The term Tax Season has a whole other meaning to me now. I have been working for a small CPA firm here in Rexburg since January and it has been a really good job...until now!! Just kidding but I really know now what Cami, Kelsey, and Shannon mean when they talk about tax season! Anyway that is my excuse for not blogging since January!




Most of you already know that we are pregnant! I am 16 weeks along and due on September 27th. I've had a few appointments and everything is going smoothly. I've gained 3 pounds total but it feels like a lot more considering I can't button my pants anymore! The nausea was bearable, nothing compared to what I hear Cami has had before, and I can eat good food again. We find out on May 7th what the gender is so we are looking forward to that.

Sawyer just finished a semester of school and is now obsessed with anything outdoors, mostly fishing and shooting his new shotgun. He starts another semester in a week and an internship with the Rexburg Police Department! Not as exciting as it sounds, there has been one gun shot in the last 25 years, and well it was shot at a back tire to slow the car down.

That is our update for now. Here are some Easter pictures too!

Christmas Vacation

After spending 4 months in Modesto, CA working at Interstate Batteries we packed up again (for the 4th time this year) and headed to Sacremento for an early Christmas with the Walkers. We are so grateful to Shannon and Richard for the many wonderful presents given to us! I got even more for my birthday and I have to remind Sawyer that I had a birthday too because he thinks I got spoiled a little more. The next morning at 4 AM we hit the road back to Rexburg with the Uhaul. We got about 45 minutes into our drive and got stopped and had to put on chains because of the nasty weather over the Donner Pass. The chains helped but we had to go super slow and the whole drive took us 2 hours more than usual. It was snowing the whole way there! We finally made it and unpacked all our stuff and left 2 days later for Salt Lake City Airport to fly to Houston for 2 weeks.

We got there and right away we celebrated my birthday. I am so grateful to my wonderful husband for making it special and seperate from our anniversary and Christmas because they are so close. He spoiled me rotted and so did my parents! We did my favorite thing that day...shopped! Then went to authentic Texas BBQ that was really tasty!











The next day was our 1 year anniversary! We made it! It only felt like forever... No this year has been the best year of my life. I have loved it so much and we have had so much fun. With all the moving we are able to go on several small vacations starting with our honeymoon in Park City, UT. We have also been to Monterey/Carmel twice, San Diego, Ensenada, Mexico, Catalina Island, Oakland, San Francisco, St. George, Houston, and Salt Lake City several times to visit sisters. For our anniversary date we were able to take the date car (corvette) to a nice seafood restaurant called Babins for fresh shrimp! mmmm! After that we walked around the market street outside mall and enjoyed the nice Texas December weather.


After a few days in Houston by ourselves with my parents the madness began when everyone started arriving! There were a total of 22 people in one house for 2 days and it was crazy! Sawyer and I had fun being the puppets and moved around almost every night for the first couple nights trying to get our share of a bed before we ended up in the office on the airmatress for 8 nights. The matress wasn't bad at all though it was brand new. The boys started out the trip by going fishing and duck hunting but no luck with either trip. We saw Avatar in 3D (very good) and went to the Houston Arboretum (a big garden).






We celebrated Christmas by watching the Nativity movie and reading Christmas stories. Christmas morning was pretty crazy with 7 kids tearing open their presents and wrapping paper everywhere but it was fun to see how happy they were. After the kids were busy with their new toys it was the adults turn to tear open their presents. Once again we were very spoiled and are very grateful for all that we were given. Sawyer of course broke our spending limit and gave me many wonderful gifts that I love. The last day we were there before our flight left at 1, Sawyer was able to squeeze in paintballing with his brother-in-laws and got back just in time to jump in the car for the airport. We had a very nice time with family and are lucky that we were able to go. Thank you to everyone for the wonderful gifts!

Oakland/San Francisco Day of Fun!

We had the most amazing time in the Bay Area. First of all how much better could one start the day than going to the Oakland Temple, it was my first time and Sawyer's first time in 5 years. It was decorated for Christmas and had an amazing view of the bay.



The Golden Gate Bridge was the next stop. We walked halfway across then walked back but it took us a good 45 minutes. Good thing we are not scared of heights! It was beautiful.


Our next stop was the most important of the whole trip, seeing the full house house (well the next important after the temple)! It took us a while to find it (like 2 hours) but we found it and it is not like they showed it in the 90's but it brought bake a lot of Tanner family memories. The last stop was the Fisherman's Wharf. We ate some good crabs and shrimp at Joe's Crab Shack and walked down the wharf to end the night. It was a fun one day trip needed to rejuvenate until Thanksgiving break.

This is the biggest donut we have ever seen! We got it in the one and only Santa Cruz Boardwalk. We were able to go because Sawyer's cousin Jane had a reception nearby so we spent the day there beforehand.




We rode a roller coaster and met up with Shannon and Richard and watched the surfers ride the waves. It was a fun day in the sun!

Finally we are updating the events that have been happening in the last few months. Maddie graduated from BYU-Idaho with a Business Management degree and Sawyer decided to treat her to a cruise! The cruise was five days and four nights, starting in San Diego and then going to Catalina Island where we went snorkeling and moved on to Ensenada, Mexico where we rented a scooter and toured the city. Maddie was stressed out when we went shopping because no one leaves you alone! Can't get enough chickles in that city. Sawyer loved speaking spanish to all the locals and telling them that he was actually from Uruguay and I'm his American wife. Bargaining for the already cheap prices was Sawyer's favorite part. The cruise was a ton of fun. Sawyer won us a bottle of champaine by shaking his booty in front of the whole cruise ship! We were called on stage because we made the mistake of sitting in the front row. He was in a competition with another guy in a "dance off" it was hilarious to say the least! The food was great and we both have finially lost the weight we gained from all steaks and lobsters. After sucking the ice cream mechine dry and taking in the rays for the week we went to Sacramento to visit family and then headed back to Rexburg.

Tolman Family Reunion

Maddie's brother-in-law is a police officer and has a lot of guns. The one Sawyer is shooting is a M-16 Assult Rifle. He looked like a kid at Disney Land while he was shooting it and looking back with a silly grin. Maddie is shooting her grandpa's 12 gauge right at the clay pidgen and not a bad shot I might add.

On the 4th of July we spent most of the day on the lake with all the siblings and all the kids. There was a huge three person tube that got drug around by the boat. Sawyer was able to get in a little bit of his wakeboarding and skiing fix. He still has it! Rock was unsuccessful in trying to throw us off the tube! The holiday was finished off with dinner and fun with the family.

The cabin is in Pinto, UT 45 minutes Northwest of St. George on a mountain side. We decided to climb to the top one day with everyone including my sister Joey's baby Britt. Sawyer was a gentleman and voluteered to have the baby on his back most of the way up the mountain. On the way down Britt fell asleep and his head was flopping back and forth but enjoyed the ride and slept through it.

One of our favorite things to do at the cabin was ride 4-wheelers. Every night we would end our day with a nice ride through the mountains sometimes riding together and sometimes on our own.
It was fun to be reunited with the whole Tolman family. Even though it was only a few days we had a great time and got away from our busy lives at school. Can't wait for next year!

The New Edition To The Family

The best event of the summer in Rexburg is a big hick fest of a demolition derby. The 10 dollars we spent got us an annoying drunk lady wearing half the clothes anyone would wear, that wouldn't keep her mouth shut about her boyfriend that was 8 years younger than her, while leaning back and practically resting on Maddie's lap! About half way through Sawyer looked down from the top bleacher we were sitting on and saw that the support underneath was bending slightly. He said to himself "oh, it will probably hold us but that's not good." Well one minute later the bleachers started falling sideways and Sawyer jumped off the side and helped me up after they hit the ground. The lady sitting next to Maddie got her foot caught and probably broke some bones. There is an experience we can say we had but will never do it again!


On a good note, we were able to go golfing at the local Municipal Golf Course and played nine holes. Sawyer did well for not playing since before the mission. We had a good time in the sun and Maddie learned a lot about golfing, including that eleven shots on one hole is not good!


The "New Edition" to the family is a 2007 DRZ-400sm. Sawyer found a good deal that he just couldn't pass up, well maybe we could have but it is a nice ride to school and not worry about parking and in a small town like this they're not too dangerous. We enjoy going for rides through the farm lands on the old farm roads and looking at all the potatoes grow ha. Sawyer has always loved motorcycles and has finally gotten one of his own and knows that it is only temporally and when children come, the bike goes.