RODEO!

 Saturday morning Matt and I got on the shuttle at 3:00 AM and headed down to Layton for a day with my family!  It started with going to clean the church, then a day out with the girls shopping!  We came back to watch the BYU game and have a BBQ, and then headed to the Salt Lake Fair Grounds for a little rodeo action!!

 Dad even got us some roasted almonds, which he is still eating in this picture that I took!  Yummy!  I love the fair!  I love the people watching, giant corn dogs, fried food, family time, taste testing and much more!

 This just sends chills up my spine!  So proud to be an American! 

 Hahaha poor little girl, the horse went for like a good 3 minutes! haha oh and she was the only one in the arena going around with the flag so all eyes were on her! :) 

We were supposed to get back on the shuttle at 10 that night but thanks to my awesome family we got talked into staying till Sunday afternoon, good thing my Dad and Matt have the same shirt size! :)  Thanks for the awesome day familila!

parenting..

Boy have I learned a lot about parenting (I know that its going to be totally different with it our kids but still...) let me explain a little- Monday, Wendsday, and Friday for 4 hours I am in the preschool teaching, playing, enjoying, cleaning up after, and solving arguments for toddlers. On Tuesdays and Fridays I babysit 3 kids (6yr, 3 yr, 1yr) from 12-whenever (normally 5-6) On Sundays I am in the primary but for my ward it's really the nursery with 2 boys that are just 18 months. So pretty much my entire week revolves around kids (when I am not with them I am preparing to be...) Don't get me wrong I LOVE IT! Sundays get a little boring when I can't sit next to husband for sunday school and instead just playing with blocks for 2 hours and talking about having babies (all the ladies in there with me are pregnant right now). Preschool is HARD work, its a different kind of work then math and science... you are preparing for lessons weeks in advanced, coming up with new ideas every day, observing, teaching, evaluating, crafting, reading...etc. It's hard though cause its not the normal kind of teaching-DuH! You can't just lecture children they have to be involved in everything you do- there is sooo much more then I ever thought I would need to do in preschool.

But something that I have learned from all of this was the kind of parent I am going to be (well hope to be) I have this image in my head that whenever something goes wrong IE my child is throwing a tantrum over something and I can't calm them down, ill just put out one of my many binders and read what to do if I can't remember it already. It's crazy how you can see all of the different parenting types in a preschool, even when the parents aren't there you can tell. You can tell which children are the youngest, oldest, only girl/boy, ones who's parents are still in school, or working full time... etc We learned today that the key to disciplined is a fantastic curriculum. But how does that have anything to do with parenting you ask?! I have realized while babysitting after school that the children mostly act out because of boredom... when I give them something to do or look forward to its not bad, and they actually seem to work together... I strongly believe that if things are more thought out everyday then we would have more child interaction there fore making it so we don't have to feel like we are always nagging. Another thing I have learned is to just let children be children. Play is the best way for learning, Learning is NOT a race... I feel bad for those children that their parents think they are slower when everyone their age is reading, or walking. Every child is different and needs to be treated as such.

We have been talking a lot about "play" in my curriculum for young children class. Its sad to see how things have changed since I was a child. I remember going out and playing neighbor games, riding bikes, jumping on the tramp, playing make believe with friends... and now with all of our technology and cool toys kids are going outside less and less, and loosing the ability to make believe because they are giving the toy instead. I am not saying this is how everyone is but this is something I am going to work on with my children. Just letting them be themselves. Playing and learning new things for themselves... I think sometimes I miss my childhood, I want my children to live theirs to the fullest! :) I know I know I have all these things up in my head thinking that parenting is going to be a piece of cake... but I am sure hoping with everything I have seen and learned lately that its going to be something like that, and when its not I hope I only remember the days that are! :)

*side note another reason why I love Matt so much is because he understands how important all of this is to me, and will do anything so I can be at home with our children all day everyday. I will be there- the other day when I was baby sitting when the mom came home I was holding the 1 yr old, I went to give her to her mom and she started crying and refused to go to her. It broke my heart to see her mom tear up and think "why wont my own child come to me?" I can promise you that that will never happen! :) Don't get me wrong she is a great mother but we have just both agreed that my full time job is going to be a mother, not a provider.

She Said Yes!

For those of you were were not at our wedding luncheon, or Inkom reception... Amanda and Marshell (my in-laws) wrote and sang this to us for our wedding! It is perfect! This was seriously us to a T... they got everything you hear from my blog and made it all work into a song! I couldn't figure out how to just post the song so I made a video so that I could do pictures and songs! Thanks guys!- see how lucky I am to be in such a talented family!

*side note Marshall just got diagnosed with Acute Leukemia and is going though treatments now... please keep him and his family in your prayers! We love you Marshall, Amanda, and baby Kezman

getting ready..

That was then...

This is now... (also add Kanyin, Luke, and Matt)

My mom asked me today if I was ready for everything that was going to be happening... it hit me hard. I am leaving home....forever, I know you can always visit but sometimes its just not the same. My mom and I have gotten really close over the years and I kinda feel like I am loosing my best friend (don't get me wrong I know I am gaining an eternal one but you know the feeling...) All I can say is I am glad Matt works with the Salt Lake Express so I can come home whenever I need to. I just don't want to miss all of the family get together on Sunday watching a movie and having Dad make the best popcorn, or coming home from work and having Katelyn welcome you home and wanting to turn on another show for her... usually Bolt or "the princess show", or going shopping with my parents because I just want to spend time with them... there is just something about living close to home that I hate leaving but everyone has to go though it sometime right?

I don't know what I would do without them right now... all my friends are back in Idaho so all I have had is my family- and I wouldn't change that for the world! They have done so much for me- especially helping with the wedding I would not of been able to do it without them! I am blessed to have the family I have and even more blessed to be gaining a new one just like them!

Today I just kinda hit hard... but I am excited for my new adventure and to start my own family!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my mom! :)

Ill miss being around these lovely ladies everyday! I look up to them so much and hope to be like them someday, I have the worlds best sisters!!

It's about time!

Sorry folks! Life has been a tad bit CrAzY lately and I have hardly had anytime to do anything for myself or so it seems... haha Some recent happenings: Sorry if I blog about the same thing I can't remember what I have and have not blogged about yet..
We had a Craven family Bridal shower for me and got some super AMAZING things! I can't wait to use it all and turn our little apartment into our home! :) It was also really fun to get together with all of the girls! :)
Lots of baby blessings! Luke and Kanyin were blessed a week apart so we enjoyed some good company and food 2 weeks in a row!! :) And Matt was able to come down so it was a extra bonus for me!

Stadium of FIRE!! aka freaken AMAZING! I got to go with my roommates for a girls weekend! It was such a blast and good to all be together again! It's crazy to think about where we started and now where we are... 4 freshman girls living on their own, trying to meet new friends, leaving the family behind, and being excited and scared at the same time to meet boys and now... one is married, I am almost there (22 days!!!), one is up lifting and strengthening testimony's of many young women at a LDS camp, and one is working towards going on a mission.... who would have thought that things would have turned out the way that they did! Life if truly un expected but simply amazing!
I also got the opportunity to go to Lagoon with the Bedke clan! It was just like old times I miss being around all of them all the time its crazy how much they have all grown, Maddi was just a little tot when when moved and now she has already started school! Its good to know that i'll still always be CB (it stands for Craven Bedke, its like my adopted name! I got it when Ashely and I first became friends and it has stuck ever since!)

So pretty much I am living the dream! I am excited to be married FINALLY and get to start my new life with Matt, but I am also scared at the same time... or maybe its just nerves but is the good kind! Its all I have worked for my entire life and now its only 22 days away... so much to do and so little time! Thank goodness for my angel mother and sisters who most likely put more into this wedding then I do ( I want to do more its just hard when you work from 6-3 everyday...) I hope all is well with you and can't wait to see you shortly! Keep the faith and remember these are the good old days you will wish you had back so enjoy the journey! :)

a common link?

what do you get when you get the "fantastic 4" (Ashley,Brielle, Emily, and Lindsay)

Brad Paisley

David Archuleta

And fireworks that look something like this?!
Well every other day you would just get 4 best friends, 2 really good singers, and pretty lights! but on July 2nd you get...


THE STADIUM OF FIRE!!!


And we are going!!! We are having our last big hooray before I get married and it was about time we all got together again to do something fun! I have never really been to a concert before except for the first semester of school with Ashley, Emily, and Lindsay and the funny thing is we went to see David Archuleta- (we didn't really get the whole concert experience because we couldn't even stand up or anything, it was at our school and as much as I love going there sometimes the rules are a bit extreme!) conscience? Or not you pick, but I CAN'T WAIT!!

I love you this big!

I am not a big t.v watcher sometimes I wish I could be but I never have time. Well last night we were working on some wedding stuff so we just turned on the t.v for background noise and decided to watch American Idol (I have not ever been obsessed with this show but it is good, especially when its the finals and you just get to see the end instead of having to watch the whole season!) Of what I have seen of the season I loved Scotty's voice and was excited to see that he was one of the finalist. Well he sang this new song called "I love you this big" and I LOVE IT!! It's the cutest song and really easy to relate to! So in case you were not able to watch it here it is! Enjoy! :) this one is for sure going on the wedding soundtrack! :) (and if you have any other good wedding songs be sure to let me know!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFYsqRDDVeA&wl_token=Z-bb2VkK1wx5vRfNBM-KWORb_gl8MTMwNjQ1NzM3NkAxMzA2MzcwOTc2&wl_id=tFYsqRDDVeA

(click on the link above to view)