Recap Of 2012!

 This year has been a world wind! There's been so many life changing events. I don't even know where to start. Well lets start with the month of January, seeing as it is the beginning of the year! 

January 2012

On January 09th we got the call that Brandt had been waiting for. He had been accepted into The Army's Warrant Officer Flight Training Program. We were so excited and a little nervous because this meant moving from our family an friends and careers to start a new life. However, we embraced it and are so happy we did! 

On January 21st we attended one of my best friends birthday parties. It was so much fun to be able to dress up since she had a black and white theme. It was a blast! 

January 23 Brandt enlisted in the United States Army! I was so proud!!! 

February 2012

SUPERBOWL Sunday!!! We as we have done he last few years had a get together with our close friends. It was awesome! Danielle and I had made the MOST AWESOME trophy, we made it out of an old bowling trophy from 1999 and hot glued nerf footballs to it. ha ha ha it was Epic I wish I would have taken pictures. The game and food was fantastic. The best part was the little man Aiden yelling at the game just like his momma! So much fun!! 

March 2012

I took Brandt to see his very first BLUE ANGLES show with Parker and Kami. we had so much fun watching the angles do their thing. The different planes that were on display were so fun to look at and get to sit and and walk through. It made Brandt really really realize that he was making the right decision. We got to sit in a few Helicopters which was super fun too! 

Brandt's picture seems a little more fitting.. 

April 2012

We had Three different "Going Away Parties" for Brandt. I think that by the end of all these he was pretty partied out. 

May 2012

May 08th was a really hard day. It was the day Brandt was shipping off to Basic Training. It was a somber and tiring day. I was so proud of him for doing what he was but, I was so scared of being alone for so many months. (I ended up being just fine! Go figure)

If you can't tell I did not wear makeup since I knew I would be in tears too much to keep the make up on. :) 

June 2012

I was enjoying school, summer and the occasional pick up of a shift at Sport Clips. Mostly I just went to school and then headed to my apartment complex pool.. I was determined to enjoy this last summer in the BEARABLE heat of Utah seeing as next summer I would be in the UNBEARABLE heat of the south. I also had the chance of spending time with my many nieces an nephews. 

we made care packages for Brandt. :) 

First hike of the season!!! I was so excited!!!!

I also got the opportunity to run my annual mud run with my sisters and mom! I had so much fun!!

July 2012

Man on man was July eventful! just in case you are queasy you might want to skip the pictures this section!!!

July 4th I was looking forward to going to my parents annual firework frenzy complete with barbecue! Well this one was one for the books!!! Things were going great then, one of the fireworks got lit on its side instead up upright. It was an accident and it caused the motor shells to start firing in every direction except up!! My dad ran out to set it up right and Robert Andrus ran out with a hose to put it out with a hose. Well, My dad got hit in the eye with one of those shells and it did its damage! 

 After surgery but still pretty ugly!

July 18th my parents, younger brother and I headed to Lawton Oklahoma To see my hansom husband graduate from basic training. I was so excited to see him!!! 

August 2012 

This month was a bit boring but filled with friends!! I got to spend a lot of time with friends and family seeing as school was out and I was only picking up shifts a couple days a week. 

 My birthday with y family at BOONDOCKS! So much fun!

 Last day working at Sport Clips In Utah! :(

Hiking to dog lake with the est buddy!!! We did the hike twice that week and he love it!! 

 Gotta love the may injuries from running your half marathon!!! Got this nice blister!

SEPTEMBER 2012!! 

Well this was the best month ever!! My husband returned home to Utah!!! The negative side was that as soon as he came home we knew we only had five days left in Utah.. This was so bitter sweet but we were so excited to move and start out new adventure! There will be an overload of pictures here sorry! 

 He is home!!

 For graduating the dads and I bought him an AR-15. He was beyond excited!!

 Saying goodbye at a farewell picnic

 SWEET HOME ALABAMA!!!! We arrived safe and sound to our new home!

October 2012

On Monday October 01st we got some unexpected but super exciting news!!! 

 As the movie Juno puts it, "three tests today momma bear, your ego is prego!" 

WE ARE PREGNANT!! We were so excited!!! 

On October 06th my cousin brook come out to see us and we spent some time at the beach! 

We spent Halloween at some friends from the wards house handing out candy It was way fun! 

November 2012

November 13 was our anniversary! We didn't get to do anything Brandt was put on a funeral that weekend. so I hung out with the pup and watched movies. :) 

On Thanksgiving day most of my family came into town! After thanksgiving we went to Panama City Beach Florida for a day before they headed back to Utah. Sorry I only have pictures of the nephew.. I guess the rest of us didn't think to take pictures... 

December 2012

December 05th was Brandt's 27th birthday! I got him a future father to be gift box which was pretty fun! I think he liked it! for the rest of the month we have been playing with friends and enjoying time together! Our Christmas was more like Christmas for the baby! I think our unborn child got more Christmas gits than we did! We were invited to Christmas dinner by my visiting teaching companion and it was perfect. There was a bit of irony included with dinner! While sitting and eating we were talking with my relief society president and her kids about all the tornado sirens and storms and no joke when we got home the sirens started up! They went off, off and on for about an hour so we made a comfy hour and half out of our tornado closet. At least on the plus side we now have our go bags and we have emergency food in the closet too! It is great! Well as we come to a close of the year we are so grateful for all our blessings in our life that we have been giving, especially our baby on the way!! We hope you have had as great of a year as we have had! We love you all!  Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year! 

Sincerely, 

Brandt & Shauntel Daniels 

ALABAMA!

 

Our drive here was LONG to say the least! We started in Salt Lake at Sugar house park and ended the first day In Rawlins WY. Our second day we made it to Kearney NE that night was a long one the drive for us that day was about 12 hours. we just took it slow through the last bit of mountains. The third night we stayed in Columbia MO we loved this drive! We got to see the Mississippi river, the St. Louis Arch which was way cool if your in the area definitely take a minute to stop and see it! The last night we stayed in Nashville TE! So much fun! That city is amazing!!! I loved just driving in. We crossed the bridge to find our selves at a park where the Zach Brown Band was playing a benefit concert! The streets were insane with people everywhere! It was crazy! Our final drive of course felt like the longest.. Nashville Te to Fort Rucker Al! We got in pretty late at night but we managed to see a few things before the sun went down. Here are some pictures from the move!

 

He loved sleeping like this!

    

Welcome to Wyoming!

                                                                                                                                                          

Kansas City

This is what he looked like every time we left him in the truck!

St. Louis Temple

Dante helping Brandt Navigate

Down town St. Louis

Down town St. Louis

Gateway to the west!

Gateway arch!

stopped at Metropolis to see superman!

Brandt and superman

Sweet home Alabama

 

 We are slowly becoming accustomed to the army way of living.. Life is crazy and exciting all at the same time! Dante loves being here we walk to the dog Park every day where we stay and meet new friends for him and for me!

We've made quite a few good friends and are destined to meet many more. Our ward is so much fun and we love having such great people around us who are always willing to help us adjust a little easier! 

Many people have been asking for pictures of the house and the area. We have not really been out and about that much to get pictures of the area except a few that we have from the drive in. However, here are pictures of the house!

 

Front of the house

kitchen

our serving counter

carport door

HUGE pantry

dinning room

view of living room from dinning room

laundry room off dinning room

living room

Hallway

main bathroom

Spare room #1

master bedroom

Small master bathroom

Back patio and yard

We went down to Panama City beach when we picked up my cousin Brook from the airport! Dante Had a blast his first time in the ocean! He really had a hard time not understating that salt water is not for drinking. He got sick a few times UT then still had a blast!!!

 

playing in the water

They kept paying as fa out as they could go!

Covered in sand!

Alright I really hope you all are doing great! We are really missing back home all our friends and family! I will be coming home in March to see family and friends so I hope I don't miss anyone while I am in town!! I hope you are doing well!!! Stay tuned cause we will have lots more to say!! We will have family in town for Thanksgiving and will be posting pictures along with our Christmas card! They will be awesome!!! Love you all!

Getting Nervous!

I am not sure what to be more nervous about, seeing my husband or the move.. I have literally been freaking out for days now. In exactly seven days we will be heading to bed in Utah for the last time! That is a lot to swallow! I can't imagine what life will be like in Alabama but, to have my husband home and be a couple making decisions together again will make up for being apart from our families.

 The way I can look at it is WE ARE OUR OWN FAMILY NOW! And even though we both belong to our previous families the one that matters the most and that we need to take care of again is the one we created on November 13th, 2008! Our family. I am so excited to be able to be together just the two of us to be able to truly ONLY rely on each other. This adventure is going to probably be the hardest but the best thing that either of us have ever done.

 As I talk to family and friends I keep realizing that I only have so much time before Brandt will be home and our lives will be competently crazy for four days and then things will GET REAL. We will be on the road and on our way to our new home in Alabama in exactly 8 days! WOW!!! Seriously I feel like it was just yesterday I dropped him off at the M.E.P.S center.. Time has seriously flown by. Thank goodness for that. but at the same time I am bummed. I keep thinking about all the friends and family that we are close to and that we wont get to see when we want anymore. I hope that you all understand how much you have all meant to us! We would not be where we are today without the support of all of you.

I know that it will be amazing and scary all at the same time but with all our friends and family who have already planned their first trip out to Alabama to come see us I CAN'T WAIT for you to come see our new lives :) I hope that we will be able to get out and site see all that the south has to offer. Traveling in flight school will be difficult because we can only go so far, for we only have weekends off to do things. I can't wait to get to our first duty station in two years and be able to PLAN trips home to see everyone!

Only three more days until Brandt is here and the CRAZINESS begins. I am ready to embrace all that the next week has to offer me! BRING IT ON!!! Thank you again to all of those who have supported us and who have shown me support with Brandt being gone! I have enjoyed playing with you all and going to movies, water parks, swimming pools and going hiking with all of you! This summer will be one for the books for sure! Thank you again! I love you all!!!!

Shauntel

READY TO MOVE!!

      Since Brandt graduated BCT (Basic Combat Training) I came home to finish finals for summer semester.  Food for thought, DO NOT take 10 credit hours when you are planning a cross country move and trying to see friends and family while working part time.. My life was crazy.. As July came to a close I was looking forward to not having school anymore. once school ended I decided to pick up more hours at work for a few weeks to help bring in a little extra money. This was perfect and was nice for me to have a little bit of extra fun money. 

      As August started I was excited for the month to come and go really. I knew that it would be a bitter sweet month. I would have time to see friends and family but my husband was gone for my birthday which was actually pretty hard. My actual birthday was fun though I woke up to my new shoes at my door first thing in the morning!   I did a lot from shopping with my best friend to going to Boondocks fun center with my family! 

 

This is us after we bought our toys from our 4000 tickets we won in the arcade! We had so much fun and Alistaire loved his glasses and teddy bear we got him! 

      I took a trip to Walmart! I was determined to get started on our packing and getting the apartment ready to move! I probably spent more than I needed but I was so happy to have the bins I would need to make the move work! I still have a few bins left which will really help me when I pack the last minute stuff!!

       So happy I have been up to a lot so here is the progress I have made on the packing and the move!

I am so excited that I am getting the house packed! I can't believe it is so close!! Since I have been packing, I have also been taking time to myself. On August 25th I ran the top of Utah Half Marathon. Even though I had not really done as well as I have hoped but I finished. So that is all that counts right? I love the lovely blister that I accomplished as well. 

The day that I ran the half my best friends in the whole world took me out for a night on the town! We went to the Marriott downtown and then shopped at city creek and had dinner at cheesecake factory! It was exactly what I needed!! We had so much fun that night and I am so happy that I was able to go out with them all one more time before I move!

 I AM GOING TO MISS THESE GIRLS!!!!

 I have gotten the whole house packed and am now just waiting for Brandt to get home so we can be on our way! Over Labor day weekend I spent Friday shopping with my cousin ranae and looking for home goods! I found a cute photo frame and little decor piece. I was super excited! I love the way my living room came together as I re-decorated everything! 

Thursday and Monday Dante and I hiked Dog Lake up mil creek canyon which was a blast both times. I think it may have been a bit much to hike it twice in one week especially for him but I am glad that I did it. When I went up on Thursday my friend Jess got this pic of Dante and I 

Love my puppy so much! Without him I don't know that I would have gotten thought the last three months with Brandt being gone! But, enough of the him being gone talk!!!!

 BRANDT COME HOME IN 6 DAYS! 

I am so excited to know that on Friday this next week I am going to be able to see my soldier get off the plane in uniform and run and jump into his arms where I belong! I can't wait to finally feel whole again! We have so much planned for the four days he is here in town before our move. But, just so you all know if you can't make it to something that we had planned it's not that we don't want to see you we just really truly don't have a ton of time before he needs to report back for duty! We love you all and are so grateful for all your love and support! 

Thank you !