The Weekend

It all started on saturday morning. Nate had a really busy schedule that day and so he got up early to shower and get ready. I was still asleep and when he woke me up he told me that my dad had called and said that my step grandpa (Bubba) had passed away. I didn't know what to say. I was sad but at the same time he was so sick and couldn't do much that it was almost a relief that he wasn't going to have to suffer anymore. So we went about the rest of our day and i called to talk to my dad and make sure everyone was ok and wanted to let my stepmom know i loved her and was thinking about her. Then, in the afternoon after Nate's concert he had to play in, we packed our bags up really quick and called dad and told him we were coming over for a few days for support and just to be there for anything that they would need help with.

So we got there about 8 oclock that night and had dinner with them and just hung out with the family all weekend. On sunday, Mom, Mimi, and uncle Eric had to go to the funeral home to make the arrangements in Cortez and so everyone went out there and we had lunch and played games and talked and just enjoyed each others company. There was some family there that i hadn't met yet so that was nice.

They decided that they were going to have a viewing Tuesday night and then the funeral was going to be on Wednesday the 27th at 10am. We wished we could have stayed for most of the week and been able to go to all the different things but we just did what we could. We hope they know we wanted to be there. I personally didn't know him very well but i thought he was a good man and he will be missed very much.

Well, we came back on Monday night after we saw other family and just did our thing on monday. we were sad to leave but nate had to get back to classes and i had to get back to work. so we got home around 8 oclock and pretty much just went straight to bed. During the night though, neither of us got much sleep. Nate kept waking up with his back hurting him and then he also got a sore throat in the middle of the night too so when we woke up, he took some nyquil and went back to sleep and just stayed home all day tuesday. I felt so bad for him but i made sure he had what he needed. I had to take some homework to school for him but i was glad he also go the rest he needed. he is still home today but i think he will feel better by the afternoon and maybe go to school. other than that we are just getting closer and more finalized with moving . The concerts and everything that nate was in on saturday went really well too. It was a high school honor band weekend at the college and he was suppose to help and he even played in a brass quintet with some faculty members which was really awesome for him. Other than that, we are just getting through life and loving it.

Date Night

Friday night was date night for us. We are really bad at it but we finally went out. We went bowling and had alot of fun. Nate won by just a little bit and we have been so use to bowling on the Wii and we realized it was alot different but also realized it helps a little bit. I probably would have won if I had found a lighter ball earlier in the game. Then we went back home and watched a new movied called Stardust. It was a little wierd but it had its funny moments and we enjoyed it. It was like a more fairytail story of the Princess Bride and had witches and things. We would recommend it.

We also went to a choir concert that the jazz band performed at and that went nice. I got it on our video camera so I won't be able to put a clip on here but I will try to get one soon. This week is going to be really busy for Nate with an Honor Band that is going on at the college. He has two concerts and since he works for the band director he is going to be busy doing what the director wants him to do. I'm sure he will like it though. He was able to take some time off school and go and be a student director for a middle school band in La Jara. He came home and told me that he absolutely loved it and can't wait until he will do it for a living. That makes me happy to know he is going to like what he plans on doing. He was also told by some of his teachers how much they like him, how great he is, and how much he will be missed next year after we move. I'm proud of him.

Just Another Day in Paradise

Well, the highlight for us was that Brooke did miss a day of work this week. She was not feeling very good and had a cold so she stayed home all day Wednesday to recooperate. She found out she was very grateful for Nyquil. Luckily, Nate didn't get sick because of it. That night that she did get sick was the night that Nate had to play in the pep band at a basketball game. Adams State has a pretty good basketball team so Brooke usually goes to the games with him and cheers on the team. We enjoy doing that. Then on Sunday, we had stake conference and it was so good. The speakers did a good job and we could feel the spirit there so strong. They talked about families alot and it just makes us more and more excited for when we can start our own family. Then later that night, our friends invited us over to dinner and we got to play with their kids and had some good food. We enjoy going over and seeing the Defaye's. They're awesome.
We also have started to enjoy and religiously watch American Idol. Brooke's family loves it and so its fun for us to get involved in it too. Last night, we even skipped the Office so that we could watch the two hour episode, and that says alot because we absolutely love that show. The only real new thing we have is that we are figuring out our trip to Arizona for Spring Break. We are looking forward to seeing everyone in Arizona and checking out Flagstaff a little bit. The fact that we are moving makes us more and more excited everyday.
Nate also has a concert coming up this weekend. The faculty at the college in the music department put on a concert and Nate has been asked to play in a brass quintet for the concert. He says the rehearsals are going good and he is also glad because he is going to have the same people help him play for his junior recital later this semester. By the way, if you want to or if you are in the area, Nate's junior recital is on April 19 at 2pm. Its one of his big requirements to graduate. Other than that, life is just normal. We love and miss our family.

Jazz it up!

So there wasn't too many exciting things that happened this week. We just had our little snow trip and went back to life as normal.

The highlights would have to be that Brooke participated in the flute choir at the school with a few other students. It was only a rehearsal but we are hoping to be able to play on a concert here in a month or two. That was Wednesday night. Then, Friday night came around and Nate had to go to a basketball game to play in the pep band. Both the girls and the boys games went into over time and the boys game was really intense. We had fun cheering for Adams State and didn't get home until almost 11 o'clock. It was a blast though. Then the next night was the completion of the Jazz Fest that they had at the school. The jazz band, which Nate is in, played a concert that night and did such a great job. They even had a guest singer come and sing two of her own songs with them. It was so good. Afterwards, the jazz instructor invited everyone out to his house for a little party/get together and we just ate and talked and hung out. It had some very funny moments and it was nice to get out and be with other people too.

Other than that, nothing else is too exciting. Hope you all are having a good week!

Winter Wonderland

Ok, so not so much a wonderland, but it definately was blizzardy this weekend. We decided to go to Durango for a vacation getaway and also because it was our mom's birthday and so it was alot of fun to go over there and see them and do the whole birthday party with them. The not so fun part of our weekend though was the drive home. We found out about this huge snow storm that was suppose to last for two days on Saturday night and we thought we would leave in enough time to miss it on Sunday. That however was not the case. There was already a ton of snow on the road when we left and Brooke was scared to drive on it. It took us two hours to get from Durango to Pagosa Springs which is only suppose to take an hour and then when we got there it was really dark outside and then the roads got to be so bad that we stayed the night in Pagosa Springs at a hotel and thought maybe it might be plowed through enough in the morning. So we had a nice night, but then morning came.

We woke up and had breakfast and got all packed up and found out that the pass we had to go over was closed and we had to check out of the hotel and couldn't really stay there so we either had the choice to go back to Durango and wait out the storm at our Dad's house or we could go down through New Mexico and back around and try to beat the snow that way. Nate was feeling very bold about the fact we could make it through the snow and everything through NM. So, we got in the car and drove for 5 hours. Throughout these 5 hours though, we were told that one of the other passes was closed as well so we kept driving and figured out another road we could go down and when we got about 30 miles away from the border to Colorado, the highway was closed all the way to the Colorado state line. We just could not get a break. It was so bad. So we went to a town about 30 miles away called Taos where we stayed the night there too because basically every road going to Colorado was closed. So we checked into the hotel room thanks to Dad and then went and washed some of our clothes at the laundromat because we only had enough clothes for 2 days. We passed the time playing a game together and so that was fun. Then we went back to the hotel and enjoyed the hot tub that they had and then watched tv and went to bed.

Now it is Tuesday afternoon and we finally got back to Alamosa around 1 oclock. The roads cleared up this morning and we were able to get over the border without any problems. We got home and took our stuff inside and then grabed a quick bite to eat and then life went back to normal. Nate went to classes and Brooke went to work. It was a very exciting and event filled weekend. We are very happy to be home but we decided its just one of those stories that we will eventually share with our kids and just look back and laugh at it. We probably won't be driving anywhere for a while now.

School and news

Well, classes have started for Nate again. He actually has a very easy load of classes this semester. Brooke is really jealous. She is still working everyday as a Receptionist at a Title company and Law firm. It keeps her pretty busy and pays well. Can't ask for much more. Nate is taking mostly music classes right now and then he has a few different things he is playing for here soon. We are taking a trip with the jazz band to Colorado Springs this week on Thursday so that they can play for the conference and then Brooke will just get to watch them. She is excited for the day off and it will be a good experience for Nate.

Other exciting things for us, our new big news, is that we are planning on moving back to Arizona later this year. We will be moving to Flagstaff where Nate will plan on finishing school there. We plan on living in the dorms on campus and we are pretty excited for it. We figured it would be easier for Nate to finish off school there so that when he is finished, he is already certified to teach in Arizona, which is where he wants to teach. We are really looking forward to it and hope all goes well with that.

The First

Happy New Year everybody!! Hope you all had a very wonderful holiday season. We certainly enjoyed our first Christmas together. We enjoyed figuring out what to buy for each other and then wrapping it before they found out. It hasn’t been too hectic around here though. Since Nate has a month’s break from school, he is really enjoying his time off, but we are glad that he is one semester closer to graduating. His finals went pretty good and all his concerts were awesome. We are excited for him.
After the stress of finals was over, Nate then got a new stress of making sure the ward Christmas program would be ready. We had to put in a few rehearsals in during the week but Nate got many compliments from the members of our ward after it was over. Brooke played her flute on one of the songs and the whole program turned out amazing. Now Nate can put off that stress until next year again. He needs to get the choir together again to sing a piece for our ward conference on the 13th, so he hopes to be able to pull that off. Brooke’s job is still going good. Title insurance is definitely confusing but it is a good thing to learn. She is keeping busy and feels more comfortable there. There isn’t much else that is keeping her too busy.
Christmas was wonderful for us. Brooke’s boss was nice enough to take everyone and their spouses out to a nice prime rib dinner and had a white elephant gift exchange there. On top of all that every employee got a Christmas bonus; that was definitely a nice gift! Then we went to Brooke’s dad’s house in Durango and stayed there for a few days with them and spent Christmas day at her Aunt Cindy’s house where 22 people hung out, played games and the guys shot clay pigeons in the afternoon and we enjoyed some amazing food. Our cousin and uncle came in from out of town and it was nice to see them along with everyone else.
New Year’s Eve though wasn’t as exciting for us though, sad to say. We had another married couple with a baby boy come and we played games and chatted and snacked on goodies. It was a lot of fun but they had to get home to get the little boy to bed so we just went to Blockbuster and watched a movie and then spent the whole next day doing nothing. It was a nice break to add to Christmas.
Another cool thing we were able to do this month was attend a baptism for an older lady. Brooke played the piano and Nate led the music. It was the sweetest thing. We really enjoyed that and hope we will be able to do it again. Well, other than the fact that it is really cold here (-23° the other day) and we are deeply disappointed that there isn’t more snow, we are loving life and our time together.