kristel and ken

2012-01-05T22:18:00.003-07:00

What's new, you ask?!?

A new blog is in the works! The address is: kuzdas2007.blogspot.com

Let us know if you'd like an invite! :-)

24

2011-06-06T16:32:00.000-07:00

Yep! It's true... on June 5th I turned 24! And I had the best early birthday present ever...my sweet little Cosette! I loved getting to spend my birthday with my family! They are amazing! Thank you everyone for making my birthday so special! And thank you to all my family and friends for all of the wonderful birthday wishes!

Kelly and I sharing our birthday (our birthdays are one day apart)! I love her!!!

OUR GIRL!

2010-12-22T11:55:00.001-07:00

That's right...on Tuesday, December 21st...we found out we are having a GIRL! We are beyond excited! My Mom, Dad, Kaitie, Ryker, Kelly, and Kevin all came to share this special day with us. We were all taken back to the ultrasound room. At first our little girl was so shy and did not want to show herself! She was crossing her legs. She would not move. The ultrasound tech had me lay on my side. She tried and tried to see, but our little one did not want anyone to see. The tech had me go to the bathroom to see if that would maybe help. While in the bathroom I wiggled and jumped up and down (what my sister did to help her little one move so they could see the gender). I came back and.... NO LUCK! The tech was sweet and told us that we could go see the doctor and then after that appointment we could come back and try again. Well, by this time my mom, dad, and Kelly had to get going. We had our appointment and then got called back to the ultrasound room. I really hoped she would cooperate this time. Well, almost immediately upon the ultrasound tech putting the instrument on my tummy she said, It's a GIRL! I guess she was just too shy in front of grandma and grandpa! :-) We are so in love with our little princess! We went to lunch afterwards and that night bought her first outfit and went to dinner! What an amazing day! Full of love and celebration!

So anxious to find out!

Yay! It's a girl!

Baby Bump Alert!

2010-12-19T10:39:00.000-07:00

17 weeks!!

The Graduate!

2010-12-17T10:22:00.000-07:00

My amazing hubby graduated from ASU! I am sooooo extremely proud of him! He has worked very hard and has accomplished so much! He worked (A LOT) on top of going to school and was still able to graduate with his bachelors in 4 yrs! I love you sweetheart and can't wait to see what the future has in store for you!

On the BIG screen!

With Mom and Dad Kuzdas

With Mom and Dad Wray

With Cody and Kristell

With Kaitie, Ryker, and Kevin (we missed you Austin)

With Kelly and Kevin

MY Graduate! :-)

At delicious Monti's to celebrate!

Fun gift basket I made for my graduate

Thank you to everyone for coming and for all your sweet and thoughtful gifts! But, most importantly...a HUGE thank you to everyone for their love and support through this part of our journey! We couldn't have done it without you!

Baby Bump Alert!

2010-12-14T09:20:00.000-07:00

16 Weeks!!

A Happy Happy Birthday!

2010-12-13T10:11:00.000-07:00

My sweet, sweet hubby turned the big 2-5, quarter of a century!! :-) I love you so much Ken! You are my everything and I hope you had an amazing birthday!

Cheesecake I made for him!

Candles are lit!

Hope your wish comes true! :-)

SOOO HAPPY TOGETHER!!!

Gobble! Gobble!

2010-11-29T07:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Turkey Day! We sure had a fun filled and busy Thanksgiving weekend! This year was the year to spend Thanksgiving with my side of the family. We headed up to Utah to have the big dinner at my Uncle Ben's house! It was a BIG party and we had lots of family there! It was great! And a huge thank you to my Uncle Roger and his wife for letting us stay with them!

Our mini photo shoot! Thanks Kelly! haha!

Our cute little baby is in there!

Kisses!

My cute sister Kelly!

My handsome brother Kevin!

Lovin' the snow!

Girls!

Love my mom and dad!

Nana and Grandpa (my dad's parents)

Thanksgiving dinner!

Hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving as much as we did! :-)

And... very first maternity pics! :-) 14 weeks!

Our Little Gummy Bear!

2010-10-09T19:06:00.000-07:00

Having this little sweet child inside of me is the best feeling in the whole world! Wow! I was sooooo extremely nervous to go into the appointment. I had the biggest fear that something would be wrong...worrying that we wouldn't hear the heart. I had my hubby say a prayer with me before we went into the appointment. She did the ultrasound and there it was...our little gummy bear! And we were able to see and hear a strong heart beat...at 158bpm! It was incredible...and of course, I was emotional...but, shhh...so was my sweetheart! It was the most amazing feeling in the world! Wow! And we were told I was 7w 5d! We were even given pictures of our little gummy bear to take home! What an amazing day!

After the appointment we headed over to Souper Salad for a YUMMY lunch...I love me some salad!

And...as an added little bonus to the day, afterwards, we were able to go down to ASU and register my hubby to graduate! Woohoo! Look at this cutie...

Positive!

2010-10-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

That's right...after a long, long journey of trying for almost 2 years, lots of medication, tests, a surgery...WE ARE EXPECTING! But, more importantly than all of the medical steps we took to get to this point...we took many spiritual steps. A lot of prayers, fasting, trips to the temple including all of those from our family members on our behalf. We truly are so blessed!

Early morning of September 29th, 2010. Several weeks prior to this date I had taken a pregnancy test and to no surprise it was negative. However, with me still being late a few weeks later, we decided I should take another one. Of course, I was prepared for the same...negative. To our complete surprise we looked down at that little test and saw a POSITIVE SIGN! Standing in our little bathroom, I could not believe my eyes! I just couldn't believe it! It was the most incredible feeling! Crying, excitement, squeezing my sweetheart, enjoying that moment together...everything bundled into one little piece of time! For the longest time I had it all planned out how I would want to tell my parents when I finally and if I did get pregnant. Well, all those ideas were thrown out the window that morning! I was too excited to hold off and not say anything! So, there I am at about 6:45 in the morning, calling my family before I headed to work! I just can't even describe how I felt that day. And just to be sure, the next morning...I think I woke up around 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning... I decided to take another test. And again, POSITIVE! That Friday I went into the fertility specialist's office to get my blood drawn...which, checks the HCG levels and confirms pregnancy. They called me that afternoon saying that my HCG level was great and indeed I am pregnant. Those words were music to my ears! It was official! Well, after talking with the lady about the results, we scheduled an appointment for this coming Friday to have our first ultrasound! I still can't even believe it! AMAZING!

Both positive tests!

My sweetheart bought me roses! This picture is taken on the day we found out for sure the bloodwork was positive! :-)

Outdoor Fun!

2010-08-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

My sweetheart has been wanting to go camping/fishing for the longest time. So, we finally took a weekend and went with our fun friends, Jared and Candace, and set out to the black river! It was beautiful, to say the least! We set up our tents and did a little fishing the first night. Then, the next day hiked a ways to the good spots! Scary though...we ran into a rattlesnake while hiking! I can't remember how many I caught...around 10 or so. But, my hubby caught something like 25! It was so much fun to get out and enjoy the beauty of our earth!

Bear claw prints!

Sad...one of our poles broke. I kept on getting the hook stuck in rocks, seaweed, etc. Woops!

Beautiful! (and don't you love my hubby's fisherman hat...too cute)

2010-01-05T18:26:00.003-07:00

We had an absolutely wonderful Christmas Eve! First stop was with my family! Ever since I can remember we have the tradition of:

First, enjoying a delicious dinner (usually at one of our favorites, Carrabbas). Then, we head back to my parent's house. Before opening any gifts my dad gets out the scriptures and reads us the story of Christ's birth. It is such a special time with our family all gathered together enjoying the true spirit and meaning of Christmas. And it has become even more and more special as our family grows and we get to share this tradition with our spouses. After that we have fun taking turns (youngest to oldest of course :-) )opening our "boots" (as we call them..."stockings" as others may call them). My parents always spoil us! The gifts alone we receive on Christmas Eve are incredible and then we still have Christmas morning to look forward to! We get fun things like gift cards, ALWAYS an electric tooth brush, socks for the boys, yummy shampoo and conditioner for the girls, candy, etc etc! And then, we all get new P.J.'s! We all go to sleep that night in our new comfy pajamas and then wear them all day, everywhere on Christmas Day! Thank you mom and dad for an absolutely AMAZING Christmas Eve!

After spending time with my family we headed over to be with Ken's family! Their tradition is that they go out to dinner and then look at Christmas lights, while Santa is leaving all the gifts at Grandma and Grandpa's house! It is so cute to see how excited all of the little grandkids get! First, all of the grandkids get to open their gifts (youngest to oldest...of course). Then the adults get a turn (you guessed it...youngest to oldest...this is where it comes in handy to be the youngest adult on his side...hee hee). We were also very spoiled at his parents. And one of our favorite gifts of all is the monopoly type money we get that is going toward our Hawaii trip (all of the adults: Ken and I, his siblings and their spouses, and Ken's parents are going) this coming summer! Woohoo! This is the third Christmas we have been putting money towards this trip and we could not be more excited! Thank you mom and dad K! All of us kids pitched in and got Ken's mom a Kindle (she is an avid reader and had been really wanting this)! However, no one could have topped the gift Ken's dad got for her...ROCKBAND for their Wii! She was thrilled! It was too funny! And needless to say, Ken, me, Ken's mom and dad stayed up for soooo long that night trying it out!

Thank you to everyone for such a special night! We love you!

*And, to 4 out of Ken's 5 sisters (only 1 of his sisters and her family still live here): We missed you and your families!!!

At the hop!

2009-12-15T18:34:00.004-07:00

Happy Birthday to my sweetheart, my best friend, my love, and my eternal companion! Today the love of my life turned 24!

We had a blast celebrating 50's style...doing a murder mystery dinner!

It was so fun having my family there with us as well! They all got into it; dressed and acted the part!

*Sorry, it's not the best quality!

Kelly and her date, Colton

Kristell and Cody

Kaitie and Austin

The Whole Group!

A big thank you to Ken's parents (Chaz-burger and Barbie-Q) for hosting the whole evening! And a big thank you to my parents for always being so supportive!

Birthday Trip

2009-12-14T20:03:00.002-07:00

This year for my sweetie's birthday I decided to surprise him with a quick trip to his family's cabin! We had such a wonderful time! We enjoyed dinner and then to the movie theaters to see 2012. It was so fun to have snow on the ground and be able to light a fire! Love it! It was so nice to have a little getaway with my sweetie! Hope you had a wonderful birthday trip my love!

Gotta pick up some QT for the trip!

Share the love and end it with a good ol' snow ball fight!

Introducing...

2009-11-24T18:51:00.000-07:00

Mr. & Mrs. Rowley!!

Saturday was such a special day...full of love and happiness! These two could not stop smiling...or kissing! It was adorable!

I love my beautiful family!

And now the sweet couple is living it up in Hawaii for the week!! Congratulations! We love you two!

Blessings

2009-10-12T22:02:00.000-07:00

RN160197

That is my RN license number!

On Thursday, October 8th I went to take my state board licensing exam to officially become an RN! The next morning I found my name on the Arizona State Board of Nursing website with a license number! I am beyond excited and am so grateful to all those who helped me to accomplish this goal...let's say, 17 1/2 yrs in the making! :) A special thanks to my sweetheart who is ALWAYS by my side and is even willing to listen to my lectures (hilarious lady with a huge southern drawl) with me during our long road trip to and from Utah! And for the sweet blessing he gave me the night before my exam...I have never been so calm going into a test. Thank you sweetie for being such a righteous priesthood holder. And I know it is through my Father in Heaven's blessings that I was able to be so calm and pass this difficult exam. I love living the gospel and seeing how Heavenly Father pours his blessings upon me when I am doing what is right!

My sweetie gave me those beautiful flowers and took me out to an extra yummy dinner to celebrate!

And speaking of blessings, this week was absolutely wonderful...on top of passing my exam, I got a call from the Mayo Clinic! I have an interview set up to enter their new grad program! I did my preceptorship there and their hospital is BEAUTIFUL and the nurses are so kind! It would be incredible to work there!

2009-10-02T21:39:00.000-07:00

Here's my adorable and so incredibly fun sister Kelly (student council spirit director)...
Once in a while we get her to show this side...like, when she's nominated for Homecoming Court!
But, no worries...she's still there, under all the makeup, sparkles, and tulle! :)

We love you Kel! You are gorgeous and have the best personality...no wonder you were nominated! Congrats on making it from the top 10 to the top 5!

The Great Outdoors!

2009-09-12T19:39:00.000-07:00

Over the river and through the woods...to the KUZDAS cabin we go!
We love cabin trips...and this was no exception!
For labor day we...

Rode around on this awesome dirt bike!
Ken's family has had this dirt bike for YEARS and
it still runs GREAT! We had a blast riding around the trees and chasing a DEER!
haha... it quickly ran away as it heard us coming!
Okay, okay... I needed a little help with the helmet... :)
...we also played horseshoes (don't think I've ever played in my life!)

Challenge: can you find the horseshoe??

...and finally topped off our weekend with a trip into town and to yummy Kendall's!

Happy Birthday Code!

2009-09-01T19:12:00.000-07:00

This

funny

smart

handsome

awesome musician

stylish

who has great taste

brother

turned 25 today!

Missing my sweetie (DO NOT like that night school)... gotta love Kevin's silly faces! :)
FUN night Cody! Happy Birthday! We love you!

Change!!!

2009-08-04T10:03:00.001-07:00

A bit of brown later...

Bye bye blonde!!

Very scared doing it, but I'm loving it! :) What a fun and refreshing change!

I Feel My Savior's Love...

2009-07-12T15:18:00.000-07:00

"Let us remember—trials are an evidence of a Father’s love. They are given as a blessing to his children. They are given as opportunities for growth.... the trials will still be there; but with the companionship of the Spirit, our approach to trials will change frustrations and heartaches to blessings."
-Bishop H. Burke Peterson, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric

Just as the quote above states, through trials blessings are brought about. They may be subtle, but they are there. Through recent trials I have been able to strengthen relationships with all those mentioned below. I know that those strengthened relationships are some of the greatest blessings that have come because of these trials. Even though it may be difficult at times, my faith has increased tremendously! And even though this large trial in my life has not yet passed, I know it one day will. I know with a surety that my Heavenly Father and Savior are aware of me and love me. I am extremely grateful for the beautiful temple and for the place of refuge it is. Thank you to my amazing hubby, my sweet mom, dad, and family, my wonderful in-laws, selfless visiting teachers, and supportive friends. I love you all!

A Fantastic Fourth!

2009-07-06T17:09:00.000-07:00

So tradition in our little family has it that we head up to Prescott for the 4th of July!! And we did not disappoint this year! We packed our bags, matching Old Navy 4th of July shirts and all, and headed up to a cooler part of this sunny state! First stop, Ken's parent's cabin... so beautiful and secluded and filled with awesome company...including:

this adorable little girl (note the matching necklaces)

and this cute little guy!

After relaxing and playing games (we are the proud winners of trivial pursuit...thanks to my hubby's history knowledge...I'll stick to the entertainment questions) for a bit we were off to the world's oldest RODEO!!

Who are those cute cowgirls?? :)

So impressive!!!

Thanks Mom and Dad Wray for treating us to such a fun night (and to my first rodeo)!

The next morning we got dressed in our 4th of July best and headed out to the parade! It was a neat little parade! Afterwards we strolled the little tents they set up, had some yummy pizza, and bought some of the most delicious dip to make at home (that is my favorite tent to visit)!

And afterwards relaxed...

under BIG beautiful trees and gorgeous weather!

The evening ended with a beautiful fireworks show and yum-filled Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream!!

Thank you to everyone for a FANTASTIC FOURTH OF JULY!

America's Favorite Pastime!!

2009-06-24T16:54:00.000-07:00

Ken's dad has season tickets to the D-backs games and so generously lets us use them quite a bit! Which equals tons of fun with my sweetie! We love Chase Field and getting out to relax while watching a fun game! Thanks Papa Kuzdas!!!

Caught in the act! :) Why not bring your own snacks to the game???

Just can't get enough!

Enjoying every minute of being best friends and so in love!

These Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...

2009-06-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

and one cute 9 year old boy who loves to hang with them. While Ken was off catching a whoppin' 95 fishies in the Salt River with the young men (he = priest advisor... I = beehive advisor... = SO FUN) and playing with his new toy...

I was off road tripping with:

this gorgeous mama who I love so much...

this beautiful sister-in-law who always makes us laugh

and this good-lookin' stud, who is so fun to be around!

First stop:

VEGAS!

Both Ken and I have family that live there! We of course could not pass up one of their delicious buffets! YUM!
Then, we were off to play some fun games at Circus Circus... and to reminisce of my sweetie's and my engagement night...

After all the fun and excitement of the Las Vegas Strip, we headed back to our hotel... finally arriving around 2 am... let's just say we missed our men... they know where to park!!!

The next morning we took the short drive up to St. George. Kristell, my sis-in-law served her mission there and was our excellent tour guide!

The beautiful St. George Tabernacle

Inside the tabernacle; the details were incredible

Representing where our two sweethearts served (Cody = Madagascar and Ken = Germany)... we sure missed them!

Final stop... Brigham Young's Winter Home... It was very beautiful and special to see!

What a fun trip! I'm so grateful to have a wonderful mother who blesses us with opportunities to take fun trips like this! I was sure excited to give my hubby a GIANT hug when I saw him again!!!

Little Kevers!

2009-06-14T08:39:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR:

FUN

SWEET

HAPPY

PATIENT

ADORABLE

FUNNY

SILLY

LOVEABLE

LITTLE BROTHER, KEVIN!!!

He turned a giant 10 years old today!

We LOVE you Kevers and are so blessed to have you as our little brother!

Love In June!

2009-06-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

2 years flew bye! I can't believe we have passed our two year mark now! We are in love more than ever and are so grateful to be sealed for time and all eternity! What an amazing blessing the gospel brings! Some pictures from our fun night of celebration!

2009-06-09T12:50:00.000-07:00

Happy 2 years to the LOVE of my life and my BEST friend! I LOVE YOU!

22!

2009-06-06T22:47:00.000-07:00

That's my new age! Wow! What a blessed and lucky birthday girl I was! I was showered with so much love on this fun day! The day was filled with a yummy birthday lunch at my fav Cafe Rio, gorgeous flowers, a fun decorated door, delish dinner at Oreganos, more beautiful flowers and so many thoughtful and fun gifts! The night was finished off with yummy birthday cake shared with my birthday buddy (Kelly's is on the 4th, mine on the 5th) and several intense games of around-the-world ping pong!

KELLY!

2009-06-04T22:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to our
cute
wonderful
amazing dancing
funny
great video making
gorgeous
sister
KELLY!!!

WE LOVE YOU KELLY and are blessed to have you as our little sister!

H-A-P-P-Y...

2009-06-03T15:37:00.000-07:00

You aint got no alibi! We're hippies, happy, happy hippies! PEACE! :) This was our cute cheer for girls camp '09! We had a great time! The girls were awesome (we were sad to be missing a few) and I am so blessed to work with such wonderful leaders!

In our fancy tie dye t-shirts we made:

The whole group...what cute girls! :-)

LOVE the rock wall!

Jana, you always know how to make us smile...too cute...don't we have great leaders?!? :-) (This is about how we all looked after 1 or 2 seconds on this bucking bull)

Thank you (ALL young women and leaders) for such a fun time!

A Beautiful End...

2009-06-02T22:58:00.000-07:00

Part 3/End of grad vacation brings us to beautiful Prescott where Ken's parent's cabin resides. We made the trip straight there from Los Angeles to spend time with Ken's parents and his sister and her family for a fun memorial day weekend.

Lots of wii was played (ski jump :) )...

And yummy food was made (gotta love AJ in the front with his silly
pose :) )...

All in all it was a great and relaxing way to end our high seas, Disney experiencing, cabin enjoying adventure! Hope you enjoyed the trip along with us! :)

'Til next time,
The two love birds

The Happiest Place on Earth...

2009-06-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

Part two of grad vacation brought us first to the beautiful Los Angeles temple. As soon as we left our cruise we headed straight to the temple and did a session. It was perfect. I was so happy to be there with my eternal companion.

After the beautiful visit to the temple we grabbed my laptop and found some wi-fi. One quick little visit on Priceline later we had ourselves two nights in a gorgeous hotel right next to Disneyland for a great deal. We were so excited to surprise my family because they were arriving that same day in Anaheim and had no idea we were there. We let them know that we were going to Disneyland with them the next day! They were so excited! Which brings me to lots of fun in a magical park...

Thank you family for making this day so fun!! We love you!

My sweetie got me the cutest Mickey ears! Class of 2009!

Stay tuned for final part of our grand adventure!

Yo Ho Yo Ho...

2009-05-31T13:36:00.000-07:00

A PIRATE'S LIFE FOR US! What an amazing grad vacation!! The day after graduation, the love of my life surprised me with a little treasure hunt (pics coming soon) with the soundtrack to Pirates of the Caribbean playing in the background. I had no clue what was going on, but was very excited and couldn't stop smiling. I had to follow all the clues and pack up my suitcase (treasure chest) with all the necessary items. Sunday morning came and we were off on our adventure...I still didn't know where we were headed. We finally arrived in San Diego. My hubby starts heading towards the water and as we turn the corner he points and says...this is where we are going to be staying tonight:

I was so excited! Neither of us had ever been on a cruise before! So we grabbed our bags...

Prepared ourselves for any mishaps at sea...
And we were off to enjoy a relaxing 4 night 5 day cruise!
We encountered some crazy animals...
Explored a beautiful island (Catalina)...

Learned some new dance moves (Saturday Night Fever Dance Class)...

Played some fun games...

OVERALL... had one fabulous adventure!!!

And in the end we were very sad to go!

PART 2 of GRAD TRIP coming soon!

School's Out Forever...

2009-05-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

Summer fun has begun! :) After a long 4 years I finally did this:

GRADUATED! I am now an official ASU alumni!

I was one spoiled graduate! My sweetie surprised me with beautiful roses in the morning and at my graduation ceremony. My family also gave me flowers, balloons, and LOTS of other fun things! To top it off we had yummy Z Tejas for lunch with Ken's parents and delicious Carrabba's for dinner with my family! It was the perfect end to a hard worked 4 years! Thank you everyone!

Convocation Ceremony

2009-05-13T18:40:00.000-07:00

kristel wray kuzdas
is excited to announce
she is a candidate for the degree of
bachelor of science
in
nursing
from
arizona state university
at the
college of nursing and healthcare innovation
convocation ceremony
friday, may fifteenth
nine o'clock in the morning
phoenix convention center
phoenix, arizona

ALL are invited! :)

I think this picture is hilarious because of the "eat well" writing. I guess that will be one of my plugs for nursing... "EAT WELL"

2009-05-06T15:53:00.000-07:00

i know i've been m-i-a, but it's because i've been getting ready for this...
graduation!

8 days & 17 hours until graduation!!! ahh! i can't even believe it!
fun graduation card! amanda did an amazing job on the pics! :)

Utah Fun!

2009-04-06T15:10:00.000-07:00

Ken's mission reunion, catching up with old companions, talking with a member of the first 70 and his wife, spending quality time with grandparents and sister...all that and more was done during this much needed getaway to Utah! I love road trippin' with my hottie hubby!

2009-03-31T11:39:00.000-07:00

43 more days! And just for Jen... 1,034 hours to be exact! :)
Cap and gown get purchased today!

JUST MARRIED!

2009-03-30T11:10:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Bride
+
Handsome Groom
=
One very in love couple sealed together for time and all eternity.

Words cannot express how sweet and tender their ceremony was. We couldn't be more excited to have Kristell in our family! Now off to San Diego they go! :)

CONGRATULATIONS CODY AND KRISTELL!
Thank you for letting us be a part of your very special day!

And just to brighten your Monday...
FORGET the Lollipop...

:)

More pics to come!

Love is in the Air!

2009-03-24T08:23:00.000-07:00

In just 4 short days, this gorgeous couple will be married for time and all eternity! YAY!
SNEAK PEEK:

LOVE YOU GUYS!

Cabin Fun!

2009-03-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

Spring break... hanging out with 3 other couples (1 couple brought their adorable baby girl) in a beautiful cabin. We played games, ate delicious food, enjoyed rainy, but gorgeous weather, and raced wooden boats. And lets just say it was so hilarious to see the boys walking back and forth to the river to get water for the toilets so they would flush. My knight in shining armor...there to save the day! :)

Showing off the boat, "A Bug's Life" (I got to name that one...that leaf reminding me of the movie)

Second boat, "Blood Stripes" (Boys will be boys, while carving this boat he cute himself pretty bad. I was all worried and concerned and him, not all all...he even decided to bring his boat extra luck by putting some on the boat...ewww...but, it did win the final race)

Mmmm...so handsome!

Playing a game

The BEST way to end the day!

Hole In One!

2009-03-10T21:50:00.000-07:00

Nothing like a friendly game of putt putt right? Ha ha!

It was a close one...

But, ultimately, my handsome and talented hubby took it... after all I had to let him win, right?

And because of my good deed, I got some yummy sugar! :)

2009-02-26T21:04:00.000-07:00

78 days till GRADUATION... but, who's counting? :)

2009-02-16T20:17:00.000-07:00

"you complete me..." were the words whispered in my ear as I greeted my sweetie with a BIG hug at the door today...

I am the luckiest... :)

A Day of Our Own...

2009-02-15T20:02:00.000-07:00

...that's what we had this Valentine's Day...

What a special day... walking through the door was the most handsome hubby surprising me with over two dozen roses and the sweetest poem...
Along with those sweet treasures we had the WHOLE day to ourselves! What a treat! I am blessed!

Happy Valentine's Day to the love of my life!

2009-02-01T21:42:00.000-07:00

CONGRATULATIONS CARDS ON GIVING IT YOUR ALL AND FOR A GREAT SEASON!!! :)

GO CARDS!

2009-01-31T17:53:00.000-07:00

Good luck tomorrow Cardinals!! We're definitely cheering you on!

2009-01-31T12:04:00.000-07:00

Check out this link to see our favorite All-Star! :)
CLICK HERE

Kaitie's Goodbye Dinner...

2009-01-11T11:54:00.000-07:00

:( It always makes me so sad when we have to say bye to Kaits! We all went to On The Border for a big delicious dinner on Kaitie's last night here before going back to school. I'm so glad she got to be here for a few weeks, but we sure do miss her! Love you Kaitie!

My Brother Is Engaged! :)

2009-01-04T15:29:00.000-07:00

Yay Cody! We are so excited for you! Just recently my brother proposed to his wife to be, Kristell! I know, can you believe it? She has the same name as me just with an extra L! :) We are so happy for the cute couple and are excited to have his sweet fiance join the family! Congratulations you two!

Christmas Day, New Years Eve, and Phoenix Zoo Lights!

2009-01-03T10:56:00.000-07:00

Christmas day is always filled with lots of fun! Because we try and spend the majority of Christmas Eve with Ken's family...we spend most of Christmas Day with my family. Ken and I do our own little Christmas morning tradition. This year he spoiled me! First he gave me the perfume I've really been wanting, Vera Wang Sheer Veil. And then he says, there's one more thing! He pulls out this cute little bag from Jared and got me a BEAUTIFUL right hand ring. I am so blessed by my love. After spending some time together we hurry over to see what my brothers and sisters received from Santa. Also, to find out what we got from Santa. One of the gifts being Seinfeld scene-it! :) We then relax, hang out, and fill up with lots of yummy food! It is a very nice, do nothing, and enjoy day! It is then tradition to go to the movies. This year we went to see Bedtime Stories. It was cute, but I was expecting it to be a little funnier. Just overall a wonderful day with my sweet family and my most giving and adorable sweetheart.

Yummm... have you ever been to the Salt Cellar? I hadn't! It used to be one of Ken's family traditions to go there every New Year's Eve. This year Ken's parents treated us! It was so delicious! I had the yummiest filet mignon and crab. And they crack the crab and lobster for you right there at the table! I almost was a little sad about this because I find that cracking the crab it part of the adventure of eating it. It is like finding treasure...haha...but, I think that's just me! :) After eating there, we went and saw the movie Seven Pounds. It was good, but had one scene in there that... well, let's just say we didn't approve of. Ha! After that, we went to see my family... they were singing karaoke at a family friend's house. We went back to ring in the new year with Ken's parents, but unfortunately his mom got really sick... :( So, we let them rest and rushed back to do the big countdown with my family. Overall, it was a really fun night. And we realized how truly blessed we are and how blessed we have been through our whole marriage!

Some pics of the fun night!

Unfortunately Cody wasn't there, but I guess we'll let this one slide...he was getting ready to propose in Montreal, Canada! :)

Lastly, we enjoyed every second we had with Ken's sisters and their families while they were in town. One of the fun thins we did was visit the zoo lights! We were even set to go with our own little container of hot chocolate, complete with candy cane sticks and marshmallows! That is definitely the way to go!

Connor all bundled up... brrrr... it was so cold that night!

Next to the cutie elephant!

Christmas Eve!

2008-12-30T13:12:00.000-07:00

Christmas Eve is such a big day in both Ken and my families that it definitely deserves its own post! We had such a fun-filled and activity packed Christmas Eve! It began with Ken and I doing some crazy last minute shopping. Hmmm...shame on us! :) Then we strapped on our bowling shoes and had a great game of bowling with Ken's family! I played absolutely horrible...ha...but, it was still a blast! We then hurried over to sit down to a DELICOUS Carrabba's meal. MMM...that is one of our favorite restaurants (and always brings back fun memories since we had our luncheon there on our wedding day)! After finishing up there we headed back to my parent's house to open our BIG stockings! :) My parents are so cute...opening stockings is like a second Christmas! And we always get new PJs! After reading the story of Jesus' birth and having a fun time with my family we headed over to Ken's family's house! By the time we got there Santa has already left presents for EVERYONE! We also got another fun surprise...Ken's sister Jen and her family came all the way from Pennsylvania to visit! We were so excited! After opening all the gifts (which takes at least an hour and a half) we adults all settled in to a fun card game until about 1 or so in the morning! Definitely a packed and crazy fun day!

My cute family at Carrabbas!

Kelly so excited about her new Twilight poster!

Yay! Look...new socks!

Yum! Sweet treats!

Fun family tradition! :)

Niece and nephews so excited about Santa's gifts!

AJ must have thought something was funny! haha!

Cute Carolyne!
WE LOVE CHRISTMAS EVE! :)

Forgotten Carols Tradition!

2008-12-29T09:09:00.000-07:00

Every year for the past four years my dad, sister, brother (1 year) and I have participated as choir members in Michael McLean's Forgotten Carols! We love it and it has become such a fun tradition. So fun in fact that I brought my hubby on board as a choir member after we got married in 2007 and now its an even better tradition! Michael McLean and his cast always do a wonderful job depicting the true meaning of Christmas and even throw some humor in there! This year was no exception! For those of you who have never been to see this performance I highly encourage you to do so! It is so fun and a great way to get in the spirit of the holidays! :) Thank you to all of our family and friends who came to watch and support us! We love you!

Kaitie and I in the beautiful Orpheum theater in front of the stage

Got a little tired of posing...ha ha

Waiting to go on stage to perform...ha ha... it took a little while :)

The star performers themselves! :)

My sweetheart and I! We feel so blessed to get to be a part of this wonderful performance and tradition!

Happy Birthday to the Love of My Life!

2008-12-13T09:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday marked the 23rd birthday of my sweet Ken. He is my best friend and the most kind and loving husband! His handsome smile melts my heart!

My handsome birthday boy!

Some pics from the fun birthday day!

First stop...surprising him at work to decorate his car a bit!
Next, heading to Cheesecake Factory for a yummy lunch!

And lastly, to finish off the day, nothing like a most delicious 4 course meal at our special restaurant, Maggiano's!

I hope you had a wonderful birthday sweetheart! I love you!

Thanksgiving!

2008-12-01T21:56:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful time of the year! I absolutely love the holidays! We love getting to spend time with family! Thanksgiving was super busy this year. We left Wednesday right after school and work and made it to Vegas around 9 o'clock their time (10 o'clock ours). We headed right to Ken's sister's house to spend the night. I got up the next morning around 4:45 (Ken around 5:30...ha ha) so we could head out by 6:30! We then arrived at our final destination, Provo, just in time to sit down to an absolutely yummy Turkey dinner! Phew! We got to spend the rest of the day there as well as that Friday. It was so nice to get to spend time with my cute sister Kaitie and with many of my extended family. It was back on the road Saturday morning, yet again around 6:30 to make it just in time to attend Ken's cousin's wedding in the Las Vegas temple. The temple was beautiful and it was so wonderful to be a part of their special day! the sealing was also such a sweet reminder of my sweetheart's and my special wedding day. We got to hang out in Vegas the remainder of the day and attended the happy couple's absolutely breathtaking reception! Finally, the next morning, Sunday, we got to sleep in (around 7 or 7:30) and packed up. We went to Ken's other sister's church for their sacrament meeting, then hit the road to finally arrive at our home sweet home! Wow! What a fun filled Thanksgiving weekend! Thank you to everyone for their amazing hospitality, sweet smiles, and fun memories! :)LOVE YOU!

On Friday we took some beautiful family pictures! This is just Ken and I being silly afterward! :)

Caves n' Camping

2008-11-17T09:26:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we headed over to Oracle caves with some friends! We got there late, set up camp and had a fun time roasting up some marshmallows, enjoying tasty pancakes, stacking up some sandwiches, and the boys fired up the grill for some yummy hot dogs! We also climbed around in some scary caves and rolled in style on a quad (my first time...SO FUN!).

After crawling through the dirty/muddy caves!

The girls!

*Thanks Bonnie for letting me steal your pics! We still haven't got our old school disposable ones developed yet! Ha! Ha! :)

A Little Belated Halloween Post! :)

2008-11-14T10:08:00.000-07:00

I'm a teensy bit late on posting these pics, but better late than never right? :) I can't believe how fast the holidays are coming and going! And this is the BUSIEST time of year for school...clinicals, papers, and project fun! I am counting down the days to winter break! I hope everyone is enjoying this FUN FALL!

Utah!

2008-11-04T18:10:00.000-07:00

Ken, my family, and I all had a blast going up to Utah to visit Kaits! I miss you Kaitie! It was a nice long, fun drive! :) And we were so happy to get there! Especially after leaving at 3:45 in the morning from Las Vegas! Thank you Cam & Afton for letting us stay those two nights!

With Nana & Grandpa

Partying it up @ East High!

Beautiful fall leaves!

Ready to Rock n' Bowl!

Beautiful Kaitie and I...I miss my sister... :(

I LOVE my family!

Bluau

Gotta love it --- High School Musical 3!!

Kaitie's YUMMY birthday lunch!

AWESOME BYU game!

the end! :)

My Little Project!

2008-10-28T18:57:00.000-07:00

I guess you could say i was inspired by our little trip to the farm! :-) haha! I was really excited about how this diaper cake I made for a baby shower gift turned out! I love this unique idea I found on a blog! I'm thinking about selling them!?! Hmmm...

Fun on the Farm!

2008-10-17T23:04:00.000-07:00

My mom, sister, brother, and I (sadly, hubbies had to work) all went to one of the biggest dairy farms in the country. Why you ask? :-) Well, Kelly's friend, Jenny, lives on the farm and said we could come by any time and she would give us a tour! She was so sweet and such a wonderful tour guide. Let me tell you, it was literally a life changing experience. I will definitely not look at milk the same! :-) It is incredible the amount of work that goes into making milk. Jenny told us there are around 8,000 cows on that farm alone! Pretty amazing! In one visit, we were able to visit all the new baby calfs (even ones that were only a few hours old and already standing... a little shaky in the knees, but standing!!), see a mama deliver her baby, milk a cow, and learn all the ins and outs of taking care of one of the country's largest dairy farms! It was truly amazing and very fun! Quite the experience I will never forget! :-)

Conference Weekend!

2008-10-17T07:51:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love conference weekend. I love the feeling of just slowing down life and spending the whole weekend with my hubby while enjoying listening to our wise and special leaders. My hubby and I also were able to meet with my family (missing my sweet sisters, Kaitie and Kelly :-( ) for lunch in between the Saturday sessions! MMMM...Olive Garden...delish! I hope everyone was able to hear the inspired words of our prophet and all of our leaders. :-)

LoVe To StAmP!!!

2008-10-06T06:39:00.000-07:00

I love getting to spend time with my mom! I am also so happy we live close so that we can! We love going once a month to Stamp-A-Stack. We meet with some other ladies at and make 10 of the most adorable cards. They are so fun and so cute! We use all of the cute Stampin' Up products! I love getting to do this with my mom! I love you mom!!

Hard at work! :-)

Like mother, like daughter!

My Sweetheart!

2008-10-04T22:26:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let everyone know how much I love and adore my sweet husband. I have to tell you the cutest thing he did not too long ago. I really wanted to make sure I posted it! So, this semester I am doing my OB clinicals at Chandler Regional hospital. I was taking my lunch break and called my hubby to talk for a little bit. My break was just about up and I was heading upstairs with some others from my group. Right before entering our floor, from behind I see my most adorable, handsome husband ---- a dozen beautiful roses in hand! It was like a dream. My sweetheart came from work to the hospital where I was and brought me roses. He told me he loved me and wanted me to have a good rest of my day! I am the most lucky girl in the world! I love you my treasure. Thank you for always treating me like a queen. I feel so blessed to know that I will be with you for time and all eternity. Hugs and kisses my love!

I love all of the wonderful adventures I've had with my Ken!

One of our many trips to the D-backs game

In the beautiful conference center

Right before we sang in Michael McLean's Forgotten Carols at Gammage

Getting ready to hit the slopes

ROOT ROOT ROOT for the D-Backs!

2008-09-12T09:46:00.000-07:00

I'm still a little behind on here and trying to catch up :-)

Just this last week we had fun getting to spend time with family visiting from out of town! We love when family comes to visit! We had a very fun Labor Day. During the day we were so excited to be invited to watch the D-Backs game from the Owner's Suite! The suite was beautiful, the view was great, and the game was AWESOME!! A BIG THANK YOU to Ken's dad! AND...... Cody turned 24!!! His birthday was on Labor Day. We had a very fun time going to dinner with my family at one of Cody's favorite restaurants (and mine ;-) ), Carrabbas! THANK YOU MOM and DAD WRAY!! It was amazing!

Till next time...

SUMMER LOVIN'

2008-09-11T19:05:00.001-07:00

Welcome to our new blog! Summer's over... school has started... and it's about time we update our blog! :-) Below is a nice long recap to catch you up on all of our fun summer adventures... from beginning to end!

My cute sister on her graduation day!

At the San Diego Zoo with the cuddly brown bear! :-)

My Kenny makes the best gorilla face!!

We went to Cali as an early part of our 1 year anniversary!! We loved getting to explore all these parks together!

Eating at Joe's Crab Shack on the beach is a MUST when we go to San Diego!

Kelly at her surprise sweet 16! She had know idea! Isn't her cake the best?!?

Dining at the yummiest restaurant, Maggianos, for our 1st Anniversary. (This is the same exact restaurant we ate at in Las Vegas the night he proposed to me!) My sweetheart had these roses already at the table before we arrived there! I love you Ken with all my heart! I'm so blessed to have such an amazing hubby!

The top tier of our wedding cake we saved!

Kevin turned 9!!! Here are some fun birthday pictures at Peter Piper Pizza!

Celebrating mine and Tiff's birthday at Ruth's Chris...mmmmm mmmmm good!

We loved matching in our stylish 3-D glasses!

We had tons of fun with Kevers when he came to our house for a sleepover! Can you tell that the tent takes up just about our entire living room?!? Ha Ha!

Big going away celebration for Kaits at a delicious China Buffet before she headed off to BYU!

That wraps up our great summer of '08! Keep checking for all of our exciting happenings throughout this fall semester with me as a senior (only 1 more semester to go after this) and Ken working and going to school full time. We are more in love than ever, enjoy every minute we get together and miss each other every minute we have to spend apart. Stay tuned! :-)

My Little Brother, Kevin's, Baptism!!

2007-07-17T17:39:00.000-07:00

My immediate family, plus Kevin's friend! :-D

This last Saturday we went to my little brother's baptism! I can't believe he's already 8! He looked so cute all dressed in white. Ken and my older brother, Cody, were the witnesses while my dad performed the baptism. It was a very sweet experience. I went up to little Kevers afterwards and asked him how he felt. He said, "Good!" hehe! Congratulations little cutie! We are soooo proud of you and we love you!

2007-07-10T17:38:00.000-07:00

Welcome! Welcome! Welcome to our new blog!! :-D