Tyron's Final Birthday Surprise!

On Friday (his actual birthday), he had to work from 10a-7pm. So I decided to let him come home and rest. JaCobi and I made him a cheesecake and decorated with streamers. When he got home, we ate some Papa Murphy's pizza, sang happy birthday, ate cheesecake and watched 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' (terrible movie by the way!). In my gift to him was our hotel reservation for Nauvoo!

Picture Auralia drew for Daddy

In the morning we headed out bright and early to Nauvoo. We went to Keokuk and crossed the Mississippi and then headed on the highway next to the river- it was nice taking the scenic route! A couple from our ward met us there and we watched their daughter while they did a temple session and then we did one while they watched Auralia. The temple was super busy! JaCobi and I had to go to the ordinance workers locker room and even there they ran out of lockers. The session ahead ran behind so we waited 40 minutes during the session- which was kind of nice because I got a pretty good nap in! But I felt bad b/c the couple watching Auralia was delayed getting their daughter home to nap, but I was so grateful to do a session because we haven't been to the temple since Oct in New York!

It was so cold in Nauvoo! It made sightseeing difficult and unpleasant at times, but we still did a fair amount including: tour of Brigham Young and Wilford Woodruff's homes, Brickyard, Blacksmith shop, Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo play, and the Nauvoo Burial Grounds. We also drove by a lot of things including the Trail of Tears (leads to the river where they crossed to leave Nauvoo), Joseph Smith's Homestead & Mansion House (owned by the RLDS so it cost- boo!). We also went to the Visitor's Center and to Carthage Jail where Joseph Smith was martyred.

Overall a great & tiring weekend! On Monday we went thrift store shopping with JaCobi before she left that afternoon to go home. We all made some great purchases, including a Melissa & Doug art easel! It's like 4 feet tall and on one side is a dry erase board and the other a chalkboard, complete with 2 hanging art trays and a roll of paper that drapes from the top so she can draw on there too- she has spent a few hours drawing already! 

Thanks again Jac for coming to visit!! We LOVED having you here and now that you're gone it's been sad, quiet, and lonely!  To anyone reading this: We are always happy to have visitors! ;)

And a final HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY TYRON!!

Tyron's Birthday Surprise... NUMBER 2!!

So I was on Facebook a couple weeks ago and saw that Tyrone Wells was coming to Iowa City!!! WawawaWHAT??!?!?! So excited- we are huge Tyrone Wells fans, have been since the beginning of his career. He is the son of a preacher and although his music isn't Christian rock or anything, it's good and clean and awesome! And he exudes kindness and happiness and is a super talented musician. Wish we were close friends in real life- he'd be a blast to hang out with!

Anyways, my awesome siblings paid for tickets for Tyron, JaCobi, and I to go. My friend, Whitney Bell, was gracious and watched Auralia. Tyron and Jac had no idea what the plan was for tonight!! I was late getting dinner so we ate burritos in the car, got there and parked and when we got in realized it was at a restaurant and there was only standing room left! Our feet are sore after 3 hours of standing, but it was so worth it!

Tyrone's opening acts were Brett Young & Brendan James. Brett was good, Brendan was great! We bought all 3 of Brendan's CD's! He just owned the keyboard playing tonight, mostly with his eyes closed! And he can whistle better than anyone I've ever heard before. As Pi day comes to a close, I'd recommend listening to his song "Stupid for Your Love" :)

Tyrone was awesome- so full of energy and great beats. I found myself dancing a lot which helped my feet not feel so sore. He is such a good guy- at the end he sang a song 'When All Is Said & Done' and he talked about in the end, we all face death and will meet our Maker and the only important thing is that we loved others and "drank life." He said to give forgiveness tomorrow to those who we have strains with and to let that poison go. What a great guy!

I didn't get any pictures of us, but I got one of Tyrone and his band. I won't post it because I also got a video which is from a similar position & lighting, etc.

Tyron's 30th Birthday- first surprise!

Tyron turns 30 on Friday! I can't believe he is reaching his 30's! We met when he was a missionary at 21 and I remember him coming back to Iowa for a visit a few months after his mission and we celebrated his 22nd birthday. Eight years later we are back in Iowa and I still have a major crush on him! What a beautiful 8 years it has been :)

I have several surprises planned for his big 3-0! The first was his sister, JaCobi, flying in from Alberta, Canada! She told me a couple months ago that she was going to come out and I was thrilled! So fun to spend some time together, especially as a surprise to Tyron for his birthday! I was super sneaky- deleted emails, texts, skype conversations, etc. in order to make it work. On the way there tonight I took the craziest backroad routes to get their and I'm a little embarrassed to say that I had to get my phone out to navigation because I got confused a couple of times :) But it helped because he has NO idea where we were going! And of course he was blindfolded through it all. Here's a picture and the awesome moment on video:

Thanks Jac for coming! And thanks Nathan for your willingness to be wifeless for a few days!

I officiallly stink at blogging

I've been thinking a lot lately about how it's not possible to do everything- obviously- so we each let certain things go. For the last several months, for me, it's been exercise and blogging and probably many other things I can't even think of right now. Life sure has been busy. Each day and week is a whirlwind.

I haven't done an update on our life, or on Auralia for a long time! So here it goes:

We are still loving life here in Iowa. It's a good fit for this time in our lives. We attend the married student ward and have met so many wonderful people! We instantly clicked with one family - the Hardings. We spend a lot of time together, and our girls (exactly 6 mo apart) play well together. I get together with Rachel on Tuesdays to work on our quiet books that we each are making for our child. This quiet book has kept me busy during this long winter. I'll post more pictures on it when it's a little further along.

At church, Tyron was called to be a Sunday School teacher and I was called to serve on the Stake YW Camp committee. They have me planning & making food. I don't enjoy cooking, but I don't mind as long as get to work with the youth :)

Tyron got accepted to the PhD program in Neuroscience here at the University of Iowa!! He may get to start in the summer instead of waiting until August! We are waiting to hear. He has been stringing together random part-time jobs (2 research positions, and working at Coldstone). We are so so so happy that last week he got a temporary/seasonal position at Lowe's! It will be a consistent 39 hours a week plus he'll keep one of his research jobs so he'll be working about 50 hours a week. I still have my part-time job at RBL. It's been a lifesaver to our financial situation over the past year. Although it's difficult for me to fit in work in all the quiet moments (including nap-time)  instead of exercising, blogging, and doing what I want to do. I've had a huge project lately that consumes large chunks of time. I've also been helping our friend from the Bronx re-locate here to Iowa.

We have been learning Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and we love it! It has re-motivated us to get our finances in order so that we don't get too heavily in debt now so we can own a home soon after the PhD. We also want to control our money so we can accomplish all that we desire without being held back financially. I'd recommend this system to everyone.

Auralia will be 21 months on March 21st! I can't even believe this. But it happened. Here's what she's up to these days:
1. She enjoys being naked. Even though it's been freezing, she wants her clothes off. I let her go until her skin is cool. Silly girl :)
2. She loves watching TV. Ya, I'm not real thrilled about this, but it come in handy when my work load explodes. She LOVES Curious George. "George' is now part of her vocabulary. She actually laughed yesterday at a part from a movie. She's comprehending what she sees on TV.
3. She loves playing with my make-up and I often find it smeared on her and in places in the apartment.
4. She has had a recent fascination with the snow. When we are outside, she loves to stomp around in it, no matter how cold.
5. She loves bathtime and often stays in until she's super pruney.
6. She loves food- some days it feels like she never stops snacking. She has started to throw a fit about eating certain things... can't say I'm loving that. She avoids vegetables, which is to be expected.
7. She loves books! This started a couple months ago b/c Auntie JoDana & Uncle Kelly got her Sandra Boynton books for Christmas. They are her favs (Moo, Baa, LaLaLa and Blue Hat Green Hat). She enjoys snuggling up to read and is comprehending a lot more of the book than before.
8. She loves playing peek a boo. Loves to cover up her face or hide and then pop out and shout, "BOO"!
9. We still struggle with nursery at church. We were off to a great start and then it got worse and worse. But it's getting better... hopefully there's less of a fight there.
10. She is still a mama's girl, but she is caring more about dadda these days, especially when he leaves for work.
11. She has had a dry cough for 2 months. It's what wakes her up each morning and she continues off and on all day. I need to get her in for a visit to the doc's, but I'm thinking they still won't be concerned about it. Doesn't hurt to check.
12. She has really expanded her vocab. Some words don't sound like anything, but she continues to try. Many words she can say.
12. I love her kisses- she hums the 'mmmm' before giving the 'wah' part on your lips. And she blows kisses to say she loves you or sometimes to say thank you.

Auralia is wonderful and we are immensely blessed to have her be a part of our family. We hope to bring her a sibling some time in the future... getting pregnant is always a challenge for us. I just find things to keep me busy so I don't dwell on how frustrating it is. But we'll be blessed when we're blessed :)

Went through a socks on the hands phase :)

Eyeliner all over the face, shirt, and tummy

Bright eyed curious girl always into something :) Oh, and she will have Rapunzel hair by age 3!