Sunday, January 27, 2013

2012 for the Childs

I wrote a little newsletter email to send out to all our family and friends for new years. I figured it would sum up the year and help create some framework for this blog. So here is our 2012 in review, so to say:)

Dear Friends and Family:
2012 was extremely good to our family! We started off the year freshly engaged, and started a long, hard semester at Southern Utah University (SUU) in Cedar City before our wedding in May. We won a Facebook contest for a free honeymoon (I'm sure you remember!) in February, stayed up really late wanting to be with each other while neglecting our homework, and planned a beautiful wedding and got sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on May 11 for time and all eternity! It was a beautiful day! In the process, Lisa gained 4 parents, 8 siblings, and more relatives than she could ever fathom and Brett gained 5 nieces and nephews! We finished fall semester (Brett did MUCH better now that he has a live-in tutor;) and we took an institute class together on Thursday evenings, where we served as class presidents for our "Building an Eternal Marriage" course. We enjoyed travelling many places this year, including a belated honeymoon on a Cruise to Mexico, a surprise trip for Lisa to Hawaii for Thanksgiving, Arizona for Christmas, and many trips all over Utah, Las Vegas, California, and New York. We also decided that our time in Cedar City, Utah was over and aspire to move up north to the Provo area this summer. We have both applied to the University of Utah and Brigham Young University and will hear back from them at the end of February! We have loved being married almost 8(!!) months now. It's hard to believe it's already been that long, and short at the same time. We have been so lucky to find each other and be in a position where we could get married in the temple, live in our own tiny-but-cute apartment, and fall in love more and more each day. We are best friends and have an awesome relationship. 
In California
Lisa had three different jobs this year: The Honors office at SUU (which she did not enjoy very much), SubZero Ice Cream (which she enjoyed even less and was very short-lived), and is currently employed with a doTERRA consultant who owns her own business doing essential oils, natural/alternative medicines, and home-doctoring. She has enjoyed working there and has learned a lot of interesting new stuff. Lisa filmed another Mormon Message for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in April. She got to meet Alex Boye and a few other "I'm a Mormon" people. She has loved working with the Church and sharing her testimony. Currently only 3 credits away from an Associates degree, she has been doing very well taking hard classes towards her Communications major. Last semester, she took a drawing class which she really enjoyed. She got called earlier this year to be a Relief Society teacher, and currently serves as the Relief Society President in our Married Student Ward, which she loves. Lisa is usually at school, work, or at home cooking delicious meals and baked goods for Brett and friends!
Brett started a new job in February at State Farm Insurance, which he loves. We studied long and hard together each day for several weeks so he could pass his test to get his Property and Casualty license, in addition to his Life and Health. He has absolutely loved working at State Farm and really believes in the product and company. He is an excellent salesman and has thrived at the office. Insurance is his favorite thing to talk about, and he is quite an expert at it now! He especially loves to talk about Life Insurance, and is constantly learning more about it and hoping to share it with everyone he encounters! We have been blessed to experience a lot of success with State Farm. He is currently aspiring to become a State Farm Agent, and is becoming a stronger candidate with every passing month. Because of his success and interest in the insurance world, Brett changed from a Biology-aspiring doctor major to an International Business major. He hopes to be able to use his Japanese and Spanish skills in the future. He has been taking Spanish classes for about a year and half and has grown to be a talented Spanish-speaker! He still snowboards, sings, plays guitar and Zelda whenever he can, and enjoys his calling as an Elders Quorum Teacher. Brett played on an intramural flag football team this semester and LOVED it!
For 2013, We aspire to take our Associates degrees to BYU (our first choice) or the U. Either way, we will be so happy to move closer to family, friends, and opportunities. We also realize we will be subject to higher cost of living, busy and congested roads, and LOTS of people, which after almost 2 years of living in Cedar City, we almost forgot about. But, we are incredibly excited for this move and can't wait for the new and exciting opportunities that are in store for us there! Brett hopes to get into BYU, his dream school, and Lisa hopes to blog more and wishes for a puppy! We both hope to learn how to play the piano, somehow. Both of us have only a little bit of experience, but regret daily (and especially on Sundays) that we are unable to play as much as we wish we could.
We are so blessed. Oftentimes, we will just have talks about our wonderful families and friends who help enrich and bless our lives. We have been able to go to school and get a wonderful education, be free from major illness or ailments, and have been blessed to both have employment through these turbulent times. We can't help but thank you for being a part of our lives and for the love and support you offer us!
Best wishes for the New Year!
Love, Brett and Lisa


Friday, January 4, 2013

A Hawaiian Holiday

My wonderful mom and Brett surprised me with a trip to HAWAII for Thanksgiving this year! I thought we were going to Arizona for Thanksgiving, only to get off the freeway when we got to Las Vegas to go to the airport! What a wonderful and happy surprise!
 
All of us meeting up at the Honolulu Airport
 
ALOHA from the Childs!   
 My mom has a driver for all the times she is in Hawaii, Mr. Lee. He brought us these warm, delicious Malasadas when he greeted us at the airport! Yummmm!
Huge turtle that came up on shore at Turtle Bay
Brett and KJ enjoying their many, many plates of Gyoza!

At the Laie Hawaii Temple. It was stunning!
The Visitor's center in Hawaii


Kahuku High, where my mom went to High School. This was the day of the state football championships, and Kahuku was playing (apparently they play in it every year, and win) (oh, they won)

Our Thanksgiving Feast
My mom arranged for a scuba diver to come down into the tank full of sea creatures with a sign that wished me an early birthday. It was the COOLEST birthday wish I'd ever gotten in my life!

The whole clan at the dinner. It was amazing!


Thanksgiving Day Ice Cream at the famous Lapperts. I got Coconut Macadamia Chocolate Chip.


Thanksgiving day lunch


This one bird would not stop pestering us at the table we were sitting at outside and I did not like it! Everyone else tried feeding it and everything, but I pouted and had to get away before I freaked out!


We were at the beach every spare minute we got! It was amazingly blue and clear and beautiful!
On the North Shore at Matsumotos Shaved Ice. it was soooo yummy!
Beautiful Leis



The BEST Holiday ever!! Thanks again Mom! Love you!!