Whitney and Braden's Wedding

This past weekend i had the opportunity to travel up to Bountiful for one of my very Best Friends wedding. I went with Sarah and Sarany. Honestly i am not quite sure what i was expecting, but i was very excited to spend Whitney's special day with her. She was my first close friend who was married in the temple and that i was able to go through with. We left on Thursday and had some fun at her bridal shower that night, then we were invited to stay at her husbands parents house for the night. I honestly instantly fell in love with them. They were so sweet and so out going i felt so comfortable and at home with them. Friday the three of us (me, sarah, and sarany) went down to Provo to run some errands, eat at kneaders and catch up with a couple of old friends.  Then it was back to Bountiful to go through with Whitney while she took out her endowments. I don't even know how to describe how amazing this was. The spirit was so strong through the entire session and i felt just overwhelmed with happiness for her. While we spent some time together in the Temple i couldn't help but think of how proud of her i was and how ecstatic i was that she was now able to receive the blessings of the Temple. She was so prepared for this to see someone so close to me go through was just amazing. The next morning while Whitney and Braden were sealed to one another i felt the same way. How amazing is it be able to be married for time and all eternity and to really know you will be with your spouse forever! Watching the two of them be married really reminded me of just how grateful i am to have an eternal marriage with Kaden. The weekend was very spiritual for me, but i was also just a lot of fun. Friday night we decorated for the reception and then Saturday there was a luncheon and the reception. I ate way too much and got way to little sleep, but i loved every minute of it. I got to hang out with a few old friends which was so nice, and got to think of so many fun times i used to have. I even visited raintree which was a blast, we played kinect and im pretty sure i need one now. Oh and i got so play with a Sugar glider, tyler and jon have some and they are so cute! If i can convince kaden for us to have some, i will. Next weekend is an open house in the valley, and i am pretty excited for that too. I cant wait to decorate again and see the Happy Couple.

New Year, New Goals

Every year that Kaden and I have spent new years together, which has now been the past two years, we have said that we would set goals for the year together and then February comes and it has never happened and so we say lets set goals on our anniversary, then next thing you know its Christmas and we never set goals and the New Year is a week away. So i decided that this year im setting out to set some goals myself and Kaden looked them over and said they sounded good. I knew if i never wrote them down, they would never happen, so not only am i writing them down, i am posting them as well. I have divided them up into categories and tried to make goals that are high, but achievable.

Goals for 2011

Spiritual goals- attend church every Sunday (and stay all three hours), go to the temple at least once a month, read scriptures every morning, and say prayers morning and night.

Family goals- make more time for each other ( have at least two date nights a month), write Luke, support our brothers, sisters, and nieces in their activities, spend more time with Hannah and Katie.

School goals- Get straight A's next semester, get awarded an education scholarship, start substitute teaching, volunteer in elementary classrooms, finish all required classes to go into the block.

Health- work out 3+  days a week, cook dinner instead of eating out, make weekly menus, lose 10 pounds, do a good run out side at least once a week.

Places to Go- San Francisco in February, Alaska in June, Visit Jimi and Heather when school gets out, Tahoe for the 4th of July.

Our Eventful Christmas

Christmas this year was so amazing! I absolutely loved every moment of it. Kaden and i got to spend a lot of time hanging out with family and each other. A couple of days before Christmas, right in middle of the crazy rain storm, Sarah and I drove down to the valley to hang out with the sisters and cousins. Jimi, Heather, and the boys came out for the entire week of Christmas. It has been so awesome spending so much time with them this past year. Sarah and I took the boys shopping on Thursday (day before christmas eve) for some last minute essentials, and our quick run to Vegas turned into a 10 hour shop till you drop day of running all over Vegas instead. The boys weren't too thrilled, but they got baseball cards at Target and that was enough to make their day. Then Christmas eve, i got to start my day off with an fun family shoot. Seriously it was a great way to spend Christmas eve, i only wish i could have scheduled  more families while i was down. After that Kaden and I hung out around the house at Penn and Nancy's and then had dinner at my parents. It was quite the event. We didn't take very many pictures, but the house was full. 18 people all together. My family, Jimis family, Grandma, Joe and Tosha and the boys, and Max and of course Pierce, it wouldn't be a holiday dinner with out Pierce there. Then Christmas was scheduled by meals for us, for the most part. Decorate moms gift at 5:30, open presents at Penn and Nancys at 7:00, Open presents at my parents at 8:00, talk to Luke and breakfast at Penn and Nancys at 9:00, Breakfast at my parents at 10:30, Lunch at Grandma and Grandpa Leavitts at 12:00, then back to my parents for some more grazing at 3:00 then back to Penn and Nancys for even more food at 8:00 and then back to my parents to watch grown ups ( we all got Voss in our stalkings) and play some games.. I have barely ate since Christmas day, i think i am still full. While we were at my parents on Christmas we restarted an old tradition of playing nerts ( card game). I remember when i was little whenever we would get together with friends and family we would play this and i can remember a few specific times playing with Jimi and Heather at Heathers parents, and Playing at Jack and Chris' house on their dining room table. Oh i need to rewind for a moment, i forgot to mention that on Christmas eve Dad took a little trip to the emergency room after slicing his hand open with a chain saw. Do not ask how, because it is a miracle, but he didn't damage anything and just needed 12 stitches. Okay so back to Christmas, well actually now to the day after, we took the jeep and razor out for a ride with Jimi and Heather and James. Kaden and James rode in the razor until Kaden scared James half to death  jumping a couple of times. We had a lot of fun, and laughed a lot at the crazy stuff dad and Kaden were doing. Dad almost converted Heather taking her down a ridiculously steep hill, and then he almost dented in the right side of it trying to drive between two bolders that we probably shouldnt have fit through. This Christmas was not as spiritual as it should have been, but it was great spending so much time with family. We honestly all enjoyed being together so much, and really that is how it should be. Kaden and I have truely been blessed with such wonderful families!

Another Semester Down, Now on to Break!

I survived finals, woohoo! I really was worried i wouldn't. I had 45 minutes of choreographed technique to perform for my dance final, lesson plan presentations for my education classes, and a ridiculously stressful 2 hour geography exam. I made it by with 5 A's 2 B's and 1 C. Im not to proud of the C but i am just happy that i don't have to retake the class. Kaden survived this semester too, he got a few A's and a few B's and is overall pretty happy with how he did, especially since he worked full-time all semester too. Now that the semester is over we have decided to make the most of our break. That means finish painting the house, decorating for christmas, and spending time with the family. So far we have finished the Kitchen, and the downstairs bathroom. Kaden has started our master bath, but gave up for a bit because the paint was frustrating him. Kaden has also moved onto what i like to call the man cave, otherwise known as the garage. He is building a desk and shelves out there and while this is going on everything that goes in the garage has been moved in the house. He told me a week ago it would be done and back in the garage the next day but at the moment i am sitting on the couch and am surrounded by camping gear, work out equipment and paint supplies. I will just be happy if it is all out of the house by the time school starts again, which seems to be coming way to fast! I have gone to the valley twice already and am headed back tomorrow, and at home i think all i have done is work on christmas presents, shopped for christmas presents, and worked. I have really enjoyed putting together things for christmas this year, i have decided that giving gifts and receiving gifts is one of my love languages. So christmas is amazing to me. I do wish i felt like it was christmas more spiritually this year though, i am kind of lacking in that area right now i think. I have been way more into the hole gift part than focusing on christ. New goal for today, read the christmas story. I did make a goal the first of December to do something giving everyday and to find christ in my life each day. That quickly got shot down when my migraines came back and i wanted die. Fortunately they have been gone for the past week. Anyways, today i am on too spending lots of time with the family. My aunt, uncle, cousins and sisters are coming up to go to the snow. Hopefully we can get up to Brian head with the way the weather has been. It should be pretty fun though, the other night my sisters and I met them in Vegas and had a blast playing at game works and eating Serendipity. Well, here are few house pictures and stuff I've been working on, i am off to start packing. I leave for the valley tonight and don't come home till Sunday or Monday.

 Our blue messy Kitchen

 The Bathroom, we painted, and put up molding, and framed our own mirror

 Pumpkin Bread!

 Our cute little Christmas Tree, I love our tree skirt :)

Oh Dance, How I Love You!

I have been dancing for the majority of my life, and since i stopped taking private ballet until this last semester i believed i was done dancing for good. This last semester of Jazz has been amazing for me though. I have done things in dance i never thought i would be good at and have really learned a lot of technique i never had the opportunity to learn. I had an awesome teacher and a lot of fun with the girls in my class. I have kind of figured if i can progress so much more now in this one semester than i probably did in my hole 3 years of dance team that i should probably not give up on it quite yet. Last night i went to the schools Dance Concert and was in awe with it. It was so beautiful, and so moving. A few of the dances were very emotional. On top of that it was a modern dance concert, and i have never been a huge fan of modern but now my goal is to be in this concert before i graduate. ( we will see if it really happens) So next semester a modern dance class? I think so. Ah and my favorite song of the night for the dances, The Moon, by The Swell Season. I loved this song before but love it even more now. Oh yea and isn't this out fit sweet, its what you wear when you have a dance final and are required to wear tights and a leotard and its like 20 degrees outside and there is snow everywhere.

My Christmas Wish List

Well i decided to procrastinate doing Kaden's homework and make a nice little list of the things i want for Christmas instead, and a list of things i will someday ask for Christmas.

Books- I love books especially ones that are nice and that i will read, or have read and want to put on the beautiful new bookshelf Kaden and I are getting ourselves.

 there is an entire collection of these and i only have one so far ( Great Expectations) they are adorable though aren't they. They are called the penguin classics, and i absolutely love them!

 I found these at Nordstroms and i really love them too. They are just upbeat little motivational books and Nordstroms will price match them for what they cost on Amazon, and you still get the cute Nordstroms wrapping.

For the Home-

 This will be in my entry way eventually. I meant to ask my mom for it for Christmas and then i splurged on Black Friday instead. Oh and this is from my  new favorite catalog, Ballard Designs.

 I think that these are so neat and i know Kaden really likes them too! It is a mission plaque personalized for where ever your husband or son served. Pretty neat huh? We already have the Saint George Temple painting to match too.

So for our wedding we got several Kitchen Aid attachments and no kitchen aid. I know this is pretty pricey but again i should have probably asked my mom for this.
For Me-

 Isn't this adorable? And its Juicy. I seriously have not bought anything from Juicy Couture forever and I pretty much wear a headband or flower everyday, its time for a new one.

 I lost my tiffany's necklace that i got for my 18th birthday during one of our many moves this past year. It seriously made me sick and i still get upset thinking about it. This isn't quite the charm i want, i want the plain charm on the simple silver necklace, and an additional key charm to go with it.

Okay now i better get back to Kaden's homework. I am sure i will add more practical things later.

Thanksgiving Day

Today Kaden and I spent the day with both families. Let me tell you, there was never a dull  moment. We spent the morning searching out the best deals for black friday with Nancy and hanging out around their house until we went to Ron and Joyce's (Leavitt Grandparents) for a family lunch. The lunch was great and it was nice to catch up with everyone. Thank you everyone who made food, Kaden and I were slackers and didn't bring anything. After lunch we played with the girls and all visited for awhile. Then the boys all headed out for a pretty good skeet shoot.

 

Alayna's first time ever asking to sit on my lap. Such a huge step for Leavitt mankind that i had to document it.

 

This is Grace searching for Kaden while playing hide and seek. Yea that is Kaden standing behind her.

Thanksgiving with my family is when things got interesting. We started out our exciting night of thankfulness with some sweet family pictures. Now i do take pictures and they usually turn out pretty amazing, but i take no claim to how these turned out. My camera was sitting on top of a garbage can on auto with a button in my hand and timer on the camera. Hope everyone finds these as entertaining as i did though. When your family consists of 4 girls and Kaden who knows what will end up on the front of the 2010 Christmas card.

 After family pictures we headed home for some dinner. Now mom said earlier in the week that she wasn't making anything because she didn't want to have to make an entire dinner and clean it up and not be able to eat most of it. Well i am sure thankful that she changed her mind because we spent at least a half our laughing around the dinner table before any of us could get the prayer said to eat. We have a tradition in our family (one of the few) of going around the table and saying what we are thankful for. Well this year we started with Pierce, he manages to sneak his way in to most of our holiday dinners. He even said the Easter dinner when he was like three, he's in the 5th grade now, so this has been going on for quite some time. Anyways here is how thankfuls went.

Pierce- family, heavenly father, trees and shade. (can you tell he lives in Moapa Valley?)
Hannah- that mom made dinner
Dad- Some of the dogs, none of the cats.
Sarah- her opportunity to get an education. (Dad added, and online bank transfers)
Me- (mom skipped me) Hey you skipped me! Mom- i know im hungry
Kaden- He said he was thankful for me (it made my night)

Then we proceeded to laugh about all kinds of random things and here is what came of that. Pierce tried to start saying the prayer but we all were laughing to hard to get started, over who knows what so after we all lift our heads and unfold our arms trying to get our giggles out Dad goes off with- I want reverence dammit! He couldn't even keep a straight face oh my heck lets just say even though our dinner table is always entertaining tonight was especially comical.

Well I am thankful for the time this day allows me to spend with my family and for all of the fun memories that were made. Now its off to bed to wake up in 4 hours for a day full of shopping crazy awesomeness!