lot has happened in the last little while so I thought I would update all of our followers on our life. A few weeks ago The greatly anticipated day of Erin's graduation arrived! Life has been a little stressful with Erin finishing nursing school, working full time, being pregnant and us remodeling the house. As a result the graduation was a big sigh of relief. I am so proud of her.
It was a fun week. Erin's Family was in town from Delaware and stayed at our house. It was good to see everyone as we don't get to see everyone very often.
After the graduation we had a big graduation BBQ with all of the family. It was a little overwhelming to have 40 people over and our house suddenly felt very small. Luckily Erin's Amazing family helped us get ready by cleaning and putting the final touches on our recent remodel of our front room. Thanks guys! The party was great fun even though the weather didn't work out and Erin's dad got all his hair burned off by an unfortuante grill accident.

Having our front room done is huge relief! It is so nice to have a place to relax other than the bedroom and to have a place to study rather than the kitchen table. Erin and I love just sitting in our front room. Its been a process that took about 6 months but it is very satisfying now that its done.

The above two pictures were taken the day after we moved in.
These two were a bit of the mess during the whole process of taking paint and wall paper off not just the walls but the ceiling as well.
Here is the finished product. It's very satisfying to have see the work we've done.

In other news Erin and I went to the Salt Lake Scottish Festival this last weekend. I competed and Erin was an amazing support and photo and video documentor. It was a fun but the weather was terrible. I competed in our first competition but just before the second it rained so hard and got my reeds so wet that it made my bagpipes untunable so I had to stand by for the second.

This is a video of the horrible storm that hit and ruined my pipes for the competition. It was pretty funny watching everyone run around frantically.



This is the competion that I was able to participate in. We didn't place but I feel we did very well.

WE ARE HAVING A BABY!

as you can see with the little floating creature to the left, we are having a baby! we are super super excited and feel so blessed to be able to have a little baby soon. we hope all will go well with the pregnancy. we had our first appointment a few days ago! we had an ultrasound and saw the baby's heart actually beat and see the baby move! it looks like the baby is growing well. i'm was right on for my due date, December 4th. i'm super excited to have actually seen the baby. i'm having extreme fear that the baby isn't well. weird i think, having dreams that the baby miscarriage and what not. this is part of the reason it has taken me so long to write a blog about it. danny is exstatic! we found out when i was about 3 weeks pregnant, almost 4 weeks. he quickly called his family and a few days letter wrote a letter to the family. we have gotten books and already have names planned out. now we just have to get a room ready!

as for me and how i'm feeling. i've been somewhat nauseated throughout the day. i think it's bc i'm not eating as much as i need. when i'm not feeling well, i dont want to eat, and then it just gets worse and worse and worse. i did throw up in my car the other day on my way to school. made it into a taco time bag (this is why you don't clean your car). i'm super super exhausted too. i'm so tired. part of the reason is the fact that i'm in my last 5 weeks of nursing school. right now, i'm doing my preceptor, which is my internship for nursing school. i'm following an ICU nurse (who is great) at payson hospital (5 min away). she works nights, which means i following her during her night shifts. it's slow during the night and super slow in payson ICU (we are getting more intermediate care patients and med/surg patients as appose to ICU sick patients.) i feel bad to say this, but i wish i could take care of some critically sick patients. i'll take care of patients that were really sick, but when i take care of them they are better. really what this means is that they don't have all their tubes and bells and whistles hooked up to them, which is what i really want to learn about (ventilators, swan lines, ART lines, CVP pressures lines, pericardial drains, etc.) oh well. beggers can't be choosers. i'm hopeful that in my next 5 shifts, that i will get some action.

along with working nights for free at payson hospital, i am working full time at timpanogos hospital on the med/surg floor. i can tell that the ICU experience, and hearing my preceptor's voice of why she does certain things, has made me a better nurse. it's cool to see. i still have a long way to go in regards to being an amazing nurse. i have patients tell me that i'm great (i dont even ask them to say that)! but i still struggle with the overall pictures sometimes. i haven't killed anyone yet lol, but i'm just still new.

i graduate on june 6th which i'm so so so so so excited for. it's at the provo tabernacle at 2pm for all that want to come. then it's the big RN state test. you can fast and pray for me if you want! i'm sure i'll do ok...but i'm scarrred! i'm lucky bc i have a job all lined up for me!

danny is super amazing. he's making dinner for me right now! he's been so sweet with me and picking up my slack. i feel really bad, bc i'm not really fun right now. danny is a trooper and continues to help me go for walks and gets me to do things. he's been stealler at working in the yard! he's got a little garden going and has mowed the lawn and planted grass seeds. he's working so hard! our inside is so close to being able to paint/stain the floors. the great outside wheather has pulled danny's focus outside, which is looking really good. he's working hard at his job that he has at a residential treatment place for boys in orem called telos. they focus on doing triatholons, so pretty much danny goes to work to work out! he's getting the work out bug and i'm jealous bc i need that bug!


well it's time to study for school tomorrow. just wanted to give an update. thats us

Free Music

I just needed to put in a plug for an old friend. I went to high school with this guy, I guess he has moved to California and his music career has really started to take off. His stuff is really good and you can download 3 of his songs for free! If you like it you can become his fan on Facebook. Let your friends know, as I'm sure he would appreciate any advertising. The site for the free music is http://pianojake.com give it a try its free!

valentines day update

ALENTINE'S DAY!
how i hated valentines day while i was single...candy and cookies to make you fat and a real sense of loneliness that you didn't have a date. being married on valentines day is the bestest! specially when you happen to not work and your husband doesnt' work either!

the bad part to all this is that i am my father when it comes to gifts creativity and tasks! sorry dad but it's not a complement! i totally stink at thinking of creative things. i'd rather have danny shop with me for me to get him a gift so then i'll know that he'll like it or i'm so excited that i got a present, that i'll want to give it to him right now. i show my love with hugs and kissess and telling danny that i love him like a hundred times a day...ok maybe not a hundred but diffenetly at least 3 texts throughout the day (that's just text messages, not verbal). the worst part about all this is that danny show's his love with tasks and gifts. he'll clean the house or buy me a book to read, or be super creative. so to sum up our languages of love, i'm touchy and verbally lovey, and danny is gifts and tasks....i'd like tons of loving, and danny'd like visual expresions of love like gifts, cards, or tasks. this means that i stink at showing my love to danny!

i search the internet for ideas of gifts or ask my mom what i should do. something cheap...is my mom's suggustion. so what to do! i was kindof proud of myself! i went to the store on valentines day (while danny was at work) and i bought a music card, wrote sweet words on it, and then made betty crocker sugar cookies with frosting bc i know how much danny loves cookies (not homemade bc i was running out of time). i also got a cheap movie (don't worry danny knows how much i got it for). it was Footloose (filmed in payson, utah, Danny's hometown and my new hometown!)

danny got me 3 roses, representing our 3 valentines together. one yellow, for when we were just starting to date (which he brought me a yellow rose that first valentines day as well,) and then 2 red roses for last year and this year. he also gave me a big chocolate kiss and balloons. he then banged on the door and had me open it to see the surprise while danny was hidding. he also wrote a great love letter which totally means a lot due to the fact that i like hearing how much he likes me!(told ya danny was much more of a thinker inregards to gifts.)

then we made sushi and wontons, which we've done before. i, however, made it with the wrong rice and the rice didnt' stick and the sushi was very messy...but it was good and fun!

then we decided to go to the place that we had gone to the first valentine's we spent together. pudding on rice. it is located in provo and serves rice pudding of all different flavors. i think last time i got 1/2 almaratto and 1/2 rum (i think). so we drove up there (20 min drive) and it was closed! like permamently closed. like it closed down. so so sad. then we decide to go to a place by our old apartment which had italian ice! yum! don't worry, this place was closed down too! darn economy! we ended up going to A&W and got rootbeer floats.

the rest of the night does not need to be written.

on another fun day, we went to jamie and ashley (my bro in law and sis in law) house. they live in spring city (by manti). along with us there was my other bro in law and sis in law-aubrey and nathan, our good friend Rick, and ashley's bro and sis in law- brye and adam and my other sister in law Bailey. we made indian/curry food! it was so fun! i happened to make (by volunteer) a cocunut chicken curry with rice, a veggie cocunut cury with rice, naan bread, and the best ever chocolate cake, plus we brought ice cream. jamie and aubrey made more authentic indian food which was super good...i don't remember the names of them--samosos and then...a ciniman curry rice. long story short i had a blast and it was so fun and i think we need to start making it a tradition. next month possibly mexian/argentine meals. i also was pretty excited for myself that i made this all and didn't get too stressed out!

this is becoming a long post!

along with all that has happened this past week--
-i started school on tues--my last semester!
-danny sanded half of the front room's floor--there is wood dust/sawdust EVERYWHERE--but

The picture looks a little fuzzy because of all the dust! Everything is covered.

the good new's is that we are getting closer to being done!
-i'm starting my intern this semester and i think the nurse i'm following works nights..ek
-danny and i are still in bagpipe band and our next event is for st patricks day--march 14th (a sat)
-my birthday is 12 day's away--i'll be 25
-my graduation is june 6th at teh provo tabernacle
-i have been 5 day's with out caffienee...i decided that i can drink it every once in a while--but the bad headaches had to go when i withdrawaled. my next goal is to not buy soda period! wish me luck

well i'll just end saying that i don't feel bad if you didn't read this all. sorry there is no pic...i'll past the ones for our v-day sushi party. tootles!

living in a small-er town

payson, utah-- danny says it's grown tons since he was a boy but i think it's still small. here are examples to living in a small town in utah:

1. on fast and testimony sunday-- the older people in the ward let us know who's alive and who's not doing so well. they talk about people i've never heard of. i'll look at danny and he'll shake his head in awknowledgment to whatever the man is saying. when he realizes that i'm lookin at him he'll tell me that it's the sheirf son or the old stake president.

2. when i go to walmart (yes walmart is the "biggest" store around) i see people with weird mustaches, the kind that go down to their chin, and they wear tight clothes with plaid shirts on and boots. the girls have their hair so high off their head! teasing your hair is a sport down here!

3. i tell people that i live in the old Letham house. it's the family who use to live in our house. everyone knows who they are. they seem cool...Ben was the patriach in the ward and Barbra sang in the tabernacle choir. everyone has had either piano or voice lessons from Barbra. one person giving a talk in church was talking about having lessons at the Lethams house.

4. we'll be at smiths and danny will see people he knows (which probably isn't so weird due to the fact that he is from here.) then he'll tell them that we bought a house in the old Letham's house and they all seem to know where that is. danny saw the mayor at smiths.

5. i got my hair cut in payson-- they teased it! i've never teased my hair ever. i went home and pointed it out to danny and he laughed and laughed!

6. everyone talks about 4-wheeling and hunting! we were at a church activity last night and one of the gals who's hair is super high off her head said that their 4-wheeler caught on fire

7. there are multiple generations who live in our ward (i guess maybe taht's not so weird bc we have families and their kids family living in my home ward.) some people have never moved out of this ward. i was chatten with a fellow at this activity last night and he said that he's lived in this ward since 1930! and was the first missionary to be sent out from this ward!

8. people say-- "i were going down to the store." or " We was doing something..." proper english my friends! i'm not that great with english but i know when it sounds wrong!

9. Sometimes i see people at walmart or smiths with cowboy hats on!

10. there are 2 exits and 7 stop lights for this town (that i can count at this time, danny probably knows exactly how many.) 2 of the lights are new since i've known danny.

and finally

11. let me tell you a story that happened last night! i had finished a movie and went to bed with danny who was already sleeping bc he had to work in the morning. it was 1045. ten min or so had past and i hear sirens! multiple sirens. at first im' thinking, geez that accident was bad, but it kept coming closer and soon i could see the lights in my windows. crap! our neighbors house is on fire, is what i'm thinking! i look out my bedroom window and the lights and sirens are right in front of our house! Maybe it's our house! danny yells to get some real clothes on but i'm so bewildered that i didn't do anything except look at the window. danny and i run out of our bed to the family room to look. i remembered my other neighbors wife from the party last night said that her husband (who has had a stroke a few years ago) was not feeling well! crap, my neighbor had another stroke, is waht i'm thinking. as i'm looking out the window i see a fire truck, police cars, and an ambulance all drive slowly by my house! then i see tons of cars. they are all honking their horns! what in the world is goign on! i said, maybe the war is over? then danny hears someone yell from their car, GO PAYSON! danny remembers seeing in the news that payson high school was in state for wrestling! guess waht, payson wrestling team had won state champs and decided to drive all the way up main street (the street i live on) to the high school honking their horns! i was so pissed. who does that! who wakes up the whole town for high school wrestling! and to make it worst, the ambulance, fire truck, and police cars, were allll involved! i was just glad that it wasn't me who had to work at 6 oclock in the morning! man!

living in a small town is weird!

would like to take a few minutes today and express my intense dislike for wallpaper! Some of you may be saying to yourself, wallpaper is nice, and it looks pretty. I hate to be the one to inform you but your precious wallpaper has an evil side. I believe it was actually first created by the Devil himself in his attempts to make Hell a little bit nicer. Somehow this evil creation has been passed down through the generations until it ended up on my walls. Unfortunately after learning this information I am sure there will still be those of you who insist on using this vile product, for those of you with this little sense I would like to give you some guidelines that I hope you will follow.

1. Never use wallpaper!

2. If you still insist on this practice, never ever ever! did I say never, paint over your wallpaper. If you decide that wallpaper is not what you thought it would be, all I can say is I told you so, remove it before you paint over it. Failure to do this causes ugly lines on the wall and endless hours of torturous paint removal for the person who finally has the sense to do what you should have done in the first place.


3. If you wall paper, remember that it is called WALLpaper, not ceiling paper. It does not belong on the ceiling. this once again causes many hours of neck straining scraping for something that never should have been done in the first place.

4. If you still find the need to use WALLpaper on your ceiling, please refer to guideline # 2. DON'T PAINT OVER IT!!!! Remove it if you want to change it. Painted over "ceiling" paper is even worse than painted over wallpaper.


and
5. Always refer to guideline number 1 before attempting any redecorating or remodel of your home.

he holidays were a amazing, but unfortunately its back to the real world. Erin and I spent much of the holiday season working on our house. Its coming along but I think its going to continue to get worse before it gets better. The renovations started the day after we moved in. Erin woke to me in the front room tearing the carpet off the floor. She understood that was the plan eventually, however, I don't think she thought that I was going to start that soon.

But she soon caught the vision when she saw the wood floors.

Erin began to get into the tearing things up mode.

Things are progressively looking worse
but our hope is that they will soon start to look progressively better.

In addition to the blessing of a new home over the Christmas break we were blessed by an abundance of snow. I have now experienced one major drawback to owning a home.
With all of the work, Erin and I did have some time to play during the break. My sister Jamie came over and made candy with us. It was a ton of fun Jamie and Erin worked on candy,

while I taught our niece and nephew to rock out!

Even with the mess we were able to set up a cozy little family room in our basement, which was perfect for opening presents.

It was fun having family and friends over to our new house during the Christmas season.
After Christmas we took our two mentor kids rock climbing. The little girl, loved it! Apparently the little boy is terrified of heights. He got stuck half way up the wall, we sent his sister up to rescue him but finally it was the Amazing Erin who saved the day and coaxed him down. He was up there for about twenty minutes.
This is the little girl trying to help her little brother off of the wall. the experience was sad but I had to laugh a little.
Well that was our holiday. It probably seems a little boring but we had a blast!