Catching up - Part 3

Sorry for the delay... June was really, really crazy for us.  Before blogging about that, we have a little bit more to blog about.

April 2013

It was one of Michael's bigger birthdays this year, so I organized an family ice cream party for him.  We had as many ice cream toppings as the age he was turning.  AND I made him wear this goofy hat.

My sister, Michelle, went into the MTC in April.  She is now in the Taipei, Taiwan mission (that was my mission!).  She went on her mission at the age of 20 (therefore answering to the change of age of sister missionaries).  This picture is right before she went into the MTC.

May 2013 -- Arches Trip

We both have been to Arches National Park, but not together, so we decided to take a day off of work and go and hike around.  It was a lot of fun! :-)

Couple picture in front of Delicate Arch.

Jumping Picture

Another couple picture

Michael is at the top of that arch.

To be continued...

Catching up - Part 2

So.... here's some more catching up...

Christmas

The Bywater side of the family were all together for Christmas, so that was awesome.  It's been about 1 1/2 years since we've all been together.  Since Christmas, we have had 2 more additions to the families (baby girls).

February 2013 - Texas Trip
Christi's parents moved back to Texas in September of 2012, and we'd been thinking about moving down to  Texas, so we decided to take a trip down there to check things out.  An added perk was that Michelle was there before entering the Provo MTC for her mission.

We went to Galveston to visit my brother, and then we rode this bike together by the beach.

We also went to check out NASA.

And, of course, we took advantage of getting Blue Bell Ice Cream!!! :-)

To be continued...

Catching Up - Part 1

So.... it's been a while... Here are pictures from the past 7+ months to show you what we've been up to lately. :)

Halloween:

We were Merlin and Mad Madam Mim for Halloween.

Thanksgiving:

Christi had a surgery a week before Thanksgiving.  Family and ward friends were all so sweet and thoughtful!!! :-)

We had Thanksgiving with Michael's family this year.  It was nice.


To be continued...

It's about time for another blog post. Here are some pictures to show what we have been up to lately:

Chinese New Year

We make dumplings every year. They are delicious!

Above are a few things we have around the house to make it feel more festive. Some of it we leave out all year.

Valentine's Day

My school class was good to me this year. I was shocked by how many kids gave me a gift for Valentine's Day. Michael did a good job, too. :-)

Other News:

Not much! We are no longer Primary teachers at church (sad). We have to learn how to be adults again.

Until next time...

About time for an update... It's Halloween after all!!!

Hey folks who look at this every 6 months!!! We are sorry we don't post very much! As it is Halloween, we are posting pictures of our costumes. Enjoy!!

Michael was a garden gnome.

Christi was a flamingo lawn ornament.

Together we made a fabulous pair of lawn ornaments!

As for other recent events that have been going on.... We both got jobs!!! That has been terrific! We are both super busy, but it feels nice to have an income!! We also bought a new car. If you want details on that story, you'll have to ask Michael about it. We went through a series of frustrating events with the car and are grateful that it is now working.

We have recently been through a series of patience-trying events (in which most have been resolved!!) and are grateful for the opportunities for growth. We are grateful for the continual family/friends support as we go through these things.

Until next time....

Double Happiness

Happy Graduation to us!!!! Christi graduated this weekend, but we thought it would be cool to take a picture together in our robes!! :-)

Michael's Graduation

Congratulations to Michael for graduating from the University of Utah with a Master's Degree in Speech-Pathology!

Just in case you've been dying to know what we were for Halloween.....

Family Picture

Here's our most recent Bywater family picture. We were all together again for my Grandma Bywater's funeral, so we took the opportunity to get a picture together. :-D We should have more pictures to post in the near future, but I don't have access to them at the moment, so you'll have to enjoy this picture for now...

UPDATE!!!!! Here are photos from holidays for the first 4 months of this year! We'll have to post pictures from our travels to Arizona later on..... Enjoy!

CHINESE NEW YEAR:

This is the window of our house. It has two red packets and a dragon. :-)

VALENTINE'S DAY:

Flowers from Mike. He also made me breakfast in bed. He did a great job!!

ST. PATTY'S DAY:

I am proud of this fruit rainbow that we made. And we LOVED eating it!!

Our "green" dinner. Green jello, green salad, green cupcakes...

Our St. Patty's Day couple picture. I actually DO have Irish blood and Mike claims to be a leprechaun....

EASTER:

The Easter Bunny was good to us this year... He even came by for a second visit a few days after Easter because he couldn't resist the bags of candy for $1.

Ok... I (I mean the Easter Bunny) couldn't resist. My little sister LOVED dalmatians when she was little, and I thought this was WAY cute.

MICHAEL'S BIRTHDAY:

Michael opening a package from my parents. He is in 7th heaven right now because of all the candy they sent him.

I had to put this one up because it's a pretty funny story. Michael picked this jersey at some thrift store a while back. I gave it to him for his birthday, and then we realized the jersey was actually a WOMEN'S jersey, not a MEN'S jersey. Luckily he didn't wear it BEFORE we figured that out. I now have a new jersey... haha.

I am proud of this cake I made for Mike's birthday. It was a LITTLE late, but hey, when you have Easter, Conference, and birthday on the same day, something has to give. It is a two-layered red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. It was great if I'm allowed to say so myself.

Pictures you all have been waiting for :-)

Here are some pictures from Halloween and Thanksgiving! Hooray!! We're only 1 1/2 months behind on pictures! :-)


Here is our Halloween costume. Kermit and Miss Piggy.

Here are some sugar cookie turkeys that Christi made for our primary class.

Here we are at the Radisson Hotel after eating a nice big meal with Michael's family. We are watching the Texas/Texas A&M game. Notice Michael's face, and then notice everyone else's faces. ;-) And just a hint, there was nothing exciting going on.

This is Christi and nephew. They are having a heart to heart chat about his girl problems at school. The drama of 1st grade love lives!!


This is our Christmas picture of the year. It is Michael's fault we clashed. He always seems to want to wear green when I am wearing green. I usually make him change.

We're Back!

Let's see. . . since we last updated, we have:

-Graduated from BYU

-Celebrated our 1st anniversary in Vegas (no gambling involved, but a very cheap, and very nice hotel)

-Moved to Holladay, UT

-Been on a family cruise to Mexico

-Started graduate program (Michael)

-Started working at UVU as a transcriber (Christi)

-Celebrated Christi's 25th birthday

-Been called as primary teachers for the 7 year olds in our ward

-Gone to Singapore to visit Christi's family (along with the Philippines to watch Christi's sister's soccer tournament)

-Celebrated Halloween as Kermit (Michael) and Miss Piggy (Christi). Since the last Muppet movie Kermit has gained weight and Miss Piggy has lost quite a bit of weight. Now they are a little bit more balanced couple.

Life is pretty busy for the both of us with Christi having to commute every day and with Michael in a graduate program. We hope you can forgive us for being the worst bloggers EVER. We will post some pictures from our latest trip to Singapore. :-)

Pictures from our trip to Singapore and the Philippines:

At the botanical gardens.

At the Jurong Bird Park.

Christi getting a pearl.

With Christi's mom, Mary, at the Manila Temple.

Christi with her mom, Mary, and sister, Michelle, at Michelle's soccer tournament in Manila.

With our new niece, Brooke (Eddie and Peachy's daughter).

Brooke's response to seeing aunt Christi.

We're headed to Salt Lake City!

So, we've been really bad about posting. Life has been incredibly insane. We wanted to post today though to inform the world that Michael has been accepted to the University of Utah for Fall 2009!!! He will be in the Communication Disorders Program. We're excited!! I'm especially excited to get out of "the bubble" and try something new! :-)

Another note: 47 days until graduation!!!!!! I'm excited.

This semester has been a nightmare for me (Christi) especially. The last semester should be fun, right? Well, I signed up for what I thought would be fun classes, but one is killing me.... you'll never guess which one.... SEWING! Yeah, I would not recommend taking that class at BYU. Am I learning a lot? Yes. Will it be impossible to get an "A" in that class? Yes... unless I want to spend 20 hours a week in the lab instead of 10...

ANYHOW, we're happy and healthy!!!!! We're excited that a lot of family is coming in a few weeks!!! We're especially excited to see Tina, Shane, and Ethan whom we haven't seen for 8 months!! Hooray! :-) We're ready for some Star Wars action!!! :-)

Welcome to Our Blog!

CHRISTMAS/NEW YEARS PHOTOS!!!!

Grandma Bywater and Grandpa Hemingway opening their gifts. I love their hats. They came from Christmas crackers (British tradition--my mom lived in England for a while) .

This is a photo after New Years Day dinner.

Back (from left to right): Dallin (brother), Don (brother), Michelle (sister), Christi, Michael, Julia (cousin), Jackson (cousin's boyfriend)

Front (from left to right): Dad, Mom, Levi (cousin), Grandpa Hemingway

Our annual Nativity act out. Michelle was an angel, Michael was baby Jesus, Christi was Mary, Dad was the donkey (as always), Dallin was Joseph, Don was the innkeeper, and my mom was shepherd/narrator.

The "Bywater" girls, Michelle, Christi, Mom. The background is our lovely apartment.

Family photo!
Back (left to right): Don, Michelle, Christi, Michael
Front (left to right): Mom, Dad, Dallin