spring fever

I think I realized we had a problem last week. We were at Walmart, just purchasing a few essentials (sunscreen, lotion, aloe vera, seeds, shovel) when the cashier made a comment like,"somebody's ready for spring and YOU ARE the winner." I thought about it and... well I guess when you and your husband dress up in your swimsuits and daydream about summer you probably qualify as having "the fever." Here are some things we've been up to:

This wreath I saw at the store was my inspiration for...

this wreath I made.

We are trying to grow tulips in these cute little tin cans. I guess they're late bloomers.

We have a garden in the works and are hoping our seeds will turn into healthy plants!

For a little centerpiece, I planted some grass in a planter and then sawed a branch off our neighbors tree. The plan was to put little birds nests and things in the tree. To my surprise though, the tree started blooming and now it has these adorable little leaves!

Happy Spring!

the Lord's hobby.

I am married to a man who is constantly filling our (already completely furnished) apartment with beautifully antiqued and hand-crafted furniture made of the most beautiful woods and done with such precision and care.

I can hardly get him to come home and even though it makes me so crazy that he thinks about, dreams about, talks about, fantasizes for his birthday gifts about wood and then makes lists during church of all the things he'll build for our home one day, I adore it.

He doesn't read books on it or get a building plan before he starts, he just.. starts... and suddenly, out of nowhere, we have a perfect piece of furniture. He is so good at what he does and somehow, he has developed an incredible attention to detail for these projects.

So whenever I try to say something like I wish he'd think about me more instead of wood or that I'm tired of hanging out in the woodshop, he points out all our beautiful furniture and then sweetly reminds me that, "Jesus Christ was a carpenter you know..."


This was a Valentine's Day gift Dave made me to hang all my aprons on.


A pair of night stands - complete with the tricky dove tails.

new year, new post. finally...

This blog was in serious need of an update! I'm falling out of the blogosphere so here I am to regain my place!

January:

We had so many things going on. The year started with a bang and has yet to slow down.

We went to the hot springs with cousins Ashley & Scott. They are our #1's here! The most fun and so cute!


There was also the very sad passing of wonderful Grandpa James. He left us such a legacy and beautiful memory. We think and talk about him ALL the time. We were able to go down for the funeral and see so much wonderful family and be with all those beautiful people we love so much.

February:

This month started out so crazy and exciting.

I did the "14 Days of Valentine's" for Dave. Everyday I surprised him with something different. Day 1 we got icecream. Day 2 was Spa Night [lucky boy got a back massage and we did facials]. Day 3 went to the planetarium, etc. It was so fun.



Dave did Valentine's Day. I went the whole day thinking he had nothing planned. As I was walking to my last class, I saw my bike [that I have hardly gotten to ride because of all the snow] with a big pink heart on it! Inside the basket was a note [sprayed with his cologne!!!] that had clues for a surprise. After class I rode my bike to the park and found a mound of snow with two roses marking an "x". Buried in the snow was a bottle of sparkling pomegranate and two martini glasses.

Dave road up behind me and we toasted! We rode home where Dave had baked salmon and scallops with mashed potatoes for dinner with an appetizer of a baguette with olive oil dip and raspberry swirl icecream for dessert. He's adorable!



This month we also volunteered at the Special Olympics. They were so fun and such a wonderful experience!

We also threw our Annual Chinese New Year Party! It was the best and we had such fun friends over. Here is the invitation for the party.


This last weekend, we went snowshoeing for the fist time! Ashley & Scott showed us the ropes. We had so much fun! Drinking hot chocolate, rolling down the hills and having little snowball fights...

It was so windy and snowy! We felt like such explorers... especially the boys.



Finally, I am the newest relief society president for the 65th ward! I found out in January so life's been a rollar coaster but so far things have been working out great.

We are just loving life right now!!

halloween wrap up

Dave and I had a few festivities in our back pockets to finish up this October.

Scott and Ashley came over to do caramel apples with us! We were all first timers except for Scott.



They were so delicious!



I also had the urge to whip up a spooky pumpkin cheesecake. It is the most DELISH!



And last but not least, THE PUMPKIN contest!! Dave and I each got to carve our own pumpkin from the pumpkin patch we went to.



Here is Dave's awesome witch!



And my nerdy pumpkin... notice the thin glasses frames.



And the winner... me! Dave said he'd never seen such an adorable pumpkin :)

poco and john.

Pocahontas and John Smith. They are an iconic symbol of bravery, rebellion and a romance so strong, nothing could stop it. I feel like that represents the union of Dave and Hannah. Dave is brave, I'm rebellious, and we are UNSTOPPABLE!

Seriously, just look at dave's costume. We put it together in LITERALLY 2 minutes. A pair of scrub bottoms, a button-up shirt, vest, soccer socks and sunday shoes was all we needed for the transformation!
And of course, that sweet boy is wearing it with SUCH pride :)

My costume took a little more planning. We had to make a special trip to D.I. The dress was longer so I had to cut it off on the bottom but it was just big enough to fringe all the edges! A funny lady (about her 60's) was there looking too. I pulled the dress of the rack and said, "Dave, what do you think of this?" She replied, "Oh that is UGLY."

Haha, I was so taken back! I explained it was for a costume and then she understood.

We wore our costumes to our ward party. There were so many fun costumes there: Esma and Kronk, Dora and Diego (plus their son as a monkey), The Kennedy's, Lucy and Ricky, and Pepper Potts and IronMan. Unfortunately, Dave and I failed to win the costume award.

Maybe we should have gone with our other options... (Mulan and her boyfriend, belly dancer and a shiek, thunder and lightning, "wild things", Hunter and a tiger, beach boy and valley girl, boxer and a ring girl, cave man and woman, fisherman and a mermaid...)

halloweening.

This is me.

Or at least how Dave sees me…. as a pumpkin person. For family home evening, we decided to paint portraits of each other on pumpkins. I gave him permission to paint me however he wanted. He was the artist so it was entirely up to him. And that is why I'm yellow.

Dave really got in to it. The whole time he was smiling and ooing and awwing at his work. He just kept saying, “Oh yeah. That’s perfect.” And when he turned it around, there I was!!! Haha I have to say, he did include some very “me” features. We both died laughing!.... until I turned him around.



He was almost offended, saying, “WHAT?! I don’t smile like that! My teeth don’t look like that. That is scary! Really scary.”
We are really loving the holidays around here.




We went to a pumpkin patch with Ashley and Scott to get the perfect pumpkins! We definitely found them.






We love fall!

The Wolverine State

That’s right… we visited Michigan for a week and loved it! It was the annual Knecht Family Reunion in Point Betsie with almost the entire gang. On the five car carpool on the way up, we stopped to eat breakfast at this delicious/huge Amish restaurant. They even had posts under some trees for the horse driving customers. So cute.


Point Betsie is even cuter though. It is the most picturesque place you have ever been. It is a lighthouse about five miles up the road from a tiny tourist town called Frankfort. We stayed in a beautiful white house with a red roof surrounded by sand dunes and just over the hill from the lake. The house is filled with all sorts of old, beautiful things; National Geographic’s from 1941, old classic books, an old record player that still works, wooden sailboats, and maps on the walls. The furniture is the good kind of antique with bright blue and yellow paints that have started to chip. The upstairs is one big loft with the rafters exposed and fishing nets draped over. The garage below the house has a row of antique bikes that you can still ride and a couple old classic cars. I’ve never seen a place like it outside of a Martha Stewart magazine. I loved it. They call the house the Cape Cod.



The lake is huge, blue and crystal clear. The water is freezing cold which makes our swimming adventures even more incredible!

The beginning of the week started out with a hike up Sleeping Bear Dunes. The hike was a little tiring for some of the kids so sweet Dave offered to give them a lift:)



After the hike, we visited this adorably authentic fishing town just up the road. Dave treated me to the traditional smoked salmon, gouda cheese, and baguette lunch. It was delicious!



We walked from the Cape Cod along the beach all the way to Frankfort - about five miles. It was a beautiful walk. The beach is made up of mostly sand, but there is a strip of beautifully smooth rocks. We picked up a few. We also found the most perfect piece of sun bleached drift wood - perfect for our house.



Dave and some of the boys jumped off the pier when we got to Frankfort. They love their adventure. We ended the walk with a Knecht favorite – ice cream for everyone!



One day we rode tandem bikes with Dave’s sister Laura and her husband Ben. The best part was they hooked a carriage up to their bike to carry their baby in. It was like a little family train.



Canoeing was one of my favorite activities! We floated down the river that flows into the lake. We ended with a tasty picnic lunch and finished with ice cream after.




A few of us rode some trolley bikes around town. It always looks like more fun than it is – honestly, when four people are supposed to be peddling a full cart of eight people, the burn really gets to you after a bit. But as always, it was so worth it in the end!



The last day there, we walked along the beach, took some pictures, and visited the lighthouse. Then we headed back to Indiana. With a week filled with hobo dinners on the beach, cherry pie from the Cherry Hut, scary stories at night, and the occasional rain storm it was really the perfect vacation. It is absolutely the most beautiful place, and just to end the trip well, we made one last stop before we got home – ICE CREAM!