Gilson Family

Home Sweet Home

2012-01-31T10:42:00.000-08:00

Marcus, Johnny, and I have been living in our apartment for 9 months and I haven't given a tour on my blog. So without further ado- here is our humble abode. All curtains, pillows, and chair pads courtesy of my extremely talented mother! (Check out her Etsy site at www.etsy.com/shop/sherryshangups).

Front Porch

Downstairs

Living Room

Laundry Room/ Pantry

Half Bath downstairs

Dinning Area

Kitchen

Upstairs

Upstairs Hallway

The Guest Room part of Johnny's Room

Johnny's Room

Johnny's Crib, Quilt, and Name

Johnny's closet. (I love our big closets!)

Full Bathroom Upstairs

Marcus and I's room

The Scoot

2012-01-18T19:17:00.000-08:00

Johnny has started scooting! The video is one of the first times he started scooting- he's a little faster at it now.

When did he get so big?

Christmas

2012-01-04T19:37:00.000-08:00

Marcus, Johnny, and I were able to go home to North Carolina for Christmas and it was beyond wonderful. My whole family was home for Christmas-which was awesome! We spent lots of time together as a family and ate at all of my favorite restaurants. Thank you Mom and Dad for a truly amazing Christmas!

Our first night in North Carolina. Grandma has lots of fun toys.

Johnny and Adrian. She is the best with kids!

We took lots of great walks. The weather was beautiful!

Trivia Night! This is held at a pizza place every Wednesday night and it is so much fun! I wish I could go with my Dad every week.

Johnny's first time in the swing. He loved it!

We love being at Grandma and Grandpa's house!

Johnny and my youngest brother Tristan's new dog Xena. She's a Great Dane

Madison, Johnny, and Ashlynn in their Christmas PJs. Johnny and Madison are only 3 months apart. The 3 of them were so cute together!

Johnny and Ashlynn conversing. So cute!

Apparently, he really wants to tear the ribbon in two.

Johnny on the plane getting ready to head home to SLC.

We hope you all had as wonderful a Christmas as we did!

Thanksgiving

2012-01-04T18:22:00.000-08:00

It's only been 1.5 months since Thanksgiving- no big deal. Marcus, Jordan, Shelby, Johnny, and I went to Arizona to spend Thanksgiving with Grandma and Grandma Smith, Lori, Kelly, Brent, and Bryce. We had a fantastic time with them! The weather was amazing and the company was even better. Here is a recap in pictures.

We went to a Goldfield Mine. It was lots of fun!

Jordan, Brent, and Bryce in the mystery shack.

Grandma and Grandpa :)

Everyone except for our picture taker, Shelby

Ah- I love this boy..

We went and saw the Mesa Temple lights- so beautiful!

Johnny and Bryce

Johnny on the hike to hole in the rock. When I was growing up in Arizona, it was a tradition to go to this rock every Thanksgiving. It's fun to go back and relive the tradition.

I also love this boy :)

The view from hole in the rock.

Our little puppy

My Grandpa makes the B.E.S.T tacos in the world! This is his bikini taco shell :)

Johnny fitting in to the Arizona desert castle.

We had the best time in Arizona! Now they all need to come here in April for General Conference! :)

Six Months

2011-12-03T20:15:00.001-08:00

Johnny turned six months on November 17th! Here are some things about Johnny at 6 months:


Johnny is a Momma's boy.

But he does love to hang out with Daddy!

He is a pro at sitting up. He loves sit and pull his toys out of their basket.


It is so nice that he can sit in shopping carts and high chairs! It makes shopping so much easier.


He already has such a personality. He is so sweet, loveable, and funny. He cracks me up all the time.

He is the happiest baby. The above picture was taken right after we had been driving for 11 hours!

He LOVES the water! He would stay in his bath forever if I would let him.


He is so cute- I can hardly stand it!

Some other things about Johnny:
- he weighs 16 pounds 6 ounces (35th percentile)
- he's 25.5 inches tall (10th percentile)
- his head circumference is 42 centimeters (25th percentile)
-he can roll both ways
- he doesn't crawl yet. When a toy is just out of his reach, he'll lift his arms and legs off the floor and move them really fast. If he was in a pool, he would swim really far. On the floor, however, he just looks really cute but doesn't go anywhere.
- his laugh is my favorite sound
- he has started eating solid foods. He likes them okay- it's still a bit of a struggle to get him to eat solids. Bananas, applesauce, and sweet potatoes are his favorites.

- he has 4 teeth coming in. 2 have already cut through and the other 2 are really close.

Marcus and I feel so blessed to be his parents!

Jesus wants me for a sunBEAM!

2011-11-14T21:10:00.001-08:00

Marcus and I have been called to be the sunbeam teachers in our ward. The kids are super cute and so funny. Sometimes they say the funniest things so I've decided to record some of them on my blog. (I'll just use the first initial of the kids' name).

Marcus: Does anyone know any stories of Jesus?
L: I know the story of the Misty Island Rail.
Marcus: Can you tell us that story?
L: Well Thomas the Train gets stuck...
Marcus: I don't think that's a story about Jesus.
C: I want to hear the story of the misty island rail.

Most of the time, they just say cute little things to us. And they have a domino effect on each other. One kid says they're hungry and then everyone is hungry. Or one kid needs to go to the bathroom and then all of them need to go. We also usually get to hear about their siblings. Those little 3-4 year olds sure adore their siblings- it's very cute. Needless to say, we sure are enjoying teaching those little kids!

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

2011-11-09T21:31:00.000-08:00

Well Johnny certainly is the cutest of them all!

Halloween

2011-11-08T22:53:00.000-08:00

It's already been a week since Halloween! I can't believe how fast time goes. Marcus only has 3 more weeks of classes and then finals and then he's done with his first semester of Law School. Crazy! Next thing you know, John will be leaving on a mission. But thank goodness we still have 19 years before that happens- I still have a hard time leaving him for more than 4 hours...

But back to Halloween! Johnny was a monkey- and a dang cute one!

Our ward had a trunk or treat on Halloween. It was fun to pass out candy and see all the little kids dressed up. Johnny's too little to go trick-or-treating but he enjoyed watching the kids and got lots of comments about how cute he is from people in the ward! :)

Stay tuned for a post about the adorable little sunbeams Marcus and I now teach!

Clothes are way more fun than toys!

2011-10-27T10:02:00.000-07:00

Folks,

2011-10-17T22:07:00.000-07:00

we have a roller:

And here are some pictures that I just have to share because they're so cute!

Johnny loves watching Monk!

He also loves Sophie.

And his toes.

And BYU football.

And his mom.

And Dad eating donuts.

And going on walks.

And having his picture taken.

I mean seriously... how did I have such a cute baby?

4 Months!

2011-09-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

John Albert is 4 months old! I can hardly believe it. The last 4 months of pregnancy felt like an eternity- but John's first 4 months of life have FLOWN by. It's funny how time works.

John's 4 month stats:

14 lbs 2.5 oz (45th percentile)

24 inches (25th percentile)

Head circumference 40.8 centimeters (25th percentile)

He may look just like his Daddy but he is much smaller of a baby than his Daddy was.

John has started squealing SUPER high pitched- not one of Mom and Dad's favorite things

He has also started laughing- this is a favorite thing! (See video below)

John has also discovered his toes- so cute!

And the doctor said we can start giving him some rice cereal. I think we'll try that tonight and see how it goes :)

Grandma and Grandpa Smith were in town and we loved having them here! Johnny certainly enjoyed having them around as well!

Happy 4 Months, Johnny!

GFL

2011-09-14T17:20:00.000-07:00

It's GFL's birthday. GFL stands for Good Friend Leah. It's the acronym my dad made up for her when she and I first became friends back in middle school. But she's not just a good friend, she's the best friend and I'm so lucky to know her!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GFL- I love you!

P.S. A year ago today we found out we were pregnant with John. Time sure does fly.

Dear Sophie

2011-09-08T06:48:00.000-07:00

Thank you for making teething a little more bearable.

Love,

Johnny

Flo Rida

2011-08-12T20:44:00.000-07:00

Marcus, John, and I spent two weeks on vacation! Most of the time was spent with my family for the Smith Family Vacation 2011.

Our itinerary was as follows:

July 23rd-25th: Marcus, Brittany, Johnny and I went to Twin Falls to see Grandma and Grandpa Gilson.
July 26th: Johnny and I fly to North Carolina. I was worried to do 8 hours of traveling on planes by myself with Johnny but he did great! He barely cried and slept a lot of the time.

Johnny hanging out with Grandpa Smith

July 27th: Hung out with my family in NC. We took Johnny swimming for the first time and he enjoyed it!

Johnny's first time swimming

The Smith Grandchildren: Ashlynn, Madison, and Johnny

July 28th: I got to go to lunch with just my Dad. He and I use to go to lunch together all the time right after I graduated from high school and was working full time for my neighbor. It was definitely a highlight of the trip for me. Marcus also flew in on this day and it was wonderful to have him back with Johnny and me!

We love Grandpa Smith!

July 29th: We took family pictures! All 13 of us were there and it was so fun. It was insanely hot and humid outside but I can't wait to see what the pictures look like!

Johnny and Madison at Chick-fil-A after family pictures

July 30th: All of the family except Marcus, Johnny, and me drove down to Florida (and Leah flew into Florida to meet them). Marcus, Johnny, and I spent the day in Cary trying out some restaurants and getting ready to meet the family in Florida.

July 31st: Marcus, Johnny, and I fly to Tampa and we all go to the beach. The beach was beautiful but the weather was super hot and humid. We only lasted a few hours at the beach before we were all ready to be back in air conditioning. We went back to the hotel, cleaned up, and drove to Orlando.

Johnny trying to stay cool at the beach

August 1st: We go to Universal Studio's Islands of Adventures! We rode tons of rides and, most importantly, we went to Harry Potter World. Harry Potter World was so fun and so well done but so crowded! It really should just be it's own park. But the detail they put into the castle was amazing and so great to walk through.

Harry Potter World!

August 2nd: We had a rest day where we just stayed at the house, went swimming, and just enjoyed each others company. It was a needed rest for the busy rest of the week.

August 3rd: Marcus, Shelby, Jordan and I went to Disney World! It was the first time for all of us and we had lots of fun. We went on the Safari at the Animal Kingdom, rode the Tower of Terror and Aerosmith rides at Hollywood Studios, and then did the teacups, it's a small world, Peter Pan, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion in Magic Kingdom. We packed a lot in but it was so worth it and so fun. Marcus and I decided it would be great if it works out that we can take each of our kids individually for their 10th birthday!

A couple of the animals we saw on the Safari at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Magic Kingdom!

August 4th: We slept in a little and then headed over to Island's of Adventure to do all the water rides. It's a short day at the parks since everyone is exhausted and would rather just be at the house playing in the pool and relaxing. Mom, Leah, Jordan, Johnny, and I head back to the park later that night to watch the fireworks and walk along City Walk.

August 5th: We went to Islands of Adventure early to visit Harry Potter World one last time and then wemt over to Universal Studios and rode Rip Ride Rocket, Jaws, and saw Shrek 4D. Universal Studios also has a restaurant that has over 100 kids of soda. Marcus and I tried Raspberry Sprite, Cherry Vanilla Coke, Strawberry Sprite, and Cherry Sprite. Leah flew home and we all missed her terribly. THANK YOU Leah for coming and watching Johnny while we went to the parks! You are an amazing friend and I'm glad you're in my life!

August 6th: Jordan, Kendall, Marcus, and I go to Universal Studios one last time. We spent the afternoon swimming. (Swimming on this trip became synonymous with playing Marco Polo. We had so much fun!)

Johnny LOVES swimming!

August 7th: Marcus, Johnny, and I fly home and the rest of the family drives back up to North Carolina. We make it back to Utah in time to go to Trent's ordination as a Deacon- we are so proud of you Trent!

It was hot and humid and we did lots of walking but we all had a fabulous time! Now back to reality where Law School starts in 5 days...

THANK YOU MOM AND DAD SMITH for taking us on this fabulous vacation. We love you and are so grateful for all you do!

2 Months!

2011-07-17T11:53:00.001-07:00

This little guy is 2 months old today! I can't believe he's been with us for two months already. And at the same time, I can't believe how much he has grown in just two months. He is seriously the greatest joy in my life (along with his dad, of course)! At two months old John:

-is our little socialite. He hates being in a room by himself. If he's in the living room and can hear that Marcus and I are in the kitchen, he'll cry until we bring him into the kitchen with us. We don't even need to hold him- we just stick him in his bumbo chair on the table and he's happy.

-doesn't like to stay in one position too long. We alternate every 10 or 15 minutes between being held, tummy time, bumbo, swing, or laying on his back.

-loves tummy time. Something about being on his stomach gets him to make noises- I love it!

-loves watching TV. He loves the bright colors and moving objects and will stare intently at the TV for a couple minutes at a time. It's so cute!

-takes a couple short morning naps, a long afternoon nap, and sleeps 9-10 hours at night. Yes, we do realize we are extremely lucky that he's been sleeping through the night since he was about 4 weeks old.

-is such a happy baby! He's starting to smile more and even chuckle. It's FANTASTIC!

-has redish hair. It's not fire red, but there is definitely a lot of red in there. We're hoping it doesn't change color.

Marcus and I love being parents to this little boy. We are so blessed to have him in our lives!

Happy Two Months, Johnny!

Oregon Coast!

2011-07-12T13:43:00.000-07:00

Marcus, John, and I had the opportunity to go to the Oregon Coast with Marcus' parents for a week. It was so beautiful and relaxing. We had an amazing time and we're so grateful to his parents for inviting us!

The resort we stayed at was in Seaside. But we visited several other places in Oregon.

On the beach in Seaside

Pacific City

We also stopped in Lincoln City for some delicious seafood at Moe's. (sorry- no pic.)

The Sealions in Newport

And, of course, we stopped in Tillamook to tour the cheese factory and get some delicious ice cream.

(at this point- John was tired and sick of traveling)

While in Oregon we enjoyed collecting sand dollars on the beach (FREEZING ocean water even in June- unlike the NC beaches I'm use to), walking around the town, visiting neighboring towns, sitting in the hot tub, and just relaxing. It was a fabulous trip and we're so grateful for the time we were able to spend with his parents! And an extra special thanks to Grandma Gilson for her willingness to watch Johnny so I could participate in things like collecting sand dollars and sitting in the hot tub.

We love you, Mom and Dad Gilson!

I just want to say

2011-06-19T22:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day!

I am so grateful for a wonderful husband, dad, father-in-law, and grandpas that truly bless my life! I love you all!

Birth Story

2011-06-07T16:37:00.000-07:00

Congratulations flowers and balloon from my parents :)

When I first found out I was pregnant, I read TONS of birth stories online- I just found them so interesting. So I am posting my birth story online for those who are interested.

My whole pregnancy, I really thought I was going to have my baby early. At my 36 week appointment, I was 1cm dilated and 70% effaced so then I was really convinced the baby was going to come early. But days kept going by and I was still pregnant- and I was becoming a very unhappy pregnant woman.
A week before my due date I was 3cm dilated and 90% effaced. Then, 5 days before my due date I started having regular contractions. They weren't very painful but they were 5 minutes apart for over an hour so I called my doctor and he told me to go into the hospital since I was already at 3cm. Marcus and I were so excited! We called my Mom and headed over to the hospital. However, I was still only 3cm and 90% effaced so they said they would watch me for an hour and see if I progressed any. I had contractions 1-3 minutes apart for the whole hour I was there but when they checked me again, I hadn't progressed at all. The nurse told me they were sending me home and it was AWFUL!! That was probably the worst point in the pregnancy. I was super upset and depressed. It is a terrible experience to go to the hospital thinking the next time you go home you'll have your baby only to be told a couple hours later that nothing is going on and you just have to go home alone.
By the time I hit 40 weeks, Marcus was just as ready for me to have John as I was-- he was pretty sick of having a wife that cried constantly to deal with everyday. On May 16th, the day after I hit 40 weeks, I had a doctor's appointment. I was at 3.5cm and 90% effaced- so pretty much the same as I had been for over a week even though I was having contractions daily. We decided to have me be induced and I asked my doctor if they could induce me that day. (I told you- I was very ready to have this baby!) Thankfully, the hospital had some openings and could induce me later in the evening. We got to the hospital at 6pm and I was finally all hooked up to the IV and getting pitocin at 7pm. They increase pitocin by 4ml every half hour until you get to 20ml. I got up to 16ml of pitocin and my contractions still weren't painful to me. (Marcus and I think I have a high pain tolerance and I'm going to see how far I can go with the next baby before I get an epidural). It was 10pm by this time and I decided to get my epidural because my doctor was coming at 11pm to break my water and I didn't want to feel that. The epidural was great and it made it so I never actually experienced pain during my labor experience. While I'm glad I wasn't ever in severe pain, sometimes I feel like I didn't really experience labor since I didn't really have pain.
After the doctor broke my water, Marcus and I decided to try and get some sleep since it was going to be several hours before anything would really happen. The nurse came in to check me every hour and every hour I progressed 1cm. We were able to get some pretty good sleep from 1am-4am. At 4am, the nurse came in to check me and told me I was 9cm dilated and 100% effaced so I was thinking it would be another hour before we would start pushing. Almost immediately after she checked me, the baby's heartbeat dropped. The doctor came in and said that it's common for the baby's heartbeat to drop when the mom hits 10cm. He checked me again and I had indeed reached 10cm and it was time to start pushing! Hallelujah! I pushed for an hour and 15 minutes and John was born! It was so amazing! I was able to watch the delivery with the mirror and because I had the epidural, I felt no pain and I was just able to enjoy the miracle of watching John be born.
The cord was wrapped around Johnny's neck, not too tight, but enough that the doctor send him right over to the nursery people instead of putting him right on me after he was born. He cried for about a minute and then he was just very alert and content to hang out for about 2 hours.

He's an awesome baby and I feel so lucky to be his mom.

John Albert Gilson

2011-05-20T16:08:00.001-07:00

John Albert Gilson
Born May 17, 2011 at 5:18 a.m.
6 lbs 13 oz 19 inches

We love him more than words can express!

Changes

2011-04-29T11:08:00.000-07:00

Here I am at 37 weeks and 5 days.

Marcus and I are ready for this baby to come! We are ready to meet him, see what he looks like, and just cuddle and hold him. Also, I am ready to not be pregnant anymore. As of my doctor's appointment on Tuesday, I was 2cm dilated and 70% effaced and his head was very low. So here's to hoping that means the baby will be here soon!

The biggest change in our lives right now is our decision on where to go for law school. I can honestly say it was one of the hardest decisions Marcus and I have ever had to make. To be honest, it still is a hard decision for me. I feel at peace with our decision but I'm still really sad about some of the things we're going to be missing out on. So without further ado- Marcus and I have decided to go to:

Like I said, we both feel that BYU Law School is the right choice for us and that we will be happy going there. I am just having a REALLY hard time with the fact that this means at least 3 more years in Utah and that I don't get to be close to my parents. I know we have a lot of family in the area that are great but it's just not the same as being close to parents. But I have faith that it's what we're suppose to do and everything will work out.

35 Weeks

2011-04-10T21:05:00.000-07:00

I'm 35 weeks along which means I have 35 days left of pregnancy. I thought it was kind of fun that today is full of 35's.

I feel huge. And I look it. But I just keep reminding myself I'm at the end of my pregnancy so it's normal to be big. Here's what life is like at 35 weeks pregnant:

- I sleep with at least 3 pillows and I still can't get comfortable sometimes.

- I get really bad heartburn. But I can take Pepcid and that helps a lot.

- I get super sharp upper back pains! They are miserable. They've been attributed to my heartburn but I get them even when I don't have heartburn (thanks to Pepcid). They've also been attributed to weak lower back muscles and my doctor gave me some exercise to do to help strengthen my lower back and get rid of the upper back pain. He said it would take about a week for the exercises to take effect. It's been 2.5 weeks since I started doing them and I still get the sharp pains. I've decided delivery will be the cure...

- My blood type is O-. The negative means I'm Rh- and so I had to get a RhoGAM shot so I don't make antibodies against my baby's blood. This shot is given in the hip- not the most enjoyable thing I've experienced. But I'm sure labor will hurt worse so I'm not really complaining. Plus, I will take a shot any day to ensure that my body doesn't kill off any future babies.

- This baby has become quite the mover! Well, he's probably always moved a lot but he's so crowded in there now that I feel him so much more. It's crazy to watch him moving across my belly. Marcus gets excited every time he sees or feels the baby move- it's great! :)

All in all, everything is going really well. I am healthy and the baby is developing well so I couldn't be happier! We have set up the baby's bed and we have his carseat and stroller so now we're just waiting for him to get here! Marcus and I are so excited- this little baby is pretty much all we talk about and he's not even here yet.

34 weeks down...

2011-04-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

6 (or less) to go!

In general, I feel pretty good. I have the normal back discomfort that accompanies the end of pregnancy. But I just sleep with three pillows and that seems to work well. I also get pretty bad heartburn but my doctor told me I could take Pepcid and that has helped a ton.

Other than (impatiently) waiting for this little boy to join our family, most of our time is focused on school and work. But we have some very exciting things coming up:
-Graduation in 3 weeks! Mom and Dad Gilson and Dad Smith will be here visiting! :)
-Mom Smith will be out in 4.5 weeks until the end of May to be here with us when we have the baby!!
-BABY BOY GILSON WILL BE BORN! (After 7.5 months of pregnancy, this day feels like it will never come).
-Lots of family from both sides will be coming at the end of May to see us and the baby. (Well really just the baby but we make ourselves feel better by saying they want to see us too).
-A couple family/really close friend weddings we might be able to attend depending on when the baby decides to come.

It's all so exciting- I can barely stand it! :)

NC Baby Shower

2011-03-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

Last month when I was home visiting my family, my mom and sisters threw me a baby shower! And let me just tell you- this little boy is spoiled already!!

Here is the cake my mom and a friend from the ward made for the shower.
They did such a great job- it was so cute!

Here is Trish, the gracious hostess of the baby shower, and my little sister! :)

My sister-in-law took lots of pictures of the items we received but unfortunately, I look terrible in all of them. And since this is my blog, I'm not posting most of them. But I will list some of the things we received for our little bundle of joy.

-lots of clothes. I'm so grateful he already has so many outfits and I didn't have to buy them. :)
-boppy pillow. I heard these are wonderful so I'm excited that we have one.
-toys and bath products
-a diaper genie and diapers
-gift cards
-the big group gift was this:

We LOVE it! It's already sitting in our house and every time I look at it,
it reminds me of how much I want my little baby to be here!

-my super talented mom made the bedding for the crib

Ignore my weird face. I just want to show the cute bedding is!
I'm excited to get the crib to put this in :)

A friend that I met here in Provo moved to NC last year and she was able to come to my baby shower. It was so fun to see her and her little boy!

It was so great of her to travel 2.5 hours to come to the shower!

Needless to say, it was an AWESOME baby shower! Thank you to everyone who contributed to the planning and thank you to everyone who came. I had lots of fun! :)

February Catch Up

2011-03-01T07:20:00.000-08:00

I'm so behind in my posts- as always. So here is a recap of February:

Marcus and I celebrated Valentine's Day by going to Macaroni Grill for dinner. We did a joint gift and got ourselves a blue-ray player. We also purchased a few movies on blue-ray to go with it. He did still get me flowers and chocolates- which I loved!

I was able to fly home to North Carolina for about 5 days and it was fantastic! My brother and sister-in-law had their second daughter 5 days before I flew out so I got to meet her and she is so precious!

And here is her sweet and adorable older sister!

(Ashlynn in Uncle Tristan's sweatshirt)

Of course- being home meant I got to see my whole family. The only people missing were Marcus and my brother Jordan who is on his mission (less than 4 weeks left!). They were both very missed! We hung out, played games, and did a lot of laughing. My Mom and sisters threw me a baby shower while I was there but that will get it's own post. It was so great to be home for a little while and I can't wait until I see my family again!

In other news- we reached week 29 of pregnancy the end of February! Only 11 more weeks until this little boy joins our family! :)

Countdowns!

2011-02-25T12:36:00.000-08:00

14 days until Marcus' sister Diana comes to visit

31 days until Jordan comes home from his mission!

46 days until the last day of classes

55 days until Dad Smith and Mom and Dad Gilson come to Utah

56 days until Graduation

65 days until Mom Smith comes to Utah

79 days until Baby Boy Gilson is due!

91 days until LOTS of family are here to visit the new baby!

Can you handle all the excitement??

Quilting

2011-02-01T11:44:00.000-08:00

I made a couple quilts for two of my friends that are having babies soon. I'm really proud of my first tries (although I did have lots of help on both of them so it's not all my work).

I made this quilt first for our friends Chase and Kami.
They're expecting their first-a boy-in early March.

My really good friend Kate is having a little girl the end of February.
I LOVE the colors on this quilt and the apples.

These quilts were so fun to make! They are definitely the perfect starter quilt. Thank you Patsy for teaching me how to make them! :)

My friend Mackenzie and I threw Kate a baby shower on Saturday. As usual, I forgot to take pictures. We did get one picture of Kate and I with our friend and old roomie, Kayla (who drove up from Arizona to be there. Kayla= AWESOME)!

In other news:

I'm 25 weeks along!

I'm starting to look more and more pregnant. I keep being told that I'm a very small pregnant woman and I barely show. I've decided I'm okay with this for a couple reasons. First, I'm not uncomfortable. I sleep through the night almost every night. Also, I am hoping being a small pregnant woman means I won't have a baby the size Marcus was. He was 10lbs 9oz and I have serious fears that I'm going to have to push a baby that size out of me. I have a lot of appreciation for his Mom. (And moms in general the more I think about labor and delivery).

AND in 2.5 weeks, I fly to North Carolina to see my family!

Oh. My. Goodness! I can not wait to hold and kiss this little girl!

Christmas and Birthday

2011-01-10T15:25:00.001-08:00

Marcus, Brittany, and I drove to Washington for the Holidays. It was so much fun to get away for awhile. Marcus and were very spoiled this Christmas (as usual- our families are awesome!) We got to hang out with the whole family since everyone was home for Christmas this year. This meant that we got to see a lot of these cuties:

It was so great to be home and visiting with everyone. But I did miss this little cutie who was on the opposite coast:

Good thing I get to see her in February! :)

On January 3rd- Marcus turned 24! Winter semester didn't start until the 4th so we had the day off to hang out. We went to Red Robin for lunch, did some shopping, and then just spent a quiet night at home. I did make him a cake. It's not decorated for his birthday but it's exactly how he wanted it- no decorations or candles. It's a super moist chocolate cake with Rainbow chip frosting. It was delicious!

As usual, he was spoiled with presents. I got him a watch case and then replaced the batteries in several of his watches. I also got him a couple shirts and, as is tradition, a children's book- "The Rainbow Fish." Between the parents he received some books, a watch, a new pair of shoes, and a gift card that he used to buy a pair of shoes. It was a good birthday! :)

We're back to school and so far the semester is going well. We both think this semester will be easier than last semester. Then it's graduation and then we have our little baby boy! It'll be an exciting few months! :)

Baby!

2011-01-06T11:49:00.001-08:00

I'm so behind on posts about Christmas and Marcus' birthday and I promise I'll post about those soon but first...

I'm 21 weeks pregnant and starting to enjoy it more. Sickness has left and now it's the more exciting time of pregnancy!

(as my friend Kate has said- taking these bump pictures is awkward. I have no idea how to stand/what to do with my hands)

We went in for our ultrasound yesterday and found out we're having a

We are so excited! Only 19 more weeks until we get to meet the little guy. It feels like it'll be the longest 19 weeks ever!

Finals Week

2010-12-15T08:32:00.000-08:00

18 weeks

It's finals week here in the Gilson home. Marcus and I find this week to actually be less stressful than most weeks of school. No classes- just do some studying and go take a test. Then that class is finished forever! It's one of the best feelings to finish a test and know you won't have to ever look at anything dealing with that class again *cough* Physics *cough.*

Last night we had some friends over for a little Christmas party (naturally, I don't have any pictures). I made sugar cookies, Laura and Andrew brought over some delicious peppermint cupcakes, and Kate and Brock brought over hot chocolate with candy canes- Yum! We all just chatted, played some Uno (Laura and Andrew kicked mine and Kate's trash!) and Wii, and ate way too much sugar. It was great! :)

In two days, we get to go home to Washington for the holidays! We are so excited we can barely stand it. Marcus and I are excited to spend time with all of his family, read some books we've been wanting to read but haven't because we've been doing reading for classes, and we're (of course) excited for Christmas! Then it's only one more semester of undergrad and then we have a baby! Life is good :).

A picture for two

2010-12-08T21:27:00.000-08:00

I was reading another blog the other day and she was talking about how you could get 50 free Christmas Cards through Shutterfly. I instantly became interested. I haven't actually used Shutterfly before but have heard a lot about it. (Ellen DeGeneres talked about it on her show the other day). I went onto Shutterfly's website to browse all of their Christmas cards in hopes that I would be able to get some free Christmas cards. Marcus isn't huge into Christmas cards- especially since it's still just the two of us. But I'm working on him! I'm sure it'll be easier once we have cute kids to include in the cards.

So it's actually very simple- you just have to be a blogger, fill out a little form, write a blog post about the promotion, and then you get 50 free Christmas cards. Here some of my favorite photo Christmas cards (they have like 800 so there is plenty to choose from!):

I like the simpleness of this card. Plus, those are our wedding colors and I just love the way they look together.

Again, I like the simpleness of this one but I'm not sure it would be my first choice.

This card is also our wedding colors and another one I really like.

I like how cutsie and fun this one is.
But I'm thinking it would be a better one when we also have kids in the picture.

I love the little snowflake border!

And the great thing is that Shutterfly does so much more than just cards! On Ellen's show, she showed a photo calendar she did through Shutterfly and I LOVED it. I love photo calendars. I hope to make one soon! Another cool thing they do that I had no idea about was wall art. You can take a picture, and they'll print it onto a canvas for you! My parents did this with a picture my dad took of the Salt Lake Temple. It's such a cool idea! And then they also have birth announcements. We might be spending some money on these come May :).

Anyways- I'm super excited about this promotion. But which card is your favorite? I need help deciding. Also, if you're a blogger- go here to check out this awesome promotion before it ends! Thank you, Shutterfly.

Now who wants to take a picture of Marcus and I for our Christmas card?

Countdowns!!

2010-12-02T21:29:00.001-08:00

I am a terrible blogger. I have decided that the main reason is only about 5 people read my blog and I talk to them on a regular basis so I feel like I have nothing to write. But alas, here is list of countdowns to very exciting events- that I know the 5 of you already know about so sorry for the repetition. :)

15 days until this semester is over!
15 days until Marcus, Brittany, and I drive to Washington for the Christmas break!
23 days until Christmas!
32 days until Marcus' birthday! :) (I love that boy.)
32 days until we (hopefully) find out the gender of our baby!!
142 days until graduation!
164 days until our baby is due! (This means I am 16.5 weeks pregnant- 2.5 weeks into the second trimester. However, I still weigh less than I did before I got pregnant and often feel sick when I try to eat. Thank goodness for anti-nausea medication but I just hope it goes away soon. Also, my doctor is getting mad at me for not gaining weight so I really hope the nausea goes away and I can eat again soon!)

What an exciting time of year! :) Marcus and I have decorated our apartment for the Christmas season and I LOVE IT! It makes finishing up this semester with my awful Physics class a little more bearable.

Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving!

2010-11-30T10:10:00.000-08:00

This year for Thanksgiving, we had planned to go to Washington to spend it with Marcus' family. However, the blizzard of 2010 (that didn't actually affect us in the SLC area) made the roads in Idaho too iffy to risk driving. So Brittany, Sue, Marcus, and I stayed here in Utah and had Thanksgiving at the Messer's. There were 22 people at Patsy's house for Thanksgiving. It was lots of fun and the food was FANTASTIC. (Yay for not having morning sickness anymore so I could enjoy Thanksgiving.) I am very grateful for the wonderful families Marcus and I have!

Marcus and I spent the rest of the break going with Brittany to buy a new car, going to see the Harry Potter 7 movie (which was GREAT), and just relaxing. It was a great break, even though we were bummed we didn't get to go see all of our family in Washington. On the bright side, we get to see them in 3 weeks for Christmas break! :)

This photo is for my Grandma Smith,
who has been asking for a baby bump picture.
(even though the bump is barely even visible at this point.)

15 weeks

Halloween Weekend

2010-11-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

For Halloween weekend, Marcus and I went up to Brock's family condo in Park City with Mackenzie and Beau, Oliver and Julie, Vanessa and Josh, and Kate and Brock. We got there Friday night and stayed until late Sunday night and we had so much fun! We went swimming, went shopping at the outlets, made caramel apples, played games, and just relaxed. It was a well needed weekend away from Provo and we were so glad we could go. Thank you Kate and Brock for inviting us! :)

And to end this post: Marcus and I are expecting!
I'm 12 weeks along- due May 15th. We are so excited!

Belated Birthday Post

2010-10-12T19:44:00.000-07:00

So it's been two weeks since my 22nd birthday and I've been so busy with school/work/being lazy that I haven't actually posted about it. My birthday this year lasted for about 5 days because my parents came in town! It was so FANTASTIC to have them here!! I haven't spent a birthday with them since I turned 18, so I was very excited that they were able to come here for my birthday this year. Besides being here for my birthday and to see Marcus and me, they also came for the BYU vs. Nevada football game. Too bad we played terribly and lost, but we had AWESOME seats (thanks to my work :)). Check out our view:

We sat in some of the box seats, had tons of food, and had a great time!

While they were here, they spoiled Marcus and me. Along with all the birthday presents I received, my parents got us our big Christmas presents since we won't see them this Christmas. They gave us a Wii, a HD TiVo, and a flat screen TV:

For my birthday, my parents got me lots of clothes, an iPhone, and a new set of dishes:

Those dishes are totally me! I LOVE THEM!

Then from Marcus I received:
- Where the Wild Things Are (to keep up with our tradition of getting a children's book for each other on every birthday)
-The movie "Les Miserables"
-A cast iron skillet (I've been wanting one of these for awhile)
-A cake decorating set
-Red high heels (another thing I have been seriously wanting and mentioning constantly)

Marcus found them and picked them out on his own and they are exactly what I wanted!
He is the best!
(Did I mention I was totally spoiled??)

Here is a list of some other things we did while my parents were here:
- Went out to dinner
- Lots of shopping
- A combined birthday dinner for my Uncle Troy and me. Mom made spare ribs and a very moist chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.
- A combined birthday dinner for our cousin Brian Messer and me (our birthdays are two days apart) at Brett and Patsy's. The dinner and dessert were, of course, fantastic! Patsy made me the cutest quilt for my birthday:

And best of all, Marcus and I got to be with my parents for almost a week. We had such a wonderful time and miss them terribly. (And I don't even have a picture of all of us. Seriously?!)

Thank you Mom and Dad, for everything!

Washington and Labor Day

2010-09-10T08:46:00.000-07:00

Marcus and I spent a week in August with his family in Washington. It was fabulous. Two of Marcus' three sisters live within 15 minutes of his parents house so that made it even better. (But we did miss Brittany who was in Utah teaching her little 1st graders). We hung out at home, went shopping for clothes for school/my early birthday presents, and took a two day trip with Mom and Dad G. to Seattle. While in Seattle we toured University of Washington to check out the Law School, ate at Iver's on the pier, and visited some family friends. It was so much fun!

picture of us at Marcus' parents house taken by his dad :)
It's one of our favorite pictures of us!

Then for Labor Day weekend, Mom and Dad G. came down to Utah for the weekend. Marcus and I met up with them at Brittany's in Salt Lake on Friday night and we all went out to dinner and a dollar movie (we saw Knight and Day- we highly recommend it). On Saturday, Marcus, his dad, and I came down to Provo for the BYU vs. Washington game (we won 23-17!). We went back up to Brittany's that night, went to Church with her the next morning, and then had to say goodbye to Mom and Dad.

On Monday (Labor Day), Marcus and I went to another dollar movie together (we saw Eclipse this time- I liked it but Marcus did not!). Then we went to Outback for dinner. It was a good break from school and work and a wonderful weekend with family!

Jake's Cake!!

2010-08-03T11:18:00.000-07:00

Back in June, I made a cake for one of my co-workers that was graduating and moving on in life to a real job. I finally have the pictures so that I can write this post.

But first, a little background about Jake. He's a cowboy. Or at least he wants to be. He talks about rodeos, riding horses, and catching cows and he owns a lot of pairs of cowboy boots. So for his going away cake he asked for a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I obliged and then decided I would decorate it with a cowboy boot. His favorite pair (or the office's favorite pair) of cowboy boots are these red ones he owns so I tried to recreate it on the cake. Here's how it turned out:

Kind of looks like a little girl's birthday cake, huh?
(It was my boss and one of my other co-workers idea to do the pink star. It just enhanced the little girl look.)

But Jake was happy with it. In his words:
"It was awesome, hilarious, and most most importantly, delicious!"

Here's our office at his going away party.
We ordered SLAB Pizza=Delicious!

Thanks for leaving Jake so we could have an awesome party with great food and a cake.

Just kidding- really, we do miss you! :)

Summer Trip

2010-07-28T21:01:00.000-07:00

Marcus and I got back a on July 25th from a big two week trip! We had an AMAZING time! Here is a recap of some of the things we did:

First, we went to Washington D.C. We stayed with my brother and sister-in-law. They have the most adorable one-year-old girl named Ashlynn.

Believe me, you can't help but love her!

While in D.C., we obviously did some touring. We went to Arlington Cemetery, The National Museum of American History, The Holocaust Museum, Ford Theater, The Capitol, and The Library of Congress. It was a great three days of touring (besides the humidity that I'm no longer use to and felt like it was suffocating me).

Arlington Cemetery
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery

View of the Capital

We celebrated our one year anniversary while in D.C.
My Mom made us a wonderful dinner and it was great to be with family.
Here is a picture to commemorate :)

Ashlynn and her dad

The Holocaust Museum

Grisel, Kyle, and Ashlynn

The Capitol

This is me outside the Peterson House after the Ford Theater tour.
My parents have a picture of my Mom in this exact spot when
she was pregnant with me almost 22 years ago.

Next, Mom, Dad, Marcus, Shelby, Kendall, Tristan, and I drove up to New York City. Leah met us downtown and we toured NYC for 2 days. We spent pretty much all of our time in Times Square and Central Park. We saw the Metropolitan Museum and the Guggenheim Museum as well.

From left to right: Kendall, Marcus, Brittany, Tristan, Shelby, Mom, Dad

left to right: Kendall, Marcus, Brittany, Tristan, Shelby, Leah
Times Square
The Met

Empire State Building
Bethesda Fountain in Central Park

The Guggenheim
Manhattan Temple
The pizza place we ate at in NYC.

The highlight of the trip was:

It was AMAZING! Even better than I hoped!

I want to go see it again and again and again!

After all this traveling, we drove home to North Carolina. We hung around the house for a couple days. Then we decided to do a day trip to Top Sail Beach. It got windy as the day went on but we all had an enjoyable time. And what would a beach trip be without a few people getting really sunburned? Leah, Tristan, and I took one for the team and all got pretty sunburned. (And by that I mean we didn't re-apply sunblock like we should have).

While in North Carolina, we were able to see some friends from back home! It was really nice to catch up with old friends.

After a week in NC, Marcus, Shelby, and I flew to Arizona. We were able to visit Grandma and Grandpa Smith, Aunt Lori, and Bryce. We had a great time swimming, eating, and hanging out at home.

(I have no pictures of the second half of our trip. Oops..)

In the end, it was a wonderful trip. We're glad to be done living out of suitcases but we really miss our family!

This is my favorite picture of Ashlynn and I to end the post! :)

Thank you Smith family for a fantastic trip!! :)

Battle Creek Canyon Hike

2010-06-30T07:25:00.000-07:00

We went on a hike with several of my co-workers and it was a lot of fun!
After the hike, we roasted hot dogs and had s'mores.
It was so much fun and we are grateful to the Schellenberg's for hosting us!

A couple of waterfalls we saw during our hike

Sitting around the fire.

We had a really good time!
We want to go back and do the whole
thing one day when we have more time.

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our sister AIMEE yesterday!
We love you and hope you had a fantastic birthday!! :)

First Try

2010-06-25T15:07:00.000-07:00

I am taking a cake class and I'm loving it! So today I decorated my first cake! :)

It's a chocolate cake with a coconut pudding filling and a white whipped frosting.

I am obviously no pro- but I'm pretty proud of my first try.

Uplifting Messages

2010-06-17T06:28:00.000-07:00

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints puts out videos with great messages. I love them! Take a look at the newest one:

Elder Holland: Good Things to Come

And don't be surprised if you find yourself going through and watching a lot of them! :)

We're still alive.

2010-06-08T13:29:00.000-07:00

It's been over a month since my last post but Marcus and I are still around. We've just been extremely busy with Spring classes, work, and the LSAT.

On the bright side, MARCUS TOOK THE LSAT YESTERDAY! Hallelujah- it's over! We won't find out his score for a few weeks but I'm sure he did great. And we're both just very glad that it's over. Thank you everyone for your prayers in his behalf- they are much appreciated.

Spring term ends in 9 days. We are very excited to have a 2.5 month break from school. This break will include a visit from BFF Leah, and trips to D.C., New York, North Carolina, Arizona, and Washington.

This picture is from last summer.
But we're excited for the upcoming carefree and lazy days like the one pictured :)

Fun at the Zoo and St. George!

2010-05-06T07:38:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've posted and some fun things have happened in the Gilson house. A few weeks ago, Marcus and I went to the Hogle Zoo. I can't remember the last time I had been to the zoo and I had so much fun! Here are a few pictures of some of the animals we saw:

This is us enjoying our time at the zoo! :)

Then last weekend we went down to St. George to visit family. We walked around the St. George temple grounds. BEAUTIFUL!

Then we toured Brigham Young's winter home.

We also toured Jacob Hamblin's home. His story was really interesting.

It has been a good couple of weeks! :)

General Conference and Easter

2010-04-04T22:34:00.000-07:00

General Conference weekend has become one of my favorite things! I love having the opportunity to hear from the living prophets and apostles and learn how to be better. One of my VERY FAVORITE talks was by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland that talked about love vs. lust. Go here to listen to it.
A lot of talks were about families and there was a lot of great insight on helping to raise a family. Although Marcus and I do not have children yet, there were a lot of things that I know will really help us when we reach that point in our life. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It brings so much happiness and peace in my life that I know I would not have without it. I am so grateful for the talks and testimonies I was able to listen to this weekend and look forward to reading them again when the Ensign comes next month. I really hope everyone watched General Conference. And if you didn't please go online and watch it. It is so worth your time.

(Greg Olsen- Prince of Peace
click on picture to learn more)

Marcus and I also had a wonderful Easter. We were able to watch General Conference with great friends. We also dyed eggs, ate great food, and played an awesome game called NERTS. Thanks again, Brock and Kate! Then we had dinner with the Messer's and Brittany. We always LOVE going to the Messer's and we hadn't seen Brittany in 3 months (way too long!) so it was so good to see her! We had a fantastic dinner and then watched this short Easter message. I am so grateful we were able to spend this holiday with family we love so dearly and share this wonderful message about Christ and His atoning sacrifice for each of us!

The last thing we had to do today was say goodbye to our cousin Jack. Jack is leaving on his mission to Maceio, Brazil on Tuesday afternoon and will be gone for two years to teach the people of Brazil about the gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He will be a wonderful missionary and we will miss him. But we are so proud of him for what he's about to do. We love you, Jack!

Mormon Myths and Legends

2010-03-29T19:36:00.000-07:00

Enjoy this video!!

"Just climb up your ladder; I'll throw down my rope."

2010-03-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

I was blog-hopping and came across this poem. I really liked it and so I decided to share.

HOLES

I had been in that hole for a very long time
In the dark and the damp, in the cold and the slime.
The shaft was above me; I could see it quite clear
But there's no way I ever could reach it from here.
Nor could I remember the world way up there
So I lost all my hope and gave in to despair.
I knew nothing but darkness, the floor, and the walls
Then off in the distance I heard someone call:
"Get up! Get ready! There's nothing the matter.
Take rocks and old sticks and build up a fine ladder."

This had never occurred to me-- had not crossed my mind.
But I started to stack all the stones I could find.
When I ran out of stones, then old sticks were my goal,
For one way or another I'd get out of that hole.
So I soon had a ladder that was sturdy and tall
And I thought, "I'll soon leave this place once and for all."
I climbed up my ladder. It was no easy chore,
For from lifting those boulders, my shoulders were sore.
I climbed on up the ladder, but soon had to stop
For my ladder stopped short-- some ten feet from the top.

I climbed back down my ladder and started to cry
I'd done all I could do. I gave my best try.
And in spite of my work, in this hole I must die.
And all I could do was to sit and think, "Why?"
Was my ladder too short? Or my hole much too deep
Then from way upon high came a voice, "Do not weep."
And then faith, hope, and love entered into my chest
As the voice said to me that I'd done my best.

He said, "You've worked very hard, and your labor's been rough,
But the ladder you've built is at last tall enough.
Do not despair. You have reason to hope.
Just climb up your ladder; I'll throw down my rope."
I climbed up the ladder, then climbed up the cord.
When I got to the top, there stood the Lord.
I couldn't be happier; my struggle was done.
I blinked in the brightness that came from the Son.

I fell to the ground, His feet did I kiss
I cried, "What can I do to repay thee for this?"
Then He looked all about Him. There were holes in the ground
They had people inside, and were seen all around
There were thousands of holes that were damp, dark, and deep
The the Lord turned to me and He said, "Feed my sheep."

Then He went on His way to help other lost souls,
And I got right to work, calling down to the holes:
"Get up! Get ready! There's nothing the matter.
Take rocks and old sticks and build up a fine ladder."

It now was my turn to spread the good word.
The most glorious message that man ever heard.
That there's one who is willing to save one and all
And we've got to be ready when He gives the call.
He'll pull us all out of the hole that we're in
And save all our souls from death and from sin.
So do not lose faith; there is reason to hope
Just build up your ladder; He'll throw down His rope.

~Scott Lewis and elders from his mission

It's official!

2010-03-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

Marcus and I are going to see Wicked on Broadway on July 14, 2010. We are so excited!

Here is a countdown of things we are looking forward to:

- April 21st: Winter Semester ends
- June 8th: The LSAT will be over (Marcus takes it on June 7th).
- June 17th: Spring classes end
- June 21-24th: Leah comes to visit!
- July 4th: A fun holiday that will be spent with Mom and Dad G., Aimee, Sean, Cole, Lola, Brittany, and the Messers!
- July 10-23rd: Marcus and I fly to Virginia where we'll meet up with my family. We'll tour Washington D.C. Then we'll go to New York (where we'll see Wicked), home to North Carolina, and the beach!
- July 11th: We will celebrate our 1 year wedding anniversary :)
- July 23-25th: Marcus, Shelby (who will stay longer than us), and I fly to Arizona to visit Grandma and Grandpa Smith, Lori, Bryce, and hopefully Kelly and Brent.
-August 14-22nd: Go to Washington to spend time with the Gilson family. Activities will include going to Seattle with Kate and Brock!

Our lives are good! :)

Party with co-workers

2010-03-19T21:59:00.000-07:00

Tonight, we had Ryan and Desiree & Jake and Sheridan over for dinner. I work with Ryan and Jake and so it was fun to spend time together outside of work. We had chicken fajitas, homemade re-fried beans, and Spanish rice. We washed it down with wonderful non-alcoholic Pina Coladas made by Jake. Then we played a game called Jungle Speed. We had never played it before but it was great fun! Especially because Desiree is a pro at that game and has amazing reflexes when grabbing the totem pole. After Jungle Speed, we ate an oreo pudding dessert that Ryan made and was delicious! Then we played a few phases of Phase 10. We only actually accomplished 3 phases because playing that game with 6 people takes a long time...

Jake also introduced us to this video:
Total Eclipse of the Heart: Literal Version
This is the actual video but people re-did it and sang about what is happening in the video. So funny! And so weird that this is the actual video. I think it might almost beat this worst music video.

Needless to say: great fun was had by all! :)

This is what happens...

2010-03-08T06:45:00.000-08:00

...when you drop a coxinha into a pan of hot oil

Thankfully, I have a wonderful husband who helped bandage me so I could sleep without worrying about hurting the blisters.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T16:05:00.000-08:00

Marcus and I had a great first Valentine's Day together. He got me a beautiful rose, perfume, and an immersion blender! (I know appliances are usually taboo, but I really wanted one of these so it was great!!) :)

I feel like men get gypped on Valentine's Day because they are expected to do a bunch of things for women but don't really get any gifts in return. So I told him I would make him any meal he wanted. It turned out to be a great meal!

We had steak, lobster tail, and baked potatoes. It was very delicious and VERY filling!

And for dessert, I made tuxedo strawberries.
Aren't they cute?! I'm pretty proud of my work.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Appendicitis anyone?

2010-02-05T16:21:00.000-08:00

Well it's been an eventful day to say the least. Here is a time-line:

Thursday, Feb. 4 10:30pm- we get into bed and Marcus complains that his stomach hurts. He is restless for about 1.5 hours before he gets up and lays on the couch

Friday, Feb. 5 2:00am- I wake up restless attempt at sleep and realize he's still on the couch so I get up to check on him. He's literally writhing in pain. We decide that we should go to the ER to see what's going on.

2:45am- We get to the ER. They bring him back, do some blood work, and give him a CAT Scan.

3:30am- They tell us that Marcus has appendicitis and will need surgery.

4:10am- Marcus is wheeled to the OR and I'm told to sit in the waiting room. Thank goodness for cell phones that allowed me to talk to both moms this morning to help the time pass more quickly!

5:10am- The Surgeon came out and told me they were taking him into surgery and they'd let me know when they were done. It could take anywhere for 30min to 2.5 hours.

6:10am- The Surgeon comes out and tells me that the surgery went well and he's in recovery. His appendix was about 3 times its normal size so it's a good thing they got it before it ruptured.

7:30am- Marcus is brought up to his room and I finally get to see him! It's been a LONG 3 hours by myself in the hospital all morning...

8:40am- Marcus is medicated and sleeping . I decide now is the time to go home, shower, get something to eat, and pack our bags for our sleepover party in the hospital.

10:00am- I arrive back at the hospital equipped with things to keep me occupied while he sleeps all day. Although I have not had much sleep either, the chair-bed the hospital bed provides for me gives me only semi-decent sleep. And I don't really sleep well during the day anyways.

1:00pm- Marcus' cousins Brian and Jack arrive to give him a blessing and bring me lunch (since Marcus is on an ice-chips only diet and cafeteria food did not sound appealing to me). We are so grateful they live close enough to come visit and provide that wonderful service for us!

3:00-4:00pm- Marcus and I both sleep for about an hour. He's starting to get his color back and be more alert. He is definitely starting to feel better! (The morphine probably helps with that...)

It's now 5:40pm and Marcus gets to eat "dinner" in about 20 minutes. He has been upgraded to clear fluids which we hope includes jello. I have no idea what I'll do for dinner since I hate leaving him here by himself. It's gets so lonely when there's no one sitting in the hospital with you (as I experienced this morning). So I may suck it up and eat the cafeteria food.

I plan on sleeping here with him because even though our bed at home is WAY more comfortable than this chair-bed, I don't think I would sleep well worrying about how he is doing. And one night in this chair-bed will not be a big deal. The doctors tell us we'll be able to go home tomorrow and should be home by 11am, which is great!

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. I'm sure Marcus will be up and his normal self in no time! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

2010-01-21T20:52:00.000-08:00

So Marcus' birthday was on January 3rd and I'm so behind that I'm just now posting about it...

But- it was a good birthday!

I made Marcus the birthday cake he requested: Chocolate Cake with Rainbow Chip frosting. It was delicious! And he's getting so old that there was only ONE candle left in the box. ;) Some friends were able to come over to enjoy the cake and ice cream and we're grateful they came! (Sorry there's no picture but we appreciate you coming- Brock, Kate, Bryan, and Kayla!)

And since I'm such an awesome wife, I didn't listen to him when he said I couldn't spend money on him for his birthday. He got two children books (a tradition we have started for each birthday), 4 shirts, a bookmark, and a watch (that died two days after his birthday- we spent the money that originally went to the watch to get him new sunglasses).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABE!

I LOVE YOU

Holidays!

2010-01-14T19:14:00.000-08:00

I know I'm way behind but I'm finally writing my post about our Christmas break. It was an AWESOME break! We spent it with Marcus' family in Washington. I don't think I could have married into a better family! We also discovered another benefit of marriage: two families = tons of presents on Christmas. :)

I did take some pictures but mainly they are of the nephews because they are just so cute!

This is Cole:

I am so glad Aimee and Sean were able to come visit while we were home!

This is Cole and the original Aunt Brittany
A.K.A Brittany Ann
A.K.A Brittany the first
A.K.A Brittany the daughter/sister
(A lot of names have developed to distinguish between her & me since Marcus & I were married)

He is ADORABLE! :)

This is Ukiah:

James (Ukiah's dad) kept having Ukiah pose for the camera.

So CUTE!

Here is Ukiah and his big brother Dallas being Rock Stars!
(They got the game Rock Band for Christmas)

I miss those cute little guys! And the rest of the family!
I was so great to see everyone!

HAPPY 2010 from the Gilson's!

Comfort during hard times...

2010-01-10T21:23:00.000-08:00

Marcus and I are Sunday School teachers in our ward. As I was looking through the manual today, I found this quote:

Elder Richard G. Scott counseled:

“Many of you have heavy hearts because a son or daughter, husband or wife, has turned from righteousness to pursue evil. My message is for you.
“Your life is filled with anguish, pain, and, at times, despair. I will tell you how you can be comforted by the Lord.
“First, you must recognize two foundation principles:
“1. While there are many things you can do to help a loved one in need, there are some things that must be done by the Lord.
“2. Also, no enduring improvement can occur without righteous exercise of agency. Do not attempt to override agency. The Lord himself would not do that. Forced obedience yields no blessings (see D&C 58:26–33).
“I will suggest seven ways you can help.
“First, love without limitations. … Second, do not condone the transgressions, but extend every hope and support to the transgressor. … Third, teach truth. … Fourth, honestly forgive as often as is required. … Fifth, pray trustingly. ‘The … fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much’ (James 5:16). …
“Sixth, keep perspective. … When the things you realistically can do to help are done, leave the matter in the hands of the Lord and worry no more. Do not feel guilty because you cannot do more. Do not waste your energy on useless worry. … In time, you will feel impressions and know how to give further help. You will find more peace and happiness, will not neglect others that need you, and will be able to give greater help because of that eternal perspective. …
“One last suggestion—Never give up on a loved one, never!”

How lucky we are to have living prophets to help guide us through life!

So Excited!

2010-01-06T13:48:00.000-08:00

Marcus and I are EXTREMELY excited to see this movie:

The Lovely Bones

We're calling it a belated birthday present for Marcus so we have a good excuse to spend the money to go to a movie! :)

Our Apartment!!!

2009-12-13T19:40:00.000-08:00

My Mom came to visit for the last ten days and it was AWESOME!

When we got married, she decided to make curtains for our apartment. While she was here, she finished all of them. Here are the final products:

This is the kitchen curtain:

This is one of our kitchen chairs. She made chair pads that match our kitchen curtains.

Here are our living room curtains:

And the matching couch throw pillows.

This is the valance in our bedroom.

And here is Marcus being a handyman. Even though he said hanging up curtains was a "woman's job."

And here is our bed. My mom made the pillows, bedskirt, and valance that all coordinate with the quilt my Aunt Melinda made us for our wedding. It's great having a talented family.

Thank you, Mom, for all of your hard work! We love it! And we miss you already...

Christmas time is here!

2009-11-28T19:26:00.000-08:00

We went to Temple Square last night to see the lights turn on.

We got there early to be able to get a good parking spot. So we walked around the visitor's center while we were waiting. We also looked at the Nativity.

Then, we came home and decorated our apartment FOR CHRISTMAS! It was so much fun and made a great Friday even better.

We are pretty impressed with our tree decorating skills:

I LOVE Christmas time!

P.S.
Only 6 more days until my mom comes.
Only 9 more days of classes.
Only 21 more days until we go to Washington.
AND only 28 more days until Christmas!!! :)

Thanksgiving!!

2009-11-27T21:29:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful thanksgiving at our Aunt Patsy and Uncle Brett's home in Centerville. There was tons of delicious food! We are so grateful they let us spend the holiday with their family!

We offered to bring pies and we were very proud of ourselves!! Just look:

Marcus was FANTASTIC at rolling out pie crust. He says he must get it from his mom :). We are so proud of how perfect the crust looks.

We made two pumpkin pies...

and one chocolate coconut cream pie. (Which was delicious!)

Since it's Thanksgiving tradition to eat the meal at random times of the day, we were hungry later on and decided to make sandwiches with all the left over turkey! Brian was a master at making the sandwiches.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! :)

We hope yours was as fantastic as ours!

Our Best Bites

2009-11-24T11:10:00.000-08:00

Marcus' aunt Patsy introduced me to this site called Our Best Bites. I have recently spent a lot of time on this site and want to try just about every recipe they have posted! Marcus and I are fans of Caramel Apple Cider and so their recipe sounds DELICIOUS! As well as their Pies in a Jar. I officially just want to spend an entire day making some of these recipes. Thank you Patsy for introducing me to this site. :)

Great Weekend!

2009-11-15T19:18:00.000-08:00

We've had a good weekend. On Friday, we doubled with a friend from one of my classes and her boyfriend. We went ice skating and then got Caramel Apple Cider from Starbucks and walked around Barnes and Noble. It was lots of fun! We also found out that my mom is coming to visit for a little over a week at the beginning of December! I'm SUPER excited!!!

On Saturday, we volunteered for Habitat for Humanity. We really enjoyed it! We helped sheetrock a ceiling. I had never done that before and it took a lot of arm strength but we were proud of ourselves. We did a pretty good job, too. My arms are a little sore today, though.

Then today, Sunday, was a very relaxed day. Marcus made fajitas for dinner. They were delicious! Also, I'm really ready for it to be Christmas. But I have promised Marcus that I will not decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. So instead, I've been playing lots of Christmas music and baking. Today, I made Magic Bars. They are delicious and remind me of the Holidays.

They look better in person. And they taste great!!

Because I've been in the Christmas mood lately and playing Christmas music a lot, Marcus asked me if I would be sick of Christmas music by the time Christmas actually came around. Yeah, I don't think that could happen. This is definitely my FAVORITE time of year! I just have to hold out less than two more weeks before I can decorate...

100 DAYS!

2009-10-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

Marcus and I have officially been married for 100 days. We feel like it's such a landmark but really it's only been a little over 3 months. Still, it's been wonderful! I debated making a list of 100 things Marcus and I have learned and love about marriage, but that is far too long of a list. So instead, here is a list of the square root of 100 things:

1. I use to sleep like a rock; now I wake up at least once a night. I feel like my Mom. However, Marcus still sleeps like a rock.
2. I have officially become obsessed with our apartment being clean at all times. (My former roommates can attested to my desire for the apartment to be clean.) Marcus is pretty good at helping me out with this. And he tells me often how much he enjoys the clean home. :)
3. School is more fun when you're married. Homework and tests still stink but it's nice to have a built in venting outlet.
4. I have become more interested in politics, much to Marcus' delight. However, writing about politics and the government is a TOTALLY different story. Thankfully, I have Marcus to help with that. Yay American Heritage! ;)
5. Parents seem to love when their kids are happily married, working, and going to school. You'd think it had never been done before. The amount of praise we get is great! (this is by no means a request for the praising to end, FYI Dad)
6. Roadtrips when you're married are like 10928575729018492175 times better! It's fun to have someone to travel with!
7. We both loved to read before we got married but now we encourage each other to read more. It's great! I am reading a lot of great books, thanks to Marcus.
8. We have discovered that we LOVE the show Psych! It's one of our favorite things of the week to take time to just relax together and laugh for an hour!
9. About a week after we moved into our ward, we were called as Gospel Doctrine Teachers. It's been so great to learn more about the church together!
10. We seem to have a never ending supply of ground beef and have no idea what to make with it. There's only so many times you can eat tacos...

Well, that's just a few things we've learned/loved about marriage. We are fully aware that 100 days is not the big of an accomplishment. But regardless, we've enjoyed it!

I have an awesome mom!

2009-10-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

For my birthday, my Mom made me the cutest chair covers that match our kitchen curtains (which she also made). (Pictures will come once the whole apartment is decorated). In case you didn't know, my mom is amazing at a lot of things but one of her many talents is sewing. So, in addition to the chair covers, she made Marcus and I aprons and we LOVE them. So, as a tribute to her, we cooked in them the other night and took pictures. Enjoy:

This is Marcus working hard on the meatballs.
In case you can't tell, his apron is multi-colored
chili peppers with flame pockets.

It's difficult work stirring tomato sauce.
My apron is a black and white floral-type pattern
with red and black polka-dotted pockets.

Thanks Mom for everything! We love you!

Best Birthday Ever!

2009-09-28T20:25:00.000-07:00

So today am I officially an adult! Yes folks, today I finally turned 21. My wonderful husband Marcus made my birthday so AWESOME!

It started with him taking me to see "Love Happens" on Friday night. As poor college students, we really try to save as much money as we can and so we don't go out to movies. So going to see "Love Happens" was special and really fun. We also recommend the movie, by the way.

Then on Saturday we went to Tucano's for my birthday lunch. It was delicious! And super filling! Followed by the BYU vs. Colorado State game (which we won)!

On Sunday, Bryan, Stephanie, KPAX, Derek, Kate, and Brock surprised me with a little get-together. They got me a Cherry Cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory and it was AWESOME! Thank you for being such great friends!

Then today, when Marcus and I woke up, Marcus handed me a big white envelope while informing me that this was my birthday card. I opened it to find this:

What a little cutie! He even had me read it aloud before we got out of bed to get ready for work and school.

After work and school was over, we came home and made scallop fettucini alfredo. It was delicious! Even though I received a cherry cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, Marcus said he didn't feel right about me not having a cake to blow out candles. So he made me a funfetti cake with rainbow chip frosting! :) He knows me so well!

And of course, the great person that Marcus is, he got me some more presents. He also informed me that I am not allowed to spend as much on his birthday as he did on me. We'll see about that...

He got me the new Nicolas Sparks book "The Last Song," a cute apron, and a new set of scriptures!

Thank you babe, for making this the best birthday ever! I love you so much! :)

Pizza Party!

2009-09-24T09:28:00.001-07:00

On Friday September 18th, Marcus and I had our former roommates over for a pizza party get-together. Marcus and I made homemade pizzas and our friends chipped in with sides, drinks, and desserts. We had about 17 people crowded into our little apartment. We ate, chatted, and played games. It was a good time had by all. But my goodness was it a lot of work for Marcus and me. It takes a lot of time to make pizzas, especially in a tiny apartment kitchen. And I spent the next morning washing the mound of dirty bowls and pans. But it was worth it to spend some good, quality time with close friends!

And as a little bonus to our apartment 360-371 reunion, Marcus' best friend Chase and his wife Kami came down from Rexburg for the weekend. It was lots of fun to see them, even though the only time we really had to hang out with them was late at night. And that time was spent by Chase and Marcus playing Madden on the Wii and Kami and I falling asleep on the couch/floor. But still, it was fun to see them and hopefully we'll get to see them again soon!

Games

2009-08-08T22:48:00.000-07:00

Marcus and I have started playing a lot of card and board games since we've been married. One of my favorites growing up was Phase 10. Marcus had never really played it, or if he had he didn't really remember it.So I decided to teach him. Now, I was pretty good at winning this game growing up. My brother Jordan could give me a run for my money sometimes but for the most part, I was able to win. Then I started playing with Marcus. He won the first game and I didn't handle it the best because I am use to winning. Then the second time we played it, I won and I started feeling a littler better. Then the third time, he won. It seemed that we would be doing this constant back and forth thing. But, I am proud to announce, I have won the last five games in a row! It feels good to still be winning at this game...

P.S. I love you, Marcus :)

Marriage life has officially begun...

2009-07-27T23:33:00.000-07:00

So between last night and this morning, we experienced our first taste of being married and having an apartment. Yesterday, Kate and Brock came over for dinner and a game. It was great fun! I made a roast with potatoes and carrots and it made me feel like a real homemaker. Well while I was preparing this meal on Sunday morning, the side of our sink with the garbage disposal got clogged. So all day we were trying to figure out if the problem was simple enough that our (and by "our" I mean Marcus') basic plumbing knowledge would be able to fix. So late last night, Marcus got under the sink and unscrewed the pipes to see if there was a clog. And sure enough, he found the right pipe and lots of nasty dish water mixed with carrot peels came pouring out. So the clog turned out to be my fault. Who knew that carrot peels wouldn't work down the disposal? They always did growing up. But then again, we are in Provo housing...

Well we thought that was the end and we were pretty proud that we were able to solve our first apartment problem with pretty little trouble. Then this morning, Marcus comes home from work and informs me that we have a "bit" of a problem in our kitchen. Apparently, the cold water valve under our sink decided it no longer wanted to function properly and preceded to completely flood the kitchen and part of the carpet in our eating area. What made it even better, was that we had two brand new red rugs in the kitchen that bled like CRAZY. A good part of our carpet and kitchen floor now has a nice red tinge to it. And it's amazing how that red water got EVERYWHERE. It got on the fridge and even on some of the walls... Well Marcus rushed off to Target to get SHAMWOW towels. He was actually very excited that he now had a reason to buy these-he's wanted them ever since he saw the commercial for the first time. And they lived up to their name. They really did work great at soaking up the water from the carpet. Unfortunately, the red tinge is still there...

But, thanks to great managers-a plumber made it out to our apartment this afternoon and fixed the problem. So it turned out to be a not-so-simple problem but one that has made us love marriage a little more...

Wedding Pictures Slideshow

2009-07-20T14:14:00.001-07:00

Our photographer made a slide-show with some of our wedding pictures. We love, Love, LOVE our photographer. Her name is Terra Cooper and her business is Magnifique Photography. We HIGHLY recommend her! Here is the slide-show she made:

http://terracooper.myshowit.com/brittanymarcusw/index.html

WE'RE MARRIED!!!!!!

2009-07-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

We got married on Saturday, July 11, 2009 and it was the most wonderful day ever! We were married in the Draper, Utah temple. There really is nothing better than being married in the temple! It was a little windy outside the temple but it was overcast, which was great for the pictures. We haven't gotten our pictures from our photographer back yet but here's a sneak peak of some pictures taken by family members:

Our colors were red, black, and white. We both agree that those three colors together are very classy. Everything was just so beautiful. Props to Stephanie for making my beautiful bouquet! :)

Marcus really likes this picture. He thinks it's because the angle is really cool. It does give you a feel of how big and amazing the temple is!

Who wouldn't want to get married? Seriously, I think it's the best thing I've ever done. I'm so excited to spend eternity with Marcus!

Family and Wedding

2009-07-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

My Mom and sister came in town a couple weeks ago to help finish all the wedding plans. And then Marcus' parents came in town on July 3rd for 4th of July festivities and, of course, the wedding. So for the 4th of July, Marcus and I went to his aunt and uncle's house in Centerville. His Mom, Dad, and sister met us there. We went to a concert in the park on July 3rd. The Band was a group called the Beach Toys. I know, it sounds weird but they really weren't bad. They did cover songs of the Beach Boys (which Marcus LOVED), The Monkey's (which Marcus and I missed because we made a trip to Target so Marcus could get away from the Beach Boys songs), and The Beatles. After the band, there was a fireworks show that was really fun! Then on Saturday morning, we went down to Main Street to watch the parade. It was a really fun 4th of July weekend. Especially considering the fact that I can't even remember what I did last year for the 4th of July...

Something exciting that has happened recently is that we were able to start moving stuff into our new apartment. It's really nice to be able to get all of our stuff moved in so that after the wedding we won't have to do any unpacking. I'm really grateful for being able to do that.

Well the wedding is in 4 days. I know, CRAZY! It's weird because when I remind myself that it's only 4 days away, I can't believe it's so close. But at the same time, it feels like the wedding day will never actually come. But it will probably come sooner than I realize. Marcus and I are ready to be married. This intermediate phase is not very enjoyable...

Another exciting thing is that lots of my family comes in town tomorrow. Grandma and Grandpa Smith, Lori, Kelly, Brent, Bryce, Dad, Kendall, Tristan, and Leah all come in tomorrow and I'm SO EXCITED!! It's been months since I've seen any of these members of my family and I can't wait to see them again!

All in all, we have a very exciting week ahead. Between family coming in town, going through the temple, setting-up for the wedding, and then the actual wedding...we will be busy! YAY for getting married!! :)

19 Days and Counting...

2009-06-22T12:36:00.000-07:00

So the wedding is in 19 days. We've been counting down for so long that sometimes it still feels like it's forever away. But when you really think about it, that's only 2 weeks and 5 days. That's not that far away at all. Plus, Mom Smith and Shelby come in town in 3 days to be here for the last few wedding preparations which makes the wedding feel even closer. And we can start moving stuff into our apartment in about a week so that'll be nice. But to be honest, we're just ready to be married. Planning a wedding is so overrated!

Engagements!

2009-06-09T21:30:00.000-07:00

So we took engagement pictures about a week ago. It was a little awkward at first but we LOVE our photographer so it turned out to be TONS of fun! We took our pictures at La Caille in Sandy, UT. Here is a sneak peak at some of the pictures:

Our photographer is Terra Cooper. She is AMAZING! I totally recommend her. You can see her work at magnifiquephotography.com

Okay so there were all these animals at La Caille and so Terra took some pictures of them. And Marcus LOVES this picture. He just loves how it catches the rooster as it's "prancing." What I found more entertaining is that there was this peacock that followed this rooster around all morning. It was having a bit of an identity crisis...