Best Gifts Ever!

For those of you who do not know, I work to help run Education Week at BYU - what a crazy week with lots of work during long hours for the whole week (glad that's over). On Tuesday (I think), I was walking around the 3rd floor of the WSC checking on classes and helping some of the hosts with issues that came up. After I walked out of one of the rooms, I ran into an elderly host who was talking to a lovely elderly couple. They stopped me and asked about my name (a typical topic of conversation when I first meet people). After we talked for a moment about that, the host noticed the ring on my finger and asked if I was engaged or married (I do not have a wedding band with my ring). When I told them that I was married, they promptly asked if my husband "knows what a precious gift he has" and if he "treats [me] right?" Of course I responded that I did, and they further prodded by asking if he opened all my doors for me, including the doors going into and out of buildings, and if he pushed my chair in for me as well. I smiled widely and said, "Yes, he is very good at that. Except for pushing in the chair, I'm a bit clumsy with that so we haven't figured it out yet." The woman then responded that we ought to figure that out early because it's a good thing to have in a marriage. I smiled and said I would before they let me go. What a cute, fun couple & host they were. 

Honestly, it is not hard to see that my wonderful husband treats me so well and is the best husband ever! He does open all my doors (as long as I let him), he's even started trying to push in my chair (even with clumsy ol' me). He walks closest to the street when we go on walks. And he always holds my hand. There's no guessing that he is respectful of me and is good to me, but just in case you'd like more evidence, here's some photos of the best gifts he's given me, and the wonderful type of husband he is (read on only if you can stomach me bragging about my husband)...

After our Vegas Honeymoon, we came home with some souvenirs for Matt, and other family members, but I had not found anything that I found worth purchasing for me. Throughout the trip, I had been talking about this book that I really wanted to save up for and purchase for myself at some point (honestly, I was REALLY excited about it). So one day, after work one day, I came home to see this on our bed with the sweetest not from Matt...

Since we moved into our little basement apartment, I have also been mentioning (or complaining - man, I'm such a whiny wife!) that our bedroom (and our kitchen) are so dark and do not get enough light (I love light during the day - and lots of it). So Matt gets some mirrors from the store to put up and lighten the room...and I never get to putting them up. So one day, he just takes over and puts the mirrors up, with some of our pictures, into a wonderful collage that reflects the light to increase the brightness in our room:

Before

After :) 

 And, as further evidence (only of those I've been able to document via photos), I had been stressing out about the dirtiness of our apartment and all the things I would like to get deep cleaned before school started, but didn't seem to have the time for. Then (and this happened just today), I come home from work not only to find that he had put away our laundry that had been air-drying, but he had hand washed all the dishes...

...took out the trash...

AND cleaned the bathroom - I'm talking the whole bathroom, toilet and all!

This is just the bathroom faucet that he cleaned to a sparking shine - no way was I going to scar you all with a picture of our toilet (honestly!)

Best of all, my wonderful husband has given himself to me. He's dedicated to his studies so that he can get the grades and learning he needs to be a provider for our family, he's patient with me and all my moaning and groaning, and he loves me through everything!

Honestly, how could anyone not know that my husband treats me so well? He is amazing and perfect for me! I love him and am so grateful for all the gifts he has given me. I'm so proud of hims as well as all the effort he puts into life! 

-Cosette

xoxo

Headin South to the ABQ

With a car full of tired couples (see last post), the Remunds and the Hawkins headed to Albuquerque for their joint reception. Many hours, snacks, laughable moments, and miles later, they drove into the city in New Mexico. It was greener than Cosette expected, this being her first time in Abq, but it was definitely a new place to see and explore. 

The week was filled with some good gardening, and organizing, and such, which was actually a great and needed change of hard physical labor from the R's jobs in Provo. We even got to go to the Albuquerque Temple with Dad Remund, which was a lot of fun! Following such a week with the family, our second reception was went underway with a special thanks to Mom and Dad Remund for all their help, as well as Brittany who gave us nice breaks from the physical labor so we could be graced by her presence, as well as all those who helped with the food, set up, and decor. 

Please, feel free to feast your eyes upon these fantastic moments in time:

Mom Jensen's fantastic job with Cosette's hair (thanks Mom!)

Entrance pathway decor - provided by Mom Remund!

Backyard decorations - also provided by Mom Remund

Colored sashes - in all sorts of colors (Jenni's and ours)

Perfect table centerpieces - isn't the mirror such a cool idea?

Patio decor - provided by Mom Remund as well!

Pretty umbrellas to bring color to the scene.

Jenni & Casey's side of the guest book table - splitting everything was actually quite fun since Jenni and I had very similar ideas of what to do.

Our guest book table picture.

Mom and Dad Jensen were able to make it, and bring little sister with them. It was way fun to have them there... especially little sister (bored sister + camera = the following)

 Even Brittany was able to make it via Skype!! :D We were so excited that she could see the festivities - and so many of the guests were so excited to see and talk with her as well! Honestly, if it were up to us, we would just leave her there to talk to and we would have left. :) What a fun evening it was though!

The beautiful, honorary couple

Someone had to keep up with little sister's faces...

Apparently Matt was thinking the same thing...

So we did it together :)

Cows, Horses, Dust, and More

Matt was very accommodating and graciously determined to accompany his wife on one of her most loved adventures - a cattle drive with the Moons. Since this was immediately prior to their trip to Albuquerque (likely the next post), Casey and Jenni tagged along for an adventure they will not likely forget. :)

They left Provo bright and early Monday morning, so they could meet up with the others for the cattle drive. After searching the dusty trails for a while, we finally found our goal location, and got saddled up and ready to go. Cosette got so excited, that she neglected to remember to grab the lunches that had been lovingly packed prior to leaving Provo... oops. As the team ventured out (3/4 of them doing so for the first time), they found their way along the fence line until they found their first victims. - cows and their calves grazing underneath some shady trees. Too bad Cosette forgot to give some of these new adventurers a brief lesson, for as she took off at a brisk trot, the others followed (however unwillingly at such a pace). Once the heart rates and screams died down a bit, the 4 got to work: gathering, pushing, looking for more cattle, pushing onward still. The long hard day began.

Check out that handsome cowboy...wait, only Cosette's allowed to do that!! Nevermind!

What was meant to be a 6-8 hour drive, turned into 11 long, hot, dry hours as the cattle sauntered unwillingly on, the water ran out, lunch time came and went without much food for the poor souls who had their lunches left in the car by a forgetfully excited hostess (of sorts), and the hills of the desert area blurred together until the group was slightly disoriented and unsure of which way to go.

View from on top of a horse :)

She was having fun! :)

Hehehe :)

Jenni & Casey during "lunch" break...

By the end of the day, we were all thoroughly exhausted and in dire need of some H20. Cosette would say the day was a challenging blast, the others....well, let's just say that they might say otherwise...

He was so tired, he even let his eyes droop in the car (don't worry, it was safe for the time).

What Happens in Vegas...

Clearly, we are still playing catch up on our stories! After our beautiful wedding, we had to come back to our comfortable little apartment for the following week when Cosette had to be at work. Thus, our traditional, week-long honeymoon did not occur until the week after that. AND... we spent it in Vegas. We only spent 2 days on the strip, but that was plenty for us!

Day 1: Leave the hotel at a reasonable time of the morning, then wandered around the strip. Ceasar's Palace was really cool - actually, most of the architecture was fantastic....just the imagery wasn't. 

 Then we found our way to the M&M factory. That was actually pretty fun - mostly shopping souvenir stuff though, but we did find a fun movie :)

Matt with glasses...hmmm...

Cosette with glasses...yeah, no

That night, we saw The Lion King on stage. Best. Musical. Ever! We absolutely LOVED it! Very good music, great acting, good, good, good. 

Days 2-6: Mostly we ate out a lot, swam at the pool in the Resort, and had the adventures depicted by the following pictures:

Hiking!!! With trees, and a bit of water!!! And only about an hour drive north of Vegas!

Handsome Husband! :)

Squeezin through those crevasses!

And the beautiful Vegas Temple! :)

Taking some time to write in our journals.

The Hoover Dam

This is Cosette's "It's Hot!!!!" face

Of course we couldn't miss a beautiful wedding in the Redlands, CA Temple!

Oooh :)

This picture took about 3 tries before Matt was satisfied.

The newly wedded couple!! :) This was SO fun to see! Thanks for the invite!

Other events, not depicted here, include the dinner show at Excalibur - which was fantastic! Eating out, shopping at an electronic store and buying movies we hadn't intended on purchasing, eating, driving and spending many fun (and humorous) times in the car as Cosette entertained herself, eating, a fun movie night in the Resort, and more eating. :) What a fantastic week!