Okay wow.

So...it's been awhile :)
We kind of fell off the face of the blogging world for a while, but we've been doing good and we're back! I have so much to catch up on I think I will try to do it in mostly pictures and a few words so this post doesn't take 3 days to look at.

(As an excuse for not blogging in 4 months, does anyone else feel like this year has FLOWN by? Next week it's going to MAY! Seriously time is going by so fast its hard to blog.)

In the middle of January Dave & I were able to fly down to Utah for a week to visit friends and family we hadn't seen in way too long!

All my old roomates & I @ Dinner...it was so fun catching up with them and seeing how everyones lives are changing! We had so much fun when we were all living together, I have some of my best memories with them and even though I'll probably never live close to any of them I know they will be friends I'll keep in touch with forever!!
And congrats to Katie (bottom left corner) who is engaged!!! I know I was supposed to keep it a secret, but that was back in January...I'm assuming the word is out by now??? And if not, who reads this anyways? She's marrying her high school sweetheart who just got home from his mission last year, they are super cute together and I cant wait to see their babies!!!!!!! He's black (that sounds racist to point that out) BUT thats why their babies will be SO cute oh my gosh.

Anyways, it was a great night with the girls and Dave was able to have a guys night visiting different friends of his down in Utah.

The next day we drove down to Escalante where we spent most of our trip with all of Daves Family. It was SO nice to have a vacation and even though Escalante is still major culture shock for me, it has a very simple relaxing feel to it which was much needed.

Some of our cute neices Hope, Emrie & Annabelle!

Emilee's new baby boy Tyken who was only about a week old when we saw him! I gave him Rockstar Hair :)

This is Cecil, I believe he was named by Mike & Dan (Daves Brothers). I love his hair.
Sadly, we got word yesterday that he is now dead.
Dave was in the bathroom and he got a text. I don't normally just read his texts when he gets them but for some reason this one I did and I immediately regretted it. It was from Daves little brother Dan and it said "I just killed Cecil".
I just started screaming and Dave ran in asking what was wrong, and lets just say it was a pretty emotional time. Even though I never actually met him because I didnt want to go out by the chickens because it was muddy, I did watch him from the window, and I know he was super special.
R.I.P Cecil.

This is a house Daves dad was working on while we were down there. I fell in love, its so crazy looking and modern/artsy.

The whole family together. Take note of Dan (The youngest in the family). He makes me and Dave look like tiny people! I guess thats what happens when you're a 12 lb. baby.

Me & tyken cuddling :)

So I probably should have mentioned our reason for going to Utah (besides the fact that it was long overdue) Mike (Daves little brother) had his mission farewell! He's in Vera Cruz, Mexico. This was us up in provo getting some of his last minute shopping done!

Visiting with Daves grandparents (Karens parents)

Some of the brothers together :) Aren't they just good looking guys?

Taking Mike to to MTC! He was looking a little nervous but now that its been 4 months, I can report that he survived the MTC, had been in Mexico for almost a month, and absolutely loves it! We love getting his letters/e-mails and hearing about his experiences down there. We can already tell he will be, and already is, an awesome missionary.

The group at the MTC. I had never been to the MTC before so it was an exciting experience. Watching the video and listening to the talks made me want to go on a mission! Ha...I'm definintely glad I didnt though because Dave would be snatched up for sure and then I would be this lonely sad lady. Now we get to look forward to 30 years down the road when we can serve together!

On our way to the airport! The week went by way too fast, but we were so glad we were able to see everyone, and see Mike one last time for the next 2 years!

ummmmmmm so Dave likes puzzles. I tried to get him some hard ones for Christmas and this is the first/ only one he has completed. He;s super excited about it if you cant tell.

Valentines Day Chocolate covered strawberries! YUM we had a fun valentines day together:) We went to the Cheesecake factory for dinner and had a 3 hour wait. IT wasnt bad though, its not like we were in a rush (well except that we were hungry) but luckily it was in a mall so we were able to walk around and then we spent about an hour in the Sleep Number Mattress Store, testing out all the beds.
It was fun and now I want one, but they are SO expensive. I would rather buy something cooler than a mattress.

We are fans of The Bachelor. Well I am a fan, and Dave willingly watches it with me. This year, for THE MOST DRAMATIC FINALE EVER, we had a little party at my parents house with my sisters and brother in laws. I think thats supposed to be Brothers in law, but it sounds so weird to me I would rather be incorrect than sound weird. Anyways, yes, I brought roses for our own rose ceremony.


Dude scoping out who he thinks should get the final rose...

The husbands only were to give a rose to their wives if they felt they deserved one. Luckily, they all have brains and knew if they didnt give us one they would be in trouble, so we all got roses. Theres Dave asking me if I would accept this rose. YAY

Okay, so some pretty exciting things have been happening for us lately! Dave has been looking into a different job for a while and applied in February. In March he had the big test that apparently only 40% of applicants pass. And Dave passed with a 98%! HES SO AMAZING. (The picture above is the letter saying he passed with his test score)
I've been kind of confused about how to blog about it because I'm super excited about it and I want to keep everyone updated, BUT I'm also insane. (Hence the message on his letter, from me.)
I'm super paranoid and kind of crazy, so because of the nature of the job, I dont want anything on the internet anywhere about it. He actually had one of the final steps of the hiring process done today, and of course did amazing :) Now its just a long waiting game!
We will definitely be moving somewhere, we dont know where, but its gonna be HOT and we are going to be TAN therefore, we will be HOT.
wow I think ive been doing this for too long.

The test that Dave took and did amazing on was up in Seattle, so my little sister Emily came up with me and we shopped while he took his test. And we ate giant pizza. This peice was way bigger in real life, we tried to take it at an angle that showed its true size, but obviously we failed.

The very thought of this pizza makes me want to throw up. It was good at the time but it had so much cheese and just ugh, seriosuly I cant go on. EW.

This is the most random post. hahaa okay, so our ward had a Cultural Night potluck thing so everyone brought really good food from all over. People were also able to sign up to preform anything from a different culture, so Dave signed up to read a Scottish Poem and went all out by wearing his kilt. This was the first time I had ever seen him in it....Super Delicious.

Tulips are my new favorite flower, for now at least. I came home one day to find these waiting for me :) Aren't they so pretty? Dave is the sweetest thing.

This is us at the Blazers/Jazz game.....not to exciting of a picture, or game. It would have been better if I got the guy next to me in the picture. HE was a drunk lumberjack man who was HUGE and had long fingernails and kept buying beer. It made for an interesting night of me clinging to daves side. Notice daves pocket. He was just trying to fit in.

Dave is super sweet. Have I mentioned that yet? He surprised me, well kind of (Hes really bad at keeping surprises, surprises. He gets too excited and tells me) But it was still super exciting. I had never been to a broadway show before, but have always wanted to, and WICKED came to portland! We had looked into getting tickets but they were too expensive so I forgot about it. Im so glad he decided to get some anyways because it was such a fun night and the show was amazing!

This was the only picture I got of us, I got in trouble kind of as I was taking it by one of the usher guys at the show. I guess no cameras?

About 2 weeks ago Daves Parents and brother Dan were able to come up for a few days and visit! They hadnt been up here since we'd been married so it was fun to have them up to see our new little lives in Washington and show them around. PS my stomach still hurts from that pizza picture. Anyways, on the first night we took them to our favorite place to eat, this sushi bar in portland thats about 3 minutes away from our house. We LOVE this place and They had never had sushi so they were daring and came along, and ended up loving it :) That, or they were really good at faking it :)

The next morning we drove up to Port Angeles, WA and took the Ferry over to Victoria BC. Daves family had never been to Canada and Victoria is so close and so pretty, we thought it would be a fun mini trip! This us on the ferry getting close to the island....I dont know why my eyes are closed I dont even think there was a flash.

Karen & Reed at one of the many meals they treated us to up there!!! It was so much fun spending time with them and being there little tour guides through the city.

We only stayed in Victoria one night, got back late Saturday night, they came to Church with us on Easter and then we had to take them straight to the airport :( It really was a super quick trip, but we were glad we were able to see them again and cram a lot of fun into the weekend!

Last but not least, this past weekend one of my best friends Shauna got married!!!

On Thursday was her bridal shower and it was fun visiting with everyone and seeing all the fun presents she got! I am so so excited for her. We have known eachother forever, litterally. Our moms have been friends since they were pregnant with us so we've been friends since day 1. I have some really ugly old pictures of us, I wish they were on the computer so I could post some!
Anyways, her wedding day was BEAUTIFUL. Its kind of risky getting married in April in Portland, you're most likely going to have a rainy day! But they got super lucky and had a beautiful day in the 70's!

The Portland Temple
The sealing was beautiful, me and Dave both agreed it was one of the best we've been to. Everything that was said was so perfect and I was glad me and Dave were able to be there with them :)

Bridesmaids waiting for the newlyweds to come out of the temple!

Shauna & Steve!! They are so cute I cant get over it, and they were both just glowing all day!

All the girls :)

Between the sealing & the reception, Dave & I had lunch with my good friend Haley and her huasband Adam! They will have been married a year next month and it seems like just yesterday! I'm loving having all these married friends :) I remember when Dave and I first got married I was dying for one of my friends to follow, and it didnt take long, now almost all of us are married!!

Dave & I at the Reception

Decorating the Car......

Cake in the face

And all our feet! Including Craig, Shaunas older brother who wanted to join in. It was a super fun wedding weekend and so fun seeing everyone again! I love weddings and it brings back so many good memories!

Okay wow I think I'm actually done. Amazing. This was the most random post and I know we did a lot more and had a lot more going on, but I could only remember by what I had pictures of. Anyways! Hopefully I will be able to keep up so I dont have to do another monster blog post again! GOTTA GO I told dave I would be done 17 minutes ago! ahhhhhh
BYE.