The Nate Family

Fall Update: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Packer's Blessing

2011-12-04T15:36:00.020-05:00

The cutest baby boy I know!! We love him so much!

Packer on his blessing day. Precious.

Packer with my Dad...such handsome guys!

Looking thrilled about his cake....

Packer's blessing day pics

The Nate Clan

Gotta have a silly picture!

I love this face :)

So glad my dad got to come for the blessing!

Looking so cute in his blessing outfit!

Hanging with my boys!!

He loves his Mommy :)

Reading with Dad

He loves looking at his toys!

Getting ready to go shopping

Hanging out with mommy on her day off from work!

Packer's first time going to church at two months old

Lake Michigan with Preston's brother and his fiance!

It was cold...brrrr....

With my hubby and his brother.

Being a mom is so much fun!

Sleeping on mommy. I love snuggling with my little guy!

Sleeping on Daddy.

Trying to eat his fingers

Sleeping peacefully.

Chip likes to help me unload groceries!

Giving Mommy a smile!!

Family picture..Packer was a little tired!

Happy baby...I love his smile!

Packer with my mom, Grandma Michelle.

Playing with daddy :)

love my little guy so much...

Cutest Pumpkin ever...

Adorable!

Excited for his first Halloween!

Our kitty thinks Packer's toys are his toys

We took Packer to see Santa at the mall...he slept through it

Packer fell asleep like this in his bumbo chair...too funny

Out to dinner with my work buddies!

Splish Splash, taking a bath!

Mom, why do you keep taking all these pictures of me?

Life has been so crazy, but also a lot of fun at the Nate household this fall! We've been holding on for dear life while Andrea works full-time and juggles being a new mom, and while Preston attends law school full-time and holds down a part-time job! Andrea went back to work at the end of September, and Preston took over Packer-duties! He is a great Mr. Mom! He is also taking 15 credits of law school, taking mostly evening classes so that he can watch the boy during the day. On top of that, he is also still working at the hotel, being the night auditor every weekend, and he is in the Elder's Quorum presidency! CRAZY! We had Preston's whole family out here from Utah for Thanksgiving and for Packer's blessing. Andrea's Dad made it out here from South Dakota for the blessing as well. We had a fun Halloween taking Packer around to see all our neighbors (no candy this year buddy!). Andrea's mom came out for a visit at the end of October and got to see Packer for the first time! We're now looking forward to flying out to Utah to visit family and attend Preston's brother's wedding! We love watching our little man learn and grow everyday, nothing beats being parents. We can't believe Packer is already 5 months old! Time goes by way too fast!

Our Precious Baby Boy, Packer!

2011-09-02T14:32:00.046-04:00

Poor little guy after his 2 month shots! So traumatizing!

Our adorable baby boy! playing with daddy!

Our 1st family picture!

Our little potato bug!

Laying on daddy's chest

Our little miracle baby

Going for our 1st walk around our neighborhood

Daddy pushing the stroller

Preston and Packer. The two loves of my life.

Mommy's little cutie pie!

Little sleeping Packer

So precious!

Being so good in his bouncer while mommy makes dinner

He loves his little bear

Packer sleeping! He's such a good baby!!

We love going for walks around our neighborhood!

Such a cute little guy

Packer loves sleeping in his car seat!

Packer and Grandma Nate. Aka "Grammy Pammy"

Packer and Grandpa Nate!

He always sleeps with his arms up like this!

Now that our little guy is 2 months old....I'm finally posting pics of him! Life is so crazy with a baby, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Packer is our little miracle baby--we're so glad he's here with us and finally got to come home after being in the hospital for 5 weeks! Packer arrived early and unexpectedly on the 4th of July! He weighed only 3 lbs! I was on bedrest for severe pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure that causes pregnancy induced seizures) for a few weeks prior, and started having severe back pain. I finally gave in and called my OB who said I should go straight to the hospital. Sure enough, my blood pressure was through the roof (200/120) and my placenta had started to abrupt (tear away from the the uterine wall, causing severe internal bleeding and fetal depression). I had to have an emergency c-section. When Packer came out he wasn't breathing and didn't have a heart rate. His apgar score was 0. The Dr said there were no signs of life at birth. SO SCARY. After being resuscitated for 3 minutes Packer's heart started beating and they were able to intubate him to help him breath. WHAT A MIRACLE. I also got really sick after I delivered. I lost so much blood from the abruption that I had to have 2 blood transfusions! My preeclamsia became toxemia and caused my kidneys to start failing and I almost had to go on dialysis! To top it all off, after a week in the hospital my right leg started to hurt, and sure enough...I had a blood clot! What else could go wrong?! But it was all worth it to have our little baby boy! He's been home for a few weeks now and couldn't be doing better! He weighs 7 lbs now and is a little angel! I love being a momma! Its also been nice to have family visiting! We love our little guy so much and are so excited to have our little family all together! Life is good!
Packer and my dad--Grandpa Garry!

1st Grandkid!

The day Packer came home..Happiest day of my Life!!

Look at those cute pudgy cheeks!

Daddy so excited!

All ready for the ride home

Saying goodbye to our favorite NICU nurse, Rhonda

Packer's last day in the NICU!

Me and my baby at 2 weeks old!

Mommy and Packer Snuggling!

My two sweet boys

3 pounds of joy! can't believe he was so little!

Sitting on mommy's lap and smiling :)

Sunbathing baby trying to get rid of his jaundice

Aww..daddy and son

My last prego pic, just a few days before he was born

The night Packer was born, so tiny!!

Almost 28 WEEKS!

2011-05-21T18:07:00.024-04:00

28 weeks almost!!!

Before going to a friend's wedding!

27 weeks!

Out at lake Michigan

Grand Haven kite festival

Eating lunch at the beach

The Dutch dancers at the Tulip festival

At Tulip days festival in Holland

Top of the ferris wheel! (the one ride I snuck onto! shh!)

On another ride at the carnival

Prest was the only person on this ride! Can you see him?

Our new kitty named Chip

Cute little guy looking out the window

I caught the kids getting into the pantry! So naughty! They love to play together & are so much fun!

I can't believe I'm 28 weeks pregnant already! Time is flying by now! We've kept busy with work and school! Prest officially finished his 2nd year of law school & now has less than a year until he's a law school graduate! I'm so proud of my hubby & all his hard work! I'm still working at my nursing manager job, but am looking forward to going on maternity leave in July! It will be so nice to have 3 months off so I can be with my baby! We went out to the Tulip festival in Holland last Friday! Prest got to ride the carnival rides but I couldn't go on them since I'm preggo (except I hid my belly & snuck onto the ferris wheel!). Last weekend we also went to my friend Becky's wedding downtown & I got to hang out with all my work buddies, which was awesome! This weekend we went out to Lake Michigan for the Grand Haven Kite Festival & ate lunch at a restaurant on the beach! Too bad the water was too cold to swim in though! Well, I can't believe this baby will be here in less than 3 months now! Let the countdown begin!

Oh Boy, its a BOY!!

2011-04-07T13:40:00.015-04:00

We're excited to announce we're expecting a little BOY!!! I had an ultrasound about 2 weeks ago when we found out the little squirmer was a boy! I was trying so hard not to peek at the screen, but then turned my head for one second before the tech was going to tell us the gender, & sure enough...I saw it was a boy, plain as day!! This is officially the 1st boy in my family--I have 4 sisters & 3 step-sisters, so needless to say, my Dad is very excited!! The rest of our family is super excited too! This is the 1st grandchild & great grandchild for both our families! I took some belly shots 2 weeks ago before I had the ultrasound & my belly is starting to show! I'm now almost 23 weeks! We couldn't be happier!
My 21 week belly

21 weeks and growing!

A BABY ON THE WAY !

2011-03-13T15:15:00.035-04:00

Visiting my family in South Dakota!!

Emily, Me, Hannah, Kasia, & Caitlin!

All my little sisters! Megan, Alyssa, Emily, Hannah, Caitlin, Kasia!

Family Christmas picture!

Our dog always sneaks her way into the picture!

Me and my friend Kai at our work party!

Kai, Me, Rachel

Ready to go to the Ward Christmas Party!

Me and Prest...cheese!

My 15 week belly!

Well, now that I'm almost 19 weeks along, I guess I should announce we're PREGNANT!! My period was two weeks late, so I took a pregnancy test back on Christmas eve and it was negative! So about 2 weeks later, I was over a month late, so I took another test and it was POSITIVE! We went to the doctor and sure enough I was almost 10 weeks along! They said I must have gotten a false negative the 1st time (yes, I do know how to read a pregnancy test!). Shortly after finding out the morning sickness hit and laste up until about 17 weeks. BLEH! I told Preston that we aren't having anymore kids because I never want to be that sick again!! I'm due in AUGUST, and we find out next week what we're having! As long as the baby is healthy, and I don't end up having twins, then we'll be more than happy!! Well, I will definitely post again when we find out what we're having! UNTIL THEN!

MERRY CHRISTMAS BLOGGERS!

2010-12-26T01:01:00.006-05:00

On our cruise ship leaving NYC

My hubby in times square

Prest in beautiful central park

Our view of times square from our hotel room

Preston in Rockefeller Center

Me walking down 5th Avenue

Our view of the Brooklyn Bridge from the ferry

Me, Elmo, and Preston in Central Park

We took a ferry out to see the Statue of Liberty...amazing.

Having fun in times square

Wicked excited to go see WICKED!

Preston at WICKED

Preston a little excited for the cruise

In the dining room after eating dinner

Catching some sun

I loved getting dressed up for dinner

All ready to go to the spa for some pampering!

Preston's favorite towel critter

Double decker bus tour we took around Halifax

At Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia

Going to dinner.. just another night on the cruise

Playing mini golf on the top of the ship

Trolley tour around St. Johns

Prest at the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick
With my old roomie, Shilo, at Central Michigan football game

We got new furniture for our family room!

Another angle of our family room

Since we moved the TV to the family room, we rearranged the living room!

Another angle of the living room

New Decor for the dining room

Waiting for the Detroit Pistons game to start

Our dog is wondering what we are doing..

Cute Scrubs with her toy

I love this dog!

Halloweenie!!

My Halloween wig!

Me and Tiffany golfing

Tiffany and Mike

Preston by the golf cart

Driving the golf cart...fun stuff!

at Michigan Adventure

Preston at Michigan Adventure

I just want to start off by thanking everyone who commented on my last post. I consider myself immensely blessed to have such wonderful friends in my life. I cherish your kinds words, and am truly grateful for all the love, support, and friendship you've shown towards me through such a difficult trial. I couldn't ask for more.

Well, here are some pictures from this fall...finally. I seriously think Fall is now my favorite time of year. Fall was a little crazy as we stayed busy between working, school, golfing, church callings, going to Detroit Piston games, Michigan Adventure, working out at the Gym (I'm loving Yoga), etc, etc. I stayed quite busy at my nursing job and Prest took 15 credits of law school plus worked part-time at the hotel. I'm also just getting around to posting pictures from our New York trip and cruise from back in August. Better late than never, I suppose! It was seriously one of the best vacations I've ever been on...I totally LOVED New York City! We got to go see Wicked, a stand-up comedy show, the Statue of Liberty, stay at the Marriot hotel in Times Square, eat at Planet Hollywood, shop along 5th avenue, walk through central park, ride the subway, visit with some friends from Utah, and to top it all off we went on a fun cruise for a week to New England and Canada. Cruises are my favorite, you can do whatever you want, eat as much as you want, and its all-inclusive! We've almost cruised all the 4 corners of the U.S. now!

I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful holiday season! As Christmas rapidly approaches, I've been able to reflect on the birth and life of my savior, Jesus Christ. I know it is through Him that we find true happiness in this world. "Joy to the world, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her King." May the true meaning of Christmas be with you and yours throughout this Holiday season and the New Year. God Bless you all.

When Life Doesn't go According to Plan...

2010-12-06T17:16:00.033-05:00

I know you're all in shock that I'm actually posting something as its been several months since I've blogged. After reading this I'm sure you will forgive me though.

Back in August we found out I was pregnant. We were very very excited to be expecting our first baby (to say the least). We didn't expect to get pregnant so fast after trying for just a month!! Both our families were thrilled for their first grandchild and great grandchild to finally be on its way as its been a long time coming (we've been married for over 4 years now). I was so happy to be pregnant and to have a baby in April, the doctor even told me my due date was April 10th--my Birthday.

Well, the excitement was short lived as it all turned out to be too good to be true. When I was 12 weeks along I miscarried. Nothing could have prepared me for the loss I felt for the weeks and months following the miscarriage. I felt like someone had played a cruel joke on me, and that all my plans for the future had been thrown out the window. I was completely devastated and depressed. "How can this be happening to me?" & "What did I do wrong?" were constant thoughts going through my head. I was a huge mess of emotions--anger, sadness, guilt, frustration, confusion, etc.

I know some of you have experienced miscarriages as well, and for those who have, my heart goes out to you. I can truly empathize with your pain.

It never use to bother me when I would hear about others' pregnancies, babies, children, etc. I always felt genuinely happy and excited for others, knowing that one day I would get pregnant and have a baby of my own when I was ready. Then, it would be my turn to blog and post pictures of my cute belly, and then baby. After my miscarriage, however, it all started to bother me. How could some people be on their 2nd and 3rd pregnancies when I had yet to experience my 1st? How was that fair? I was angry and frustrated constantly.

For months I felt like there was nothing going on in my life of any importance whatsoever, definitely nothing worth blogging about. Pictures of vacations we had been on, or pictures of my dog, or posts about movies we'd seen or new furniture we bought suddenly seemed so frivolous and mundane. How could any of these things compare to being able to blog about pregnancy or the birth of a new child?

Looking back, I can now say I've experienced the ever-so talked about "grieving process" [denial, guilt, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance]. I've finally come to the point of accepting the miscarriage, and realizing that my plan is not the only plan. I know Heavenly Father has a plan for me, a plan for each of us. I know His plan doesn't always run parallel to mine. All my life I've been a "planner", and this was one time life didn't go according to plan for me. I know I need to trust in Heavenly Father and have faith in His love.

I'm so grateful for a loving, supportive family (especially husband) that has been more than kind and loving towards me during this difficult trial. Through prayers & tears I've felt myself growing closer to my Savior, Jesus Christ, knowing that he has physically experienced the same feelings and emotions I have. I know the love of Christ has truly healed my pain. I also know the pain I've felt doesn't even compare to the pain & sorrows He felt and bore for us. "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with His stripes....we are healed." (-Mosiah 14:3-5)

Gotta love Summer!

2010-07-09T20:38:00.039-04:00

On our trip to Chicago!

Preston, my uncle, and my dad in downtown chicago

Preston and my dad walking around downtown

I love Chicago

The men walking around

Me, my uncle, my dad in Chicago

Hanging out with some of my work friends

With my friend Monica before she moved to floridaa

Me and Rachel dancing

Lounging on the couch watching tv

Scrubs and Preston's arm!

Preston lounging around!

We're enjoying a great summer at the Nate household! Preston loves his summer job at the Marriot hotel and I love that he's not stressed about law school! We've been able to see and do a lot of new things and just relax and have fun! We've been going to the beach almost every weekend! There are so many beaches along Lake Michigan's shoreline that we can go to a different one every time! My dad came to visit us in June! It was fun to see him and show him our new house and dog! He flew into Chicago so we went down there to pick him up and got to hang out with my uncle that lives there! Of course we had to go out to eat some famous Chicago-style deep dish pizza...it was so good! Chicago is only 3 hours from here, so I'm already planning a trip back! We also showed my dad around Grand Rapids, went to museums, to meijer gardens (I loved their Chihuly exhibit...check out all the cool glass sculptures!), and of course we had to play a round of golf (my dad's favorite thing to do!) This is definitely my favorite time of year here, its so green and beautiful in Michigan during the summer! We hope all our friends & families are having a great summer too!

With my dad at mejier gardens chihuly exhibit

Preston and the beaver...oops I was focused too much on the beaver and cut preston out!

We looked so little next to the big horse statue

I think this was my favorite glass sculpture of the exhibit

This sculpture was a close 2nd place

Preston being silly

So pretty, I loved the Chihuly exhibit!

My dad loved our dog (he has one just like her)!

Playing fetch on the beach

We love Lake Michigan!

Look at those cute little backsides!

His is my favorite backside though ;)

Having fun in the water

My sexy hubby... woot woot!

Running along the beach

Having lots of fun

Preston loves to dress scrubs in his clothes!

A day at the beach!

2010-05-31T19:05:00.028-04:00

We had a fun weekend at the beach out on Lake Michigan! It was the first time our dog has ever been out to the beach to swim & she did such a good job! We found a dog beach where you can let your dog off their leash & they can run around & swim freely! Scrubs did so good for it being her first time swimming! I know I blog so much about our dog, but she is pretty much like our kid, so I just can't help myself!! Well, we are staying busy up in Michigan! Preston finished his first year of law school in April! He just got a job last month working for the Marriot Hotel group! He is enjoying having the summer off from law school! He is also staying busy with his 2 church callings--teaching primary & being in charge of the 11 year old boy scouts! I'm staying busy with both of my nursing jobs! In addition to my full-time job of being the nursing supervisor of a 40 bed assisted living facility, I have also taken on a PRN job working the floor at a rehab/nursing facility near our home. I've also been busy with my two church callings--playing the piano in primary, & being the visiting teaching coordinator for our ward! We have enjoyed doing yard work this spring --planting flowers, fertilizing, mowing the law,etc! We look forward to summer & spending more days at the beach!!! We hope everyone is awesome & enjoying this beautiful time of year!
Prest in his boy scout uniform.

Taking pics while we wait at the movie theatre!

My husband with his little mistress.

Kisses in the car on our way to Lansing.

Eating at the top of the Amway Grand Hotel at the Cygnus restaurant for my B-day.

Preston driving the golf cart around the course! We love our new clubs!

The follow-through of my beautiful golf swing!

Concentrating hard on his shot.

Preston loves slobbery dog kisses

Scrubs loves it when I scratch her belly!

Winter Pictures!

2010-03-26T23:10:00.051-04:00

Preston being silly listening to his rap music!

Excited to open our "big" Christmas presents!!

Yeah!!...New Golf Clubs!!!!!!

With Preston's family, and extended family, on our Christmas Vacation in Utah!

Christmas toe socks!

Preston wearing the new sweatshirt I gave him.

Playing pool at Preston's parents house....

Sinking another shot! :)

Say Cheese!

Christmas Kisses! I love Preston Udell Nate.

On Christmas Eve! Preston had a black eye from playing church basketball, but we told everyone it was because I punched him for leaving the toilet seat up again...ha!

This was probably the last time I held our puppy....

Our cute puppy...she' getting so big!

Doing what I do best...talking on my phone!

Out to dinner with work friends! They're a fun bunch!

My new kitchen table!

New Kitchen table....again...

Okay, so I'm obsessed with our new table!

Preston and little Scrubs....

They are such good buds!

She loves her tennis ball!

Scrubs chewing on Preston's shoe!

Excited about getting Beauty & the Beast tickets!

Stuff I got from Preston for Valentines Day.

At Beauty & the Beast the musical!

Our puppy playing in the snow! She is such a sweet puppy.

Scrubs learned how to shake! I got so excited!

Reading a book about puppy/dog training...I'm really not sure if its helping or not.....

Preston on his 26th Birthday! He's an old man now...hehe...

Just hanging out at home!

Preston on our daytrip to Holland!

In downtown Holland (no, not the country, just a cute Michigan town!).

Prest holding Scrubs for the last time...she's too big now...

All bundled up for another cold winter day!

Sweet kisses from my sexy hubby!

I'm finally posting winter pictures now that its spring! Oh well, better late than never, right?! We survived our 1st Michigan winter, all the crazy snow storms, & having a foot of snow on the ground for months on end! It finally all melted this week & its so nice to be able to see the grass in our yard again! It was nice out today so we actually went golfing with our new golf clubs! It was fun to play outside for a change! We were fortunate enough to be able to fly out to Utah to visit family for Christmas vacation! It was a lot of fun! Preston is finishing up his 2nd semester of Law school! He will be taking classes this summer semester so can finish earlier=)! My nursing supervisor job is going really well! I've been quite busy this month with doing all of my employees annual performance evaluation interviews! It was a little scary at first because I was scared of telling people their weaknesses, but I think I'm getting the hang of it & I've realized its okay as long as I focus on their strengths! Preston celebrated his 26th birthday in January! Of course I've been having to make fun of him for being such an old fart! I guess its pretty mean of me since I'm 23 & just a few years behind him! We had a fun Valentines Day & Preston gave me tickets to the Broadway Beauty & the Beast in Chicago! It was amazing! I also got a new kitchen table that fills out our dining room better & even seats 6 people & can expand to fit 8! It also has the cool barstool chairs that are soooo...nice! Our puppy is getting so big & she is just as fun & cute as ever! We've been taking her to puppy classes & she has learned a lot of new tricks! We bought a Gym membership & have taken up swimming there! Its so funny because we even got speedos, goggles, & swimming caps so we look all professional....haha!! We hope all our friends & family are doing great! Come visit us in Michigan this summer!!!!

Tis the season....for puppy love.

2009-12-22T18:55:00.023-05:00

If you can't tell by all the pics, we are pretty much obsessed with our puppy! She's so cute, & getting so big, I can barely pick her up anymore! She loves to chase after the neighbor kids & eat anything she can get her mouth around! She really loves her baths! We've taught her how to "sit", how to NOT BITE, & how to pee on her puppy training pads when she's in the house, instead of all over my beautiful carpet! The first few weeks I had to follow her around the house with a bottle of Resolve! We are still loving the house, yard, garage, & not having people living above or below us anymore! So, the snow has officially came to Michigan, & there is A LOT of it! Everyone tells me it stays all winter through April without ever melting! AHHH!!! Well, Preston loved his first semester of law school & did very well!! My nursing job is still plugging along! Nursing management is a lot differnt than being a floor nurse, so I'm learning a lot! Preston's fam flew out & stayed at our house for a week for Thanksgiving, which was awesome! Now we're back in Utah for a week for Christmas vacation! Its nice to have a break from work & school!! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!!!!!

I think its time I update our blog....

2009-10-31T14:44:00.004-04:00

Me and the newest member of our family!!!
Our new yellow lab puppy, Scrubs! She's so playful!
Awww, cute puppy!
Scrubs sleeping!
Me and my little baby girl! Such a sweet puppy!
Preston and Scrubs
Scrubs sleeping on Preston's legs! She's adorable.
Scrubs playing with her toys
Her cute little puppy face!
Preston playing on the floor with the puppy
Mowing our lawn the 1st time with our new mower!

My 1st day of work at my new nurse manager job!
All excited just before running the Michigan 5K

Prest all tuckered out after running the 5K
After running the 5K, with our medals
Me and Jenn at bowling before we left for Michigan
Preston and Jake at the Bowling alley
Preston driving our big moving truck!
With our moving truck on our way to Michigan!
Me and Prest at Seven Peaks over the summer
Me and my little sister golfing in Seattle!
My little sister Alyssa and little cousin Marcus
With some of my sisters in Seattle!
Me and my Dad on the family hike in Mt. Baker, Wa
Me and Prest on the hike
Preston in West Yellowstone
4 wheelin baby! Me and Preston on our double 4 wheeler!
Preston going on a bike ride
I didn't crash or get injured on the 4 wheelers this year!!!
Preston drinking a coke & white water rafting!
Preston with his dad and sister
Me and Preston at Mesa Falls
Me at Mesa Falls
Peace baby.....silly preston
Everyone roasting S'mores (except me!)
We did a little biking on our trips
Prest on the dock
Me and Preston at the cabin with his funny long johns on!
Preston bought some funny shorts that said "going commando"!
Me and Steph shopping in West Yellowstone

Well, I haven't blogged in what seems like forever!!! We have been in Michigan for 2 months already! We are LOVING it! We love our new house, its a lot of fun, and I think we are finally all unpacked and have everything decorated! Its so beautiful and green here and we are right on the Grand River and right by beautiful Lake Michigan! We love having new things to do and new places to explore! This area is huge and we're always getting lost, thank goodness for our GPS! This area is about the size of Salt lake valley and Utah valley combined!(for those of you in Utah), but we don't have the mountains as a reference point anymore, so I never know what direction I'm going! Another exciting thing...we just got a new little puppy! She's a yellow lab and her name is Scrubs! She's so cute and a lot of fun! So far I am loving my job as a nurse manager! Its nice to finally have a nursing job where I don't have to work nights, weekends, or holidays! Me and Prest are finally on the same schedule! Preston is loving Law school and is doing great and studies all the time! We ran in a 5K together a few weekends ago and it was a lot of fun! We both got good times! Our goal was to get under 30 minutes! I posted some pics of our August vacations when we went up to Seattle for my family reunion for my grandparents 50th anniversary, and from when we went to Island Park, Idaho with Preston's family! Well, we hope everyone is doing well! I promise I will try to start blogging more frequently! Until next time!!

More Summer Happenings

2009-08-12T00:38:00.060-04:00

This would have been good pic of me, except for the guy in the background (my bro in-law)! Hooray for lots of boating!!!

Preston with his dad and brother on the boat.

Prest thought it was funny my outfit matched our car

doing what I do best on the boat.....eating! haha!

Jord and Prest...U of U vs. BYU!

Me and my sweetie

Preston Chillin on the boat

Andrea plowing through the water on her wakeboard

Lots of Boarding!

Preston boarding

Preston being crazy jumping off the tube!

Me and Prest on the tube

Kisses!

Preston trying to stand on it!

We love boating so much!!!

Me and some my old co-workers at Sarah's Baby shower! Courtney, Sarah, Alisa, Andrea

Doing the YMCA dance!

Me, Sarah, and Dean (our old manager at the laundry room)

Pics from our fun camping trip! Preston being a dork!

My cutie chilling at the campsite!

Building a fire! What a good little eagle scout!

At our campsite

Preston roasting marshmallows!

Pitching the tent!

A deer walked right up to us!

Yeah for KFC!

Excited for some yummy s'mores!

This is how I chop wood......

.....and this is how Preston does it!

Our good suv

Pics from our Michigan trip!
Prest by Lake Michigan!

Playing in the sand!

Lake Michigan = Huge! and very Windy!

Andrea + Preston =)

Preston trying to be a rapper!

Prest with the astronaut statue!

Gerald R. Ford Museum. Michigan is all about FORD.

Preston posing for a pic!

In front of the fountain

Walking around Grand Rapids!

They have a lot of cute churches in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

We ate at some yummy restaurants!!

My cutie in our hotel room!

Downtown Grand Rapids

Our New House!

2009-07-28T00:22:00.013-04:00

We bought a house! Only after much negotiation, several offers, and 3 houses later though! This one was our favorite! We didn't know buying a house was such a crazy process! So, we had to post some pics of it (previous owners furniture). We don't know what we'll do with all the space, it has 4 bedrooms and 2 family rooms! We love it and are excited to have a place of our own! We're moving to Michigan in a month! We can't believe its coming up so soon! We'll definitely miss everyone. =(

Summer Lovin

2009-06-30T00:28:00.037-04:00

Working on my boating tan!

My cutie driving the boat!

Summer is here and that means boating! YEAH!

Prest showing off his guns.

My mad wakeboarding skills! Concentrating hard!

I got up on my first try! Wahoo!

Preston kneeboarding!

Preston and Jordan on the tube!

Hanging at the Orem Owlz game! We love baseball!!

Prest making funny faces!

Prest on the drums!

Preston loves the drums and is amazing on them!

On the airplan ride at Lagoon!

Kisses on the roller coaster!

Celebrating our 3 yr anniversary at Lagoon!

Preston's favorite roller coaster, Wicked!

Hanging out at Lagoon
On the tilt-a-whirl
My favorite roller coaster, the Spider.

Preston on the swings!

Playing Rock Band at the Nates

Me and Jenn at the Rodeo!

Preston at the Rodeo

Hanging out at home
We're excited that its finally summer and actually warm outside! We love the fact that we're done with school and both able to work a lot and play hard! We celebrated our 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY on JUNE 3rd! We went to Lagoon and then out to dinner in Salt Lake! We got to hang out with our friends, Jake and Jenn, a couple of times already! Last week we went to the Pleasant Grove Rodeo with them! Rodeos are hilarious, I love em! We also got to hang out with our friends the Eberts, Brian and Katherine, up at there place in Salt Lake! It was great to finally see them again! We just got back from our ward barbecue and the Orem Owlz baseball game! Both were fun, except the Owlz got killed! We love baseball! We got to go boating last week, which felt so good! I'm glad were able to board and tube! I did really good on the wakeboard! I got up on my first try, jumped the wake several times, and only had to scream "cut" after what seemed like forever because my arms were sooo tired! It was FUN! So, most all our friends and family already know this, but we're officially moving to MICHIGAN at the end of the summer! Preston had to decide which law school he wanted to attend by the end of June, and so its been decided! We're going there next month to look for jobs, and HOUSES! Wahoo! We'll miss our family and friends in Utah, but are excited to be starting a new chapter of our life! Michigan, here we come!

Vegas, Kites, & Guitars!

2009-05-24T22:46:00.047-04:00

Preston showing his new beard!
My cutie with his guitar...in our living room.Jammin away!I had to post some pics of my cute husband because he's so excited about growing a beard now that he's graduated from BYU and doesn't have to abide by their grooming standard! He is really catching on to the guitar now, he loves it so much and is playing ALL the time! I must admit, he's getting really good!! He can play almost anything now! Its fun because he plays the guitar and I either sing or play the piano along with him! We can record songs on my keyboard and have lots of fun during our little recording sessions!! Last week it was really windy so we bought some kites at Walgreens-I got Dora the explorer and Prest got Spongebob.We went to the school by our house and flew them!

My Dora the explorer kite!Watching our favorite show, King of Queens!Prest running with his kite!Concentrating hard to get his kite up Flying my kite!I went to Las Vegas with my friend Lindsay the first weekend in May! She's a fellow registered nurse I use to work with! We stayed at Circus Circus and got to see a lot of cool circus acts! We went to an amusement park that's located inside the hotel and had fun on all the rides! The first night we went to a variety show and saw some amazing acrobats, gymnasts, magic acts, etc. The next night we got to see Donny and Marie Osmond perform at the Flamingo Hotel and they were awesome! They put on a great show, I was quite impressed! We also went to a funny hypnotist show and were grateful it didn't get too scandalous! We did a lot of shopping and walking! It was 100 degrees, I almost died! We went to the top of the Stratosphere, but were too sick from the amusement park to ride any of the rides there! We walked through all the big hotels, and ate at some nice restaurants! I Love Las Vegas! It was fun because I got to take my new SUV on its first road trip, and we even stopped at In & Out Burger in St. George, I love their burgers! It was a such fun weekend, even though I missed my hubster!

I got to see Donny & Marie perform in Vegas!Donny's actual Technicolored Dreamcoat!Out at the pool in Vegas! 100 degrees!Me and Lindsay at the Vegas Fountains Me and the wax statue of Whoopie!
At Caesar's Palace Hotel Me and Lindsay at the top of the Stratosphere The beautiful Paris Hotel My big winnings at the slot machines!...haha The view of the strip from top of the Stratosphere With the Flamingos at the Flamingo hotel. The hotel I stayed at in Vegas, Circus Circus!Eating at In-n-Out Burger in St. George... so yummy!

GRADUATION!

2009-04-24T19:42:00.044-04:00

We're now BYU Alumni! We both graduated!I got a BS in Family Life, & Prest a double major BA in Poli Sci and Russian! It feels amazing to have accomplished something & see our hard work pay off! It was good to see our fams, I'm so glad my dad got to come! We got to eat at Olive Garden & McGrath's, two of my favs! I wore heels & almost tripped walking off the stage! You'd have thought I'd learned better, since the same thing happened at my nursing school graduation 2 yrs ago! We were also able to visit my big sis on temple square where she's serving a mission. It was great! Prest's fam had a fun graduation party for us! It was fun to see everyone! Thanks to everyone for your love & support, & the gifts! We had snow on April 16th! I thought we'd be graduating in the snow! So, I'm an old fart now! I'm officially 23! I had a fun b-day, Prest gave me some shirts, Twilight on blueray & the soundtrack, & $100 gift certificate to a day spa! He took me out to eat at Chef's Table, it was so good! My fam sent me some cute shirts & jewelry, & Prest's fam gave me a new purse with matching flip flops! Now we're so excited for vacations, boating (wakeboarding!), our tennis league, & to work, play, & have fun this summer!
In our kitchen on my b-day, April 10th, with gifts from Prest!
Everyone at temple square
Visiting my big sis on her mission!
The graduation cake mom made us!
Preston and his mom
In our den studying hard for finals!
Preston and his dad
At our graduation party BBQ
Being silly
Opening a graduation present
Still trying to open it.....
A marble Christus statue, so beautiful!
Preston and Jordan
What the heck?! Snow on April 16th?!

Its Been a While!

2009-03-19T23:42:00.039-04:00

We bought a New SUV! A burnt orange Ford Edge!

One of our Skiing weekends! We love the slopes!

My Cutie on his guitar!

In our Sunday Best!

Being silly at home!

Excited about our new wheels! I love it!

Preston's 25th Birthday and his snowboarding cake!Its been over a month since I've blogged! I'm such a slacker! I've been busy with full-time work & school, intramural basketball, skiing on the weekends, spin class at the gym, & BYU b-ball games! We've had a fun winter though! Preston turned the big 25 in January! He's so old now that I keep teasing him! I surprised him with a new blackberry storm cell phone & took him on a B-day trip to DISNEYLAND! What a nice wifey I am! We had a blast on all the rides! We bought our 1st suv in January! A brand new Ford Edge! I've wanted one ever since they came out! Its a unique burnt orangish copper color, with beautiful cream colored leather on the inside! Also, the 4-wheel drive is wonderful!! I love it! The best thing is that I still have my convertible for summer!(since we traded Prest's car). So, I started a new job in January! I work at a nice new facility!I work day shifts now, and 12 hour shifts, so 3 shifts a week is full time! I love it! In February we found out Preston got into LAW SCHOOL! YEAH! Congrats Baby! Life is good!

OUR DISNEYLAND PICTURES!!

Preston's big head and the rocket ships!

In the hotel room excited for Disneyland!!

Preston and Buzz at the Toy Story ride!

My little character friend Winnie the Pooh!

Preston and his new found Disneyland friend!

Caught in Toon Town dog pound!

Preston in a little car in toon town!

About to go on the Pirates of the Carribbean Ride!

Preston and captain Jack Sparrow!

On my favorite ride the tea cups!

Preston Chilling on the Tea Cups!

Cotton Candy is the best treat!

Honey we Shrunk the Audience in 3D glasses!

My funny little Minnie Mouse hat! Cheese!

Preston on Main Street USA at Disneyland

I let Prest take a pic in my new glasses! I look nerdy!
Preston just doing his rap thang!

Studying hard! Or hardly studying?!

Mexican Cruise Pix

2009-01-30T12:55:00.059-05:00

I'm FINALLY getting around to posting pictures from our Cruise back in November! I'm so behind in my blogging! We cruised Monday to Saturday along the Mexican Baja Peninsula and it was absolutely gorgeous! It was sunny and 90 degrees! A perfect relaxation from work and school! We took Carnival Cruise line again because we'd had a great experience with them on our Carribean Cruise! The only bad part of the trip was that I got sick on the airplane, but felt great as soon as we landed in San Diego! I have family down there so we got to see my aunt, uncle and cousins, and hang out with them a little bit, too! It was nice just to lay out on the decks of the ship catching some rays and reading our books! No homework or talk of school or work was allowed! Its fun to dress up every night to eat in the fancy dining rooms! We even made friends with the couple at our table who were on their honeymoon! She was a nurse and he was a paramedic so we had a lot in common! Preston was excited that the waitress was from Russia so he could speak in Russian with her! We loved all the towel critters the crew made for us every night while we were at dinner. We had fun on our off shore excursions and took city tours, went to the blow hole in Ensenada, went snorkeling in Cabo San Lucas at Paradise Bay and saw a lot of beautiful fish and saw a giant sword fish, and lots of seal and other wildlife on our small boat tour of land's end, also called "Los Arcos" or simply "the arches!" We got to eat lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in Cabo! We actually ate REAL Mexican food at some of the other ports, which was much different and much better than Americanized Mexican food! SO good and spicy!! We played mini golf on the top sports deck on the cruise ship and I totally beat Preston!We even broke down and got airbrush tattoos again! We LOVE cruises! We're planning on taking another one this year, but probably to a different area of the world! We love traveling together and seeing new places!

Some Holiday Cheer!!!!

2009-01-07T03:48:00.030-05:00

We hope everyone had a WONDERFUL Christmas and Happy New Year! We had 2 weeks off from school and spent the first week with my fam in North Dakota. We went ice skating, sledding, shopping, and to a few movies with them, Bedtime Stories and Yes Man, which were both really good! We went to my Mom's on Christmas morning and she gave us some great decorative items for our home, clothes, and some bath stuff. We spent the rest of the day with Dad and Judie. They gave me some really nice jewelry,perfume, religious CDs, a digital picture frame, and of course...money!!!! All sets of Grandparents sent good sums of money this year, too, so we feel very blessed! Even Judie's family sent us stuff this year...we were like, "who's Grandma and Grandpa Pearson?" Haha. So that was really nice of them!! Preston gave me a lot of clothes from Aeropostale, some fun scrapbooking stuff, a couple new pairs of boots (yay!), some new ski gear, and best of all...A New Keyboard! He was really creative in the way he gave it to me since he couldn't take it up there! I gave him a lot of clothes for winter, and.....A New Guitar!! So we've been having so much fun recording some songs together, since the keyboard can do a lot of cool stuff like that! We had to come back to Utah for the 2nd week of break, since we both had to go back to work (bummer), but we were able to spend New Years with Preston's fam, which was great! We saw a few movies with them as well, 7 Pounds and Valkyrie, I highly recommend both! We had Christmas with them on New Years eve! They got me some jewelry, a jewelry box (a very nice one!), a statue of the Salt Lake Temple, new bed pillows, pajamas, a genealogy poster chart, food storage stuff, and best of all.......a spanking nice GPS! We love it! So, the holidays were great this year! Sometimes its fun to get 3 Christmases, but its also sad because it reminds me my parents are divorced. Before Christmas, we went up to Salt Lake to temple square, with Preston's fam, and saw all the lights and ate at The Roof Restaurant, a Nate family tradition! So, that's what we've been up to! Hope all is well with all our friends and family! We love you all! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Fun Fall Pics

2008-12-12T17:35:00.000-05:00

I know its been forever since we've posted something! Sorry!
Its been a really busy, but fun fall for us! I've been working 40+ hours a week, going to BYU full-time, juggling a calling, traveling, etc, etc. I found out if I took full-time classes I would qualify for a full tuition scholarship, so I've been going to campus for four classes a week this whole semester, plus working full-time, and Preston has been just as busy. We're still teaching gospel doctrine in the student ward and love it! We took a fun cruise to Mexico for a week in November (I will posts some pics, I promise)! It was awesome! We also went to a couple concerts! Me and my sister went to the Kelly Clarkson and Reba McIntire concert and had a blast! Preston surprised me with tickets to the RockBand Live concert which featured 3 great bands: Dashboard Confessional, Plain White T's, and Panic at the Disco! Thanks babe, you're the best hubby!I was so excited that me and my sister and our cousin, Brit, all got to hang out together...finally!! For Halloween, I went all out with our costumes and we had a blast at a Halloween costume party, and even won the award for best costumes! I was a 60's GoGo girl, with a fake wig, fake eye lashes, leggings, the whole works! Preston was my disco king, with an afro and all! I also wore my costume to work that whole night and scared all my patients! We also had a lot of fun going to the Haunted Forest in American Fork with our friends, the Saffords, in October!! For those of you who don't know, I scare soooo easily, so it was quite the adventure...poor Preston! We finally got together with the Jennes, and had them over to our place for a little Guitar Hero/Rockband party! It was fun! Little Sammy was so cute with the microphone! Me and Preston are crazy about those games and play them all the time! My big sister went through the temple for the first time in November (she's now on her mission!), so that was a good experience, and it was great to see my family when they came down for it! I will get to posting some cruise pics soon!

I've been Tagged.

2008-11-06T16:55:00.001-05:00

Thanks to my friend, Aubree, I've been tagged! For those of you who don't know, Aubree and I were good friends while growing up together in Kennewick, WA. We had some crazy times together, like the time we were 15, and my parents were out of town, and we drove their suburban, without licenses, to a movie together, I believe the movie was the Wedding Planner. My parents never found out, so its all good, unless of course they're reading my blog right now! HAHA! But, we also had a lot of good times together, like going to girl's camp, stake dances, chasing boys together, etc....Now Aubree is married, too, and lives in Idaho with her hubby and baby boy.

8 favorite TV shows...
1.)One Tree Hill
2.)Gossip Girl
3.)Smallville
4.)House
5.) ER
6.) American Idol
7.)So you think you can Dance
8.) Gilmore Girls

8 things I did yesterday:
1.) Worked a night shift~did a few blood draws, hung some IV's, passed medications, flushed PEG tubes, did 5 straight catheterizations for Urinary analysis, did oodles of charting, gave a few injections, and so much more! All in a Nurse's night of work.
2.) Finished writing a 4 page paper for my childhood social development class
3.) Went to my SFL 340 class, family meal management, on campus and cooked some yummy food
4.)Worked out at Gold's Gym~Did the elliptical machine, ab circuit, and even went to Yoga class
5.) Went Tanning~I can't be white on a beach in Cabo next week, now can I?????
6.) Went to a Relief Society activity, learned about cooking for the holidays, and got some great recipe ideas.
7.) Shopped at the mall for cruise attire! Got some new swimsuits, shorts, tanks, and flip flops!
8.) Took a nap! After working and staying up all night, plus my overly scheduled day, I had to squeeze in a nap somewhere! I even had some time left over to squeeze in some quality time with my sweet hubby! =)

8 Things I look forward to:
1.) Cuddling with my husband
2.) Our 6 day cruise next week through Mexico!
3.) Christmas with my family this year!
4.)Going to New York, New York--this Spring!!! Wahoo!
5.) Going back to Europe with Preston, hopefully next year! Maybe Paris this time???!!
6.)Having a family with Preston someday. We aren't planning on trying for a few more years, but its still something I'm looking forward to.
7.)Saving a patient's life.
8.) Riding around in my red convertible, with the top off of course, on a beautiful hot and sunny Summer day! One of my favorite things to do!

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1.) Tucanos
2.) Bajios
3.)Market street grill
4.)Wingers
5.)Macaroni Grill
6.)Thai Chille Gardens
7.)IHOP
8.)California Pizza Kitchen

* Write six random things/unspectacular quirks about yourself
1.) I own over 100 pairs of shoes--its the truth! They've all been bought within the last 5 years even.
2.)I love working night shifts. This way I get a king size bed to all myself when I come home to sleep! Haha, but of course working nights makes me miss my hubby, a lot!
3.)I actually enjoy poking people with needles. I get an adrenaline rush every time I start an IV, and hit the vein and see the blood in the IV catheter!! I'm crazy, I know!
4.) I'm in love with Matthew McConaughey. He's pretty much my old man fantasy!
5.)I love interior design and decorating our home! I've taken a few classes at BYU, and really love it. I'll have to post some pics of our decor.
6.) I have my own big master bathroom all to myself! All my life, I've wanted my own bathroom, but growing up with 4 sisters, this was hard to come by! So, I had to get married to have my own bathroom! Preston doesn't like my hair all over in the shower (I have long curly hair on my head, I can't help it!), or my makeup, lotion, hair products, etc, cluttering up all the counter space, and I hate his whiskers everywhere, especially in the sink! So, he uses the guest bathroom/shower down the hall! I really got a great deal! Now, if only I could figure out a way to get his stuff out of our walk-in closet too, so I can have it all to myself, and get him to use one of the closets in one of the spare bedrooms..... okay, so this is going too far I'm afraid, I must stop before we end up in separate houses! AHH!

Hooray! Its Finally Fall!

2008-10-14T21:23:00.000-04:00

I love the fall!! Its cool and crisp outside, the air smells so good, plus there's football, school, and cornmazes!!! I posted some pics from the last BYU football game!And BYU is now 6-0, go Cougars!!!!
I went to Cornbellys out at Thanksgiving Point yesterday with
my work friends, and we had so much fun! We got lost in the corn maze, and couldn't find our way out no matter which way we went, so we had to take the emergency exit!! Not something I'm too proud of! I made everyone go on the cow ride because me and Preston went on it last year when we were out there,and its just so silly,but fun!! We went through the haunted lizard (I have a soar throat from screaming), and then jumped on the jump-on-it mattress and play with the dress-up wigs! I even went face first down a rolling slide! Lindsay made us stay and watch piglets race, which was actually quite humorous. I felt like a little kid, but had way fun! Thanks for a great afternoon you guys!!!!! Can't wait for the haunted forest next!!! AHHHH!!!!

What Happens in Vegas.....

2008-09-30T18:39:00.001-04:00

.....stays in vegas. Okay, so we weren't too naughty, but had a fun vaca! We went to a couple of shows, layed by the pool, saw a million wedding chapels, slept in, shopped, hit up roller coasters, walked the strip a few times, went to all the cool hotels Excalibur, Monte Carlo, New York New York, the Paris, the Venetian, Treasure Island, MGM grand, the Mirage, the Belagio, the Sahara, etc. We'd stay out until 2 am every night, the night life was so crazy, and would then sleep in until like 11. We stayed at the Hilton Las Vegas(it pays to have a hubby in the hotel business), which was really nice, and took the monorail everywhere for fast traveling! We ate at some fancy restaurants, my favorite one was at the venetian, and another good one was at the top of the Eifel Tower inside the Paris, it had a nice view! We had to eat at some of the famous "vegas buffets" for lunch....so basically, we ate a lot! We went on the crazy roller coaster at the New York New York at like midnight one night, and it was so fun even thought I was scared silly, especially since could see the whole strip as you were being hung upside down!!!We went to the top of the Stratosphere, also a great view, and road some more rides up there, which were quite scary i must say! I was so happy to get to shop at the miracle mile shops, some really good shopping! We saw the siren show at treasure island, and the fountains show at the Belagio. We went to Phantom of the Opera, which was awesome!!!! Its definately my favorite broadway! The last time I saw it I was in London, and I was hooked! Preston really loved it too! We also went to David Copperfield, a famous magician/illusionist, at the MGM Grand, and left speechless and stunned...what an AMAZING show he does!!! So, we didn't want to come home! We had felt like we were thousands of miles away from home, in a whole different world, so it was a great getaway! Just relaxing and fun, no worries about work or school to distract us from playing hard!! We are already making plans for another vegas spin soon! So here are our pics from sin city.........

More Summer Pics...Jackson Hole and Yellowstone, Island Park Cabin Trip, BYU Football , Labor day, back to school

2008-09-05T01:20:00.001-04:00

I decided I'd post something again, give Andrea a break!
Well, summer is over, school started this week. It was nice to just work full time over the summer, and not worry about school! It was fun to relax on a few vacations, too Here are pics from Jackson, with Andrea's fam. We went white water rafting, which was a lot of fun I must say! Andrea's whole fam went, even her grandparents! They're all hard core white water rafters. Andrea and her sisters insisted on sitting in the very front, so they got soaked! We spent a day in yellowstone national park, and saw a lot of cool wildlife, geysers, and old faithful. We spent a day shopping, always fun when you are with a bunch of crazy girls! Theres pics from Island Park, Idaho. We were there a week with my fam, and had fun mountain biking, fishing, kayaking, rafting, going to the dinner theater, shopping in west yellowstone, and riding 4 wheelers! Poor Andrea drove her 4wheeler off into a ditch though! She was trying to be cautious & slow (since she drove crazy and wreckless last year, and rammed head-on into a tree and got whip lash!) that she started rolling backwards when going up a hill. The back wheel got caught, and she and the 4 wheeler fell into a 7 foot ditch, and again, right into a tree! Luckily, she was okay, just some scraped up legs, a hole in her pants, and a broken nail. Too bad no one had a camera. Weve had a great time watching the summer olympics, go USA! We got a new, big HD tv just in time. Theres pics from when we went to 7 peaks water park with Andrea's sisters when they were here,it was fun except we all burnt! I posted pics from labor day, we went up to my parents for BBQ, hot tubbing, and also ended up driving my moms new pink mo-ped around, some random pics, byu football game day pics, and some from after we went back to school shopping, and were trying on our matching Dakine backpacks. The one of Andrea is so funny because you can still see the tags on in it in the mirror. We went all out on back to school shopping this year, to reward ourselves for working hard this summer, we got a lot of good stuff. Well, we're excited to finish BYU in April! I'm working on Law School applications right now. Andrea is still going to be working full-time as an RN, and be taking classes, I'll be doing the same. The 1st football game was this Saturday, and we won! We all got sore throats from screaming so loud. It was a great kick off to the school year, and football season. We're nationally ranked again, so it should be a good season. We all went out to eat at the spaghetti factory after to celebrate. On Friday, we went to the new movie, Traitor, which was great, and then ate at Bajios, our favorite mexican restaurant. We had our marriage enhancement class together tonight (first class we've taken together so we're excited) and afterwards went on a date, to enhance our marriage, to the movie Babylon A.D., and out to eat at Red Robin...Can you tell we're trying to cut back on eating out? Haha, not going so well. Andrea is a great wife, I love her so much... she surprised me a few weeks ago with fun passes for a Carnival cruise in November. I'm stoked! I looking forward to a week long cruise,Cabo san Lucas, Ensenada, and Puerto Vallarta here we come! Well, life is great with the Nates! I figured out how to make it so you can leave comments, so please do. Happy blogging.

Summer time

2008-08-07T15:04:00.000-04:00

So, I thought I should actually post something on our blog for a change. We've had a really fun summer so far.We went boating with my family last weekend so I've posted some pics. Andrea was so cute wake boarding, love that girl. You can check her out in the video I posted. It gets boring because I was waiting for her to biff it, but she never did. She was just too good! We even got my mom to drive, and my dad on the tube, since he got a new life vest for fathers day. Josh drove crazy when we were on the tube and flipped us off, but its okay because both him and steph fell off more times than the rest of us combined! Well, we've been to like 4 new movies recently I have this thing about going to movies on the first day they come out. Dark Knight was definately the best one. Other than that, we've just been staying busy playing sports, softball, basketball, and tennis, hanging out with friends, going to the water park, and going to the gym (since we don't have school as an excuse not to go).

Seattle Trip

2008-08-01T08:40:00.000-04:00

We had a fun vacation in Seattle for a week in June! Of course it rained most of the time, so we kept our rain coats on. We spent a whole day down town along the water front, and ate lunch at Ivars fish bar....yummy. We visited pike's place market, and saw the men who throw the big salmon around, it was quite the sight. We also took the monorail for a stroll through downtown, it was lots of fun being up high with all the sky rises. We had a good time shopping downtown in the big city and made a lot of purchases. Okay, so I went a little crazy. Preston surprised me with dinner at the top of the space needle for our 2 year anniversary! It landed on a day that we were up there, so it worked out perfectly. It was amazing! The view was awesome, and the restaurant rotated as we ate, so we had a great view of the Pudget sound, lake Washington, and the city at night. Preston had them put a rose at our table that was waiting for me when we got there and he gave me tickets to the Kelly Clarkson concert in October , and tickets to go see Phantom Of the Opera on Broadway in Las Vegas in September! I love Kelly, and Phantom is my favorite Broadway, so they were great presents! I love you Prest! We got this ice cream dessert that was made with dry ice, so it was all smoking as we ate it. We also had a great time just hanging out with my grandparents and little sisters. My Grandparents house in right on the Pudget sound, so they have a beautiful view. I almost forgot how green Washington is, it makes Utah look quite boring and brown. We also spent a day on the beach digging for clams...my little sisters love clam digging and go crazy with it! So that was funny. We spent a day at the zoo and at the locks, and a giant peacock at the zoo kept following us around! Preston went golfing in the rain with Caitlin and my Grandpa, while the rest of us visited down town Tacoma and went to some museums. I took Preston through Kennewick, where I grew up, and drove by my old house and almost cried. It was a wonderful trip! We also went to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone in July so I will have to start posting those pics......

My 22nd Birthday! It was a great day. Preston took
me out to my favorite restaurant, Tucanos, for lunch
and it was delicious. He gave me tickets to the Jimmy
Eat World Concert, that was tons of fun! I also go
2 new seasons of One Tree Hill on DVD, one from
stephanie and one from Prest. (I'm notsure why, but we
are obsessed with that show!),
some cinemark movie tickets, and beautiful flowers!
My family sent me a cherry wood jewelry box
full of jewelry, and cash, much to my surprise! Preston's
family gave me a huge scrapbooking kit, with albums
and all! So I'm planning on joining the Utah mormon
fad and becoming an official scrapbooker! My good
friend, Jen Jenne, said she would help me get started,
since she is a scrapbooking freak, and since she even
has her own scrapbook paper company!

Nursing

2008-04-04T02:30:00.001-04:00

I love being a nurse, and I'm glad I have a job where I can help people and make a difference. I would be lying if I didn't mention the paychecks are also a nice perk. The pictures in the blue scrubs were taken in our old apartment, while I was in nursing school. I hated those blue scrubs so much, and wanted to burn them when I graduated! I had to wear them to every class and to every clinical, but I've kept them to remind me of my hard work. Obviously the pictures of me in the white graduation gown and cap are from when I graduated. All the pictures turned out goofy....can you believe these were the best I could find? The pic in the green scrubs is from when I get home from working at the hospital. I have to wear the green surgical scrubs whenever I work there.... they aren't the most glamourous, but at least I don't have to decide on what scrubs to wear like I do when I work at the care center and can wear my cute scrubs. I will have to get Preston to take a picture of me in my whole operating room gettup sometime. I look so good in full uniform!

So, I made this slide show of our wedding pictures. These are just a few pictures I scanned from our wedding art book onto our computer. It didn't turn out as nice as I had hoped since they were scanned, and the pages in our art book are a lot bigger than our scanner face. Thats why they look kind of blurry, and why some of the heads are cut off, oh well!! It was a lovely wedding, best day of my life! I can't believe we've been married 2 years already, time flies when you're having fun! I love you Preston! =)
(If for some reason the slide show isn't playing, just click on the tiny play button up in the very right hand corner of the little screen, that should do it.)

Spring is in the Air

2008-04-04T02:07:00.001-04:00

I'm so excited for winter to be over and spring to be here! I'm sick of the snow and am ready for some warm weather! Watch, it will probably snow again. I like the winter because we love to ski, but you can only take the cold for so long. We're excited for the summer, and have a couple vacations planned! Our Seattle trip in June, Jackson hole in July, and the cabin in August! I'm excited for intramural tennis to start too. Preston won't be taking any classes this summer, so he'll just be working full-time, and studying to take the LSAT in June! I will be working full-time with nursing too! We're excited for boating this summer so we can keep up on our wake boarding skills, and enjoy some time in the sun! I'm so glad Preston's parents have a boat! My birthday is coming up in one week , but Preston has already given me one of my presents early.....tickets to the Jimmy Eat World and Paramore concert! I'm excited! I love those bands, and hopefully I won't get lost from Preston like I did at the Fray concert!

This one picture on ly has some of preston's arm and his hand in it... We were trying to fit both of us in, but it didn't end up working out like we wanted it to, so we thought it was funny. I wish I could figure out how to use our camera to get the dates off the photos, but I haven't been able to yet. I will have to keep playing around with it. Am I electronically stupi d
or what? Hopefully my talents just lie elsewhere.....
Someday we will post pictures of our kids. We always see people's blogs with pics of their kids and babies and think its so cute, so someday, maybe in a few years. Nursing school really scared me out of having kids anytime soon, since I learned way too much about labor and delivery! For now, I am just having fun being married and being a nurse! But someday, we'll have cute kids I'm sure, and post their pics all over our blog, like everyone seems to be doing these days...
Me and Preston eating dinner at the Roof Restaurant around Christmas time. This is one of my favorite places to eat, besides Tucanos, but we only eat here at Christmas time. Its a Nate family tradition, they've been doing it for years, every year during December, The food was so delicious, and we got really full! Its buffet-style goodness, so its easy to eat a lot! I always eat wayyyy to much! But it was a lot of fun, and we had a great view of the Salt Lake temple and all the temple square Christmas lights....quite an amazing sight! We even saw two of the apostles eating there, which I thought was pretty neat. Can't wait to go again next year!!!

Random Pics

2008-02-01T00:50:00.000-05:00

Well, January is nearing an end. It has come and gone so fast! We are staying busy, busy, busy with work, school. and all our activities! The winter semester is well under way, and things are going great for the both of us! Here are a lot of older, random pics we decided to add. They range from back when we were dating, to the honeymoon days on our Caribbean cruise, and our first year of marriage. Since we've only had our blog since December, we are trying to play catch up with posting pictures. Some of these pics are so old and goofy they make us laugh when we look at them! Its fun to look back on the early days of our relationship, and remember why we fell in love and got married! So here is to our memories, and many more to come......

2008-02-01T00:48:00.001-05:00

At our old apartment....first Christmas together

2008-02-01T00:45:00.001-05:00

Right outside our cabin on our cruise ship.

2008-02-01T00:41:00.001-05:00

The cool mini golf course they had on the very top of the ship.

One of several airbrush tattoos I had done

At the beach

Swimming with the sting rays!!!

Docked in the Bahamas on a beautiful day.

The Atlantis Resort Hotel in the Bahamas. We
took a speed boat out to it, it went super fast!

Pics from the Virgin Islands! My favorite
place on the whole cruise! I think its even
prettier than hawaii! I loved the warm water
and nice sand, and the green scenery was just
gorgeous! Can't wait to go back!

2008-02-01T00:39:00.001-05:00

We had to dress up every night to eat dinner
in the fancy dining room, it was fun though
and we sure ate a lot! Since it was all just
included in the original cost why not?

2008-02-01T00:35:00.001-05:00

Margaritaville in Puerto Rico

2008-02-01T00:20:00.001-05:00

I look tiny in comparison to our gigantic cruise ship! This was taken on the island of Grand Turk. The water was so clear and so warm!

2008-02-01T00:18:00.001-05:00

When we were dating we went to a costume party and Preston was assigned to dress up like Jack Sparrow and he even let me put eyeliner on him! My hoop earing kept falling off his ear though.

2008-02-01T00:16:00.001-05:00

We had a lot of fun for those few months we were dating.

2008-02-01T00:13:00.001-05:00

Preston jammin on his guitar at his old place. Something that made me fall in love with him, along with his drumming skills too

2008-02-01T00:09:00.001-05:00

As you can probably tell I don't play the guitar , as I am totally holding it all wrong. It was fun to pretend though. Apparantly Preston thought it was pretty cute.

Snowy Football in October!

2008-02-01T00:05:00.000-05:00

Dad and Judie came down in October for the weekend for my nursing school graduation, and went to a BYU football game with us.... It ended up snowing! These pictures have me, preston, my big sis Beth, Judie, and my Dad! Its was a lot of fun. They day started out without a cloud in the sky, sunny and warm, and ended up like this! Crazy fall weather in Utah I guess! I love the huge snowflake that is like right in front of my eye! We love BYU football and don't miss a home game! Preston is like a BYU football fanatic, he totally bleeds blue, and will always drag me along with him, buts its all good, I love it too. I will still have to find some pics from the U of U game to post, since we won it this year!

Christmas Vaca

2007-12-30T21:03:00.001-05:00

Over this Christmas vacation we finally decided to create a blog! Preston and I are in North Dakota visiting my family after Christmas for the rest of break. We though we'd keep ourselves busy with creating this! Not that I don't love chilling with my fam, but there is only so much to do in North Dakota, and we are here for a whole week. We've pretty much just been ice skating a lot, and playing guitar hero! My family got a Wii for christmas, and guitar hero for it, and now we are hooked on it and can't stop playing! My dad gave me and preston our own guitar hero game for our playstation3 for an early birthday present for preston! We're going to stay quite busy this winter! Andrea is going to take some home and family living classes at BYU! She also just graduated from nursing school back in October and loves nursing. She will be working full-time between two jobs, one at Orem Community Hospital in surgery, and one at Orchard Park Care Center. Preston will stay busy this winter working on his degrees at the Y, working at Best Western, doing a legal internship at a local law firm, and preparing to take the LSAT in the spring! We'll also stay busy playing stake and intramural sports (we're gonna do tennis this year!), trying to work out at the gym as much as possible, playing guitar hero, playing the piano, singing in the choir, trying to ski as much as possible, and trying to stay warm! Its a good life!