Spring Break 2011

I haven't updated this thing for a quite a while--thought it might be time! Kade's birthday turned out well last month thanks to my cute mother in law! She gave me the recipe for his favorite chocolate cake and I surprised him with some presents I had been saving to go with it. He was super busy on his Birthday and that entire week, but I managed to set up a plan and borrowed a friend's car to surprise him with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. We had a gift card leftover from our wedding and enjoyed a nice evening out together!

 It felt like forever waiting for Spring Break to come--and suddenly it has flashed before our eyes and we are now back to me living at work, and Kade living in the library! We were fortunate enough to escape the cold and humidity for a week to go to Scottsdale with Kade's family.  His Grandparents live there in the winter so we went and stayed with them. The weather was in the high 70's the entire time and it was nice to not have to worry about a thing! 

The guys enjoyed a couple days of golf while us girls went shopping, played some tennis, and relaxed by the pool with some good books.

 We had a fire in the pit one night and Paytie decided to try roasting a lemon. She has a witty sense of humor and is always making us laugh with her fake English accent!

 We woke up early one morning and went on a good hike.  This is Rhetski and Kade at the top!

After staying in Arizona for a week, we flew back to Utah for the weekend to see more family. My sister had her fifth baby February 3rd and we hadn't met her yet.  I spent one night up at her house playing with her kids, and helping with little Ruby in the night. She is precious!

 Our last night there we organized a dinner with Mari and Jordan so that we could see each other and surprise Jen before she left on her mission.  She leaves to Chile on April 6th, and I cannot count how many times she had mentioned that she was sad she wouldn't be able to see Kade and me for a year and a half.  Little did she know--we had this planned for a while!  She was expecting another couple and when Kade and I walked up, she had no idea what to do.  She let out a scream, looked the other way, looked back at us, and tears just filled her eyes.  After hugs all around, she was bawling.  It was a perfect reaction, and a fun goodbye to an amazing future missionary! 

Last year for Spring Break Kade and I were still dating.  He was in Philly and I was in SLC.  I flew with his family to Scottsdale and he met us there.  It was fun to be back again, but married this time! We went out for a little ice cream date night and enjoyed the heat.  We are forever grateful to his parents and all that they do for us.  It was fun to spend our Spring Break with them!

Shout out to my Birthday boy!

Today is the day my handsome husband turns 23 years old.  I don't think he will read this post, so I get to brag about him as much as I want without him getting embarrassed.  There is no one on this earth that is more patient with me than he is.  He is the hardest worker I know, and always strives to do the best he can in anything he is faced with.  I haven't been able to spend much time with him since we have been in Philly because the library is so demanding, but I am like a little school girl when I can hear his footsteps coming up our apartment stairs. He makes me laugh harder than anyone has before, and he strives to make me happy no matter how busy he is. 

There is never a dull moment with this boy.  When I was trying to take this picture, I was bugged for whatever reason and of course he sneaks up in the picture right as I am taking it.  How can I be bugged when I go back and look on my camera and see this face smack dab in the middle of what I was trying to get on camera?  He has now decided that it is "cute" when I get mad, and he laughs at me when I am trying to be very serious.  I am thankful for his positive attitude, and his sense of humor.  

I think Kade is 23 going on 8 sometimes.  He is like a little boy stuck in a man's body and it makes me laugh so hard.  He is a sucker for chocolate and loves Italian bread dipped in olive oil.  He is one person that likes cookies and milk before he goes to bed!  He is such a good sport when I cook, and encourages me when I need it. The boy never complains about anything-- I got very lucky!

I am grateful that I now have these people in my life, and it is all because of him.  I feel very lucky to be apart of such a great family.  Kade tries to be a good example to all, and loves talking to Rhet and watching him make decisions in his life.  When his family came to Paris to meet us for Thanksgiving last year, Paytie saw Kade and started running towards him.  They were all on the other side of a glass wall by the baggage claim and she couldn't find the exit to get to him.  We were all laughing pretty hard, but once she found it she ran straight to him and didn't let go.  He is loved by many and has been raised by great parents.  His Dad is an amazing example of a hard worker, and his Mom possesses the gift of charity more than anyone I know. 

Aren't I lucky?? Ahhhh...

And last but not least... I owe him everything for taking me here.

I am so grateful I get to spend the rest of eternity with my boy.  I am sorry this has turned so sappy, but it is a great day to brag about how blessed I am to have him in my life.  He is my best friend and the person I love being around the most.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY HANDSOME HUBBY!

DC Temple!

Zach and ShaNae invited us to come to the DC temple with them last weekend--we were really excited! It isn't too easy to get there with public transportation, but they have a car and needed to take the trek anyway. We made it there in two hours and Kade and I got to do a session while the Noyces' went to a temple sealing!  We are grateful for them and all they do for us--and we loved the company along the way.  Wish I had a picture of all of us, but there will be more fun times to come! 

Our new little home

 Well, I decided that it is time to update our blog since we have now traveled home from Italy for the holidays, and gone right back east to settle into our new home in Philly! It was nice to be back in Utah for Christmas to be with our family and friends. We had a few people ask us when we were headed back to Italy... we wish!! When we arrived in Philadelphia, we moved into an empty apartment with not one piece of furniture.  We rented a car at the airport and after we dropped off our luggage, we headed straight to Bed Bath & Beyond to use the gift cards we received from our wedding.  What a blessing it was for us to have those, we are very grateful! Here are some pics of the place all put together.  It still needs a few more items, but at least we aren't sleeping on a blow up mattress anymore and standing while we eat our cereal!  

 Still looking for a duvet cover, but my blanket works great for now.  We got our bed frame for $45 at Ikea--score!!

That little white table was previously there, it is hiding an air conditioner.. I think.  Slowly but surely it is starting to feel like home.  We love it here--except for the humidity that comes along with the bitter cold when you step outside to go anywhere.

I rode Kade's bike around the other day filling out job applications and I actually interviewed and landed one.  We are excited to start having a real income again, and I am excited to work as a Nurse Assistant again.  As much fun as nannying was for me in Italy, I am excited for the 8 hours shifts and a busy schedule.  Kade is back in school and focusing on Summer internships. Here's to our next adventure in life!

Last Weekend!

Well our time here has sadly come to it's last weekend!  We spent one night hanging out with the Parker's and their cute girls.  The next day we met all the American couples in the center of Milan by the giant Christmas tree so we could all have lunch together and do some last minute Christmas shopping.  We are so grateful for the church and the opportunity that we had to connect with other people from America.  Doesn't matter the age difference, we all enjoy each other's company!

(Kade, me, Amy, The Parkers with their two girls, and the Clutters)

The Christmas tree is HUGE! Not as wide as Times Square, but we think it might be a little taller.

Goodbye Milan, we will miss you!

A little home haircutting

Kade and I are getting a little creative over here in Italy... or maybe we are trying to save money on unnecessary spending. Either way we both needed a trim, badly.  My ends were splitting everywhere, and Kade was growing a mullet in the back while growing his hair long.  To say the least, we did a little home haircutting!  Kade had tried to convince me for over two months that I could trim his hair while we were here and I continued to say no way.  I am not artistic at all, and I know it takes a talent to do hair.  Finally I gave in and trimmed his mullet, but barely enough to even tell because I was so scared of ruining it! Somehow I was then convinced that he could cut mine too, and next thing we knew we were using house scissors to trim each others hair! It actually turned out just fine.... and Kade is convinced that I will end up loving it so he will never have to pay for a haircut again! Wrong.  But at least we had a good time!!  

Our two week adventure!

Lucky for us, Kade had a two week break from school!! We knew ahead of time and were able to map out an amazing two week trip for as cheap as we possibly could, while being able to see a few different major cities.  The flight prices over here are great if you get to them in advance.  We first started in Madrid, Spain.  I was SOO excited for Kade to meet the family that I nannied for last year! When we arrived, they had a sign ready and also decorated the sidewalk with chalk to welcome us! 

My host Mom, Milagros, took us to the city of Segovia with the kids while we were there so we could see the cathedral and the Roman aqueduct.

We were also able to do a session in the Madrid temple.  We as members are so blessed to be able to go church or the temple anywhere in the world, and have the feeling and the spirit be exactly the same no matter where we are... and no matter what language is spoken.  It was a neat experience!

We are grateful to the Elwell's for letting us stay in their home! We had a great time catching up... and of course I loved hearing how much they approved of Kade.  "A very clever and handsome chap."  Suits him perfect! 

Next stop... Paris!

We stayed in a hostel not too far away from the Notre Dame and walked all over the city.  We enjoyed many crepes and baguettes! 

We walked up all the stairs to get to the 2nd platform of the Eiffel Tower.  (It was cheaper this way!)  We didn't go up to the top, but the view from the 2nd platform was amazing! 

Next stop... London!

Quick Story:  We were supposed to fly from Paris and arrive in Glasgow at 1 am.  We were then going to kick it in the airport and leave on a flight at 6 am to London.  The flights were cheaper if we did it this way.  As some of you may know, there have been lots of strikes going on in Paris at the moment.  They so kindly decided to cancel our first flight... which caused us to miss the second as well! We were lucky our hostel wasn't all booked for the night! We tried to get on an overnight bus to London but they were booked for over 4 days, and the next available flight was cancelled for over a week.  There were A LOT of people that had the same problem as us.  It seemed like everyone was trying to get out of there as soon as possible! We ended up taking a train up to a little city called Calais, on the coast of France.  We were able to see a little of the French countryside from the windows and it was beautiful! We then took a ferry across to Dover on the coast of England. The Dover cliffs were really neat.. and then we headed on another train to London.  The English countryside was really beautiful.  

Hyde Park had gorgeous leaves!! We didn't miss fall after all!!

We had lots of hot chocolate to keep us warm.  London was cold!

London Bridge!

We stayed in my friend Georgie's flat in the middle of London.  We are so grateful to her for letting us stay and I was glad she was able to meet Kade! 

Next stop....Amsterdam!

They had their Christmas lights up and it got Kade excited for Christmas music.  We haven't listened to anything else in our little home since we have been back.  We are ready for the season!

We loved the little canals and now understand why they call it Venice of the North. We also went into the Anne Frank house/museum.  I want to go and read the book again after actually being there! It was really interesting.

Last stop..... Prague, Czech Republic!

Isn't he cute?  I told him I was setting the camera on timer, and he was showing me where I was going to stand when I took the picture.  haha!

Besides London and the fact that people speak English there... I think Prague was our favorite city to look at.  We took over 400 pictures there.  Not one building looks the same as another so walking around all day was really interesting!

We feel very grateful to be experiencing all that we are out here.  By the end of our trip we were pretty sick of dormitory style hostels and sharing showers with strangers... but it was worth it. Back to school, homework, English lessons, and nannying!