What's been going on the last couple of months...

Here is just a sampling:

Caleb got a coat for his birthday. I have a matching one that is hot pink!

Caleb's birthday dinner: Parmesan crusted tilapia, Garlic Green Beans, and Cilantro lime rice

Another Birthday Surprise! Dragon Fruit! I found this randomly at a grocery store.
We both enjoyed this fruit a lot while living in Hong Kong.

I made A LOT of pumpkin cookies

We visited an apple fruit farm called Wasem's in Ypsilanti.
You could pick your own apples.

They also had a pumpkin patch, very convenient. 

I thought these gourds looked really cool

Here's the pumpkin we carved!
The Boogey Man!

We watched "Hocus Pocus" while pumpkin carving with our neighbors

Our neighbor's pumpkin, "Let It Snow" is the title of Jonathan's Christmas album.
And it's actually available for purchase now at jonathankeithmusic.com
You should buy it.

Home Makeover

Hello There!  After many weeks of hard work, most of our big house projects are finished! Come see:

Before

After

Before
Actually the stairs were covered in an ugly blue carpet, but this is what it looked like after we took the carpet off. We already repainted the walls here.  

After

Before

After

Before

After

After

Before

Before

Deacon watching me brush my teeth

After

After

Before

After

Before

After

There are still more projects to be done, but we've kind of slowed down now that winter is coming and Caleb has started school. We are immensely grateful for the family members who came to help us out! We would have never been able to get this far without their help!

As for me and my HOUSE, we will serve the Lord

Joshua 24:15

For the few readers we have of this blog, if you don't know already...

WE BOUGHT A HOUSE.

Yeah I know, if you're in shock, that will probably last for the next couple of days and then you'll forget and move on with your life. I'm still in shock and it's been about two and half months since our offer was accepted. I already have some friends who have purchased homes, but it's still completely different when it's you. This is such a....grown-up thing. It's weird. I almost feel like this is a more grown-up thing than getting married! That sounds outrageous, but it's probably because of all the financial planning we've had to do for this purchase. Anyway, Caleb and I are very excited to move into our new home and do some really cool home projects to update the place. It's going to look spectacular!

If you haven't taken the time to read Joshua 24:15, it's basically the title of the blog post. I'm excited to move into our new home where I can create an atmosphere of peace and love. If I ever have friends or family over, my hope is that they will always feel welcome.

The home is actually a duplex, and so we'll be renting out the larger half to some of our friends here in Provo who will be moving to Michigan as well. Not only are we new homeowners, but we're also new landlords...another weird grown-up thing. crazy...

Here are some photos of the house:

Front enclosed Porch

We're not fans of the mint color, so we'll be getting rid of that.

Nice large deck in the backyard

When we get there I'll probably take some more before and after pictures and show you in a later post. We are driving to Michigan next week! I have a lot of things I need to get done before we go, wish me luck!

Morgan Valley Marathon

Hi Everyone!

Okay so life has been a little crazy, but hopefully I'll be able to bring you all up to speed here in the next few posts. 

I ran my first MARATHON! 
26.2 miles of amazingness! Well, you'll see in a sec the pictures may reflect something a little different. However, I very much enjoyed my race and I felt incredible throughout the race. 

Unfortunately, Caleb was not able to run with me. He injured his knee, BUT he was allowed to ride his bike alongside me. I want to especially express my gratitude and love for my husband. He was with me training the whole way until he got injured. Even after being unable to run, he was willing to ride his bike with me. I'm sure it was very difficult and disappointing for him, but he still encouraged me to continue. If he was not with me during my race, I would have never done as well as I did. 

Official chip time: 4:01:14.0
Race Pace: 9:12/Mile

I don't know if this is a good time, but I'm pretty satisfied with it. 

We trained for this marathon since January, so about 7 months total of training. We ran a total of about 500 miles. It definitely took a lot of discipline and time, but it was well worth the effort. Would I do it all over again? Yes! I don't know if I will do another one again soon, but we'll see. I've got a lot of projects coming up in the near future. (more to come in future posts)

Here are some pictures from the race. They had professional photographers there. You can tell I look super exhausted at the end, but it was a special experience to have my super hot husband holding hands with me across the finish line. I couldn't be more proud.

Jaden's Baby Blessing

So the last Sunday in April was Jaden's baby blessing. He is my cousin's son. Caroline's husband, Josue, performed the ordinance. So a lot of family got together on Sunday and we had a great time taking some pictures after church.

Cousin Caroline feeding Jaden

My Auntie Joyce and Uncle Tim came from Holland. They are Caroline's parents. The baby in Uncle Tim's arms is Jace, their other grandchild. He's one month younger than Jaden.

My cousin Michael and his wife Czeleste. 

We had fun taking some more pictures.

Josue making a funny face. We were getting ready for a group photo. 

This was the best. Everybody was taking pictures of Caleb and the two babies. 

Uncle Sam and Auntie Shuky from San Diego

Jace after a good feeding. He was stuffed.

Caleb wanted to take a picture together

Pull-ups for Jaden. Caleb likes to do this with him. 

Look at that cute smile!

It was really great to see everyone. I didn't take pictures of everyone. But my Aunt Jennifer and her boys were there as well. It was a really fun gathering.