Baby Braxton!

I thought I'd have so much time to update my blog and post all kinds of pictures considering that Braxton is a newborn, but boy was I wrong! I'm busier than I ever have been. I can't even describe the love I have for my son, it's amazing. Ryan and I adore him and it's a good thing because he is a lot of work.
It's funny how these tiny babies come out with so much personality. We are really in for it because Braxton is about as stubborn as his mom and dad and he's only 3 weeks old. We're scared! He pulls tons of funny crusty looks and gets mad when we play with his feet. My mom says he gets the dirty looks from me, but I disagee because I never give dirty looks;) Having a little person of our own has been life changing.
Everybody has been asking us who he looks like, but Ry and I never could tell because we didn't think he looked like either of us. Last weekend we were at Ryan's parents house and we finally solved the big question. They pulled out Ryan's baby pictures and Braxton looks just like his daddy! We couldn't believe it.

Here is a picture of Ryan.


Here's Braxton


Taking a bath with Grandma



We're in love.

Last Minute Road Trip...

A couple of weeks ago, we were at our house watching the BYU v. Gonzaga game with some friends when we found out BYU would be going to New Orleans for the Sweet Sixteen game! For those of you who don't know, this was a BIG deal. BYU hadn't been to the Sweet Sixteen in over 35 years. Ryan of course was going crazy. He loves basketball and is a huge BYU fan. In his excitement, he got a little carried away and bought 6 tickets to the game! I about killed him because first of all, some of us didn't even know if we'd be able to get work off, and second, he just dropped a bunch of money on these tickets and I did not want to get stuck paying for them! Luckily all of us working people were able to get work off and we were headed to New Orleans for 4 days! We went with a group of our friends who all went to BYU. Sadly, BYU lost but it was an exciting game. Luckily, we stayed a couple days to check out New Orleans and we had a blast.
New Orleans was quite the experience. It was like a different country down there. Seriously, it was nuts! I will give you a little taste of our adventures in this interesting town...
First, here's a picture of us at the game. Poor BYU:(


We went on a swamp tour and saw alligators. The guide would get the alligators to come close by putting meat on a stick and holding it over the side. It was pretty awesome. These are some of our awesome friends who came with us! All the boys are going to med school with Ryan. We've made some great friends through med school, some of which came froom BYU too. It's been fun having other BYU couples down here! It's nice having friends that we can reminisce with about the good old days at BYU, and Utah. For example, no one else can understand the pain we feel from the lack of Cafe Rio except these people:)




Ghost Tour...

Meet Bloody Mary. That's right, Ryan and I our standing next to Bloody Mary. She took us on a ghost tour around the city. We went with our friends, Adam and Katie. We met up with Bloody Mary at a bar at the end of Bourbon Street. She gave us a real taste of the city and the locals. She is a professional voodoo person, attending the voodoo temple regularly. She has cast out many spirits and knows all kinds of sick stories about murderers who lived in New Orleans. If you're planning a trip to New Orleans, or if you'd like to know more about Bloody Mary, you should consider looking up her blog. Just type in "Bloody Mary New Orleans." You won't miss her. She's famous for these ghost tours. Our friend Adam even received a personal phone call from her. It's not every day you answer your phone and hear, "Hello, this is Bloody Mary calling." ha ha

When we met up with Bloody Mary the night before, Bourbon Street didn't seem so bad. We didn't see any of the nasty, crazy things that we had heard about. So then, the next day, some of our friends wanted to see Bourbon Street so we went down a different part of the street. That's when we realized that Bourbon Street actually was as horrible as everyone says. This freakish street was rank. I'm not just talking about the nasty businesses and shady posters hanging around. This place absolutely reeked! I am not exaggerating. The best way to describe this smell is a vile mixture of smoke, beer, horse crap, and old food. Don't ever go!


Here we are posing by some art. You might ask, "Where is the art?" We were wondering the same thing. In this picture is Brock and Lindsey Hansen, and Katie Meier (her hubby is taking the pic).


Here we are with Adam and Katie at Jefferson Square. If you look closely, you'll notice I have a bead necklace on. NO, I did not flash someone to earn that necklace. This girl told me that instead of flashing her, I could flash her my prego belly instead and she'd give me the beads. There's no way I was going to do that. I told her, "no," so she gave me the necklace anyway because, "I was a cute little pregnant person." Katie also got some beads from this woman, but she didn't flash the lady either.

Spring Break

For Ryan's spring break we took a little road trip to Galveston! It was so nice to just get away and relax! If you've ever been to Galveston you know it's definitely not some exotic getaway, but a not so pretty beach is better than no beach at all right? We were living the life....we ate out every day, went on late-night dessert runs, watched movies at the hotel, and relaxed at the beach. The water was pretty chilly but of course my husband convinced me to get in! I was glad because it was so fun. We both love playing in the waves. I actually felt thin again... it was awesome! Here are some of the things we did.

On this day at the beach, it was pretty cold but of course that didn't stop Ry.




We enjoyed yummy, very over-priced burgers at Rainforest Cafe.



We went to NASA. It was fun, but super crowded. My pregnant lady crankiness started to set in while we were there! Ry had to rush me to get food when we left.



Here's some extremely attractive pictures of me... 7 months pregnant. Ry looks good though:)



On our way home, Ry took us on a detour because he wanted to show me the Blue Bell Factory. It's one of his favorite childhood memories. For those of you who haven't heard of Blue Bell ice cream, it's a big deal in Texas. Everyone loves Blue Bell. When we pulled into the factory, we found out that all the tours for the day were full. My poor little husband was devastated. I convinced him to at least go get some ice cream at the parlor and walk around. I was surprised that some ice cream factory in this tiny little town would be bustling with people! Oh well, we'll try next time we head down toward Houston. Sorry Ry.

I forced Ry to wear the dorky hat for this pic... he said that you shouldn't wear it unless you go on the tour. He threw it away after we took this picture. ha ha



Here's Ryan's mad face.

Snow Days and Prego Pics

After living in Utah for practically my entire life, I never thought I'd have my first snow day living in Texas. But lo and behold, it snowed quite a bit here and Ry and I got to stay home from work and school for 4 days! Pretty funny, I know. While we were couped up in our little apartment we decided to have a fire and roast hot dogs and s'mores!



Here are the long awaited pictures of my fat, pregnant self! I'm a little over 5 months now! The crazy kid inside me is constantly moving around and kicking! I'm afraid he's going to be a little terror.... oh well, our parents say we deserve it:)

It's a...

BABY!! I'm officially 12 and a half weeks pregnant! Our baby is due May 20 and we are so excited! It's been so hard lying to everyone and trying to hide our big news! Luckily the horrible morning sickness has worn off and I'm feeling good! Right now the baby is only about 11cm long but it's crazy how fast they grow!

LDS Charities: The Boys' Home

Doctrine and Covenants 18:10 "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God."
This video reminded me that there are so many ways to share the gospel and serve others. I know that I need to have more charity and commit my life to serving other people. I'm so thankful to know that Jesus Christ lives and loves ALL of his children.

I heart New York... and D.C.

We just got back from our family trip to New York and Washington D.C. with Ryan's family. It was so much fun. Ryan's sister, Aubrey is living in New York for the summer. Her husband is doing an internship out there. We all decided to pay them a visit and drive down to D.C. while we were out there. My aunt also lives in Manhattan, so Ry and I slept at her place while we were there. Also, one of my best friends, Rachel, flew through NY on her way home from the Dominican Republic! She got to spend a night with us! She had never been to NY so I took her to see the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, and Central Park!We also went to Coney Island and I must say... it was like a ghetto version of a beach! It was the weirdest thing ever. I had never seen so many different types of people in my life. There were people from every country imaginable... wearing every type of swim attire imaginable! The water was even ghetto, there was trash brushing up against my legs as the waves crashed. It was sick... but I had a great time (I'm probably exaggerating... but still)! I had been to NY before, but this was my first time to D.C. I absolutely loved it there. It is a beautiful place. It was cool seeing all the beautiful buildings and monuments. I especially loved the Lincoln monument. After going to all the war monuments and being reminded of our Founding Fathers, I felt so much patriotism for the way this country used to be-for our founding principles of honor and virtue. Unfortunately, I felt like now days.... there just aren't people like that in Washington anymore. There are many powerful people who only care about themselves and not the people or our country. However, I am so grateful to live in the U.S. The world is getting worse and worse, but there are still good people in it:)