Catch up Summer 2012

     It's been awhile since I've really blogged. So I'm playing catch up with a lot of picture collages. Basically our summer consisted of me working and Race doing an internship at Energy Solutions out on the west desert in the chemistry lab. We did manage to have some fun though. We took a weekend trip to California and spent the day at Knott's Berry Farm and spent time with friends Race made when he trained in 29palms. Sadly I did not get any pictures of this trip. :( Ting and Yuxin were both baptized this summer. It was a very awesome experience and they are amazing girls and a huge addition to the church. I love my Chinese siblings! We celebrated our 2nd anniversary. Race surprised me and took me to the Foster the People concert. It was so much fun! We didn't any pictures of our anniversary. Race was at training on our actual anniversary but we still celebrated. And for our present we got a window AC for our room cause it was so hot this summer and our place doesn't have AC, I know it's such a romantic gift ;) Other then that I'll tell our summer through these pictures...

I GRADUATED! I spent all my down time this summer finishing up my Bachelor's degree. I spent 100+ hours on my Capstone project, I made an information booklet and a brochure on Oral health through the college years. The brochure is being handed out at Dixie College Health fairs and the booklet is in the dental hygiene clinic for people to read. It took a lot of work but with the help of my dad and Race it got done. I'm pretty proud of it! So after an extra year of classes and my capstone project I have a Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene! I took the teaching track so now I can teach dental hygiene if I want. I really just wanted a Bachelor's degree and now I do! I also graduated with a 3. 63. I always had a goal to graduate college with at least a 3.5 and I did it! Okay I'm done bragging on myself, I feel weird doing it but it was earned ;) 

Christine and Levi welcomed Tanner Carl Roberts into there family, so we celebrated with a baby shower for them. It was alot of fun! Christine, Ezra and Tanner moved in with my parents for a little while before they moved to St. George with Levi. It was so much fun to have them around and see them all the time. I miss them! I wish all of our family was close to us.

My mom made the cute fruit baby stroller and I made the motorcycle diaper cake.
Thanks to  pinterest for the ideas!

Nephews!
We had a fun summer chillin with Ezra, Tanner and Max! Wish all the nieces and nephews were close to us!  

The majority of the fun things we did took place right in Salt Lake. We loved going to the Twilight concert series at pioneer park. Going on runs, and taking the dogs on walks around the city and memory grove, going out to eat and do doing things with our friends, and playing around at the State fair. We also got to go to the Brigham City Temple open house which was gorgeous!

Another sprint triathlon! My dad and I completed the Varsity Scouts Triathlon at Desert Peak for the second year. It was a lot of fun! I like doing tri's! 

I completed 50 miles on my bike in the Little Red Riding Hood bike ride in Logan. It was so pretty and a lot of fun! My mom did 100 miles! She's awesome! 

My lifetime best friend Carly had an adorable baby girl Brinlee! I made her the diaper cake, I've enjoyed spending time with them and watching Carly become an incredible mommy! 

Sad news... Due to circumstances out of our control we had to say goodbye to Dozer... We loved him so much and have so many awesome and funny memories with him in the short time we had him. He was a great first dog for us and we miss him so much! :(

So that sums up our summer!  I love summer time, but the heat this year was so hard to deal with! We would go on runs at 10 pm and it would still be hot! I'm excited for the fall weather and all the beauty it brings! Race is excited for snow... Now Race is back in school and studying ALL the time and I'm working and trying to find hobbies to keep myself busy. I love life and am grateful for everything we have!

His and Hers

So we are now a two dog family. We got Dashel about two weeks ago. He actually came from the same family we got Dozer from so they already knew each other.

I love Dozer but he really isn't the best cuddle dog... He tries to cuddle but leaves a blanket of fur on you when he does. So when this opportunity to get Dashel came up it was an easy choice. Race was okay with a little dog because we already had a big dog. It's funny when we take them walking it looks like His and Hers dogs. But seriously having the two different dogs is fun!

Dozer is big, Dashel is little...

Here's a few things we've learned about Dashel so far

• He's a Yorkshire Terrier better known as a yorkie
• He's about 10 years old, yes he is an old man but doesn't act like it at all, he has lots of energy!
• He thinks he's the boss of Dozer, he'll growl at him and of course Dozer is much bigger so he just tramples over him.
• He is blind in his left eye, hence the funny look of it in the pic above. When the other family had both of the dogs they came home one day to find Dashel's eye hanging from his head... so gross! Most likely Dozer did it.
• He's pretty funny, we are always laughing at him
• He is not obedient, but he is little so we just pick him up and make him do what we want, It's nice to have Dozer who is obedient most of the time.    

Dogs are so much fun! Sometimes they are pain but it's worth it. Their personalities entertain us and make life exciting. And it's nice to have extra company around. 

Wonder Woman's airplane

Notice anything different???

Take a closer look...

Yup that's right I am now a brace face... But seriously how sweet are these? Everyone I have been around so far hasn't even noticed them without me pointing them out. It is so crazy! My awesome dentist that I work for is now doing these braces they are called Simpliclear, or as Dr. Hans Smith calls them "wonder woman's airplane"... I would recommend them to anyone. I just want perfect teeth without looking like I'm 13 in the process, and this is the prefect solution. I still feel like I have braces and it feels completely weird and sometimes drives me crazy, but it will all be worth it! 

Counting Our Blessings!

     Over the past couple of months we have been extremely blessed, I just wanted to document a few of the biggest ones. First of all I finally got a job that is more then one day a week and that I love. I had been working one day a week and temping other places but nothing was permanent. I had been praying for something to come up that was more permanent and at least three days a week because I'm supporting us while Race goes through school. I had been through interview after interview and come close to getting some other jobs but nothing was really happening. Well through my temping I had temped at an office in Tooele. I knew some of the staff and had shown the doctor that I am a good hygienist. One morning I got a call from him asking if I could temp that day, I couldn't because I had an interview in Draper... He then continued to say that he may be able to offer me three days a week but wasn't positive so I should still go to the other interview. A little bit later I got a text from the doctor asking me a few question. Yes I had an interview through texting... what has technology brought us to?!?! At the end of the questions I got a text saying You're hired start Monday? Having a texting interview was awesome! Well now I work at Hans Smith office in Tooele Monday Wednesday and Thursday. I absolutely love it and am so happy there. Yes I commute from salt lake but it is like 35-40 minutes, it really isn't bad and totally worth it, and I get to see our families more. Prayers have been answered after much pleading with the Lord and I couldn't be more thankful! Also I should be adding another day of work soon which will be perfect.

After a day at the office...

    Getting this job was also perfect timing because my green car decided to die... My 1996 Nissan Sentra is dead to us, yes we probably could have dumped a ton of money into but decided it wasn't worth it at this point. So we headed out car shopping and found an awesome place to work with called Millennium Auto. They are a no pressure place and not your typical sales people. We ended up getting this sweet 2008 Honda Accord with 49000 miles for a rockin deal. I LOVE it! No buyer's remorse here. Every time I get in it it makes me so happy!

Love it!

Goodbye forever green car aka the slimer or loretta. 

   We are officially Honda people now with the civic and accord. The last blessing is the selling of the green car. We put it up on KSL and it was gone within a few hours. We just wanted it gone and didn't have alot of time to deal with it so it worked out perfectly. There are many other things we are grateful for but this is all I'm going to write about. I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who is watching over us and answering prayers! Life is awesome!

Ringing in 2012

     This year we realized we have a tradition for new year's eve. The last couple of years we have gotten together with our high school/life long friends Carly and Erin and their husbands. This year we got to hang out at Carly and Doug's beautiful new home. We spent the night eating homemade pizza and treats, catching up, playing move for the playstation (it's like a wii), playing a fun game called compatibility, and of course we watched the ball drop. Even though we all think it is ridiculously lame each year right before midnight we turn it on and count down... then we continue to watch the performances and make fun of how none of them have talent and it's all about the 'wow' factor and who can dress the weirdest or do the weirdest dance... Lame I know but it's just something we do.  We always have a blast together and this year was no different! Carly and I realized we never take pictures when we get together so this year we actually did. I wish I could get my video to upload... There is a hilarious one of Race and Shelton playing this fighting gladiator game thing on the move playstation and they were so into it... it was hilarious! Too bad I can't share but I'm sure the boys are okay with that.

Us girls, Me, Erin and Carly

First picture of the new year

Oh Christmas how I love thee!

I love Christmas and this year was no different! We were so lucky this year and had all of my siblings and their families minus Jake :( But on Christmas Eve at my house we had 25 people! All of my family plus the three Chinese kids (this was their first Christmas ever!) Aunt Andrea Uncle Bobby Andie and her step son. Needless to say it was a FULL house! Ting and my mom made a delicious Chinese feast. There was so much food and it was all so yummy! Then we all gathered in a big circle to have a little Christmas program including reading the Christmas story from the scriptures and singing some hymns. We do this every year to remind us of the reason for Christmas. I'm very grateful for the birth of my Savior and we have the opportunity to celebrate it every year. Well our program this year was a little different... The singing was new to this little program and needless to say the Robert's clan will not be getting a call from a record company anytime soon! We cannot carry a tune for the life of us but it was pretty hilarious, many of us were in tears from laughing so hard! Then we got a nice strip tease from our Vegas showgirl... aka Marlee who is 2.  She decided she didn't want her jammies or diaper on anymore and let all of us know while standing center of attention. It was hilarious too! We then enjoyed Christmas morning with my family opening gifts. We are very blessed by generous family members. This year was especially great because of the ages Marlee and Ezra are. There are both right around 2 and they interact so cute together. They are very entertaining. If you haven't seen the videos I posted on facebook you should check it out. Here is an overload of pictures mostly of the niece and nephews! 

Max, Mick, Levi and Ezra

Ezra loves his Uncle Race

Marlee!

Just Us

Handsome Drake 

Marlee catching a ride from Ezra

Unwrapping presents!

Lion!

Playin with new toys

Bulldog Marlee!

Smiling!

Ready for school!

After all the fun at my house we got to go and have more fun
with Race's family. We had a second Christmas morning with them. I love having two families! It makes everything two times better. We then went to church and enjoyed a beautiful Christmas program with singing a narrator solos and testimonies. Their ward has so much talent! It was so great to be able to really focus on the Savior! After that we had a yummy Christmas dinner! We then headed to Grandma and grandpa Warburtons and met up with that family. We had a great time and took lots of family pictures... I'll have to get ahold of some of them because I wasn't going to add my camera to the many that were already taking pictures... But here are a few from Christmas morning....

It's just this big...

Jarom and his mama

Wrapping job courtesy of future doctor Jordan.... 

 












  Overall everything was so perfect! I love Christmas. We also had some big announcements from my family first Levi and Christine announced at Christmas Eve dinner they are expecting another baby! And then later that night Steve and Vicky announced they are getting married! I'm so so happy for all of them! Our 'big' announcement is we got a dog! We welcomed Dozer into our family! He is a 2 1/2 year old black lab. He is already house trained and an obedient dog. He is so cute and good! It is so nice to have him around and have another living breathing thing to take care of. And he is alert and protective of us, which is awesome! I already love him and we have only had him for 2 days :) Race is loving playing and running with him and training him to be an even better dog and Dozer sure does love him!

Dozer!

Free Anberlin concert in the freezing cold... Yes Please!

Anberlin is my all time favorite band. Tonight the had a 'secret surprise' show. All I knew is it was going to be free and in SLC on the 15th... no details were given till Tuesday. The suspense was fun even though it was killing me. I love that I live in Salt Lake for this this reason alone so I could actually go... It was at the Galivan Center outside in the freezing cold. But oh my gosh it was so totally worth it! It was an amazing way to celebrate finishing the semester and the start of Christmas break! Anberlin is seriously so awesome live, even better then they sound on their CD's. I went with one of my besties Kristen and loved EVERY second of it :)

We got so close to the front, it was so much fun!

Kristen and me all bundled!

Slacker...

So I totally slacked off on the whole thankful post each day. Now that November is over I'm going to write a few more things I'm thankful for that I didn't want to forget. I so grateful for my sister-in-laws, Jana, Christine, Veronica and Vicky(Steve's gf)! They are all so great. I love that I have sisters in my life. They all are so good to my brothers and are great moms! Jana was married to Dave when I was 14. I've loved having her in my life for so long. I feel like we have always had a great connection. I love how creative and smart :) She is such a good mom to Marlee and Drake. I love when we get to be together!

Jana and Marlee!
Jana is pregnant w/Drake in this pic

Jana & Drake

Christine has been married to Levi for about 2 1/2 years. I love talking with her. She is such a strong person and so giving. She is a great mom to Ezra. I wish these two lived close to me. Life would be so much fun!

Christine & Ezra

 I love that Veronica lives close to me. We get to hang out alot. I love going to the temple with her, it's always a great experience. I love having a shopping partner too! She is so great to Mick and her kids.

Veronica & the Fam!
Mick, Alex, Kaden & Max

Vicky is great too. I love when we get to be together. She worked hard to become a surgical tech, and think it's so awesome she gets to work at Primary children's hospital!

Steve & Vicky

I'm pretty sure I talk to my Sister-in-laws more then my bros lol. One plus about having five brothers is I get lots of sisters that are all different and unique but I love them all!

I'm so grateful for my nieces and nephews. Seriously they bring so much joy and happiness into my life :) I love that Alex, Kaden and Max live so close to me and I get to be with them a lot and really get to know them and their cute personalities. I wish my whole family could live on the same street :) Marlee and Ezra are in such an adorable stage of life and are learning so much everyday and their little personalities are so dang cute! Drake is such a sweet newborn I can't wait to watch him grow up. All of these guys are such a blessing in my life! Pictures of all of them are included above.

And last but not least I'm just grateful for life! I am so blessed every single day that I can't even count it all. I know that everything in my life comes from the Lord and I am truly grateful. I am so blessed with everything I blogged about this past month plus so much more! I wouldn't change anything in my life and I can't wait to see what life brings :)

I love Christmas time and so excited for this year. We just put up our tiny little Christmas tree and I've been listening to Christmas music to get me in the mood :) Even though I hate the cold I still LOVE Christmas time and everything it brings and everything it means :)

Happy December Everyone!

Pictures courtesy of my sibs facebooks ;) 

5 day catch up...

I missed the last five days of thankful posts so for the past five days I'm so grateful for my 5 brothers! I love each of them very much.

Ha ha ha this explains ALOT...

Jake lives in Florida and has his own unique personality. He is so crazy and he loves concerts and doing cool stuff. He is a good example to me and is strong in the church. I got to see him a couple weeks ago which was awesome. There are no words that truly explain Jake... He teases me a lot always has and probably always will, but it makes life fun.

I love that we live so close to Mick. I'm so proud of him for everything he has done this last year, he has grown so much and he has such a cute family and is such a good dad. I love being able to see him often. Mick is such a hard worker and I've always looked up to him. I think he was the nicest to me growing up (but I don't have the best memory)his nick name was momma Mick because he was always taking care of me, besides the time he just recorded me when I was a baby instead of wiping my nose... sick!

The biggest thing I miss about living in St. George is being so close to Vegas and being able to visit David and his family often. I love being with David and talking with him. He is also a very good dad to Marlee and Drake.  He is a great cook :) I love being around him we always have fun. He is also an amazing artist and has a talent for wood work and lots of other things. He did an amazing etch a sketch of Race and I and he built a crib and dresser/changing table that are unbelievable. He is very talented.

Stephen is so much fun to be around. I'm pretty sure he teased me the most growing up... Now he loves to travel everywhere around the world (I'm jealous). It's so cool to see his pictures and hear his stories. He is getting so many experiences that most of us do not have an opportunity for. He is going to be starting nursing school which I think is awesome. I love when we get to hang out and be with each other.

I wish Levi didn't live so far away in Portland, but it is a beautiful place to be able to go and visit. He works so hard in school and is almost done with his masters. He really enjoys what he is learning (he is going to be an urban planner) He is a great daddy to Ezra and Ezra loves him so much it is so dang cute to see them together. He is a great example to me and I really do look up to him a lot.

I wish I was better at putting my thoughts into words... but I really am blessed to have 5 older brothers. They have so much personality and are each there own person, I wish I could explain them better because this really doesn't do them justice. I know I'm the spoiled little sister and I also got teased alot, but I wouldn't change that for anything!

Day 15: G-mas

Today I'm grateful for my grandmas. Both my mom and dad's moms are still with us and I love them so much! My mom and I went and visited grandma Westover today in Bountiful we she lives at an assisted living home. She is doing so well and I love visiting with her. She told us she wants to live to be 100! That would be awesome to have her around for more then a decade longer :) My mom told her as long as she wakes up each morning then she can keep living. My grandma Roberts with my parents. I love her so much too. She is getting very old but she still has a sense of humor and I know that she loves us very much. I also love all of Race's grandmas and grandpas. Having people in our lives that have so much experience and wisdom is truly a blessing!

Me and g-ma Roberts on her 92nd birthday

Grandma Westover holding baby Ezra

Days 12, 13 & 14

Day 12: I love to laugh! Whether it's because of my husband, family, friends, or entertainment I love to laugh! So I am grateful for Humor, Comedy, and Laughing! I love to laugh till I can't breathe and my stomach kills... On Saturday Race and I went to one of our favorite places, The Off Broadway Theater, to see 'Laughing Stock'. This is an improv comedy show we have been to like three times and will continue going because it is so dang funny and the show is different every time because they play different games and take different audience suggestions. But seriously these guys are hilarious! I would definitely recommend it to anyone, especially for a date night it is so much more fun then going to a movie. Anyway I love to surround my self with funny happy people it makes life so much better!

Day 13: I love Sundays spent with our families :) Yesterday we went to Tooele for my moms birthday and it is so much fun to be with my family. I wish all of my siblings could have been there, (I can't wait till Christmas when that happens) but it was still so much fun hanging around with my parents, grandma, Steve and Vicky, and the chinese kids. Our house is so crazy and loud with them around but I love it. Then we got to go visit with grandma and grandpa Warburton and then headed on down to Race's families house and hung out with them. Jordan got this huge snake for his birthday, it's so big! I'm a little scared of it but it is pretty cool looking. It was fun talking and watching funny videos with the fam. I really just love all of my family and I wish I could see everyone way more often then we do.

Day 14: Today I'm grateful that I am done sitting through boring classes at school! I am still in school but it is all online so I don't have to spend time in a classroom trying to pay attention to a lecture... I went with Race to school today (it was our own fake 'take your wife to school day') It is probably totally against the rules but Race really wanted me to see what his professors are like and make a real connection with all the stories he tells me. It was... fun and interesting. His real math teacher wasn't there which was super disappointing because Race tells me he has this crazy accent that you cannot understand and he gets so frustrated. Disappointing he wasn't there but I sat through the class and had NO idea what was going on. Then we went to his physics class... that professors is so weird. he is really old and walks funny and has some funny accent also (maybe jersey?) but needless to say I was super confused and played on my computer most of the time. Then we went to his chemistry class. This professor isn't too bad or boring and I actually learned how a battery works... And he talked about the office which was funny. And he did some experiments so it was way cooler then the other classes. After that I was done sitting through classes so I went to library and watched up all night. It was cool to see how class is on a big university campus and to see what Race does everyday and realize (again) how smart he is cause I had no idea about anything that was being taught... but I'm so grateful I don't have to sit through classes myself ever again. I just teach myself for all the online stuff and do it on my own time which is super nice!

Ha Ha this sums it up A typical Race face...

Day 10: Husband & Day 11: Veterans

For day 10 I really was thinking how grateful I am for my husband Race! I seriously cannot put into words how much I love him and how truly grateful I am that I am married to him and will be with him forever! He is such a hard worker and is pushing himself so much in school just so we can have a great future for us and for our  future kids. He is so good with kids and I know one day he will be the best dad. He is so determined at everything he does! He will not leave anything unfinished...even though this drives me nuts at times because it means he will be drilling in the middle of the night (while I am sleeping) to finish hanging up a whiteboard... it also means things will get done! He is so good to me and makes me a better person every single day.I'm so grateful we were best friends before we got married, I'm so grateful we had that time to truly get to know each other outside of a love relationship. I'm grateful he honors his priesthood and is temple worthy and we get to attend the temple often together. I am grateful for his outlook on life, most of the time it is a little different then mine but he always looks to the future and knows life will go on and everything we are going through (especially stressful and not fun times) is temporary.But he also knows that the things that matter most are eternal. I love spending time with him. He also makes life so much fun because he is a goof and I love his sense of humor! Life could not get any better with Race by my side forever!

Best day: Sealing our love for eternity!
Love him forever &always!

Yesterday was Veterans day. I really am grateful for everyone who serves our country and have fought so will can live the best life possible. I am grateful that Race has fought for our country. I know he doesn't talk about it much and being in the military is not his favorite thing right now, but he really does understand that by serving our country he is also serving God. I'm grateful for both of my grandpas and their service to the this country so I can live in a country where freedom of so many things are possible. I am also grateful for my many other relatives and friends who have served this great country. I'm grateful I was born in the USA and my life has been so blessed and I have had so many opportunities because of it. So again thank you to everyone who has served or is serving in the military so I can benefit from everything you fight and stand for!

Simply amazing!

Day 9: My Job

I really am grateful for my job as a hygienist. I love being a hygienist and I'm grateful I get to work as one. Even though it is only one day a week I'm truly blessed to have even that. I know I complain about work a lot especially after a stressful day like today, all in all I love it! I like the people I work with, I especially love that I get to work with my old roommate Becky :) I'm also grateful I get opportunities to temp and work at different offices and get more days of work. It has been a great experience and I've learned so much from it! I love cleaning teeth :)

Me learning to be a hygienist in hygiene school... so glad that part of my life is over and
I can be a real hygienist :)