And I love my dad, too.

Men have always played an important role in my life. Not just because I've been liking them since I was like 10... but because certain men have played a large role in shaping me into the person that I am today. In case you have not been notified before now... today is indeed Father's Day. This being the case, I wanted to share with you some of my most favorite things about my dad.

First off, my dad is a hard worker. He is very good at staying busy and being productive but not in a "neglect my family" sort of way. He is a wonderful provider for his family and does whatever is necessary to keep everyone happy and healthy. 

My dad is also very funny but very quiet. He is always loaded with puns and knows how to make people smile. Really, he gets along with everyone and is quite the likable guy.

He picked out my name, that was nice of him. :)

He tells me that I am his most favorite first daughter that he has ever had. It still makes me feel special.

My dad has always had a strong testimony and has helped me see what an awesome priesthood holder looks like.

He is very wise and even though at times I wasn't crazy about following his counsels... I was happy when I did.

My dad cares about people and is very selfless. Rarely does he do special things for himself. If he does... it's like buying a bag of sunflower seeds and a root beer on a road trip.

At this point of my life, I appreciate most the love that my dad shows for my mom. I have always said that I wanted to marry someone that reminded me of my dad. Once, someone even told me that it wasn't possible and that I thought way too highly of my dad. About two weeks later I started dating Todd and I was able to very quickly make connections between him and my father. Now I am married to Todd and he is going to be a father himself in two short months. We're both pretty nervous and we obviously have a lot to learn... but luckily we have some super-dad examples to follow. 

I am so extremely lucky to have the dad that I do. He has taught me so much through his wonderful example and I hope my son grows up to have a little bit of his grandpa in him.

A tribute to my mother.

Twenty-two and a half years ago I met the most kind and wonderful women in the entire world. She happens to be my mother and I have learned many things from her since that first cold December evening in 1989.

My mother has taught me...

to be understanding of others and their situations.

 how to cook/clean/etc. so that I can have a peaceful home.

how to sing and not be afraid to share my voice.

that I am worth a wonderful temple marriage to a wonderful young man.

that my name is Katelyn, nothing else.

how to make some dang good homemade donuts (I definitely have not mastered this one yet).

that there are a lot of people out there that need some form of service or another and there's no reason why it shouldn't be me that provides it for them.

how to bake the most delicious loaf of French bread.

what home decor does and does not look good.

that I should center my life around the gospel.

to respect and support those that hold the priesthood.

how to play the piano, unfortunately I'll never be as good as her.

how to use a sewing machine.

why modesty is important.

that virtue is a big deal... she was on to this one way before it became the new Y.W.'s value.

how to use a curling iron and put on makeup.

that my body is a temple and that no young man is worth my time at all unless he's willing to respect it.

how to not completely embarrass myself in public but still get away with being myself. (:

that it is okay to try new things.

that eating an entire Costco muffin probably isn't the best thing to do on a daily basis.

how to hold a baby and change a diaper.

the importance of keeping a journal.

that holding hands is romantic... that's why it's for mommies and daddies. ;)

the importance of going to college and getting a degree.
how to accept service and complements.

that she is proud of me and always wants me to be happy.
to have faith and trust in the Lord.

And the list goes on (and on and on and on)!

As I sit here feeling my little baby boy squirming around in my tummy I can't help but get overly excited about becoming a mommy. There are so many things I want to teach him and I know that I can be successful as I follow the example set by my mother. Fortunately, my mother-in-law is also a great mom and I was lucky enough to marry one of her four boys. Todd and I are both so grateful for our mothers and our mother's mothers for the things they have taught us and the examples they have set. We owe them so much and we hope to have the same influence on our children that our mother's have had on us.

My beautiful mother

panda night!

If you haven't noticed, I highly value traditions. I like the big family ones, the not-so-fun ones, the tasty ones, and especially the little dorky ones. This last week Todd and I kept one of those dorky little traditions going as we had our 3rd annual panda night! As usual it was very enjoyable and the perfect way to spend a relaxing Friday night. 

Here we are... panda night 2012 and this time we watched Kung Fu Panda 2! It was just as funny as the first and again the food was delicious.

Does moving to WI count?

Anyways... I'm not sure if Madison, Wisconsin has a Panda Express... but if they do you know what we'll be doing a year from mid-March.

Go ahead , go throw up.

Well folks, there comes a time when growing up is inevitable. Mr. H and I have come to that time in our lives and we're pretty excited. I don't know if we're ready necessarily... but we're working on it.

Our first grown-up adventure will take place this April, when we both graduate from college. Me from Exercise and Wellness/Nutrition and Mr. H from Economics/Spanish. College graduate... sweet. I remember about this time three years ago when I was freshman... I would pretend like I knew what I wanted to do with my life as I would plan out my classes clear until graduation. There were SO many classes and I seriously did not know how it was ever going to happen. Then it happened. And here I am. 36 days away from graduating from college. 

Grown-up adventure #2: moving across the country to a state with which I have no relation. Okay that's not entirely true... I know 3 people in Wisconsin, Mr. H's mission companion, the wife of said companion, and their ~1 year old child. That's it. I've met them once, before they had their little girl though... so really I only know 2 people in Wisconsin. You probably want to know why we are packing up and heading to WI of all places... so I'll tell you. Mr. H got offered a wonderful job with the company, EPIC. Basically they make software for hospitals, ambulances, and doctor's offices across the world and they need people like my husband who is nerdy enough to understand the software but also has interpersonal skills and can understand and address the needs of their clients. So that's what he is doing, "Project Team Manager" even! I'm very proud of him and I'm so glad he got a job that he will enjoy as he starts out his career. As for my career... read on to grown-up adventure #3.

We've been working on our last grown-up adventure for about 17 weeks now... and we'll, well I'll, continue to work on it for the next 22-ish weeks. If you're good at math you probably have already caught on. For those of you not good at it, like me... we are expecting our first child in August! We are completely thrilled and we can't wait to meet our little bundle of fun. We get to find out the gender in about 3 weeks... T really wants a girl. So badly that he thinks he has jinxed the system and we're going to have a boy. I don't mind either way, I'm just so grateful to be pregnant and healthy.

So there you have it... we are turning into grown ups. We are very excited and nervous all at the same time. Luckily we have the support of our families (even the grandmas) and most importantly we have each other. I can't even imagine going through all of these grown-up things without my wonderful husband by my side for support. 

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P.S. if you're not a Disney/Pixar fan you probably didn't catch the humor behind the title of this post... 1:40 should do the trick.

104] do the valley a favor and find the best hot dog stand: and the winner is...

So I didn't do a very good job of finishing this up last summer... and I didn't really realize it until this week when Mr. H and I took a visit to insert winner's name for the last time before we move to Wisconsin. (Oh yeah did I mention we are moving to Wisconsin?? More about that later...) Anyways, as I was enjoying my absolutely delicious insert winner's name, I realized that I hadn't shared with the blogging world thee best dog in Utah Valley! So here we go... drum roll pretty please...

... and the winner is.... J-Dawgs! Of course... I mean who's surprised, right? J-Dawgs is sooo good! We're talking high quality dog, bun, sauce, toppings, environment, price, and company if I do say so myself. (:

This time around I got a polish dog topped with special sauce of course, and a little kraut, onions, banana peppers, and ketsup... YUM. If it wasn't so big I definitely woulda bought another!

So there you have it... 5 well-deserved stars for J-Dawgs!

from two of your biggest fans, Mr. and Mrs. H

Congratulations, we will miss you.

64] eat an awful waffle.

Okay... so I didn't actually get an awful waffle... but I did get an awful crepe! And it was indeed very deliciously awful. ;)

For those of you not in the Provo area, the little outdoor shop can be found right south of campus on 7th East. It is part of a red house called "Muhldown" and used to be a paintball shop. My brother'n'sister-in-law also used to live on the other side of the house in a little apartment. It's a cute little place, really, and we hope they make it through the winter!

Since the shop is outdoors we started off our visit with fudge hot chocolate.

And... we ended up having a Groupon for crepes--not waffles, sorry--so I got one with fresh raspberries and cream cheese icing and Mr. H. got one with fresh strawberries and Grandma Nellie's syrup (apparently it tasted like creme brulee).

And... since I can't help but embarrass Todd a tiny bit... here he is making dinner prior to our awful waffle visit. He did a marvelous job tossing the dough and the pizza ended up being like... so extremely good. Seriously though.

And... I might as well finish telling you about the rest of our date. A while back (before I came into the picture, I'm sure) Todd bought this old 80's movie called "Heaven Can Wait." I finally decided to give it a chance and it was so good! Now, I get entertained pretty easily so don't take my review too seriously, but I really enjoyed it and the main character had a sense of humor comparable to Han Solo's.

Anyways, our little date went very well... heck, if it would have been a first date I would have definitely gone out with him again. ;)

Californ-yuh

This week I had the last first day of school... that I'll ever experience! It hasn't quite hit me yet and I'm sure it wont until I'm walking across the stage in my cap'n'gown. Anyways, I'm hoping that this semester isn't too hard... yet again I might just disapear for another three months. But before I do, here's a little somethin' about our little adventure to northern CA over Christmas break...

After we left Pocatello we drove to Jerome to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Todd's family. We also got to take a trip to the Twin Falls temple to do a session.

One of my favorite parts about going to Todd's house during Christmas time is seeing all of his mom's old decorations... this one is definitely my favorite. (:

The day after Christmas we got up extra early and drove to northern California... we visited family for a few days and spent a day in San Francisco.

Here we are at the "beach" in San Fran... apparently it was nicer than a summer's day.

Alamo park- everywhere you look, everywhere you look... 

Downtown SF

Eating at The Cheesecake Factory on top of Macys.

The food was nothing less than delicious... not to mention the cheesecake.

The Nutcracker! The theater was beautiful and the show was very well done.

The next day we picked oranges... in December... I do enjoy CA weather very much.

After a few days with Todd's family we ran off to Todd's hometown of Linden, CA with a stop to Sacramento to go to the Sacramento Temple...

and to watch the Jimmer show...

Here are the boys... mighty fine company, I might add... not during a play of course because not a human on this earth can keep the attention of a Hall man if the clock is running ;)

Practicing those three-pointers/making his free throws... something the King's seem to struggle with. 

After our Sacramento day-trip we spent the rest of our time in Linden visiting old friends. It was a lot of fun finally meeting the people that I've been hearing about for 2 years.

Here we are eating Chinese food from Rinaldi's... the Italian grocery store, go figure, it was delicious.

At the Waterloo Club w/ old friends, one of them thought it would be funny to purchase Todd a non-alcoholic beer... don't worry, it's smell kept us far from drinking it.

No matter where you go you have to drive for at least 10 minutes... through orchards. Linden probably has more trees than the state of Utah and possibly ID combined.

Overall the trip was loads of fun and much needed... I hadn't left UT/ID since high school! And now we are back in happy valley working on our last semester of college, hoping to soon leave Provo again for good. Let's hope I don't have to eat my words...