SERIOUS NEWS!

So the last few months have been crazy! I haven't blogged in FOREVER!! We don't have the internet at our house so it's really hard to be a consistent blogger, ha ha. Brian and I have some serious news....

WE'RE MOVING BACK TO LAYTON!!! YAY!!! I am so excited! So we've got to keep in touch because I'm so excited to see everyone!! And you will all love Brian, I promise!!

Give me a few more weeks and I'll update with pictures and such, until then take care and see you soon!!

Valentines Day, opening presents at the Abbey Inn in St. George Abbey Inn, hanging out with the family

Shae was showering before dinner and Billy dumped freezing cold water on her! Sorry Buggy!!





PIRATE'S ISLAND!!!

Brian nearly beat the record. He got 360 and he needed to beat 430. I'd say he did well considering he only played once!

Stryder loves shooting! We had to hit the targets on a pirate ship... let's just say we didn't win.
Not only did I beat Brian at air hockey, I beat JaQuoy as well. It will probably be the only time I ever beat JaQuoy at anything!! I'm definitely soaking in the moment!



Little Gracie and me just being pirates!


CUPS!!!




Stryder was in the middle of a group of kids trying to go down the slide on the pirate ship. I took this picture and as I looked closer I could see his little cheezer. Priceless!













Oh my! Buddah won 100 tickets in the arcade room right as we were about to leave. He pushed a button and music came on and lights started flashing. His little face was adorable!
Isn't that sweetest picture? Billy and Strydey, best friends forever!!

My brother Billy and his family came down to St. George last weekend for Shae Bugg's soccer tournament. After all her games we went to dinner at a restaraunt called "Pirate's Island". It's a pizza palace with an arcade room and cool pirate waitors! It reminded me of the pizza place in toy story that Andy goes to when Buzz and Woody get lost... and Buzz finds the green alien machine? Remember? Anyway! We had sooo much fun!! Because it was Valentines there was about an hour wait, so naturally we played arcades. Brian played basketball and almost broke the record. I killed Brian and JaQuoy at air hockey and Stryder won 100 tickets.

We were seated in an awesome dungeon cave room. Our waiter was a crazy pirate and we all got pirate hats! Shae and I tried playing the cup game, where you tap on the cup and pass it... anyway, we couldn't get enough cups for everyone to play but we sure had fun teaching the rhythm to everyone. Brian and JaQuoy decided to get a nasty fish pizza and Stryder was mad because Billy wouldn't let him drink his sprite without a lid or a straw! Sadly the night came to an end but Brian and I are really greatful we got to spend time with Billy and Quoyqee and their little family. We never get to spend time with just them so it was really fun!

Brian and I are still going strong with our New Years Resolutions... except I can't get to church on time. I don't know what my problem is! I either wake up super early and try to get ready and end up being late because I actually tried to get ready or I wake up late and don't get ready and am still late!! It's a continual work in progress! We're both sick of school but we're going to go out with a bang! Brian is working hard at trying to find a job/career after he graduates and I'm working at the Head Start here in Cedar. We're both really busy but we're always home at the same time so that's good. We've been going to the gym at 6:30am everyday. We have only missed a few times. I'm so proud! I have officially lost five pounds and am almost back to where I started when we got married! Fast food will kill you! Anyway, life is good and we still love each other!!

It's been a few weeks. I realize. I honestly would have posted had Brian and I done anything cool. But it's pretty much just been school, homework, and the gym- of course. Heaven forbid Brian misses a workout!! Ha-ha, just kidding. I don't mind his firmness. Whoa, okay enough of that!! I actually wouldn't be posting anything this week either except for the fact that I feel extremely guilty because posting once a week was part of my new years resolutions. So here I am, just blogging away! Brian and I have this amazing secret that we want to share with the world. It's called the frozen meal. If you've never heard of it you should definitely do some research! My mom gave me a cookbook that has a million frozen meal recipes. I was definitely skeptical at first. We tried a few and liked them, and then tried a few more and loved them, and now we have a whole bunch of frozen meals we love. So it goes like this, once a month we make a huge shopping list, go to the store and buy a ton of food, and cook for like six hours straight. Why would we do this you ask? BECAUSE IT'S AMAZING!! Friday night Brian and I made twenty meals. Do you know what that means? It means that we wont be cooking for the rest of the month... and you're probably confused because a normal month is around 30 days... well we go out Fridays and Saturdays. Anyway! I'm not going to lie, cooking for six hours straight probably isn't our favorite activity, but it's a great way to spend time together. I'm thinking I will post a few of our definite favorite recipes and then you can see what you think. But I'm not kidding, it will change your life. And I bet your jealous that we don't have to cook again till March!! Some of the recipes include beef and broccoli, stuffed chicken manicotti, taco soup, beef and vegetable pie, chicken enchiladas, Navajo tacos, beef stroganoff and cornflake chicken- to name a few!

Things are going great, school's getting tuff but we're hanging in there. We are still keeping up with our New Years Resolutions which is awesome and this month we are planning on going to the gym at six in the morning instead of in the afternoon. We'll see how it goes. Until next time!! Take care. - Abby and Brian

Visiting the Family

Brian and I decided to take a trip up north and visit the family. We got to my sister Mel’s house Friday around six and played Tetris all night long. Seriously, we played until about three in the morning. It was ridiculously awesome! Brian had never played the gold box Tetris game. If you aren’t familiar with Nintendo 64 gold box Tetris I would strongly suggest you get on the bandwagon. It’s arguably the greatest game of all time. Anyway, like always, John won. Every game. Not cool. I was proud of Brian though because my family has been playing that game since the beginning of time and Brian was able to hold his own!!


The Prows Family How cute is he?!

Sunday we celebrated my brothers’ birthdays. Everyone in the family was at Billy and Quoy’s house except for Ryan, Christina and there little girls, but we were able to talk to them via Skype. Ryan is attending Stanford and has all these crazy stories of all the ridiculously smart people he goes to school with. He just got home from a trip to Africa where he met with the President of DeBeers Diamonds. If you’re familiar with How to Loose a Guy in Ten Days, the DeLower’s, the couple who owns like 80% of all the diamonds in the world, are the DeBeers in real life… if that makes any sense. Anyway, we are so proud of Ryan and are hoping he’ll be able to support the whole family in the next few years!!


Going home is always fun and leaving is always so hard. There are so many things Brian and I miss out on because we live so far away. Our Nephews and Nieces are growing up so fast and it’s sad to not be part of everything. It makes me so sad to think that there are people out there that don’t have cohesive families. We are so grateful for all that we have and we know that the Lord’s hand is in our lives, we see the tender mercies he gives us everyday. Brian and I are still going strong with our New Years Resolutions, I think this is the most consistent I’ve ever been reading the scriptures and saying my morning prayers. It’s amazing how even a quick morning prayer can affect the rest of the day. Before saying something negative I am reminded of the Savior and refrain from making the comment. I am more sensitive to the spirit and I’ve noticed that while watching TV I pass on shows that were once appropriate. By small and simple things are great things brought to pass. Hopefully we can keep up with our goals, it’s hard to remember sometimes but when you’re able to it makes the biggest difference. Well, there ya have it. We love you guys and wish the best!

New Years Resolutions meets the first week of school!!

Well, the first few weeks of the New Year have come and gone. Like most couples Brian and I committed to living better. Reading our scriptures together everyday, morning and nightly prayers, family home evening, being on time to church, working out six times a week, eating better, not ditching school, you know, the usual new years resolutions. So far, we’re a hundred percent. Since not many people actually read this blog I figured we could use the space not only as a journal, but also as a space to share our testimonies to our families. Because we’ve made it a goal to pray together and read our scriptures everyday the spirit has been strong in our home. As our relationship with God has been strengthened our relationship as a couple has grown. Brian and I are definitely nervous for the future. We’ve been going to school our whole lives and in a matter of months we’ll be thrown into the real world. Brian is majoring in Economics with a minor in Finance. His plan is to work for a few years, gain experience and then continue on with his MBA. His career choices are unlimited which makes it hard to narrow down where exactly we should start looking for a job. We definitely have faith that God has a plan for us. While things seem scary now we know that if we continue growing together in the gospel, keeping the commandments and living with faith that things will turn out for us. Those who keep the commandments will prosper in the land.


Okay, change of subject. The picture above is of Brian in our living room with the couch bed pulled out. Let me explain. This Saturday, because neither of us has jobs and school just started, we ended up watching the whole first season of Bones. It was so fun, I can’t even tell you! Now, some of you might be saying, “You guys are lazy, get up and be productive!” No. We like being lazy. In fact, we love being lazy. In a few years from now we’ll look back and remember the day we hunkered on the couch for 20 straight hours and we will laugh and joke with each other about how good we had it!! So while you might think we were being lazy, we think we were spending good quality time together. Don’t tell me that if you didn’t have a job or responsibilities, lying on the couch with your best friend watching a cool TV series all day long would not sound appealing? Thought so! Well, until next time. Take care!

Christmas with the Smith's

Brian and I spent the last three weeks in Delta. Now when people hear the word Delta they automatically become bored. But being bored was not an activity we participated in. One of the Smith family traditions is to have the kids perform a skit on Christmas eve for Jacki and Alan. Brenna came up with the most hilarious skit. In a nutshell, Santa's sleigh went missing and Rudolph was framed. So Rudolph hired Jane Bond to save the day. Brian and I were the evil villains, Helga and Sven, who framed Rudolph so they could get hold of the gold covered chocolate coin market... random, but hilarious!

Another great tradition their family does each Christmas season is the twelve days. We had so much fun doorbell ditching three different families each night. It was nerve wracking because the families would be waiting to catch us, so we had to be stealth! Which, obviously is second nature for me because I'm such an athlete... Psych! Brenna, Brian's sister who has had two knee surgeries was still faster than me. I was running with all my might just falling behind... it was sad. But so fun!

Well, Christmas was wonderful and we all had so much fun playing games, rock band, DDR, ping-pong, and of course eating amazing food. It was weird to not be with my family. I missed them! But the Smith's have definitely done a great job at making me part of their family. It was hard to leave and come home, but Brian and I are excited to start a new semester. Until next time! Take care. - Abby and Brian

HALLOWEEN!!!

Dressing up for Halloween was a blast! Being together and laughing while putting on our war paint was a priceless moment. Brian went to three different stores to find some machine guns-- he's like a little boy in a grown mans body! I wanted him to tie some fabric around my arms because it just looked 'army' to me and he was telling me how the "cool" thing to do now is to tie two thinner bands around your arm instead of one thick one. He was all into the costume and making sure everything was perfect, it was the cuttest thing ever! The Westphal's invited us to their Halloween Bash which was a lot of fun. Their dog Thor was a bee and it was hilarious. He's the cutest, fatest, most cuddliest dog in the whole world!