Well hello there!

Hello blog! It's good to be back! It's been a while and a LOT has happened over the past 3 months. Courtney reminded me the other day that I hadn't blogged in a while, so this is for you Court, my loyal reader! (And Dad!)  I'll try to sum it up real fast.

• First we went to Kauai with the Warrens. It was a blast, January is the perfect time to get away and get a nice tan (too bad I lost it within the first 2 weeks of being home. I miss you Sun!) We had a great time with Brad, LuAnn, Matt and Sarah. We really missed you Scott & Dani, and Dave & Lauren!

• Courtney turned 14 while we were in Kauai. She had a really cute Rapunzel party (She is the queen of parties!) I wish I could have been there for her awesome party.
• When I got back from Kauai I had an interview at a Law firm in Walnut Creek and got hired! I've been working here since February 8th and am really enjoying it! Our law firm does Wills, Trusts and Estates. I am a legal secretary. It's a much better fit for me than what I was doing at the Mortgage company, although I am very grateful for that job and for being employed during those 7 months.
• For Valentine's Day Mark gave me a box full of kitten supplies and said we could get a kitten!! So on Saturday we went to find the perfect one to join our family...however, there weren't ANY! Not a single one. It wasn't kitten season :( But the next weekend, while I was helping Taylor manuever around with one foot, Mark called and said he found a kitten! He went over to the shelter to check out the little kitten . He was the first one there and there was only one kitten! We decided to adopt him and he is so much fun! We named him Leo. He is a little rascal and plays hard and he makes us laugh. Thanks Mark for the BEST Valentine's gift ever!

  

• Like I said briefly above, Taylor had surgery on her foot and was a trooper. We had an interesting time figuring out how to get her places on one foot with her healing foot in the air!
• After Taylor, Dad had surgery to remove skin cancer from his face! He had 8 stitches and was awake during the procedure!
• A couple days later was my 24th birthday. (I like being an even number!) It was fun to be around family for my birthday after being away the past 5 years! The Warren's were having a big March birthday party but unfortunately we missed it because Mark had the flu. On my actual birthday Mark was feeling a little better and we went out to dinner with my family at Sauced in downtown Livermore. We were quite a site to see with one girl on crutches and dad with a big patch of gauze on his face. Dinner was really fun and after we were going to my parent's for dessert and gifts but Mark and I had to stop at home for him to change and drop off one of our cars and pick up Leo. As we left, we locked ourselves out of the house (probably my fault, I thought Mark had grabbed the keys and he thought I had them). We couldn't break in, which makes me feel safe that we won't get robbed but we had to call a locksmith. We waited outside for 40 minutes, with Leo, in the cold, before the locksmith arrived. Then he wasn't able to unlock the front door and had to try the back door. Luckily he finally got in but charged us for 2 doors. The money we spent on the locksmith could have been a REALLY nice birthday gift :( We learned a lesson and I went and got 2 spare keys made.

Locked out of the house, pissed. Leo had the time of his life exploring outside though!

   

• Tomorrow is Rachel's birthday and she will be 21! She's patiently anxiously awaiting her mission call! We all have guesses on a poster board. I'm so excited for her and can't wait to see where she will be going!

• Next Wednesday is Mark's birthday! He's not much into birthdays. Almost every year I've thrown a little party for his birthday and decorated his/our apartment but I think it mostly embarrasses him and makes him feel stressed because it is "clutter" to him hah! So I'm not sure what I'm going to do for him this year, but hopefully he is happy on his birthday.

 Well I think that is everything that has been going on with us! I couldn't be happier with life right now. I love being close to our families (I know I say that all the time and it's probably annoying but I really mean it.) We love our ward and the friends we have made. I feel very blessed.