Our Christmas Card

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings and warmest holiday wishes from the Martels! We hope that everyone is doing well this Christmas season and we hope that you have enjoyed a wonderful year as we have. It has been quite an eventful year full of school, awesome family vacations, fun-filled birthdays, and, well, more school. We are happy of the memories that have been made, and thank you for helping create those memories.

RAY

Ray has had a wonderful year, full of accomplishments. Towards the beginning of the year, we were blessed with an acceptance letter from Southern Utah University's Nursing Program. Out of 100+ applicants, Ray was chosen as one of the 20. He is loving the nursing program, as he has just completed his first semester. While working diligently in his demanding studies, he always makes time for his family and his video games (which luckily, he has a wife who likes to play them with him). He loves spending time with friends and family and is always there to help a friend in need.

SHAY

Shay has just completed her bachelors in accounting this December. She has also received her acceptance letters for the Masters of Accounting and Masters of Business Administration by Southern Utah University and will be attending come this January. She finds much satisfaction in taking on what seems to be simple crafty projects that always manage to turn into big "what was I thinking" projects. She relishes the time she has with her family and friends and loves anything that doesn't have to do with studying and homework.

MADELYNN

Mady is growing up so quickly, she is 21 months and is quite the little sponge. Her favorite things to do are: reading books, dancing, coloring, playing outside, watching Yo-Gabba-Gabba, playing with Dori (her friend), playing with babies, and doing anything Mom or Dad is doing. She is at the stage of wanting to do everything by herself, which at times is hilarious. She is talking all the time, although most of it is Japanese, or maybe Albanian; its so stinkin' cute. Mady loves going "potty". Except potty right now means getting naked and sitting on her cute pink potty for two seconds at a time. We're still working on that. Mady loves playing with her friends, family, and especially her extended family. There is never a dull moment without Mady, and we wouldn't want it any other way.

This year has been full of fun adventures. Two of our most memorable vacations were Disneyland with the Waymans and Lake Powell with Martels twice.











Lake Powell with the Martels is always such a treat. Our first trip was right after spring semester finals. It was also Mady's first time at Lake Powell. The water was FREEZING! But we were able to go again at the beginning of August when the water was super warm. Disneyland with the Waymans was a trip to remember. With 14 people in all, it made for one of the funnest trips. Mady loved going on the rides and it was so fun to see her reaction. It was also nice to have so much help when Ray and I wanted to go on rides together. It was such a fun trip, we were so grateful to be able to go.

We want to wish you a most Merry Christmas and that we are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family, such as yourselves, in our lives. Thank you for making this year so wonderful for us. We hope that you are celebrating the end of a fantastic year and looking forward to an even better 2012.

Love you all,The Martels

Remember Me?

Wow.....I am such a bad blogger. Has it really been 3 months? Geez! I promise I will be better. But while I'm here, I guess I should update on those past three months.

School has been a beast. My semester wasn't hard, but two of my teachers sure made their classes ridiculous. It was very frustrating. Ray has been such a hard worker with his classes. He loves the nursing program, despite how hard it is and the not so great teachers. And with all that he still found the time to play with Mady, help around the house, and take me on dates. What a man eh?

Halloween was so fun this year with Mady being old enough to actually know what trick-or-treating was. I love dressing everyone up as relatable characters. I just think its adorable. So this year I was debating between Peter Pan costumes or the Flinstone costumes. I really wanted to do the Flinstones with our really good friends who have a little boy around Mady's age that she always plays with, Dori.Then they could be Pebbles and BamBam. And we could be Velma, Fred, Barney, and Wilma. But that fell through. So PeterPan it was. My Mom found Mady this adorable Tinkerbell costume. I also had green water shoes to match her outfit. She loved carrying around her pink bucket. And once she understood that it was for candy, she would not let anyone else hold it. Even when it got really heavy. I found my costume at D.I. It was an XXL, so I had to do some sewing. But it turned out good. At least when I had my Tinkerbell and Peter, people would get the idea of who I was. Ray's costume was a little harder. I found the hat, leggins, and shoes online. I wasn't sure what to do for his shirt, until I found a huge XXXL green men's shirt. So I just cut that up to make it Peter Pan-y and Wa-la! PeterPan, Wendy, and Tinkerbell! Thanksgiving was our next break, that was very needed. We were able to spend it with both of our families this year. We first went to Ray's house in Lindon. It was a quiet Thanksgiving with them, only 6 of us were able to come. Ethan was in Mexico on his mission, Jemacob in Japan, and SueSue and her family (Barb's sister) were visiting other family. It was nice though, and the food? AMAZING! Mady loved having Joey and Naketa around. And notice Mady's outfit? Barb made it. So cute. It was also such nice weather. Ray and Mady had the funnest time playing outside. Or well Mady did. Ray was hard at work. He is such a hard worker, even when he's supposed to be on "break". Mhmm handsome guy right? Mady was so cute to watch play in the leaves. Just look at this adorable face! Thankgiving at the Martel's is all about food, naps, and movies. And believe me, we did plenty of both. Mady even watched a good 15 minutes of 101 Dalmations. Which is quite impressive. She wont' sit through anything unless it Yo-Gabba-Gabba.Ray and I were able to do some Black Friday Shopping. We had planned to go to a few stores, but after being trampled and roughly handled at Walmart, we just went home. Friday was super fun. My Dad's side of the family always celebrates Thanksgiving on Friday so that everyone can come. We had a great time in the cultural hall of the church playing dodgeball, basketball, Christmas activities, and eating the most amazing food!

And then it was back to school and studying our hearts out for finals. Mady helped us out a lot. But for the week of finals, Ray's parents were sweet enough to come get Mady and watch her until our finals were done. We got so much more done without her. But I was missing her soooo much! It was really hard to focus at times, I missed her so much. But it was always so comforting to know that she was in such good hands.

And now we are DONE! Oh how I love that I have two weeks of no studying, no homework, no classes, and no tests. Oh it makes me happy! Now I can finally focus on working on my Christmas gifts, which Mady is a real big help with.
Oh! And did you notice our new family picture? Adorable eh? (a cute one of Mady is on the side) They turned out amazing and I love them. Thank you Rae!

PS: I decided that I'm not going to be private anymore. I have come to realize how many people do not have google accounts, among other things. So for now, public it is!

A Rude Awakening...

Have you ever read something and think "Oh, I really liked this. I need to do this." But then you forget about it, until all the sudden WHAM! it hits you in the face? Yeah me too. Just recently. To the point where I was so filled with guilt, I was balling to my sweet hubby.

I like to read the Ensign when I feel like I have some free time and I want to read something other than a textbook. And just a week or so ago, in September's issue, I read something that stuck out to me:

'A fine member of the Church was talking with a
neighbor who was not of our faith. When the topic of
discussion turned to general conference, the neighbor
asked, "You say you have prophets and apostles?
And twice a year in a worldwide conference they
reveal the word of God?"

"Absolutely," the member replied with confidence.
The neighbor though about that for a moment. He seemed
genuinely interested and then asked, "What did they
say in the last general conference?"

At this point the good member of the Church went from
feeling excited about sharing the gospel to feeling
embarrassed. Try as he might, he couldn't think of the
details of a single talk.

His friend found this troubling and said, "You mean to tell me
that God speaks to man in our day and you can't
remember what He said?"

You can go HERE for the whole talk.

This I thought was so true. How many of us actually listen and take to heart what is said? Do we remember things or just forget as time goes on? I was reading with Ray for our nightly study and we both thought how true it is. But after the lights went out I forgot about it.

However, I was reminded of the talk and its full value just the other day. I was on the phone with my Mom, talking about my siblings and how they may come home for conference. She asked if we would come. I told her how I wished we could, but that we had prior commitments to watch an AMAZING band preform (which I'm super stoked about) on Friday and then the St. George marathon on Saturday with Ray's family. After I got off the phone, I was reminded again of the talk.

As a little girl growing up, Conference was always a special thing for my family. All the TVs in the entire house would be turned on. Not to mention our radios also. My mom would have snacks for us and little games for the little kids. My dad would always get out a huge puzzle that would take us the whole two days to finish (sometimes more). For Saturday's session, the little kids would have to go play outside so we could listen to Conference. It was always a priority.

Now, I have my own family. And we have had our Conference days where I get out my puzzle and Ray sets up the TV so we can watch it. But I wish I could say that I have made it more a priority in my life. The phrase that the member's friend said, "You mean to tell me that God speaks to man in our day...." came back to me so hard.

I thought about how I wanted to have Mady's 1 year birthday during Conference, and that we could watch it later. I remembered how mad I was that my Mom said she would not be to Mady's party. I couldn't understand. I remembered skipping Saturday's Conference and Sunday Mornings to go shopping in St. George and drive home on Sunday, thinking I'd watch it later. Because of school and work, it took me a month to watch it.

I felt so awful. Wasn't God a priority in my life? Of course he is. But then why haven't I shown it? Especially when He is trying to talk to me! And how many times do I ask for opportunities to share the gospel? Would I be just as embarrassed to not be able to tell them about God's messages to His children in this age?

I have grown up in a home where it is a big priority. I have been blessed with the knowledge of how important these messages from our prophets, apostles, and leaders of our Church are. My parents have taught me, and now I have a daughter, who must also understand. But she never will if I don't start making it a priority. Even if that means missing our out on shopping, spending time with family, friends, or even studying for a test.

I feel truly humbled by this experience and the guilt I have felt by this little message. I am grateful for experiences like this to remind me of how important God's word is, especially in this day. I am so excited to hear the messages that will be spoken and know that they come from God.

If you would also like to listen, go HERE for more information on what channels it will be on or how to stream live from your computer. General Conference will be held on the first Saturday and Sunday in October.

Only 4 more hours until.....

I can go home to this stud:



This adorable little thing:
But most of all, I'm sad to say, to this:

Lake Powell May&Aug

NOTE: If anyone has noticed that my blog isn't private anymore, its because of my sweet grandparents who are not very computer savy and complaining that my blog is too complicated. So until I help them out with understanding how it works, its just going to be open to everyone for the time being.

This year we were able to go to Lake Powell during May and August. It was great to leave right after finals and relax and forget about the real world. It was also Mady's first time going. I was a little stressed out about it, but everything was good except for the weather. It was quite cold, and the water? FREEZING!! It was also our last Lake Powell Trip with this guy...well for 2 years. We miss him so so much. He left on his mission in June. He is where he needs to be, and we are so proud of his decision. All I can say is that I hope the next two years go by super fast. Lake Powell in August was exactly what I needed. And I'm not quite sure what it was about this trip that made me fall so much more in love with Ray than I already was. I love that man so much. I don't know what I would do with out him.

LAKE POWELL - MAY 2011

We played in the sand A LOT
And we built some stuff too - which may or may not be a little too graphic. Mady also ran around naked half the time
We did play in the water....only a little bit. It was SUPER cold. We went hiking a lot too

We fished in style and dealt with injuriesBut we mostly hung out at the houseboat

LAKE POWELL - AUGUST 2011

We played in the water A LOT!

Can't forget the nakie pictures!Did some hikingPlayed some games, slept, ate, read, and were just plain lazy.I also studied! .............for about 5 seconds...
We went up some fun canyons on the run-around boatWhile up on the the canyons. Ray noticed something weird looking on the canyon wall. He was about to touch it when we decided to ask us what we thought it was....And do you know what it turned out to be? Millions of daddy-longlegs. SPIDERS. I am sad to admit that I would have pushed Ray into the lake if he had touched those gross things. Both trips were so much fun. I always love the time we get to spend at such a beautiful place with such an amazing family. We can't wait until next year to go again.