The Averetts

2011-09-08T10:07:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of Havasuapi?

Its probably one of the coolest places in Arizona! Its just a

short 10 mile hike through the Havasui Indian Reservation in the grand canyon and into a land of waterfalls, Indians and camping. At first I was pretty skeptical of the whole idea of hiking EVERYTHING 10 miles into our destination, but boy oh boy was it worth it!

We went with some of our favorites people, Ryan and Lindsay. They were on their way back from California so we met up in Las Vegas for a few days. We went to the Lion King show which is probably the coolest Broadway show out there. It was my first Broadway show, so I'm a little biased, but I can't imagine any other show having the cool effects and costumes! Highly recommended! We also had to make a stop at the famous Pawn Shop as seen on the history channel show, Pawn Stars.

The next night we drove to where we would start hiking, Hualapai Hilltop. We started our hike at about 6 am, and it took about 3 1/2 -4 hours to get to our camp ground.

The campgrounds there aren't near any of the waterfalls, the closest is about 1/2 mile. After setting up our camp we hiked back to rock falls for some cliff jumping. It's a 30 ft drop and Matt's last jump left him with a pretty nasty lookin bruise!

You have to kind of make your own fun while camping, so Matt and Ryan decided to have a boat race. Ryan clearly won on looks, but Matt won on buoyancy.

Another waterfall they have there is Havasu Falls, which is one of the main falls and b-e-a-u-tiful!

The next day we decided to be even more adventurous and hike down the rough terrain to Mooney Falls. When I mean rough I mean straight down a cliff and if you slip- you die, kinda hike. But it was so worth it!

We found a little rope swing while exploring, which was so much fun, so we hung out there for a while!

This is probably one of my new favorites places and I cant wait to go back!

WARNING: picture overload

2011-06-28T06:07:00.000-07:00

My parents were kind enough to take our family on one last big vacation together. We went to Orlando, FL for 10 days... all 23 of us! We had so much fun together and I'm dying to go back! Here's a nice LONG recap of our time at the Happiest Place on Earth...

Thanksgiving 2010 in Disney World

Thanks Mom and Dad for making this possible!!

Its about time!

2011-06-25T14:45:00.000-07:00

Summer is finally here!

And if you can't find my husband, he's most likely doing this...

Playing Catch Up

2011-01-05T19:30:00.000-08:00

Its been a while since we've updated (obviously), so rather than over doing it in one large post, we'll break it up. You're welcome.

We enjoyed a good visit to Washington in late June to see Michael,my brother, who was just returning from a mission in Bolivia. Matt had never met Michael, because we had started dating soon after he had entered the mission field. Matt was pretty excited to find a new person to practice his Spanish with. I want to learn, but unfortunately Matt is majoring in communications, not teaching and is a terrible teacher. It was good to see Matt and my brother get along so well. I guess having a strong love of college football is a good foundation for their relationship.

This is my dad and Michael seeing each other for the first time after 2 years!

When Mike first got home the one thing he wanted to do, besides walk on the grass barefoot, was jump in the pool with his suite on, which he did!

We went and played on the river for a day. It just happened to be the coldest day we were there, so we all froze. Mike especially. He used to walk around in his shorts in the winter time, but he was shivering just sitting by the dock. Bolivia DEFINITELY changed that!

I just love how my sister is wrapped in a blanket!

Matt also got to experience the 4th of July with fireworks on the river. I hope he loved it as much as me! There's nothing like going to the river to watch the fire works!

Summer also brought a big move to Springville Utah, a whopping 10 miles south of our previous apartment. I always said I hated Springville, and now I'm living here. Fortunately, I've really enjoyed our new place and our new ward, so its been great! And once (if ever) they finish the construction on I-15, I will like the commute MUCH better! Sometime this summer I passed my insurance exam, which means I'm a licensed insurance agent. Not the most exciting news but it happened, so it made it to the blog!

Matt turned the big 25 in August and we started a tradition last year to do something we've never done together on his birthday. It all started with skydiving and its hard to measure up to that, so he may be disappointed in years to come :) This year we spent the weekend in good 'ol Park City, UT and hit up the alpine slides. Happy WAY Belated Birthday Matt, I love you!

Well that caught me up a bit. Maybe I'll post for the remainder of 2010 in the next 5 months?

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T21:34:00.000-07:00

That's right...I'm still in 2010! I'll try my best to get current these next few days since we've done some fun things recently that are just waiting to be blogged about :)
For Halloween a bunch of us friends got together for a little party at the Cooks apartment.

Matt was set on being a cowboy, which he pulled it off quite nicely.

Me? I was an indian girl (partially because it was last minute and I had no other options). I would have looked more legit without the blonde hair.

We had a blast hanging out and playing crazy games... hopefully this turns into a tradition!

Matt showing his skills at bobbing for apples. I sucked at this game.

donut eating contest!

Zachs inventive balloon popping game. You cant tell by Stephens face, but it really is fun!

We sure love our crazy friends!

2010-06-15T22:08:00.001-07:00

10 days til I'm headed home to Pasco. Even more exciting, 11 days until my brother is home from Bolivia!! I cant wait!!

Hopefully the next 1 1/2 weeks goes by fast!!

Need a project?

2010-06-12T09:25:00.000-07:00

Try this...

My friend Lindsay and I have been into sewing lately, and its so fun creating stuff! We're really into bedding, so the other day we made this flannel strip rag quilt for our good friend who just had a baby, and let me tell ya, it was SO EASY! And its super cute! Interested? Here's the directions:

Choose your fabric. You'll need 5 different fabrics.

note: make sure you preshrink the fabric before cutting!!!

-Middle accent fabric: 7/8 yard
-1st light fabric (in our case, we chose the darker fabrics): 1 1/4 yard
-2nd light fabric (or dark fabric): 2/3 yard
-1st main color fabric: 3/4 yard
-2nd main fabric: 3/4 yard
total yardage: 4 1/2 yard.

Cutting your strips:

Middle accent fabric: cut 2 7" strips and 4-4" strips
1st light fabric: cut 4-6" and 4-5" strips
2nd light fabric: cut 4-6"strips
1st main color fabric: cut 4'7" strips
2nd main color fabric: cut 4-7" strips

Now its the fun part...putting it together!
1. Match up the front and the back of each same size strip
2. Sew each pair of strips together on one of the sides, using 1/2" to 5/8" seams
3. After each pairs are sewed together, sew all of the strips together in the order of your choice, and make sure you keep the seams facing the same side of the quilt. Sew the outer edge of the quilt leaving the same amount of seam allowance
4. Clip the seams allowance. The closer you clip, the more the seams will fray
5. Wash and dry to have the quilt fray (which in our picture, that has not been done yet)

Easy, Right?!

2010-06-02T16:54:00.000-07:00

One of my best friends got home from her mission from Texas this last Thursday. I still cant believe she's home already. That 1 1/2 years had gone by so fast! Most of the girls went to meet her at the airport so Amanda and I made a sign for us. That's right, TIN FOIL! We're creative! WELCOME HOME SISTER CLARK!

Lastly, it was my birthday last Saturday. The big 23! It doesn't even sound old, so I'm not going to pretend like it is! My birthday kind of started Friday at work so Matt surprised me with this delicious treat...

Its an edible arrangement made out of deliciously perfect fruit. It was delicious!

I didnt really know what I wanted to do for my birthday this year, so we decided to hit up the sales in Park City. Matt was such a good sport to go shopping with me all day! Then on Monday I made him spend half his memorial day holiday dejunking our house. It was a great birthday weekend and he definitely deserves Best Husband Ever Award!

straight from heaven

2010-05-22T11:56:00.000-07:00

I've been really horrible at updating lately since I don't feel like I have anything "blog worthy" going on in my life, or I'm just too busy. But these, my friends, are definitely blog worthy!

These cookies are the newest love in the Averett house thanks to Kneaders Bakery. I highly recommend trying them, you will not be sorry. These. Are. Delicious. I'm currently addicted to craisins, but if you don't like craisins then leave them out, they're still delish. If you don't like macadamia nuts then you're crazy!

White Chocolate Chip and Cranberry Cookies
INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 egg
1 Tablespoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ cup white chocolate chips
1 ½ cup dried cranberries
1 cup macadamia nuts chopped.

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with pan release. In a large
bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, white sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg and the
vanilla. Combine the flour and baking soda and stir into the sugar mixture.
Do not over beat as this will cause the cookies to be tough.
Fold in white chocolate chips, cranberries and nuts.
Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto the cookie sheets. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes until slightly
brown on the edges. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheets before placing
them on a cooling rack.

Makes about 36 1.5oz cookies or Kneaders size 18 cookies
Posted using ShareThis

p.s. I cooked mine for only 8-9 minutes, and they turned out perfect.

My Valentine

2010-02-17T21:29:00.000-08:00

Im so happy to say this handsome boy is my valentine! He's the sweetest thing and he always trys to make everything so special and never fails to do so! I just fall more in love with him everyday!

I was banned from my apartment most of Saturday because of some surprise Matt was working on. I thought he was getting me some work out videos I have been wanting to try so I couldn't figure out what he was doing for the life of me!!! Finally he let me come home, but I was still confined in one room. After I heard him pounding something with a hammer I convinced him to let me see what he was doing since it was taking so long, and I'm not the most patient girl! My lovely husband bought me a new desk for our office...and he got the one we were wanting HALF OFF, which makes it that much cooler!! I know we're lame and like practical things, but I LOVE my valentines gift! It makes the office so much nicer than our last desk (sorry, Cami :))

We weren't planning on doing anything special for valentines since our anniversary is coming up in less than a month, so since I did basically nothing for him this weekend I have to make up for it!! If you have any brilliant anniversary gifts please share :)

crazy weekend!

2010-02-17T20:49:00.000-08:00

I guess you could say my weekend started off a little early last week. I was able to get work off on Thursday so that Matt and I could go snowboarding with his brother and sister-in-law at Snowbird. Its been so long since I've gone snowboarding for more than 2 hours, and I definitely felt it the next day but it was so much fun!! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures from the day, but there's plenty pictures in this post, I promise!!

Friday night we went to Ephraim for a birthday party for Matt's nephew, Caden, who turned 2!! We hardly get to see the cute kid so it was really fun to have be able and celebrate his birthday here. I stole these pictures from his moms blog to prove how cute he is!

Matt had too much fun with the visit, he loves being an uncle! They had some pretty good battles matches that night!

Saturday I had a bridal shower for one of my best friends!! It was fun to get with all the girls again. I decided to make it easy on myself with throwing this shower so we just went to brick oven and reserved one of the party rooms. I think it was a pretty genius idea :) Unfortunately not everyone could come and some left before the picture was taken, but this is a few of the girls reunited!

I was finally able to break out my sewing machine and try it out on some invitations I made for Ashley's bridal shower. I'm shocked they turned out as cute as they did! (Kim, mom said you needed an idea on invitations, so this part is mainly for you!!)

Hope you all had a great Valentines weekend!!

Christmas in Pasco, New Years, etc.

2010-01-30T10:14:00.001-08:00

We spent Christmas with the Wilson clan this year in Washington and we got tons of new toys!!! I finally got my golf clubs and my snowboard, and Crystal got . . . clothes and stuff. Probably the most exciting gifts given were the NERF foam swords given to our nephews and the red welts that they gave us in return! ;) Apparently everyone over 3 feet tall is considered an enemy after Christmas morning.

If Chris, Crystals brother in law, has his way, we'll be starting a new Christmas Eve tradition, going to the church and playing basketball til one in the morning. We did have a great time though, welts and brother-in-law abuse aside.

We got to meet our new niece and nephew, Emily and Liam. You would have thought someone glued Crystal and those babies together! Crystal wants to have babies, she has just decided that she doesn't want to have to do the whole labor part of it. She's consulting the law books right now to see if it is considered kidnapping if we "borrow"Liam or Emily for a few decades.

After I saw all the toys that the kids were getting, I realized how much cooler toys have become since we were kids. I gotta say, I was a little upset that it's taken toy makers this long to start getting things right! I LOVED my G.I. Joes when I was a kid, but it wasn't til I saw the ones that Tyler received for Christmas that I realized how lame mine actually were. Let me break it down for you a little to make my point. When I was a kid, the G.I. Joes did not have a vital thing for a U.S. soldier. . . . a trigger finger! That's right, when I was a kid, I was trying to put their weapons in a hand that was shaped like an oven mitt. There's no shooting the bad guys when it looks like your hand is prepared to take muffins out of the oven!!! All of Tyler's G.I. Joes that were given to him could not only hold their weapons like soldiers, they could also put their index finger where it's going to rain bullets on their foes, the trigger!!

This may not seem like it's a big deal to you, but little boys think about these kinds of things. If the G.I. Joes from my early years went to battle with the G.I. Joes that today's kids have, we would not stand a chance! It would be a massacre, and trust me, I have a lot more imaginary battlefield experience than kids today.

There was also some great male bonding on our visit. I already talked about the basketball, but we also went to see the 3D version of "Avatar" together and Dave took me to the driving range so we could try out my new clubs and experience what golfing is like in freezing conditions. :)

The Saturday after Christmas Crystals sisters had their baby blessings at her parents house while everyone was in town, so we were glad we were able to be apart of that since we're never up there for everything else.

Sadly, we had to leave Pasco the Monday after Christmas so that we could get back to Utah and go to "meet the Jazz" night in Salt Lake. I must say that I was very proud of Crystal. She stood in lines with me for two hours collecting autographs from the Jazz players. We got to everyone on the team that I like, and yes, that meant skipping Carlos Boozer, and we'll continue to skip your line Boozer until you make a little attitude adjustment!!! I mean, sure you stayed in Utah, but you don't have to act so mopey about it!

New Years came in with a bang. We played Settlers of Catan with Bryan and Brittney May, then me and Bryan played Wii golf right through the ball drop and didn't get our New Year's kisses til 12:05. . . . from our wives. . . . did I mention that?

Well, school's back in session for me and Crystal is busy with her career in insurance. That's about all for now. . .hoepfully life will slow down since all the holidays are over!

674.10

2009-12-20T21:00:00.000-08:00

That's right, 674.10 miles from my door step to my parents door step, and I'm driving it alone. Wish me luck!!

We're so exciting for Christmas this year! Matt's flying to my parents later this week since he had to work longer than I did, but we have 2 new additions to the family, a niece and nephew. I'm so excited to meet them! We'll have plenty of pictures of the trip I'm sure, so it'll give me something to blog about when we get back!

Have a very Merry Christmas!

2009-11-01T09:05:00.000-08:00

Me and my office girls decided the that we were going to dress up for Halloween this year. Usually we just use the holiday as an excuse to wear pj's and call it a slumber party, but my boss said that was a no go this year. So, with a nights notice, we all dug through our closets and hit the stores and this is what we came up with.......

For actual Halloween one of my best friends, Sara, and her husband came into town!!! I love it when they come. We went to dinner and had plans of going to a haunted house so we could feel somewhat festive, but that changed. The boys got talking about scary movies that were out, and Sara and I were already iffy on the haunted house idea -we don't do well being scared, especially together! We told them that they could do whatever they wanted, and we'd find something to do. The boys thought it was for sure a trap, haha. They ended up going to some scary movie that they were grateful Sara and I did go see. We ended up having a fun little girls night painting our nails and talkin. It wasn't anything special but we had fun!! Love ya Sara and Luke!

We're Back!!!!

2009-10-26T21:44:00.000-07:00

So another few months passed that I haven't updated. I guess I'll start from the beginning? September is kind of a blur, so we'll talk about the fun stuff we remember!!

September was our 6 month anniversary!!! It came REAL fast! We decided to take a little vacation since 1. all we do is work and 2. who doesn't like a vacation?! We decided to hit the strip at SIN CITY!

I've never been there before so it was fun to go and check out what all the fuss was about. The first night we went to the "O" show by Cirque du Soleil. We, well mainly me, had mixed feelings about the show. They did some really cool tricks and what not, but i was lost as to what the storyline was the whole time. We're thinking it was a weird dream??? I don't know. I'm sure i had a weird look on my face for parts of it. But all in all, it was fun to say we went! During the days we just walked around and went shopping...although i got nothing, which seems to be a reoccurring event, but Matt finally found shoes to fit his massive feet, thank goodness!! That in itself made the trip all worth it! We also got to visit with some of Matts relatives down there and see what "real" Vegas was like. Thanks for putting us up for a night Andrea! We werent good at taking a lot of pictures, but here's one of the days we were there...

He had to take this picture for his dad, he couldnt resist.

Recently Matt found his new love in life...GOLF. If hes not on the course or at the driving range, hes playing golf on the wii. Its an addiction really. Hes only played maybe 4 times total before we were married, and I've always wanted him to get into golf since my dads a big golfer, but I think hes gone overboard :) Too bad winters coming and he wont be able to play. Im not sure how I'll entertain him now!

As for October, I don't even know where the month went!! It went by so fast for me! Matt had a bishop from one of his wards in Mexico while on his mission come and stay with us during General Conference weekend. I cant leave out the fact that he knows NO English and I know absolutely no Spanish. So you can only imagine the conversations we had. He was the cutest little man and was excited about everything and video recorded his every step. Matt was such a good sport and spent a whole day with him in Salt Lake showing him all the tour sites and spending 7 + hours at temple square and being his personal taxi. He was our first official quest and It was nice to do something for someone and to give him the chance to attend General Conference.

Last week Matts friend came home for a few days from training before he took off to Afghanistan, so we had a going away party for him! Its always a good time getting Matt and his friends together, there's never a dull moment in that group!! Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of the night, but we'll miss Grant while hes gone!!

And whats Halloween without pumpkin carving?! We decided to spend the night in and do a little pumpkin carvin. I think we did a pretty good job, if i do say so myself!

And lastly, Sunday my sister, Kaylene, had her 3rd little baby, Emily!! And Elise will have her baby in a month...weird! I cant wait to go home for Christmas and see the babies! Time is definitely flying by and its hard to keep up with everything, but we wouldn't change it for anything!

Is summer really coming to an end?

2009-09-03T22:06:00.000-07:00

This summer has just flown by for me and Matt, and I don't even feel like we've done anything besides work and before you know it the snow will be here, its sad. We haven't been to good at keeping up on this whole blogging thing, so I'm sorry if we don't get around to posting the whole summer post.

For the most recent event though, this last weekend I was able to take a short get a away to Pasco to see my family and go to Elise's baby shower. It was so nice to be home! It was a busy weekend and all of the family was there so it was a very full house. Elise's baby shower was a huge success, we had so many people there, it was insane, so thank you for all who came!! Here's a few pictures of my weekend home!

Elise and her prego-ness

Cecily and I swimming in the pool

"little" Jace

Sorry Valynn...I had to post this, it was too funny not to! Don't you love it when you take a picture and it captures a moment like this?!

I should have learned my lesson by not letting the kids play in the room all of my stuff is in...they always find something to do when they are unsupervised!

My dad just built our fire pit so we had to break it in!

He liked it :)

Matt's 24th Birthday

2009-08-14T09:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Matt got another year older and, as he would say, another year better looking! I forgot what an old man I married! 24 years old and still kicking! I made him breakfast in bed (what a good wifey!) and we started talking about all the things he had done with his life up to this birthday. I asked him if he had done everything he had wanted to do before he was 24. He responded with a smile and by telling me that he had never been skydiving. He was probably joking, but I thought it was a brilliant idea! I figured the day of his 24th birthday would still count, right?!

I looked at him and said "Lets go!" He thought I was joking and figured we'd have to make an appointment weeks in advance to go. Well I quickly searched for a skydiving place in Utah and found "Skydive Utah" who just happened to have an appointment at noon. I booked the appointment and within the next hour we were on our way to Tooele!

After a quick drive to Tooele County Airport, we were led to a room where they showed us a quick video explaining our jump and the waiver that we would be signing. That video almost changed my mind about going. They sure know how to scare you about all the things that could go wrong. They showed ambulances taking people away and the possibility of death and wills and what not... I don't know about Matt but I was a little shook up, but that didn't stop us!!

We were so excited to go and then we had weather delay. I dont know what it is but whenever i do something that deals with a plane i ALWAYS have a delay of some sort. We ended up not even being able to jump until about 4:00 they suited us up.

We finally were loaded into the tiny airplane and as we were climbing to the height we were jumping at I started to get a little nervous and was getting scared I wouldnt remember the things I had to do.

We had someone attached to our back of course but we had 3 rules that we had to do ourselves. 1. Breath 2. Bellybutton 3. Banana

These rules are for when take the leap of faith and jump from the plane 13000 feet in the air. Breath through your teeth, jump bellybutton first with your head back and arch your back, sounds easy enough, right?! Matt did awesome and almost remembered everything he had to do. Me on the other hand, I was told I had perfect form, but then I watched the video of me and apparently I thought it was a race to get down since I was kicking me feet after we jumped. It must have been panic mode or something!

Matt and Fish Flying

Me and Phil finishing off our backflip out of the plane

You really don't know what to expect when you're plummeting to your death but you cant breath at all with the wind coming so fast. Im sure I looked terrified in the video/pictures but it actually was one of my favorite experiences ever! I'd do it all over again! We had to get the package with video and pictures since you only skydiving your first time once!! Just remember...the pictures/videos are not the most flattering!

Us with our awesome instructors

We'll have to post the videos of us later since its not working!

Afterwards we went to dinner with my mom to Cheesecake Factory...sooo good! We didnt have a chance to change or anything so Im sure we looked a little rough around the edges :)

Im so happy Matt had fun on his birthday and we were able to do something spontaneous together! I think we're going to start a tradition for his birthday to try something he's never done before!

Happy Birthday Matt, I love you!!!

2009-07-11T17:40:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been an exciting couple of months for me and my significant other/wife. Yes, this is Matt writing for our blog. I'm not really sure that anyone reads this stuff anyways, so I will tell stories and maybe I'll make some stuff up to make them seem more interesting!

Me and Crystal went with my family up to Timpanogos recently. Our tour guide had a crazy imagination. he kept seeing things in the rocks and the stalactites and stalagmites and telling us to try and find the things that he was seeing. He was all like: "...and over here you will see a formation that looks like a bear, can you see it?" and I was like: "what is this guy on?" Then he was saying something about how he saw a stalactite that looked like Abraham Lincoln and I decided that he needs to get out more often. I don't think being in caves all day is good for these people, they're going to get outside the caves some day and start looking at moles on peoples' faces and tell those people that their mole reminds them of a Ferrari. That would be an awkward situation for everyone. Here are some of the pictures of the cave:

Alright, so we only took two pictures of the cave, but honestly, who is going to want to look at a bunch of cave pictures anyways? You didn't come to our blog to look at caves did you? Well if you did, then go to a website with caves or something. Try www.IHeartCavePhotography.com or something, I don't know.

We also went on a trip to Nebraska last weekend to celebrate the Fourth of July with people who really know how to celebrate. . . Nebraskans!!! There is nothing more American than a place where you can buy the kinds of fireworks that can leave you without important body parts or the ability to see!

But first let's talk about Denver International Airport, or as I like to call it: "The Black Hole for Travelers" Nothing good has ever come out of that place. Whenever people talk about being delayed on a flight I always want to butt into the conversation and be like, "So you've been to Denver International, huh?" We were delayed going into Denver and missed our flight that was going to the happiest place on earth (Omaha). We ended up staying in Denver for 12 hours that night and waiting for the next flight to Omaha, because apparently no one in Denver wants to go to Nebraska past 7:30 P.M. Maybe they don't understand how much of a party Nebraska is after dark.

And this next part of the blog is dedicated to my newfound hatred for Frontier Airlines, so if you don't like listening to complaining, skip to the next paragraph. I have never been so poorly treated by a company in my life. It wasn't the weather delay that made me upset, it was Frontier's complete lack of customer service and hospitality during our travel with them, and just when I thought they couldn't screw up one more thing, they send us to Omaha without our bags. Frontier, I am reserving a special place for you on my list!!! You are on notice, my friends. Til the day I die, I will avoid you and Denver!

Okay, so we finally get to Waverly, Nebraska Where we met up with my brother Casey, my nephew Caden and my sister-in-law Deb.

If Waverly, Nebraska doesn't sound like a very exciting place to you, keep in mind that the fireworks sold there are a step below TNT!!! I think that if the U.S. Military ever runs out of good weapons, they could always go to Waverly to pick up some stuff that is just as deadly.

We had a great time in Nebraska, and we are glad that we have Casey, Deb and Caden in our lives! Finally, to quote Jim Gaffigan who basically sums up our experience in Nebraska:

"Normally I wouldn't eat a steak, a hamburger and a bratwurst but it is the Fourth of July, and I'm going to the energy if I'm going to start blowing crap up. It's what the founding fathers would want."

Wedding pictures...and lots of them!

2009-05-09T11:58:00.000-07:00

So I'm finally getting around to posting wedding pictures...there were too many to pick from, so prepare yourselves for a long post!

Me and the girls!

Me and Matt with his new family...well most of them!

I just thought this one was funny...she can barely reach him!

Me and all of the Averetts!

Pretty Temple

The happy newly weds

The photography kept joking that Matt should be in G.Q. magazine with this face. I have to say that I agree!

Hes so romantic

We had to throw in a little Zoolander

Happiest day of our lives!

Good ol' California

2009-04-25T10:45:00.000-07:00

So about a month ago matt was rewarded a trip through his work, AT&T, to the St.Regis Monarch Beach resort. Its was AMAZING. Basically like a second honeymoon! The trip was givin to about 400 AT&T employees who had outstanding service or in the top 1% of sales. Matt happened to be in the 1% of sales so they sent us away for a 3 day stay, all paid for by AT&T in beautiful, sunny California. The hotel first off was awesome. We had to go to welcome dinner for all the employees so didnt have much time to see anything. During the dinner they had karaoke. Matt decided to step out of his comfort zone and sing me a little something. He chose the song "Joker" by the Steve Miller Band. It was great, he even came down off the stage and sang to me during the last part...spot light and everything. The best part was he was the ONLY sober person who got up to sing, so he didnt have any excuse for being bad ;)

On the 2nd day of the trip we got to choose an activity to do. They had dolphin safari, whale watching, golfing, and all sorts of stuff. We got stuck with a day at leisure with your own rental car since we booked too late. Well turns out, it worked out perfectly! We thought we'd get a ford focus or something but nope, they stuck us in a Mercedes on at&ts tab. We had so much fun driving up the coast. We made our way up to Long Beach and I took Matt to one of my favorite restaurants...BUBBA GUMPS! If you havent ever been to one i suggest you find one and get there right away. Matt loved it and was very impressed! Its based on the movie Forrest Gump and has the movie playing all day and is just filled with pictures from the movie and other fun memorabilia! Afterwards we had some time to kill before we had to head back to the hotel and return the car. We dont know California at all but we knew the Queen Mary was right across the bridge. We ended up going there for a little bit and toured a Russian submarine that was next to the Queen Mary. Matt is so interested in this type of stuff since he grew up on war movies so he was in heaven. It was actually pretty interesting. We got to talk to an old Navy guy who was on an American sub during the Korean War. It was fun to listen to some of the stories and how the subs work.

The 3rd day we went to Disney Land! It was fun but super crowed since it was spring break, so we only ended up going on a few rides. Matt and I are going to Disney World with my family in a year and it got me even more excited for that!!!

Im so proud of Matt for working so hard and earning this trip his first year at AT&T. I know it wasnt easy, but hopefully we can go again next year and have even more fun memories!! Heres a few pictures of our adventures...

I couldnt leave out the picture of Matt with "The Duke" at the John Wayne airport...he searched the airport to find this statue since he knew it had to be there...bless his heart :)

One month--and finally honeymoon pics!

2009-04-06T21:51:00.000-07:00

Thats right...Matt and I have already been married one month today. It feels like yesterday (most of you are probably thinking it basically was yesterday, but hey, its all new to me!). Matt was so sweet and cooked me dinner tonight while I was working. Hes actually not too bad in the kitchen, but i guess you cant go wrong with a crock pot dinner ;) We love being marriage!

So much happened in march that I'm not even going to attempt to fit it all in one blog, so ill break it up a little bit over the week for ya. We were married March 6th and it was an amazing day, i have no complaints! That next morning we were lucky enough to leave the freezing snow and head to sunny Mexico! We absolutely loved it there. Matt served his mission in Mexico so going back there and being around that culture took him back to his mission days. We stayed in Playa del Carmen, about 30 minutes south of Cancun. It was so pretty there, id love to live there, but i wouldn't survive, so ill settle for vacations there :) Matt and I were able to do some fun things while in Mexico. We went jet skiing in the ocean, which i got a little nervous when we went over dark water since everything else was crystal clear, but other than that it was awesome! One day we decided to do an adventure tour which took us into the jungle and we went repelling, we went on a zip line, and last but not least, snorkeling in the cenotes...Matt's favorite activity by far! Cenotes are caves in Mexico filled with fresh water that is so clear you can see the bottom of that cave, it was gorgeous! Here's a few pictures of our favorite things....

Our lovely resort...rooms weren't the best but the food was to die for!! yum!!

Every night we would walk around the markets they have and we saw these moneys. One jumped on my head when i wasn't looking and freaked me out, Matt still laughs about it like it just happened!

Hanging out on the beach at night

Visiting Tulum ruins...these ruins were on the cliff of the ocean, it was beautiful. I didn't get a good picture of the cliff and ocean, but these will do!

...ZIP LINE...

Last of all, Matt's favorite by far. I couldn't get this kid outta the water...

That's all for now, it was long, I'm sorry, but i hope some enjoyed! And wedding pictures are on their way, so hopefully you'll get a post for that soon!!

Changes!!

2009-04-06T16:22:00.000-07:00

Matt and I will be switching our blog name here shortly (probably the end of the week) to mattandcrystalaverett.blogspot.com

Tag..im it!

2009-02-10T23:19:00.000-08:00

Use the letter of your first name to answer the questions! Enjoy!

1. What is your name: Crystal

2. A four Letter Word: Cake

3. A boy's Name: Christopher

4. A girl's Name: Catherine

5. An occupation: Chef

6. A color: Charcoal

7. Something you wear: Coat

8. A food: Carrot

9. Something found in the bathroom: Curtain

10. A place: Chicago

11. A reason for being late: Car trouble

12. Something you shout: CRAP!

13. A movie title: Cinderella

14. Something you drink: chocolate milk

15. A musical group: Cartel

16. An animal: Cougar

17. A street name: Court St

18. A type of car: Cadillac

19. The title of a song: California Dreamin- The Beachboys

20. Candy: Crunch Bar

Tagged:

Whoever is up for the challange :)

the best of the best

2009-02-01T14:44:00.000-08:00

We finally got some of our engagement pictures back this weekend, im so glad i dont have to wait any longer!! Here are a few of the pictures that i liked best...let me know what you think!!

Hes so stinkin cute, I just love him :)

all ready behind

2009-01-18T13:58:00.001-08:00

This New Years resolution has clearly got off to a great start...okay, I lied, I'm still stuck in my bad habit of not updating my blog. But to catch you up Matt and I moved him into our new condo January 1st. It was a great way to kick off the new year! We absolutely love it, its just the right size for the two of us. I cant wait til i get to move all of my stuff in, and that only less than 7 weeks away!! Once we get all settled in I'll be sure to post pictures for those who are care!

About a week ago Matt and I took our engagement pictures! He already knows that I can get stressed out pretty easily so he was prepared for the worst, and its a good thing! Here's the story of my memorable day...

It got off to a great start. We had a ton of errands to run and reception halls to check out before we were supposed to go to Salt Lake for pictures. Well i woke up early to get ready so that I didn't feel rushed for anything. It was about a half hour before we had our first appointment and everything was great, hair done, clothes on, and makeup on. For some reason I felt like i should paint my nails. New clothes for engagement picture + red finger nail polish that wont open=BAD COMBINATION! I couldn't open the bottle and Matt had just put lotion on his face so his hands were slick so he couldn't open the bottle either. I decided to run the lid under hot water since that has worked for me in the past. Still nothing. My next genius idea wasn't so genius. I hit the lid against my counter a few times and on the last hit the bottle broke causing red finger nail polish to go EVERYWHERE! I think i went into shock, i just stood there. I tried so hard not to cry but with my hands stained red and nail polish on my new clothes i couldn't help but think that the worst had happened. To make a long story short, we cancelled the reception appointments, i had to redo my makeup, buy another shirt for pictures, and figure out a way to get the paint off my hands! Everything turned out great, Matt always has a way to calm me down and we love our pictures! So far we've only seen one picture, but here it is, we hope you like it just as much as we do!

If you'd like to see the start of our video its on heidiadamsvideography.blogspot.com. She did an amazing job as well!

A well needed update!

2008-11-20T21:46:00.001-08:00

I honestly don't have a good excuse for not posting anything in who knows how long, my life has been PLENTY busy! Here's an update since November on whats been going on in my life!

First of all, and the most important, as of November 15 my wonderful boyfriend, Matt, asked me to marry him and of course I said yes!! Here's the story of how it happened.

In order for the story to be cute I need to fill ya in on how this came about. On our first actual date he came to pick me up and asked where I wanted to eat. I didn't want to lie to him, and all i honestly wanted was my McDonald's cheeseburger! I think it sort of took him by surprised, because he was thinking P.F. Chang's,but he didn't complain, .95 cent meal, I'm so cheap! We went to pick up the food and to make it some what special he decided we should go eat somewhere other than the car or McDonald's. We decided to hop the fence at UVU and sit on the bleachers. For some reason he just loved this and it quickly became his most memorable date of ours.

After we had been dating a while we were talking about getting married and he knew that if he asked me that I wanted it to be a surprise (maybe the fact I listed off places that would give it away didn't help :)). Him being the genius he is thought he would try to throw me off. November 14 he decided to take me to a nice dinner at temple square and then a carriage ride along with his cousin and his wife.

We then left to come home...still no ring.

The next night we had no plans except to go to his friends wedding reception, I sure didn't think it was going to happen this night...but I was wrong! After the reception he dropped me off at the mall to meet up with his cousin since she said she needed help shopping...LIE! It was all just a set up so he had to time get everything ready. After the mall she made up some story why we had to go to the schools parking lot, I was in no rush to go anywhere so I let her drag me along. Well when we got to the school we drove up to the same little bleachers we had our first date on and in the center of the filed was Matt standing by a table, dinner for two, with lights making a pathway for me to follow. I'm sure I don't need to write out the rest, you all know what happens :)

It was the perfect surprise! He did pretty good for thinking it up all by himself!!

Just a little update...

2008-09-03T22:13:00.000-07:00

Life has been changin so much the past couple of weeks, I can hardly keep up! I recently started school (Im by no means taking a heavy load, but my math class is so tough, its enough to keep me busy) AND I started my new job this week!! Im working at an insurance office as a customer service representative. Its really hard right now because I know absolutely nothing about insurance, but Im slowly learning and hopefully soon I can work with customers on my own! I feel as if my brain is on overload with all the new terminology and computer programs Im working with, hopefully it wont last too much longer!

Welcome to the "Real World" Crystal!!

Tagged...again.

2008-08-27T14:01:00.000-07:00

4 things I like about my husband....this doesn't apply to me, so we'll do future husband :)
1) Easy to carry on a conversation with
2) Motivated and hard working
3) Understanding
4) Adventurous

4 movies I would watch more than once...
1) What Happens in Vegas
2) The Holiday
3) Annapolis
4) Anchor Man

4 TV shows I watch....
1) F.R.I.E.N.D.S
2) Prison Break
3) The Hills
4) Shark week, when its on!

4 places I have been...
1) Paris
2) Caribbean
3) Italy
4) Switzerland

4 places I would like to go...
1) Australia
2) England
3) Greece
4) New Zealand

4 People who email me regularly....
1) Mike
2) My Dad
3) Athena
4) Whitney

4 things I like to eat....
1) Chips and Salsa
2) Cabo Grill Burritos
3) Milk shakes or Ice cream
4) Asparagus, its random, but delicious!

4 things I'm looking forward to in the coming year...
1) Getting to know my new roommates
2) Starting school, it means I'm closer to being done :)
3) Vacations...hopefully to Hawaii!
4) Carrie Underwood concert!!!

4 people I tag
1) Ashley Henry
2) Alia
3) Athena
4) Anyone else who wants to :)

27 Dresses...Here I come!

2008-08-23T09:35:00.000-07:00

On August 14th, my old roommate, Amanda, and one of my best friends, got married in the Manti Temple! Her and her husband, Marshall, are one of the cutest and happiest couples I have ever seen. I was lucky enough to be her roommate while they dated, so I know Marshall pretty good! They fit together so well, its almost scary! It was so good to go to Manti and be there when she got out of the temple. She just glowed, and I have never seen her so happy! The next day we drove to Vernal,Ut where she was having her reception. It was so cold there, a lot of the bridesmaids gave up and put sweaters on over our dresses...we were desperate :) But it was a great weekend and you could not ask for anything better!Amanda, I love you and I hope you and Marshall have a wonderful, happy life....and you better come visit!!!

Half of the bridesmaids, we're still missing a lot!

Athena and I outside of the Manti Temple

me and my bestie at the breakfast before going to the temple

ashley, me, whitney, and amy freezing at the reception

I love vacations!

2008-08-18T17:15:00.000-07:00

I LOVE vacations. Actually, my whole summer feels like a vacation, but the first week of August, my family and I attended our annual Wilson Family Reunion!! I look forward to these every year! This year it was in Lincoln City, Oregon and was SO much fun. There were around 89 of us there this year, so it made to be a fun week! My aunts get pretty into it and plan a lot of things for the whole family to do together. A few of my favorite things from the week were....

1. Seeing my family...they are pretty amazing and I love them all!

2. The Wilson Family Sand Castle Competition...we draw a lot of attention to ourselves during this event, and this is why... :)

3. Playing on the beach with my nieces and nephews! 4. WHALE WATCHING!

5. Movie night with the kids :)

Ok, so I could go on and on so I'll spare you all the time...hope you all are having an amazing summer!!

Tagged

2008-08-08T21:18:00.000-07:00

So I haven't written on this thing for over a month, but I thought I'd break the silence since Jenna tagged me, so here I go...

Rules: list 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 current goals, 3 current obsessions, and 3 random facts about your self. Then tag at least 5 people at the end.

3 joys:
Being with my family, cause it doesnt happen often
Good shopping days
Playing outside, especially boating, that always brings joy to my life

3 fears:
Being in the dark outside at night...my mind goes wild and Im convinced SOMETHING will get me
Losing someone I love
and spiders...i have a lot of fears, but those are the top.

3 current goals:
finish the Book of Mormon by myself for the first time
get all my classes finished so I can apply for Radiology, and also be considered an in-state student!
Get a job...ha.

3 current obsessions:
Kickboxing classes at Golds Gym
Tannin with Ashley by the pool
Milkshakes...anywhere, anytime!

3 random facts about me:
I'm an identical twin, but most already know that.
I color categorize my skittles when i eat them and have one of each color with every handful
I watch Friends every night before i go to bed

I tag...Elise, Valynn, Kimberly, Suzy and Lana

The Journey Begins....

2008-06-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was a bitter sweet day for me and my family. My little brother, Michael, went into the MTC. He'll be serving his mission in the Bolivia, Santa Cruz mission. I've never had to drop anyone off there and say goodbye for 2 years before, but oh my goodness, im glad he's the only boy!! I dont think i could be able to handle it again. I lost it when we sang Called To Serve and then everytime the speakers would remind us that shortly the missionaries would walk out one door and families out the other door. Im so proud of my little brother though. He was actually pretty lucky, he entered the MTC the same day, same time as one of our cousins, so we got to say goodbye to both of them! Atleast they had eachother for the first bit in the MTC, it made us feel better atleast! I'll miss him so much though, he's going to be a spoiled missionary with all his sisters and mom sending him stuff he probably wont even want :) Good luck Mike, I love you!

He's Offical!

This picture is for my niece, kaitlyn, he's pointing to Miley Cyrus :)The last wave before the missionaries got on the bus to head to the MTC

Sunshine and Summertime

2008-06-23T20:25:00.000-07:00

Summer and winter are my two favorite seasons, yes...one extreme to the other. Its FINALLY summer here in Utah and I'm loving every second of it. I saw on the news last Wednesday what the weather was going to be like and Saturday was supposed to be hot! So, last Saturday me and a group of friends all went to a water park in Provo called 7 peaks and then to a comedy club that's a lot like Who's Line is it Anyways? It was a blast. We decided it'd be fun to splurge a little because it was my friend Whitney's birthday the day before, so we didn't feel bad spending a little extra money :) Saturday turned out to be a very hot hot day, so it was the perfect solution to the hotness!!! Hope you had a great birthday Whit! I love ya!

Better Late Than Never

2008-06-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

I know this post is a little late, but I figured it'd

make a good post for the few people who read my blog :) Around when school got out for the summer my friends, Ashley, Athena, and Whitney, and I all took a girls road trip to CALIFORNIA! It was a trip well needed since i spent most of my time in the anatomy lab! We drove to Anaheim where we stayed in a very questionable hotel, but we discovered our new favorite restaurant...bubba gumps! Inside of it is all about the movie Forest Gump and was decorated very cute! If you havent had the pleasure eating here, i highly recommend it!

We then went to the New Port Temple for a night just to walk around since it is one of my favorite temples and we were so close so we had to go! We went to huntington beach the next day and got very lucky cause the place was basically empty cause of bad weather, but we were from utah and we were determined to go to the beach, so we did! It actually turned out great! But the best part of the trip was the day at DISNEYLAND! Anyone who knows me can tell you i absolutely love theme parks, its just so hard not to have fun there! Anyways, here are a few pictures of the trip!

Beautiful Newport Temple Enjoying the beach

Me and Whitney playing in the FREEZING ocean

**DISNEYLAND**

Finally figured this thing out :)

2008-01-15T23:32:00.000-08:00

So this is all new to me, and i dont really know what im doing, but thanks to the help of my sisters, they showed me how to actually work this thing! I dont have any kids, no husband (or boyfriend for that matter), so theres not too many exciting stories i have to share like everyone else, so...sorry. BUT...Utah life can get pretty exciting, and being a college student, well lets face it, life doesn't get much better than that!!