I miss...

I miss Disneyland and my sisters...

One Year of Blogging!

Happy one year to my little blog! I honestly thought I would not be able to keep this blog up to date, but look at me now! This was literally the third blog I had started... The other two started out strong and slowly dwindled into nothing. I am so glad I have this blog though. I don't write in a journal so this thing is absolutely perfect. And for the few of you that do read and comment, thanks :) Cheers to another year on the blog!

Life Lately

 I have been kinda MIA lately because I have been blogging about our big trip but now I can blog about my real, normal life! Nathan and I have been putting our sports pass to good use. Go Cougs!

I've been crafting lots lately too! I made these sweet shadow box frames, and plan on doing it for each country we visit! 

I also sewed my first project with my new sewing machine! It's a baby blanket for our new niece on the way!

We've been playing some fun games with friends.

It snowed! Once...

And we got to see Jimmer play professionally! 

Life is good.

Ombre

I know, I know, I am so ADD about my hair color.  I have been brown or blonde I swear at least 3 times in the last year. So on Saturday my friend Joslin asked me if I could take her to her hair appointment and I was happy to do so.  I went with zero intentions of getting my own hair done.  It was at a wonderful womans home in Sandy and her name is Stephanie Ewell (if you live in Utah, you HAVE to go to her.) So Joslin is getting her hair done and I fell so in love with it (and in love with Stephanie, she is so awesome!) that I wanted to get it done myself! My reasoning is that I can never decide between blonde and brown, so why not best of both worlds?? And I won't have to touch up my roots every month. I love it!! 

Before, during and after:

Please ignore the poor quality of the cell phone pics!


What do you guys think??!

Puerto Princesa, Manila and the Underground River

Nathan again! To finish off our trip we took a small plane to the island of Palawan. We stayed in some awesome beach shacks and finally got to relax a bit!

 When we got tired of having too much sand in our cracks we jumped in the pool and had some yummy smoothies. The place really was paradise.

We all had fun playing in the sand and making castles. Leah was probably giggling about something here.

One of the cool little excursions on the island took us to an underground river. It is one of the new 7 wonders of the natural world.

 Inside the cave we saw some pretty cool formations. The place was filled with bats; some that were sleeping and others darting around catching bugs.

Our last night on the island we got to have a great dinner on the beach. It was such a fun way to wind down the trip.

Ali and I spent an extra day in Manila and we got to spend our anniversary there! Happy 1 year! I took her to a Philippino restaurant with traditional dancing. The last day of the trip we took a carriage tour of the old colonial Spanish town of Manila, most of which was destroyed during WWII. We have no pictures from New Years because we were pooped and went to bed at 10pm. We also got a little worried about trying to catch a cab back at 1am. We were awaken at midnight to what sounded like hundreds of car bombs going off, but eventually made it back to sleep before catching our flights for the long journey home! All in all it was a pretty amazing trip. I can definitely say it ranks in my top 4!

Christmas in the Philippines

Christmas in the Philippines certainly was one to remember! On Christmas Eve we got to go to Patsy's ward party. It was too fun.

1. Nathan and the girls in a "taxi" 2. Christmas photo op 3. At the party they had a pot full of candy that the children had to break (kind of like a pinata) 4. This little boy was so nice and would not stop talking to us!

 Then on Christmas day we had the AMAZING opportunity to go to an orphanage. 1. When we first walked in this little girl just walked up to Dani with her arms wide open wanting to be held. Later we found out that she is new to the orphanage and that her Grandmother and Mother used to tie her up because they did not want to chase her around :( 2. Some cool kids and I. 3. The kids sang and danced to some songs. 4. One of the songs was all about Christ and how he was crucified for us. We all started balling during this song.

1. This little boy was my favorite, his name is Rubin. 2. We gave all the kids star ornaments to draw on and Rubin drew me and him on his. 3. Claire and I playing with their puppy. 4. The kids loved Nathan.

On almost every ornament the children wrote something about God or Jesus. Such amazing kids!

The next day we went to lunch with Rivka's friend. Rivka went to elementary school with her in Jerusalem and they haven't seen each other since! Oh, and Claire LOVES karaoke :)

Next up, one of the seven natural wonders of the world!

Zip Lining

We had the awesome opportunity to go zip lining! I had never been before so I was way stoked.  

Here we are all getting suited up.

In the back of the truck to head to the first zip line.

The first zip line was my favorite. We got to go superman style and you legitimately felt like you were flying! It was so awesome. And Claire even went! She was so brave!

Green, Green, Green

At one point Claire got stuck (because she is so light) and someone had to go out and get her!

The whole gang (including the bishop and his first counselor, don't they look young?!)

It was so much fun! Next up, Christmas at the orphanage :)