I'm just realizing how long it's been since I updated our blog.  It has been a long time, like 8 months.  Lots have changed and we are grateful for all the challenges and new adventures. Since today is Thanksgiving, I thought it would be a great time to reflect upon the last 8 months and give everyone an update on us. Since my last post was in March, here's what happened after that.

April: We are so thankful for family reunions.  My parents take the family on a vacation to San Diego.  One of their favorite spots.  Almost the whole family was there.  Andrew and his family were in Virginia selling security systems and couldn't make it. The trip included the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, San Diego Temple, Old town , the beach and so much more!  Oh ya, and Kade and I had to visit Disneyland. We actually arrived a day early so we could spend time at our happy place. We then met everyone in San Diego.

May: We are grateful for Temples and being Married for Time and All Eternity. Mitchell married his high school sweet heart Lainee in the Idaho Falls temple!

June We are grateful for new adventures and advances in Kade's career.  He took 2nd out of 13 people to become a motorcycle cop.  I got to Pin the "Wings" on.

In June Kade and Cody took Arica and I to St. George to redeem our birthday gifts.  We saw the Little Mermaid at Tuacahn.  It was amazing.

 July: We are grateful for our great nation.  July was full of Kade riding in Parades!  He was so thrilled. Just kidding, that's not his idea of fun, but it was fun for me to cheer him on take pic of him.

August: We are grateful for Service.  Kade put his new accessory to the next level.  He participated in Shop with a cop back to school.  This normally occurs at Christmas; However, a large donation was given to the SLC police for money to help with back to school. They invite officers from other organizations to help with the activities due to volume of children they are helping. It was fun to be the fly on the wall and let Kade interact with the kids. 

September: We are grateful to Grant Hyland, Kade's buddy and our Realtor.  HE sold our house in an alarming 3 weeks. We never even got the lock box on the house or a for sale sign in the yard.  Our neighbors thought we were joking until I posted a pic of the house being all boxed up.  I'm also grateful to my amazing in laws who let us live in their house for weeks while we finalized on the new house. Since I can't seem to find the pic of all the boxes I guess I wont post it.  I can't believe how much stuff we accumulated in 3 years. 

October: So thankful for Kade's family, the Skinner family, and Mitchell and Lainee. They moved us out of and into the new house.  So here is an update on our address.  It is now 331 W. Hills Drive Saratoga Springs, UT 84045

 1693 S. Spring Creek Ranch Rd. Lehi

331 W. Hills Drive Saratoga Springs, Ut 84045

November: I'm grateful for a new niece!  Kendle had her 3rd baby.  I got to go home a few weeks ago and meet her.  I fell in love right away.  November also brought us settling into the new house. We were able to poor concrete at the house and we are now working on a fence and landscaping.  As things are completed I'll share more pic. 

Kade and I also got to squeeze in a vacation during all the unpacking.  We took another jaunt down to Disneyland.  We got to experience the park both Halloween and Christmas!  We saw it SNOW on main street Disney.  It was pretty magical.

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doTerra

Wow... It has been a crazy week.  I spent Monday and Tuesday at work like normal, and then spent Wed and Thursday at a doTERRA convention. Then worked Friday and today. The convention was amazing!  I learned so much more about natural medicine and ways to help my family.

I feel like I talk about oils all the time, and I go around asking EVERYONE if they have tried them!  I'm sure I'm getting really annoying, but they work and are safe to use. I think everyone needs them in their families. All I want to do is help. So I decided I needed to do a blog post all about them, and links for you to find out more about them if you want more information.

My doTERRA website is http://mydoterra.com/brettemartinez

So first, what is an essential oil? I love this definition from doterra.com.

Essential oils are natural aromatic compounds found in the seeds, bark, stems, roots, flowers, and other parts of plants. They can be both beautifully and powerfully fragrant. If you have ever enjoyed the gift of a rose, a walk by a field of lavender, or the smell of fresh cut mint, you have experienced the aromatic qualities of essential oils. In addition to giving plants their distinctive smells, essential oils provide plants with protection against predators and disease and play a role in plant pollination. 

Essential oils are non water-based phytochemicals made up of volatile organic compounds. Although they are fat soluble, they do not include fatty lipids or acids found in vegetable and animal oils. Essential oils are very clean, almost crisp, to the touch and are immediately absorbed by the skin. Pure, unadulterated essential oils are translucent and range in color from crystal clear to deep blue.

Try this at home: Squeeze the peel of a ripe orange. The fragrant residue on your hand is full of essential oils.

In addition to their intrinsic benefits to plants and being beautifully fragrant to people, essential oils have been used throughout history in many cultures for their medicinal and therapeutic benefits. Modern scientific study and trends towards more holistic approaches to wellness are driving a revival and new discovery of essential oil health applications. dōTERRA (CPTG) Certified Pure Therapeutic grade^® essential oils represent the safest, purest, and most beneficial essential oils available today. They are gently and skillfully distilled from plants that have been patiently harvested at the perfect moment by experienced growers from around the world for ideal extract composition and efficacy. Experienced essential oil users will immediately recognize dōTERRA's superior quality standard for naturally safe, purely effective therapeutic-grade essential oils. 

So why did I choose doTERRA instead of someone else?  It's because they are certified pure theraputic grade (CPTG).  Meaning, I can use the same bottle for my ailment run out and get another bottle and it will work the same every time.  They are safe to use not only topically but internally as well. I think that's amazing.  

After all the crap that I've put into my body, I have finally found something that is repairing the damage. I could go on for days, but I will leave it here, and write more later.  Let me know if I can answer any question you might have. 

Family Pic May 2013

For Karen's birthday this year we decided to pitch in and update our family pic.  We wanted everyone in it and that meant our dogs as well.  Grandpa Gunnell took the pictures and did a fantastic job.

Latest Vacation~ St. Thomas~

 Kade and I have the philosophy that we always need to have a vacation planned.  While we were on our way to Oklahoma last July we were booking this amazing getway.  We went to the US Virgin Island St. Thomas.  We had so much fun.  This first pic is from the window of the plan before we landed.

 This is a pic of us as we were walking in from the plane.

 Did we mention that we like to travel with other people?  Kade's wonderful parents joined us on this vacation.  We had so much fun. We both get along with them so well.  This pic was taken on the beach hooked to our hotel.  We were so lucky to find such a great deal.

Even on vacation with other people you have to find time for one another.  Kade and I loved sitting on the end of the boat dock watching the sun set.  We couldn't have asked for a better and more relaxing spot.

While we were there, we decided to try snuba diving.  We both had a blast and decided we want to get scuba certified.

 One of our days we took a day trip to St. John and saw the sights there. This pic shows St. John in the background.

Kade got sick on the boat ferry on our way to town to go shopping.  I just the the bucket on his lap. Luckily he didn't have to use it.

As always we have the add that we love each other.  We just love that we have the opportunity to see new places.  I just love being able to spend time with my wonderful husband.

Ice skating

So Kade and I decided that it had been too long since we went Ice Skating.  We called up some good friends and decided we would make a date out of it.  When we arrived at the skating rink, we found out that the rink was reserved for a private party.  Lucky for us, Meggan knew the guy who had reserved the rink.  He invited us to join them.  It was amazing!  We had so much fun crashing the party.  Boy I didn't realize how much of my lower leg muscles changed since I got sick last.  I also noticed that my balance was way off.  If Kade hadn't been there, I would have been on the ground a lot.  I am proud to say that I only fell once, right as we were leaving.  Ha Ha.  It hurt so bad, but I'm sure that Kade thought it was funny! 

Kade and I

Sam posing for Kade. :)

 Can you tell who has the camera?  Kade takes such good pictures.  I also believe he is a little camera shy.

Sam and Meggan

 It is hard to lace up the Ice Skates with out the help.  These are pic of Sam helping Meggan with her skates