John and Amber
So I have told many people that I would be updating our blog with pictures of our house and Emma and everything that’s been going on since we got our house back in May. Well I guess I’ll finally do that. 
I’m hoping to post at least once a day if not twice…during Emma’s naps…until I’m all caught up on the happenings of the Sabin Family. Sorry for all those who have checked and rechecked for updates things have been a little crazy and well to be honest everytime I think about I’m always doing something else and when I’m done it’s no longer on my mind. So now that it is I guess I’ll get on it. May was a hectic month. We went to Deep Creek a couple of times and got to relax for a few days here and there. Emma went on her first tub ride while we were up there for Memorial Day and while she was kind of hesitant in the beginning at the end she was really happy. John and his sisters, Tiffany and Rachel, all ran a Half Marathon together. The whole family went and we stayed in this farm house, that happened to be right on one of the roads they ran on. It was fun and I know John had a blast preparing and doing it with his sisters. I think that about sums up May…oh yeah and we got a house. You’ll have to wait for another post to see the before and after shots as there would be TONS of pictures if I tried to put them in with these…stay tuned for more updates.
Well as most of you know Amber’s parents weren’t able to come home from their mission to see Emma and so John, Amber, and Emma went out to California for a week to visit them. It was a week that both Amber and her mother were looking forward to. It proved to be a very relaxing and enjoyable vacation and we don’t think it could have gone any better. Both Grandma and Grandpa Searle spoiled Emma with attention and wanted to be around her as much as possible. We were able to go to the Employment center and spent a few hours a couple of different days just seeing what they do. We were able to help out a bit with the new computer programs (I guess working in the computer labs has paid off). Friday after the center closed we went and did a session at the Temple. John, Amber, and Grandpa did the session while Grandma tended Emma. It was the first time that Amber had left Emma and needless to say it was difficult but she was grateful to attend the Temple and is grateful that her mom was willing to tend her, she knows how hard that was for her. Saturday we all went down to Monterey to the aquarium and then drove down to Pebble Beach Golf Course…John was in heaven. It really was a gorgeous drive, going along the golf courses right next to the ocean…it was well the worth eh 9.25 we had to pay to make the drive. (Crazy that they charge to drive down a road…we couldn’t believe it!) Our little family of three spent Monday in San Fransisco, going to Alcatraz and Fisherman’s Warf. It was a lot of fun, but a different experience with a baby. We are both adjusting to traveling with a baby and loved every min. of it. Emma is such an angel! She slept the whole way on both airplane rides, never making a peep. She endured many long car rides and a walk down the Golden Gate Bridge, like a champ and has begun sleeping 4 hours during the night! YEAH!! We really enjoyed the time we got to spend in California and can’t wait to go back again at Christmas time. We love you!
We wanted to go to a rodeo before we left the west. So the Dodge National Rodeo was on March 22nd in the Holt Arena, and we decided to go. It turned out to be the prefect weekend as it was Easter the next day. Amber enjoyed spending time with her mom shopping Saturday morning and then we all went to the Rodeo and had an enjoyable evening. We both had a lot of fun. Sunday was a great day as we got to spend more time with Amber’s parents but also got to spend a few hours with John’s Uncle John and Aunt Jean and some of the their children. It was great to just visit with them and spend some time with members of John’s family.
Well so far we’re making it through the school year, a lot has happened since we moved to Utah. We’re currently living in Amber’s sister’s house while they try to sell it. We hope that it sells here soon but at the same time are holding out that it sells right before we leave. We know that whatever is suppose to happen will and so we’re just playing the waiting game.
Amber is currently 5 months pregnant and starting to show. Luckily the sickness that usually comes with being pregnant has gone, and she was really lucky to not have been very sick at all. Next week we find out whether or not we are having a boy or a girl and we are trying to patiently wait for that day to come, as I know many of our family members are doing the same.
School has been tough for both John and Amber, but it has been an especially hard semester for John. Luckily he’s been able to finish all that he’s needed to and is getting through his classes. Both of us are counting down for the four weeks of school and one week of finals that we have left.
Both Paul and Randy (John and Amber’s brothers) have started their missions and so far things seem like they are going well for them. We were lucky enough to be able to go and see both of them into the MTC so that was a great blessing to be able to slip away from class and work. Before Randy left Amber’s family took family pictures which of course will be outdated here in a couple of months.
All in all things are going well and we are enjoying the last year we have here at BYU. We’ve attended most sporting events and campus activities that we feel like we can and have loved being back in the college life…well except for school! We’ve had fun hanging out with Amber’s family and being around them more and look forward to when John’s family comes out for graduation.
We celebrated our One Year Anniversary on December 22, by attending another wedding ceremony. John’s cousin Amy got married that day so we were able to reflect on our own wedding by attending one. It was nice to be able to be in the temple on that special day. We got to take one year pictures in front of the D.C. Temple which was kind of fun since we had gotten married in the Idaho Falls Temple. After the wedding we drove up to Deep Creek where we had dinner at a nice steakhouse restaurant that they have sitting on the lake. It was good to be able to spend the day together and celebrate one year!
We were able to go to downtown DC to see the National Christmas Tree and the State Capital Tree. It was nice to spend a relaxing but chilly evening at the Nation’s capital and start to feel the Christmas spirit as they had people performing Christmas music and had yule tide fire burning to take of the winter chill.
We were able to go to a hockey game with the fam, Capitals Vs. the Canadians the Thursday before Christmas. It was really fun to go and do that. It had been a while since Amber had seen a hockey game and John had never been to one so we both really enjoyed it. Granted we realized that we should probably learn more about the sport so we understand the rules a little more. Unfortunately nothing exciting happened during the game….no fights or injuries or things like that, there was time spent in the penalty box though.
We spent the first part of the holiday in Maryland with John’s family up at Deep Creek Lake. It was a perfect place to relax and play games and spent time together as a family. It was fun to be able to participate in the family traditions as we were on our Honeymoon last Christmas and missed out on all the family. We really enjoyed spending one last weekend together with the family before we headed West. We broke the news to the family that we are pregnant while we were all together. We did it at Deep Creek with John’s family and then when we had our second Christmas with Amber’s family. Everyone is really excited and can’t wait for the nine months to be over. August 8th won’t come soon enough!
The day after Christmas we got in the car and drove for two straight days and made it to Idaho at about 1:30 in the morning. We were exhausted and grateful to be able to sleep in and not worry about getting up in the morning. We had a second Christmas with Amber’s family and gratefully the pajama tradition still continues….even though there was threat of it not happening. We spent a few days up at Island Park enjoying the snow and recreational activities. Amber was excited to be back in the West and closer to her family for the next little while we both finish up school.
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We where able to go out to Utah/Idaho for Thanksgiving. There were a lot of activities that happened during the 10 days we where there. Justin, John’s old roommate, got married on Nov. 17th and we where able to be there for that. Sunday Dan and Amy blessed their new baby, Erica…she’s such a doll! We had the Searle Thanksgiving dinner at Dan and Amy’s old house on Monday since it was the only time that the whole family could get together. We where able to go up to Idaho for a few days, it was very relaxing and it was good to go home. Last but not least we where able to attend the BYU vs UTAH game. It was of course amazing and we where very happy that BYU came out on top…and yes we were one of the crazy people that stormed the field! We can’t wait till next season when we can attend all the home games!
For our 6 month Anniversary John surprised me with dinner at Joe’s Crab Shack. It’s where we had our first date…except ours was in Provo. It was fun to go out to eat there…even though I don’t like fish (if you can’t tell I got a hamburger), because the one in Provo closed down. The day after our Anniversary I took John out to the Olive Garden because we ate there the day after we were married in Salt Lake. It was a fun time for us, and it was amazing to see how quickly time passed!
