Dinner With Friends...

Last night, John and I went to dinner with friends. At first this was just going to be the ladies going to dinner, but we thought the husbands should be able to come too :) Kelli, Lars, Amy, Matt, Baby Cohen, John, and I were all there. Amber Burton (Olson) showed up later. Amber is Prego with a baby girl! She looked so cute :) We had so much playing with baby Cohen and can I just say…what a good baby! He slept the entire time we were at dinner and didn’t even fuss as he got passed around from one person to another. Time flies when you’re having fun…when we left we realized we had been there for three hours chatting, laughing, and having fun. I’m sure our waiter wanted all of us to just leave :)

I can’t believe how much we have all changed the last couple of years. I remember when we used to have a huge Christmas party with all the girls, exchange our gifts, and have a big sleepover. Now we are having babies, buying houses, or graduating college. Change is good though :) It’s been so much fun to watch everyone grow up (myself included) I love these girls with all my heart and can’t wait to see what the future holds for all of us.

(Randee Perkins and Amber Burton- Not Pictured. Love you girls too!)

I can't believe it!

My finals are done! All I can say is...THANK GOODNESS!!!! For some reason toward the end I was about to go crazy. I decided to take an Event Planning class this semester for my last elective class and well...it has ended up being one of the most time consuming classes I have ever taken. Part of that could be because of the type of person I am. There were many times I had to tell myself that this was just a class and not a real life event ha ha. I pay way too much attention to detail, therefore a one hour assignment would take me ten hours. Anywho... School is done for the semester and I am looking forward to doing all the things I haven't had time for. John and I need to go catch up on seeing movies like Harry Potter, Tangled, Narnia...So I guess I know what we will be doing the week of Christmas. Hope every is having a great holiday season :)

Meeting Cohen Matthew Alter!

On Saturday I got to go meet Cohen Matthew Alter and can I just tell you...He is the cutest baby :) and such a good baby too! When I was at Amy and Matt's new place, Cohen didn't even make one fuss. Congrats you two! You are going to be great parents. Cohen is a very lucky little boy :)

Disneyland Trip- November 2010

BE WARNED!!! that this post has so many pictures! and this is only a hand full of them! We had so much fun on our Disneyland trip. We left the day after Thanksgiving and even though Disneyland was extremely busy, John and I had so much fun :) It was a great way to kick off this holiday season.

John had to get a picture by this "Ute" indian. the BYU vs. UTAH game took place while we were on vacation, but don't worry everyone...we got to watch a little bit of it at the ESPN restaurant at Downtown Disney.

This was one of the highlights of our trip. Being able to see this Castle lit up every night, really put you in the Christmas Spirit. Plus they did an amazing fireworks show at night called "Believe in the Magic". It was so good, the music even made me cry :)

This is us waiting for the Christmas Fantasy parade to start. We made sure we always had the best seats!

There were so many Christmas tree everywhere! It was awesome :)

The Parades were amazing! So many of our favorite characters were in them!

World of Color Show...Most spectacular show I have ever seen! We would highly recommend seeing this. (John's Highlight of the trip! We even paid to see it twice)

My highlight of the trip :) We hadn't seen Micky Mouse the entire time we were there. Anytime we saw the other characters, their lines we sooo long to get a picture. But not this night...I spied with my little eye MICKEY walked out of a gate to come greet everyone. I ran over there and was able to get this picture with him. Silly as it sounds, I was so HAPPY! I haven't got a picture with Mickey in many many years! and this is the Christmas Mickey Mouse...there is a difference :)

The beautiful view at California Adventure

Going Shopping at Downtown Disney

Christmas Fantasy Parade

Our Thanksgiving Day Holiday 2010

This year we spent our Thanksgiving holiday with the Taggart side of the family (John’s mom’s side for those of you who don’t know) I LOVE when I get to see all these people which isn’t as often lately. Grandma Betty has almost been gone a year and she was truly the glue to this family. Not all the siblings were there, but most were and it was so much fun to catch up with everyone. This year, Uncle Ron rented out his church for use to hold this grand event. When you get together with the Taggart’s, you need a big area like a church because usually there are about 80 people there! When we first arrived the boys through the football around in the gym and also shot some hoops. It was way too cold to have a Turkey Bowl…pretty sure it’s always colder in Herriman then anywhere else in the valley. The high this year was only 18 degrees! BURRRR

After our wonderful Thanksgiving Day lunch, each table was to stand up and tell the others what’s been happening in their family. We really don’t have much going on in ours so we of course had to make it sound exciting…ha ha Carol told everyone that we may try to start having children soon. Everyone thought we were making an announcement! OOPS! :) Lets face it…to stand up and say “Randi and John and going to school full-time and working full-time” isn’t as exciting as “Randi and John are planning on having children soon” right?! Anywho… After our little update on everyone we cleaned up lunch and played games.

Since we were right by my parent’s house, we stopped by and said hi for a bit, then stopped at my cousin Amber’s house so John could see her cute little twins. After a fun, relaxing Thanksgiving holiday we headed home to pack for our Disneyland trip!!! Since that post will require many photos and all the many fun things we did, stay tuned for my next entry…YOU WON”T WANT TO MISS IT :)

Sorry no pictures from Thanksgiving…the camera was at home charging for our DISNEYLAND adventure.
(not really, I just forgot to get it out and take pictures)

Tis the Season for babies!

It must be BABY SEASON!

last Friday and Saturday I had the opportunity to go and spend time with these TWO brand new babies!

Their names are Jaxon and Addylin and they are so precious! They were born on November 8th. These TWO beautiful little babies were brought to this earth by my cousin Amber. She had to endure a lot of hard trials to get them here (six weeks of staying at the hospital on bed rest), but they are here now and are truly a blessings from our Heavenly Father. We call them the miracle babies :) Take a look at these cuties!

We couldn't get enough of them!

I'm in LOVE...and I need to have one of these of my own soon :) Amber is Lucky this little girl didn't end up going home in my purse (She would have fit too!)

Little Baby Jaxon...SO LITTLE :)

Brooke and Addylin :) She wasn't waking up for anything!

Savanna Has been such a great big sister

Amy's Baby Shower

So I'm a little late...We through a baby shower for Amy on November 6th and it was so much fun! We had it at Kelli's new house and invited lots of people. It sure was fun to see everyone and of course to see Amy and her cute belly. I was so excited all week to give her my gift. I got Cohen two little outfits and can I just say for the record...There are cute little boy clothes! Go to Old Navy and you'll have a hard time getting out of there with at least a bazillion cute items. My favorite was the brown little loafers Cohen got from his aunt Randi :) Here are a few pictures...I took a lot, but this up loader is sooo slow.

Diaper Cake from Randee Perkins

Doesn't she look adorable! Cutest Prego Lady I've ever seen! :)

We did a candy buffet for the shower favors...all the guests were able to fill these cute little bottles up with a candy fo their choice...Lots of work, but so much fun and CUTE!

I love these girls! I have So many great memories with them! I can't believe we are old enough to have babies :)

F.Y.I

Baby Cohen was born on November 22nd at 1:51pm. He weighed 8 pounds 11 ounces and it soooo cute! I can't wait to hold him and give him lots of kisses!

Happy 51st Birthday Dad!

Happy 51st Birthday Dad!

Thanks for always being so awesome

We love you and can't wait to celebrate many more birthdays to come!

Absent!

First of all…I would like to apologize for being absent for the past three months. I told you all when school started, John and I would have no free time…which is why I have literally not blogged in months. I have felt like such a slacker lately and figured it was probably time to give everyone an update, or at least those who actually follow our blog :) Life has been insane…and you would think with school coming to an end life would slow down just a bit…but that is certainly not the case. I can’t complain though :) This is my most favorite time of the year. I absolutely love how much time we get to spend with our families. The entire Thanksgiving and Christmas Season makes me so happy! I look forward to this time all year long and really wish it could last longer. We put up our Christmas tree last week…and have only lost two ornaments from Charlie. I have decided to move them farther up the tree in hopes that we won’t lose anymore ha ha. This will be Charlie’s first Christmas…and though he isn’t a human, we like to think he is like a child. Pretty much, if we gave him a box and a piece of tissue paper, he would be happy.

We have a rather busy schedule this Christmas season. Just to name a few things we have going on…

*We are going to Disneyland- Can’t wait!

* Festival of Trees- This is a tradition every Christmas season!

* John’s little cousin Seth is getting baptized. I can’t believe he is 8 yrs. old already!

* Savior of the World performance (we will be seeing this twice, once with my family and once with John’s Family)

*Ryan Shupe Christmas Concert!

* My niece’s Christmas Dance Performance! She is so dang cute and the BEST dancer I have ever seen!

* and most importantly...MY MOM'S Birthday (oh and Benson's)

These are just to name a few of the things we have going on. There is so much that I have to keep them on my calendar or else I will probably forget. We are also VERY excited to talk to Josh on Christmas. He has been doing great on his mission in Russia. It’s crazy to think he has already been out for 10 months! Before we know it, he will be home :)

Something else exciting coming up is one of my best friends, Amy is going to be having her little boy, Cohen :) We are so excited for her! Her baby shower was so much fun and of course it’s always nice to see everyone.

Lets hope I can keep this blog updated a little better!

nine years ago yesterday...

I was getting ready to go to school for the day. Every morning I get ready I always watch the news (don't know why, it's just something me and my mom used to do while we got ready) Anyway...They had a breaking news come on saying that a plane had run into the World Trade Center building in New York City. At the time they did not know what kind of plane it was, or even what the motive was behind it. I remember running up the stairs to tell my mom we needed to leave so I wouldn't be late to school. On our drive I told her that some plane had run into some "trade" building in New York. I had no clue what these buildings even were. When I walked into school that morning, everyone was talking about it. My first class of the day was Student Government. When I walked in the classroom, they announced a second plane had hit the World Trade Center building. As we watched the news caster explain that this was a terrorist attack on the United States, I remember feeling sick and wondering to myself how something so horrible like this could happen.

Yesterday while driving home I heard a song that KBULL 93 had put together to remember those who died on September 11, 2001. They mixed songs with calls from victims of the attacks, from the people on the plane that took it back and crashed in the field, to calls made by children who lost a parent or parents to the attacks. It brought tears to my eyes as I listened to it. It brought back a lot of emotions from that day. I am so grateful to live in this great country! I personally don't have any family members serving overseas, but I am so grateful for those who have and will risk their own lives for this country. I am so grateful for the freedoms I have. I couldn't help to think about those families who lost a loved one this day and how hard it must have been for them to endure such pain. I am so blessed to have the family and the life that I do.

I almost forgot!

Last weekend John and I had the BEST date night. After I got off work, we decided to go down to the Salt Lake Temple and do a session. We have never done a live endowment session before and well...it's sad to say, but we haven't been back to the Salt Lake Temple since our wedding day. Before we went to do the session we decided to grab a bite to eat at Cafe Nauvoo. The endowment session was absolutely amazing! When we walked into the waiting room I looked around the room and didn't really see any couples (we had a small session) I leaned over to John and told him that I thought we might be asked to be the witness couple...soon enough a gentlemen walked over, asked if we were married and said would you mind being our witness couple. I of course was so nervous because I have never done a live session and had no clue what to expect. What a great experience and awesome night we had. I'm so grateful for temples and for the opportunity to be with my husband and family forever. Making temple dates a priority has been such a blessing and something we will continue to work on. I love this gospel :)

School is in session!

Well I thought before all the craziness and madness begins with school, I would update you all on what's going on with us because who knows how much time I am going to have in the next few months. School actually started last week for John and I and both of us have been busy at trying to get ahead a little bit...it doesn't hurt right?! This semester all my classes are going to be online and John just has one at campus, so that will be nice. When we first got married John had classes on Tuesday's and Thursday's until about nine at night and it sucked because I never got to see him on those days. At least this semester he will be home around seven two nights of the week. To make sure we are making time for each other we have decided to trade off weeks for one of us to plan a fun date, whether this includes going out to dinner, to a movie, or just being couch potatoes. Sunday's are always my favorite days too because I feel like we get to relax and just chill...I guess that is why it is called the day of rest :)

We had a fun summer, but I am so looking forward to the Fall time. For many reasons...let me just name a few!
-No 98 degree weather, I am much more of a 60's and 70's girl :)
-We are that much closer to going to Disneyland!
-I love fall leaves
-Sweaters, scarves, and boots season...I need to go shopping :)
-My cousin Amber is having twins! A boy and a girl!
-One of my best friends Amy Alter is having a baby boy!
-Getting closer to Christmas time (me and John's very favorite holiday)
-Spending more time with family
-Hot Cocoa :)
- Football Games
- General Conference...I could always use a boost!

There are so many things to look forward too! But we are also trying to enjoy the last little bit of warm weather. We love to take Charlie on walks at night because the temperature is perfect! And this next weekend we are planning on going to Swiss Days. P.S.- on September 3rd, John and I will be celebrating being together for 10 YEARS! It's crazy to think, but ten years ago John asked me to be his girlfriend at the Taylorsville pool and well...the rest is history :) We are enjoying life right now. And can I just say...I absolutely love my new job and am so glad I listened to my heart about taking it. We are truly blessed even if sometimes it is hard to see all we have been given. Life is wonderful! Have a great week!

Current Creek Camping trip 2010

So I'm a little late, but we finally went camping this summer! We usually go with the Huston fam a couple of times in the summer, but with everyone in school and the busy lives we live, this was our first time this year. We went up to Current Creek on August 7th. The fishing was a great here and it wasn't over crowded which was really nice!

John and I decided we would take Charlie on this camping trip and let me just tell you, he was an angel! He had so much fun eating bugs, playing in the mud, and sitting by the fire. We even bought him a special outfit for the occasion (and for UTAH games.)

We of course loved the Beef Stew for dinner and Brian's famous Peach Cobbler! Thanks so much Carol and Brian for a fun weekend!

(Please pay no attention to the double chin I have going on in this picture.)

P.S.- We got sooo burnt while fishing...we are still dealing with the after effects two weeks later!

Blessings...

Today while driving to work I was thinking about all the many things I have to be grateful for in my life. I am so BLESSED it's amazing! I am so glad I am able to recognize all that I have been given. Even though days can be hard and sometimes I want to just give up...I have the best husband anyone could ask for. We have a cute little house and the custest dog ever! Most important we have an ETERNAL MARRIAGE and for that I am so grateful. Nothing makes me more happy than to know I get to be with my husband FOREVER.

It's a WONDERFUL life!

Our door greeter!

Today was my first day at my new job. I am so excited to be working with such great and fun people. It's a normal routine for me when I am driving home to call John and ask him how Charlie is doing and if we was excited to see him. John says every time it is around six or so...Charlie will just wait by the window so he can see me pull up and greet me at the door. John also says he knows my car from everyone else's and can tell when I pull up. John is definitely right! Today it was the cutest thing ever. I pulled in and parked my car and sure enough I could see Charlie waiting for me. As I walked up to the door he was waiting about half way down the stairs. When I walked in the front door he looked at me, waited for to say something and then bolted it down the stairs to jump and give me some kisses. Our dog is the best! We love him so much! Getting Charlie to be a part of our family was the best decision and we can't wait for him to be around for many years. When we decide to have children, we know they will love him just as much too! I am so glad I get a greet from this little guy every day I come home :)

Fondue...YES PLEASE!!!

The other night Chelsea and Jeremy Ruesch invited us to go to dinner with them. When they told us "The Melting Pot" we were so excited! John and I have never been to this place, but have always wanted to go. Let me just tell you...we were amazed by this place. It's so yummy and so worth the money to go. You get a four course meal and though it doesn't look like a lot of food when they bring it out, we left feeling full and very much satisfied :)

We had so much fun at dinner with Chelsea and Jeremy. It's so fun to get out and have a fun night with them. We decided every couple of months we will try a new fun place that we normally wouldn't go to...no special occasion needed, just a fun night to get out and enjoy some quality time with our friends :) Next we might try La Caille!

Thanks Jeremy and Chelsea for truly entertaining us and inviting us for night out on the town! We had a blast and look forward to our next outing with you guys!

Change...

Well...I recently had a job opportunity come up and will be leaving my current job at Gardner Village at the end of this week. Though it is sad to leave such a fun place, I am very much looking forward to this new opportunity. I'm kinda weird when it comes to change...If I want to change something in my house or change the style of my hair, I don't seem to have any problems, but when I am changing something like a job or something that is a routine I seem to struggle with it a little more. There are some great girls that I work with that I will truly miss seeing every day of the week. I'm not done with Gardner Village completely though :) ...so I will be helping out with events about once a month :) These are the funnest thing to attend and one of the reasons I love Gardner Village so much!

Sometimes in life you just need a change and that's how I am feeling...hopefully it will be the right decision and well CHANGE, that's life! And if you don't take chances, you'll never know.

Thanks Gardner Village...for being like my second home for the past 3 and a half years!

Kidney Stones :(

John thought he was done with these dreadful things we call Kidney Stones...but yesterday was an all to familiar reenactment of pain. John got up in the morning, told me he thought he had another kidney stone and with in a matter of twenty minutes he was on the floor about to die from the pain he was feeling. Now I have never had kidney stones, but I hear they feel like giving birth...I guess I have never done that either ha ha so all I know is that my husband feels like he is going to die. For those of you who don't know, John has a history with kidney stones. The first time he got one was when we had been married about three months. and every since then he has had one every month. He hasn't had one for about three months, so we thought he was done, but we sure were wrong. The one that came on yesterday was the worst I have ever seen him. So we of course rushed him to insta care. He was all out of his pain medication he usually takes for them because he has had so many, so we knew the only way we could get him something was to go in. They gave him a shot that knocked him out and pretty much made him go numb. He was out the rest of the day and all night long. Me and Charlie were pretty bored all day and tried to stay out of the bedroom so John could get the rest he needed and feel better.

Today is much better...I think (He wouldn't tell me even if it was worse) The doctor he went and saw a couple of months ago suspected that John has Chronic Kidney Stones, but we are going to have to help him find something to take care of this issue. I feel so bad for him when they come! Wish us luck in our search for a cure to these tiny horrible things!!!

Have you ever wondered...

Why does love happen between two particular people...well I think

this might explain it perfectly!

"OnE oF tHe PeOpLe hAs FrEcKLEs aNd sO He FiNdS SoMeBoDy eLsE wHo HaS FreCkLeS tOo."

-Andrew, age 6

Randi: 8th grade- John: 9th grade

Our Special Wedding Day!

La Caille Bridal Show 2010

It's that time of the year again! La Caille will be hosting the 3rd annual $100,000 Dream Wedding Giveaway and once again I get to be a part of it. It is hard to believe two years ago I attended this show and walked away as the one lucky bride to win the $100,000 Dream Wedding giveaway! Last year I got to work at Swensen Photography's booth and I absolutely loved being there and helping, so I am getting to help out again this year. Instead of being at their booth I will be helping the brides check in and getting them registered, helping out the models to get ready for all the fun fashion shows, and giving out the $100,000 Dream wedding to ONE lucky Bride! It's going to be some much fun and bring back a lot of great memories from our wedding day :)

It's still hard to believe John and I won this!

This Picture is priceless!

What a dream come true!
Here is the first post I did for The Bride and Groom.com after winning the wedding!

On Saturday, July 19th, 2008 I attended the Bridal Extravaganza Show at La Caille in hopes to get some great ideas for a wedding. Instead of just walking away with a couple of brochures and coupons, I won the $100,000 DREAM WEDDING GIVEAWAY! What a dream come true this really is to write about my experience that day. There really aren’t words to explain, but i’ll try my best.

John and I have been together for eight years on September 3rd. We met while attending the same Junior High and It truly was love at first site. We continued dating all through out High School. There was no doubt in our minds that we wanted to spend forever together, but before we could get married we both knew that it was VERY important for John to serve a LDS mission. He reported to the Missionary Training center on June 28, 2006 and returned home just three weeks ago on July 3rd, 2008. We both knew the minute we saw each other at the airport that we would finally be together forever. Of course most people would say…how will you get married? How will you afford it? And these were questions that we both asked ourselves. The week before I went to the Bridal show at La Caille, John joked around with me and said “You know if you win the $100,000 Dream Wedding Giveaway, then that means that we don’t have to wait to get married.” I laughed and told him he was crazy and said that there was no way out of all those people I would win the grand prize. Well I was wrong apparently (but we don’t have to tell him that ) As I sat there waiting for them to announce the winner, I was surprisingly calm because in my head i didn’t think I even had a chance. When they said my name, I flew off my seat and couldn’t believe what I had won. I didn’t just win a $100,000 Dream Wedding Giveaway, I also am going to be able to Marry my best friend. Even though this wedding is going to be something out of fairytale, my life has always been a fairytale because John has been a part of it. This is a dream come true and I am so grateful for this opportunity and for this wonderful day that I get to share with John. It’s an amazing ending to a VERY exciting Beginning.

We will forever be grateful for the many things we were blessed with from this giveaway. I am so glad we got to work with such great vendors and build everlasting relationships with them. Our wedding day was truly a fairytale and something we will remember forever.