April 2012...

Yes, these pictures were taken half a year ago.  It's embarrassing.  Until I'm caught up, I am going to post Janelle-style.

 

The weekend of Easter we spent in Delta UT for motorcycle racing.  Trace and I got to watch Steve and Matt tear up the track. 

 

They finally had their dream race. They both had a decent start and passed some people.  For the last few laps, it was just the two of them battling it out for 1st. 

 

 

They were inches away at the finish line!

Trace and Steve with matching jerseys.
 

 For the majority of April, we were house hunting.  We had a great realtor to help us find what we wanted. 

Steve, signing our offer.

Our Buddy Nixon

In the last week or so, Steve and I have really missed the Lockes living by us. We miss having the luxury of just going over to say "hi", or playing and eating out.  Now we stay at home more often.  When we are driving near where they used to live,  I want to pull in and say hi.  But it would be some strangers that would answer the door. 

Here is one big reason we miss them.

 

One night in April (I know,  these are from a while back) we got to babysit Nixon.  Steve and Nixon took to the daffodils in the backyard.

 

 

 

We sure do miss you, Lockes!  

Three Years of Wedded Bliss

This is how we roll.  I take the time to do fun leap year pictures, but we take our anniversary pictures in our car.  Haha.  I like it.  It was on our way to scuba diving lessons, so now I will always remember what our gift to each other was on our third wedding anniversary. 

After our scuba lessons, we ate at Denny's.  I know Denny's isn't romantic, but for us Pickerings it was perfect.  On our wedding night, we didn't have anything for dinner, so about 11:00 PM we walked to the Denny's across the street.  There were so many people there.  And the weird thing was that that day was the biggest day of our lives, and to all the people in the diner, it was just another Friday night.  So Denny's is one of our favorite wedding memories. 

When I pulled up one of our wedding pictures, I couldn't stop smiling.  Three years doesn't seem that long when compared to Silver and Golden Anniversaries.  But I am amazed at how much we have changed.  And how much our lives together have changed.  We now have moved from our honeymoon-ranch lifestyle to the lifestyle of poor college students.  We are taking on more responsibilities, paying more bills, and working harder.  We have both matured (somewhat... ok, not really), and we are both learning how to be better spouses to each other.

 It also amazes me how much we haven't changed.  Our love keeps growing stronger.  We still love to make inside jokes.  I'm still afraid of heights, and Steve is still a daredevil. We still have strong feelings towards cats (good or bad). 

I feel so blessed to have an eternal marriage to this handsome guy.  He is so sweet and good to me.  Even when he teases me and gives me a hard time about shopping and cats, I still can feel his love he has for me.  I am a lucky gal!

Hungry for Hunger Games

My first ever midnight movie premier!!!

I have felt left out for a while because of my lack in reading books that turn into movies BEFORE the movie comes out.  So, I don't get excited over the movies, and I don't get midnight premier tickets, and I miss out on some good parties.  I missed out on all the Harry Potter's, Twilights, Lord of the Rings, and such.  I decided to put my reading on and read all the Hunger Games books before I even see a preview.  And I did it!  And I am way happy I did!

I got four tickets for Janeen, Alex, Steve and me.  We made shirts, and we hung out on the cement for three hours to wait to get in our seats.  We found some entertainment with a group of boys trying to climb the theatre's walls.  We watched it a little after midnight.  We ate at iHop at 4 in the morning.

Thanks Neener, for my FIRST (and probably last) midnight premier!

Janeen's shirt: Boy with Bread + Girl on Fire= Great Toast

My shirt: I (shop) at the HOB

A Weekend of Prophets and Chocolate Nests

On our way to Idaho, we stopped by the Bountiful Temple to do some work.  I was in awe with the beauty of the temple and the temple grounds.  My favorite was the daffodils.

With Easter the next weekend, I wanted to put my Pinterest-time to use by trying a treat I found on it.  It was nasty.  But they looked cute.

 The nephews liked them well enough.

Conference was great!  I love listening to our Prophet and Apostles. 

Elliott just happened to be playing with our fake Liahona when there was a talk mentioning it.

 Mummsie let me braid her hair while we listened.

 

Some other fun things during the weekend:

Zumba at Jewelee's

A visit from Yavurians

Setting a mouse free from the window well

and admiring Dad's new tractor.

Meet Lindsay Israelsen

I love my nieces and nephews.  I get so excited when a sibling announces that they are having a baby.  I get even more excited when that baby arrives!

Lindsay arrived March 19th.  Uncle Steve, Aunt Neener, Alex, and I visited her later that week.  She is so beautiful.  I lover her so much!



Big brother Hyrum with his Frizbee, and big sister Riley with her and Lindsay's bows.

17 Miracles

I was excited for this movie.  I even teared up at the previews.  So, when Janeen and I wanted to watch a good church movie while I was staying in Rexburg, I jumped on the chance to watch it.  The roomates joined us naturally, so we popped up some popcorn and grabbed a roll of toilet paper for my tears.  As the movie progressed, one roomate would interupt with questions, such as, "Whose that?" "What are they doing?" and my favorite "How much do you think the midget weights?"  From there, I knew that there would be no tears.  Instead, I giggled everytime the roomate opened her mouth.  I thought it was going to be spiritual, but in wasn't.  Two weeks ago, Steve and I watched it again, and I finally got the results I expected.

Big Bikes, Little Bikes, Red Bikes, Blue Bikes

We all gathered to Spring Valley for Tesa's blessing. 

Bikes were everywhere.  It was very fun.

Leaping for Leap Day!

Steve is good to me.  He puts up with my crazies.

 I had the crazy idea to take pictures of us leaping on Leap Day.  I want to do this for the rest of our lives (or until we are too old to leap).  I thought it would be fun to see how much our family will change every four years. 
Keep in mind that Steve's knee is in bad shape.  Again, he is good to me.
I also made Steve sit down with me to write down where we were four years ago, the present, and where we think we will be in four years.  It was Steve's bedtime.  He is good to me.

Post Race

Yep, it's disgusting.  His knee swelled up and was bruised to a nice shade of purple.  The road rash is nothing compared to how his muscle felt underneath his skin.  Currently (a few months later), there is a slight knot above his knee.  Last night he asked, "Is it normal for my knee to be numb?"

It's a Race!

Steve loves his motorcycle.  And he loves his brother Matt.  He loves riding his motorcycle next to Matt when he is riding his motorcycle.  So, that is what they did in February down in St. George.  It was beautiful weather, especially after the winter season.  They were able to practice all day on Friday, then Saturday, we all showed up to watch them ride.  The first race they both did good, then the 2nd race, Steven got in a minor crash and his bike couldn't function properly.   His knee was the only body part that was sore.  Even though Steve crashed, I think he had a fun weekend.

Be My Valentine

I like Valentine's Day. It's pretty fun for me. I know every day is supposed to be like Valentine's Day, and we are to show our love all through the year. But I still think it is nice to set aside a day to celebrate love.

Here are some ways that I like to celebrate Valentine's Day (besides the "obvious"):

Sugar cookies from my sister-in-law,

a homemade steak dinner made by me and my sweetheart,
and watching Valentine's Day, our annual tradition.

We are pleased to announce a new member to our family...

...OUR TABLE!!

Haha. Okay it wasn't very funny, especially since I don't even have a PICTURE! But, Mom and Dad dropped off their old table to our apartment and it turned out to be a fun weekend with my parents.

Steve and Dad went out to the cold mountains to ski, snowboard and spend some in-law time together.

Mom and I decided that snow didn't sound that fun, so we headed to Riverwoods for some window shopping, sushi and chocolate.

We also bought matching sweaters.

We regrouped in the afternoon and browsed around Cabela's. Being my first time there, we took a lot of pictures.

Prarie Dogs

A cute cuddly bear (I love bears).