My First Ever Actual Trip for Spring Break!!

This year for spring break, I actually did something other than work. It was pretty awesome!! Me and the whole fam took a road trip down to Arizona to visit the Eckles. It was a much needed vacation that's for sure! It was so great to be in the sun and warmth when it was snowing here :)

Our first stop was in St. George where we picked Blake up as he was coming back from a LaCross Tournament in Vegas. It was Sunday and we thought it would be appropriate to stop and walk around the temple for a while.

It was such a pretty day and such a pretty temple.

The boys got tired, so us girls had to give these BIG boys piggy-backs

Blake and Andrew decided that it would be fun to go swimmingl. The water temp was probably only 40 degrees, 50 if they were lucky, but they really wanted to go swimming.

Blake thinking he is extremely funny when he doesn't jump with Andrew

Darrell joining the swimming party.

Darrell is the newest member of our family. He is an apple gnome. Blake has recently become obsessed with apple gnomes so Darrell came as a surprise Christmas present. Ever since his Christmas arrival he has been found throughout the Noorlander household as well as the Eckles on our spring break trip.

Soaking up some much needed sun!

On the way home we stopped in Vegas for a few days to hang out. We hit up the was museum again! I took a lot of the same pictures so I won't bore you with them again, but there were some new additions this time around. They are:

Jennifer Aniston (Jacque I thought of you as I was taking this picture)

Cameron Diaz

I have more, but my camera ran out of batteries and I need to get them from Taisa, but others included J Lo (who you can make blush if you touch her bottom), Wayne Brady and a couple others that I wasn't really impressed with.

After this fun filled vacation, it was time to come home and face reality once again. Back to school, back to work, back to life, back to the not so fun stuff.... but we had a great navigator for the ride home :)

When Life Throws You Lemons, Sometimes You Have No Other Choice Than To Make Lemonade

This last year and a half has been a roller coater ride of emotional highs and lows for me and my family. On December 3, 2009 I found out that my dad had cancer. He was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, it is a blood cancer that affects the bone marrow. I thought that was the worst day of my life. How are you supposed to react when you find out that someone you love so much is really sick and may not live. My dad assured us that he was bound and determined to beat this cancer, so we all took that to heart and did everything we could to help him out. Our ward and families prayed and fasted for him every chance that we could.

After countless rounds of chemotherapy, radiation treatments, a bone marrow transplant and everything else the doctors could think of, my family and I found out on February 3, 2011 that my dads cancer had come back in full force and was spreading throughout his body. THIS was the worst day of my life. I get a phone call saying that we need to leave Logan as fast as we can and to meet at the hospital. I knew then that the news wasn't going to be good, but I didn't expect to find out that my dad was dying and it would only be a matter of days. Me and my siblings took the next 3 weeks off from school to be home with my dad so that we could make as many lasting memories as we could.

Those ten days were some of the most special and hardest days that i have ever had. I loved the time that I had to reminisce about all the wonderful things we have done with my dad. But watching him suffer is something that I never will be able to forget. It is so hard to see someone who has been so strong and healthy for your entire life be in so much pain and so uncomfortable and knowing there is nothing that you can do to ease their pain. I wouldn't trade that time for the world though. Each of us kids had time to talk to our dad one on one and that is something we will always have. My dad apologized that he wouldn't be there for my wedding. That totally broke my heart. It is every little girls dream to have her daddy there for her wedding. My dad will be there, but it will just be a little different. That is one of the things that I think will be the hardest for me. He was there for Andrew and Taisa's wedding, which was so cool. I just really want him there in the flesh for mine. I want him there to help raise my kids, to teach them all about hard work like he has taught me. Its totally going to suck having to graduate, get married, raise kids, live life without my dad here.

I am truly grateful for the gospel and the knowledge that my family will be together again. It is only a matter of time before we will be united with those that have gone on before us.

I love you dad and I miss you so much!

Madame Tussaud's

In March Blake had a Lacrosse tournament in Vegas. Being the good sister that I am, and because my dad was in the hospital and my parents weren't able to go, I went down there with my other two siblings and had a blast. Blake and his team from Davis didn't do to bad, and while we were there, we hit the strip. The best part was going to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum at the Venetian!

Here is me and my all time favorite member of 'NSYNC - Justin Timberlake. I also love him because we have the same birthday!! YAY for January 31st Birthdays!!

Here are Remiah and I with Matthew McConaHOTTIE!!

Andrew is now Mrs. George Clooney. Doesn't he make a smashing bride :)



My cousin Ryan giving Tiger Woods what he deserves, a golf club to the head.




Ramiah showing how the Noorlander family feels about Micheal Jackson. Her face says it all.



My Uncle Rick taking his stand on the moon, only he forgot his gear (hence the reason he is gasping for air and covering his mouth and nose).


Andrew and Ryan displaying how I feel everyday I hear how our wonderful President is screwing up our country. (picture then saying 'Really, really')



The whole family with the King. Check our all of our awesome sideburns :)

In Loving Memory

My amazing Grandpa LaVar Godfrey passed away on January 9th, 2010 after battling with lung cancer. I am sad that he is gone, but I know that he is in a better place with loved ones that have missed him dearly. I have so many wonderful memories of him.

I remember being little and we would "climb the mountain." My grandpa would hold onto our arms as we walked up his legs, then he would flip us over his shoulder and then shake us down his back. When our head would be between his legs, he would take his hand and gently hit our Adams apple (or throat area)and say "ganga, ganga, ganga."

He also taught all of his grandchildren the sounds that farm animals, and other animals in general make. My favorite is the sound that pigeons make. He taught us that they say "Liggidy goo wawa." (I'm not sure on the spelling)

I remember spending countless summer days down at his house playing "Mother May I", and "Red light, Green light", out on his driveway, as well as "Annie I Over" (I don't know if that is the correct name, but that is what I would yell) in his back yard. I remember rolling down the hill in his back yard and picking countless buckets of raspberries, and beans, and whatever else he had growing that needed picking. His apples will always be a favorite of mine.

My grandpa was the epitome of service. He was always willing to help out his neighbors and fellow ward members. He was an avid gardener and always helped with others' gardens and the questions that they had. He taught many how to garden the right way so that they would get the best that their plants could give.

He was such a good man, one that I will miss immensely. I hope that I can carry on the legacy that he has left behind. I Love you Grandpa!

Bowling Bag Extraordinaire

So my awesome cousin Traci gave me the cutest bag. She recently had a garage sale, and someone left this really cute bowling bag, which she gave to me!!! The front had a couple of stains, so I put my brain in crafty mode, and with the help from my super sweet friend Jacque we came up with this:



I used Velcro to attach the flowers so that I can take them off and change them to different colors depending on my mood. I love the way it turned out!!!

Missionary Countdown!!!

21 days, 23 hours and like 30 or so minutes until I get to see my brother at the airport when he come home from serving in the Puerto Rico East Mission. He officially comes home on July 23 at 4:05 pm. I can't believe that it has been two years already. It has gone by super fast, which I guess is a good thing. When Andrew first left, I was so glad that he was gone.(I know that sounds mean, but its the truth.) Then I was happy that he was doing the Lord's work and being so successful. Now I just really want him to come home so that he can help me beat up on Blake :) I didn't really think that I would miss him, but now that he is so close to coming home, I miss him like crazy!

John Schmidt is AMAZING!!!

So I was watching the news the other night (something that only happens when I am home with the family) and they were talking about John Schmidts new movie on youtube. So I decided to check it out, and it is freaking amazing. I hope you guys enjoy it :)