Christmas Festivities!

Grant and I had a wonderful Christmas this year! We were down in St. George with his family for about a week and it was a lot of fun! We went to the temple together, we played walleyball, lots of settlers, rummikub, and back-alley bridge. It was fun to be with all the Vanderhorst kiddos! It was also a great time for us to remember the Savior and remember that no matter what gifts we received, the best gift we could receive is the gift of the atonement and the opportunity we now have to return to our Father in Heaven because of the Savior. I love this time of year and how much closer I feel to my family and to the Savior.
Now, what I am about to say may shock some of you, but we ACTUALLY BROUGHT OUR CAMERA THIS TIME! Not only that, BUT WE ACTUALLY TOOK PICTURES! Unbelievable, right?! So, enjoy the pictures!

We went to temple square with Stephen and Emily before we left for St. George. Such pretty lights!

We were helping the kids make their own gingerbread Santa sleighs. Costco=genius!

The kiddos were really excited to open the gifts from grammy and gramps!

Carly's new scriptures for her mission to Cape Verde

Paula wanted to make sure Carly didn't have an excuse to not write home ;)

My new boots that I picked out and bought on Black Friday. I was excited to finally get to wear them!

Grant got a new shirt, tie, and dress pants

We didn't realize how much Mom and Dad love Tetris! So we got it for them :)

 Cartigan=DownEast Basics. And yes, I picked this out as well :)

 Grant was super excited about the tools he got for our grill!

 This boy knows me WAY too well! I love this movie!

 A WhirleyPop popper from Stephen and Emily! Thank you both so much! We've already used it a ton.

 Grant was sick of me always borrowing his IPOD to workout, so he bought me my own little IPOD shuffle! Very nice to not have to lug around a huge ipod. Sucker holds 500 songs! Perfect for working out.

Overall, it was a great Christmas. I will say, it was very hard to be away from my own family. I did shed a few tears on Christmas--I didn't realize how much I would miss my family. But, I was happy to spend time with Grant's family and get to know them even better. I have such great in-laws and really feel like I'm a part of their family now. 

Happy New Year! May 2012 bring lots of joy and happiness!

I never thought it would come

So, I was walking around BYU's campus the other day and it really hit me--this is my last semester of classes. I won't be walking to classes every day. I won't have to fight for a parking spot. I actually get to begin teaching; something I've been working so hard to get for the last 4 years.

I have been attending school for the last 17 years and I will no longer be a student in just 5 short months. As I was pondering this I thought back on my school experience (elementary school through college) and had so many sweet memories of teachers, friends, graduations, and so much more. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm so grateful for school. It's helped me become the person that I am today and helped me reach my goals of becoming a teacher. I know school is tough and hard and I've mumbled about it many many times, but I'm so grateful for this opportunity that I've had. I entered this school to learn, and BYU has helped me have the tools I need to go forth to serve. I'm excited to finally say this: I'M A COLLEGE GRADUATE!

Thanksgiving!

Just a quick post about our Thanksgiving--yes, we forgot our camera...again haha! We spent it with my family and then the next day went down to St. George to be with Grant's family for a few days while Carly went through the temple. Yes, this is a short post. But I'm a busy girl.

1 Year Anniversary!

Happy 1 year to us! This past year has been a wonderful and full of a lot of love, laughter, and joy. I will say, the first year is definitely an adjustment, but Grant and I have loved getting to know each other better and look forward to growing closer together throughout eternity.
Celebration Time!
We went up to Park City on Friday night to Saturday afternoon, and it was great! It was nice to be able to sit in our hotel room and relax a bit. We were able to watch Hurricane High School win the Utah 3A State Title, a couple other football games, some movies, and we also went around downtown Park City for a bit and ate at a restaurant called the Blue Iguana. It was hands down the best Mexican food Grant or I had ever had. Ever. Best guacamole, best pulled pork, best burritos, it was amazing. We also went into a couple Christmas shops (Grant humored me) and we got a Christmas ornament. It's a tradition to get an ornament on our honeymoon/anniversary for our tree. When we got back to Provo we decorated for Christmas (again, Grant humored me) and then he surprised me with tickets to go see The Help (which made me laugh and cry--so good!) and then we went out to frozen yogurt afterwards. He got me a beautiful pearl ring, some earrings I have been eyeing, and some see's candy chocolate and roses. I got him some long john's and a Philadelphia Eagle's hoodie. Over-all it was a great anniversary. I am so grateful to be married to Grant. He makes me a better person, and I learn so much from him.

Quick Update!

Hello Everyone!
We're doing good, I just wanted to give a quick update on how we're doing.

Grant:
Grant's doing really well! He is taking 17 credits this semester and working 20 hours a week for the BYU gym facilities. That job has been really good for him because it's pretty low key so it allows him to do homework while working, which is really nice. This is his first semester in the business program and it's been keeping him plenty busy, but he's doing really well in all of his classes and working super hard. He's also on a flag football intermueral team! Not that I'm biased or anything, but he really is the best player on their team. He's very fast and incredibly good at defense. He's also serving as the Sunday School President right now which he enjoys and he's doing a marvelous job :)

Bekah:
I'm doing good! I'm only in 13 credits this semester and working around 25 hours a week at my customer support job I had this summer (but never fear, I'm quitting Dec 8th!). I won't lie, it's been a good job, but I'm ready to quit. But just like Grant, I have a pretty low key job that allows me to do homework, so it's been a really good deal. I won't be working during student teaching, so I figured the best time to quit would be before the holidays :) This is my last semester of classes, so all my classes are pretty time consuming, but I've really enjoyed all of them. I'm also serving as the Relief Society President and working in the temple. I won't lie, both keep me busy but we have such a wonderful ward who all work together, so they make my job really easy. Grant and I really do have a great ward and enjoy getting to know others in our ward. It's been fun to goof around with Grant in Ward Council and I'm grateful for the opportunities Grant and I have.

Ok, that's it for now. I'll try and be more diligent about blogging :)

Another Wedding Day!

So, I'm a little embarrassed about this, but my philosophy is better late than never, right? OK, so let me just set up my story. When Grant and I were engaged we had SO MUCH GOING ON! First of all, we were apart for about the first 6 weeks because it was the end of summer. My grandma had just passed away, my other brother was getting married, and an intense semester of school was starting. So, all the wedding plans just went wonderfully, but I didn't have the alterations done on my dress until about a month before and I couldn't get the dress from CO to UT in order to take bridals before hand. Also, Grant is a traditionalist so he didn't want to see me in my wedding dress before the wedding day. The wedding day we didn't want to take pictures because we wanted to rest (it's our own dang fault, I know). So, we were planning on taking pictures between the reception and open house, but when we got back from our honeymoon we jumped right back in to school and finals. Then, we couldn't do it over Christmas break because we were traveling, and then a new semester started and life went super fast and now it has 8.5 months of marriage and I still haven't taken bridals. Also, I wanted more pictures of just Grant and I from our wedding, but we really didn't have time. So, today is the day. After 8.5 months of marriage, we are taking wedding pictures today :) Thanks to Emily and Stephen they are going to take pictures of us, and thanks to my wonderful husband for being a good sport and letting me a wifezilla about this :) Anywho, I'll post pictures when we are done! You may think I'm ridiculous and you may be thinking "ok, you got married over 8 months ago, get over your wedding day." And to you I say--we had good excuses and this is for posterity sake. So sue me!

What a Summer!

So, this Summer has been good and gone by way too fast! Grant went to school during Spring term and did beautifully! He's currently in the business school right now, and he'll be taking the core classes this Fall. He's also doing a double major in economics and has been reading a lot of economics books this summer...for fun :) He has quite the passion for supply and demand! Spring term ended near the end of June, so both him and I have just been working since then. I'm still working at my customer support job, and he's washing windows with a friend and working at the Richards Building on campus, so we're keeping ourselves pretty busy.
As far as vacations go we've been able to travel quite a bit! Over 4th of July weekend we went down to LA to see my best friend get married--Julie Bell. She married Jared Tate in the LA Temple and it was a beautiful wedding. I didn't know how big the LA temple is! The grounds are huge, and the temple itself is enormous. It was great to see Jared and Julie finally together and experience married life.
After that, we went down to Lake Powell for a week with Grant's side of the family and it was a blast! We went wakeboarding, tubing, rode on the wave-runners, played games and ate food, and spent time with family that we don't get to see very often (we're the only ones in Grant's side of the family not living in St. George), so it was great to catch up with everyone. And, don't ask for pictures because we forgot our camera--the one thing we forgot! Oh well.
The next trip we're going on is to Colorado to see my family! Mom and I are going to the Josh Groban concert, and our family is also going to do the temple work for my Grandma Gay who passed away last summer.
As far as newest news goes: I am working in the temple :) I wanted to start working there because I feel like I have so much to learn about the temple, so I decided the best way to do that is the work there. I'm able to be there one day out of the week and feel the peace and comfort that can come from being in the temple.
Well, I think that's it for now!