Happy 2011 and Christmas Recap

We're leaping for joy this New Year! (cheesy? yes!)

Nate and I are counting are blessings this year. We have school, jobs, the gospel, and friends and family that bring us so much happiness. We're looking forward to 2011 and all that the year holds in store for us. We didn't send out Christmas cards. Sorry folks. We'll do better next year. We really appreciated all of the love and Christmas cards we recieved this year. I had about 18 to open when I got back from Texas and it made for a very warming welcome. Love you all! A good friend took the pictures above and we thank her for that!

Here's a brief recap of our Holiday Festivities. We went to Houston again this year. There were two new additions to the family this year; baby David and Kate. The only person missing from this family Christmas photo is David who was peacefully slumbering during all of the commotion of family pictures. Don't look too closely at the family photo opp--you might see some strange things. All photographs are courtesy of the one and only Kate Lauritzen. Thank you very much.

We went to the Houston Temple one day to take a looksie.

This is one of my favorite photos ever. Grandma Carol is wearing 3D glasses. They appear normal in this picture. In fact, I have a picture of Brent and Grandma wearing 3D glasses from last Christmas when we all went out to Moody Gardens to see a 3D movie. These 3D glasses are in fact very different and very special, so she says. We did not attend a 3D movie this year, but Grandma still wore her glasses . . .everyday! She did not just wear them to the movies. She wore them around the house, in the car, at the movies because they helped protect her eyes from the glare (sunglasses do the same thing :-) ) It was a comical sight. Even funnier is the story behind them. Nate and I put them in a white elephant gift that she happened to choose. The glasses along with the movie the Holiday, white chocolate, and a bag of popcorn were in a Radio City Music Hall bucket that was once filled with popcorn from the Rockette Christmas show. Grandma loved her gift! I never knew the glasses were going to be such a hit. They certainly fell into the hands of the right person. I think they suit her very well!

Brent and Grandma Carol. a.k.a Nana Coco

Our darling nephew David Aaron sitting on top of his Christmas gifts!

Loved his camo pjs. The multi-talented Samantha sewed matching camo pajamas for their family.

The undeniably loco Lauritzen brothers! They are always such a hoot when they are together. It's fun to see them interact. They're definitely big kids, especially on Christmas.

We love being aunts and uncles to David! There was plenty of love to go around this year.

Speaking of L.O.V.E. This is Mr. Love himself snuggling his grandbaby. It was said of Craig, my father in-law, that he is 6' 2", 210lbs, and full of love. He was described in this manner over the pulpit during sacrament meeting at the Young Singles Adult branch by one of the YSA members. Us in the back row were dying laughing because the description helped him grow two inches and shed 20lbs. Though, the full of love part wasn't a fib. He truly is full of love. We're grateful for all of the time we were able to spend at home with Nathan's family. They are so wonderful to us. Our flight was cancelled the day we were supposed to come home, so we were able to spend a few extra nights with the fam. It was very relaxing. We got caught up on some movies for the year!
This is really short, but imagine them doing this for a whole car ride. Take it low boys!

Happy 2009! some new news

Us on our honeymoon in our super cute glasses! Yes our honeymoon was quite a while ago.
We like to take pictures with funny glasses...just wait...
You like all of my fly aways?!
Alright well, I posted the pictures in the opposite order of what I was thinking, but that is okay. I'll just start with our news first. We are so excited because our friends Nate and Erin Russell and their 5 month old baby girl Rachael will be living here in New York City with us for 3 1/2 months! It will be such a blessing to have them living on our same street...it took some persuading their landlord, but they scored a sweet apartment. It will be just like old times...well kind of. Erin and I became friends in high school. We danced together, worked at Iceberg Drive Inn together, and were roommates in college. We even started dating our husbands about the same time, and they married four months before us. We were both blessed with husbands named Nate who are accounting majors. Joy for us!!! We love them! I'm so glad that Erin and I will be together during the boys' busy season. Her husband Nate is going to be doing an internship with PriceWaterhouseCooper in the tax department. I can't wait to meet Rachael!!!
The next piece of news is that I've started my online classes through BYU-Idaho. I was accepted into the BUS program which stands for Bachelors of University Studies. It means that I'll earn my degree online and the degree will consist of two minors and a cluster. For now I'm planning on English and History being my minors and Communications being the cluster. My only other option would be to do Business instead of History, but I can't bring myself to do that one yet. I think I'll leave the business classes to Nate. And wherever we live later on I could always get my teaching certificate in either English or history. I feel like I have more purpose now that school is underway for me again. I have always enjoyed learning.
That lovely billboard advertising holiday merchandise at Gap is significant because next week will most likely be my last week working there. I've been offered a nanny/babysitting position from a couple in our ward who have a little girl named Sadie. She is so precious and still so small. My mom and I were talking about how everything in life prepares you for what is next, even when we may not recognize it until later on. This has been true in my life in many instances, so I'm grateful for the experience and the camaraderie that I've felt at Gap. I really do love the job and the people that I work with. It has been a great job to help me transition into the city, not to mention I love their clothes...Nate and I have both made some pretty important purchases so the discount came in handy. We both got new peacoats. Nate looks the part of a New York business man now! And I got all the purple merchandise that my heart desired...I'm done buying everything purple, though it is still a fabulous color. Anyway, my point is the nannying job will be very rewarding and it will allow me to actually have a routine and nearly the same schedule as Nathan (excluding busy season...Good Luck to all CPAs the next few months...and all their loved ones too!) This new job will also be great because it will allow for Erin and I to hangout with our babies together.
And finally.... I told you that we love silly glasses!!! Here are some more to celebrate the new year! Funny thing is we took these pictures just a couple days after Thanksgiving. We actually celebrated New Years together like true New Yorkers...inside our cozy apartment! No way were we going to go freeze our rears off for hours in Time Square.
And sadly, for some reason we cannot get our pictures from our Christmas trip to Utah to load, but we had a wonderful trip. I made that list of things that I wanted to do when I went to Utah and it was impossible to complete...we did things that weren't on that list and I missed out on doing and seeing some others. The most important part was that we spent quality time with the family!! It was wonderful. I did reveal my big surprise...it wasn't me being pregnant...it was my brother Donny! He drove all the way from Kansas City Missouri and got there the day after we did. No one except myself, Nate, and Dad knew that he was coming. When he got there the family was at Grandma and Grandpa Snow's house to have breakfast for dinner. I couldn't take the smile off of my face when I walked in. I covered it up by giving Grandma and Grandpa hugs and being so happy to be home. Then, I said are you ready for my surprise? Everyone was confused and said sure. I ran and got Donny who was waiting outside, and when I brought him in everyone screamed. Mom's reaction was the best! I was so glad that we kept it a secret. She laughed and cried and she couldn't believe it. The boys were ecstatic too. We called Danny and he came right over when he heard who was in town for Christmas. This was one of the best Christmases that our family has ever had. We pulled names this year for all of the kids. Everyone really thought about what to get each other. This was the first Christmas in years that Donny has been with us. He said, "This was the best Christmas since St. Louis!!" Meaning the best Christmas since we lived in St. Louis. On this trip I was able to take Jake and Nate to the Caldwells house for the second year in a row, its become tradition to visit them each year at Christmas. They have been a second family to me since Tawny and I had drivers ed together. This was a special visit though because Tawny received her mission call on Dec. 19th!! She will be serving in Brazil and she leaves the end of March. I am so proud of her and so grateful for her and her family! Glad we got to see them. These are just a few highlights. Hopefully we can get some pictures soon.