Please always remember to safely remove your jump drive...

This week was a great week of learning.  Here's some nuggets of info that I learned firsthand...

1. NEVER EVER EVER forget to safely eject your USB drive.

2. "Hey baby, how about I take you out to Iggy's for dinner tonight?" Really means, "Hey baby, there's a game on tonight that I REALLY want to watch on the fancy big screen at Iggy's."

3.  Cuddling is best after the alarm goes off.

4. Working in a NICU(Newborn Intensive Care Unit) really means angering infants all day.  Granted it's to help heal them, but it still elicits anger nonetheless.

5. All snowmen should have mustaches.

6. I should become a house builder because apparently no one knows how to correctly arrange a functional floor plan.

7. House hunting may or may not bring out the worst in me

8. The most painful part of a Spinning class is the uncomfy seats and how they abuse my tush; also getting your pant leg stuck in the pedal is frowned upon.

9. Going to church makes me happy.

10.  The power going out at T-Mobile and not being able to ring out sells makes Michael unhappy.

11.  Wintery weekends are wonderful.

Possibilities

My mind has really gone blank in regards to this post, but I think that's appropriate. New year, blank slate, endless possibilities.  That's what has really made an impression on the Mr. and I these last few days; the fact that this year in particular seems to have many unpredicatable possibilites...and we like it that way :) 


Visual recap of our New Year's Eve party people!

2011 was glorious, and sometimes a little painful.  But blessings were abound at every corner.  A few notable highlights of the year that I wish not to forget include..

-Michael's continued hard work and success at managing his T-Mobile store in Salt Lake. 
-Crandall family vacation at Harbor Island in South Carolina. 
-Finding out we're going to be an Aunt and Uncle to a niece and a nephew.
-The search for a house began. And continues...sigh.
-I've truly grown to love the field of respiratory therapy.  I've been able to work with some amazing therapists and patients.
-Church callings that humble us every single day.  Michael as Elders Quorum President and myself as Primary 1st counselor.  I love those kids so much it hurts sometimes, even when they're little stinkers.
-The marriage of my brother, and consequently the road trip to Canada, eh.
-Growth.  We've grown closer to our Savior, each other, our educational goals, and our loved ones.  Okay, and maybe just a little bit of growth in our waistlines, but hey that's what New Year's resolutions are all about, right?

So thankful for the blessings of 2011, and the possibilites of 2012. 

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

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