Turkey Day in the Good ol' Springs

I love coming home for many reasons, but lately it's been because of this....

and this...

These two girls have a way of wrapping themselves around your finger and filling your heart with such happiness. It's always difficult to leave them. But the memories make the difficult days more bearable. 

We spent a week in Colorado Springs with my family and it was wonderful. There's something about a colorado fall day. The skies are deep, bright blue (a blue I've never seen anywhere else), the mountains stand against and create a clean contrast, and the air is so crisp and clean.

It was so great being with my family. We had dinner at my sisters house and I made my mother in laws butter rolls from scratch. It was such a big hit! WOOT. We spent our days shopping and talking while the guys spent it watching football and playing video games. 

Another thing I look forward to is playing board games with my mother until the late hours. Every night the three of us play sequence and rummikub until we can't think anymore. I love going home. 

Thought I'd share these pictures....

Can't wait to see them again!

Spooky NIghts

I love halloween! I just love the cute decorations, the pumpkin carving, the fun haunted houses, the cute kids in costumes, trick-or-treating, and the feelings of being spooked. I have always imagined what my home will look like with all the halloween decorations. I'm so excited! For now, being married college students, the decorations are a bare, bare minimum.

The husband and I did our tradition of carving pumpkins, eating chocolate doughnuts, sipping on warm apple cider while watching a fun spooky movie. I love this tradition. We always look forward to picking the perfect pumpkin and carving it! We really hoped for trick or treaters to come to our apartment, but no one came. I guess that's what happens when you live in an apartment. I dressed up as a blue ghost and the husband laughed at me and said I looked ridiculous, I didn't care :) I can't wait for Halloween to come next year!

The Husbands 

Mine

SPOOKY!

Thought I'd show off my wonderful nieces and nephew...

Enoch and Lily ready to trick or treat!

Carlie as tinkerbell :) 

Cute Jenna :)

This was my costume :)

A gentle reminder

Today is one of those days where I am an emotional mess, and it's bad. I had a break down about a paper I have to write. Papers are my weakness...BIG TIME. Not only that, but I have always struggled in understanding what is being taught or said and struggled in my studies ever since I can remember. I've always had to put in extra effort to complete a simple assignment and re-read things to understand it. It's been a constant battle to not feel stupid and to know that I am not stupid, that I am capable of so many things, and that I can make my dreams come true. Some days I am able to stare my problem in the face and say, "I CAN DO THIS!"

Other days...I cant. like today.

I let my problem control me rather than me control my problem. I believed the lies that I felt whispered in my mind and heart, "You can't do this. Just give up. You're stupid and not capable. It will be so much easier to not even try." At this point my problem is staring me in the face and laughing. That's when I broke down and cried for about an hour, and I mean cry. I felt powerless and alone.

Then something so wonderful happened.

I felt the love of my Heavenly Father as He spoke peace to my mind.
I felt His love burn in my bosom.
I felt His arms wrap around me.
I felt Him strengthen me.
I felt His gentle reminder that anything is possible.
I felt that I could do anything!

I needed this and He knew it.

I am reminded of the story of Moses Chapter 1:
12 And it came to pass that when Moses had said these words, behold, ^aSatan came ^btempting him, saying: Moses, son of man, worship me.

 13 And it came to pass that Moses looked upon Satan and said: Who art thou? For behold, I am a ^ason of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; and where is thy ^bglory, that I should worship thee?

 16 Get thee hence, Satan; deceive me not; for God said unto me: Thou art after the ^asimilitude of mine Only Begotten.


 18 And again Moses said: I will not cease to call upon God, I have other things to inquire of him: for his ^aglory has been upon me, wherefore I can judge between him and thee. ^bDepart hence, Satan.

I know I am a child of God, created after His image. Because of this, I can do anything. I have limitless potential. If I put my trust and faith in him, I can accomplish anything. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the most comforting and beautiful truth on this earth. I know it's true. I know my Heavenly Father loves me and is very aware of me and my breakdowns, my weaknesses, my deceptive encounters with Satan, my potential, my desires, and my fears. He created me. He is my Heavenly Father and I am His daughter. How grateful I am for His infinite love and concern and for the tender reminders as He holds me with a love that is indescribable. I know the atonement of Jesus Christ is real, because without it I would never receive the comfort He gives me. He KNOWS EXACTLY what I am going through and feeling because he felt it too. He knew all the things I would face and he knew what I would need. I love the teachings of the scriptures and the power they hold to lift me up on days like today. 

Family Pictures :)

We needed new family pictures so our wonderful friend, Erica, took them for us. She did such a great job. Here are just a few.

Crafts!

I finally got to make some crafts!!!!!!!!!!! I cant wait to graduate college cause then I can just make crafts all day long :)  If you can't tell by now I LOVE making crafts. We had a lazy, relaxing, me filled Saturday. Which was really nice because for the last 6 months we have been working every Saturday. Kyle got to watch college football all day long and I got to make two crafts for 10 dollars!! I was at Porters for, I kid you not, 2 hours deciding on ideas and supplies. It was so relaxing.

Here is my Halloween decoration that I made. It cost me about $3. Oh, and I don't mean to toot my own horn but"spooky nights" is handwritten not vinyl. This project took me some time, but I was sooo excited!!

This is my Thanksgiving decoration. This one was a bit more, $7. It's the center piece for our coffee table :) 

BOSIE. STATE.

For Kyles birthday we went to see his family in Twin Falls, Idaho. For his birthday present we all went to the Boise State game! He was so very excited!! The night before, mama b, kelsey and myself made boise shirts. It was sooo much fun!! On game day we all went to Tucanos Brazilian Grill (if you haven't gone there, go and order white fish in mango sauce) for lunch. The game was pretty fun and the atmosphere was nuts! Jordan won two upgraded tickets, kyle won a shirt, dallin was on tv and bosie state won. I would say it was a pretty eventful time :) Oh, side story. I sat in front of this really large man and every time he moved his belly rubbed against the back of my head. I felt a little like the guy off of Due Date hahaha ( if you haven't seen it I highly recommend it. Also, watch it with clear play). It was really awkward, funny and disgusting at the same time :)  enjoy the pictures!

Tucanos. YUM

Jordan won the tickets! He took Derek with him.

Our awesome homemade shirts!

The team coming out

How cool does that look!

Go BOSIE.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY!

( Oh, the guy behind me is the one whose belly kept rubbing on me)

The great outdoors!

We finally went fishing and camping this year! We were so excited because we finally got to use our camping gear we got as a wedding gift over a year ago. We drove 15 miles south of Jackson hole to a little secluded camp ground in Targhee National Forest. It was so nice to be away from electronics and work and be able to just enjoy our Heavenly Fathers creation for us. When darkness fell it was so amazing to be surrounded by stars and just sit and talk around the crackle of the fire. It was so peaceful :) To begin with we fished. This was my first time EVER! Kyle was worried I wouldn't catch a fish, but I eased his concern! As time passed by, I began to worry if Kyle would catch a fish. He did :) After a good two hours of fishing, we headed to our camp ground. We explored, collected firewood (which was awesome! I felt like I lived in the wilderness times, hahaha) roasted hot dogs, s'mores, had chips and talked. It was so nice to talk without any interruptions. I love him so much! It was a wonderful camping trip. 

It was breathtaking! 

I CAUGHT A FISH! I CAUGHT A FISH!!!!

I didn't know what to do when I caught him. I was literally freaking out cause I was so excited!

Kyle, on the other hand, was a pro at this. He remained calm and focused :)

MOOOOOOVE over!

How random.

CAMPGROUND 

How cozy! 

I love my life :)

Family Time!

At the end of August we had the opportunity to spend a week and a half with my family in Colorado. It was such a relaxing time after working our tails off in Nashville :)

THESE TWO GIRLS WERE THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY TIME:

I CANNOT GET ENOUGH OF THEM :) 

We went to Lake Isabel with my parents. It was soooo beautiful 

We then went to Bishops Castle. INCREDIBLE! There's this guy that has devoted his life on the construction of this castle for the past 43 years. There are roughly 200 stairs for each tower, a moat in progress, and two levels completed. It's free to the public and some people have even gotten married in here. He accepts donations to further his work. It's not completed yet but he has worked EVERYDAY for the past 43 years, even if its just loading rocks. Goes to show that no dream is to big. Very inspiring. He hopes to have a wall surrounding the land and castle.  He has a hunched back and his hands are swollen and worn. But it shows in his work.

 Six Flags Elitch Gardens was a blast! We had been craving roller coaster rides for over a year, so this was a nice fix :)

              

The Mind Eraser. I honestly felt like I was going to  fall out of my seat! Our feet were dangling and the restraints felt as if they weren't securely locked.

The Boomerang. Forward one way, backwards the other :)

I hated this ride but kyle LOVED it. It's called the half pipe. The skateboard rode the half pipe while the seats spun round and round. I felt like I was going to fall out!! I kept my eyes shut and kept praying that I don't die. HAHA. 

The tower of terror. No one has time to scream. 

This is the best ride cause you get SOAKED!

whether you're on the ride or not, you will be wet.

First boise game of the season

and they WON! 

It was hard leaving my family, especially my two nieces. I can't wait to be with them all again for Thanksgiving!!!!