farm, the Flower Fields, Balboa Park, Old Town San Diego, art museums, the beach, toured cool ships and ate lots of yummy food, including a couple bowls of ice cream almost every night :)

It did rain a few days in the middle of the week, but the rest of the week was splendid.

We took A LOT of pictures, and Josh documented the whole trip on video and is planning on making a movie with it. We saw some beautiful sunsets, enjoyed soaking in the sun as much as we could, and toured around San Diego.

We started off by going to the flower fields in San Diego.

It was so pretty! I didn't know there was such a place as this.

This is a picture of a picture... this is what it looks like from the air

Some of the many beautiful flowers we saw

We saw some people parasailing over the ocean. It was cool to watch.

Made me wanna do it someday!

We saw a few gorgeous sunsets and got some pretty cool silhouette pictures

We spent a day (our anniversary) at Knott's Berry Farm

and toured around these cool ships and submarines

I didn't realize how many ropes there were on a ship!

I guess I didn't really notice them in movies, but when we went and saw Pirates 4,

I paid more close attention to the ships and noticed that there really are a ton.

This ship was in one of the Pirates movies, and "Master and Commander"

These crazy surfer dudes went surfing, body boarding often through the week, even in the rain!

They tried paddle boarding too, but the waves weren't the best to do it.

We went to Balboa Park for the first time for us.

It was such a beautiful place with amazing architecture and museums!

This is the graceful Mr. in front of the botanical building that had so many unique plants and flowers inside

They were so unique and fun to look at!

We went around to some of the different art museums.

Josh has been studying art history so it was fun for him to recognize a

lot of the pictures he's been learning about.

Then we traveled over to Coronado Island.

It was a neat island with lots of nice and pretty houses

I took a morning run one day on the beach and I saw a ton of these little birds feeding

at the shore, so I ran back and grabbed my camera to grab a few pics.

And we couldn't have left San Diego without visiting this beautiful place.

It is a beautiful temple, with such a gorgeous Celestial room!

Then we took a little drive over to La Jolla and walked around the shores there.

We saw a lot of cute sea lions that were just sun bathing on the rocks. josh even called out to them and had some talking back to him:)

On our last day, we drove to Oceanside and they just happened to be having a big event called "Operation Appreciation" for all the military. It was so fun to see all the cool vehicles they used.

We walked along the pier and came across these friendly fellows.

We were surprised at how close they let us get to them.

I'm sure they were just waiting for food, but I almost got close enough that I could touch them.

It was a nice, relaxing, and fun vacation, and we are so appreciative of these two for making it happen.

Thank you SO much for an amazing vacation get-away!

We love you!

The Best 2 years

2011-05-27T10:40:00.000-06:00

Wow. Two years. It was two years ago that I married my best friend. Our anniversary landed on our trip to california with his parents. As I think about it, we've been to california every year at this time since we've been married.
Honeymoon- stayed in Oceanside
1st anniversary- cruise to Mexico
2nd anniversary- San Diego with Josh' parents

not too shabby. It's a nice place to be that time of year. I think we should keep the tradition going :)

The morning we left to California, we got to sleep in just a little before his parents came to pick us up, and as we were both waking up, still laying in bed, Josh kept saying, "shouldn't you get up and get ready?" and I think I even remember him saying "don't you need to go to the bathroom?" As he was saying these things, I was confused thinking "don't you need to get up too?" and "why are you asking if I need to go to the bathroom?" I got up a few minutes later, walked into the bathroom and my confusions were explained. On the mirror I found this-

a little slip of paper starting me on a treasure hunt!

He sent me to a few different places in the house, and as I was going around, I heard him say that all he could hear was my little giggles and laughs, then seconds of ponder, then, "oh!" as I was finding the notes and figuring out the hints. :) he kept saying that he loved listening to me.

As I got to the end of it, I found this!

It's a super nice carrier bag for our camera so we don't have to lug the other shoulder-strap bag around. He knew it would be perfect for our trip.

I'll tell you one thing- this Mr. is amazing at making dreams become reality. When we first met, I told him that I love photography and that it's my dream job to become a {child} photographer. I haven't had the chance to really start anything with it, but he is sure making my dream a reality by the sweet and thoughtful gifts he has given me all throughout our marriage and dating life. I love that about him. He's not afraid to dream himself, then actually do something about it. and he makes things happen that people just dream and think about. I love it! and I love him.

Anyway, we spent our actual anniversary at Knott's Berry Farm. Pretty fun anniversary I must say. We went on every big ride they had, and even went on a few twice. It was a perfect day. The weather was nice. The company was nice. and the memories were priceless. That night when we got home we were both exhausted, but I still had a little energy to give him my gift- nothing big- just a few movies that he loved and a set of pajamas (he loved his last ones I gave him!)

I love my man. I love that I have been able to spend the last {best} two years with him.

and I love that I get to spend eternity with him.

Happy Anniversary, my love! Here's to many, many more :)

Last day of school

2011-05-26T23:05:00.000-06:00

The last day of school was full of mixed emotions. I am so excited that summer is here! But this last year has been such a good year for me. I have grown so much as a teacher, a student and a person in general. I am going to miss the awesome people I worked with, my amazing mentor teacher, and especially my cute little 3rd graders. They made each day a little brighter. Even though I only stayed half-day a lot of the year, I became attached to them.:) they were my first class that I spent the whole year with and they helped me become an experienced and better teacher. I did have to drive about 25 minutes to get there each day, but the kids and the people I worked with made it worth it and made me love my job. I never thought the drive was bad at all throughout the year.

My mentor teacher was awesome as well. She was a great example to me and just the kind of teacher that I want to be. We laughed a lot together throughout the whole year and made a lot of good memories. She gave me great advice and great materials that I will definitely use in the future! She made a DVD of the year that I know I will cherish and keep forever :)

The last day was a short one, and everyone was so excited and anxious for summer! There were autographs and books being signed all throughout the school. A few kids started having people sign their shirts, and I noticed my kids wanted to get in on that fun, so I saw some of them get so creative that they had people sign their arms, their pants, their faces, and their shoes- both top and bottom of shoes! it was funny to watch.

Our class watched the movie Charlottes web, since we just got done reading the book, went to lunch, then we had our little time of gift giving and goodbyes. The goodbyes were fast as the kids were going out the door so I didn't really have the chance to get too emotional, but as I left the room to go talk to a friend, then came back in, it hit me that I wasn't going to be coming back to this room and seeing the kids again. I know as a teacher, you get new students every year, then you see them grow and watch them go. But as a "first-year" teacher, it's a little hard. I will always remember my "first" fun and cute little 3rd graders! it was a great year.

Now, it's just hard not knowing what the future holds. As of right now, there aren't many teaching jobs available, but I keep hearing more are going to be opening in the summer, so we shall see what the future holds.

But for now, I am just going to enjoy my summer vacation while it lasts!

Anxiously waiting . . .

2011-05-13T15:39:00.004-06:00

. . . for next week, when I will be here. . .

. . . doing this . . .

. . . watching this . . .

. . . admiring this . . .

. . . and going on this. . .

. . . with him . . .

. . . and them . . .

(all thanks to them!)

ah . . . anxiously waiting . . .

Smile on :)

Iron Man and Platinum Woman

2011-05-09T22:08:00.002-06:00

The day after our graduation, my dad competed in his 2nd Ironman Competition!

. . . 2.5 miles swimming. . .

. . . 112 miles biking . . .

. . . 26.2 miles running . . .

The next day we honored our mother for Mother's Day.

yeah, it was kind of a busy weekend.

But it was a great one!

Remember this guy from here?

Well he's back and better than ever!

Yes, it's true. . . My dad is {an} Ironman.

He is an amazing one at that.

This was his 2nd time (out of 5) competing in the Ironman competition. St. George has a 5 year contract to hold the Ironman competition here in May ever year for 5 years. This was the 2nd year. My dad plans on competing in it all 5 years! Crazy, you ask? Yeah, he is a little. Especially after him saying "I'm never gonna do that again" right after he finished last year. (We got it on film to prove it.)

But, that's why he's superdad.

He finished in 11 hours and 56 minutes! Which --if you ask anyone that has done it OR seen it-- is amazing! His goal was to finish before 12 hours. And by-golly, he did it! He did a lot better than last year, because the water was freezing last year. This year it was a lot warmer. He did awesome and we're all proud of him.

congrats dad! you're amazing!

The viewers

his biking portion

Got a better picture this year- I was excited :)

Just starting out on the run

halfway done!

look at all that energy he's got!

he crossed over the bike path to give us high fives, that little rule breaker :)

his finish . . .

(not the best quality of picture, but I liked it. It shows his excitement)

congrats dad!!

You are an Ironman! Twice!

Now, onto Platinum woman.

Who is this, you may ask?

She's wonderful, she's beautiful, she's supportive, she's loyal, she's kind, humble, funny, great example, and overall, just amazing.

She's my mom.

At the Ironman, my mom said she saw a woman with a shirt that said

"Behind every Ironman, there's a Platinum Woman".

We thought it fit and want to get my mom one next year.

I love my mom to death and would be nowhere I am today without her example and guidance. She's been one of my best friends growing up, and I wouldn't change that relationship for anything.

yeah, of course like every relationships, we may not see eye-to-eye all of the time, but we have the best mother-daughter relationship I could have ever asked for.

She holds this family together.

She deserved a good Mother's Day.

I think she had a pretty enjoyable one, especially since she got to talk to this guys for 2.5 hours :)

{Elder Josh Decker}

She's always there whenever I need her. She's the best cook around, she's a great example to all those around her, she's humble, compassionate, thoughtful, loving, supprotive in everything we do, and she's just an amazing person in general. thank you, mom, for all you've done and still do!

Happy Mother's Day!

I love you!!

Also, Happy Mother's Day to my mother-in-law! She is such a great example to us and I have learned SO much from her. She does so much for Josh and I and her own family.

She is also very sweet, compassionate, humorous, and loving, and a great example to me! I admire the love that her and my father-in-law share and the Spirit they bring to their home.

Thank you, Ladawn, for the example that you are to both Josh and I!

IronMan & Platinum Woman:)

Graduation! {5.6.11}

2011-05-09T19:09:00.006-06:00

It hasn't really hit me yet that I'm done with school. I've been going to school since I was . . . 5. And now I'm done -- with all of it! It definitely feels good! But kinda weird too. I guess if I miss it so much, I could go back to get my Master's somewhere down the road . . .

but, eh . . .

{not likely}

(not gonna think about that now anyway.) :P

With graduation on the mind, I recently I came across this video.

brought back some memories. I thought it fit.:)

And. . . I also came across this one.

If I had any control over graduation commencement, at least part of it would

probably look something like this . . . :)

Nonetheless, our graduation day was a great day! Josh and I got to walk together, sit together, and graduate together. Him with his associates, me with my Bachelors. Next semester, he'll be done with his Bachelors. {yay!} Usually, the bachelors degrees and associates sit seperately, and somebody even tried splitting us up because of it, but we saw other couples sit together, so we did.

It was a good day.

But I couldn't have made it without the support of my amazing husband, parents, family, and friends that endured through the program with me. I feel so blessed to have all this support in my life.
Thank you to you all!
As I think about it, it flew by so fast, believe it or not. I still remember my last day of high school, my first day of college, and my first day of the Elem. Ed program.
It's crazy to be done!

A few pictures before we started walking.

(A dark cap and gown is not fun to wear in the sun and heat!)

Then we did the long graduation walk

and made it to our seats

can you see us? :)

Then we sat and enjoyed a nice commencement.

It was the Centennial (100th year) graduation at Dixie.

And the honorable guest {as mentioned here} was President Monson.

What a special day and blessing to graduate at this time!

It was an honor and a priviledge to hear from him at our own graduation.

He talked about 3 bridges that lead to living a happy life.

1. Positive Attitude

2. Integrity

3. Service
It was a great speech, and just what us graduates needed to hear.

It was neat to hear from him. I just wish there was someway we could've gone up and shook his hand. But, oh well, that is something I have yet to do. :)

It was a nice commencement, then everybody split up to their seperate convocations, which was a new thing this year. Usually they have everybody get their diploma in the same room. This year, they split up the different degrees. Josh was lucky enough to "walk" and graduate with me and the other bachelors. :)

{kinda hard to see, but my dad, being a professor, was able to hand us our diplomas!} :)

Then, after all the events, we came home and had a nice little celebration dinner with family with lots of pasta to load my dad up with carbs and get him ready for his 2nd Ironman.

Overall, it was a good day!

Congrats, babe!

Here's to us!

{May 6, 2011}

Tribute to Grandma Decker

2011-05-05T22:06:00.006-06:00

My sweet Grandma Decker was 83 years old when she passed away. She will be missed very much, but will always be remembered for her example, her great cooking, family gatherings, and her love of family.

When we were down there, I took a moment to take pictures of the pictures all around her house. There were So many and from the moment you walk in their house, you would be able to notice that family was everything to her. I always loved looking around at the pictures in her home, especially the ones of my dad and his siblings as babies, children, and growing up to adulthood. It's fun to look at pictures of my dad when he was younger.

Here's a little tour . . .

Love the quote and pictures they had above their bed . . .
Choose thy Love, Love thy Choice :)

Pictures of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren all around the home.

The Whole Decker clan, and pictures of the individual families

Pictures of the Decker originals, both childhood and adulthood

My dad and his siblings's baby pictures :)

Such a keepsake!

(my dad is the 4th one down)

LOVE these pictures of my grandparents' young adult years

The picture of grandpa that my brother, Justin painted for them

Pretty good, eh? :)

The kids and their spouses

All the Decker boys' Eagle scout pictures

The grandchildren's pictures and memories on their fridge.

Our childhood pictures on their fridge . . .

Can you pick me out? :)

Each year, my grandma would receive a new calendar

from my cousins with family pictures in them.

The book on Grandpa that my sweet aunt put together

Their license plate... all of their children have the initials R.C.D.

Good ol' Dusty, their dog

Two of the three Decker Missionaries

(Including Josh on the right)

The picture she had by her bedside in the hospice place

Just a few things I personally want to document to remember...

-I remember Grandma would always correct our grammar when we would say things wrong. If we start saying "me and my friends..."she would interrupt and say "who? who?"until we caught on and corrected ourselves,

"my friends and I. . . "

- She was an amazing cook, and was always the organizer for family gatherings that everyone had to be on time to... if you weren't early, you were late :)

- She always knew about everything going on in everybody's lives. My dad would call, or she would call and check in about once a week and she would fill him in on our relatives, and who's doing what, who's dating who, who's having babies, etc. :)

- She was great at keeping everybody's contact information up-to-date and we would get emails with everyone's addresses, emails, phone numbers, etc. updated.

- She was great at family history and gave each and every child and grandchild a great, big book of our family history that I know we will cherish forever.

-It was a tradition to go out to the cemetery every Memorial Day and my grandma would talk about all of our ancestors, then we would go back to her house for Dunkin Donuts.

-Every Halloween when we were younger, we would also visit her house and visit and eat Donuts :)

- She always gave personal and homemade gifts for any special occasion. I remember many thoughtful gifts she gave to us. When we were younger, every Christmas, she gave each granddaughter the same special gift, and all the grandsons the same gift.

I still use the scriptures she gave me with my name engraved on them for my high school graduation.

Every time I attend the temple, I admire the temple apron she embroidered for me and am very grateful for it and will cherish it forever.

- She was very outspoken and often spoke what was on her mind, which embarrassed those around her a lot of the time, but as we look back at those times, we can't help but laugh.

- She was very tech-savvy and up-to-date with the new technology. She would send emails to family frequently about any new exciting news such as engagements, new babies, etc.

- She even had a facebook!

- She made family a priority, and I don't think she missed even one grandchild's wedding.

- Her and my grandpa had an everlasting love for each other. She loved and adored my grandpa and took the best care of him when his Alzheimer's was getting worse. When he started living in the care center, she would visit him daily to take care and be with him.

- I know she is currently getting her "heavenly home" ready for my grandpa to join her :)

She sure has left quite a family legacy.

Thank you grandma for all you have done for us!

We love and miss you!

In Remembrance

2011-05-05T22:02:00.000-06:00

My Sweet Grandma Decker

After saying our goodbyes to her Easter weekend, we heard the news of her passing away a couple days later, and were fortunate enough to attend her funeral this past weekend. It was very beautiful and nicely put together, and such a great tribute to her, as well as Grandpa. We were able to see a lot of our relatives that we hadn't seen for quite a while, and spend a memorable day together. The talks were wonderful, the songs were beautiful and the tribute was amazing.

For the closing hymn, they had all the grandkids go up and sing "Families Can be Together Forever". As if it wasn't an emotionally-hard day already, singing that song with all of my cousins was even harder. I was doing okay the first verse, but by the second verse I took one look down at my mom, saw the smile on her face and tears in her eyes, and the waterworks started coming . . . again. I could definitely feel my Grandma's spirit there though. I'm sure she was loving it. :)

(A lot of these pictures are stolen from my cousins, Shanon and Summer, thank you!)

Almost all of the grandkids (only a few were missing)

The Decker originals

and spouses

Individual families

(we were the least represented :(no grandkids yet, and some of ours couldn't make it)

The beautiful presentation of pictures

My best cousins... aka, "The Sassy Six" :)

My dad dedicated the grave

I'm sure my grandma was with us the whole day and she would say

"It was a very neat and special day".

We Love You Grandma!

Bittersweet Easter Weekend

2011-04-27T21:29:00.001-06:00

There are so many words to describe this Easter weekend. "Memorable" is definitely one that stands out along with bittersweet, hard, fun, emotional, spiritual, and short. But one thing is for sure - I will always remember our Easter holiday of 2011.

My grandmother's (dad's mother) health has decreased quite rapidly within the last few months. It has been quite shocking for our family since we all expected her to live a lot longer. As of yesterday morning, she left this earth for her next life.

When we saw her, she had accepted this and was ready to go when the Lord was ready to take her. My grandpa (her husband) has been in the care center for a couple years now because he has had alzheimer's and is in pretty bad shape. My grandma has been taking care of him and had just recently accepted the fact that he could leave this earth and move on. With the hard events of the last few weeks with my grandma's health, we were thinking that my grandpa was hanging on for my grandma. We never would've thought that grandma would go first. But we were hoping they would both go together, or close to it. In fact, when we saw my grandma, we were joking with her that she should go and grab my grandpa on the way :)

My parents had been keeping in touch with my dad's siblings to stay updated with everything. We got a call from them on Friday, saying that there isn't much more the nurses could do that wouldn't be risky to my grandma's life ,so the nurses said that they could basically just keep her comfortable until it's time, which they weren't sure when 'the time' could be. They said it could be about a month up to a few days. Heavenly Father definitely knows when the time is right though :)

We decided to take a last minute trip down to Mesa for the purpose of saying our 'temporary' goodbyes to grandma. All I can say is thank goodness for this Gospel and our knowledge that this IS just a temporary goodbye and that we WILL see her again. :-) She was, and still is an amazing woman and will be missed so VERY much. We ended up having just our immediate family traveling down (except for Josh, the youngest, since he is on his mission), because none of our spouse's were able to go because of work and other things. Although I did miss my husband So much those 2 days, it did bring back many fun memories of our own family traveling together and it was nice to have us all together traveling to do such a memorable thing.

Throughout our short trip, we also got to go see my grandpa at his care center, spend a lot of time with family at a family Easter barbecue and drive through our old neighborhoods and reminisce.

It was a long ride down and a short trip there, but I think all of us would agree that it was definitely worth it to see our Grandmother again one more time until we all unite again.

Thank goodness that

ahh... stress free :)

2011-04-20T18:44:00.002-06:00

Yes, I am finally stress free (at least from all the school mumble jumble). I presented my last presentation, handed in my last big project, sat down for my last student teaching evaluation, and survived a stressfull interview.

And boy, does it feel good!

But . . . what happens when I become stress free?

My immune system backs down, I get a runny/stuffy nose, achy body, and the wretched cough . . . I get sick :( I get the so-called "leisure sickness". My body makes it through all the stress and busy-ness of my life, but as soon as life slows down and the stress decreases, it hits me. :(
Ah well . . . the sickness isn't as tough as the stress and it usually doesn't last long.

Now onto more good news. . .

Got a letter in the mail last week saying graduation is SOON approaching (16 days to be exact :D) (YAY!)
with all the information of the graduation process. Gotta admit I am quite lucky to graduate at this time. Not only is it the Centennial Graduation (yes, good ol' Dixie's been around for 100 years!) but . . .

guess who is speaking at this wonderful and exciting event?

None other than this amazing man . . .

SO excited. Such an amazing man, leader, and Prophet of God.
It will be so uplifting to hear from him :)

It should be really neat!

Spring has Sprung

2011-04-16T21:49:00.003-06:00

It's crazy to think that just one week ago I was at school looking at this...

This week is a whole different story...

I know Spring is officially here when...

flowers are a bloomin'...

bees are a buzzin'...

I'm driving with the windows down ...

spending more time in the warm sunshine...

I have the "itch" to spring clean (whaat?)...

I hear the ice cream man outside...

love is in the air...

Snow cones are bein' sold...

colors are getting brighter...

days are gettin' longer...

parks are gettin' crowded...

kids are gettin' more active...

flip-flops are bustin' out ...

school projects are coming to an end (thank goodness!)

And all I've got to say is...

So it's been a while... finally an update!

2011-04-09T16:35:00.001-06:00

I sit down with the intention of updating the blog quite often. But usually get distracted with other things, or just don't feel motivated to do it :( (Yes, I know it's April and I just barely updated about Christmas Break... :-/) I love looking at other blogs while trying to get the inspiration to update my own, but for some reason I just never get enough... until now! I feel that it's finally time for an update after a few months! These posts have been a work in progress for a few weeks. Here is what has happened in our lives since the last post.

Right before Christmas, Josh and I moved in with my parents. We loved the place and neighborhood we were living, but it was a little too pricey for us college students, and we weren't able to save the money we wanted each month. It was also a little difficult to save the money with my teenage brother-in-law living with us. It was fun having him with us, but boy, he sure could eat! And he ate mostly healthy and organic foods, which is even more expensive :-S We thought a lot about it and talked to my parents and figured that now would be the best time to do it, before we have kids, so we could save money and save for a house and a family in the future. It also put us in a new ward. Although we do miss our old ward and the friends we made, we are now in a married college ward with my brother & sister-in-law and more people our age and in our stage of life. We are making more and more friends, and we love it.

Josh had his 28th birthday! He usually doesn't like to make a big deal of his birthday, but I still tried to make it special for him. For Christmas, we decided not to get each other anything big, and just focus on gifts for other people, but he still went against that and still got me a big gift anyway. So I wanted to go all out and spoil him for his birthday. I got him a bunch of things he's been wanting to build his drum sets. He's started to create and build drum sets to sell, and rent out to his students, so I got him a few things on his wish list. He sure has such a creative mind! I'm always so impressed with the designs and creations he comes up with. I made him breakfast in bed, but since his birthday landed on a crazy workday where we both needed to get up early, I still made him breakfast and he ate a few bites, then finished it later. Then, later that night we had a little get together with family and his friends with pizza and cake and ice cream. I think it turned out to be a pretty enjoyable day for him.

here is a pic of one of the drum sets he's made so far. It's awesome!

Valentine's Day was great this year. It was our 2nd anniversary of when he proposed to me. A few nights before, we had a ward party and even though it was a small turnout, it was an awesome night. We went out to dinner with a few couples in the ward before, then headed over to the party. We played a fun couples game called "Celestial Companions" and got to know the other couples more. On Valentine's Day, I came home from work to a display of my favorite flowers, lilies, on the table with a teddy bear, a card, and chocolate covered strawberries (also my favorite!) It was so sweet. We went out and got our favorite food, Cafe Rio, then headed to the park to eat. Surprisingly the park was practically empty so we got to enjoy a nice dinner in the park all to ourselves. There was one guy that came and dropped off a card on the table next to us, and a few minutes later, a girl came with a friend to pick it up. We came up with our own stories that she was sent on a treasure hunt, and that the guy was going to propose that night! We over heard the two girls talking, that her next place was the temple... so we think we were right :) Then, after we ate, we came home and made Valentine's brownies and enjoyed a nice romantic movie.

my favorite flowers Josh got me for V-day

I started my student teaching! I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel :) I'm student teaching in the same class that I've been a SEE student in. It's a 3rd grade class, and so far it's been going great! I've had crazy days, bad days, good days and great days, but overall, it's been so fun and a great experience. My confidence in my teaching is growing and I'm starting to think that I really can teach a class on my own :) I'm pretty much finished with my big final projects (which is Such a relief!) and now, we just have to wait and see what jobs are available... :-S I have an interview set up with our district... so we'll see how it goes!
A couple weeks ago, I interviewed with a few districts from up north. They came down for a kind of "job fair" kinda thing for the college. They weren't "official" interviews for a specific position, just more in general, and if we and they were interested, we would feel out their application online, then go for a real interview. Washington county wasn't there because it doesn't seem that there's a whole lot of jobs opening up... we've been deciding what to do. Both of us would prefer to stay down here, but who knows... jobs may take us elsewhere... ? Josh finishes school in December and so we feel it would be difficult and may not be worth it for him to transfer to a new school up north with one semester left. So, for now, we are planning on staying down here for at least another year. I just handed in applications to our district, so we'll see what happens. I'm sure most people can relate when I say this time of life is a little hard, confusing, exciting, frustrating, and unpredictable. But, all we can do is have faith, live one day at a time, and enjoy the "adventure" of life! :)

We went to the Parade of HOmes with Josh's friend from up north and his girlfriend. It was so fun and so cool to see all the amazing houses! It got us excited to have a home of our own someday. Of course it won't be as nice or expensive, but it gave us some pretty creative ideas! I didn't get a picture of all of the houses, but here are a few of the decorations that I liked.

For Spring break, we headed up north again to visit the Kastleman side of the family. Josh's parents moved into a new house, and man, is it nice! It is up on a hill and they have the most beautiful view from the back. It was fun to stay and visit with them. We were able to see the whole family and some of our close friends. It was a really nice break from school, but as we got back later in the week, we got back in to reality and started right into homework and all that fun stuff :-P

The view from their back porch

all the boys

Our cute nephew, Ben

Other than that, we've just been working hard with school and work, and hangin out with the family. We have just a few more weeks of school, and I will graduate in just 4 weeks- so excited!

long time, no post..Christmas Break Update!

2011-04-09T16:33:00.000-06:00

The Holidays were great for us this year. We were able to spend a good amount of time with both of our families and have a ton of fun. This year, we were spending Christmas with Josh's family up in American Fork. So right before we left, we had a Pre-Christmas gift exchange with my family.

The temple during Christmas... so pretty!

This is the gift that Josh and I made for Justin and Kelli. It was meant to be for their wedding, but we never had the chance to make it until now. So it was a wedding/Christmas gift along with a few other things we got them. I think it turned out great :)

This is Christmas morning at the Kastleman home. Each of the boys got a little puzzle thing where you have to try and get two metal objects apart and put them back together, and there was a wooden block puzzle as well.. everyone but Josh seemed to struggle a little with them. He was able to take it apart and put it together in like 10 seconds!

Later in the day, before everyone got there for Christmas dinner, the boys went out to play Frisbee Golf- I think that's what it's called. My in-laws have a park right by their house, with a big hill which is pretty popular for sledding in the snow. Since there wasn't any snow at the time because the rain washed it all away, they went out to play. It was so foggy though! The fog appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the day. It kind of made it look like a scary movie or something- it was cool.

Then the party began at the Kastleman home. There was a lot of family there, it was so fun to see everybody! My brother-in-law brought his girlfriend for the first time and she was adorable and easy to get along with. We're hoping for some good things to happen :)

While we were up there, we also had a few different family gatherings, watched movies, went to the Clark Planetarium which was awesome, and of course ate some yummy food! It was awesome to get to spend it with Josh's family. It was my first year away from my family for Christmas which was a bummer, but the fun we had up there made me not miss my family as much.

Then, we decided to come home on New Years Eve. We arrived home a couple hours before the big celebration. My family was having a little party with friends and family.

It seemed like the main event of the night turned out to be my new Wii game that Josh got me - Just Dance. It was SO fun to see almost EVERYBODY do at least one dance on the game. I took lots of pictures of course :)

Then we played around with the shutter speed on my camera and created some pretty cool pictures with the glow sticks my mom had for New Years Eve. I've always wanted to do this but haven't had the chance until now. They turned out so cool!

Family Time! Recent Photo shoots

2010-12-23T17:54:00.002-07:00

I just LOVE this time of year... the feeling, the sights, the Christmas music, the weather, (yes, I love the cold... as long as I am inside cuddled up and warm!) the food, the break from school, the spirit, and I especially love the family time.

The past few weekends, with Christmas coming closer, I had the wonderful opportunity to spend some time with a variety of families who are all good friends of mine to do some photoshoots. I've loved it! Photography is one of my passions and these friends of mine have been helping me develop it.

Family #1 : The Youngs
The first family was a family that Josh and I used to be in the same ward with, and I have always looked up to and thought so much of them! Their little boy is to die for, he is so cute! Thanks for giving me the opportunity, Jeremy and Megan!:)

Family #2: The Page Family (and extended family)

The second family also used to be in the same ward as us. I've had many opportunities to take pictures of this family, especially their precious little girl, Lexi. This time, I got to take pictures of the whole family, including Elaine's family. They were so fun and they weren't afraid to explore in the mud and dirt to find other great picture places, even in their nice clothes! It turned out to be a great photoshoot.

Family #3: The Andrus Family (and extended family The Tolmans)

My most recent photoshoot was with one of my best girlfriends, and her family. The photoshoot was right in the middle of the 5-day rain storm that hit St. George, but this awesome family was still up for it, even in the rain and cold. It was a fun, quick photoshoot, and even with the dark clouds and little rain, these pictures turned out pretty good.

I'm so thankful for the opportunity that I've gotten to take these pictures of these families and that I could record their family memories through priceless pictures.

Now that I am done editing and finalizing the photos for these great families, I'm looking forward to some family time of my own. We've been able to spend some time with my family this week, and later tonight, we are heading up north to spend Christmas with Josh's family.

I love this time of year.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and some great family time!

Thanksgiving

2010-11-30T22:44:00.004-07:00

We spent Thanksgiving with my family this year, and it was wonderful. We traveled down to Mesa, AZ, which is where my family lived before St. George, and where my dad's whole side of the family lives. It was so fun to see everybody. I hadn't seen most of them since I got married, and even before then. It was full of fun, food, family and visiting. My Grandma loves to have plans when everyone's together, and meals are one of the most important things to plan. And let me tell you, throughout the week, I feel like that's all we did - eat, eat, eat! But, who doesn't around thanksgiving? ;) We went out to eat with a bunch of the relatives the night before, then had our big thanksgiving feast on Thanksgiving. The next morning, everybody got together again for a great pancake breakfast, and then my grandma took us out yet again for a late lunch before we left that night. We also went and visited my Grandpa. He has Alzheimer's and lives at a care center now. It's been hard for me to see him the way he is now, but I just keep thinking to remember the good times I remember with him! It was good to see him, and to see so much family there to visit and see him. We also went to the movies - a Thanksgiving tradition. Mostly everybody was going to Harry Potter, but since Josh and I had already seen it, we decided to go to Tangled with some of the girl cousins- it was SUCH a cute, and good movie! I recommend it to anyone- my husband even liked it a lot! Overall, it was a great holiday weekend, and I'm so glad we got to spend it with everyone!

Here are a few pics from Thanksgiving day.

My wonderful Grandma:)

A few of the many, yummy pies!

and the turkey of course!

Part of our entertainment of the day was witnessing the passing down of the crazy

Decker tricks and traditions from uncles to nephews.

My dad and uncle are the youngest of the siblings, and always were the show-offs and entertainment of family get-togethers.

My two cousins, also youngest siblings in their family were learning some of their tricks.

My cousin,Brooke and her new son, Ryden. he is so cute! Brooke and I have always been best cousins growing up, along with my other cousi, Becca. It's so crazy to believe that Brooke's a mom now- but she's a great one at that! It's fun when all of us get together, it's just like old times, and we still have a blast. I love it!

Visitng Grandpa at the care center

Justin & Kelli were born in the same hospital, so we had to stop and take a picture.

They were meant to be ;)

Visitng the Mesa Temple. I love this place! I also saw a good friend of mine who is serving a mission here at the Mesa visitor's center. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture with her (bummer!) but she does come home next month!

Now, it's on to the Christmas season - my FAVORITE time of the year. I love everything about the holiday season. Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving, and is enjoying the holiday season!

Photoshoot

2010-11-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

I recently did my 3rd photoshoot with this adorable little girl. I had the opportunity to take their family's photos when they got sealed in the temple, then this little girl's 6 month photos a few months back, and last week, her mom asked me again to take her 9 month photos. What can I say... I love this family!:) They give me so many opportunities to do what I love and are helping me develop my hobby and passion! She was as cute as ever and had grown up so much in just a few months. She has such a fun and adorable personality and was so fun to be with!

Here are a few of my faves from the photoshoot.