....oh so VERY thankful...

Well as many of you know.... my sweet grandma passed away only 6 days before Thanksgiving. This brought about a strange Thanksgiving for us all. We have had a huge family dinner with all cousins, aunts, and uncles. It is a tradition that has occurred without fail every year. Being married would obviously change that... bouncing back and forth between families or trading every other year. This year we were going to have it at my house after Caden and I got back from Wellsville with the Hyers. With the bringing of Grandmas death my mom dropped the idea of having a normal Thanksgiving. She felt the emotions were too high and we were still in a grieving period. However, my wonderful mother in law decided to put together a dinner for my family. Peggy left her family early in Wellsville so that my family could have a regular Thanksgiving dinner that didn't include a frozen pizza :). My family and I were so thankful for her and Doug and their willingness to make it a more enjoyable day for my family. I love Doug and Peggy and I am thankful for them and their family. I am so lucky to have the in laws I have. 

Yesterday things were a little crazy but Thanksgiving is truly a time to reflect on our blessings and what we are truly thankful for... I felt it would be important for my friends and family to know that I do recognize my.....

B  eing a part of the Church and wonderful knowledge and testimony I have

L oving an amazing husband and knowing I have eternity with him

E  ating yummy food and the blessing it is to be able to afford it

S  taying in a warm home with the comforts we have

S  weet memories of my grandparents and the love they showed me  

I  ncredible family, extended family, friends, and parents who I love 

N ow married into a wonderful family with inlaws I cherish

G oing to the temple this year and feeling the Spirit

S  eeing different parts of the world this year as we traveled to Mexico and Virginia

I love you all and I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! Here comes Christmas... WAHOO!! :)

Tragedy

On Friday afternoon we were headed to a family reunion in Swan Valley Idaho. We were about 10 minutes out of Idaho Falls when we got a devastating phone call. My sweet grandma had gotten into a horrible car accident. She was still stuck in her van but life flight was there and we were told to go straight to the Idaho Falls hospital. We got to the hospital and were shortly informed that she had passed away before they could get her in the helicopter. The police and invesigators said that she died instantly even though when help arrived she still had a pulse but was unconscious.

My grandma was my idle. She was an amazing woman and will be greatly missed by us all. She was going to be spending the week with our family in Utah for Thanksgiving. I will forever wish we could have spent this week with her but it was her time. I will always love and miss her.
Joylene B. Watson, 78, of Menan, died Friday, Nov. 20, 2009, near Menan from injuries received in an automobile accident.
Joylene was born Oct. 12, 1931, in Rigby, Idaho, a daughter to Ray Edward Browning and Thelma Kinghorn Browning. She attended schools in Annis and graduated from Midway High School.
She married Farrell Thain Watson Jr. on Aug. 20, 1951, in Menan. She was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served as a Primary teacher, Relief Society secretary and visiting teacher. She enjoyed cooking and recipes, spending time with her family and traveling with her husband, Thain, to see different places.
She is survived by her children, Sally (Mike) McKinley of Rexburg, Jill (Mitch) Tibbitts of Kaysville, Utah, and Ed (Dorothy) Watson of Rigby; a sister, June (L.M.) Rule of Idaho Falls; 12 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Farrell Thain Watson Jr.; and a son, Thain Watson III.
Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 25, at the Menan Stake Center with Bishop Gary Asper officiating. The family will visit with friends from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and from 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, both at the stake center. Burial will be in Annis Little Butte Cemetery under the direction of Eckersell Memorial Chapel in Rigby. Condolences may be sent to the family online at http://www.eckersellfuneralhome.com/.

Halloween!!!!

We had such a fun Halloween. Tahnee, Cadens cousin, planned a party at his aunts house. When Peggy called me with the details I told her we had plans of dressing up and asked if it was a dress up party.. She said it wasnt. I told Caden and he said he didnt care we were showing up in costumes... OH MERCY I thought.. but I wouldve have done it. To my surprise Peggy called back a while later and said she had told Tahnee it was now a costume party. We were so excited. We drove up to Logan with Cadens family and had a blast at Kaelenes house. I love having in laws that are so fun!! I am so lucky to be married to Caden and be able to be a part of his cute family. Thanks to Tahnee for all of her hard work!

HAHAHA happy halloween!

Caden and his baby grandma

Peggy and I 

Ha the pimp and his uh.. woman?

He was totally workin the costume...

Dr. D (the joker)

HAHAHAHAHA Peggys blackmail picture... sorry Peg I had to do it.. I love this picture and it was Halloween!!!

Our little orange jack-o-lantern fruit bowls that Caden and I made for the party

Some of the family

The drive up..

I hope all of you had as fun of a Halloween as we did!

my birthday... haha 2 months ago :)

Sweet Caden planned such a fun birthday for me... september 5th :). I was going through our pictures and realized I had never posted anything about my birthday. It was a fun day. Caden put new knobs on our dresser as my gift and gave me a fun new outfit! What a good husband!

My cute niece, Aubrey, helping me blow out my candles

New job!!!

Caden and I have taken on a whole new adventure to make some extra money. We are now the paper delivery couple.. haha its hilarious at times but pretty tiring. We meet at 2:30am and finish anywhere from 5:00-6:30 am. I had to take some pictures this morning to let you all in on this fun job!

My brother has also joined in on the fun....


packing up the car
you cant tell at all from this picture but our hands are BLACK by the time we finish rolling...

Las Vegas Girl Trip

My mom, my sister Ashley, and I go on a girl trip every year with our friends from Idaho. We have gone to some really fun places and this year we were able to go Las Vegas. We had a blast and it was good to spend some time with my mom and sister! 

My mini elvis friend

matching pjs

Mexican restaurant 

HUGE pot pies we ordered! 

limo ride to Phantom

phantom night

our coloring contest McKenzi had for her birthday!

Ash and mom on the airplane

Bear Lake Adventure... or a 4 hour milkshake run!!!!

On Friday Doug and Peggy planned a fun Bear Lake adventure for us all. Peggy went to so much work to get a lot of fun snacks while Doug loaded his truck. Brandi and Daxton, Doug and Peggy, and Caden and I all set off around noon for our exciting day. The drive up was so much fun. We were all able to talk and share hilarious stories. By the time we got to Bear Lake the wind had started up and it was completely overcast :(. SO SAD!! The boys made the final decision and we ended up just getting some yummy milkshakes instead!! The weather was not good enough to enjoy ourselves or to fulfill our fun day we had planned. We were all bummed but we were able to spend a lot of time together and we made it fun anyways!
Peggy told me about a trip they had when the kids were young and how she learned the most important part of family outings are the memories you make on the way there and back... definitely TRUE. We were all able to create such fun memories and it was definitely a day we wont ever forget... despite the fact that it turned out a lot different than we all expected! I am thankful for my fun inlaws and sweet husband who have helped to make this summer so enjoyable!!! and I do have to admit... THAT MILKSHAKE WAS ALMOST AS GOOD AS A CONCRETE!!!!

UTAH HERE WE COME!!!!!

Thats right.. we are leaving Virginia and headed back to Kaysville! Wahoo! We are so sad that it didnt last longer in Virginia... but sometimes not everything works out the way you hope. We are grateful for the experience and the wonderful time we have had. We have gotten to know some really neat people as well as make some good friends... THE ASHBOCKERS. We will miss them a lot but thankfully theyll be back in Idaho in a few months. We are excited to get home and see our friends and family again. We will be looking for an apartment and new jobs before we know it... so we are going to have fun with the few short days we have left here. I wouldnt trade this experience for anything even though it was one of the hardest things we have been through. We are both thankful for what we were able to learn! It is crazy how small things are such great blessings and sometimes unanswered prayers arent answered for a reason....BUT UTAH HERE WE COME!! We cant wait to see you all again.

...Mom's Visit...

On Saturday afternoon my mom flew into Washington DC. She and I had talked about her coming to visit and just giving ourselves sometime to shop and hang out together. We went straight to the Washington DC temple when she got here. It was so pretty and such a great experience. We spent Sunday in Washington DC with Caden. We got to go to the Arlington cemetery, the White House, Lincoln memorial building, and to some other sites around the area. The rest of the time we spent shopping and simply spending time together. It was so awesome to have my mom here. She is definitely one of my best friends and such a great example to me. I am so grateful to have her in my life. I am lucky to have the relationship I have with her. It was so fun to get to be with her for those few days! 

I know this is a lame picture cause its from the wedding.. but my mom had her camera with us and I forgot to take some of the pictures off of it to have them for myself... I wanted a picture with the post though!

s.t.r.a.w.b.e.r.r.y. j.a.m.

I found strawberries last saturday.... BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!! We love to make strawberry crepes so I thought I would take Harris Teeter up on their offer. I got the strawberries and as Caden and I planned out our dinners for the week on Sunday we left out anything that included my 2 plastic containers of strawberries! I just figured I would use them as a side or something later on. As the week went on I totally forgot I had them. By Wednesday night they were looking a little dark and less appetizing. I looked at my schedule and realized I didnt have work Friday so I needed a project or else the day would seem never ending. SO.... I decided to use the strawberries up and attempt to make strawberry jam. I have never made jam or paid much attention to my mom and grandma when they would make it together. I found a recipe I had copied down of my grandmas and went to work! Aubree and I decided it would be fun to do it together because she had also had taken up the BUY ONE GET ONE FREE Harris Teeter special. We bought darling glass jars, fruit pectin, and to my surprise A LOT of sugar. I didnt realize how sugary jam is but..... thats what makes it SO GOOD! We had so much fun making it together and I am even more excited to eat it. Peggy gave me a very helpful hint.... to use RED food coloring. I was amazed at how much more colorful and bright it made it look.. thanks for the tip Peg! Anyways.. I was pretty excited and so was Caden :)! 

FLOOD

We had a flash flood warning on Wednesday. I was at work and within a few hours there was 4-5 inches of standing water in the parking lot! On Cadens ride home one of the boys told him that the small stream behind our apartment building had become a RIVER!! When he got home we decided to check it out. Its hard to tell by the pictures but there was so much water and HUGE slugs on the side walk. The water had pushed over trees and even broken a fence... pretty crazy!

...the best 2 months...

Today Caden and I have been married for 2 months! I cant even believe how fast time has gone by. I am so very grateful for Caden and the amazing man he is. 

Virginia has been a hard but very good thing for the both of us. We are learning to depend just on each other and to cherish every minute (seeing that we only have a few hours a day) that we spend together. 

I am so proud of Caden and his motivation toward selling. He has been such a hard worker and he has a great attitude for the work he is doing. I know this is the hardest job he has ever had but I have definitely learned that he is a hard worker and he wont give up. I am so pleased with what he has been doing and I am so thankful he is my husband... This has DEFINITELY been the best 2 months for me! I love you CADEN.

I just had to post a picture of him in his cute APX uniform with his new haircut :) I am so lucky.

CLOSED Carnival

On Monday at work I was talking with my manager and she informed me that there was a Herndon City Festival/Carnival starting on Thursday. I was SO excited. I love carnivals and festivals and if you know Caden and I and our dating history this is one of our favorite things to do. We decided on Sunday since Caden was off work we would give it a shot! I went Saturday with Aubree and we checked it all out. There wasnt really anything too exciting and I was kinda bummed. Aubree had her 3 month old baby with us so we didnt have the option of riding the fun rides and I wasnt about to have her watch me entertain myself haha.... so Caden and I went back Sunday. I am pretty sure Caden had heard as much as he possibly could stand of how BAD I was craving a funnel cake ever since I had read the pamphlet with all of the festival details.... so after church we got changed, ate lunch, and left! We got there and it was C.L.O.S.E.D!! yeah.. BUMMER! It was so sad. We walked around as they were cleaning up and listened to the police on their mega-phones announce "The carnival is closed.. time to go home..." It was really depressing.. We rented a movie, invited Aubree and Skyler over. Of course... we had a lot of popcorn and otter pops and that made up for our disappointment. It was a fun day with Caden on his day off!

F.R.E.E.Z.I.N.G

Caden said I had to post this picture because he think its hilarious how cold I always am.. haha and my complaint of an "artic temperature" always makes him laugh. HOWEVER... Caden is not yet used to the heat due to spending the last 2 summers in Alaska so we keep our apartment very cold. It is nice during the day but at night I have found that by sleeping in a couple of layers with double the blankets I am more comfortable. Caden loves to sleep in the cold... as you all know... so I let it happen... hopefully in a few years one of us can get the other one used to our personal habits but for now I chose to find a solution. The other morning I got up a little earlier than Caden to get ready for work. I didnt realize how cold the apartment was until I got out and I was all wet... I ran into our bedroom and was just getting out of bed. I sat on the floor all curled up and he wrapped me up in our blankets and "just had to take a picture" haha what a cute husband I have!!

Washington DC

THE WHITE HOUSE

Me, Aubree, and her cute baby Grahm

Me and Caden in front of the back of the white house...

The United States Treasury... 

Caden and I decided it would be really fun after church on Sunday to take a trip to Washington DC. We asked our friends Skyler and Aubree to go with us. We stopped and filled up on gas and went to Dollar Tree for a bunch of snacks for our "long road trip." Aubree and I went into the store and filled up baskets of candy, drinks, and popcorn to surprise our husbands. We were determined to make this road trip the best ever with all of our fun snacks. Haha.. little did we know we only live about 2o min away from Washington DC. It was hilarious because by the time we got to the white house we had so much food all over in the car and hardly any of it had been touched. I felt like I had planned a road trip from Kaysville to Salt Lake City.. haha.. However, we had so much fun getting to see all of the  buildings and site seeing in DC. We want to go back soon because there is no way to see it all in one day! It was a blast and we had plenty of treats to bring home :).

Movie night and CHICKEN FETT. PIZZA!!

First off... I have officially given myself the award for the worst blogger and I am sorry to my friends and family who I promised and crossed my heart to that I would blog while we were in Virginia.. Long story short we had a creeper guy living next to us.. we moved apartments.. and low and behold we had no internet. We are now paying for the internet but I am glad to have the connection to the world back :)... anyways... I will do SO much better now. BUT... I received the BEST cookbook ever called the MORMON COOKBOOK... COOKING FOR 2. Its amazing. I love everything I have made out of it and its super duper easy stuff. I found a recipe for incredible fettuccine sauce and either a chicken pizza you can make with it or a chicken pasta. I bought the ingredients and thought it would be a fun activity for Caden and I after church Sunday. We did it and it turned out to be our new fav. Its the best. We also made a salad and it reminded us so much of Firehouse.. We just didnt have the PHzookies. We had otter pops instead for dessert :). We were enjoying the dinner so much we decided to pull our mattress out into the family room (due to the fact that we only have one TV in the apartment) and have a pizza movie night. We watched a movie and had the little white trash moment... haha! Its the best we could do when our couches arent the most comfortable and no extra money to go to a movie theatre. I have decided that poor life is way fun... We love being creative in order to entertain ourselves. I am loving Virginia and our life together!

 

VIRGINIA!!

We finally made it to Virginia and we have gotten all settled into our apartment. We got up early Friday morning and said our goodbyes and headed off for our long road trip. We thought we could take turns driving and sleeping but that didnt go too well and we ended up sleeping at a hotel a little after 16 hours of driving. We slept for a few hours and got up and continued the journey. We finally got to Herndon VA at about 2 am Sunday morning. It was a long trip but we got to see a lot of neat things. Our apartment is cute and we have had a lot of fun putting it all together. Our families are both far away and so I know they are curious to see what our new apartments looks like so I thought I would post some pictures to cure the curiosity :).

our bathroom... the decor is a little rough right now but its my project :)

our closet... we love it because we can keep it so organized!

cute LITTLE dresser :) it only fits underwear and socks.. haha 

the bed.. and yes i know, i need a bed skirt and a picture in that empty frame

the tv.. and the cute little stand we bought at target

the couches and living room.

my adorable owl that i got for $9 at Ross... Caden isnt to fond of him but i thought it was a must have

the kitchen table area

washer and dryer.. and i learned that gain powder smells better than gain liquid..

kitchen sink

stove and microwave

kitchen

entry way...

Well thats it!! We are both loving VA and our new cute little apartment. We hope all of you are doing well in Utah!!!