The Semrads

The New Year

2012-01-10T09:45:00.000-08:00

The New Year

Chris and I had had a great holiday season! Lots of generosity and fun times with friends and family. 2012 has brought us some exciting new challenges and we're excited to move forward and create and accomplish new goals. Along with our new years resolutions, there has been a few more changes in our small family.

As for Chris and myself, Chris is starting online classes through the College of Southern Idaho next week. He'll be taking 15 credits and is excited to take some criminal justice classes. As for myself, I just took my job at TxtWire full time and stopped contracting for Go Fast Web. TxtWire offered me an opportunity to become more involved in their marketing department. It'll be great to get back into a normal routine of having one job and not being stressed out of my mind.

Also, Chris and I were fostering a cat named Bella for about 2 months. I created ads and advertised her in order to find her a forever home. And great news! I was contacted yesterday by a family who was interested in adopting her and today they signed the papers! Bella will now have a great home and loving family to take care of her.

We're excited to begin a new year together and to celebrate the time we've been together.

Happy New Years Everyone!

Christmas

2011-12-28T10:54:00.000-08:00

Chris and I on Christmas Eve (Don't mind my cute ugly sweater in these pictures. I was cold and it's Christmas!)

We spent Christmas Eve and Day at my parent's house with the Navarro's and Williamson's. Chris and I got a butt-load of presents! We did NOT expect to get so much! Everyone was reeally generous and that made our little Christmas really nice. On Christmas Eve, we all went caroling and deliver treats to neighbors, had a great dinner, acted out the nativity (Chris was not the donkey this year), and open up our sibling presents. Then Christmas morning, Chris and I sang in the ward choir and I sang "Mary's Lullaby" in a sextet. Then we rushed home and opened our presents. Thanks to both Chris's parents and my parent's, who supplied us with tons of fun little stocking stuffers, we had a lot more to open then expected. Then we cleaned the apartment! That was my idea really but still was fun. That afternoon we met back up at my parent's house and continued the festivities! Overall, we had an amazing time with my Mom, Dad, Evie, Johnnie, Benjamin, Kiersten, Jonathan, Kendra, Ryan, and Nikki. Great Christmas full of great Christmas memories!

Also, Just wanted to thank Evie and Johnnie for creating that wonderful Crandall Christmas DVD. It was really nice to look back and share those memories with Chris and the rest of the family. We really cherished that gift. And thanks Benjamin and Kiersten for getting Bentley kitty toys! He really loves them and it meant a lot to us that you thought about him. Kendra and Ryan, we're so excited that you're married now! We're so glad to have Ryan in our family. Nate, Jess, Reese, and Finn, wish you could have been here! We miss you and hope to someday spend a Christmas with you :)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

A Great Day For A Wedding

2011-12-21T14:52:00.000-08:00

Kendra and Ryan got married Thursday, December 16th in the Salt Lake City temple! It was a really nice wedding. It was really nice to get to meet his family as well as get together with our extended family members to celebrate this happy occasion. The luncheon after the wedding was awesome, the food was great, the company was even better, and the kids were adorable (especially Jonathan).Overall, a beautiful day full of tons of fun and happiness.

Congratulations Kendra and Ryan Williamson!

Bridal Showers & Birthday Partys!

2011-12-12T16:04:00.000-08:00

This weekend we got to attend Kendra's bridal shower and Grandpa's 90th birthday party! Both had great turn-outs and great food. :) We were really glad we got to see so many family members again and help out with both events. The highlight of the bridal shower was this super creative "maid" that Kendra received. It was a stick person made out of a broom, mop, bucket, gloves, apron, and other cleaning supplies. Really cute idea. The highlight at Grandpa's party was the food! Haha! JK! Although it was really good food, it was so nice to see all the family members and honor Grandpa for the night. It was amazing to see all the lives he's touched and people who care and love him. He seemed to really enjoy it all.

It's Christmas Time!

2011-12-08T12:36:00.000-08:00

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!" With Christmas just around the corner there are tons to do, people to see, and things to buy. But amidst all the hustle and bustle we've found that all the things that used to make us happy as kids during this amazing time of year isn't what has made Christmas this year so special. We've grown closer together (not just because it's freezing) seeing another year go by. This year we'll be able to spend Christmas with my side of the family but since we live in Idaho Falls, this will be the first year (and maybe one of the few) that we'll be able to spend Christmas morning together as a couple. I've never been a huge fan of Christmas but I'm beginning to see the real purpose and joy it brings when you put your heart in the right place. Everyone be sure to get your heart in the right place this holiday season. It's what Christmas is all about <3

New Stuff: Work, School, Vet, etc.

2011-12-01T13:37:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd update everyone on our life as of right now. As for myself, I am currently working two exciting jobs that have opened a lot of doors and hold a lot of opportunity for my career. I am the Social Media Marketer at Go Fast Web and an account manager at TxtWire Technologies. Both jobs are going very well and I'm excited to see what new experiences and opportunities to learn will come from them. Chris is going to attend school at the College of Southern Idaho (CSI) in January. He's really excited to finally get a chance to get into Criminal Justice and get find direction within his field. As for Bentley, he just turned 1 years old. He's started eating adult cat food! We're also going to take him in for his yearly veterinary checkup and possibly get him microchipped. Overall, we are really enjoying Idaho Falls and are both very grateful for all the blessings we've had since the move. Thanks to everyone for their support, help, and prayers!

Burkley the Turkey

2011-12-01T12:34:00.001-08:00

For a fun Thanksgiving activity, my parents had everyone over for dinner and family home evening. We all wrote down what we were thankful for on slips of paper and then “stuffed” a piñata turkey with all our gratitude and blessings. Thanks Nikki for letting us use Randolph. After that we used paper plates, googly eyes, colored paper and more to create turkeys! I must say, there were a lot of creative turkeys made that night. We named ours Burkley. Lots of fun!

We Moved… Again.

2011-12-01T12:33:00.007-08:00

So after both of us got laid off, I found a great job in Idaho Falls. The chances of getting a job in Rexburg are very slim and since the town had nothing left to offer us, we decided to get out while we could. Idaho Falls wasn’t ever one of the places we thought we’d be but it’s where the money is and where the family is closer (for both of us). It took multiple times going to Walmart for boxes and tons of work trying to sell our apartment and find a new apartment but we did it in about a week and left Rexburg for what I hope to be forever. We loved that apartment and the people were great. Rexburg… not so much but still. I also wanted to say thanks to all those who came and helped us move and clean our apartment. Thanks!

Bentley’s First Snow

2011-12-01T12:33:00.005-08:00

Sadly it snowed the very first of November. But for Bentley, it was his first snow. We put him on his cat leash and let him experience this cold wonder for the first time. At first he was apprehensive, but after we placed him it, he didn’t seem to mind. He decided it would be fun to also put cat paws prints over the neighbor’s car. It was really funny after to see our neighbor’s face when he noticed little paws all over his hood.

Trick-Or-Treating

2011-12-01T12:33:00.003-08:00

We are so lucky! Evie got sick on Halloween! That’s not the lucky part though. We were able to carve pumpkins and take the kids out Trick-Or-Treating which is my favorite thing about Halloween (taking kids Trick-Or-Treating). Kiersten and Benjamin both dressed up as mummies. Keirsten as a cute mummy with sparkles on her face and hair and Benjamin as a scary mummy with red hair. They let me paint their faces. We had a great time walking and driving the kids from house to house and seeing how excited they were. Another great thing was that the Navarro's had a spare pumpkin for Chris to carve which is one of his favorite things to do during Halloween. Overall, Halloween wasn’t a letdown after all!

Our Ward Halloween Party

2011-12-01T12:33:00.001-08:00

Since we were in the middle of a move and unsure of our day to day plans, we didn’t really plan for our Ward’s Halloween party. We were really glad we decided to go though. Chris went as a gamer and I as a pumpkin. Nothing too special but the most creative and fun costumes are ones you make. We really miss that ward and the friends and memories we had with them. It was a great way to say goodbye and enjoy some great food and fun!

Aunt Donna’s Wedding!

2011-12-01T12:32:00.003-08:00

Chris and I got to drive down to Salt Lake City with the Navarros for Aunt Donna’s wedding. After a long drive full of fun with the kids, a pit stop at Carl Jrs., and a wardrobe change in the van, we made it and had a great time. The wedding was beautiful and it was great to catch up with family members we haven’t seen for a long time. Congratulations Aunt Donna! We love you!

Fishing Trip! Boys Only… and Kiersten

2011-12-01T12:32:00.001-08:00

We had a great sibling’s weekend without the parents at the parent’s house. Evie, Johnnie, the kids, Kendra, Ryan, (Kendra’s fiancé) and Chris and I had the weekend to hang out while other unfortunate members of the family were out of the country. Shame. The boys took an early morning fishing trip out to Blacktail Reservoir. They had a great time even though they didn’t catch or even see any fish. After that we had a photo shoot for Kendra and Ryan’s engagement pictures. We all had a lot of fun just spending time with each other and getting to know Ryan better. And Ryan, just so you know, we approve and are excited for the wedding this December.

Chris's 24th Birthday!

2011-09-24T18:06:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Chris!!! Besides the fact that almost everything I had planned for this special occasion went wrong, it was a pretty good birthday weekend. For Chris's birthday we went to dinner and golfing. This was my first time golfing. (Not really though since I just drove the cart.) Chris had a pretty good game. In fact, he hit the best drive he's ever made in his entire life! So far :) It was somewhere between 200 and 250 yards. Also, we had a delicious Dairy Queen ice cream cake. (I won't even try to claim that as something I made.) Overall, great weekend. :)

Our Blog

2011-09-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family! This is our blog about our small family. I'll try my best to keep it updated and to let you know what little things are going on with the Semrads. As you all probably know, Chris and I are still living in Rexburg, Idaho. We are both currently working at OpenBook; Chris is a reservation assistant in V- Center (reservation center) and I am the Market Research Manager in the Client Marketing department. We're both love our apartment, jobs, and ward but not so much Rexburg. We're still trying to find a place to move in order to continue our educations. Chris is going into Criminal Justice and as for myself, Business Marketing. You of course already know and probably heard way to much about Bentley but again, he's been growing up fast but still acts like a kitten. He loves our new apartment too as well as his brand new cat tree and toys. He's been really healthy and keeps us on our toes. You will of course see new pictures of him on Facebook soon. (You don't have to tell me that I take way to many pictures of my cat.)

So as of right now we're just working, finding time to fit in fun trips and activities, and improving our little apartment. I can't wait to share with you all the little parts of our life that make our life what it is. <3