The Gottwalds

My Pregnancy in Photos

2011-06-09T06:28:00.000-07:00

So I think I am finally up to date on my blog, and now can blog about this little guy when he arrives.... hopefully today because I have been in labor all night!!!

Well here is my pregnancy in Photos!! Hope to welcome this little bundle of boy today!!!

So one Sunday morning I was walking to church and totally tripped on the pavement and landed on my belly, so here I am in the OB emergency room, checking on the little guy. Turns out he was just happy as a clam, but had to make sure, just in case, right!

I was sleeping in this photo when Nick snapped the pic.

40 Weeks and ready!

Nick's 30th Birthday

2011-06-09T06:16:00.000-07:00

Nick turned 30!!

Sporting his new shirt!
It is tradition that we go to Olive Garden on Nick's birthday's. It is not that he loves Olive Garden it has just happened to work out that way and now it is tradition!

Since my twin brother and sister are only one day younger than nick, we all got together and celebrated their birthdays with cake and ice cream!

Yay for turning 30 birthday kids!!
Nick blowing out his candle!!

Trip to Arizona... The final hooray!!!

2011-06-09T06:09:00.000-07:00

So Nick and I were able to take one last mini vacation, before our little guy gets here. We took a trip to Scottsdale Arizona. It was a fun, and much needed vacation!

Gotta love swimming when pregnant!

My Baby Shower

2011-06-09T06:06:00.000-07:00

My sister's threw me a pretty awesome baby shower! It was fun to see old friends and family. The food was delicious and the decor- so cute, thanks to my wonderful sisters!!

The Decor
Me 7 months pregnant

The guests

Natalie, Holly and Felix

Sister Birthday Breakfast

2011-06-08T22:12:00.000-07:00

So my sister's and I get together and celebrate each other's birthday by taking them out to breakfast. It is a fun time to catch up and get together just as girls, and Jack gets to see his favorite aunts too!!

Kimmy's birthday!

At Ruth's Diner

Karen, Vicki and Amy's Birthday! It is a rare occasion to have Amy with us for a birthday breakfast, so we were especially excited to have her in town and on her actual birthday too!

At the Original Pancake House

Dru got to come along to this one too! He is so cute!

My Golden Birthday!!!

2011-06-08T15:22:00.000-07:00

So I turned 28 on the 28th of December, so I was able to celebrate my golden birthday, and boy was it golden. Nick did a wonderful job in making my day special! I usually go snowboarding on my birthday, but since I am pregnant that wasn't an option, but we found lots of things to do instead.

To start of the day, we went to the Living Planet Aquarium. I love aquatic life, but I don't like to eat it. So it was a perfect start to the day.

We had a little party with a smokin' birthday cake!

Jen and Adam

Kim and Clayton

Jolynn

My cute headwrap that my sister made for me!

Dinner at Tony Burgers (the best hamburger around)!

Sister breakfast at the Original Pancake House.

It was the best birthday I have had in a while, all thanks to the one I love the most-

my Nicholas!

December 2010

2011-06-07T20:03:00.000-07:00

We had Christmas with the Gochnour's this year and had a wonderful Christmas feast. Kimmy's potatoes were the best!

4 months pregnant

Halloween 2010

2011-06-06T17:19:00.001-07:00

Halloween Festivities

Natalie's pumpkin

Nick's evil pumpkin!

Nick and I were Chefs. We were chefs last year too, but we were in D.C. so we just decided to go with the easy out and were them again. But I added the lovely locks to this year's costume.

Superman and Lois Lane

aka

Adam and Jennifer

The Corpse Bride

aka

Karen

Joker and Old Grammie

aka

Clayton and Kimmy

Summer 2010 trips

2011-06-06T08:48:00.000-07:00

So I haven't blogged like in forever, so this is just an overview of the trips we went on this last summer/fall!

Last fall we decided to go hike timpanogos caves, but when we got up there all the tours were booked, so we just drove up the canyon and found a nice little hike and we ended up at this lake.

In the spring we took a trip to Sundance for a weekend! We hiked and rode the chair lift to enjoy the beautiful scenery!

This is the roaring fire Nick made, he was very proud!!

We enjoyed a beautiful waterfall at the end of the hike.

Family Fun August 2010

2011-06-06T08:06:00.000-07:00

Here we are at my little sister's wedding reception, it is a little ironic that I didn't get any pictures of the bride and groom. It was a lovely day none the less!!

Sydney, Jack and Dante

More family fun at Kade's baby blessing!

All the men present.

Mom, Karen, Vicki and Jenni

The Happy family

Nick and Jack

Makaya and Jack in the Escalade (the favorite of the toys)!

Little Kade

Precious Gifts

2010-12-05T17:57:00.000-08:00

We are expecting a little package....... sent from heaven....... to arrive around June 10, 2011!

Nick's Graduation!!!

2010-05-06T12:30:00.000-07:00

My Graduate

All of Nick's hard work paid off, and now he is an Alumni of Brigham Young University!

Congratulations babe!!!

Good-Bye D.C.

2010-05-04T07:15:00.000-07:00

D.C. was a fun period of time in our lives and we are sad to say goodbye!!

Us in front of the Barlow Center (our home), our room was the window above Nick's hat!

Our last meal in D.C. had to be....
even though while were gone Five guys sprouted like hot cakes back in SLC!!!

Us at the D.C. temple lights, burrr it was cold!!

So beautiful!

Us on the way TO D.C. in the beetle.

Us on the way home FROM D.C. in the beetle (you can't even see out the back window!)

New addition to our Family!!!!

2010-04-29T15:11:00.001-07:00

The Chevy Malibu!!!

Adventures of D.C. Part 2

2010-03-08T06:40:00.000-08:00

We took an excursion to Ohio to see Jonathan and Mandie and baby Makaya! We went on a hike to this cave, and this was a pretty cool picture!

Makaya hanging out in the trunk!

Jeff(friend and colleague of Nick's) filming at work.

Hard at work.

Me at Ray's Hellburger in Arlington, I look kinda weird, The hamburgers are ridiculously large!

On a Sunday walk to FDR's memorial. (let's just say Nick was just more than excited to see this one)jk

Jefferson Memorial

View of the sun setting on the Potomac River. I ran this stretch of the river almost everyday!

The Metro

Tunnel down to the depths of the Metro.

Our Trip to the Zoo!

My favorite was probably this octopus.

It would have been that little baby gorilla, but that mom just wouldn't let us see it.

Let's just say that Eastern Market really does have the best French Toast in the World!!
Yumm!!

New York

2010-03-07T14:09:00.000-08:00

Our adventures in New York City!!!

This is us starting our journey to New York, we took the midnight Mega Bus to New York from D.C. It took about 5 hours of not the best sleep to reach our destination.

Times Square 5:00 a.m. All to ourselves!!! Just us and the lights!

Nick can't believe we are in New York!!! So excited!!

Me at the Today Show!

The weather man from the Today Show (weekend edition). We tried really hard to make it on camera, but to no avail. We did have a conversation with him though.

Atlas Shrugged....need I say more....

well for those of you who don't know Nick loves the book Atlas Shrugged and this definitely was on the to see list in New York!!

Not the best picture with Atlas.

Our friends Derrick and Melinda came from Boston to help make the trip more enjoyable. Derrick was a little under the weather, but he was a trooper especially walking through central park in the pouring rain/sleet.

The Guggenheim

Us trying to have good spirits at the Guggenheim.

Central Park....Rain!

Need I say more....

Bet you didn't know we are gummy bears!!

Me purchasing my $3.00 bag of cotton candy... I know it is ridiculous, but it was yellow and lemon.... delish!!

The Stone man in the subway!

Ground Zero

Yes that is the Statue of Liberty on my hat!
Brrrrr... it was cold on that Ferry!!!

Liberty

Derrick in the freezing cold on the Ferry.

For Derrick....

Empire State building

Nick and Derrick on top of the Empire State building.

We enjoyed you New York! Our stay was too short...... let us come visit you again!!!

Our D.C. Adventures!!! Part 1

2009-12-29T18:17:00.000-08:00

We ventured around the nation's capitol and this is what we found....

President Obama's motorcade-- we know you're in there!!!

We walked to Roosevelt's Island one Sunday afternoon!

The view from the Washington Monument

Inside the monument, we look great I know!!! It poured and poured and poured that day!

Nick at the Capitol overlooking the mall.

Vietnam war memorial

Nick and I at the Air and Space museum, can you tell which one is us?

The botanical gardens

The Lincoln memorial- the first attraction we saw in D.C.

We loved you D.C.!!!! We hope to go back soon!!!

Virginia Beach here we come!!

2009-12-29T17:47:00.000-08:00

Well... in October Nick and I had the Opportunity to go to Virginia Beach. It was pretty fun! We rented a side-by-side tandem bike and biked along the boardwalk. It was Nick's first time to the Atlantic Ocean, so we had to go get our feet wet!!!

It was super windy and the sand kept pelting us on our bare skin, but we enjoyed what we could!
Smiley

Do I dare?

Ooh!

The Atlantic

Our trip to Boston

2009-11-15T21:57:00.000-08:00

For Columbus Day weekend we took a trip up to Boston to visit our friends, Derrick and Melinda. We had such a great time. Before we left to Boston, everyone kept telling us "You'll just love Boston", and it turns out that-- We absolutely loved it!!!

Want some Fried Dough? ......Yes Please!!

The Freedom trail

We stopped by a market and this was classic, so I had to take a picture!!

We went up to Salem to celebrate the Halloween spirit. It was pretty crazy. There were lots of people dressed up.... you might have thought it was Halloween!

Nick got into some trouble while we were there, but luckily he wasn't in it for very long!!

We walked home from church and this was such a pretty view!

Nick at Boston Common Gardens!

We drove up to Walden pond and on our way there, we stopped by the Boston Temple.

The fall colors were so beautiful!

For this trip I had an eye for finding little creatures, this little toad was just on his merry way at the side of the trail.

This is the outline of Henry David Thoreau's house.

We went to a bay the last morning we were there, and I spotted this little guy!

Nick and Derrick having a political conversation, I love their pants!!

Halloween 2009 Festivites

2009-11-09T10:39:00.001-08:00

Happy Halloween

from Bakery Chef

Natalie Gottwald

This year I made our Halloween costumes... more out of necessity. Nick wanted me to make him an apron, and there was extra fabric left over, so I decided to make me one too!! Then I got the hat pattern off the Internet for free. So i just needed my mad sewing skills and we were ready for Halloween. Thanks to Nick for providing the smock!!

First we celebrated Halloween by going to a birthday/Halloween party for Matt's daughter, who just turned One, so cute!! Us with the teenagers (Ben and Tara Jean).

We carved pumpkins on the 30th with some friends, this is Nick's pumpkin. Turned out to be not so scary, more of a jolly little pumpkin.

I carved mine with the fall theme in mind, and then used it for our Halloween decor, since all of mine is in Utah. We also made pumpkin seeds- turns out I am not a big fan.

The Bakery chef slaved over these pumpkin cupcakes, they were delicious!!!

Then to finish off the evening we had a few friends over for dinner in a pumpkin!!! I make this recipe every year, but i think i will tweak the recipe more to my liking. We ended playing the card game Pit, and I only won once, so it was a little disappointing. Then we opened our Veranda and watched a million people walking to Georgetown, all decked out!! It was a very memorable Halloween.

Love, the Chef Gottwalds

4 G's

2009-10-22T08:34:00.000-07:00

For General Conference we went to beautiful West Virginia for the weekend. It was so much fun thanks to Mandie for taking care of all the details and for Melanie for doing all the food!!! We really owe them a lot, because they did all of the work!! We Love them!!

General Conference +the Gochnours + the Gottwalds+ the Gochnours= 4G's

Nick and little Jack petting a neighbor dog!

We went on a short bike ride in between sessions of Conference, too bad the bikes were kinda rusty, because I was really looking forward to it.

Nick striking a pose!

I love this picture, I look hilarious! We found some vines on a hike that we went on and decided to be Tarzan and Jane!!

Nick with his walking stick, Jonathan and John Jacob leading the pack!

It was a super steep hill, I felt bad for little Jack because he kept on falling, but he was a trooper!

My cute little niece Makaya!!

Handsome Nick

My color- Yellow-but sadly I broke the mallet:(

The game of croquet, I think it might be Nick's favorite game!

We had so much fun, catching up with John Jacob and Melanie and to see Jonathan, Mandie, and Makaya again!!!

Gettysburg Excursion

2009-10-21T10:17:00.000-07:00

On another rainy day, we ventured to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania!!

We learned all about the the 3 day battle, took a bus tour, ate at General Picketts all you can eat buffet, saw the famous Gettysburg Cyclorama, and went to Harper's Ferry!

Us starting our journey!

We are standing in front of a cannon used in the civil war.

Nick overlooking the battlefield

Me doing the same

The only statue of confederate soldiers in Gettysburg

Me on top of Little Round Top

Little Round Top

Harper's Ferry, where West Virginia,

Maryland and Virginia meet!

Us in the pouring rain at Harper's Ferry, trying to keep our spirits up!

Waiting for the bus, we had enough of the rain!!

Finished!!!!

2009-10-13T09:39:00.000-07:00

Yep, that is right, I finished the Last Harry Potter book yesterday!!! It has been a long journey, but worth it!! For the record..... I read the books first and then I watch the movies after. So in August Nick and I went to the 6th movie, then I was able to read the last book. Love it!! But my question is.... should Harry have been able to fly (without a broom of course, like Snape and Voldemort) because she hinted that his mom could??? ..... Interesting???

Good Friends and a relaxing weekend

2009-09-28T10:11:00.000-07:00

We went up to Baltimore, MD to Steve and Carrol's house(Nick's aunt and uncle who are very generous for letting us all stay there while they were gone), for a nice relaxing weekend. Derrick and Melinda drove all the way from Boston to meet us for some fun and we get to go visit them Memorial Day weekend in Boston!!

Mel making breakfast.

Chocolatepeanutbutterness

Some treats I made for the relaxing weekend.

We enjoyed ourselves, lounging in the hot tub, talking, and watching movies and eating yummy food. It was good to see the Call's!!

Philadelphia Excursion

2009-09-28T08:42:00.000-07:00

We were able to go visit Philadelphia and Valley Forge through the Washington Seminar program. It was pretty fun except for all the RAIN!!!! We stayed the night at a place called the Freedoms Foundation, they fed us well!!

They even welcomed us with this sign!! I thought it was cool!!

This was our tour guide for Valley Forge. It was pouring and guess who forgot their umbrella... yep, but fortunately Trent and Sara were able to be kind enough to let us borrow one of theirs. The guy in the blue umbrella was hilarious, the wind was just blowing his umbrella all over the place.

Look to the left of this picture there are like 5 people under one umbrella. Hilarious!! Let's just say by the end of the tour, we were miserable.

This is a picture of the buildings the soldiers stayed in, he said like a billion people fit in there and tons of people died because of all the uncleanliness.

On the bus with no rain, but still wet.

This is George Washington. I think this was the highlight of the trip for me. He talked to us as if he was actually him for about an hour, then he dropped the act and told us who he really was. When he dropped his accent and voice, it was so weird to hear him talk normal. He was an awesome impersonator.

George on his horse.

This was a highlight for Nick-Ping Pong. He wanted to play like all the time. They had a pretty cool game room at the place we stayed, ping pong, wii, pool, and lots of other games. Around the world ping pong was pretty fun too.

The home George Washington stayed while at Valley Forge.

Independence Hall in the background.

The Liberty Bell

This is the room where they signed the Declaration of Independence.

We had some free time in Philadelphia, so we looked around for a bakery, because i was in dire need for a cookie, on our way we saw this building, I thought it was funny!!!

Nick, the birds, and the bird lady (pictured on the right), she was serious about the birds and got mad if you interrupted her and them.

Then on our way home we stopped at this pizza place for dinner, it was so good!!!

Road Trip 2009 Destination --- Washington D.C. via Salt Lake City Utah

2009-09-03T08:08:00.000-07:00

***Officially My longest Post Ever***

The reason for the move- Nick is attending BYU, and ever since he started his schooling, he has always wanted to do Washington Seminar (which is an internship program in Washington D.C.). He is doing his internship at the Department of Homeland Security - Immigration Services. We are very blessed that it is a paid internship. So here we go on the adventure.........

Goodbye home in Salt lake City- you served us well!
This is us right before we headed out the long adventure in vw beetle in SLC.

Road Trippin' it Yeah baby! and yes I was driving, but you can't tell but my eyes were on the road.

Nick looking freakin awesome in his sunglasses that fit over his real glasses -they are huge!!

First Stop- The Pugmires in Rock Springs Wyoming!! It was so good to see Emily and her cute little family. Thanks for letting us spend the night!!! Sorry no pics.

Second Stop- Kansas City- Our friend Chris's Dad's house! To rest our little tired eyes. We drove 13 hours that day,....it was a long day. no pics again.

Third Stop- Nauvoo, Illinois

Here is a little butterfly who graced us with it's presence, poor thing had a broken wing.

Nick on the overlook at Nauvoo.

The Nauvoo Temple

Oh how cute!!!!

The Women's gardens at the LDS visitor's center in nauvoo

Nick by an Elephant Ear, he loved them.

Us in the women's gardens.

The Mississippi River

Next stop Carthage ,Illinois

Carthage Jail

Next Stop- Springfield, Illinois
The reason of this stop... look at the picture, need i say more....

This is the delicious Hot fudge Cake at Cheddars! We mapped out our road trip just to enjoy this treat.

Yep, we ate it all!!

Thanks to Eric and Tam we had a nice free hotel stay at the Hilton, with a delicious continental breakfast.
Springfield is the land of Lincoln, and that next morning we paid our respects at his tomb. I rubbed his nose for good luck, hope it works.

We also learned about cicadas (they are a really noisy bug that lives in the roots of trees and comes out when they are 17 years to mate) They were super noisy while we were there.

Next Stop- Jonathan and Mandie's house. We were able to spend a few days there, it was so much fun, they were wonderful hosts!!! Little Makaya is so cute, I think I am the favorite aunt!!!

The N.K. Whitney Store in Kirtland, OH.

A Replica of what the store looked like back then.

The School of the Prophets

The Kirtland, OH Temple

Nick, Natalie, Jonathan, Mandie and Makaya -(sporting an adorable smile)

Cute Makaya

Photo op, by the beautiful green doors of the temple

Next we stopped at Nick's aunt and uncle's house in Maryland for a couple of days, and they fed us well. They are such wonderful people.

We Made it!!!!

This is our lovely home for the next 3 1/2 months

The Barlow Center welcomes you Nick and Natalie.

It really was a wonderful vacation. Now we're off the see the sights that the big city has to offer us!!!

Summer Recap

2009-09-02T07:24:00.000-07:00

Here is our summer recap! Late because of my lack of blogging, and no pics because they are on my computer in Salt Lake---

*Nick got his braces off--and hates the picture on the blog because he still has them on-I will have to change that.
*Family gettogether- which I did blog about, but some how got erased, and I swore off blogging for a month
*Burley Fair and Rodeo
*Lagoon Fun with the Simmons kids
*Sundance weekend with friends including hiking mt. Timp
*Family parties
*New Hair cut
*Moving
*Road trip to D.C. -more to come

We made it!!!

2009-09-02T07:01:00.000-07:00

We have been so busy with the move that my lack of blogging has clearly been evident. None the less I have no more excuses... so you should think, but some how will try to make some up. We have made it to D.C. and are all moved in. I am jobless, and enjoying it quiet nicely.... I seem to get my beloved afternoon nap everyday, definitely a bad habit, but it makes me happy!! My days are filled with job searching, morning jogs on the Potomac, surfing the net, going to free events the city has to offer, mingling with friends, walking to the store, sewing, reading and so forth.

Just yesterday I saw this little bird on my walk to the store. The little things that make our day!

Just a little something I made!!

2009-06-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

I am taking a sewing class, and so I decided to make this apron! It turned out really cute. The lucky winner for this adorable item was..... Jenni- Happy Birthday btw!!!

Happy Birthday Nicholas John!!!!!

2009-06-02T17:12:00.000-07:00

Today is my sweet husband's BIRTHDAY, he is turning 28 today! I have spent most of the day away from him. He is in P-town and I am going to arrive there to see the charming young man there at 8:00 Sharp! I am so excited, because birthdays should be spent with the ones you love!!! We will eat a lovely dinner there and enjoy the drive home together.
Awaits us at our home are his nicely wrapped gifts and a yummy ice cream cake in the freezer!!! Can't wait till EIGHT!!!

One Year Down and Forever Ahead......

2009-05-23T14:03:00.000-07:00

Are some of the lyrics to one of my favorite songs that Nick has wrote,and perfect for this post.

I can't believe it, it has been a year since we were sealed together. It has been a great year... and many more great ones to come!!

For our anniversary we went to Sundance and stayed at the Simmons' cabin. It was lots of fun, and a well needed vacation. Here are some of the pictures of the weekend. But we didn't get a picture of the yummy homemade Cafe' Rio we made.

Me making sandwiches for the hike. We hiked as far as we could on the Mt. Timpanogos trail, which was to the 3rd falls. Then we hiked to Stewart falls. It was so much fun, hard but fun.

This is the first waterfall on the Timp trail.Nick looking handsomely stunning!

The Easter Bunny found us...too!!!

2009-04-25T12:14:00.001-07:00

We had a pretty good Easter. To celebrate we dyed eggs, and I think that we still have some in the fridge that I need to throw away, ew!

This is what the Easter bunny brought us- Lots of candy and it is almost all gone :(

These are the little bird nests I made for my primary class. I think they turned out pretty cute!

Then we went to the Gottwalds for some Easter dinner and this is what I made for it. This Easter basket cake! Yummy, and the funny thing is my sis-in-law Holly, made the exact same cake (we have the same cookbook, so I kind of thought that that would happen, they were both so cute!!) While we were over at Nick's parents house on Easter I left my camera there with all these cute pictures and I just got it back today so enjoy!

Conference Weekend

2009-04-05T08:51:00.000-07:00

Every General Conference weekend, Nick has a tradition that he goes to Savers in between sessions on Saturday. We had a limit of spending $5. Nick was very lucky because he found this awesome Jacket and it only cost $5. He loves it!! And he looks pretty sweet in it too!

Later that evening Nick went to the priesthood session and I decided to have a girls night with my sisters. We watched Marley and Me, ate cinnamon rolls and drank hot chocolate. Nick loves dogs and he refused to watch this movie because he knew it was sad. So since none of my sisters (pictured) had seen it we decided to rent it. The movie was really good and funny, but sad.
Then on Sunday we decided to go up to my Grandma Andersen's house to watch the 2nd session of conference. It was much needed because we hadn't seen her in a while, and it was a good little get away!!

Wear Green or Else...

2009-03-17T20:20:00.000-07:00

So I arrived at work this morning and 2 anxious little boys were awaiting my arrival only to be disappointed in the fact that I was covered in green.

Every year I rather enjoy this holiday. I get to bust out my green shoes, belt, jacket, and my- Made in Ireland T-shirt! But unfortunately we have to say good-bye to the T-shirt. I love it but realized that it has had a good 4 St. Patrick's days and it is time to retire it. The reason is that back in the day they didn't make long T-shirts and now it is just too short in the midrif if you know what I mean. So we had a good 4 years to say the least. I was thinking rather than sending it off to my DI stack, I was thinking it could be one of my sewing projects. I am not sure what will become of it, but I will have to wait until something comes up.

To Celebrate this holiday Nick and I decided to go to the park and play frisbee with his awesome blue aerodisk he received from a dashing young lady!!(o.k. so it was me) It was such a beautiful day we couldn't resist. Then we rode off on our little moped into the sunset, it was beautiful!!! To finish the night off we ate a holiday dinner..sort of. This...

Delicious festive omlets that Nick made, and some steamed cabbage(which is surprisingly good!)(Big Thanks to my awesome rice cooker that steams vegetables too.)

Happy St. Patrick's to ALL!

25 Random Facts about Me!!

2009-02-22T16:59:00.000-08:00

I, too, like many others, was tagged on facebook, but since I don't go on facebook very much I would like to post it on my blog. Also people have been hinting that I need to update my blog so here it goes.....

25 Random Facts about me

1. I absolutely love to bake!! Making sweets is my specialty.
2. I like to make things for our house... I have made our couch, pillows, curtains, blankets etc.
3. I like to do jigsaw puzzles, I get one every year for Christmas.
4. I love to garden.
5. I love to take showers, I sometimes take 2 a day.
6. I hate washing the dishes, but i have a husband who actually likes to wash them. I don't mind putting them away and drying them.
7. I have broken my nose.
8. I am a true Aggie.
9. I hate seafood.
10. I love to take naps
11. I love my sweet husband
12. I hate confrontation of any kind.
13. I love playing soccer.
14. I have discovered my new favorite candy (Charleston Chews mini)
15. I am a college graduate, but I am a nanny
16. I am moving to Washington D.C. this fall for my husband's internship, and I never thought I would live there.
17. I hate politics, yet I married a man who loves them.
18. I am a fix-it person, I love to fix things.
19. I go to 2 work-out classes a week, absolutely hate them, but yet I go every week.
20. We keep our house @ 58 degrees in the winter to save on our gas bill, so if you want to come over bring your coat, or we have lots of warm blankets. Sometimes my toes go numb.
21. I am a people watcher.
22. I love tulips and can't wait for sring to come.
23. I love to shop at NPS
24. I love getting a good deal
25. I love rice pudding, not just any rice pudding though!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

2009-01-15T17:57:00.000-08:00

Yep, that's right I'm 26 now!! We had a family party while Amy and Tony were in town and here is the recap!!!

Sydney and I blowing out my b-day candles!

Happy Birthday to me!!

Me and my love!!

Me and Dante- the only way he would let me hold him is to hold the candy bowl!
Dante cuddling with mom!

Karen and Jenni

Sydney waving good bye!!

Thanks to all of my family for such a wonderful birthday!!!

The Gottwald Christmas party

2009-01-15T17:33:00.000-08:00

Ok so I know I am way behind, but I am trying to catch up. The Gottwald Christmas is always a big hit, here are some of my cute nieces and nephew!! Every year they have a candy jar and you have to guess how many are in there, and this year nick won it!!! We were very excited, but all that christmas candy has not been good for my girlish figure, but it sure was tasty!!

Elena showing her mad artwork skills!!

The next american idol!!

Grayson trying to show us that he is old enough to walk!

Candace and Gabby

What a cute couple!!

Happy Holidays!!! a little be-lated!!

Oh Christmas Tree!!!!

2008-12-14T14:10:00.000-08:00

Our beautiful Christmas tree! We put it up the day after Thanksgiving, and lets just say-- it is already dead. Yep that's right, this thing is a fire hazard. The needles are crisp as a winter moring, but it still looks beautiful, and you wouldn't know it was dead unless you bumped into it (very poky)!

This is my Nick

This is what he pretty much does all day when he is at home, and am very grateful to have finals be over with!!!!! He wants to celebrate by going to barnes and noble and read comic books, and he will definitely deserve it!! Too bad he has to start back up in January though.

Happy Holidays!!!

Halloween Update

2008-11-02T15:31:00.000-08:00

My pumpkin!!!!

Vicki and Jack

These were a few of my trick-or-treating visitors on halloween. What a cute little dragon Jack makes(not to be confused with a dinosaur--he is a dragon!!) So cute!

After trick-or-treating visitors came and went we went over to our friends Jeremy and Jen's party, It was awesome, they had rock band and delicious food!! Afterwards, we were able to go to Red Mango(my first time), which is quite tasty!!!!

Happy be-lated Halloween!!

Halloween Fun

2008-10-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

Friday, we held our annual "Dinner in a pumpkin" party. It was loads of fun. But unfortunately I didn't even get a picture of the pumpkin-- dinner that is. We carved pumpkins, watched Van Helsing, and ate dinner with lots of good company.

This is the pumpkin Nick carved, I am waiting to carve mine closer to Halloween.

This WAS delicious!!!

Can you guess what we are? Smores!! Thanks for the idea Kimmy!!!

We had the Robots from Flight of the Chonchords show up!!

Some Scarecrows!!!

And some Sassy Pirates!!!

Last Game of the Season!!!

2008-10-19T13:05:00.000-07:00

Team- H2O

So I have been playing on a women's soccer league in Salt Lake and this was our last game of the season. I have just been too shy to take pictures, I would even bring my camera to most games too, but never take any pictures. I declared to Nick that I needed pictures taken at my last game, because soccer has played a pretty big part of my weekends. Nick is so good to come to my games when he can! I love him for that!! Even in the 100 degree weather, or the rain, or the days when the sun is in your eyes the whole time!! I just Love him!

My biggest Fan.... all bundled up!!

This is our team members that played + 1 girl, so that made a total of 9 people, ya not fun to have only 9, but i think we did pretty well considering we lost a girl at half time and the other team had like 5 subs! We only lost by 2--- 3-1. Which is good considering our circumstances. Funny thing is we always have subs, oh well!!

Game over!!

Jen and Jeremy's Wedding!!!

2008-10-01T19:14:00.000-07:00

So Jeremy and Jen were married on Sept. 20th for time and all eternity in the slc temple. It was a beautiful ceremony! We enjoyed all the wedding festivities!! Jeremy and Jen are very good friends of ours. Jeremy is one of Nick's best friends, and I knew him from the very first time we started dating and Jen is a sis-in-law to one of Nick's other best friend Derrick! Now Jeremy and Derrick are brothers! It was good to hang out with all of the gang again!!

The Cute Couple!!

Derrick, Nick, and Skylar!!

Natalie, Nick, Derrick, (Melinda is not pictured but was there), Jeremy, Jen, Chris and Lindsey

So I know the flash is in the mirror in the back ground, but the other picture we had taken was just not as good!

I Just Love MILK!!!!

2008-09-23T19:09:00.000-07:00

So Yesterday I had to do some errands for work and while I was at the grocery store I saw that some milks were only $1.50, which is amazing. It was on reduced for quick sale because it expires on the 29th (next Monday, still way far away), what a bargain, and then I found one that expired on Oct. 2nd(this one must have been a mistake, but their loss, my gain). So I bought them and put them in the refrigerator at work. I was so happy I even called to tell Nick about it. I go grocery shopping every Monday, so this was great!! But when I got to the grocery store I realized I had forgotten the milks, I was so bummed, because we were out of milk and I needed some for the dinner I was making. So I thought that it wouldn't be worth the gas and time to go back and get it so I decided to just get another gallon while I was at the store (which was only $2 which is such a great deal these days). So now I supposedly have 3 milks, and kind of worried that that would be too much, but no fear, because, we pretty much drank a gallon in one day!!! Just so you know--We started drinking the other milk because it would expire next! I just love milk!!!!

Jack's 2nd Birthday!!!

2008-09-22T16:42:00.000-07:00

So I would have posted this yesterday, but after I got all the videos downloaded, and pictures ready, I accidently erased it before I posted it, I was so mad.

Anyway, Jack's birthday was at the beginning of sept. Nick and I, My parents, Jenni, Kimmy, and Karen all attended the festivities! It was a good time. Jack is starting to talk more and is just so cute!!

Opening Presents!!!!

Playing with his truck!!

Yes, we attended the party!!

Lagoon Video

2008-08-24T19:27:00.000-07:00

So here is a video of Nick and Chris on the Catapult! It is quite funny. I was way too scared to try it, and I think I probably won't ever because of the terrified looks on their faces!!! Enjoy!!

Lagoon!!!

2008-08-20T20:36:00.000-07:00

So today we went to Lagoon with our friends Chris and Lindsey, and it was a blast! We have been planning it for like a month. We all got work off and Nick and I spent the night in Ogden, where they live, and had an eventful evening, going swimming and playing the wii. Then today we went to Lagoon and by the way- we just love the Rocket!!!

Highlights of the trip: Did you know there is a Firehouse pizzeria in Centerville, well there is and now we don't have to drive up to logan, or plan to be in logan during lunch or dinner!!! Also I got stung by a bee!! Crazy huh, there were bees all over, and one stung me on the neck/shoulder. Nick pulled the stinger out and it still hurts as I am writing this! One thing that makes me happy though is- now that pesky bee is dead because it decided he was too mad to live!! :) I feel he deserved to die! Nick and Chris went on the catapult, I got to be in the front on the colossus, we all got to exerience the stomach turning samuri! Overall the trip was a good time with good company!!!

It's Tradition

2008-08-17T18:11:00.000-07:00

Every year we go to the Burley Fair and Rodeo. This year was Nick's first time to experience this tradition since his addition to the family. This year it was my parents, us, Kimmy, Jenni, and Karen; and to my family who weren't able to make it, the maple bars were just as amazing as ever, you really should be jealous you missed out!! The bronco rides I think were the most entertaining, and bull riding was disappointing just like last year, maybe next year they will make up for it!

Here are the Famous maple bars, that we wait every year to experience every August! Really I think we go mostly to the Rodeo for the maple bars. I have been raving to Nick about them ever since we started dating a year ago, and he finally was able to try them!!

This is Nick savoring the taste of this delicacy! He even said they lived up to all the hype (of course)!!!

Lake Fun!!!

2008-08-16T08:47:00.000-07:00

We just love enjoying a hot summer's day in nice cool water. We were able to make it up to Bear Lake for Gochnour camp, and then Paige ( my siter-in-law) invited us to go with her family to Lake Powell!! These trips ended up being highlights of our summer!!

This is us at Bear Lake (one of my favorite lakes there is, it is beautiful)!! We enjoyed playing in the sun and then went to camp and played Gochnour Trivia which is a new tradition, and it is loads of fun, reminiscing and all!!

This is Nick and little baby Grayson our nephew, by-the-way, he loves Nick, and I think I am a little jealous!

This is us by lone rock, I know kinda a silly picture, but I didn't take hardly any pictures, so the very last minute we had this one taken. The weather was beautiful, until we were taking down camp and a sand storm blew in, and since nick has contacts and didn't want to get sand in them, he is wearing stylish goggles!! I love him!!! Lake Powell was full of wake boarding,(personally my favorite part), boats, wave runners (nick's favorite) cooling off in the lake, Paige's daisy floaties, and we learned a lot of new card games, volleyball, swimming to like a 3 foot rock and then jumping off of it, 4-wheelers, hot days and nights, playing maffia till the wee hours of the morning!! Good times!!!

Family Reuion!!

2008-07-06T20:04:00.000-07:00

Jonathan and Mandie were in town, so we decided to have a family dinner at my grandma's house. It was an enjoyable afternoon!!!

Where to Begin????

2008-07-06T19:16:00.000-07:00

So much has happened since Nick and I have been married. We got off to a rough start, but things are going pretty well now. Lets just say that we had way too many trials to keep track. So let me just list so of the afflictions we have faced since we tied the knot---

phone broke (but then it recovered)

Got sick on the honeymoon

Nick got the shingles

Nick had to see eye doctor a billion times because his shingles were near his eye

car broke down

lost my diamond in my ring

got sick again

injured my neck playing soccer

blackened my toenail and I will probably lose it.

and I am sure there are more but cannot remember...

So our life has been pretty eventful. But there are also a lot of positives to it as well...

We bought a scooter

We got a way better diamond than the one we lost (thank heavens for insurance)

I have a way cool last name!!

We get to spend a lot more time together

Nick got a raise

Nick turned 27

We got season passes to Lagoon!! So just let us know if you are going anytime soon!!!

Nick is the best husband ever!!!!

Here are some pictures of our adventures:

We managed to buy all of this stuff at Ikea and fit it all in Nick's car too!!!

We bought a freakin rad scooter!!! Suckers to all who have cars!! JK

Nick's 27th birthday!!! I made him a delicious ice cream cake!!!

Jeremy and Jen got engaged, and they had an awesome BBQ!!!!

Nick and I at the top of Ensign Peak, I know you can't tell, cause it got dark we we got up there, but the city in the back is Salt Lake City!

5 Days Left!!!

2008-05-11T21:29:00.000-07:00

So much has happened these past weeks!!, but unfortunately I haven't had internet until a couple of days ago!! Life has been way busy, but getting very exciting as well. I had three wonderful bridal showers, and unfortunately the last one I didn't take any pictures, which i am kinda bummed about, but oh well! Here are some pictures of them. Nick and I have also spent quality time on warm spring days outside, and this is our adventure to temple square, the tulips are just amazing!! We are on the home stretch ---Last week of the wedding planning!!!

Beautiful Day

2008-04-13T19:49:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day it has really warmed up around here, so we took advantage of it. After dinner at mom and dad Gottwald's house; Nick wanted to play the guitar for me, because he had written 3 new songs that he wanted to share. So I suggested that we go outside in my backyard. While we were there i found a wild tulip, and it smelled splendid, just like a rose! It was just a wonderful day for Nick to serenade me while i enjoy the spring time! It was great!!

The Engagement Photos

2008-04-08T20:46:00.000-07:00

This sunday afternoon in between conference Nick and I had our engagment pictures taken. Skylar, nick's friend, was kind enough to be our photographer for the day. It was a cloudy day, but the sun came out just for us!! Here is the one of many pics, but you will have to hold out for your invites to see the one we chose.

The Ring

2008-04-05T18:24:00.000-07:00

Here it is!!! This is my engagement ring! It was quite the story just getting it! I love it. We had it hammered and sandblasted, and i might have to say that there might be some incompetent jewelers out there, because i think they got it right on the 5th try! The picture doesn't really do it justice though! We got Nick's ring this week and we got it to match mine! They are just so cute together! Nick just told me that I get a wedding band too!!! We were going to wait to get it until a later date, but I am excited that I will have it for the wedding!!

SURPRISE!!!!.........I AM GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!

2008-02-12T17:29:00.000-08:00

I am going to marry my love, Nick Gottwald on May 17th, 2008 in the Salt Lake Temple for time and all eternity!