December 2010

So since we never posted our Honeymoon pictures, I thought it would be fun to post some on here in honor of our 2 year anniversary.

For our Honeymoon, we went to Orlando, Florida.  We stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Villages Resort Villas.  We chose this hotel because each room has a kitchen, living room, patio, separate bedroom, and HUGE bathroom.  We wanted this option so we could cook some meals in our room.  We were also in the back of the resort, which has it's own separate pool.  Hardly anyone was ever out there.  It was like having our own, private pool.

So we flew into Orlando the morning of the 19th.  We thought it would be nice to get there early so our flight was at 8 am.  BIG MISTAKE.  We had to wake up at 4 and be at the airport at 6.  We would have much rather slept in and gotten in later.

Our first full day there, we just wandered around Downtown Disney.  We had lots of fun going in shops and just taking pictures.

The next day we went to this funky museum called Wonderworks.  It is an upside down building in downtown Orlando.  According to Wonderworks legend, "the main building was once a laboratory that was swept away from its original spot in the Bermuda Triangle by a powerful tornado. Where it rests today is where the fictional tornado left it. The building is still very much a place where scientists can run all kinds of experiments, and guests are welcome as well to try their hands at things like landing a Space Shuttle. From your simulated Space Shuttle cockpit, you'll man the controls and take charge of making sure that you touch down safely on the airstrip. For those visitors who always wanted to be pilots, the Fighter Jets exhibit is sure to please. You'll again find yourself in a simulated cockpit, only this time you'll be flying fighter jets."  We had a ton of fun here!

Another day we spent at Universal Studios.  We were able to get free park tickets from some credit card reward points.  Neither Josh nor I had been there before.  The park was super busy, as it was the week before Christmas, so we mostly just walked around and went to shows.  The park was all decorated for Christmas so we really enjoyed that.  We did go on the Jurassic Park ride which was a water ride which we got soaked on (that explains our wet shirts in some of the pictures below).  We also went to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  It looked exactly like the movie.  

 

JURASSIC PARK

 Aren't these the COOLEST dinosaur hat/mask things EVER!!

HARRY POTTER

 This is us drinking Butter Beer (non-alcoholic).  It kinda tasted like a butterscotch cream soda.  There was foam on top, and this is us with foam mustaches.

 Three Broomsticks Restaurant where we ate lunch.  There were long tables to eat at and lots of yummy food from the movie.

WHOville. It was really decorated for Christmas.

Scoobby Dooby DOO! 

Back to the Future Car and the Blues Brothers

 MainStreet

 I SURE DO LOVE THIS GUY!!

  

                                           

  

Check out our awesome expressions in front of the Giant Grover!

After spending the day at Universal, we were kinda pooped.  So we spent the next day watching ALL of the Jurassic park movies.  I had never seen any of them so this was fun for me.

We also spent one day driving to the beach.  We had fun shopping, walking by the water, and enjoying great food at a rooftop restaurant.

Also speaking of food,during our Honeymoon we ate LOTS of great food.  We tried to evenly split going out for dinner and eating in.  That first night we were lazy and just ordered Chinese   The next night we went out to a seafood dinner.  We learned that if we told a restaurant that we were on our Honeymoon, that would usually give us a free dessert/ appetizer or something else fun.  We also went out to a Interactive Pirate Dinner.

I don't remember if we just didn't take any pictures or if we just misplaced them. This was a really fun night.  The  show we saw was called Pirate's Dinner Advenutre.  Before the show, you enjoy appetizers and get to meet some of the pirates in the bar area.  Then you go into the theater. The theater is set up with tables all around this giant pool of water with a pirate ship in the middle.  On the link above there is a great video showing what the show was like, it is so hard to put it into words.  The show was alot of fun to watch and also interact with. Each section of the theater had a different pirate that we cheered for and helped throughout the show.  I got to participate during the show by throwing balls up to our "team's pirate".  We had so much fun having a good meal and enjoying a show!

Another night for dinner, we had a Southern Boil.  A Southern Boil is taking corn, sausage, potatoes, crab, lobster, and shrimp and boiling it all together with Old Bay Seasoning.  Then you dump it all out onto newspaper and EAT UP!! 

 BEFORE

 Our dinner. (The lamp was our Christmas tree as we were there for Christmas)

 AFTER

For Christmas Eve, we went to Hemingway's at The Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress.  We got all dressed up and really enjoyed our meal.

For Christmas Day, we decided to make our own dinner at the hotel.  We had a BBQ grill outside of our building that we thought would be fun.  We planned on making Lamb, Zucchini  and Potatoes.  Started with good intentions, but quickly went downhill.  Neither of us had ever cooked Lamb so we weren't sure when it was done and it ended up over cooked.  The Zucchini burned to a crisp.  And the potatoes were so hard that we had to load them with POUNDS of butter to soften them up.  In the end, I think we had 4 bites total before ordering a pizza.  

We had such a fun and busy but also relaxed Honeymoon full of great memories and a great way to start our marriage!

December 2012

December is always a special time of year for us. Not only is it Christmas, but also our Wedding Anniversary.  Josh and I celebrated our 2nd Anniversary on the 18th. That night, we went out to PF Chang's to celebrate. I cannot believe it has been 2 YEARS since we got married.

We also had a great Christmas with both of our families.  Even though we were gone on Christmas Eve and Day we still put up our own real tree.

On the 20th, we went down to my parents house to celebrate with them. I drove down that morning and Josh came down after work.  First, we made an awesome gingerbread train!!

(Yes, that is "coal" in the back of the train =])

Then, we had a delicious dinner of polenta and meat sauce.  After that, it was time for PRESENTS!! We got a lot of great gifts and my family seemed to enjoy the gifts from us too!

The next morning, I went to lunch downtown and to see the Nutcracker Ballet with my mom and sister.  We have been going every year for as long as I can remember (even when I was in a cast up to my thigh).  

The next day Bobby and Lindsay arrived and Scott had arrived the previous Friday.  The trip started out with "THE END OF THE WORLD" (NOT)!! The next week we spent watching movies, going swimming, and playing games.  Our favorite game was PARTY POOPER.  If you have never played this game, you should really check it out.  It is especially fun with a big group and/or family.

On Christmas morning, we were all up at 5:40 am to open presents.  You should have seen how many presents there were.  It basically filled up my in-law's whole front room!  Tons of great gifts and lots of fun family time.  For dinner, we had ham, turkey, cranberry sauce, green beans, mashed potatoes, apple pie, and pumpkin pie. YUM!!  Everyone left the Sunday after Christmas.

Also that Sunday, Josh and I got new callings (assignments at Church)!!! I am Den Mother/Leader for the Bears in Cub Scouts (9 year old  and Josh is Pack Leader for the Cub Scouts (over all Cub Scouts and leaders)!! We are both very excited.  Not 100% sure what to expect, but excited.

For New Year's Eve, Josh and I had a lazy night at our house.  We made Panini sandwiches for dinner and of course watched The Ball Drop at midnight.  Today, JOSH DIDN'T HAVE TO WORK!! So we slept in, went out to lunch, and then saw Parental Guidance.  O MY GOODNESS!! THAT MOVIE WAS SO HILARIOUS! 

It has been a wonderful year. Lots of ups and downs in 2012.  We are so excited for what 2013 has to bring! We wish you all a Safe and Happy New Year!!

...

So I want to start blogging more frequently but don't always have things to blog about.  This is where you (small audience) help come up with ideas to blog about.  And.....................GO!!

November Continued...

So I kinda failed with keeping up with my November posts... So I'm just going to do a list of more things I am thankful for:

Our house
My husband
My Ward
The gospel
My Heavenly Father
Family
Friends
Our cars
Food
Candy
Hot chocolate
Blankets
Fireplaces

OK now I'm just typing things I see. Anyway, for Thanksgiving, Josh and I went to Denver on Thursday to be with my parents and my sister. We had a great day playing games and of course eating lots of great food.On Friday, we went to see The Van Gogh exhibit at the Art Museum. And then headed to the airport to fly out to Utah.

At the Airport, we had a delicious dinner and then headed to our gate. Our gate was practically in the basement because we were flying to Provo which is a tiny little airport. As we walked up to our gate, I noticed 4 Kids running around. I said "Josh, O MY GOSH THAT'S STEPHANIE NIELSEN AND HER FAMILY! I was totally star struck. So I spent the next hour or so getting up the courage to talk to her. Finally, as we were boarding our flight, for the first time, I was standing next to her and said "I don't want to interrupt, but I read your blog every day and am so inspired by you." She then asked where we were from and why we were great to Utah. She was so genuinely interested in our conversation. She also is gorgeous and her kids are adorable. I felt so honored to have met her and talked to her.

Now about our flight. So we first boarded at 6 and soon after they told us there was a mechanical issue and they were trying to resolve it. About ten minutes later, they said they were still trying to figure out the problem and that we had to deplane. For the next 2 hours they gave updates every fifteen minutes or told us they works have an update in fifteen minutes. At 8, they told us that we had to wait for new plane that would get there at 9. At 9, we boarded our plane. While sitting on the plane, we watched our "broken plane" take off. Grr. Finally we took off and were on our way. We landed and then headed to Bobby and Lindsay 's (brother and sister-in-law) house. The next morning, we got to meet our first nephew, John Casey Heidbrink. We bought him this funny mustache pacifier.

He is such a cutie! We loved spending the next couple of days ooohing and awwwing over him. It's been a great November and now it's DECEMBER...which means CHRISTMAS! HURRAY! :-)

November 6-10

It's time for more Thanksgiving posts.

November 6- I'm thankful for my family! They are with me through Thick and Thin and are always there for me no matter what.  I was also lucky enough to marry into two AWESOME families (Bodily and Heidbrink). Families are such a great blessing!

November 7- This isn't a Thanksgiving story, but it did happen in November.
On November 8th of this year, I went down to Denver to go to the Temple and to visit a friend.  We were sitting with her son and she asked him, "What sound does an Elephant make?"

Without missing a beat, he turns to us and goes " AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! MEOW!"  We both died of laughter. The End

November 8-Here's another Thanksgiving curse story:

When I was in 5th grade, my family went to Florida for Thanksgiving.  We went to visit my Grandma, who lives there, and my Aunt and Uncle came down from Chicago too.

We had decided to go out boating a few days before Thanksgiving.  We had rented a speed boat and were just driving around for fun.  We decided to go out into the ocean (we were just in a little inlet).

As we were heading out to the ocean, we had to go over some waves.  As we headed over one set of waves, the boat and all of us went up in the air and then came down.

Well, when we came back down, my mom hit extra hard.  She started screaming and fell over in pain.  we immediately slowed down and tried to figure out my mom was screaming.

Luckily there is a boat dock for the hospital right along the water so we just drove the boat right up.

The paramedics came out with a back board and a neckbrace.  Meanwhile, my sister and I are crying because we know our mom is really hurt and we don't know what else to do.  The paramedics and my dad took my mom into the hospital and my sister, my aunt, my uncle, my grandma, and me went to return the boat.

We later went to visit her and found out that she had crushed two vertebrae in her back.

As a result, we had to delay our flight home.  We spent an additional two weeks, past when we had planned to go home, in Florida until my mom was released from the hospital and was able to fly home.

It was a very long recovery and we are all relieved that it didn't paralyze her!
  
November 9- Another one of my favorite Thanksgiving foods is STUFFING!! If I could pick only one Thanksgiving food to eat for the next year, stuffing would be it.

November 10- The pilgrims' cows came to America on what ship?

The MOOO-flower! 

NOVEMBER!

I love the fall because it is cooler and there are fun holidays and it's almost Christmas!
November is also Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving because it means lots of yummy food and spending time with family. In honor of Thanksgiving, for each day I'm going to tell a funny Thanksgiving joke, or tell a funny Thanksgiving story. I may even throw in some stuff I'm thankful for.  I won't write posts everyday but I will when I think about it.  So here we go....

November 1- I'll start with something I'm thankful for. I'm thankful for m my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I have a testimony that this church is true! I'm so grateful for my Heavenly Father and all he has blessed me with. Because of the Gospel, I am sealed to my best friend for all of time and eternity!

November 2- It was the first time the blonde was eating Thanksgiving dinner without her family. Trying to re-enact the tradition, she prepared a dinner for herself alone. The next day, her mother called to see how everything went.

"Oh, mother, I made myself a lovely dinner, but I had so much trouble trying to eat the turkey!" said the daughter.

"Did it not taste good?" her mother asked.

"I don't know," the blonde said. "It wouldn't sit still!"

November 3- In my family, we have a Thanksgiving curse. Almost every year something bad happens.  My first story is about how I was plagued by the curse.

When I was in 3rd grade, my family went to Aspen for Thanksgiving. Our plans for the day were to go Ice Skating and then out to a fancy Thanksgiving dinner.

We had been skating for about an hour, when we decided it was time to go. I shared over to my dad and said "look dad, I can stop!" I stopped and then fell over. The fall broke my tibia and I started screaming.

We headed to the hospital and they had to call in a doctor from his dinner to xray and cast my leg.

The restaurant where we were supposed to go, offered to bring us dinner. They showed up with a full dinner on China plates!

I was in a cast up to my hip and in a wheel chair for 3 months and then a cast just below my knee and crutches for the next 6 months.

That is just one of many Thanksgiving curse stories.

November 4- One of my favorite Thanksgiving foods is canned cranberry. I love how it keeps the shape of the can and that you get slices!

November 5- Why couldn't the teddy bear eat any more Thanksgiving dinner?
He was already stuffed.