Christmas with my Brother!

Ok so I am not good at this blog thing....maybe....New Year resolution??? haha I had had HAD to post about Christmas this year though. I had no idea what Christmas would be like without Tav this year and let me tell you, it was hard. When putting up our Christmas tree at the Fox home, every time we pulled an ornament that Tav picked out,(each year, we have a tradition where we pick a new ornament for the tree...one year Tav picked this ugly bird and no matter how we would try to get him to have a new one, he would not budge...he wanted the bird. Now it is at the top of our tree haha)(hardest ornament= bird and frame he got last year that had a small mission call in it), we would all start crying. Dad even said after a few ornaments, "ok, let's just not put up the Christmas tree this year or the next". haha We just kept reminding ourselves, Tavin would want us to have fun and build more memories. Anyways, we did build memories. We took Christmas pictures for the Fox Christmas card. Hahaha Gotta love having a Mom who is so good at pictures.


Fox Family Christmas card! :) I have a pretty cute fam huh?





And of course... family pictures! hehe

We also made Gingerbread Houses...pictures to be posted later. Christmas gifts delivered with us having a hay ride with hot chocolate at the same time. :D Annnnddd....for the important stuff...Christmas Eve and Christmas.

Christmas Eve was fun. We went gag gift shopping in the morning, wrapped presents, danced around, and then got ready for dinner. We had the missionaries over for our traditional fondue. It is always my favorite and the missionaries had never had it before. One kept taking pictures of our chocolate fountain we had for dessert. We have awesome missionaries! I love having them over because it has a different feeling with my brother gone. After they left, we did our Christmas Nativity. I was the Angel this year, played Christmas pictionary, Mom and Dad gave us a pretty picture of Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus and talked to us about it (it was such a sweet message that I will always remember...I have the picture up in our room, Mom and Dad :) ), then we went up on the roof to put the reindeer food. All pictures to come later when I get them from my Mom's camera :S. Oh and let's not forget, Santa came with Christmas PJs for us again. :) I just love Christmas Eve! Then it was off to bed in Brittin's and Belle's room. It is a tradition to have sibling sleepovers! I love it!

Next morning, Belle woke us up bright and early to check out the gifts. Peter, my parents, and I were so tired but no "five more minutes", we were dragged out to the family room. We were able to open 1 stocking gift before we had to get ready to talk to Tav. I could not let him think I let myself go since he left, you know, with my curly bed hair and all. haha At 10:00, that is when I got the BEST Christmas present. Tavin called!!!!! Actually Skyped!!! It was so amazing to see him and he had an accent kind of which made me laugh so hard. He told about amazing experiences and we talked about our life. We laughed and when it was time to say bye, cried so hard! I just love my brother so much and am so proud of him. He is such an example to us all! We got to see the family he was at and showed a cute Brazilian boy his room that still has the spray paint all over it. haha Tav, you will have to repaint it when you get home. We also talked to the little boy, Tav told him what to say and he was so proud of himself, Tav said, he was telling his whole family how he talked to us. haha It was a Christmas morning I will remember forever! Here are some pictures below. They were taken with my phone sooo not the best quality. haha














I just love him! In one you can also see the Brazilian boy we got to talk to. We made a joke about if he was interested in 14 yr. olds cause Britt was here and he was 12 and he laughed and said he loves Americans.

After a tearful goodbye, we opened presents. I am a spoiled girl! Peter was too good to me this year and same with my family. They all knew exactly what I would want. Oh and Mom and Dad, I think I told you not to spend too much on us this year. You did not listen! haha Thanks though for everything Fox family! After we had a turkey dinner! YUM! Then Peter and I went over to the Petersen house to visit and exchange gifts! Thanks so much as well! We love it all! I am blessed with a great family on both sides! When the Petersen family started to hit the hay, we finished our night with some fun games!

Thanks everyone for all you do for Peter and I! During our poor college days, we are so thankful for the help we always get! Thanks Dad for the major work you have done to get us heat and air coditioning. Without that help, we would be completely broke. Literally! Also, thanks for coming with us to check out the car! Thanks to Mom and Dad, for the endless advice and counsel you have given me. I truly take everything into my heart and am making some great New year's Resolutions. Thanks to my whole family, Mom, Dad, Brittin, and Belle for always being there to talk, hang out, and have fun with! I am truly blessed! I am thankful for letters in which I can share things with Tavin and still remain close to him! I love getting together with Tav's best friend when she is visiting from college...thanks for always coming over Lindsey! My family are my best friends. I would also like to thank the members of the "Date of the Month Club". You guys truly are our greatest friends and I have loved and cherished all of our fun dates and get togethers and I can't wait to do more this coming up New Year! I am thankful for extended family and other friends in my life! I miss the friends that live far away that I do not get to see as often! I love all the people in our lives!

Merry late Christmas and Happy New Year!
Love, The Petersens

Our First!

Here is my goal, before my 2nd year anniversary, I want to do mine and Peter's story. I don't think everyone has heard it and if you have...sorry....I want to have it on here for the future when details might not be so clear haha. So without further ado....Kassie and Peter's Grand Adventure! ;)

The story takes place once upon a time in the summer of 2008 and I just got back from school/ my oversea adventure to England. I did not really want to go to the singles ward; however, all my friends were either at school or on missions soooo I decided, I needed to make some new friends. I nervously went my 1st time and ran into a old friend I met on this blind date we all went on back in HS. I was so excited to see her and she started to tell me about this fun group of friends she did everything with. She dragged me over to this group of mostly guys and introduced me to all of them. I talked to all of them except Peter at 1st. haha Some knew people I did, or had younger brothers that was my age, so it opened lots of discussions. During Sunday School we all went and that is when I met Peter the 1st time. We got to talking after class and before I knew it R.S. was over and it was time for Linger Longer (that was once a month where we would eat and just chat with everyone in the ward). Peter's group was so much fun and so easy to talk to. I remember thinking Peter was cute but I knew I just did not want to date ANYONE at that time of my life. Peter sent a text, he told me, when they asked about their friend Kassie being drop dead gorgeous, Peter responded, "yeah I dropped dead 10 minutes ago". Numbers were exchanged by saying, "Just to let you know my name is Peter Petersen and my middle name is Lindsey. You will find out soon so I want to just get it out there." haha and then he invited me to play games later on.

When I got home from church, my Mom asked me how it was and I plunged into the story of meeting this group of friends. After I was done, Mom said, "they are return missionaries? Ok be careful" haha Moms are so smart aren't they?

Later that night, we played signs. If you are reading this and have not played signs....oh my gosh you have to! It is so much fun! Peter was my "to go to" person the whole night. Poor boy! He would accept my sign even if it meant he would loose. Sorry love! We played late into the night and then went home! So there you have it folks our beginning. haha I would never have guessed I would have married this fun person I met the 1st Sunday at the Singles Ward (especially since I was so anti-marriage....I know lots of people say that but let me tell you it was 100% true...it's actually the reason Peter would not bring up the marriage talk when he wanted to because he knew my feelings haha).

After that night, I did EVERYTHING with this group. They were so much fun! Peter and I became the best of friends. I could talk to him about anything and everything and we would spend hours talking on the phone. We went through some drama times but now, as you can see, it payed off. ;)

Our 1st date happened the summer of 2008....not sure the exact day....sorry! It was tons of fun. We went to a BIG Bonfire which turned out to be more of a hang out with friends. lol That is what Peter and I felt through the night. The boys did bombs while the girls talked. haha I have a video of a Sobe bomb going bad and it ends with me saying, "ow" because, that's right, I got hit by glass. Crazy right?



Above is a picture of me the night of our 1st date. :D

Anyways, that is my story for now. Now you have all heard when I met my Peter and our 1st date. Be ready for more stories and pictures to come. Oh and Corrie, thanks for the introduction...Love you Girl!

Love,
The Petersens <3

School Life and Free Time!

OK ladies and gentleman....drum roll please...I am actually going to do my blog. I know crazy right? No more procrastinating because if I do, I will never have anything on this. It will just be, "I will do it next week" every week.

School life has begun! Good luck for all the students going back to school! My hubby is one of you! Even though I love him more than anything for going to school, getting good grades, and working hard so he can support us one day when I am at home with the kids, this sucks sometimes!!! haha Between work and school, it is crazy how little I see him. This semester I am blessed though. For our 1st 1 1/2 year of marriage, he would have work until 5 P.M. and then have a bunch of night classes. This semester, he has a way nice boss that let him change is work schedule so that he only works Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday so that he can go to school all day Monday and Wednesday. Monday, I see him around 6 P.M. and Wednesday is the only bad day....10:00 P.M. baby! So on Wednesday I see him around 10:30 P.M. or so. Considering what it was, it is much better! Keep it up honey! It will be worth it one day! :)

In the mix with all of this....we still manage to have fun together. Our current new obsession is...and my husband would probably die knowing I have just uncovered his secret....is watching the show Vampire Diaries with my family! Oh my gosh, I LOVE this show! For those who want a good show to watch, I would highly recommend this! Disclaimer, probably not a show for kids. We have to fast forward some stuff because my 8 yr. sister also loves it! It is soooo much better than Twilight. It is my favorite show I have watched in awhile. Everyone in my family loves it, husband and Dad included. We are so going to watch them again with by brother when he gets home from his mission. Season 2 just came out on DVD and of course, we bought it. We are trying to get through before Sept. 15th comes because that is when season 3 starts!!!!! Ahhhh did I mention how much I love this show?!?! OK great, watch it!



That above is a picture of the main characters! My current obsession! Thought everyone should know. Anyways, until next time. Love from the Petersens! <3

My Husband's View On The Preposal

So I am the worst blogger EVER but I am going to try and blog at least once in awhile. Back when I had (at the time) the best day of my life, Peter and I wrote our thoughts about our proposal. I posted my story but never Peter's side and just the other day came across it. So here it is....


The Other Perspective. Spent forever

About a year ago I meet the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. She was a friend of a friend, and from the moment I saw her I haven’t been able to think about much else. We stared spending almost every day together. Exactly how long we have been dating is not for sure but I do know that I have wanted to marry Kassie for a long time. I am truly amazed that we ended up together. I know that it’s because that is how things were supposed to work out. That’s how it’s always been between Kassie and I, things always just seem to workout.

We had been talking a little about getting married and we both knew that we had found each other, but we just couldn't start really talking until things were officially official, which meant I needed to get on the ball. A guy only gets to propose to the girl he loves once so I think that means it should be something really special that she will look back on and remember forever. I started trying to think of ideas but I was getting frustrated when nothing seemed right. I spent forever on YouTube and Google reading and watching other people’s cute proposal ideas but nothing seemed good enough. Until one day when I was talking to Kim, Kassie’s mom. She mentioned that her sister Teena had purchased a flight at a scout auction on a four person plane. She told me that they were talking and that it might be cute to use the flight and some sort of big sign to pop the question. That was it. It just seemed right. So we started working out the details. Teena lives in Cali so they needed a reason to go there. Teena's husband Jared just recently had a b-day so a fake surprise party would be the reason for the trip. Then we had to find a good time. Luckily the months of June and July are full of b-days, Girl’s Camp, and Jonas Brothers concerts so picking the day was easy. Waiting was the hard part. So July 11 became the day. I really wanted it to be a surprise to Kassie so I invited her to go with me to Utah on that weekend. I knew that she would go with her family if they asked her to. That way she would not expect a thing.

From the beginning Kassie fell in love with her ring. It just fits her. It’s beautiful just like she is. So just after I knew which one she wanted I went down and got it, but I couldn't have her suspecting something so I pretended like getting the ring was the last thing on my mind. We would go here and there to look at rings and I would always have her try on the ugly ones. I could tell she was getting frustrated with my apparent lack of interest. Another thing I needed to do before I could ask Kassie was talk to her Dad. I was nervous but Tom was great about it, and even tried make me feel better. I will remember our conversation forever, he is a great guy and I can’t wait to be officially in his family.

So the really big sign turned out to be a six by seventy five foot nightmare. Kinko's made it in four pieces that had to be taped together. My sister Rae and I attempted this in the church gym because when we tried it in my backyard we realized that wind hates really big paper signs. We also taped along the edges to give it some strength against the wind. Two PVC pipes were added to other end to make it easier to roll and unroll this thing.

So the day was finally here. Kassie had left for Cali on Friday thinking that I was going to Utah the same day. We left at around four in the morning on Saturday. I use nervous, I could not eat anything, and I slept for about an hour the night before. I really don’t know why I was so nervous. It was like the feeling just before you go on a roller coaster. You really want to go but you still feel nervous. It was a good thing my sisters Rae and Jenny came with Daniel. They helped a lot. We made the drive in three hours. We went and got flowers and balloons once we got there, then waited. The waiting was the worst. I was nervous just sitting there thinking about it. We waited in the park across the street from the airport for the call that they went up, which came around 10:30. We rushed out of our hiding spots and started getting everything ready. Kim had thought that it would be cute for all the kids to have matching t-shit s with “say yes” on the back. So she made them and somehow snuck them down to Cali with her. They are way cute. So with everything else in place we started unrolling the sign. It turned out there was wind and keeping the sign from ripping took everyone’s help. We had some one placed about every three feet holding it down. It was really cool to see all of Kassie’s family there helping with Rae, Jenny, and Daniel. Kassie’s ride seemed like forever but when she finally came, we all held the sign up for her to see. The plane came down went over us and went back up. I did not know what was going on. It turned around and came back and landed. I just hoped she could read it with so much wind. After she got out of the plane she ran to me, I knew she read the sign. There was only one thing left to do. Get down on one knee and ask Kassie the most important question ever. I looked into her eyes and got the confidence to start talking, Kassie will you marry me? She made it the best day of my life when she said YES. The rest of the day was great. I was soo happy. I know we are supposed to be together.

He is for sure a cutie and the love of my life. Here are some pics of my hubby making the sign and the day of the proposal. Love him! Thanks Peter for making it the best day EVER and thanks all my family again. You guys are the best! No better way to get proposed to than having the ones I love there with me!



Peter and the sign.



Writing me a cute message. I just love this boy!



Rolling it up.



Awwwww my pretty ring and my hot husband!



Waiting... with his Sister Rachel and Brother-in-law Daniel



Peter, Rachel, and Jenny and Daniel (in the back..covered with balloons). Not sure what Peter is looking at. lol




My Fam helping with the sign. I am up in the air at this point. Ahhhhh



Our plane ride as a newly engaged couple! Best ride EVER!





Peter's truck he drove up in. <3


A fairytale day! I loved every moment! Now it has been a year that he asked me to marry him and almost a year that we have been married. Time goes so fast. Love you Peter! Thanks for being my only star!

Engagement Pictures

When it came time to take our engagement pictures, I knew exactly where I wanted to take them. The beach! It is my favorite place in the world. And to make it even more perfect ... many years ago ... my parents took their engagement pictures at the exact same location. It was absolutely perfect.

However, with the perfect location comes some difficulties. Humidity and my hair do not go together. The longer we stayed ... the more curly my hair got. Also, as we were taking pictures, we caused lots of attention. We actually had "tourists" standing off to the side taking pictures of us. Haha All in all ... I was happy with how they turned out.

** (Picking just one picture for the invitation was really hard so we decided to do a collage of a few different ones.)

PS - The Wedding Date Is ...

With all the excitement of everything going on ... I forgot to mention ... our wedding date will be November 14th, 2009. Please come! We want to share this with all of you!

It's Official ... We Are Finally Engaged!!!

So after wondering when and ... WHEN this was going to happen ... it finally did! Saturday, July 11th 2009, Peter proposed to me. I was totally unaware that plans for this day had been underway for a very long time. (Everyone was very good at keeping it a secret.) The scene was set ... all the cast was in place ... and the day was perfect!

A long time ago, Peter invited me to go to Utah with him and some of his family. Sunday, July 12th, his cousin was receiving the priesthood. It sounded like a fun time, however; a couple of weeks later we received an invitation in the mail for my Uncle's "Surprise Birthday Party". It was planned for the same weekend and a bunch of the family was planning on being there. I was trying to decide if I should go to California or Utah when Peter was kind enough to encourage me to go to California with my family. With his support behind me ... and the Zeller family car-pooling with us ... we head to Cali ready for some "surprise Party" fun!

Saturday morning we awoke early to start the celebrations. Uncle Jared was in full character expressing his desire for breakfast in bed and trying to crack what his "surprise" was going to be. I was equally excited to have the upper hand ... after all ... I knew the secret.

Once loaded up in the cars, we headed to the Corona Airport. It was there that the "surprise" was unleashed and Uncle Jared found out we were there to celebrate his birthday and he was going to take a plane ride over California. You should have seen the excitement on his face! (Looking back it just makes me laugh.) Uncle Jared, Carter, and Regann took the first flight.

Person by person, we were all divided into groups. The pilot had told us that he would let people fly the plane and do tricks in the air so the groups consisted of daredevils and non-daredevils. I was most definitely in the non-daredevil group. Finally it was time for me, my mom, and Aunt Teena to board the plane. My stomach was turning a bit but once we took off ... it was a blast! We flew low over lakes, saw the Steingraber's house from the air, and yes ... the pilot did do tricks which turned out not to be too bad. At times I felt like I was on the Maliboomer at Disneyland ... and when Aunt Teena took over the controls ... I wasn't too sure if we were going to make it back. However, we survived and it was time to come in for the landing.

My mom handed me her camera and asked me to take a picture of all the kids from the air. She has an awesome zoom lens so I was looking through it when all of a sudden things didn't look quite right. Standing, not off to the side but on the runway, was this crowd of people and in the middle of the people was this huge sign. It was almost as if my eyes weren't working properly and my brain wasn't connecting to what I saw. I just froze! Finally my mom said, "What?" And all I could manage to say was "I'm so confused." ... or ... "I don't know." ... and once I breathlessly whispered out "He's suppose to be in Utah." Instead of the pilot landing, he pulled the nose back up and said, "Maybe if we circle back around, it might make more sense the second time." Everyone in the plane was laughing ... I was just in shock!

The second time coming in for a landing ... there it was again. The huge sign read "Be my only star forever! Marry me Kassie!!!" My brain started working and I realized that I was Kassie! And I realized that the crowd of people ... they were my family! And there ... in front of the sign ... on the runway ... was Peter! He wasn't in Utah! The "surprise" was on me!

I stepped out of the plane and ran into Peter's arms. After expressing his feelings to me, he got down on one knee, took out my dream ring, and asked me to marry him. Of course I said "Yes!" It was only after I had said yes that I realized that all my cousins, siblings, and Peter's family had all turned around and on the back of their shirts it said "Say Yes!" Cutest thing I had ever seen! After hugging and kissing Peter LOTS ... one by one all the cousins and family members came up and gave me a rose and hugged and congratulated me. After everyone was done taking their turn flying on the plane, Peter and I were able to go together. It was amazing. The pilot took us over the mountain and we were able to see the ocean. I couldn't have asked for things to be more perfect.

Once back at the Steingraber's house, we all went swimming and had a celebration barbecue. The night ended with all the family gathering around toasting our engagement. Anyone who wanted to, expressed their feelings for Peter and I and the tears were flowing. It was so nice to hear Aunts, Uncles and cousins share memories and fun times together. I love the family I come from! I am also so lucky to be marrying into the family I am. Daniel, Jenny and Rachel were with us for the night and the things they said were so kind. I am glad they will be a very important part of my life as well. Peter had to represent us because, by the end, I couldn't even speak through the tears.

I couldn't have asked for a better day. I had my family with me, and the person I love more than anyone else in the world, asked me to marry him. Life doesn't get much better ... or maybe it just keeps getting better and that makes me look forward to the future with a smile on my face and the knowledge that I am such a lucky girl!