His and Her Christmas

Fact: 
His birthday is on Christmas Eve.
Her name, Natalie, means Christmas.
We were meant for each other... and the holidays!  Here's a recap of our holly jolly season.


Natalie squared plus Jackson on the train at the Ogden lights.  Too bad this Natalie derailed the whole train when she tried to take a peek at Jackson's excited face.  My bad! I'll lay off a little on the cocoa and cookies next year, promise!



  Birthday boy and his mama.  The Christmas Tree birthday cake has become a staple for him.  I'm pretty sure choirs of angels sang the Hallelujah chorus when I took a bite, but maybe that's just me.

 My mama :) She's a special one, she is.

 This just makes me smile. Enough said.

 Yup.  I call these beautiful people family.

 So simple.  So genius.  The zoo +christmas lights= a wildly festive good time.  They really should allow the tigers more privacy though.  I think a lot of parents were forced to give their children the "birds and the bees" talk that night.  Ho Ho Ho!

I grew up honestly believing that Santa preferred Diet Coke and toffee on Christmas Eve because he got sick of so much milk and cookies. Once I pointed out that Diet Coke and toffee were my Mom's favorite treats, she just replied that Santa had great taste ;)

"God bless us, EVERY one!"

An Attitude of Gratitude

Thanksgiving 2011 found us with much to be greatful for.  It is quite overwhelming to count all of our blessings and see what our Savior has done for us. What a beautiful holiday that reminds us of how loved we are.




Here's my all-American boy watching some pigskin on the telly.  May it also be forever recorded that his team won that morning in the annual Turkey Bowl played with his friends.  Congratulations baby, who needs Tom Brady when I've got you ;)

I was the bringer of some of the pies for our feast.  Banana cream never faileth.

 Oh, and following our feast we stopped for 7/11 slurpies on our way home.  Delicious? Definately. Traditional? Not hardly.  Would we do it again? Absolutely!

We hope that this holiday season finds every one of you in good health and good spirits.  Cheers to a terrificTurkey Day!

-The Crandalls

Getting Air with Bentley...and other Adventures

I feel the need to preface this post with two definition so  that some people (my Mom) will understand and appreciate the story.

Get Air-A fun center in Roy, Utah filled with trampolines as fas as the eye can see, foam pits, and basketball hoops.

Bentley-THE villian from the last season of The Bachelorette.  Seriously, this dude was the most hated man in Bachelor history.  He also happens to own some family fun centers in the Salt Lake City, UT area :)

Now we may proceed.  Yesterday was a great day in so many ways.  It involved sleeping in, Christmas music, pumpkin cookies, dinner with my parents, and then things got real intersting.  We met up with our homies Colby and Shelby at Get Air.  The young lad that was working at the counter happened to be someone that Michael used to work with.  They chatted for a bit, and then he looked at me with a big grin and said, "You know who Bentley is from The Bachelorette, right?"  Of course I know who Bentley is!! Michael and I only watched it religiously every Monday night.  (don't judge, k?)  This lad then proceeded to tell me Bentley was right behind me in the conference room.  I may or may not have squeeled like a fourteen year old girl at a Justin Bieber concert.  Moments later Bentley strolled on out, and I moved in.  You won't believe what happend next...he was SO nice!!! The man who's receiving death threats for his behavior on a trashy reality TV show was actually super cool.  He gladly took pics with us, and chatted about the show and his business endeavors in Utah. Get Air has not seen the last of us. :)

 

In other breaking news...

-Michael beat me for the first time EVER in a rock, paper, scissors competition. This victory for him meant we were going to Zuppa's for lunch instead of Noodles.  I've decided that my sub-conscious wanted to go to Zuppa's all along and that's why I lost.

-My friend, Natalie and I managed to try a food sample from every single booth at the Family Christmas Gift Show.  It may be a while before I can eat pepper jelly again.

-My smarty-pants brother got accepted to Medical School in Washington.  I couldn't be prouder!

-My parking skills are getting worse.  It's getting ridiculous.  I've really been driving for 6 years and can't manage to park a car straight the first time.  Whatever.

Welp, I'm long overdue for a nice Sunday nap.  Hope everyone has a fantastic day filled with as much hot chocolate as mine will be.

-Nattie Dawn

Curiously Ginger

So I can be a curious cat sometimes.  Here are a few of my burning questions for the universe.  Please let me know if you have the answers!


1.  Why do hunters wear camoflauge to blend in while simultaneously wearing the bright orange vests to stand out?! Does anyone else think this is the world's most enormous contradiction?  Please explain this to me!

2. How does the cafe on campus get their hazlenut milk steamers to taste exactly like a warm fuzzy hug?

3.  Why does the new Luvs diaper "poop there it is" commercial have to be so disturbing?  To feel gross, feel free to click here.

6.  Is the creator of Pinterest raking in the big bucks yet?  Should Mark Zuckerberg watch his back?

7. Is it a law of physics that I always have to sneeze the instant after I finish applying my mascara?

8.  How is that I spend all day suctioning snot out of patient's lungs, yet I consider the grossest part of my day to be doing the dishes?

9.  Do blondes, brunettes, or redheads have more fun?  Hannah created a monster guys.  I've really left my safety net this time and become a ginger!! 



So I am in a little bit of an identity crisis right now, but it's ok.  Change is always refreshing, and hey now I can make all the dumb blonde jokes I want! Ha!

-Nattie Dawn

St. Geezy for Halloweenie

  We enjoyed a  sunny weekend getaway filled with prank wars, that's-what-she-said-jokes, fence hopping, and memories that will never be forgotten. Friday afternoon is when this getaway began and we didn't stop until Sunday at about midnight. Some of my favorite parts of the trip included:

-Dance party just about everywhere we went. If you turn the music up loud enough, just about anyplace can become a club. 

-Watching Michael's eyes light up like a fat kid in a candy store as he launched water balloons at the other condo full of friends.

-Passing the sexiest lambourgini on the freeway.  Yes, this luxery car was somehow going slow enough for us to pass it.  I've never seen such a beautiful hunk of metal in my life.

-Getting one final sunburn for the year

-Michael's papa coming and supervising our repelling endeavors.  I probably never would have made it off the cliff without him. SO terrifying, but SO fun. 

-Hopping fences to check out all the fancy shmancy mansions.  Yup, if anyone wants to give me a billion bucks, I'd know just what to do with it.

-Barbequing the tastiest lunch ever on Sunday.  I didn't have a food baby after this meal, I had food twins!!!

-Beautiful Saturday morning temple session.

Now for a quick pic recap

Isn't this picture funny? Michael has always said that he loves it when couples start to look alike.  This pic is proof that the process is indeed occurring.  It's just a matter of time until my five-o'clock shadow starts coming in.

 I honestly thought I'd be widowed by the end of the day. My crazy husband is fearless.  This is Michael and Sam repelling suicide Aussie Style.

The Cliffhanger!!!

All smiles after my survival down the cliff. I thought Michael was going to have to push me off to get me to take the fist step down.

 

                                                                  Love these ladies..and Zack!

                                                     Colby and Crandall.  How cute.

 Oh, and we went to Thriller at Tuachan theatre.  Man those folks are talented.  I've never wanted to be able to dance like a dead person with a  limp so bad in my life!

  This picture is acutally back at home.  I just had to post it because it's our first trick-or-treaters ever.  Jack, Jackson , and Nat are lookin fly!

Halloween, you treated us well.  Thank you for all your scare-tacular adventures.  Can't wait until we meet again next year!

BOO!

-Nattie Dawn

A Shard of Brunette Greased Lightning

A shard:
Saturday morning began like any other.  I woke up that morning feeling like P. Diddy, I ate some Fruit Loops, and I took a trip to the Emergency Room...wait, what?!  Let's rewind to Friday morning when I dropped a glass on our faux tile floor and it shattered into a trilllion and one pieces.  Apparently one of these tiny shards was elusive enough to avoid being swept up so it was  positioned quite conveniently to lodge itself into my heel on Saturday morning. This tiny little piece of glassy torture wedged itself up there real good.  It wasn't budging despite how much I poked at it with my tweezers.  Mom and Husband convinced me to go get it taken care of.  Problem was that none of the clinics or insta-care places were open on a Saturday morning.  Bummer.  So, to the ER I went!  They took real good care of me there and a shot of lidocaine, a couple quick incisions, and twenty minutes later I was released.  Since ER's aren't cheap, Michael teased that it could be one of my Christmas presents.  I think it was a good thing for me to experience being a patient for once.  I now know that lidocaine injections really are as painful as the patient's make them seem.  I also know that smiling faces make all the differnece when being treated...and I learned next time that I should sweep, double sweep, and triple sweep when I decide to break a glass. Amen.

Kind of embarassing when I see how itty bitty the glass was.  But I promise it was stuck up there good, the Doc said so!

 Brunette:
Since I got out of the ER so speedy quick, I was still able to make it to my hair appointment, and that's what really matters. :)  The lovely Hanah Goodrich at Salon Bela put low-lights in my hair. I love it! Whether or not blondes or brunettes have more fun is still to be determined.

 Greased Lightning:
Saturday night was our 3rd Annual Halloween Costume Party with all the amigos.  I sure do love this tradition. Mikey and I decided to be Danny and Sandy from Grease.  We felt like cool cats all night. Oh, and we won the Newly Weds Trivia game that we played.  Tell me 'bout it, stud.

-Nattie Dawn

21 and having a lotta fun!

Another birthday come and gone...but not without one heckofa party!  My Michael knows how to treat a lady, especially when it's her birthday. See below:

My nineteenth birthday.  We had been dating one month and I was treated to some Tucano's.  My heart was stolen at this point. (I'm sipping on some heavenly Brazillian lemonday FYI)

 One year later, for my twentieth birthday, I savored some chocolate cake in our suite at the Grand America Hotel complete with a facial.  Yup, still has my heart. 

This year, my 21st, the celebration all began at midnight with some bubbly.  Don't fret, it's the apple cider kind of bubbly that you drink around a campfire with some really great friends.  I still totally felt sophisticated and 21 though.  The morning of my birthday we got up and ready for church.  Teaching primary is the most satisfying thing on your birthday.  "Mercedis, please be quiet/sit down/sing/go to class.  It's my birthday. (Insert puppy dog eyes.)" Worked like a charm all day!!  After church I had a lunch that consisted of sweet potato fries.  But it's ok. It was my birthday.  Then things really got wild when we busted out some Prison Break.  Perfect Sunday afternoon.  Around five o'clock Michael's sneakiness began.  I was given orders to bundle up.  Lots.  Scarves, winter coat, boots.  I was ready for Antarctica.

Ignorance is bliss.  I didn't know what was going on, but bundle me up and tell me we're going for a birthday surprise and I'm a happy lady.

 ...and then came the blindfold

 ...and then the pillowcase?  Michael always goes big, and never goes home. 

Then things got sketchy.  He  essentially drove me around in the mountains for an hour. We jammed out to soft sunday sounds and chatted about the meaning of life, but why he thought an hour of disorienting me was necessary, I do not know.  He knows I can barely find my way home most days.  Anyways, once the car stopped I was COMPLETELY confused as to where we were.  My guess would have been that we ended up in the Himalayas.  Oh how wrong I was.  He carried me for quite some time and then we stopped.  He slowly took of my blindfold and....SURPRISE!!  We had reached our destination at his parents house, which was filled with so many of our beloved family members. It rocked.  My sweet mother in law made some tasty enchiladas that were even Natalie style (No veggies.I know, I'm going to nutritional hell for not liking veggies)


There's something magical about getting the special plate on your birthday.  Makes you feel like the Queen.

Michael decided on a theme for this gathering and it centered aroud my love for my guitar and The Beatles.
I adore this cake...

Is it bad that I forgot to make a wish when I blew out my candles?  What else could a girl need?

 No party is complete with a Pinata!

 That's right, release your chocolatey goodness!!

 The mastermind behind it all.

The celebration didn't end yet!! The next day for lunch my dear friend Holli ordered me so freaky fast Jimmy John's for lunch!  The wrapper says Happy Birthday Natalie.  It was probably the best sandwhich my tastebuds have ever encountered.

Thanks everyone who made my day so special.  I love you all so much!! 
-Nattie Dawn (the 21-year-old)

I am Wildcat

Last week the Mr and I were able to attend a BYU football game and we had a fantastic time.  It really is a teriffic place.  I felt like Benedict Arnold though.  Today I learned that this...

is SO much more me in my element.  College for me has been like my own personal Hogwarts.  Weber State has been especially good to me.  I have been able to obtain an eternal companion, life long friends, a completely debt free education, and the best years of my life here.  And although I may go to a BYU game or two, and heck I may get excited when I hear about Boise State's successes(I am an Idaho girl afterall), Weber State will always have my heart.

-Nattie Dawn

Silly Saturday, Sleepy Sunday

This week was one of those jam-packed, gotta keep sane type of weeks. But it's ok. I survived.  This afternoon has been fabulous to just relax.  I probably should stop taking such long Sunday naps though.  When you dream about having lunch with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and robbing a bank, it's probably time to wake up. The Olsen twins were lovely though FYI. Saturday was an especially eventful day for us.  Here's a recap in picture form. GO...


                                            Ran one of these(Weber State Ventilator 5K)...

                               Froze my hiney off with these two lovely ladies

Dancing like this ..

                                                         In preparation for this

It was a good time all around. I think we all need those silly and sleepy kind of weekends every now and again. 

-Nattie Dawn