Happy valentines day!

Still playing catch up here on the old blog.  My goal is to print my blog off each year, so please forgive me for posting all the mundane details of my life.
For Valentines Day my sis in law, Heather, and I did a photo shoot of Ella and my nephew Beckham.  The photos turned out adorable.  All thanks to Heather, who did all the work... I didn't do much besides put on a circus act in the background to get the kiddos to smile.

My favorite.  Such a sweet little face. 

Valentine I made for Brandon

We also made candy bar posters for Brandon and Jordan (Heather's husband). My favorite line is "I am a sucker for your juicy kisses and your salted nut roll." haha  Hey, you gotta be creative with these kind of things!

Hope everyone had a great Valentines Day! 

A walk down memory lane

Last week we visited our alma mater. Brandon wanted to meet with one of his old professors, so we decided to make a trip out of it.  Both of us adore Logan Utah.  Logan holds a lot of special memories for both Brandon and I.
Brandon's brother and sister, Ryan and Kelli, both go to Utah State University so we met up with them for lunch.

USU campus ("Old Main")

It was so much fun to walk around Utah State University campus, drive by our old houses and relive some of our college memories.  Definitely some of the best years of my life.  I met some of the most amazing people while going to school at Utah State, got to live a crazy college life with 8 amazing room mates, started studying a profession I love, and most importantly started dating the love of my life.  Logan will forever hold a special place in my heart.  Utah State Aggie for life! :) 

 The "Boat House" my college home for 2 years... coolest house ever.  Lots of dance parties happened here! 

The "Tree House" Brandon's house when we were dating 

The first house we rented as a married couple 

Ella's new Utah State bear 

Night out on the town

A couple weekends ago Brandon's parents offered to watch Ella so that Brandon and I could go out with some friends.  Since we don't get very many evenings away from the little bug we decided to make the most of it.  Michelle, Brad, Paige, Josh, Brandon and I went to spaghetti factory for dinner (one of my favorites... I worked there all through high school), then Paige, Josh, Brandon and I kept the party going and went to Fat Cats for some glow in the dark golfing and arcade games.  It was fun to act like a kid again!

Love you paigey

Glow in the dark teeth

Our tickets= a handful of tootsie rolls 

We made it!

This post is long overdue... I'm playing catch up because we haven't had internet from the time we moved up until now.  We moved to Elko on February 9th, so have almost been here for 3 months.  Time has actually flown by.  We are still living in temporary housing, so Elko still doesn't really feel like home.  We are in the process of buying a home.  Our very first home!!!! So exciting.  :)  We initially weren't planning on buying in Elko because housing prices are outrageous here, but we found a house and price that we felt comfortable with so decided to go for it.  As of right now, assuming everything continues to run smoothly, we should be closing on the house in the next week or so and then moving in at the end of May. I can't wait. I'm really looking forward to getting out of temporary housing and having our own stuff.
Here are some photos of our temporary housing and the beautiful terrain of Elko (ok that last part was a total joke).  haha

Elko

Our home for the past 3 months 

Reese family photos at Cottesloe beach

A few days before we left Perth my wonderful friend/ talented photographer, Jade, took family pictures for us.  I wanted family pictures in Perth, since Perth is our first home as a family.  Despite a grumpy husband (Brandon's idea of torture is having his picture taken), and having to stand outside in the sweltering heat, they turned out perfect and I will treasure them for a life time.  Thank you Jade!  

 

 

Elko Nevada & Beckhams 3rd birthday

January 21st-23rd Ella and I took a road trip to Elko Nevada to visit my sister and brother in law, Heather and Jordan, and my adorable nephew Beckham.  I decided it would be nice to get a lay of the land before we move.  I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before, but when Brandon and I were first married in 2008 we lived in Elko Nevada for the summer while Brandon completed an internship with Barrick Gold (the same company he is with now).  Even though we lived there all summer I don't feel like I ever got a chance to know the town or anyone that lived there.  We pretty much went home to SLC to visit every weekend.  During the week I would job shadow a few speech pathologists in the area, but other than that I didn't branch out and meet any new people.
Elko was a lot different then how I remembered it.  It seemed a lot bigger then what I remembered... not huge, keep in mind it is still a small town, but hey we have a Walmart! haha Heather took me for a tour around Elko, and showed me some new things developments etc.  It's so nice having family around.  It will make the transition so much easier!
Also Ella will have a little cousin to play with.  Beckham and Ella are 2 1/2 years apart.... and in May right around Ella's 1st birthday Ella will be getting a baby girl cousin to play with.  :) For now Beckham will get some good practice on what it's like having a baby sister around. haha

That Friday (January 25th) we celebrated Beckhams 3rd birthday. Happy Birthday Beck I love you! 

Birthday boy

Then Saturday afternoon Brandon came home!!!! yay!  I can't tell you how excited I am to have him home. He was gone for a whole month in Perth finishing up his job.  It's hard enough to have him gone when you are just a couple, but when you have a little baby girl in the equation it makes it so much tougher.  I couldn't wait to have him home.  Ella couldn't stop starring at her daddy.  It was so precious.  I love my little family so much!

 We officially leave for Elko this Saturday (February 9th).  I'm excited, nervous, and sad all at the same time. It will be a new adventure for our family.  I'm looking forward to experiencing all that Elko has to offer, and meeting some new people.  It's always tough starting over... meeting new people, getting into a new routine but I'm going to make the very most out of it! Elko here we come!!!!!