Happy Valentine's My Love

"Multiply it by infinity, take it to the depths of forever and you'll still only have a glimpse of how much I love you."

Happy Valentine's (a couple days late)!

This year for Valentine's we traveled up to Sanpete to be able to go to Darin's farewell. We had decided not to do anything for the holiday this year... but being my sneaky self, I surprised Brent with a card. He in turn felt the need to go by me a cute teddy bear at the Walmart in Ephraim. We had a beautiful drive and a wonderful talk. We stopped in Ephraim to eat at the best ever Chinese place - the Snow Dragon. We lived right across the street from it when we lived there. We would go at least every other week and we became good friends with the owner. It tasted so good and the owner enjoyed seeing us again. When we arrived in Fairview we were informed that Brent's Mom would be performing that night at the dance hall. They paid for us to get in so we could celebrate Valentine's and watch our mom. There was all you can eat chocolate, dancing, a great jazz band, singing and a lot more. It was so much fun and I got to see Brent's mom dressed up as an old lady. I think my favorite part of Valentine's was being able to dance with my wonderful hubby.

I love you so much Brent. I am so grateful to be married to you for time and eternity. You are truly my best friend and I am so lucky to have you! I know that you are not perfect and nor can I claim to be either, but please believe me, when I say that I want to be by your side, to hold your hand, to treasure you in the morning and in the noon-tide, to be next to you, to be held close to your heart now and forever, to comfort you, dry your tears and calm your most frightening fears, to fight your battles and show no shame to scream my love for you out loud to all the world . You are my everything!

Mis·sion·ar·y

n. - One who is sent on a mission, especially one sent to do religious or charitable work in a territory or foreign country.


The rolling forth of the restored gospel is a miracle in every sense of the word, and not the least of the miracle is that a significant portion of it rolls forward on the shoulders of 19-year-olds! - Jeffrey R. Holland, "Abide in Me," Ensign, May 2004, 30

"I believe there is nothing in all the world that can compare with the joy that a man feels when he realizes that he has been the instrument in the hands of the living God of reaching some honest heart, inspiring in it a love of God and the desire to serve Him." Heber J Grant

"There is no other labor in all the world that brings to a human heart, judging from my own personal experience, more joy, peace and serenity than proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ." Heber J. Grant


If you couldn't tell from the above quotes, Darin had his mission farewell on Sunday, the 15th of February. It was a very emotional day as we saw him for the last time for 2 years. Darin gave a very good and spiritual talk and he bore his testimony. It is so awesome to see how much he has grown in every aspect. We know he will be a very successful missionary and that he will be able to bless many people for good and we wish him the best of luck. It will definitely be very weird not to have him around now. He always made us laugh and feel at home. We will miss you! We were also able to spend time with family that we hadn't seen for quite some time. It was particularly nice to see grandparents and Tyler & Randell.

below are a few pictures of the luncheon after church.

Our Wonderful Weekend

I love going to the temple. The Manti Temple is and will always be my favorite. It is so beautiful inside and the spirit is so strong. Brent & I were sealed for time and eternity in this temple 2 & 1/2 years ago. Brent received his endowment and both Brent and my parents were married in this temple also. And now we had the opportunity to go with Brent's younger brother Darin as he received his endowments.

This past weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to go up to Sanpete to support and share this amazing experience with Darin. It was so neat to see him so happy and all in white and to be with so many family and friends. Darin went on his first date when Brent & I started dating and now he is preparing to enter the MTC this month. Wow how time flies!

After the temple we met up with the rest of the family who weren't able to join us in the temple, for lunch. It was really yummy Mexican food! After lunch we all went up to Fairview to have our family Christmas time really quick and to get ready for our family pictures (which are already outdated - Cindy is due in April but Darin will be on his mission by then). I think they will turn out really cute.

After pictures were done I had Cindy cut my hair. It looks so cute! It is pretty short - about to my chin, and spiky. I will try to get a cute picture up sometime.

On Sunday we hung out with Brent's sister Karen and her fiance, Ryan. It was so good just to talk and get to know Ryan better. They seem so happy and so in love. I love talking with Karen. She is such an awesome person! Later that day we watched the Superbowl with Brent's family. It was a really good game. I loved watching the hilarious commercials. They had alot of good ones this year.

On our way home we stopped by my parents place in Manti to show off my haircut and to say "hi". We had stopped by there on our way to the temple but half of my family was out and my dad had been rubbing it in that he had got to see me and my mom hadn't. It was so funny. I love seeing my family, especially seeing how much my dads face lights up and that huge happy smile he gets when he sees me. I love you too dad ..... and all of my family (including in-laws). You all do so much for us. Thank you. It was such a great weekend!

Happy New Years!!!

Welcome 2009! A new year and a new beginning! Our New Year Resolutions are to be more patient towards each other and everyone, to more fully appreciate all that we are so truly blessed with, to pay off our debt and to become more healthy.

This year to celebrate the New Year we had my two siblings, Cameron and Paige, come. They came down with us after Christmas to spend the week. It was wonderful to have them here and to be able to spend more time with them. We rang in the new year by renting some video games and some movies and by eating alot of food. It was a blast staying up all night laughing and hanging out.

Wishing you all a wonderful and exciting new year!

Christmas Is A Wonderful Season

Isn't Christmas one of the most wonderful times of the year! I just love the lights and the sounds of this Holiday Season. It is the time of year to remember the birth of Christ. To remember his life and the miracles & blessings he has given all of us.

This year we spent Christmas with my family. It was so nice. Christmas Eve we all sat by the fireplace and listened to my Daddy read. I love it when my Dad reads to us. He read his favorite Christmas book... "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". He even did different voices for all the characters! We also read the Christmas story and a poem about the symbols and of Christmas.

In the morning my parents woke us up (I know, it pretty pathetic when your parents have to wake up the kids on Christmas morning - but that is the way it has always been in my family. We must all really like our sleep) and went up stairs to open our presents. I love Christmas morning when everyone is still groggy and trying to wake up! Their expressions are much more genuine. The tree was beautiful and the presents were all neatly wrapped.

There were not a lot of presents, but everyone was so grateful for what they had received. Brent & I received watches, cd's, movies, clothes, a beautiful picture that Cam drew, and a pair of ducks that my Dad had done for us. They are so beautiful! After the presents were opened we ate our traditional breakfast of blueberry waffles! So yummy!

The rest of the weekend we just played games and relaxed. We did however go sledding. It was so much fun. We got my dad's 2 four wheelers and hooked up sleds behind them. My friend Tim and his friend and Rachel came along too. We drove out to the farm lanes and had a blast. The guys had so much fun trying to dump each other into the snow. Brent got some awesome battle wounds. Paige and I had a great time making Tim fly off the sled we were pulling. We even managed to rip his nice pants. It was awesome!

Below are pictures of our Christmas morning and of Cameron and Paige breaking in their new game. It was truly a wonderful Christmas.

Decorating the house for the holidays!

Sorry I got this post out a little late but I wanted to let you all know about about how cute our little tree turned out. It looks so great on our end table. It was a little tricky getting the tree into the tree stand though. We had to "attach" some of the branches back onto the tree afterward. We bought some tiny ornaments and put a small strand of lights on it. We also put up our big fake tree in the computer room since we had to take it out for our ward Christmas party. Here are some pictures of our trees and decorations. Also I wanted to say thank you to my awesome cousin Savannah. I received the cutest card and pictures from her the other day. I loved it! Wish you all could see it!

Well hope you are all doing well. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Sinterklaas

Yesterday we celebrated the tradition of Sinterklaas. Since my maiden name (DeLeeuw) is Dutch, we have tried to incorporate some of their traditions to celebrate our heritage. Sinterklaas or Saint Nicolas, is a traditional holiday figure in the Netherlands. Sinterklaas has a long white beard, wears a red bishop's dress and red bishop's hat, and holds a long gold coloured staff with a fancy curled top. Sinterklaas carries a big book with all the children's names in it, which states whether they have been good or naughty in the past year. "Saint-Nicolas" traditionally rides a white horse. In the Netherlands this horse is often know as Amerigo. Before going to bed, children put their shoes next to the chimney of the coal fired stove or fireplace, with a carrot or some hay in it for Sinterklaas's horse, and will find some candy or a small present in their shoes the next day. Children are also told that if they are really really bad they would be put in the gunny sack in which Black Pete (Sinterklaas's helper) carries the presents, and be taken back to Spain, where Sinterklaas is said to spend the rest of the year.

We celebrated this holiday by making some delicious wassil (so so yummy!!!), ate shortbread cookies, watched some movies and played many games with our friends & cousins, the Sorensens and Brian White. It was so much fun. The wassil was the perfect drink on such a cold day!! We then decorated our christmas tree and the rest of the apartment. My favorite decoration by far are all of the lights! They make everything seem so magical! We set our shoes by the door and went to sleep. When we woke this morning we had presents! Brent got some yummy candy and a speaker-case for his mp3 player, and I got the new Narnia movie on Blu-Ray. I am so excited to watch it tonight!!!