The Goldiez

BUBBLE BATH!

2011-10-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

Bethany loves bubble baths! Most days she has two, one in the late morning, and one before bed. It's a nice break for mommy because she will play in the bath while I can sit in the bathroom and read /relax.

BYU and Monkey Bag

2011-10-11T10:48:00.000-07:00

Awwww.... Bethany loves auntie Cortny so much. Here she is wearing Scott's BYU hoodie. SO CUTE! We spent the day in Springville since Ben is gone. We had a really nice time going to church with Cortny/Dave, Sheri/David/Scott. We are really looking forward to December when Bethany can go to nursery! She is so ready. I know she will love it. And I will love being able to sit peacefully through sunday school and RS!

I bought Bethany this cute monkey backpack.... it also has a harness attached so when we are out in crowds I will be able to keep ahold of her easier. She has so much energy and loves to run away so she will get chased. Its her recent favorite game. She squeels with delight when I run after her. Its fun in a park, but not exactly the game I want to be playing in downtown SLC.

The monkey was a big hit, since she LOVES Curious George. She calls him "love u george" and carried him around the house all morning.

Bethany 16 months

2011-10-11T10:29:00.001-07:00

This is Bethany's Frog Potty! She LOVES it! Everytime mom or dad is on the toilet, Bethany comes along and sits on her frog. She even puts her bears and dolls on the potty too. She has actually gone in there herself 4 times!

Here is Ben eating breakfast before his first day of work at KPMG! woo hooo! So proud of him. Its brilliant that he can be done work and get home in less than 5 minutes. I love being so close to his office. He is in Atlanta this week for training, so Bethany and I have missed him a lot. By the way, if you didn't hear, he passed all three CPA exams he took this summer. Now he just has one to go.

HAWAII

2011-09-25T10:05:00.000-07:00

We've just spent the last week in Maui. It has been so wonderful. HUGE THANK YOU to mom for watching Bethany for us. You are SO AMAZING and SWEET to do that. Thanks to Sheri for helping out so much too, and giving up your house for a week. Thanks to everyone else who has helped (Cortny, Dave, Scott, David, KatiAnne). Bethany loves you all so much. It has meant the world to us to be able to go on this vacation together. It has been an INCREDIBLE trip. We've had very action-packed days. We snorkeled, boogie boarded, scuba dived, and swam. Luckily we are only minimally sunburned. Last night we ate at a delicious Chinese restaurant in south Maui and then walked along the beach at sunset. Maui is beautiful.

MAUI ADVENTURES

2011-09-24T20:17:00.000-07:00

This is exactly what we saw when we snorkeled. These turtles are AMAZING! They come really close to you as well. A few times we got scared because they swim right for you like they are going to attack! They are harmless, but because they're so big you just feel a little vulnerable. They're so beautiful! This was my favorite part of the trip.
We saw a lot of these bright yellow reef fishies. They are so bright, they really stand out even if the water is a bit murky.
This is a crater called Molokini. We took a boat out to here and snorkeled by the rock. There were a lot of tropical fishies out here and the visibility was at least 20ft in whatever direction you looked. Amazing snorkeling here.

We saw a lot of school of bright tropical fish. When we went diving we saw an octopus, shrimp, frog fish, baby shark, and turtles. It was incredible.

I thought this little guy was THE COOLEST fish ever. I saw him at the Ulua beach dive.

Magic Show

2011-09-24T20:03:00.000-07:00

On the "Four Winds II"

This was a delicious raspberry cheesecake we had just before the magic show.

Here is the magician from the show "Warren and Anabelles" in Lahaina. The show was marvelous. He made a bowling ball appear out of nowhere. Twice. A must-see if you visit Maui.

More Maui

2011-09-24T19:59:00.001-07:00

After the magic show, outside.

Chilling out at the beach.

Fun in Maui

2011-09-24T19:50:00.000-07:00

Taking a break after a snorkeling hunt for turtles in the ferocious waves.

On the "Four Winds II" --a boat that took us to Molokini Crater to snorkel.

At the Nakalele Blowhole. Its more impressive in real life, the picture just doesn't capture it.

This was a path we had to walk through to get to Honolua Bay.

Maui

2011-09-24T19:36:00.001-07:00

This was today at Po'olenalena beach in south Maui.

The black rock in West Maui. This is the first place we snorkeled, and one of the neatest. We saw all kinds of fabulous looking fish here, as well as 4 or 5 turtles.

This was at Honolua Bay. We also snorkeled here. We had to swim out to the boat you can see in the background. We also saw a sea turtle here. It was a little bit exhausting swimming all that way, it helped that we had a couple of floaty noodles.

I took this picture wednesday morning at 5.30AM from our balcony.

Getting ready for scuba lessons :) Doesn't he look adorable in his wetsuit.

Ballerina and monkey toy

2010-11-15T08:57:00.000-08:00

The Contraption

2010-11-04T12:49:00.000-07:00

.
We designed a special contraption so that Bethany would be able to get the dummy back after she spits it out.. to prevent us having to go in the room during the night to put it back in! She loved staring at the strings. However, it didn't last too long, and it wasn't quite as effective as we'd hoped lol She couldn't quite suck strong enough to get it to stay in her mouth. It was very tricky trying to get the angle right. Now she is learning to put it back in herself -- I just don't know how to transition her to sleeping without being swaddled. Any ideas? xxx

Girls Lunch

2010-11-04T12:42:00.000-07:00

Bethany had her first girls lunch out last week. She came with Cortny and I to eat at the CrackerBarrell. She wore her styling little Calvin Klein outfit that Cortny gave her, and she was so excited to leave the house and see a new environment. I need to take her out more! She was just staring and staring at the lights and the people at the restaurant. Although she fell asleep for half of it! We had a great time. Can you see Bethany's cute blond fuzzy hair coming in? Adorable.

Steele Helmet

2010-11-04T12:37:00.000-07:00

We had some leftover tinfoil from dinner so dad made Bethany a 'stylin' steele hat. I think she liked it!

Hero Quest

2010-11-04T12:33:00.000-07:00

Ben got this game for really cheap off of Ebay and we've had fun playing it in the evenings after Bethany goes to bed. I am always "the game master" so I try to prevent Ben from accomplishing his missions (I get to fight him with monsters). Its so fun. I haven't yet won, but I'm getting better at learning the strategy and the names of the different monsters (its pretty complex!).

"The Little Brute"

2010-11-04T12:28:00.000-07:00

Bethany has taken a liking to this chewy heart ring.

After her bath the other night. She loves to chew on her towel while I'm trying to get her dressed.
Sitting on the couch

Sideways

2010-11-04T12:25:00.000-07:00

Does anyone know how to rotate the picture properly? I'm really hopeless at this blogging business. LOL I can't even rotate a picture. Wow. Well it's a cute one anyways. Bethany is making a little fish pucker face.

milk face

2010-09-27T10:58:00.000-07:00

poop face

2010-09-27T10:55:00.000-07:00

bethy

2010-09-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

All ready for church

2010-09-27T10:40:00.000-07:00

Sunshine+Smile!

2010-09-16T10:57:00.000-07:00

Days of Bethany

2010-09-16T10:47:00.000-07:00

1. I'm so excited that Bethany can fit into some of her 3 month clothes now. lol the sweat pants are still a little big-- but SO COMFY-- thanks Sheri! She likes sitting at the corner of the couch watching us.
2. Daddy lying down on the blanket with Bethany. She was a bit confused!
3. This little blue and yellow elephant is Bethany's favorite toy. She just loves watching it. It vibrates and its ears make a crinkly noise that she loves.
4. Again, the cutest little sweatpants ever! Look how strong her little neck is getting.

BaBy Bethany

2010-09-09T15:54:00.000-07:00

Bethany is almost 3 months and she:

-Smiles at anyone!

-Grabs toys and brings them to her mouth

-Says some "words" -- (she loves to have little "conversations" with daddy. Her most common words are "aboo-ee" "geh-0h" and "gggg")

-Rolls from front to back

-Sleeps in her very own crib (with constant baby 'monitoring' of course)

-Reaches to be picked up-- and gives snuggles when you hold her

-Poops ALOT every day

-Wears #1 huggies (grew out of newborn) and can even wear #2 when I run out of the right size!

Chilling

2010-09-09T15:47:00.000-07:00

Almost 3 months

2010-09-09T15:40:00.000-07:00

Playing with daddy

2010-09-09T15:31:00.000-07:00

Alcatraz and tummy time

2010-08-09T15:34:00.000-07:00

This is at the very edge of Pier 39 with Alcatraz island in the background. We didn't go to the actual prison, because apparently the weather is freezing and windy there, so I didn't want Bethany to get too cold. So we just looked at it from a distance. It was SO nice to get out of the house and do something touristy. Bethany slept the whole time! We also stopped at Ghirardelli chocolate square and got ice cream and chocolate. That was a nice ending to the outing.

The SeaLions at Pier 39

2010-08-09T15:26:00.000-07:00

The sea lions were so cool! They were totally sunbathing, and using each other as pillows. It was funny to watch them try to get up, and walk on top of each other to jump back into the water. We saw a couple of barking fights! They are such cool animals, it was awesome seeing them up close. Too bad Bethany was asleep!

Dinner mess

2010-08-06T12:21:00.001-07:00

I poured warm water on a hot glass pan and it exploded. It was so scary. It was a huge blessing that Bethany never got hurt, because I was holding her right there when it happened. So much for our dinner...

6 weeks old!

2010-08-06T12:12:00.000-07:00

Cute dress sheri!

2010-07-24T16:57:00.000-07:00

5 weeks old!

2010-07-24T16:43:00.000-07:00

ONLY 3 WEEKS LEFT!

2010-05-30T14:06:00.001-07:00

Golfing Adventures

2010-05-29T07:16:00.000-07:00

We went golfing together yesterday. Of course, I didn't do any actual golfing myself. I was the caddy and cart driver. I brought along popcorn, juice, and the camera. It was a really beautiful day to be outside, and driving the cart is so much fun. I thought I broke it once, but then realized I was just trying to drive in reverse. It took me awhile to get the hang of it :) We also went to see the new Robin Hood movie. I liked it alright, but ben thought it was pretty rubbish acting and storyline... I think what bugged him most was Russell Crowe's awful attempt at an English accent. Sometimes he sounded just plain 'American', sometimes Scottish, and sometimes Irish or Welsh.

Baby Goldie at 33 Weeks

2010-05-09T20:39:00.000-07:00

You can see her face towards the end of the video. The doctor said her head is buried really low. She likes being upside down!

Dinner Tonight

2010-03-22T18:52:00.000-07:00

I made mac and cheese bake tonight--I'm so proud of it. It was delicious.

I've popped!

2010-03-22T18:41:00.000-07:00

This is 27 weeks (just barely 6 months)! It really feels like I've popped out huge. I am starting to feel very pregnant and uncomfortable! I know I've got a ways to go yet but I really can't imagine getting any bigger. Our little girl is quite active. She likes to do summersaults at night. She kept me up till 1 last night because she decided she was hungry. She doesn't like driving along university avenue because its too bumpy. She thought it would be funny to kick my bladder today when I was dying for a bathroom break, sitting in the middle of an appointment. So I think she's got a sense of humor. We can't wait for her to arrive!

Navajo Tacos

2010-03-07T20:07:00.001-08:00

Here's some home made navajo tacos. I was so proud of these. They were supposed to be soft tacos-- but I didn't have a rollling pin so I couldn't roll them out thin. Anyways they ended up being far too thick so I just pretended I had tried to make navajo tacos.

Here's also my belly at 25 weeks. Its kinda a dark picture-- sorry. Hope you can see it alright.

xxx

Lara

25 weeks pregnant belly

2010-03-07T19:39:00.000-08:00

Food Storage

2010-03-01T18:59:00.000-08:00

So I have a goal to get our years supply of food storage before the end of 2010. my visiting teacher is amazing-- she actually cooks only from her food storage supply. It inspired me to start learning about food storage,and getting my own. Also, I've kept meaning to try out that beautiful wheat grinder that mom and dad gave me-- so nows the time I've decided :) my visiting teacher gave me a spread sheet of calculated amounts of various items, so I'm starting with that. If any of you have any suggestions/advice/etc please let me know.

baby

2010-02-15T17:41:00.000-08:00

Its been forever since I've written... 'I'm so sorry! I was getting so annoyed that the video would not upload, but ben helped me figure out how to at least post some pictures. Isn't she a beautiful little baby? ben thinks she looks a bit like a skeleton. lol. She's been moving around so much lately. I guess she better enjoy it while she's still got space in there. Pretty soon she'll be totally squished. Things are going good down here. I started my new job, I love it. Its nice to work a few less hours every week. ben is working hard at his classes, and he's got a fly-out interview down to Houston in a couple weeks. So pray for him!

baby Goldie

2010-02-15T17:24:00.000-08:00

I finally got some pictures of my ultrasound posted! Can you see her cute little face?

Ben's Vocal Folds

2009-10-09T14:03:00.000-07:00

Here's a video that I took of Ben's vocal cords the other day at work. Aren't they beautiful? And I'm getting to be a pretty good photographer ! :)

Sunday and Marathon

2009-09-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

Marathon Finish

2009-09-13T09:21:00.000-07:00

2009-08-18T05:07:00.001-07:00

New cell # 801-376-6518. Call me! xxx

SCOTLAND PICS

2009-08-17T18:04:00.000-07:00

NYC

2009-07-31T14:06:00.000-07:00

Hello family! Ben and I are in New Jersey this weekend! I spent the day at a training for stroboscoby and voice therapy (its a good conference, I've learned a lot) and Ben visited the Empire State Building. He took some great pictures, but we don't have his camera cord with us so I will post them when we get back. I think most of you heard about our boating adventures this weekend. What a disaster. I don't think I ever want to rent a boat again. I'll post more later.. gtg for dinner. Love ya!

I'm glad its friday

2009-06-19T19:42:00.001-07:00

Ben and I played racquetball tonight at the Orem Rec. It was ACE. I even beat him twice (or was it 3 times?) out of about 8 games. I'm getting better. It was pretty fun. I've been preparing for my piano recital that is in a couple weeks. I'm so nervous. It will be my first public performance in years. I hope my hands don't get all sweaty. I'm excited that its the weekend. I love saturdays. Kids on the move gave me a large chunk of money to spend on toys before monday so I'm going to do some toy shopping tomorrow. I think I'll go to that cute "red balloon" shop in American Fork. Its adorable, and they have pretty unique stuff. Well, I'll write again soon with some real pictures! I love you all!

2009-06-05T18:35:00.000-07:00

EYES

2009-06-05T16:52:00.000-07:00

It was so great having dad and david here to visit. We had a great time. We went out to dinner on thursday to Los Hermanos (my favorite restaurant). Dad and I went running, and Ben and David went to the golf driving range. We spent a lot of time just hanging out in the evenings and talking. It was so much fun. Then, this morning Ben got his corrective eye surgery done! It was so incredible to watch. They magnified his eyeball on a large TV screen for me to watch the surgery. It was amazing... They had to put these little hooks in his eye to hold his eyelids open so he would not blink. It was totally gross! I think I was more nervous than Ben. I was terrified he was gonna move his eye the wrong way and get blinded! But they did an amazing job, and he can already see a lot better! Its so exciting for him! They gave us a DVD to keep, so you guys can watch it next time you are down here. He is pretty miserable right now, lots of irritation, itchiness, burning sensation. However, that's normal for the first 3-5 days with PRK surgery. He should start to feel better by next week. It was really embarrassing.... as a joke Ben told me that when they do the PRK surgery he would loose his eye color. He has the most beautiful blue eyes... so I was really sad about that. So, as the surgery was being done, I was talking to the other doctors and the nurse lady about how I will miss his blue eyes... They looked at me like I was a bit crazy. How embarrassing.

Vocal Cords

2009-05-31T19:55:00.000-07:00

Here's what I spend hours a day looking at! Those two little white parts are the vocal cords. And the black space underneath is the trachea (breathing tube). This is looking down from the top.

Cruisin'

2009-05-02T16:17:00.000-07:00

hi family!

We got back from our cruise last night (thanks sheri and david for picking us up). We had a great time. It was so much fun. We spent a lot of time on the sundeck and pool/hottub. Until Ben got burned the second day, all over his arms and legs. I made sure to put sunscreen on his face and shoulders, so they were fine, but his legs and arms got neglected, and they FRIED. Poor baby, he was SO burned. I felt really bad for him. So we didn't spend much time in the sun for the rest of the cruise. We watched drunk people sing karaoke... pretty funny. We spent a lot of time dining (amazing food).... and all you can eat! We also enjoyed the live music, comedian, activities such as dance lessons, the gym, health classes, ping pong tournament, etc. It was a blast. We were sad that we didn't get to stop in Ensenada, mexico. I would have loved to walk around the little markets. But I totally understand they wanted to be aware that no one got sick. It an excuse to go again... since we didn't touch mexican soil :) It was an awesome trip, and such a nice break from school and work. Im already planning our next one! Just kidding.... but I am thinking about it! :) I hope you're all doing well. Happy birthday mom and Jana! I will talk to you both tomorrow. Hope you enjoy the pictures. I love you! xxxx -Lara

Long Beach

2009-05-02T10:12:00.000-07:00

On the deck

2009-05-02T10:09:00.000-07:00

Fancy Dinner

2009-05-02T10:07:00.000-07:00

The ship

2009-05-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

Catalina and day 1

2009-05-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

Graduation woo hoo!

2009-05-02T09:58:00.000-07:00

Wednesday

2009-04-01T17:15:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't written in forever. My excuse is that I lost my camera cord and so I couldn't upload any pictures. But now it has been found. We had a fun weekend with Ben's birthday. We went to Orem Rec Center on saturday afternoon to go running and swimming. Then we ate at bombay house (indian food). It was delicious (thanks Jana!). Then on sunday I made some delicious french toast and eggs for breakfast, and lasagne for dinner. Sheri and David came over and we had cheesecake for dessert. We had fun playing 4-player wii (world of goo and tetris). The top picture is Ben just before he got his hair cut. He actually let me cut it... I'm surprised that he did because one time I tried to cut it and put on the wrong shaver head... and I ended up giving him a bald patch. It was really nice of him to let me try again. It turned out very good this time... I'll have to add another picture of his short hair now...

Ben's Birthday

2009-04-01T17:11:00.000-07:00

COSTCO

2009-03-25T12:34:00.000-07:00

I just have to say, I love costco. Its the best store on earth. Yesterday I went there to kill some time while I was waiting for Ben to finish studying and found so many delicious little taste testers. They don't even minf if you have seconds. One lady told me to take 5 samples of pasta because she had to close up.... I took them all.

Cities

2009-03-19T18:55:00.000-07:00

I wish I had some cool news or something... but we're just doing the same old same old stuff. Ben is working hard at his classes, and I'm just loving my job. We're trying to make some decisions about where we might want to live after Ben finishes school. His program wants you to choose a city, then go there for a training and internship this summer and next, then work there. So they like you to decide early on. But its hard to know where we will want to be in 2 and a half years from now. It seems too far away. We've thought about Seattle, Philadelphia, New York, and a few more. We're waiting to hear back from one of the companies about any possible international opportunities (uk or canada) However, if we go that route, Ben will most likely be on his own to find the job... they don't usually recruit internationally. Anyways, lots to consider. We're excited about the nicer weather down here. Its finally sunny and we've stopped putting our heat on becasue we dont' need it anymore. I'll add some pictures soon. xxx

Phone

2009-03-09T19:36:00.000-07:00

Just FYI, I must have dropped my phone somewhere between Alena's house and mine when I was running home from my piano lesson. We got a snowstorm here.... and I have no idea where I dropped it... its buried under snow somewhere in the willows. So, incase any of you were trying to get in contact with me.... that's why you couldn't. I hope to either find it or get another one soon. I really need to be more careful.

Update

2009-03-07T06:35:00.001-08:00

Here's the cake I made for our princess party. It was a bit of a disaster as you can seen. The side was caved in and there were pieces falling off. At least it tasted good. I was horrified when I arrived because I thought the cakes were just being made for eating, but instead they were the actual centerpieces for the tables. One lady had used an actual princess barbie as the center of the cake, then decorated the cake around the barbie, as the dress. It was so immaculate. I felt pretty embarrassed. Only a couple pieces of mine got eaten. And I ate one of the pieces. So I think only one or two people chose mine to eat. Not that I blame them... At least Ben had a wonderful time finishing off the rest of it over the last few days. He's my biggest fan. He thought it was perfect. I better be careful where I let this picture out to..... it might end up on the ugliest cakes blog! LOL. I have a lot to learn about time management. There is just never enough time... and I do a poor job of planning ahead. Oh well, at least I had the best intentions. I went to uncle Steve's office yesterday to get all signed up to work for him. I met all the people there. They are so nice but I was a bit nervous so I was glad to see Rachel. He's got a really nice office. I'm excited to work for him. I will probably start in about a month or so. I love you all. I hope we can talk tomorrow. xxx

Sunday Notes

2009-02-22T17:20:00.000-08:00

Below are some photos of my trip to St. Louis. The Moog center was where we had all the classes. I learned tons about cochlear implants and working with hearing impaired children. It was fascinating. We took a trip one afternoon to the big arch downtown. It was so HUGE! We also went to the temple. It was so pretty lit up at night, but I forgot to bring my camera that night. I also added a photo of my new exercise chair that I spent my christmas money on. I'm etting a pretty strong tummy! I'm so excited to talk to you all today. Call me! xxx

Sunday

2009-02-22T17:16:00.000-08:00

The Arch in St. Louis

2009-02-22T17:13:00.000-08:00

The Moog Center

2009-02-22T17:10:00.000-08:00

Conference Room

2009-02-22T17:09:00.000-08:00

2009-02-18T08:29:00.001-08:00

St Louis

2009-02-18T08:24:00.001-08:00

Im off to St. Louis this morning. I will take pictures, and send them asap! -Lara

VALENTINE'S DAY

2009-02-15T08:45:00.000-08:00

So Ben and I tried to go skiing yesterday for Valentine's day. We woke up at the break of dawn, got all ready, and headed out. But as we started driving we realized that the roads were VERY slippery, and there was a snowstorm. So we didn't think we'd make it up the canyon with our little echo. So we decided to go over to Sheri's to borrow her tire chains. She didn't think they would fit, but that didn't stop us. I was just sure that chains that would fit her car would also fit mine, I mean, they are not that different in size. SO it was like 9 in the morning and we were all bundled up outside Sheri and David's apartment trying for over an hour to get her chains on our tires. Well we finally realized that they didn't fit, and were not going to work. So then we went to Walmart to buy our own chains. Then we raced to BYU to rent skis, since its cheaper there. But there was a huge crowd, and at least a half an hour wait. So since it was after 12 by then, so we packed it in and gave up. Sad. We thought "oh we'll just go on monday instead, since its a holiday." But then I realized that I have a piano lesson on monday that I can't miss. So maybe some other weekend. At least we now have chains for our tires if I ever get stuck at work. So then I cleaned the house and practiced the piano, and Ben did homework. We went out to eat at Los Hermanos (which was very delicious) then we went to babysit for Tina. Those boys absolutely LOVE ben. He's gonna be a good daddy. They love to wrestle with him. What it it with boys and wrestling? I don't get it. But they sure had a blast. I'll add some pictures as soon as I get my camera back. I accidently left it at Tina's.

Princess Cake

2009-02-08T17:50:00.000-08:00

Here's some older photos that were taken when you guys came down to Utah to visit. Remember that yummy pizza? And doesn't grandpa have the greatest smile? I love him. Today was busy. I made lasagna for the girl that I visit teach. She just had a baby so we took her some dinner and a gift. I think Ben was happy that I actually cooked for once! (I made double so we could have some too). I worked really hard on it and it turned out delicious! I was so proud of myself. Guess what? Our Relief Society is having a princess dinner party and I signed up to bring a princess cake. Any ideas Jana? Im excited to put my Wilton class skills to use. Maybe I will make some roses! I start my first piano lesson tomorrow. I'll let you know how that goes! I hope we can talk today! xxx Love you guys!

Lunch Break

2009-02-06T11:46:00.000-08:00

HI guys. I'm at work right now, but I've decided to take a lunch break and update my blog. Sorry its been so long. I've actually had a surprisingly busy week. I'm getting a lot of kids now, so Im keeping very busy. At least the 40 hours of work a week goes by fast. Ben and I watched an episode of the office late last night online. Its the one that aired last week about when Dwight pretends there is a fire in the building. Oh wow it is hilarious. I was laughing so hard that I couldn't breathe. You gotta watch it. Its on www.hulu.com under most popular episodes. The episode is season 5 episode 13 and its called "stress relief." Anyways, the first 5 minutes is the funniest. Then it kinda goes downhill from there. But you gotta at least watch the first part. Ben has had his first set of exams this week. He's doing a great job on them. This is his last one today. Poor guy. I really don't miss that part about school. Its so good to just be able to come home and relax in the evening, without the worry of homework hanging over your head. Im so glad I'm done with that. I feel so badm I made a bit of a scene at church on sunday. There were 2 girls that just would not stop texting during the lesson. I should have just ignored it but for some reason I couldn't. I was so sad that they were missing out on a beautiful lesson about the Savior. So I made a huge big deal out of it. I feel bad. They probably don't like me much anymore. But I think it had to be said. Its hard having to be the leader when you just would rather be always a friend. But they do need to learn to have a bit of respect for the teacher. Anyways, I felt pretty bad about that. I'll write more later. I love you all!

Piano Lessons

2009-02-01T19:31:00.000-08:00

Hi family! I hope you all had a really nice sunday. Sheri and David came over to our for dinner. We had baked potatoes but since it was fast sunday, and everyone was so starving, we didn't wait until they finished cooking in the oven, we just nuked them instead! Then we had some cookies that David and Sheri brought, then we all played tetris on the wii. Sheri is an expert. She beat both me and Ben, and we've been training for weeks. She's pretty good at puzzle stuff like that. So I've decided to start up piano lessons again. My visiting teacher has a degree in piano performance and she teaches lessons. She's really nice. She said she has a spot open so I'm gonna take for at least 6 months and see how it goes. I'm excited to improve a bit. I just want to be at the point where I can play comfortably for church and be able to sight read pieces on my own. She expects her students to practice at least an hour a day. That would seem like a lot, but since I'm done school and have absolutely loads of free time, its something I can for sure do right now. So I might as well do this now while I have time, and improve my piano skills. I miss you all so much. xxx

Cruise

2009-01-27T19:58:00.001-08:00

Hi family! GUESS WHAT? I am so so excited because Ben and I just booked a 4-day cruise with carnival cruises to Mexico. It starts in LA and then goes to catalina and ensenada, then back to LA. It was only 613.00 total! (plus our gas money to drive to LA). We are going on April 27th, right after graduation. Its sort of like a delayed honeymoon/graduation celebration! We have been looking into this for awhile, and we finally found a really good deal, so we took it. Its cool cus the cruise includes everything such as food, entertainment (movies, pool, hot tub, shows, golf, tennis, etc... its a massive ship). Then when you stop on shore you can sight-see for the day. We made a plan that we needed to save a certain amount of money, and then we could go... and we've worked out that we will have saved that much by August. But we wanted to go ahead and take this one in April since it was good timing, and such a good price. We figured this would be a good time to go since next summer Ben will be doing a full time internship, and then who knows what. So anyways, that's the plan. We're pretty excited. Its nice for us to have this to look forward to, especially to help Ben get through such a hard semester! After we booked it I was so excited I was jumping up and down for about 20 minutes! Ben has a good friend who went on the exact same cruise last summer, with the same company. He said it was totally magical.. he's doing it again this year. He said it was totally worth the money, and he recommended lots of things to us, like the location, and room and stuff. Anyways, that's our big news for the day. I miss you all so much and I love you! Call me anytime, I'm always available! xxxx -Lara

SNOW glorious snow

2009-01-26T18:31:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone! So its been snowing non stop today. Here's a picture of me all bundled up in my PJs to go grocery shopping. And this is Ben's little office that we set up downstairs for him to study in. He's working so hard! Today we had a big bonfire in the back yard and burned all my thesis study notes and all my clinical stuff from the hospital (its about the clients so its confidential stuff-- they told me I either had to burn it or shred it.... so we burned it) It was really fun. We stunk so bad after though! We smelled awful. I also ventured out into the snowstorn to get some hot fudge so we could enjoy our box of cookies n' cream BYU ice cream to the MAX. Hot fudge is essential, of course.

P.S

2009-01-25T19:42:00.000-08:00

Does anyone else want to see "confessions of a shopaholic?" I think it looks HILARIOUS. I can't wait till it comes out on Feb 13th. If you haven't seen it, watch the trailer on imbd.com

I love the part where she cuts the credit card out of the ice block.

Sunday comments

2009-01-25T19:31:00.001-08:00

Couldn't figure out how to rotate the picture of Ben the right way. Sorry! It looks like he is lying on top of the fridge! It was funny today because we had ward choir practice at 9 am (the first official one we've had w/ our new director) and there were only about 6 people there. Then, during our performance in sacrament meeting about 15 people came up. Thank goodness. But I just wonder how people can get up and perform without even practicing? I would be way too nervous that I would mess up, or sing when its supposed to be quiet, or when its supposed to be just men or something. There are some brave souls in our ward. Or maybe they just feel loads of pressure to get up since its their calling to be in the choir! Who knows. But at least we had a good group of people to sing with! I'd love to talk to you all today. I tried to call but no one picked up. I really need to learn that chem-dry number! I miss you all so much! xxxxx

Sunday

2009-01-25T19:27:00.001-08:00

Chilling at Sheri's

2009-01-23T16:53:00.001-08:00

Hard Rice

2009-01-23T16:38:00.000-08:00

Hi again family. So, Ben got a horrible fever last night. He couldn't stop shivering with the chills but he was sweating and his forehead was really hot. I was so worried about him. He didn't sleep well, was up for most of the night. He is feeling a little better now, but he has been home on the couch all day. Poor guy. He's had a rough month. He's just been so sick. I hope it goes away soon. Now he is playing Fifa and I am sitting here blogging. I'm also trying to cook some rice. I am the absolute worst at cooking rice. It always explodes over the top, and then the rice is hard. I can't get it right. I guess I just need practice.

my day

2009-01-22T17:50:00.000-08:00

Im so glad to see that Mom, the Matthews, and the Stewarts, have added blogs! They are so cute you guys! Today Ben went to school and studied, and I worked. I had six visits today, so it was really busy. We got a game called "world of goo" on the wii. Its hilarious, and really fun. You guys should get it. And you play it together, so no competition. Well, I love you all, and miss you mucho. Please come visit soon.

2009-01-19T15:15:00.000-08:00

Here we are before church last week.

Drinking hot chocolate at starbucks in Aberdeen

My beautiful flowers from mom and dad for finishing my thesis and graduating!

Hanging out at Sheri and David's place

Baskins! :)

Goldie Family

2009-01-19T14:41:00.000-08:00

Here is the family picture we took just before we left Aberdeen. Notice how Finlay is holding Jessica's hand! how cute.

The beginning

2009-01-17T12:48:00.001-08:00

alright. we finally joined the world of blogging. here goes