Giving Thanks!

Broc and I got to spend a wonderful, long week in Utah for Thanksgiving this year and it was absolutely spectacular! It would be far too hard to capture all the details of the trip in one blog post so I'm just going to dump some pictures and call it a night! I love that family of mine! They truly make life worth living! Thanks for an outstanding trip home to all our family and friends! We love and miss each of you!

Hostess Funeral the first night we were home!

Out to lunch with the family before our Forgotten Carols Play!

She still sucks those fingers and of course is always the center of attention!

Love the Forgotten Carols with the family!

Spiritual Dinner at Rob and Whitney's! Special night!

Someone is getting married! Hot stuff right there! Love these ladies!

While the gals were gallivanting the boys were building things! ;)

Got to spend time with so many wonderful friends that we love and adore!

And of course a trip to Utah would not be complete without a trip to Wingers! Thanks Rob and Whit!

Thanksgiving feast with the family! What a great meal!

And some post turkey day shopping! Great deals with great ladies!

Did some hiking with the little brother while he was in town! Loved seeing him!

Even ventured to the new City Creek! Beautiful place I tell you!

And our last night in town we cooked a delicious meal and ate on Grandma VandeMerwe's china! It was awesome!

Took the brother back to his apartment all stashed with orange crush! It was so fun having him around!

And then we had to say goodbye to this little one! Good thing we are both coming back soon! Don't grow too quick little Sophiee! We love you!

We are still alive and so is the flying squirrel!

It's been a while...okay a long time! I know! But the important thing to note is, we are still alive! And obviously from this video the flying squirrel is too! Hope you enjoy this little gem more than we did! ;)

We were just minding our own business when all of a sudden our new friend went darting across the floor! I was up on the kitchen counter in a second and Broc was running around like a mad man trying to find his shoes! Thank goodness this little guy didn't give us too much trouble! What an adventure! So here I am again! I am recommitting to my blog because life continues to be exciting with many surprises around each and every turn! 

3 Years and Going Strong!

Sometimes it is hard to believe that Broc and I have been married 3 years! When I think back on the beginning of our relationship it amazes me to see how much time has passed! We have known each other for so long it gets me excited! I can't wait for the day that he has been a part of my life longer than not being a part of my life! Year by year we will get there eventually! ;) As I was looking through some wedding pictures and reminiscing about our special day I could not help but find this little gem!

Oh the expressions on our faces as we stepped out of the temple doors! Our faces say it all! Clearly we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into and yet I wouldn't have wanted it any other way! Marriage has taught me so much and I feel so blessed that Broc is the man I married! Without him life just would not be sweet! Thanks for the last three years of happiness you have given me Broc! I know we celebrated the official 3 years a few weeks back but just need to make sure you know how much I love you! To the never-ending eternities to come and more...Love you boy!

Weekend Adventures!

We have had quite the weekend adventures in the last few months! It started with Cheery Blossoms and a Math Museum!

We really enjoyed being out and about with good friends Bren and Sterling! These two know how to make the best of a wet Saturday morning and we are glad we got out with them! Plus we never would have discovered the awesome Math Museum on our own! Lucky we had them along to show us the way! Then my parents came for conference weekend and we had a blast! We went to our favorite Ted's Montana Grill for some Bison Burgers! Yummy! We filled the weekend with muffin making, conference watching, Sunday afternoon walking and quality time talking, talking and talking!

And then we had Aubrey and her girlfriends stay for a night which was a blast as always! We did some touristy things but mainly focused on the food this time! We made sure to fill them full of Cafe Rio, Chick-Fill-A and yummy nutella stuffed calzones! It was quite the successful weekend if you ask me and fun as always to see good friends! :)

Then we celebrated Easter with our favorites and had a feast! It was so nice getting together with our good friends to celebrate the Resurrection of our Savior! We got all festive for the celebration complete with a died-egg centerpiece and sparkling cider in our fancy cups! Now you know we are living big when we bust out the fancy cups!

Phew! Like I said...we have had quite the weekend adventures as of late! But I love making memories with Broc! We have so much fun and for that I am truly grateful!

Homemade Granola and Decorative Jars!

You know you are in for a fun afternoon when it includes homemade granola and decorative jars! Emily and Amy and I decided to mix things up a bit for dinner group last month! Instead of just making a meal...we decided to add some crafting into the mix as well! Thanks to a new found love of Pinterest, Emily found some creative and relatively easy crafts that we just could not pass up! So put it all together and it was one fun afternoon of using wax paper instead of parchment paper, shaking the frost paint vigorously, concentrating hard on cutting out the stencils and all around good company! At the rate we are going, we will have full bellies and beautiful homes in no time! Hooray for dinner group adventures!



Amy and I attempting to get the granola unstuck from the wax paper! Who knew wax paper was not supposed to go in the oven? But in our defense...both Broc and Billy loved the finished product so maybe using wax paper wasn't that bad of an idea! :)



Emily prepping the mason jars for our decorating! Apparently fingernail polish and rubbing alcohol help get the sticky stuff off the jars! Emily did an awesome job!



Amy following directions and shaking vigorously for 2 minutes before spraying! Way to be a great shaker Amy!



And then we sprayed the jars as evenly as we could and waited for them to dry! It was so easy and I think we were all pleased with the end product!



Perfect weather for an outside craft! It was so fun to try something new for a change! We have certainly taken dinner group to a whole new level now!



And the finished product! Not too shabby eh? :)

Girl's Weekend!

While Broc got to drool over this precious little thing...



I got to have a girl's weekend with these fine ladies!



The weekend included way too many cupcakes, talking late into the night, getting caught up on all of life's' adventures and just being girls! Sometimes I just sit back and thank my Heavenly Father for sending such amazing girl friends into my life! These two certainly are some of the amazing ones that have blessed my life in so many ways!

Well to recap the weekend we traveled the monuments!








We ate delicious food!







And most importantly made some pretty awesome memories! At the end of the weekend it was sad to say goodbye but we all know that the memories will only continue to get better! Thanks Bets and Aubs for an awesome girls weekend! Sure love you both so much! And just because she made it and I think it's awesome, check out this little video for a brief overview of DC Girl's Weekend 2012!

Lil' Bit!

Lil' Bit is here! She made her grand debut on January 6, 2012 weighing in at approximately 4 pounds 13 ounces! Although she was born small she is a fighter and has been gaining weight every day since!



Broc and I are constantly blown away with the little blessings that fall into our lives constantly! It seems that whenever there is important reason for us to be in Utah we find a way there! Well it happened again and Broc made his way out to Utah when Sophiee was still a small new born! Despite the fact that I didn't get to go with him I feel blessed that he was able to make it out! He had one demand and one demand only for his trip to Utah...TAKE PICTURES! In some small way I feel closer to her now that I have videos and pictures galore! Apparently when little Sophiee was first born she didn't even fit into the "adorable" outfit pictured above! I cannot believe how much she has grown in these first few months of life and I cannot wait to get my hands on her! So here we go with the long awaited Sophiee post! Your Aunt Natalie loves you little Sophiee! Don't ever forget that! This marks the beginning of many Sohpiee posts to come!



In the first moments of meeting her this picture was snapped! Obviously Broc is one proud uncle! I love how she is just content and sleeping in his big hands!



One big happy family! Robbie and Whitney are just beaming in this picture! I love it so much!



Just hanging out with GREAT grandma and grandpa Buttars! She seems to be so alert and attentive already! Love that little face! :)



Nap time in uncle Broc's arms! Her little eyes half open just kill me! Hahaha!



And just for proof that she really is MY niece Broc snapped this beauty! She sleep just like I do with her arms up! Keep it up Sophs! It's the most comfortable way to get some shut eye! I wholeheartedly approve!!! ;)



Bath time! She used to hate bath time but now it looks like she quite enjoys it! What a precious little thing!



Four generations! Love these women! Every single one of them inspires me in so many ways! Thanks for being good examples Grandma, Mom, Whitney and yes...even you Sophiee!



And another highlight of the weekend was getting to video chat! Hopefully by the time I get out to meet Sohpiee she will know my voice and recognize me! That's the goal!



Sophiee's favorite position is to snuggle up close! Lucky Broc got lots of snuggle time while he was visiting! Love this picture more and more each day!

I am so glad Broc got to go and meet Sophiee! These little photos and videos have brought me so much happiness and I am even more excited for my turn to meet Sophiee!