we'll raise our colors high in the blue, we're the cougars of BYU...!!

So much has happened in the past little while, it's hard to know where to start! It all got set in motion a couple months ago (was it really only a couple months ago??) when Jared wrapped up his Masters in Engineering (Woohoo! Go Jared!)

I was able to attend seminar the day he presented and watch him do his thing! It was such an extensive project - he worked around the clock on it for nearly 2 years and spent a lot of time out on site He did a great job. Doesn't he look so official?

That night we went and celebrated his huge accomplishment at PF Changs with my sisters

About a month later it REALLY became official, when Jared walked and received his Degree.

It was neat because Kirsten and Rusty both graduated as well! So it was a big day in the Whittaker household!

I am so proud of all you guys for your hard work! I know how hard Jared worked for this moment, and am glad we were able to celebrate it with all our family.

 BYU has been such an important marker in our life - during our time here we've had our first child (well ALMOST two!), learned many life lessons, strengthened invaluable relationships with family, and created lifelong friendships with those in our neighborhood. I think Ziggy Ansah summed it up best when he said "I didn't just go through BYU - BYU went through me." We will miss you BYU and will forever carry you in our hearts <3 p="">

april showers bring may flowers

Since I've totally dropped the ball on the blog, I'm going to have to do a few catch up posts on everything we've been up to this summer. It's been a busy one - and we're loving it! With Emmett being older, he's so easy to pack-up-and-go. It has enabled us to do lots of fun things.

Here's some pictures from the month of May -

Going on a bike ride with his bud Will

Wrapped up as a present for Mother's Day :)

This is a trip we took to Thanksgiving Point.

And I couldn't get over the fact that this horse had a moustachio!! Haha!

 Emmett was introduced to the joy of horseback riding

My Grandparents drove all the way out from Sacramento in May, and it was so much fun getting to see them! I miss them a lot since we've moved. It had been almost a couple years since I'd seen them last! Emmett warmed right up like he'd known them all along.

Emmett & Lolo (Great Grandpa Whitttaker)

And here they're joined by Lola

Here I am with both my Grandmas

Then it was finally time for Kaity's Graduation! She looked great and I'm so proud of her for all her hard work!

And I can't forget about our trip to the Bean Museum at BYU!

This is an actual "Liger!" Apparently they weren't just made up on Napoleon Dynamite! She was from the Hogle Zoo.

 We told Emmett this was "Lion King"

Pumbaa!!

This bear was terrifying to even stand next to. I love this picture because Emmett is up on Jared's shoulders and the bear still towers over them significantly! I wonder if he was actually a result of hunting?!

One month covered, two to go! :)

kah-mo! kah-mo!

That's about all we hear anymore. Emmett has inherited Jared's deep blue blood. He is Cosmo the Cougar's #1 fan. And I'm not exaggerating, I really think he might be. He wants to wear his "cougar shirt" ALL the time. Like he once wore (and slept) in it for three days straight, then still threw a fit when I made him take it off to be laundered. And anything that's navy blue is "Cougar".
Whenever we go to any type of BYU sporting event, he runs like a madman screaming Cosmo's name throughout the entire duration - needless to say I don't usually see very much of the games.

Last weekend we decided to take him to the football team's spring scrimmage. He had a blast running the stadium full speed screaming for Cosmo. Most people we passed started laughing - I don't blame them!

                                                            (Of course we paused to check out the snow plow)

"Kah-mooooo!!"

We train 'em young :)

day 17: clock

Scoreboard at Rusty's volleyball game. Don't worry, we won!

When the Cat's Away...

The mice will play!

Emmett and I tried to pack as much fun as we could into these past few weeks since Jared has been gone/busy. Had to do something to pass the time!

On St. Patricks Day we went on a double date with Kaity and her boyfriend Rusty. We're sporting our green outfits and even ordered green ice cream for the occasion.

Rusty plays for the BYU Volleyball team, so we decided to check out a game.

Emmett even got to personally meet Cosmo! He wasnt too sure how he felt about it though.

Emmett wasn't the only one that got to meet a BYU celebrity... I ran into Bronco Mendenhall at Winger's (for those that arent as BYU football obsessed as our family, Bronco is the coach). Jared was extremely jealous. Please disregard the fact that I look not-so-great, I wasn't planning on taking a picture. And I don't think he was either. haha.

We stayed at my parents for a few days, where Emmett decided that Caysen was the coolest person ever and was constantly following him and invading his personal bubble. lol.

He also decided his favorite place to hang out was under the table...

and loved that his head touched the top

We had a lot of fun, but we're glad Jared is back! After looking at all these pictures I have decided that I am in desperate need of a tan. Please come out and stay Mr. Sun!!

Basketball Mania

I'm currently typing to you via my (*our) brand new dell laptop, freshly out of the box. And I'm stoked about it. You should see our old one. It's pathetic really (and it shouldnt be, it's only 2 years old). But obviously we didn't take that great of care of it. The shift key is completely missing (thanks to Emmett). I just press the little stub where the key used to be when I capitalize something. lol. The CD drive is crooked and doesnt play discs. There are scratches on the casing, and last time I tried to print something, the silver plug part of the usb adapter decided it wanted to stay in the port when I removed the cord (and thus jamming it for any future use).

Basically, this new computer has been a long time coming. And it is glorious.

There has been a lot of sports mania going on in our house lately, and I felt it would be an injustice in the record keeping of our life if I didn't include it.

Jared and I went to the BYU vs UNLV game last weekend, and had a blast cheering on "The Jimmer Team". Let's be honest, the screaming masses in the arena don't even realize the rest of the team exists. I felt bad for them when they all ran out onto the court for their introduction. It went like this:  "And now Ladies and Gentleman, what you've all been waiting for.... JIMMMMMMER!" (as a picture of his face flashes onto all four sides of the jumbotron, and the digital word display down on the court is constantly running the word "JIMMER!!!" I almost expected the announcer to add as a hushed, side note "oh yeah, and the rest of the Cougars".

Seriosuly all this hype about him is hilarious. He is the KING of Provo. Someone made an ENORMOUS cut-out of Jimmers face and people were passing it back and forth in the stands. You just see the giant Jimmer head surfing the waves. Cosmo caught a glimspe of it, and came and got it so we were lucky enough to also witness the giant jimmer face run all the way down from the top of the arena to the bottom, where it was then paraded around the basketball court while everyone chanted his name. (You know how everyone always yells "SCORE-BOARD, SCORE-BOARD" in that deep monotone chant? Yeah it's been replaced with "JIM-MER, JIM-MER".

If all of that isn't enough, check out this article written on ESPN. This is what happens when a girl in Provo tries to go against the masses. Rebellion. But really, who does she think she is?

On top of it, Jerry Sloan throwing in the towel for the Jazz has really had Jared in a tizzy. Last night, as soon as Jared caught word, he went crazy searching every article, opinion, commentary, etc he could find about the situation while simultaneously playing ESPN on the TV. I finally went and layed down with Emmett and ended up falling asleep.

Jared came in around midnight and said "What are you doing? Get out here and watch something with me." Then he followed it up with "I just want a little Cassie time."

I begrudgingly dragged myself out of bed and was like "oh, I'm so glad to know it's Cassie time now that it's midnight and I can't keep my eyes open. Because from 10:30 until now it's been 'Jerry' time."

Jared just laughed and acknowledged he "got a little carried away".

Story of my life. LoL

*Update: Jared just read my post and feels it was unfair that I forgot to mention he was at school from 7:30 am to 9:30 pm that day. And that he was "distraught" and that he "feels like his childhood dog just died". So take that into account as you form your opinion of this post :-)

There's a new dog in town

We have moved! The past couple weeks have been quite the adventure. Finally we have reached our destination in the the Happy Valley. All in all the move went pretty smooth. We had tons of help from Jareds family. There's no way we would have been able to do it without them. I've learned that pregnancy and moving do not mix well!

I cannot deny the fact that there have also been a couple bumps in the road of our moving experience. After some deep white glove cleaning at our last apartment, we arrived at our new one to find that the last tenants had not had the same courtesy. And the management decided not to take it upon themselves either (so messed up!). So the next day, before we even unpacked a single box, it was off to the store to buy more cleaning supplies.

A couple days later, on New Years Eve, we awoke to quite the surprise. The last tenants had requested that the gas be turned off. Now this is understandable considering they were moving out, but we were given no sort of notification. No information on what gas company we were supposed to use, let alone a way to contact them. No note saying "by the way, figure out who to call and open your account within 2 days, or you will be shut off." That might have been helpful.

"Okay", I thought, "no big deal. I will do a little research, call the gas company, and get this straightened out." I finally find the website, and see that they are closed for the holiday, but an emergency number is provided.

I called it and said "Hi, we just moved into our new apartment and the gas is turned off."

The kind lady on the phone informed me "We are closed holidays and weekends, the earliest someone will be able to help you with that is Monday."

"Monday? That's in five days! We have NO gas. There's no way we can get this turned on before then?"

"No."

So here we are, five days later, and still without heat and hot water. That's right. No gas = impossible to take a conventional shower, very difficult to do dishes, and an apartment which has averaged about 55 degrees. Luckily we have a little space heater that has been our saving grace the past couple days. We carry it around from room to room with us and stick it right next to us. I kind of feel bad for it. Every so often it overheats and shuts off from working so hard to heat our whole apartment around the clock. lol.

Despite our setbacks, our new apartment is beginning to feel more like home everyday. (Our fingers are crossed the gas will return tomorrow!) We are excited for Jareds first day of school tomorrow. I am going to be a little bit sad though, it's been fun having him to hang out with all day over the break!

Here are a few shots of our new home!

*UPDATE: I called the gas company this morning, and they informed me the earliest someone would be able to get out here is TOMORROW, unless I want to pay a $100 same day service fee. Do they even realize I've had to wait a week for them to decide to come in the office?! He also informed me that when the guy comes out, he will only remove the lock and not actually turn it on. I will be responsible to find someone to do that as well! Ay yi yi!

Happy Valley, Here we come!!

It is official!! Jared got accepted to BYU! I am so excited for the move, and to pick out a new place to live... so many fun things in store! I can't wait to be down by family, and restaurants, and real places to shop, I don't know what I am going to do with myself! It's a little nervewracking leaving our jobs, especially with the baby on the way, but I know it will all work out :-) I do have to say that I am not disappointed at all to to be leaving Rexburg just in time for Winter! That is one thing I will gladly pass on!
On a little less happy note, I was just about on the verge of a breakdown at work! I know it's Friday, but it still can't come soon enough! And why do weekends have to be SO short?! With Sunday having obligations and places to be, we get ONE day! One day of peace and sanity, before it starts all over again! It almost makes Saturday hard to enjoy, because you just know once it's over... the cycle starts again. I took my break, cause I had to get out there. My head has been pounding all day (I think I'm grinding my teeth when I sleep again), and on top of it the nausea has returned today. I feel so tired. I wish I could just hideout in the breakroom and sleep. haha. Tape a sign up to the front of my desk that says "Out of Order" or something! lol.

So here is the first belly picture for all interested parties (about 12 weeks). It doesn't look like much but I swear it looks bigger in person! At least it FEELS that way. I can't wait for it to "pop", so I don't just look like I have a pooch in my belly anymore! haha.

 *Update: We have recently shortened Peanut's nickname, and have just begun calling him "P". Can a nickname have a nickname?

GO COUGS!

Friday afternoon, Jared received a call from his brother in law, Will, telling him he had an extra ticket to the BYU Football game the following day. It was last minute, but being the spontaneous, fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants, kind of people we are, we figured, "what the heck?" We had Kaity track me down another ticket, threw our game gear into a bag, and headed down in our trusty Alero. 

We figured we'd make the most of our little one day trip, so Saturday morning we got up and met Kaity and Kirsten at the Nordstrom Rack in Sandy. I decided if Jared got to go to his football game, I get my Rack! haha. Next we headed to lunch at Paradise Cafe. It's always so much fun hanging out with my sisters, I'm so excited to move down to Utah and be closer to them. There's just something about sisters that can't be beat.

Finally it was time for the much awaited football game.  We were lucky enough to experience a cougar tail for the first time (which I would highly recommend). It's basically a foot and a half long maple bar! Yummm. It was fun sitting near Will and his brother (Will is one of those crazy fans that yells at the ref's calls. lol). The girls got to go down to front row after halftime because some friends they knew had some extra seats near them, and Jared and I joined them for the last 10 minutes. The game is so much more fun to watch when you're right down next to the players.

After the game we headed to dinner at Goodwood Barbeque. I knew it was something Jared would appreciate. Our original plan was to head back to Rexburg that night, but by this point we could hardly hold our eyes open (What can I say, we've become lightweights). We decided to head back in the morning instead.

As always with us, there is never a dull moment. On the drive back to Rexburg the following day, we were just about to Idaho Falls when we heard the gas light beep and come on, signaling we were low on fuel. Next thing I know, about two minutes later, Jared is turning the ignition and pulling over to the side of the road! In Jared's defense, our car usually goes a good 20 miles after the light comes on, we don't know why on this occasion we had no warning! haha.

All I DO know, is that we made it to the offramp (luckily), and had to hoof it to the closest gas station (about 400 yards away), buy a gas tank, bring it back to the car, then drive it over to the gas station to fill up! I was still in the clothes I slept in, and had been feeling sick all morning (thanks to Peanut!) so I was like,"you have to be kidding me!" I couldn't help it, as we were walking to the gas station along the desert road in the sun, I said to Jared, "I'm going to tell our kids about the day you refused to stop for gas, then ran us out, and made me walk along the side of the road PREGNANT in the hot sun." hahahah. Poor Jared, it really wasn't his fault! But that didn't make the situation any less humorous! I snuck this pic on the return trip, it was too good to pass up!

Do not be alarmed though, we eventually made it back to Rexburg, safe and sound :-)

What would a weekend trip be without an adventure anyway?