Look out Puerto Rico!

Well I am so excited to announce that Darin got his call to...

Puerto Rico, San Juan west mission

He will be reporting to the Provo MTC May 20th and he will be there for 3 weeks, before he will fly out and spend another 6 weeks in the Dominican Republic MTC.

Congrats Darin...or should we say

ELDER KNUDSEN!

The infamous white envelope, all the boys were trying to see through the envelope by holding it up to the light...nice try!
The suspense was killing us all, we made Darin open it before 8:00 pm and a couple of his friends ended up missing it (Oh well we were just too excited!)

Darin reading where he is going to spend the next two years serving the chuch and teaching the most important message on the earth today!

Afterwards the boys jumped right on the computer to find out as much as they could, I think Darin was a little shocked!

It was pretty funny Darin was worried about warm showers and we found out they do have warm showers but crappy water so it sounds like he will be drinking a lot of Pepsi! My favorite comment of the night was right after Darin opened it he said "Man I'm old, I can't believe i'm old enough and mature enough to go on a mission." and Justin's response was "Ya man I feel the same way and look at me I'm married!"

Congrats Darin you are going to do an amazing job!

These little boys had a birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Well February 18th was my Dad's birthday and February 19th was Justin's birthday. It makes it nice to have their birthday's close because it is easier to remember, but also kind of hard when it come to planning and celebrating their birthday's.

Anyways My dad turned 51 and all I can say is that I can't believe it. He is seriously in such good shape and still such a hard worker. He is still way into cycling, and spinning during the winter. It has been so much fun seeing my dad as a Grandpa. He is so hands on, always getting on the floor and wrestling around with Lydia, it's fun to see what he was like as a dad with us kids. Lydia loves her Grandpa and I think that we are so blessed to have my dad in our lives. He would do anything for his kids, and we have always known that. He is such an amazing example as to how you should treat people, and such an amazing example in the gospel. My dad has always been such an important person in my life, always making me feel so special and so loved and I just hope that he knows how much our family loves and adores him. Happy Brithday dad, the numbers may say 51 but the way you are says 29 for sure (ha ha ha!)

(I think Lydia definitely get's spoiled when it's grandpa time!)

Happy birthday to Justin as well who just turned 23! Justin is such a great brother-in-law. He is always so funny and seems to be able to keep every situation light hearted. He is also such a hard worker and so motivated. It is always so amazing to me that he goes to work, then school, then comes home and works out. We love ya Justin and just so you know you can play Halo any time you want, and sorry I ruined your's and Chris master plan (ha haha!) Happy Birthday!

This little boy had a birthday, this one sitting here, Father in heaven bless him throuhout the coming year! HEY!

(Song compliments of Mommy Kay!)

10 months going on...10 years!

Well Lydia is 10 months and I swear that girl is sassy. She is so independant, and so stubborn. You see more of her personality every day. She seriously has so much energy that I can hardly keep up, and she is just growing and learning new things every day. She is crawling all over, saying more words and sounds every day, and really recognizing people that she does and doesn't know. She has started to get a little stanger anxiety which can be hard, especially on the girls that watch her while I teach dance. But over all she is just so much fun and I just love evry second I get with the little toad. So here are a few ( ha ha ha) pics of Lydia and what she's been up to!

If you aren't sure where to find Lydia you can always follow the messes that she makes while crawling around the house. Is she pulling diapers and blankets out of her changing table...No!


Is she pulling wet wipes out in the family room...No

Is she opening the lid drawer and pulling lids out?You bet she is...any chance she gets!

Lydia and Deni getting ready to go to state...it breaks my heart that these two are growing up so fast! We can't wait for Deni to move closer so we can play again!

She has a sideways smile just like her dad!

She lucked out and got Chris' eyelashes!

I love her grey eyes...with a little spot of brown!

She loves making messes with her "bitter bisquit"

Lydia stands up on anything she can!

Her favorite thing to eat are these things called "Baby Mum Mum's" they are awesome because I can give her the whole rice cake and she can devour the entire thing by herself!

I was trying to get a good shot of her teeth, she is such a wiggle worm it is actually very difficult. This was the best I could get, so don't mind that she is cut off in the pic (ha ha ha!)

Lydia loves to clap for herself...do you think she has some adoring parents that clap about everything she does?

She has also learned how to go "Ba ba ba " by putting her hand in her mouth and shaking it!

Lydia now claps for herself whenever she feels she has done something good! Or just because she can! It is so funny because when she claps she also says "YEAH!"

One of Lydia's favorite past times is playing through the sliding glass door with Che'

Brush em, brush em brush em!

Lydia would stay in the bath for hours if I let her!

Lydia loves to play around after bath-time! She is quite the little fanny wac

Darin Knudsen, soon to be....Elder Knudsen!

Soon to be... Elder Darin Knudsen
Well it is so hard to believe that Daring is supposed to be getting his mission call this week. I feel like I have seen Darin grow up since when I first met him he was only about 11 yrs. old. Now he is a college student getting ready to go on a mission. I think that it is going to be really hard to say good-bye to Darin because he is such a freaking stud. He is always so willing to help, and it doesn't seem to bother him that all of his siblings are married, he still hangs out with us! He really is the cutest kid, always so happy and always up for anything. We are all really going to miss him especially the little ones in the family. Darin seems to have a special bond with all his neices and nephew. I think that it will be hard on Bode, he really loves his uncle D. But even though it will be so hard to say good-bye for two years, we all know that he will be an amazing missionary.

So if you do or don't know Darin take a guess where you think he might get his mission call!
Chris guessed: Mexico or Brazil
Britt Guessed: South Africa or England

Darin we love you and are so proud of your decision and know you will be one heck of a missionary!

What would you do?

So for the first time in my life I run out of gas. I am super paranoid about it and so lucky for me I ralized I was low and headed for the gas station. I was pulling up to the pump when I realized that I was pulling to the pump on the wrong side and so I put it in reverse and when I do so my car stalled. Now you would think well atleast you are at a gas station right? Well I sat there trying to push my car towards the pump for about 10 minutes (I watched people look at me and keep on driving or walk into the gas station without even a second thought.) Then I see an older car come peeling into the station with a couple of Mexican's in it, and would'nt you know it they jump right out of their car and run over to see if I need help. They pushed my car over and then I realized that the pump would'nt reach my tank so they pushed me again to the pump on the right side. It makes you wonder why are some people so hesitant to help? And why were they the only ones who didn't stop to think about all the things they had to get done. I will be honest it makes you wonder ( it wasn't even like I needed anyone to push my car a mile, it was literally 10 feet.) Anyways whoever those guys were they were my hero's today. And the next time I see someone who needs help I'm going to stop whatever I'm doing and help however I can.

So for me that was my real life "What would you do?" story and those two would've passed, while several others would've failed!

Life on the farm!

Knudsen Corner

Well Chris and I were talking about how much has changed in a year, and we were especially laughing because of how different our lives were just a year ago. We actually felt so blessed in the timing of selling our house, because the farm was empty so we had some where to go. Also it just so happened that Chris was in a car accident and Knudsen's had an extra car we could use until ours was fixed.
Anyways the time we lived at the farm was difficult for so many reasons (horrible snow storms, freezing cold, being huge pregnant and che' running away daily are a few), but looking back we both felt so blessed to have that time there. It is such amazing land, and so important to Chris' family and heritage that we actually felt honored. It sounds weird and I promise I'm not "One of those people" but we could really feel Grandpa Knudsen's presence still there. So here is a little peak into our lives on the farm at Knudsen corner.

Che literally ran away as often as possible, we got to know our neighbors really well even though they lived 5 acres away! My favorite time was a Saturday afternoon, Chris was gone and I was cleaning the house and lost track of how long I had left che out. I realized and see him running down 6200 s. So I run out 8 months prego and huge chasing after che' who is running in the middle of the street. People were pulling over to help me because they felt so bad for me.


Chris and his brothers got Grandpa Knudsen's tractor up and going! This was by far one of the highlights of living there. Chris would take me on tractor rides and tell me all about the farm back in the day. I know Darwin would've been proud to see his Grandson's so passionate about the land he loved!

Darwin loved this water wheel. He had a new one installed a couple of years before he passed away and every time I went to the farm he would take me over and tell me about how this wheel will last 1,000 years! Chris also got this up and going, until it flooded the driveway!





The barn...My favorite memory of the barn was Darin had his Jr. Prom there so Chris, Justin and Darin actually pulleyed a couch up into the loft and set up a screen to watch movies. So the night before a bunch of us got all of our blanket and sleeping bags and watched a movie. It is the coolest barn, and actually very old (as you can tell by the pic!)

Right before we sold our house Chris was in a 4 car pile up on I-15. My poor X-Terra was in bad shape and the kid that caused it was an idiot. We didn't get that car back until almost April 4 long months waiting to get it back!

Last year at this time I was teaching school. My students were so excited for me to have a baby and their favorite thing to do was give Lydia hugs (through my tummy,) and also give her high 5's. I loved those kids with all my heart and was so glad to have that be my final class.

A year ago Che' woke Chris up each morning...now it is Lydia!
Last year at this time our house was barley starting to get the framing done. We were so excited and felt like we were doing what we were supposed to by building. We have been so blessed over the past year and have grown so much as a couple! It is so fun to look back, and even more fun to imagine what we have in store for the future!

P.S. The only saving grace we had freezing our butts off was that in March Lindsey and Justin moved into the basement of the farm. It made a difference to have them there to share in the adventure. I was probably the ogre that lived upstairs because of how onry I was by the end but it was probably the only time we will ever have the chance to live with our family like that. We will never foget so many funny things about living there (i.e. the basement becoming the workshop for everyone's projects, sharing the scary laundry room, the house always being freezing cold, the boys "playing" on the tractor, and our mid-night runs to "Nelson's frozen custard....I miss that place!)

Valentines!

Valentines 2009

Well Valentines this year was quite the day. I did the 14 days of Valentines for Chris so each day he got a little surprise. A few of my favorites were new sheets (he had been complaining about how horrible our Wal-mart special sheets were, and I figured we both won with that present!) new hangers, super glue, candy, a new DVD, pomade, new garments, 1 hour back rub...now I realize that these probably seem really practical but if you know Chris you know he is a very practical person so he was extremely excited about his gifts.

The night before Valentines he surprised me with a new cell phone (my old one had been slobbered on and sucked on so many times by Lydia that I could hardly hear out of it!) He also surprised me with a coupon to get my hair done (which I also needed desperatly)

So to culminate the 14 days of Valentines I got Olive Garden "To Go" Which has somehow become a valentines tradition since we've been married. We put Lydia down, had our delicious dinner and watched season three of Lost. Now this doesn't sound too exciting or much different than a typical Saturday night for us, but it was just fun surprising eachother! During dinner we reminiced about what we were doing last Valentines and yes we were living at the farm, and yes Chris surprised me with a candle lit "olive garden to go" Dinner next to the blazing fire! It was quite romantic and so much what I needed. I was 7 months along and farily large! I took pictures of it because Chris really did go all out! And the year before that Chris surprised me with Che' our little yellow lab. It is so fun to think back about the changes that have happened over the 3 1/2 years we've been together and to remember how lucky we truly are to have one another!

Chris did an awesome job of turning the upstairs of the farm into a romantic dinner for two!

Che was my Valentines surprise two years ago (don't mind my red nose...It must've been cold!)

25 Random things...

Well I"ve been tagged for this several times on Facebook but for some reason my facbook on my computer is deathly slow so I'm going to do it on my blog.

1. I love sleeping in a made bed, one of the things I love most about being home is that I have time to make the bed every day for that reason. I just feel like I sleep more peacefully!

2. I can not burp! It is one of the worst feelings in the world because I just can not burp no matter how hard I try. My family gave me the fake diagnosis of Burpis retainis maximus.

3. Because of #2 I can't drink carbonation. Drinking carbonation just gets my tummy all full and feeling like I need to burp without any relief, so I wish it was because I am just a health nut but honestly I've paid the price one too many times for a cold glass of Dr. Pepper!

4. Sometimes when I go shopping late at night I go down every single isle and put everything that I could ever want into it. And as I keep on perusing I slowly put the wants back in random places until I'm left with only the needs!

5. I can not stand dirty dishes in the sink. I grew up in a family where when you were done you always put it right into the dishwasher (which was always conviently emptied.) So now I have the same obsession!

6. I LOVE to run, one of the happiest times in my life was when I was training for the first time I ran the St. George marathon. There is something so amazing about running a lot it gives you this amazing sense of accomplishment, and you can literally have it almost every day!

7. I kissed Chris when I was 17 years old and have not kissed another person since (It seems kind of crazy to think of it like that, but I'm not sad about it in the least!)

8. Despite all the horrible things that are said about drill team I absolutely loved every second of being on that team, I loved the friendships, and feeling like you were apart of something bigger that yourself! I went back and watched state this year, and I won't lie part of me wished that I could be back there when the only things you worried about were being to drill on time, and winning state!

9. I drove a red jetta for 9 years of my life. My first car Derek is now driving or should I say trashing and my second Jetta is somewhere in Holladay with it's new owner. I love jetta's the crayon smell that never went away. I have a lot of good memories driving my little red jettas!

10. I get anxiety on Sunday nights. I got it really bad when I was a teacher, just thinking about having to go back to school and everything I had to get done. I thought it would go away but I still get it a little bit on Sunday nights!

11.I can pop my rib cage in and out of place and click my tounge so loud it hurts your ears!

12. I am a total people pleaser. I hate confrontation and a lot of the time I will completely give up my opinion or what I want to make sure that other people are happy...this is one thing that I really wish i could change. I wish I would stand up for what I want more often.

13. I love being a mom. For as long as I can remember all I wanted was to be a mom. I seriously feel like there really is no job that brings as much meaning into your life!

14. When I was teaching school the secretary used to put little chocolates or candies on the tables for people to snack on (I had a little bit of a chocolate obsession) I would take handfulls and hide them in my desk for a chocolate moment! Thanks Katherine you saved me without even knowing it!

15. If I had a million dollars I would pay off my house and then go shopping! I would buy all the things that I have always wanted and just can't justify right now. And then I would shop some more just because I could!

16. I have been hired at every single job I have ever applied to and I have never been fired.

17. I love "The Bachelor" it is such a sad obsession and sometimes I feel alone in this obsession, but I love that show. I love the catty-ness of the girls and how cool that dates are that they go on. And who are we kidding I love the DRAMA! (for those of you watching I want Jullian to win!)

18. I have never had long hair...no matter how hard I try to grow it out I just can't do it. My hair grows ridiculously slow and it isn't thick so when it is longer it just doesn't look great. It is one thing I wish I had but doubt I ever will.

19. I love appetizers and dessert. Every meal we have I always have to hold back because I'll be honest I would get a three course meal every time we ate out if it was acceptable.

20. I feel like I'm a pretty adventerous person. I have been bungy jumping, sky diving, para sailing, kayaking, white water rafting, moab jeeping, wave running in the ocean, scuba diving, 4 wheeling in the jungle, deep sea fishing!

21. The first journal entry that I wrote after I met Chris was "I am going to marry him" I was only 17 and at the time it seemed silly but I guess I always knew that Chris was the perfect person for me, and that he was worth fighting for and waiting 2 years for!

22. I eat some of Lydia's baby food. I know most people probably think it is disgusting but I love the bananas and the sweet potatoes. If she doesn't finish it I finish it for her. And I have even been known to go "one bite for Lydia, one bite for mom!"

24. I have never broken a single bone in my body (knock on wood) I have only had stitches once and never had surgery on anything other than getting my wisdom tooth (singular) out!

25. I have realized that I'm not as interesting as I thought, this took me a really long time to think of all of these and I feel like they are pretty boring.

I'm supposed to tag 25 people so to make it easy if you read this consider your self tagged!