Blogging How-To

So today I had a realization. People could be pinning things from my personal blog onto Pinterest. Scary! So I'm normal, I use Pinterest and think it's pretty great. However I don't see any reason that people would need to pin things from my personal blog. So I did a little research on how to block my photos from being pinned and thought I'd share it with you. I had previously blocked the ability for people to click and save photos from my blog but I needed to block the ability to pin. I just don't want my personal images shared. I found a great tutorial that is so simple too. It teaches you how to block individual photos and how to do a blanket blockage where no images can be pinned. I chose the second option. Here is the link: http://practicallyfunctional.com/how-to-prevent-your-photos-from-being-pinned-on-pinterest/ Hope this helps!

Catch Up

So we've been busy lately! This week for example we've had at least one thing every single night! Tonight we babysat Jack and Henry and had a blast like usual. I can't believe how active Henry is getting, he'll be crawling in no time. Nate built Jack a fort and Jack thought it was pretty darn cool. His favorite part was jumping from the ottoman onto the tent into Nate's waiting arms and then asking Nate to rebuild the fort. Silly kid. I hope he always thinks we're as cool as he does now.


Earlier in the week we met with our adoption case worker and got a big ol' stack of paperwork to work on. We've made a big dent in it since Wednesday and on our online portion too. We're so happy to be moving forward and to be making actual progress one sheet of paper at a time. Thursday night we had another adoption class and this class was titled "What to Expect When You're Adopting." Another class we're happy we attended. It was a basic question and answer forum with two couples who had adopted before with LDS Family Services. I always get a lot out of our classes.

Nate's been busy with his scouts calling. Though they didn't have any boys show up to scouts this week. He's also been busy with target practice (shooting his bow). He practices almost every day after work. Nate's going to the sportsman's expo tomorrow to attend an elk hunting class. He's really looking forward to it.

I'm going to Idaho tomorrow with my mom and aunt to visit my grandparents. They go every weekend and I try to go with them once a month. It's always good to see my grandparents and we get a lot of work done for them while we're there.

Nate and I are planning on Mexican food for date night tomorrow. It's Nate's turn to choose and I can count on him almost always choosing Mexican food. It'll be a good date no matter what we do.

I think that catches us up for the last week or so. We've got another busy week ahead of us and it'll be summer before we know it!

Cooking Class

Last night Nate and I went to an Asian cooking class at Thanksgiving Point. Our class was on wonton soup, lettuce wraps, chow mein, and General Tao's chicken. Neither Nate nor I had ever had wonton soup before and we both really liked it. General Tao's chicken is the Chinese dish Nate likes most, but last night's version was not his favorite. That's okay, we still had an enjoyable time and we learned a lot. I definitely recommend the classes. They are offered at Thanksgiving Point and the teacher is Jennifer Mangleson, she is so smart when it comes to Asian food, you will definitely learn tons and the best part is the tasting.

We had good intentions of taking pictures but only got a shot of the chicken.

First Date Anniversary

Today is the 7th anniversary of Nate's and my first date! I can't believe it's been 7 years, our wedding anniversary will be here in no time. I can still remember the fun details of our first date and so hoping Nate would ask me on a second date. He did and the rest is history! So Nate, thanks for that first date and all the ones that have followed, love you!

Happy Valentine's Day/Adoption Process

First of all, Happy Valentine's Day! Of course my valentine is Nate and we had a great date last night and have fun plans for tonight too.
After dinner last night we had an adoption class. Yep, we're super serious about getting all our stuff in for adoption this year. It's our number one goal this year. We've set a deadline for ourselves and are well on our way. Last night's class was a birth parent panel. So eye opening! Nate and I don't know anyone who's adopted, I mean apart from some couples in our ward, but no close friends or family members. Listening to those amazing girls last night was just that, amazing. Even though Nate and I are set on adoption and feel it's the right choice for our family, I have such a new appreciation for adoption after last night's class. God is good and He has such a hand in every part of the adoption process, it's such an inspired program. Both Nate and I left last night feeling solidified in our decision and so so grateful for birth parents.
That's the main thing going on with us right now. Nate is loving being done with school, although the other day he let me know that he does want to go back for a PhD someday. He and Brandon (his brother) are taking a computer programming class right now and are doing well. We've had several family members move lately and so Nate and his truck have been moving machines the past few weekends. Nate is moving another brother tomorrow and then he's going to head to the hunting expo in Salt Lake, he's super excited. I'm looking forward to a cooking class we're attending next week. Yep, Amanda and I went to one in December and had so much fun that we are bringing our husbands along this time. It's an Asian class and we're learning to make wonton soup, lettuce wraps, and General Tao's chicken which is Nate's favorite Chinese dish. I'm really excited for the class. Ugh, I've been horrible at taking pictures so far this year, but I resolve to do better! So that's the update with us for now.

Happy Love Your Husband Day!

I read somewhere (can't remember where) that today is National Love Your Husband Day. So I marked it on my calendar and thought I'd remind Nate that he is so loved! Nate really is the best husband anyone could ask for. He is kind, patient, funny, supportive, even tempered, loving, and very fun. I could go on and on about how great he is. I never thought it was possible to be this in love and this happy with someone. I truly look forward to spending every day with Nate. I've go some fun things planned for Nate today and if you read this in time, take this opportunity to celebrate National Love Your Husband Day!

December 2013

Happy Holidays! Hope your Christmas was as nice as ours and that your new year is safe and fun filled. December was s fun month, lots of time spent with family and friends and lots of festivities.

My house was decorated for the whole month which I love. There's nothing like having the lights on the tree lit up and a gingerbread scent going in the candle warmer. I love decorating for the holidays. Most of our Christmas shopping was done online (thankfully not at Target) but I still got to wrap, which I also love doing. Nate and I also kept up with another tradition of looking at lights. We found a house with a giant chicken out front and a life sized nativity in the side yard. Of course we went to see The Hobbit when it came out. We also got to hit up Maxwell's again with Mike and Sarah.

Nate and I babysat several times this month and on one occasion we made some gingerbread houses with Keith and Lacey. They were a huge hit! We also decorated sugar cookies with Jack and Henry but I forgot to take any pictures.


We added another niece to the family. Clementine is Zak and Domonique's first child. Welcome baby girl.


Katie invited all of us sisters-in-law to come over for a day of baking. I don't know who had more fun, the kids sampling the goodies or the adults talking.


My sister Kelley came in to town for the holidays during her school break and we've spent several days up at my mom's visiting. We spent Christmas Eve up in Salt Lake with my family. We had a nice ham dinner and received our traditional pajamas.


Christmas morning we spend time together, just the two of us. We started that tradition the first year we were married. Nate "accidentally" set an alarm for 5:30am and so we were up bright and early. We opened presents and made breakfast pizza. Nate was super excited to get a spotting scope for hunting and some snowshoes and I got an external flash for my camera and the newest version of Photoshop Elements. My gifts have already been put to good use! After presents Nate took a nap and I got started digital scrapbooking.


Christmas afternoon we went over the Nate's parents' house. We were able to skype with Aaron who is on a mission and we had our annual gift exchange and a Mexican feast for dinner. The evening was completed with a pinata for the kids and a game of tape ball. All in all it was a fun filled day.


Here's the double page layout I made for our Christmas. I really like how it turned out.

Thanksgiving 2013

This year was our year to spend Thanksgiving with Nate's family. Ben and Katie were able to get some time shares up in Park City so we celebrated the holiday there. We spent a whole week in Park City and had lots of fun. We had a room with a great view of the pool and the slopes. Nate only had to work two days and it was so nice to get some time with him. There was lots of swimming, playing pool and shuffleboard, and lots of family time. Of course there were trips to the outlets and a feast on Thanksgiving day. I think everyone had a really enjoyable time. For Thanksgiving Nate and I were in charge of stuffing, pies, and cooking the turkey. I'm happy to report that everything turned out really well. I was nervous cooking such a huge turkey (21 lbs.), but it came out really nice and moist. Everyone enjoyed it. It was a good week and a happy holiday.

Here's the double page scrapbook layout I made with our Park City pictures.

Happy Birthday Nate!

Happy Happy Birthday to my amazing husband! Today, 11-12-13 is his birthday and I wish him all the happiness in the world! Love you Nate!

Late Summer - Mid Fall

The past few months have flown by! I feel like we've had multiple things planned every weekend and several things throughout each week. It's been crazy! I can't believe Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away. Here's a glimpse of what we've been up to.

August:
We didn't camp at all in August, shocking I know. Very unlike us. Nate participated in Salt Lake county's corporate games on his company's ultimate frisbee team. I think they came in third or fourth overall, but I do know that they had a blast.
This is Nate catching the frisbee to score a goal!


August was also full of preparations for hunting season. Nate was busy scouting out his designated hunting area and we also spent time honing our sharpshooting skills. A few times Nate even brought his brothers along.



September:
We started the month of September out camping at Granite Flats with some of Nate's younger siblings. It was our final trip of the year and I think the kids had a good time.

Aaron was busy getting ready for his mission and one day we went and had a photo shoot. I got some great shots of Aaron and then later that weekend we had Aaron's farewell.

Speaking of pictures, we also had some Smith family photos taken before Aaron left.



October:
Nate took a week off of work in October to hunt and to finish up his last paper for his master's degree. Fortunately he was successful at both! Nate didn't get an elk this year but he did get his first deer. Way to go Nate!

Of course we had our annual scary movie marathon. We ordered pizza and watched some nightmare on Elm Street movie. You know I'm not a huge fan of horror movies, but it was definitely fun to have friends and family around.

Yes, we carved pumpkins again this year. Our theme was ninja turtles. I thought if we lit them colored glow sticks instead of the traditional candle it would make them look even better. Yah, no, totally didn't work. Oh well.

My favorite news from October is that Nate finished graduate school! I am so proud of him getting his master's degree. He worked so so hard and he totally deserves it. Now that he's done he can celebrate and actually have some free time!
This is the scrapbook page I made for Nate's graduation.



November:
At the beginning of November I finished up a cake decorating class I'd been taking. Just in time to make Nate's birthday cake right!

We've been busy celebrating Nate's birthday with the 12 Days of Nate. Since Nate's birthday falls on the 12th I take a page from the 12 Days of Christmas and give him and small gift or treat for the 12 days leading up to his birthday. He loves it, and it's become tradition. Last night we celebrated with Nate's family and had an ice cream cake. Nate wanted a camo cake with cookies 'n cream ice cream.



We're looking forward to the holidays and spending time with friends and family. This year has really flown by and we look forward to see what the rest of year has in store for us!