Neices and Nephews

Two babies in two months!! Holy moly! Not my babies, but my brother and brother in law both added a new one to their families. Will Collin Searle was born October 6 and Nora Joy Vest was born on November 5. Almost exactly a month apart!! These new babies are the sweetest things! I could hold them forever! I was lucky enough to get to go see Nora on my lunch break and I got to hold her the whole time, I didn’t  have to share with anyone! It was awesome. These incredible infants are amazing to me. I know I’ve thought about birth and creating children before but it seems like last night when we first saw Nora for just a few minutes it really hit me just how incredible creating life and giving birth really is. Looking into the eyes of these sweet new babies and thinking “oh my goodness, last time I saw Dani that baby was inside her!”  Our Heavenly Father has given us such an amazing gift to create a child! And he trusts us with them!! He just hands them over to us knowing that we can do it, we can raise them and take care of them. And granted this isn’t my child but I was so touched by the spirit last night when we were there with Kurt and Dani and their new little Nora. Just to see the pure joy on their faces and how happy and excited they were to bring this new child into the world and to see the love that they had for her immediately. It is so incredible. They bring such an amazing spirit into the world with them. They are so innocent and special! I couldn’t sleep last night that is how much I was thinking about this amazing experience. I can’t even imagine how it will be when Brady and I start popping out little ones!

I love all of our nieces and nephews so much! I am so thankful that I’ve been able to spend time with them and learn from each of them. They all have their own unique personalities and they are all wonderful! I am also grateful for their parents, my siblings, and the example they have set for me. It really is kind of nice being the youngest and taking notes from the things that my siblings experience first. So here they are our nieces and nephews:

Evi Kaye Searle – this is one smart little girl!! She impresses me all the time! And she is a dancing queen!

Norah Scarlett Searle- one word- CUTE- this girl’s eyes suck me in, and her little giggle oh my I love it! She is also a little dancer!

Will Collin Searle – Finally a little Searle boy! I am SOOO excited for him and to watch him grow up

Bentley Rae Louder- What a little fashionista! She changes clothes about a million times a day and she is hilarious!!

Adelaide Karen Sonderegger – This girl can sing!! And she is has the prettiest hair! I am a little jealous of it!

Henry Ryan Sonderegger – What a handsome little man!!! I am excited to watch his personality develop as well!!

Isla Mae Vest – What a little stinker, in such a good way! She is so shy but I LOVE that she wants my attention when we are over visiting.

Nora Joy Vest- What a sweet little bundle of joy!

Kids are so awesome and so fun! I am so excited for Brady and I to have a family of our own and to watch our children grow.  Families are such an amazing blessing!!

Angels

So today our Relief Society is having a midweek meeting and it's a get to know you dinner. They have also asked all the sisters to think of a time that life has given them lemons and they had angels in their lives.. something like that. So while I was washing the dishes and debating whether to go or not (mostly because I have a cold) I was thinking, "what would I even share?"  I know that I have had angels in my life but I couldn't think of one specific moment.... Then the thoughts started flowing.
The first one was when I moved to Florida for a semester, all by myself. I was so excited to go work at Disney World and move to Florida and have this big adventure. Then I got there, with my parents thank heavens. I would've been so overwhelmed if I would've flown out by myself!! So first of all my parents are angels for flying me out there.... well I don't think my mother would've let me fly out there by myself :) She had to make sure I was ok.... and it was a perfect excuse for her and my dad to go to Disney! But anyhow I got to Florida and was going through all of the stuff we had to go through. I got my work assignment....Tomorrowland, Attractions, Buzz rotation! YES!! I was so excited to get to work on the Buzz ride! then I went to the next step, getting an apartment assignment. And initially I thought well I might as well live with 7 other people, more opportunity to meet a friend right? Well not so much while all 7 of my roommates were very friendly and kind. Not one of them spoke English as their first language!! Two were from Thailand and the rest spoke Spanish. My roommate was from Columbia and she was SOO sweet but I never saw her! After about a week I decided that I would put in a move request. But while I was waiting for that to happen and such I called the bishop's wife and found out how to get to church. Luckily the branch that was close had everything figured out. they had a calling specifically for someone to come pick up the college Disney kids that didn't have cars!! Fantastic! So I got that set up. I had a ride to church, awesome. But still this was so intimidating. I was all the way across the country by myself, with no car! So Sunday came and I went to church and that's where I met the first angel of many that I would encounter in Florida that semester. A super cute girl in Relief Society started chatting with me. I learned her name was Karissa and she was also there on the Disney College Program but she was there for culinary school. She was so nice and I am pretty sure it was that same day at church that she invited me over to hang out. And she had a car! woo hoo!! She came and got me and we were instant friends. She was my BEST friend the whole time we were in Florida. I don't think she even realizes how much of a blessing she was to me. We even ended up living together which was awesome! She's such a babe and I am so glad we were able to share that time together in Florida.
The second big angel moment in Florida was a little more spiritual for me and brought me closer to my Heavenly Father. I was struggling quite a bit. I talked to my bishop who was also an angel. That ward was amazing! So many amazing people and such a great bishop! Bishop Hokama, and his wife Linda. Two spectacular people! Anyhow, I talked to my bishop and that got me feeling a little better but after church I decided I needed a priesthood blessing for comfort during this hard time. I decided to call the Elders who were also spectacular people. They came over with a guy from our ward and gave me a blessing. That was the most amazing blessing I have ever had. I don't remember what they said but I remember how I felt. These guys didn't know me personally but it was the most person blessing ever. I knew that it came straight from my Father in Heaven. I felt a million times better after that. I knew my Father in Heaven loved me, and my savior loved me. I knew that I could overcome this hard time. The Lord was on my side, rooting for me.
Another specific times I thought of was when I was living in Provo. I was having a particularly hard/low time one night and happened to be talking to one of my friends on Facebook and he asked if I was ok, I gave a vague "yeah I'm fine" He didn't believe me. He told me that I should come for a walk with him and his roommate. I decided to go. I am so glad that I did. The Spirit had told them to reach out to me in my time of need, and I am so glad they did. While I wasn't 100% better after talking with them it helped so much to know that someone cared and that Heavenly Father sent someone to be there for me.
And of course now I have an angel in my life everyday, my amazing husband. He is there with me through thick and thin and is always here to make me happy when I am down. He is everything that I need and I think we are a perfect match.
There are angels all around us if we just open our eyes and see them. Heavenly Father has not put us here to figure things out on our own he sends people to us to help in our time of need, and to be His hands to lift us up. I know that my Father in Heaven and Savior, Jesus Christ love me.

Temple

So tonight we went to the temple. When I say we I mean Brady, his brother Tadd, and I. I love the temple. I was telling Brady how comfortable it is there. Meaning being there is so comforting to me. It is always the perfect temperature, and I feel arms of comfort, love and peace surrounding me while I am there. I am so grateful that we can go to the temple whenever we want to. Heck we can walk there from our apartment. Brady's brother Tadd recently returned from his mission in England and was actually the one that invited us to the temple today, and I am so grateful he did. I didn't even realize I needed it until we were done and I was so full of peace.
I am so grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the gospel is the most important thing in my life. I can't imagine life without the direction and guidance I receive from it.
I am also so grateful for family. I love my family. And I love Brady's family. Three of Brady's brothers live in Logan and I love spending time with them (and Kurt's wife and daughter). I am so lucky to have such great in laws. Sunday sibling dinners are fantastic. Brady's brother Kurt has a 2 year old, Isla, and I LOVE going to their house and hearing her happy to see me. Children show such amazing love without even knowing it. I can't wait until Brady and I have children and to feel that love from our own kids.
This is so random but I feel like I have had so many thoughts and the easiest way for me to express them is the type them.
Something else I've been thinking about lately is the Priesthood. I am so grateful for it, and so grateful that my amazing husband honors his Priesthood. I love knowing that he can give me a blessing anytime I need it, and that he can give other people blessings when they ask him. I know that blessings are powerful things and with faith they can produce miracles. I heard one of the most amazing blessings the other night and I know that it was words from God coming through one of His servants.
I know there are things that I need to work on and that I struggle with, but I know that through my savior Jesus Christ I can improve and make these weaknesses strengths.

Well I thought I had more to say, but I seem to be drawing a blank. Maybe it's the 3 boys in the living room yelling at the TV watching the BYU football game distracting me? It's alright though, I really do enjoy watching football with my husband, even if I don't understand it all. I know he enjoys it so I will enjoy it with him :) and really I am learning!!

A full heart

My heart is full. And I am feeling close to my Savior. I feel like I have had a great couple of days. Have I done anything particularly exciting? Nope. This weekend was Memorial day so Brady and I both had Monday off. It was so nice to have a long weekend together. Really, we didn't do anything too exciting. Had a little photo shoot Friday which I absolutely loved. I am so excited to see the pictures! It was such a fun little date night. Saturday and Sunday we just ran errands and were lazy, it was great! Monday we had a nice little picnic and just enjoyed each other's company. I don't know why but I loved it, every minute of it. I am so grateful for my amazing husband and I love spending time with him. I think it was great because it was uninterrupted. We didn't have anything we had to do we really didn't have any stresses and we had that one extra day that we didn't have to worry about work or anything else, it was great. Tuesday we went to the temple and did a few baptisms which just increased my feelings of gratitude and made me feel even closer to the spirit. It took forever to do it but i finally did the baptism and confirmation for the family name that has been sitting on our shelf. The temple worker said it best, she told me that baptism and confirmation is the ordinance that gets everything else started. And she expressed the importance of it. It made me so happy to know that I was serving one of my ancestors. I am so grateful for the temple and for the service we can do there. I love the feeling I get when I am there and how close I feel to my Savior and to my Father in Heaven.
I also have been reading a very touching blog today and yesterday. It is called stout-heart.blogspot.com. It is about a family that had a micro preemie baby. He was born at 27 weeks and his parents decided to start a blog to keep their family informed and they decided to write it through the eyes of their baby. This blog has touched me. Their faith an optimism shown by this family are so incredible and it was such a good reminder to me that we can do hard things. Our Heavenly Father is there for us and so is our savior Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for the knowledge and testimony I have of the love that I feel from my Father in Heaven and Christ. I know that I am never alone. And again, I am so grateful that I have an amazing husband by my side to go through life with and to lean on in hard times. I have been blessed with so much and I am filled with gratitude for everything that I have. I am so thankful for my family and friends that have touched my life.

Strong

So I should have written this on Monday, but i didn't.
I have to admit that with the tragedies that have happened in the world they haven't really affected me. None of them have happened to people I know, and none of them have hit anywhere close to my home in pretty quiet Utah. For some reason the bombings in Boston made me really emotional. I really can't pin point why. I don't know anyone that was running in the marathon, and I don't even know anyone in Boston. But for some reason this really pulled at my heart. I just couldn't believe that this happened. How could someone do this? What kind of sick pleasure is someone getting from all this pain?
I was quiet on Monday night and Brady kept asking what was on my mind. I really couldn't voice my feelings. I still can't put it into words what I was feeling. All I know is that I felt a deep love, love for people that I don't even know.I felt a love for my family and for my friends. And I was so grateful to feel the love of my Savior, Jesus Christ, for me. And I felt that love of Jesus Christ for everyone. It doesn't matter your race, your gender, your religion, sexual orientation, whatever classification you want to put on someone. It just doesn't matter. Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father loves YOU! And they love you for you. They may not always be very happy at our choices but they love us, unconditionally. And Monday night I wanted everyone to feel the love that I was feeling.
I feel so blessed to say that I know that I am loved! I know I am loved by my husband, by my family, by my Savior, and by my Heavenly Father.
On Monday I also felt the strength of people. It is so easy to see the hate and sickness when things like this happen, and it is so easy to focus on that and to focus on the other negative things in the world. But I think it's important to look past that and see the strength of the American people. There were so many people willing to help those injured after the bombings. People running to aid one another. I just saw clips on the news of baseball teams showing their love and support. And of course everyone voicing prayers and love on social media sights. It is so important for us to focus on the Strength and unity that tragedy like this brings. The majority of the people in our country are good and want to do good, and are willing to help their neighbor.
I don't know why this event has made me reflect but it has. And I am glad that it has. It confirmed my testimony that Jesus Christ is my Savior an He loves me, I know that I have a Father in Heaven who also loves me. And I know that I can be with Brady, the love of my life, for eternity. There is good in this world, we just have to focus on that, we have to hold on to it tightly. I am so grateful for all the amazing blessings in my life. I am so blessed and I know you are too!

Blessed

So as ordinary life has been happening we have had some great blessings lately!
First of all our poor old car, also known as Big Momma, started biting the dust! The heater wasn't working well and the check engine light kept coming on, we got an estimate to get some things fixed and decided the poor old girl wasn't worth it. So we started looking for a new car. We were blessed to find a great red Ford Fusion for a good price. As sad as it was to leave Big Momma at the dealership as we drove away (seriously it was a little emotional) I love our new car! It is so nice to have a dependable car now that we don't have to constantly be putting oil in and watching the miles on!

Second, Brady has been working on getting another internship for the summer to get some more experience and hopefully get some career opportunities after graduation. So he applied for a few out of state and one in Salt Lake. We figured that most opportunities would be out of state so we were thinking that would be the way things would happen. Side note- with having full time hours at work I can't leave with Brady for the summer if that is the case. Ok so Brady got a couple interviews one with a company in Salt Lake and one with a company in Oregon. He got passed over for the Salt Lake one and got a second interview for Oregon. All the while I am stressing a bit about being without my husband all Summer but I was ready to make that sacrifice. In the meantime a rep from a company called AutoLiv came to Utah State to interview for interns and Brady decided hey why not I'll get an interview. Well he got a call from Autoliv on Friday offering him the position!! Best thing about that.. it's in Tremonton!! YAY!!! I get to keep my husband all summer! So not only were we blessed with an internship it's close by!!! I am so excited and I know Heavenly Father's hand is in this. Our prayers were answered.
And now third. So most people that know me know I've got some back issues... OK my whole back is an issue, let's be real! So I found out that I had a disc(s) with a buldge and a tear so we decided to get it fixed. I got that little surgery done on Wednesday (1 week ago). And I feel so blessed that it is starting to get less painful!!! YAY! I've still got a way to go as far as bending and twisting and lifting go, but I know I am improving. I am super grateful for medicine and doctors. It's a HUGE blessing!
Oh and another little side note I got my Associate's degree from Utah State! I know it's not much but I do like having something to show for my time at school! :)
Well I think that is about it!

Grateful

So I know I don't post much on this blog of mine but today I feel like I need to express myself. I am watching The Biggest Loser this evening and it really is inspirational. I realize it's a reality show but I think it's a reality show that is actually worth while and teaching a good principle of being healthy and fit. Why The Biggest Loser is making me feel grateful is a mystery to me, but it is.
I have so many things in my life to be grateful for, first of all, my husband. My husband is the greatest. I know you think your husband is the greatest but mine is the greatest for me! Brady is such a wonderful person and I love him so much! I even told my mom tonight while I was talking to her on the phone that the only useful thing that came out of my humanities class my freshman year was meeting Brady. :)  And really, it's true. That class was dumb, but I met my husband, the love of my life. Brady does so much for me and is such a great support and rock for the hard times in my life. I can't imagine facing life's hardships with anyone else. He is amazing plain and simple.
I am also grateful for my wonderful family. My parents and siblings are the best! I am so glad that we are close and that I talk to them often. I can't imagine not being close. I love them and I love their kids! And my parents! They are amazing. When the ladies at work talk about "kids these days" and them not wanting to spend time with their parents I can proudly say that I enjoyed spending time with my parents while I lived at home. The relationship I have with my parents is like nothing else. It's priceless and I love them so much.
I am thankful for friends. I have come in contact with so many people in my short 23 years of life so far. I know that I am not good and keeping in touch with old friends but I still love them all the same. They have all touched my life in a very special way. To my Disney friends, you are the most unique and diverse group of people that I have ever met and I can't imagine my life without you. Disney was one of the best experiences of my life and I learned so much about myself while being in that magical place. High school friends, and college friends have all played a role in some way in my life. I don't keep in close contact with them all but I am still grateful to have them in my life.
I hate to single anyone out but, Michael and Betsy Lybbert- you two.... I love you so much. These two people were my second family living in Provo and they have done so much for me! Thank you for being awesome! And thank you for filling in when I was missing my family! You two are the best!
And finally I am so grateful for the gospel of  Jesus Christ in my life. This is one thing that I could not live without. The gospel is my life. I am a follower of Christ and I hope that I live my life everyday in a way that reflects that. I am grateful for the gift of the atonement and the role it plays. I can't imagine going through life without the light and love of Christ in my life. Words cannot express how thankful I am everyday for the knowledge and comfort that the gospel brings. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and I am proud and grateful to say it.
I am filled with love and joy and I am overflowing with the Spirit of the Lord.
Have a wonderful day/night whatever time it is that you are reading this.
much love!