Weekend With The Crawfords

This weekend we went to Salt Lake and got to see Brandt's sister Gen. She had knee surgery on June 16th and will be on crutches for 4 weeks. Gen is so sweet, even though she is in pain and has a hard time getting around (which is really hard when you have an adorable 2 year old running around everywhere) she still has a smile on her face! She amazes me.
This is going to be my new sister-in-law! Mallory is marrying Brandt's brother Gavin on July 19th. I had a fun time at her bridal shower. Yes, we are going to have 2 Mallorys and 1 Valerie. Maybe I will name my first born daughter Valerie just to add to the confusion.
Little Mallory (my niece) is so cute. I wish that we could see her more often. 
A tradition that we started last year and hopefully will continue each summer with the Crawfords is going to a drive in movie. I think Shah specifically asked me to put this picture on my blog. So this one's for you Shah.

Happy 5th Aniversary! I LOVE YOU BABE!

June 12, 2008

This is the B&B where we stayed on Thursday night after the Cheescake Factory.

Here is my hot wife!

The gift basket that was in our room when we got there.

Wake up the bubbley, the Martinelli's Bubbley that is.

Val loved the robes. (I hope she didn't keep 'em)

That's a big tub!

What a view from the room.

$10 bucks says I win.

What's the fire code in buildings built before 1900???

Val's favorite part, and not just because she didn't have to cook it.

Garden Fever

I have never been the garden type of person. Last year the only reason we had a garden is because my sweet momita saw all of my overgrown weeds and weeded and planted tomatoes for me when she came to visit us in Logan. This time when my mom came to visit me she once again saw my weeds and started to weed it for me. Although my mom likes to weed and garden I wanted her to relax during her visit, so I made her stop weeding and I promised her that I would weed and garden. Brandt and I planted tomatoes, cherry tomatoes (my favorite), cucumbers, and pumpkins. Later we will plant lettuce and peas. I am proud to say that gardening is definitely growing on me!

My New Hog

Well, here's my new ride. I traded the van for it straight up, and yes I do get 100 miles to the gallon on this thing, at least! Just kidding, I didn't trade anything for it. It was my boss's husband's and he couldn't get it to run. He didn't have time to mess with it so he gave it to me. After a new battery and a new fuel line it fired right up, and the best part is that it has an alarm and remote start. My car doesn't even have that! It's fun to cruise around the neighborhood on, but you probably won't see me buzzing around town too much on it since it tops out at about 30 mph going straight down hill. Oh well, it's pretty fun anyway, and for free I sure can't complain about my new toy!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Here are a few of my favorite kid quotes:

My niece Mallory:
Gentry (Mallory’s mom) says, “Mallory, say snow”
Mallory, “snow”
Gentry, “say man”
Mallory, “man”
Gentry, “say snowman”
Mallory, “see-mo”

My nephew Ethan:
When Ethan was little and I was at his house I accidentally said the word “stupid,” but before I could even finish saying it he said, “No fruit snacks for you!” I guess in his house that was the consequence for saying “bad words,” oops what was I thinking.

Ethan’s conversation with Uncle Brandt, “My dad says that video games are a waste of time. But I like wasting my time!”

On 3/26/08Ethan said, “Dad, I want to save my money that I earn for something really special.”
Mark (Ethan’s dad) said, “Oh really, what?”
Ethan, “I want to give it to Uncle Brandt and Tia Valerie so they can buy a house in Lehi and live closer to us.”

My nephew Tristan:
“Mom, how did Jesus make our bodies?”
My sister Veronika said, “Well…”
“Oh, I know. He just puts us together like Legos.”

“Mom, is Uncle James, Aunt Kristina, and ‘that other girl’ (referring to me, his aunt) coming with us?”

One of my favorite special ed. students in my practicum this semester:
After I sneezed he said, “Kazuntight! Did you know that word is Mexican?”

One day I was in the middle of teaching reading to this student and he told me, “You look stylin today!” Needless to say that made my day!

After class I said, “Good job! You earned a swedish fish!”
The student looked at the fish in his hand and then looked right into my eyes and said, “I wish you could earn a swedish fish.”

One of my ESL students when I was an ESL aid:One day out of the blue this student was leaving my class and said, “Happy March Day!” She said is so cute with her accent that even to this day I smile just thinking about it and it happened over 3 years ago.

School Highlights

In my Applied Behavior Analysis class we did a behavior change project where we had to create and present a display explaining our intervention and the results.

Out of 40 people in the special education program that displayed a poster, I won the “Best Visual Poster Presentation Award” and some extra credit points for winning! I am sure that the decision was tough for the judges, because there where many other cute posters to choose from.

Here are all my classmates in the Special Ed. Severe program!

I am just pointing like a nerd at my name on the Deans List for having an overall GPA of a 3.5 or higher. I can’t believe that I only have one more semester left of school! Time has really flown by.

Sad or Happy Day?

Today was a great day until I ate my last chocolate marshmallow egg. Every Easter I look forward to these little bundles of joy, and now I have to wait a whole year until I can buy 6 boxes of them again. It was fun while it lasted though!

Happy Armpit April!!!

When Brandt told me that he was going to do “Mustache March,” I said that he could do it under one condition, if I could do “Armpit April!” I’ve only been growing it out for 22 days but it is coming in nice and thick, don't ya think?

First Heels & Then a Dress?

I bought these shoes a few days ago and immediately fell in love with them. I plan on wearing them for Gavin and Mallory’s wedding! Now I just need to find a dress to go with these pink and green plaid shoes!!!

Birthday Wish

So it was Brandt’s Birthday yesterday and I did a few things to try to make it special for him since we weren’t able to spend as much time together as we would have liked to. Brandt had to work all day and I had a night class that night. Don’t think that I am naturally this creative. I got the idea to decorate his car from my very creative sister. Thanks Gentry!

Have you ever wondered what 80 bottles of Gatorade looks like? Well I hope this answers you question. It was Brandt’s Birthday wish come true!

March Was Stachetastic!!!

If I had to say what the best part of Mustache March was, I would definitely say it was the reaction people would give when they saw you for the first time with the Stache. So if these pictures are the first you have seen of it, have fun laughing. Hopefully this isn't the end of the monthly "let's see how dumb we can look" contests.

Fu Man Chu & Egg Fu Yung, The Perfect Easter Combination!

I sure hope that everyone had a good Easter this year! Brandt and I like every year got to dye eggs at grandma and grandpa Kasteler’s house and watch our nephews go on an Easter egg hunt, and we wouldn’t have had it any other way!!!

Mustache March Is Here

Well somehow I convinced Val to let me grow a mustache for the month of March, but she says it's the only time it will ever happen so I plan on doing as much with it as I can in the few short weeks we have left in the month. I will hopefully get some good pictures and will be able to post several times during March, so be on the lookout. I know, I'm a dork!

Babysitting!

It was my friend Rachel’s five year anniversary and she asked me to baby sit her two little boys for three days. I just wish that she would have told me that they woke up at six in the morning before I agreed to watch them. Even though most of the time I was really tired it ended up to be a fun experience because my other friend Becca (who is in the photo) volunteered to keep me company and help me baby sit. We had a good time playing with the boys and watching Anne of Green Gable while the kids were asleep!

Welcome Home Milhouse!!!

Today we finally got to pick up our car from the shop. It had been well over a month since it got hit and on top of the long wait to even get it in, they took an extra four days fixing it from what they told us it would take. Needless to say we are glad to have that over with. Finding the pony though, it was washed and vacuumed when we got it back, so it wasn't all bad.

Look, It's Sallerie

On our way home from Island Park we got to stop in Pocatello and see our friends Sally and Kelly with their cute little baby Clara. It was great to see them and catch up a little bit on what's been happening in each other's lives. Sally made us a delicious dinner and we even had a little time to play Guitar Hero. It was a lot of fun! P.S. Thanks for the brownies, they were a great snack on the ride home.

Dashing Through The Snow...

We had a blast this President's Day weekend up at the Davis' cabin in Island Park. It was Val's first time on a snow mobile, and the only time I could hear her scream was when I took her off the big jump. It was fun to be with the Davis family and just relax for a few days! I wish every weekend was 3 days (or more)!

We Finally Broke the Valentines Day Curse!!!

Well we have had our fair share of really bad Valentines Days. To the point that last year we gave up and didn’t celebrate the dang holiday. Our first Valentines Day, Brandt chipped his front tooth on a “soft” taco and that pretty much ended that night early. Our second Valentines Day, I had food poisoning (need I say more). Our third Valentines Day, we bought a new piece of furniture and not knowing we both let go of it at the same time and it fell, causing a big hole in our wall and the piece of furniture broke right in half. Later that night we went to eat at Chili’s and the waitress spilled my drink right on my crouch and it looked like I peed my pants from the front and the back.
This Valentines Day we decided to put all of that behind us and start all over. This time it ended up being the best Valentines Day ever! After I woke up in the morning and while Brandt was at work I found a poem from Brandt on my dresser and it was a beginning of a treasure hunt. Brandt had little hearts hidden all over our house, each with a gift and all the hearts had little clever and personal sayings that Brandt wrote. It was so cute, and on the backside of the heart it had a clue as to where the next gift was. I took a picture of all the gifts and hearts that he gave me. It was the sweetest surprise that Brandt has ever done for me. I am so blessed to be married to him!!! Brandt is the BEST and I love him so much!
Later that night we went out to eat and then saw the movie 27 Dresses. I gave Brandt a sugar cookie that I frosted, a really nice coat, and golf shoes because he seriously can’t stop talking about how excited he is to go every day for free, thanks to his job.

A Visit From Las Vegas!

My sister Veronika and her family came to visit us. I love my two sisters! They are some hot mamas.

Here are all 5 of my cute nephews!

A Lovely Dinner and a 4 Star Hotel Room!

At this girls night out my friends and I ate dinner at Ground Stone and then stayed at the Little America Hotel for one night. It was so much fun!!!