Outer Banks Weekend

For Halloween we headed to the Outer Banks for the weekend. We kept looking at our schedule and realized this was one of the last weekends we had before it gets really crazy around here. We had always talked about how we really wanted to go to the Outer Banks because you can't live in NC and not go there. We stayed in Kitty Hawk across the street from the Wright Brothers Memorial. Since it was the off season out hotel was cheap, we were right on the beach, and there were no crowds.

It was such a nice little weekend getaway. We relaxed, ate great food, explored some sites. It was a much needed break from our schedule in Raleigh.  One of the highlights was the weather. We kept getting coastal flooding warnings and high wind warnings on our cell phones all night long. It made it exciting to watch the huge waves and the wind was crazy! We woke up the next morning to garbage cans and exit signs all over the place. It was a little scary but really fun. Overall, it was a great weekend and it was fun to spend it with Andrew.

NC State Fair

Since we moved to NC we have heard all about the state fair. Lucky for us we live about 1 mile away from the fairgrounds. My mom and I had never been to any kind of fair before so we didn't know what to expect. I was actually really surprised on how clean it was and everything was put together nicely. We watched some lambs get judged, Kenyan acrobats, an acrobatic family, pig racing and walked around some booths. We also found some of the best BBQ that we have had here. We loved it so much we almost made Andrew go back the next day to the fair just to get it. haha

The biggest highlight of the fair was the fact that it was a "Southern" fair. They had deep fried EVERYTHING. We waited till the end of the night to try some. I had deep fried Samoa girl scout cookies, my mom had a red velvet funnel cake, and Andrew wins for the strangest one, reeses wrapped in bacon. Let's just say around the second and third bite he was regretting his decision. My mom and I just sat back and were laughing at him.

Another southern charm was the tobacco stringing. It has been weird living in a state where one of the top crops produced is tobacco. They just had tobacco sitting out and were teaching kids how they string it and let it dry and then eventually turn it into tobacco. We were very fascinated by it all. I forgot to snap a picture.

It was a really fun night and a great first "fair" experience for me. Since we live so close we got to relive it every night with fireworks at 9:45 right on the dot.

Mom Kings Second Visit

My mom surprised me back in September by giving me a call to let me know she would be coming out in Oct. It was exactly what I needed. Andrew was in the middle of another finals week and it is always nice to have someone to party/talk with while Andrew is focused on school. It also was a blast to go shopping for our little girl and it was around the time that all my clothes were not fitting anymore. So it was nice having her around to help me put together some cute maternity outfits.

One morning we just sat on the couch and talked for hours. We kept getting up to get ready for the day but just kept talking. It was a blast! Andrew is such a good sport to sit there and listen to us go on and on. :)

We went on some adventures while she was here. We went to the state fair (that is worth a whole separate post) and we went to the Historic Yates Mill. It is a really pretty mill just 20 minutes away form our house. We did a short beautiful hike and learned about grinding corn and wheat. We are going to go back in a few weeks to see all the fall colors. It has been weird to adjust to not having fall colors till late October and early November.

We always love to have visitors and have a little bit of home brought to NC. For anyone who wants to come visit, just hop on a plane and we would LOVE to have you. :)

We're Having a.....

GIRL

We are so excited to welcome a sweet little girl to our family. My ultrasound appointment was Oct. 3 so around 19 weeks and unfortunately, Andrew couldn't make it due to school. It was really weird just sitting in the waiting room thinking about all the different scenarios Andrew and I talked about depending on the gender. I knew that leaving the office we would be able to have some answers or how i like to put it.....we could PLAN!

Going into the appointment I was 95% sure that we were having girl. Andrew was still about 50/50. Well, this little baby DID NOT want us to know what the gender was. The ultrasound lady just kept saying, "man, this baby is going to make me work hard today." Every time we would get close she would wiggle the other way. Finally we got a great view that she was a girl. It seriously took 30 minutes. It was fun seeing her moving around so much. She also LOVES to have her one hand right by her face. So I don't know if that is going to turn into a thumb sucker?!?

The best part of the day was telling Andrew. We both couldn't wait till he got home from school so I picked him up a little early from school. I let him know he would be having a future BYU Cheerleader vs. a BYU Quarterback. He was still super excited. Later that night I told Andrew that I knew exactly what her name was going to be. The second the ultrasound lady told me she was a girl this name came directly to my head. Andrew then turned to me and told me that while he was at school that he had the exact same name come to his mind. We had NOT talked about it at all. So we're still going to keep it a little secret because you never know if things will change but we're pretty sure this is it.

She gave us a nice little smile and wave. 

 That hand is right there in EVERY picture. 

Baby Bangerter is on the way!

We are so glad that we finally get to share the news that we are expecting our first baby in March! We wanted to wait until we heard a heartbeat and everything looked okay at the doctors before we spread the good news. Most of our close family and friends knew about our secret because we had been waiting for this day for a long time so we had to tell them. Also, our Moms spilled the beans quite a few times to their friends and more extended family so they got the ball rolling.

We are very excited and nervous all at the same time but mostly we just feel really blessed. We have seen the Lord's hand in our life through this experience of trying to have a baby. We truly have had our testimonies strengthened that the Lord has a plan for each one of us and His plan/timing is better than any plan that we can come up with. It was not easy to come to this realization after each month finding out we were not pregnant but once we put all our faith and trust in the Lord/stopped worrying about it every second, we were blessed. We actually stopped focusing on it so much that when I had been sick for a few weeks I just thought I had a little bug that I couldn't kick. My mom being the smart woman she is, pretty much told me she thought I was pregnant but didn't want to pressure me into finding out.  So I sat for about an hour thinking of weather or not I should take a test. I figured I might as well and if it was negative then I could go on with my day. While I was waiting for my test I just got on my knees and prayed that I could be comforted for when I saw that it was negative. But while I was praying I had the Spirit fill my whole body and tell me that it was going to be positive. I can't even begin to describe to you how strong the Spirit was because I had never felt it that strongly. I seriously felt like I had hit a brick wall. Of course when I looked at the test it was positive because the Spirit always testifies of truth. :) I literally didn't know what to do because we had had so many negative results before than. Luckily, it was close to Andrew's lunch time and he had forgotten something from home so I told him I was going to pick him up for lunch. I had texted him earlier that I was debating on taking a test or not but he didn't know that I had actually done it. He got in the car and was being very nice because he noticed I had been crying so he assumed it was negative even though while he was sitting in class he told me he had this feeling that we were pregnant...so he was a little confused. I finally told him that it was positive and we both were so excited and crying! :) We then of course had to call all the parents. My mom especially wanted to know because I had talked to her earlier and I had told her I was going to wait until Andrew got home so when I only called her an hour later she was excited.

Thanks for sitting through and reading my little story but I just felt like I really needed to share it because it has been a great testimony building experience for me. Even now being 18 weeks pregnant and having no idea what I am doing, I look back on how strongly I felt the Spirit testify to me that day that we were going to be entrusted with one of Heavenly Father's children and how we'll get to teach them all about this gospel and how it is our duty to help them return to back to live with Him. It has not been an easy road and won't get any easier but moments like that are what get me through each and every day with every little worry that I have.

Andrew's Birthday

This past weekend was Andrew's birthday. He turned the big 25! He started his birthday by going to the Scotty McCreery concert at NC State with his brother Seth. He said it was one of the best concerts he has ever been to. They also came home with Insomnia cookies which has become one of our favorite places in NC. Andrew actually picked out every single one of his gifts. He knew exactly what he wanted so I had him head to the store and get it. Luckily, he did have one surprise gift from Seth. Just from the pictures you can tell his excitement and love for Nike.

I'm so grateful for Andrew and that he is part of my life. He really is one of a kind and I'm so glad that he gets to be mine. :) Love you Andrew!

 I realized we didn't have candles so we had to improvise.

THREE YEARS!

August 12th was our three year anniversary. All day we just kept looking at each other and couldn't believe we had been married for three years!! We celebrated by walking around the mall, going to lunch, and eating some cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. It was nice that Andrew was on his summer break from school so he had the day off. We really just hung out at home with each other for most of the day and it was the best.

Visit From My Mom

About a month ago my mom came to visit us! It was so exciting to have our first visitor from out of state. She came at the perfect time because it was right in the middle of all of Andrew's finals. When Andrew would be studying I had a buddy to do things with. We took advantage of every minute of every day that she was here. We went to a movie, a baseball game, explored downtown Raleigh, and lots of shopping. She also helped me finish up our apartment. If you don't already know my mom is the queen of organizing. She came right in and organized my kitchen and closet perfectly. It was the best!

 We couldn't survive in NC without our trusty GPS. Thanks Dad!!

 We had BBQ one night and they gave us a TON of hush puppies!!