Tuesday, February 24, 2009

the most famous person I know..

Brenan would probably never let me post this link, so I'm doing it behind his back!

He is now the most famous person I know, with his picture on BYU's website.. they definitely chose the best looking finalist to post a picture of :)

check it out:
http://marriottschool.byu.edu/news/release.cfm?article=437

Monday, February 16, 2009

Rachel and Chad's wedding -- and some other happenings

At Rachel's shower, back in January. She got some good good stuff! Random insert having nothing to do with weddings or babies: Brenan got an internship for this summer! After going though an interview, he had to compete in a competition called "The INTERN" in order to get a position with a company in Springville called Milleniata. It is a company that is about to launch a product that allows for data to be stored for 1000+ years. He will intern with them from May-August. He was one of 3 finalists who had to give a 45 second presentation on what he brings to the company as an intern, and why he would be a good choice for them. He did such a great job - and he looked so sharp! This is not a good picture, but Brenan is right behind the announcer in the gray suit. Brenan's back is to us, as he is shaking hands with the dean of the business school and the judges for the competition. Brenan is amazing and we feel so lucky to have an internship this year when they are so hard to come by!

Yay for baby and bridal showers! It was so awesome to have all the girls back together for Rachel's wedding (we missed Emily and Sam, though!) We had a baby shower for Tiffany and I and a bridal shower for Kristin (sorry Kristin, I only had pictures of you with typical bridal shower items in it, so I couldn't post them!) Tiffany and I are due 3 days apart from each other, and you can tell she is having a girl and I am having a boy. We decided that these pictures will be really cute in our childrens' wedding slide-show when they marry each other, since they are already betrothed to each other!
As a part of the baby shower, Christy had asked the husbands some questions regarding who's specific features/characteristics they would rather have their kid inherit. These were Brenan's answers:
I would rather he inherit mine or Beth’s
Eyes- mix
Nose-beth
Smile-mix
Teeth-my lack of need for braces, beth’s whiteness
Ears-Beth’s. I like mine, but Beth is in love with hers
Feet- mine. Mine are boy’s feet
Hair- mine
Laugh- either would work
Appetite- either would work. We both eat food
Sleeping habits-- mine
Humor – a lil’ o both
Intellect—Beth’s. Valley Deeeeeee!!!!!!!
Musical Abilities—Beth’s. she has stunning vocals and can play many an insturment
Athleticism—Beth’s running amazitude.
Social Skills—A lil’ both.
It was so funny trying to guess what Brenan would answer to these questions. It will be interesting to see which of our particular features this little dude ends up with :) A sweeter part of the shower was when Christy read some of Brenan's thoughts and feelings right now, that she has asked him to write down. Of course I started crying at the thought of it, but I curbed my tears because Brenan used the following words in his description of his feelings: fathermc'hood, bro, lil slice of bro-toast, etc. He even included a poem, with italicized rhyming words so Christy would emphasize the rhyme when she read it out loud. Enjoy:
Beth, we are going to have a baby
it is no longer a maybe

You thought it was going to be a female
but, as it turns out, he’s definitely a male

Even though he will surely drool
I know he will be mega cool

You are really good at academia
When it comes to this, I hope he is just the same-ia

Your cute personality is second to none
Even with only half of your genes, this baby is gonna be wicked fun

When he is old enough, I sure will be glad
to tell him, “Go give mommy a smooch on the cheek. You listen to Dad…You listen to Dad
Well, it's no surprise -- Brenan is a literary mastermind once again :) Thanks so my sweet Brenan who is going to be an incredible father, obviously!
I love these girls! I am so excited for Kristin and Jason to get married in Houston in June! They are so dang cute together and he seems like such a good match for her! Congratulations to Kristin!

Fat and Sassy.. just the way we like it. 27 weeks baby! Only 13 more to go!




So i uploaded these pictures weird and am too lazy to fix them - but here are Mr. and Mrs. Chad Olpin! Rachel looked gorgeous of course, and they made a stunning couple!
















Their dinner was very elegant and we sure enjoyed celebrating with them! So excited for the happy couple!












Some more favorites from Taiwan...

So before I could move on with life, I had to post just a couple more pics from Taiwan -- We really saw so many amazing places! If you notice in this first one, it is a statue of a big man holding a little man upside down, by his neck. These next few pictures are from a Lotus Pond, a Confucious temple.




This next couple are from a Buddhist temple, called Fo Guang Shan (mountain).

I liked this little guy.
A meditation room at the buddhist temple. This is a chanting meditation room.




Fresh canteloupe, right off the farm. SOO DELICIOUS!

A cute couple from Chao Zhou, who took us to the buddhist temple and then to their friends' farm for fresh fruit.
We were lucky to catch a parade and see the incredible costumes! THese guys below are warriors.

At a baptism in Chao Zhou. These members were so cute and all LOVED seeing Brenan. They were very sweet and had lots of energy. The popular argument that night was whether I was having a boy or a girl. Apparenly, I am supposed to be having a girl becuase my stomach is round, not pointed, like it should be. I guess their theory didn't work this time! I felt very close to them by the end of the night as they all took turns staring at, poking and rubbing my belly. :)




Kenting! This place was gorgeous! It is the southern tip of the island, and we loved our stay here. We spent some good time on the beach, which was so clean and empty and in the water which was warmer than California's coast ever gets. The night market in this little town was also a blast.
Showing off for the locals :) Sorry Patti, we really are looking for new swimming trunks for him!

On our little balcony in our hotel room. It was so fun to sit out here and eat fresh pineapple! Very relaxing!


We went on a little hike in a national forest right beside Kenting. There were a lot of cool sites to see -- caves with stalactites/stalagmites, banyon trees, old coral, etc.


In Taipei with Brenan's good friend, Paul Gao. He took us all around Taipei - this picture is at the Jian Kai Shek memorial.

We had such a great time in Taiwan and we would go back any time, if given the chance!