Our First Snowman

Christmas

On Christmas we were thrilled to have a white Christmas and to play in the snow. We opened presents, ate breakfast with the whole family, then Shaun and I built our first snowman together and had fun throwing snowballs at each other, and Shaun had fun tackling me.

Kareokee Night

For the past couple of nights my aunt and her husband and Shaun and I have stayed up late into the night singing out hearts out. We split teams girls against boys and we certainly met our matches! The boys gave the girls a run for our money and proved to be "great" Karaoke singers...notice "great." It was quite an experience. Lets just say my grandfather told us that we better keep our day jobs.

New Job, New Fun, New Start

Shaun and I have enjoyed the out come of our recent migration to Utah immensly. We have definitly felt the hand of the Lord in our lives these past few weeks. I was blessed with a job only a week and a half after we moved here working in the State Licensing Department for APX Alarms. Shaun has wiggled his way into Comcasts radar with the help of family, and will hopefully be starting work for them in January when their new training starts. We have been blessed with great connections to great jobs which makes moving here all that much easier.

This Christmas season as quickly made its approach and it is a wonderful time to reflect on what we have been given and what we can give to others. I can't help but think about so many families out there that are struggling and I am so grateful that even as a young couple we are able to have such wonderful things.

As we take a look at 2008 and all the memories that made this year so great, and all the difficult times that made this year so hard to get through some times we can't help but feel like things happen for a reason and fall into the right place, at the right time. We have learned that our time is not even in the same dimension as the Lords time, and we must put all our faith in God, sometimes meaning we will have to put everything we know or we think we know to the challenge.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

This year for Christmas Shaun and I had the chance to go shopping for a Christmas tree with my grandfather. This is something I have never done, having grown up with an artificial tree. It was so fun to go out all bundled up and look for the perfect tree. We then went and bought Christmas decorations, and I got to decorate the tree! Since last year Shaun and I had just gotten married and got home from our honeymoon two days for Christmas, and then we moved here to my grandparents right before Christmas we have never had the chance to decorate our own home for Christmas, however my grandma was happy and willing to turn the decorating over to me! As you can see I excitedly accepted that task.

Puppies are in the house!

My aunts dog, Bella, had puppies about 5 weeks ago and they are the cutest little pups ever. I am very fond of the girl puppy we call Lola. She is going to my brothers and sisters back in California. Bella and her puppies are here at my grandmas house while my aunt and uncle are out of town. Watching them has become a group effort and has been a lot of fun. They are so fun to watch as they wrestle around and play tug o' war with each other. Lola is so cute and she certainly can defend herself against her 2 brothers.

Aliens in the house!!!

Shaun and I watched Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D! It was so awesome to watch, except we looked kind of silly in our 3D glasses. My grandma walked in the room and just started laughing at us, and said we looked like Aliens....that we did!

I scream for...hot chocolate???

We went to Gateway Mall to get ice cream and hot chocolate for a refreshment. Little bit contradictory with cold and hot, hehehe. We had a lot of fun there also!

Christmas Lights at Temple Square

Shaun and I had the chance to go to Temple Square with my grandparents on December 1st to look at the Christmas Lights. It was amazing! It has been so long since I have been to Temple Square to look at lights, and it was Shaun's first time seeing the Christmas lights at Temple Square.

Thanksgiving Decorations

I was so bummed that I had to take down all of our Fall and Thanksgiving decorations early because we were moving, so I put them to use as the centerpieces for the tables at our Thanksgiving dinner. They were a hit, which made me very happy!

Happy Turkey Day!

Shaun and I had the wonderful opportunity to spend Thanksgiving at my grandparents house with them, my great grandparents, and all my aunts and uncles, and cousins.

Fresh Start

Shaun and I recently made our move from our apartment in Newhall, California all the way to Orem, Utah. It is a big change away from both of our families. We are excited to be here in Utah and looking forward to all the new adventures heading our way. We have been fortunate enough to have such great grandparents that are letting us live with them while we transist into our own apartment. I am orgininally from Utah so I feel like I here at my home away from home. My moms side of the family are all out here and I am so happy to be near all my aunts and uncles and my cousins. Shaun is adjusting to "Mormonville," and being so far away from his family.
This move was sudden and threw us through quite a loop. At the end of the day we just thank the Lord for giving us all we have been so blessed with and for guiding us along what seems to have been a very trecherous path.

Quick Little Update

Well everyone keeps asking for an update...
Shaun and I are doing well here in sunny California.
I am still going to school and teaching preschool. I love my job and come home feeling very rewarded. I love working with small children and I love watching them grow and explore new things. My Early Childhood Education major has been more of a blessing then work. I have learned so much, and I feel so prepared to be a mother.
Shaun is working at Six Flags Magic Mountain. He really enjoys working there and being in the center of the theme park he grew up going to. After a lot of thought and consideration Shaun has decided that the California Highway Patrol is not where he should be right now, and is exploring other options that are out there.
We have kept busy these past few months just working and going to school. We had the opportunity to go to Fright Fest at Magic Mountain, together. That was definitely a wonderful break and a great opportunity for a date night.
A few weeks ago I had the chance to go to Lombardi Ranch with my family. Lombardi Ranch is a huge pumpkin patch here in Santa Clarita that my family goes to almost every year. Unfortunately Shaun was working but we are planning our own trip Monday night for Family Night!

Shaun and I together before going on Space Mountain


Shaun was a little afraid of the horse

Just getting to Disneyland

I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!

Shaun and I had the chance to go to Disneyland on July 18th which is also my birthday. I really wanted to go to Disneyland and Shaun told me it was too expensive, while little did I know he was planning on surprising me by taking me there. He woke me up in the morning at 6:30....on my day off of work mind you.....and told me we were going to Disneyland. I was very excited and waking up early was totally worth it. We had a blast and went on so many of the rides. It was nice being there together and being able to take the day off to relax and enjoy ourselves. Disneyland had the greatest Fantasmic show and firework show, they were both aweomse!!! It was a great brithday present, but what was even better was that Shaun and I got to spend my actualy birthday together for the first time in 3 years!

Our Journey through June and July

Alright, Alright, so it has been a long time since we have updated our blog and so so much has happened!
Shaun took the CHP (california highway patrol) written test June 28th and we finally heard back July 10th that HE PASSED!! Tomorrow Saturday the 12th he travels to San Luis Obispo, CA to take the physical assesment portion. We are very excited and very happy that things are moving along a bit more now.
I was also recently hired by a Childrens Learning Center (not Kinder Care, different place) to be an assistant teacher in the 1 year old classroom starting August 11th, and at my previous job, Walmart, I was promoted to Customer Service. I am also taking classes in the Early Childhood Education field at the local college here in Santa Clarita.
We feel very blessed and look forward to all these new things coming our way.

Shaun and I had the chance to visit his uncle, aunt, and his cousins in San Jose at the end of June and we had a great time! It was nice to get away and just relax. We went up with Shauns dad and we went up for a weekend which we luckily both has off. It was so beautiful up there. I had never been to San Jose so I was excited to go. We went for his cousins graduation party where I met a lot of Shauns family I hadnt met before. That is where the picture on the top and the bottom are from.

Sorry April and May have come and gone but let me give you all the update. Shaun and I moved from Bakersfield to Stevenson Ranch at the beginning of April and enjoyed getting settled in. Shaun is continuing work at Expedition Motor Homes and I started work at Wal-Mart about two months ago. I recently became an Avon Representative, which I love! I am starting school next week, working on getting an Associates in Early Childhood Development. I have applied to work at Kindercare, a local daycare that I now have enough credits for. Shaun takes his test for CHP at the end of June and starts school in August.

Everyday we are just in awe at how things work out for the best and as long as we do all we need to do, the Lord will always be by our side.

Our Honeymoon seems like forever ago but I thought I'd post some of the pictures from it. Shaun and I had the great opportunity to go on a Cruise through the Mexican Riviera visting, Puerta Vallarta, Maztlan, and Cabo San Lucas. We had a great time and although I might have butchered the spelling on those places names they were all great to visit. We spent a week eating great, exploring new places, and spending time together.

Here we are 5 years and 4 months later married and happier then ever. All these years have rewarded us with many learning experiences. We have grown together more in these 4 months of marriage then we have in the 5 years we have been together. We learn more and more everyday that with the Lord we are never left a lone.