You and me go pickin' wild flowers...

We love the outdoors! There is so much beauty in every season and once spring did come… it came with splendor! One evening in May we got a way from our busy schedules and spent time together at the base of the mountains. We are so blessed to live so close to the mountains and enjoyed watching the beauty of spring unfold there. We walked along and couldn’t get enough of the wild flowers so we brought a few home...


It was the perfect way to welcome spring!





Other May activities included camping (Memorial Day) in the rain! We bought our first Dutch oven and were determined to use it. We barely got a fire going, but we managed to get dinner cooked and took it to the tent to eat! It was delicious!




Tim found a great deal on some bedside tables and made it his project to get them fixed up. He is so wonderful at helping me with projects and finding ways to improve our home. I love it!

May 2009: To Life, Love, and Marriage!

Celebrating a year of blissful adventure as Mr. and Mrs. Abbott!

May 3, 2009- ONE YEAR!!! It was AMAZING and it is THRILLING to be together for ETERNITY!
My Love- It's been grand to share this adventure with you. I loved our first year and can't wait for more. With you the adventure never ends... each moment brings something new. Thanks for the joy and the memories... and the anticipation of what's to come. Being with you makes my soul rejoice! You're the love of my life..

My Love for eternity!

I LOVE YOU!


I can hardly believe it has been a year! Before we got married people kept telling me the first year is the hardest. Well if that is true we're going to have one breezy life! Really our first year of marriage has been as perfect as I could imagine! Not to say we didn't have any tough times. I know we have been blessed and are blessed to have each other. Focusing on each other and the good times helped make this year a happy one! We have had so many good times and our anniversary was another one.

Tim planned our anniversary and it was wonderful! The day before we went to Thanksgiving Point to the tulip festival.



The flowers were beautiful, it was fun to play like little kids in the maze, and the waterfalls were one of our favorite parts!













That night Tim had another surprise...


He took me to dinner at Chef's Table! (The restaurant where we had our wedding luncheon.) It was a romantic end to an INCREDIBLE day!





On our actual anniversary we had a quiet candlelit dinner at home, with our wedding cake for dessert, and a toast to love and life!

2009: New Year, New Adventures!

Hello one and all! I know I have been slacking at blogging (as many of you, including, Tim, have let me know). My slacking hasn't slowed our life down and I do want to share our adventures (so we have a record, but also for those who are interested). This blog is going to be a catch up blog... I hope you enjoy a little of our history from 2009!

January '09

The start of 2009 brought some changes into our day-to-day life. Tim had a change with his job. He started working at the Oquirrh Mountain LDS Temple in South Jordan, Ut.He enjoyed his internship in the facility department at Church headquarters, but this new internship was an even better fit! I loved having him come home excited to share about his day. Tim started before the construction was finished and we both have loved seeing the temple come together. It is a beautiful temple and I know it is truly the Lord's house.

I also started working in January. Sometimes it is hard for me to think of what I do as a "job." I take care of a sweet little girl who has cerebral palsy and help her family by doing some cooking and cleaning too. She is an amazing little girl, her family is wonderful, and I am blessed to be connected to them. I love reading stories with her, painting, and singing songs. It has been the perfect addition for us.

And of course we started new classes. I plunged into one of the most difficult semesters of my college career. On my first day of class I was looking over my weekly schedule, when I guy behind me tapped me on the shoulder. He asked if I the paper was my schedule, and when I told him it was he took one more look at my class list and said,"Wow! Good luck with that!" I took all of the Core 1 classes at the same time, when most people break them up over a couple semesters. And while I am not the only one who did that, I now know why most people don't. In the end it worked out and I am glad to be this much closer to graduation.


In my last blog I mentioned the exciting Christmas surprise Tim gave me... a trip to Vegas to see Phantom of the Opera! Well January 30th was the date and it was a grand adventure! We drove like crazy down to Vegas after my class on Friday. We got there thinking we were cutting it close because we planned on dinner before the show, and the forgotten time change was a relief to us. The extra hour gave us plenty of time to wander around the Venetian, get dinner, and be early to the show!


The Venetian was fun to see with its Italian city streets, painted sky, and real canal.


The highlight of the trip was the show at the Venetian theater designed specifically for Phantom of the Opera!


(Sadly no photography is allowed in the theater.)

We loved every minute of the performance and would highly recommend it to anyone. One of the best things of the night was being moved from the balcony level to orchestra seating, in the "Golden Circle"... right under the chandelier! We had an amazing view of everything and really did feel like we were part of the show!


Another part of the trip we enjoyed was seeing the Bellagio again. This was our first time back since our honeymoon. We liked seeing the changes they had made to the botanical gardens. January 26, 2009, was the Chinese New Year so everything was decorated with cool lanterns, oxen (2009 is the year of the ox), and pandas! I loved the baby panda in the botanical garden.




The hardest part was bringing ourselves to go home and leave the warm sun!




February '09

Of course this year has a lot of firsts for us (obviously because it is our first year of marriage).... One of my favorite firsts happened this month.

On February 3, 2009, Tim made his first dinner!
I had a long day of school and work, it was amazing to come home to a warm dinner! Tim did a great job too! He cooked potatoes and chicken in Cafe Rio ranch I had made the night before, it was delicious! Needless to say it was a happy night for me and I think it was an adventure for Tim.



Cupid came early for me this year. Tim wanted make sure I was surprised so he gave me my valentine on Thursday (the 12th)! The flowers and "train game" (aka Ticket to Ride) were a perfect surprise! As many of you know this game has become one of our favorites! If you haven't played before we would love to introduce you to the fun! When I first heard how to play it seemed a bit intense, but after playing once everything fits makes sense. It's a fun strategy, mixed with luck sort of game!



Valentine's Day was my turn to surprise my love.
Breakfast "in bed" (or the couch because he got up before I was ready) followed by a Disney classic Sleeping Beauty. We have a tradition (started this year) that I get Tim a Disney movie each V-Day... I thought my favorite was a good place to start.



That night we had a candle lit dinner and played...











you guessed it... the Train Game!


My Love- I just wanted to take a second and tell you I love you! I'm your valentine for eternity and am blessed to call you mine!




We had another fun evening in February... I don't know if the entire evening classifies as an "adventure", but the getting ready did. Tim's program held a formal dinner/ dance at the Hinckley Alumni Center on campus. I had work the same evening and got off only 30 min before the dinner started. After getting home I was down to 20 and in a rush to choose an outfit and find something to do with my hair! Tim was actually a huge help and in the end I had him finish my hair... he was a good sport putting the bobbypins where I told him to as I held my hair in place. Sadly we didn't get a picture of the back, he helped me do it in a twist thing I had never tried before. It turned out better than I expected, Tim would describe it as simple yet sophisticated. The night was great, we enjoyed mingling with Tim's classmates and I managed to get Tim on the floor for one dance!




We don't have many pictures from March so it is on to April...


April '09

Welcome to a Utah spring!
April showers bring May flowers... but what does April snow bring?

(Photo take April 16, 2009)


During April we hit the books hard and finished off the winter semester. We decided to stay in Provo for the summer. I took classes spring and summer terms and Tim worked full-time at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.

By the end of April we were ready for summer sun, but it proved to be a cooler summer. (Which was actually a blessing for us with a 3rd floor apartment and no central air.)
I think we'll end there tonight and finish the review to date another day.

Tis the Season

So I am obviously on a roll with this blog thing... one post a month... quite the track record. Ha Ha! I'm going to get better. I should actually be studying for a test right now but that can wait. I have to say a few things about Christmas!


I absolutely love the Christmas season! Each year brings joy and new memories to treasure- 2008 was no different.

While I do love Christmas, I have a thing for putting up decorations too early. For me too early is before the Thanksgiving dinner plates have been cleared. People who don't share this same view occasionally question my Christmas spirit, but believe me it is not lacking! The day after Thanksgiving is CHRISTMAS TIME! And I am ready to deck the halls!
Growing up we had a tradition to cut trees the day after Thanksgiving. Then one dreadful day my parents brought home a fake tree (boo... actually it's a nice tree and I've come to accept it). Last year Tim and I went on a tree hunting extravaganza- and the tradition was kept alive this year. Last year we cut nine trees (I think)... and this year the ante was upped to fifteen trees. Most were to be used for Ben and Elaine's wedding reception.


The biggest tree... It was taller than our house!


We brought three trees home with us- it felt like a forest in our apartment, but we became used to it and loved it in the end.


Here are our trees!
They were so fun to pick out ornaments and decorate! Tim did an AMAZING job with the lights!

Spending time with family and friends is one of my favorite parts of the season.
Sarah and Trevor- our amazing friends!- took a second tree trip with us. I think Trev's favorite part was cutting the tree down with an ax (like the settlers would have done...)



Sarah also took a swing at the tree... and they finished it off quickly!



Tim and I stuck with the saw! (Actually Tim used the ax too)
(Sarah I took this picture from your blog... thanks)


After the tree hunt was done we strapped our spoils on top of Sarah and Trev's car and took off. Sadly we did have a little slide off, but no one was injured and some hunters quickly came to our rescue. (the car was okay too... a little bent in the front, but running) We love spending time with these two because even a little slide off doesn't ruin the fun!

Back in Provo it was more fun with friends. Rachel and Matt (our friends and neighbors) invited us and Amanda and Mark over for dinner and to make gingerbread houses... it was a blast! The girls made a much better house... probably cause the guys just wanted to play guitar hero....





We also hosted friends for a Christmas dinner. Sadly we didn't get pictures when everyone was here. We loved spending the evening with Tim's roommates and their beautiful wives or girlfriends! I love that we have all stayed friends and know we will always be.

We did get pictures of the table setting. Mainly because we got to use Grandma's china for the first time. I loved having that bit of her memory at Christmas. The china reminds me of many family dinners with loved ones around multiple tables.

Okay on to the break! Once again we were so busy enjoying that we didn't get many pictures. One of the many highlights was meeting baby Parker. He is the most adorable little boy! So handsome and engaged in the world around him. I can't lie I love being an aunt and do look forward to my own babies! I didn't want to let go of him! But Grandma does need her time too.

Christmas was an exciting morning. Our niece Lorna (she's 3) added to the Christmas excitement. We haven't had little children around in such a long time that I think we scared her Christmas morning because we were all anxiously watching her as she came upstairs. Get nine adults clustered around with all eyes on little 3 year old you and you might feel a bit of pressure too! She got three princess dresses and all the accessories a girl could want! I think a hit gift for her was a princess blow up bed for Grandma and Grandpa's house!

She loved it! She is also good at pretending to sleep.












Our family Christmas pajama tradition lived on... but we didn't get pictures in the pj's this year.

Tim and I had a great Christmas morning too- no princess dresses for us, but that's okay.. You might think the house was cold, but really he was just trying things on.







He totally surprised me with adorable clothes, shoes I have wanted for a long time, and my big gift... a trip to Vegas to see Phantom of the Opera! YAY! I was blown away!

December flew by with family fun and adventure! After Christmas we celebrated the fourth wedding in a year and a half! Yep once Maren and Joseph got married my mom and dad couldn't stop the love and spouses from flowing in!

Ben and Elaine were married on December 27 in Logan, Utah. It was a beautiful day for a beautiful and amazing couple! Lorna is Elaine's little girl from an earlier marriage.. and there couldn't be a better match for Ben! I honestly don't know what could be more perfect than to have them in our family- We love you all forever!


It was a joy to share their day with them!

The Christmas season drew to an end with a New Year's celebration at our place. We enjoyed spending the night with Megan, Perry, Parker, Maren and Joseph!

As I think back to the holiday time I know that what matters most is the love that comes from our Savior. I testify that He has perfect love for each of us, and that the joy that comes from being with family is possible because of His love. He humbly came to this earth. He came that He might live as a perfect example. He came that He might break the bonds of death, He came that we will all live again. He came that He might pay the price for our sins. He came that He might live again! And He does live. He did live a perfect life and pay the ultimate price. He truly gave the most perfect gift and I am grateful for His life and sacrifice. I know that I can be with my family forever and that is something to celebrate every day! I pray we can always remember our Savior and keep the Christmas spirit with us all year round.

2008 Recap!

I feel like I need to do a recap of 2008! It was a major year in our life and needs some blog space.
January 08- a grand month...


New Year's Eve 2008 at Temple Square
Beautiful lights!!! (Sadly we didn't see them in 2008 - that makes this year a must!)

5 cents to pet Bob- Snow day in Logan Ut!
                            Meet Bob the turtle.
but February was even better. One year ago today Tim proposed... and I said yes!

Thankfully February flew by quickly and it was a whirlwind through March...
April (including Megan and Perry's wedding in D.C.!)....


and finally May came!
May 3, 2008:the best day of the year and the beginning of the best years!


It was a perfect day!

We headed to Arizona to enjoy the summer sun!
Eight hours of sun Monday- Saturday... guess we couldn't get enough of it.

In some spare time we left our oasis (San Lagos apartment see below) to attend a couple D-Backs baseball games and see the sights! With shopping forays and family visits we made the most of the summer.


Rooting for the HOME TEAM! Go D-BACKS!

A visit from Mom/ Mother-in-law!
August 29 we drove through the night to find relief from the heat in Provo at 75 degrees! It was wonderful to be back!
We have loved putting together our home. Over the summer we had a furnished apartment... it was nice and we loved it when it came time to move. But making decisions and creating our own look has been a grand. Our parents are to thank for many of the larger pieces and we are grateful they have helped get us started!
Creating is very relaxing for me... And Tim is always a great sport and usually will jump into any project with me. If he doesn't jump in he always provides encouragement.
I started BYU on my birthday. Tim made sure our fall was completed in true blue fashion, we went to light the Y (with lots of freshmen... it was fun!) and faithfully attended home football games.


September also brought a new addition to the family. Parker Dickson was born on September 19, 2008 and became the first grandbaby of the family! It has been wonderful to watch him grow (thanks to facebook...) and to see and feel the joy he brings to the world!
October... I know I'm flying through the months, but I feel good that I'm letting you all in on some of what we have done.

The major October event was a Halloween party! (not really that “major” but a lot of fun)... I love an excuse to get dressed up : )

                                       Arrgh!
November was a month of thanksgiving! I am grateful for my family and that we were able to gather together in groups. Tim and I enjoyed time with Mom, Dad, Alex, Kathy, Floyd, Matt, and Jenny for Thanksgiving. Jenny had pulled out old photos from Thanksgivings past... it was grand to go through them and reminisce.
December was a full month and deserves a post of it's own... look forward to that next week!