Our parents recently got this in the mail...
And this...
And Nick's sister got this...
And our grandparents got this...
My work got these...
And this is what we saw today...
In case you haven't figured it out we are having a baby and....it's a boy!!! We are almost halfway there! Surprise!
It's about time I post these pictures, but they aren't that great because I took them with my phone. I promise when I get a sec I will take pictures that are much better and post them. These are pics from my parents house. I wish I had the "before" pics but for any of you who have been to my parents house you will get how amazing these "after" pics are. My parents bought their house years ago mainly because they loved the yard and location. The idea was to redo the kitchen as soon as possible since my mom loves entertaining but it never really happened. Since they came home from their mission they decided it was about time. I have to brag a little bit because Nick designed the space, did the plans and helped choose most of the materials and it looks amazing! It's incredible how different the space is and how much more functional it is, it doesn't even seem like the same house. I will try and put new pictures up soon because these pics don't do justice to the transformation. They added on and put in a new laundry room and bathroom. The floors are beautiful. If you are in the area you will have to go check it out! 
This weather has made me realize that summer is coming to an end. I thought I better post the rest of my summer pics since I've been a little bit behind. When Brit came home for the summer we went to Minnetonka cave, then to Logan canyon and bear lake to meet the rest of the fam. I hate when she leaves! Matt and Betsy got married and we love when someone else gets married so we can all get together, congrats you two! A few weeks ago Nick and I decided to make a trip to Lagoon. Neither of us had been for years and we had a blast! We've had such a great summer and are bummed to see it come to end!
For the second time I was blessed enough to meet President Monson. Nick and I were at Nordstrom in mens shoes and I looked over to see President Monson getting his shoes shined. I couldn't resist, I had to go over to shake his hand. He told me the sweet story about how his father was the missionary who baptized his wife's family. He was so happy and has such a great outlook on life. The last time I meet him I actually tripped over him while I was in the mens shoes department in Nordstrom about 6 years ago. He obviously has great taste if he shops at Nordstrom's! He has such an amazing spirit and I know he is truly a prophet of God. I feel so lucky to have meet him again.
Okay, no one is going to be as excited as me about this post but we actually got some veggies out of our own garden today!!! Nick built three planter boxes for me and we planted our own little garden. We got started a little late but we had fresh raddishes, chives, rosemary and cilantro today and we have some eggplants and peppers coming soon. I can't wait to see what else is will be growing soon!
I had a long weekend off so for our 4 year anniversary we decided to head to Vegas. I was a little skeptical at first because we had looked at going to Mexico but couldn't find any good deals but it ended up being perfect to celebrate cause we were able to do all of our favorite things. Nick found a great deal at the Venetian which was the best place we could have stayed. We never had to walk through the casino and the mall was across the street. Plus, we could use the Palazzo pool too! Our room was way too big but so relaxing. The weather ended up being perfect (not too hot) so we spent our days by the pool reading and relaxing and working on my mad swimming skills (for anyone that knows me well know I'm not great in the water but thanks to my sweet husband I'm getting much better and really starting to enjoy swimming). My favorite part was that they brought around cool washcloths, sliced cucumbers and sliced oranges all the time.
The first day we ate at the poolside Wolfgang Puck restaurant and our server hooked us up with coupons so we were able to eat at four Wolfgang Puck restaurants. He is now our new favorite chef. Nick says that the chicken (which he would not usually order but was recommended) is the most amazing chicken he has ever eaten. I had the most incredible free dessert. It was a raspberry chocolate chip souffle with creme fraiche and chocolate ganache. My mouth is watering just thinking about it, mmmm! We had authentic gelato and even chocolate macadamia nuts. We also went shopping, which I'm afraid we both like to do way too much. My favorite was the Beatles Love show. The music was amazing and I couldn't believe the things the cirque du solei people were able to do. They used tramps and roller skates, I keep thinking someone was going to fall.
We had a fabulous time celebrating our 4 years. I still can't believe how fast it's gone. I feel so lucky to have the husband that is just perfect for me! Love you babe!
I know I haven't been very good at posting lately but we've been enjoying summer way too much! Sorry for all the pics. We recently had a family reunion with my dad's fam and it was so crazy to see all the new children. I love being at the farm with the old house. Almost all my dad's brothers and sisters were there. We had a blast over the fourth. My mom made almost 150 tameles which we almost finished and then watched the fireworks from her yard. We then headed back to Salt Lake for our blocks party. Let's just say most of the fireworks were not legal, it was pretty amazing. We love our neighbors! We also had St. Marks graduation up at Millcreek canyon. It was so beautiful. I love all the residents and feel so lucky to be at St. Marks with all of them. 
My parents, Nick and I went on a last minute road trip to the Pacific Northwest. We went throughout Washington and Oregon. It was so amazing. It was so much fun to camp and see city sights in the same day. We took a ferry ride, ate amazing fish, drove along the coast, went to numerous gardens, visited the Olympic National Park and of course, went on a mini architecture tour. We can't wait to go back.
Saturday May 23rd 2009, was one of the biggest days of our married life. My beautiful wife is now officially a DOCTOR!!! I am so proud of her. She has spent many sleepless nights and countless hours studying for tests, being on call and preparing for board exams. We both wondered if this day would ever come. What an amazing accomplishment. Dr. Peterson will start residency at St. Marks in July. I love you babe, CONGRATS!
Getting hooded
Opening the diploma for the first time
Opening graduation presents
Trying out the new engraved stethoscope
Deans reception at the stadium
Graduation day with the family at Leila's school building
Nick is finally home from Bluff, for good. It's been so nice to have him home. For his birthday our families decided to surprise him. With a made-up story about some primary activity we went to a park to drop off some food. Once at the park I tried to get him out of the car to help me unload but he didn't want to. I couldn't figure out why but then I realized he still had his mullet and he didn't want our whole ward to see it. I finally convinced him and he was completely surprised to see our families hiding under a picnic bench. His mullet was hilarious! I, as always, decided to go overboard and make a 15 layer cake. What I was thinking I don't know but it actually tasted good (didn't look so good but taste is all that matters, right?). All in all, it was a fun birthday. I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful husband who puts up with my crazy ideas and supports me 100%. I don't know what I would do without him! Happy Birthday sweetheart!
I love spring! I love the weather, the flowers, being able to go on bike rides and just the smell! My tulips finally bloomed and I hope if I keep thinking it's spring it will finally stay warm! I love all the fun holidays that come along with spring too! Mother's day this year was so much fun, and I definitely have the best two moms in the world!
Well, it finally happened. Nick cut his beautiful long locks into a mullet. These are the fresh cut pictures straight from Bluff. He told me he's keeping it for a long time. I couldn't help but laugh at the pics, it's so not my clean cut, pretty boy hubby, but he's still sexy as ever (even though he looks like he should be sitting in a double wide, in cut-off jeans spitting sunflower seeds)!!!
What could be better! Toph (Nick's little bro) was competing in the WAC golf tournament so we decided to watch him play and take in the sights of Vegas at the same time. Britt even flew in from New York! We tried to fit in everything we could and we had a blast!
My class in Moab learning Wilderness Medicine
Petroglyphs and ruins
The house Nick is living in now (their class designed it last year, aka "man"tainer)
Monument Valley
The house Nick helped design and build (not quite finished)
I finally was able to see what Nick has been up to. My Wilderness Medicine course had some classes down in Moab so I made the trek down there. I then headed down to see Nick in Bluff. It was cool to see where he has been living and what they have been doing. They weren't kidding about being in the middle of no where. Nick and I went on some hikes and saw some awesome Indian ruins and petroglyphs. We also went to Monument Valley and finally I was able see the house Nick is building. You can't see the cool details in the pics but that's what makes it so cool. They have used mainly free or recycled materials. I'm so impressed with the house they have been building, it's incredible!
Book club was at my house last night so I thought I should do a fun dessert. Nick doesn't really eat much dessert so I never make it unless I intend to eat an entire pan of brownies by myself (which I occasionally wish to do). My friend Tori had this awesome book of cupcakes so I thought maybe I would take inspiration from that and make some amazing cupcakes. I was drawn to the ones that looked like Monet's painting "Starry Night". I love Monet. So I attempted this painting with frosting on a bunch of cupcakes. Now let me first say that Nick is the artistic one in the family. He can paint, draw, and everything else but I cannot. When we were dating he drew a picture of me with pen and marker which, from afar, looked like a photograph (he will be embarrassed but I thought I would add it to the post and a painting he did). We have paintings that he has painted that are amazing. I, on the other hand, try but really don't get the depth idea. What made me think I could pull off artistic cupcakes is beyond me. They turned out better than I thought but that was only because I used way too much frosting! They were much cuter in the book. Maybe Nick will be the next Monet.
For my birthday Nick and I went to Kauai. It was incredible! Honestly it was so beautiful that my pictures of the island don't do it justice. Nick kept teasing me that I needed a camera on my head to take constant pictures because I kept asking him to take pictures of everything. We hiked through the jungle, through the canyon called the grand canyon of the pacific, and on the amazing north shore. I've never seen so many different sites and been in such awe! We just kept our hiking shoes in our car and went when we felt like it. It was funny because the days we ended up going on hikes I was usually in a dress and my shoes looked hilarious with what I was wearing. When we went hiking through the canyon we ended up at some waterfalls. We were below one waterfall but literally on edge of the next one that dropped over 100 feet. It was kind of scary but sort of sureal! Oh, and the joys of passion fruit. I love tropical fruit but passion fruit is my favorite!! Nick went to town on pineapples. I refuse to admit how many times we stopped for shaved ice or boxes of macademia nut chocolates.
We went snorkeling a bunch and were amazed by how many fish and the types of fish we saw. One day we even saw a huge turtle. One was on the shore and we swam with one. We also saw seals and whales. It was incredible! We were lucky enough to get a mustang convertible as our rental car because they thought we were on our honeymoon. I don't know how many times we were asked if we were 21 and just married, it was funny! One of the best days was going to Kipu falls were you could jump off the waterfalls. We met a local guy who showed us some awesome cliffs to jump off, caves, and natural lava pools, he was so nice. I think my very favorite day was the hike on the north shore to Bali Hai (from South Pacific). It was spectacular with several waterfalls, cliffs, beach views and the amazing Na Pali coast. That night we went to Luau with tons of food and an awesome show. What a good ending to a wonderful vacation. Nick and I are already looking for airfare to go back, actually Nick was looking at houses so we could move there!
I know that I am miles away but I want you to know that you are always in my heart. Happy Birthday and congratulations my love. I can't tell you how proud I am of all that you have accomplished in the last year. I wish I could be with you to celebrate your acceptance to St. Marks and your 27 th birthday! I Love you Leila, Happy Birthday.
See you soon! -Nick
Today was Match Day (the day we find out where we got into residency)! I got my first choice of St. Marks! Yah!! What a relief. They kept building everything up and it made me nervous until finally let us get our envelopes with the blessed news. They make it so dramatic, it was kind of funny but hard because not everyone was happy. Unfortunately Nick could not be there since he is still in Bluff for school but he got the first call to find out the news! Our class is going all across the country it was really impressive!
Not the best pic cause I started talking but I think Nick looks great!
The amazing view from our room!
I love, love, love Valentine's Day. I'm totally a sucker for romance, love, flowers, chocolate, you name it I love it. Luckily Nick made it home just in time to celebrate with me. We stayed at the Grand America. Everybody kept making fun of me for staying in a hotel in the city I live but I have to say it's amazing. It's like a miny vacation and you don't have to travel far. You have a great room, you don't have to clean, you can eat in bed, free bathrobes, sleep in, use free soap and tissue, go to the spa and the pool and you've got like a million pillows and towels. What could be better? We had so much fun! And the prime rib buffet was amazing (I highly recommend it). Plus they had about 30 different chocolate desserts. Much to Nick's embarassment I tried almost all of them. I'm so grateful he was home to spend one of my favorite holidays together! Love you sweetie!
For those of you who don't know Nick is down in Southern Utah for most of this semester. The University of Utah is one of the few programs in the nation who offers the opportunity for their students to spend a year designing a house for a native american family. They then live in Southern Utah and actually build the house that they designed. He is gone for two weeks at a time and then home for a week. This is a bummer for me but it's such an amazing experience for Nick I couldn't say no. He has loved being down there. If you want to see updates from Bluff and see what they are doing you can check out the link on the right called "Blog for Nick's Project in Bluff, Utah". Since he has been so busy down there he didn't have much time to shave so he grew a beard. It was cute to see him with a full beard! I think it was really hard for him since he is such a pretty boy. He says it itched like crazy. I told he better shave for church when he was home and he came out of the shower with a mustache. It was so funny. We didn't have time to shave it all so he actually ended up going to church with it. Our ward is huge and we don't know everyone so I think people who didn't know him thought he was serious, it was so funny! He is also working on growing his hair out so he can cut a mullet with steps. I'll post pictures if he actually does it. I love these pics he looks so hot, I think he should be a model!
I know I'm super slow posting everything but I thought I would finally post some Holiday pictures. Not very exciting at this point but I feel like I've got to at least post something! Nick and I are way lucky because our families do everything together over the Holiday season so we get to be with everyone all the time. We had a blast this year playing games including the famous peanut game with Maddie loves (Maddie is Nick's cousin, she's the one in the leotard because she performed a ballet number for us, so cute!!). Nick, Toph and Enj had an arm wrestling contest, played some Guitar Hero, Boogle, Pit and we all played a mean game of House of Fire. Gloria made Toph an ugly sweater. It was so funny, I remember how those sweaters use to be so cool! I think the Petersons dog looked hilarious, I think that just might be our Christmas card next year.In case I don't get to see all of you I want to make sure to wish you Happy Holidays!!! I would put a cute picture like all the christmas cards we keep getting but I'm afraid we don't have one. Maybe some day when we have kids.
We went to Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Lichtenstein. We saw lots of sweet modern buildings (too many to put on the blog), drove through the swiss alps, found my dream car, went to the Mercedes and BMW museum, visited the Olympic stadium and about a million other things (and no that is not beer but there were really men in Lederhosen).I took my second board exam today. It was 9 hours long and was kind of crazy! But I'm done. It was so sweet Nick figured out how to call me this morning from Switzerland to wish me good luck! I think it was the middle of the night there and he had no idea how he was going to call but he figured something out. I have the sweetest husband ever! Now I just have to wait forever for the results! And count down the minutes until Nick gets home!
This is how exciting our lives look right now. I know I haven't posted forever but way too much of our time has been spent sitting at this table studying side by side. Not very glamorous! I have my second board exam next week and Nick is trying to get a lot of homework done before he leaves for Europe on Saturday. Sad, I know, I am going to be an architecture widow again. But I'm excited for Nick to see an amazing part of the world that I love! Things have been kind of crazy trying to apply for Residency and schedule interviews. That and trying to fit every outdoor activity we can think of in before it snows: road biking, tennis, golf, soft ball, long walks, and sitting by the pool, it's been so fun in spite of the many hours we have been studying! I can't believe how time flies. I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful companion to share this sweet journey with. It's so fun to know he is right next to me every step of the way! And I'm amazed by how long he can sit in one chair and stare at the computer screen without getting up!
For those of you who don't know already Legacy Highway is now open! My favorite part is the new trail for biking. We love road biking and the more trails closer to us the better! Check it out if you get a second.
So my friend Anne Marie put this on her blog awhile ago and I have finally gotten around to using it and this is the best thing ever! Instead of using 411 (which we do often to find phone numbers and addresses) you can use the free google version - 800-goog-411 or 800-466-4411. We have saved lots of money! Hope you will all enjoy it as much as I have! Thanks Anne Marie.
