Baby Buhler!

My sister had her baby! I had the chance to be in the room when she had her, and it was seriously the most amazing thing I've ever seen.  I figured that's not something you get to see every day, and my mom wasn't able to be there for her.  They named her Chloe ReNae, and she weighed a wopping 6.12 lbs.  She had quite the cone head and a little bit of trouble breathing at first, but is doing great now.

She is just the most precious little thing.

Fall is Here

Fall is here and I am loving it.  Honestly, the only thing I have against fall is the fact that it's too short and it leads into winter.  In Utah, as soon as winter hits you don't see spring until about May, if that.  I love the crunchy leaves on the ground, the red mountains, the cooler weather and the anticipation of the holidays.  It's actually nice being really busy again too.  Danny and I are both in school full time and working 20 hours.  I'm still at Helaman, and Danny is working at Scottrade (he was also working at the MTC until just a couple of days ago, but that's a long story).  Danny's on an intramural football team and basketball team, and I'm on an intramural soccer team.  I also just started doing some volunteer work five hours a week for one of my classes.  Our weeks have been pretty packed but we've managed to make time to see friends and family as well.  Here are some pictures from this semester!

We tied this game, but it seriously felt like we won.  The score was 3-3--they scored 3 goals in the first half, and we came back to tie it in the second half (with our wonderful goalie Kara missing I might add).  I even played goalie for part of the time which is always an awful experience as you can see from the second picture down. And yes, to answer your question, that ball did go in.  I seem to forget that I can use my hands in goal.  We've had an interesting season so far, but  I love the girls on the team and it's so nice to be playing soccer again! I swear, when you graduate high school you really don't realize that it is so much harder to find somewhere to play.

On a Sunday afternoon a couple weeks ago we decided to go exploring.  We stopped by Bridal Veil falls, but it was way too crowded to go up.  So instead we kept driving up the canyon and eventually found this adorable park hidden back in the canyon.  There were so many famillies there, all barbecuing, playing games, playing in the creak, etc.  I just loved how hidden it was.

Danny's dad is from New Zealand, hence my new last name.  Because of this, I have been completely exposed to a new culture since meeting Danny and it has been so fun.  Right now, the Rugby World Cup is going on and since the NZ All Blacks were playing Australia (huge rivals) in the semi finals, everyone got together at Danny's Uncle Vaughny's house to watch the game..... at 2 o'clock in the morning. I almost made it the whole game. It was actually really fun to watch--much easier to follow than high school or even college rugby.

My sister is pregnant! And she has been... for the past nine months.  But I still am that excited about it and the baby is due in just a couple of weeks! Anyway, we did a baby shower for her mid September and it was so fun!

We were also able to go to Danny's  little brother Lawson's football game last weekend. Little kid flag football is so cute, and they were surprisingly good!

And finally, here is an exciting sneak peak at my volunteer hours with Wasatch Mental Health--color and play games with the children in the waiting room while watching Disney movies.  Some hard stuff right there!

Have a lovely day!

Don't you just love those days that seem to work out perfectly?

Today was one of those days.  My classes were good, I was productive during my breaks, the cupcakes I made for staff meeting at work were delicious, I attended a volunteer orientation, conveniently got to visit my friend Christine, hung out with my friend Lindsay, got all of my homework done, went out to dinner with my sister Caitlyn and her husband Doug, and watched a movie with the hubby!

What a beautiful day.

I'm a Mormon

I'm not sure why, but for some reason blogging about my religion has been on my mind lately.

I'm taking a World Religions class right now, and it's one of my favorite classes that I've taken at BYU.  It has allowed me to learn about and appreciate the major religions of the world.  When you really study a religion and learn not only what they believe, but the origins behind that belief and the reason they believe it, you can really be enlightened and understand the people of that faith.

I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I'm a Mormon.  For some reason people are always so bewildered when they find out I'm mormon.  What's so crazy about it?  We are obviously a christian faith, hence the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Don't listen to ignorant people like this guy.  We believe that Joseph Smith restored the true gospel of Jesus Christ--that does not mean we worship Joseph Smith though.  We are followers of Jesus Christ and He is our Savior and Redeemer.

Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.  Six of his children died in infancy, he was beaten, tarred and feathered by an angry mob, betrayed by dear friends, tried and put into three different jails unjustly, and finally killed by a mob because of his beliefs.  What kind of a man could go through such persecution his entire life, unless he was speaking the truth.  If you don't want to acknowledge him as a prophet of God, then at least have the decency to respect him for the man and leader that he was.

Here is a list of beliefs of the LDS faith.  We believe in modern day revelation.  Why wouldn't Heavenly Father communicate to his children on earth?  We believe that we have a prophet on the earth today-Presdient Thomas S. Monson, and he is just the sweetest man.  We believe in the Plan of Salvation and that families can be together forever.  We believe in the Book of Mormon, a book which was translated by the prophet Joseph Smith.  We also believe in the Word of Wisdom, which means that we don't drink.  Most people looking from the outside see that as a restriction, but it truly is a blessing as I've seen the harm that alcohol can do to relationships and individual lives.

Many people are shocked when they find out that I'm married and I'm only 21.  I don't know how to explain it, but growing up as a member of the church really gives you a different perspective on marriage.  People actually want to get married.  What's the point in dating for four years before getting married if you know that you're supposed to marry that person after one year? There is no sense in putting your life on hold. We're not brainwashed--believe it or not, we actually choose to get married when we do, and it is seriously the best thing. We believe that we can be sealed to our family for time and all eternity, and that is why Danny and I got married in that beautiful temple at the top of this page.

Another thing I often get questions about is missions.  When a guy is 19 an a girl is 21, they have the option to serve a mission.  Guys for two years and girls for 18 months.  They go on missions to teach the gospel and they are called to go anywhere in the world--Danny went to New Zealand.  I know people who have been to Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Tonga, Bolivia, Madagascar, Mexico, Spain, Mozambique, Taiwan--seriously, all over the world learning all kinds of languages.   Not everyone chooses to go on a mission, and not everyone really has the opportunity to go on one, but I've seen nothing but good come from them.

I just don't get what all the hate's about.  Even if you don't agree with the teachings of the gospel, can't you see the happiness it brings to so many other peoples' lives and just let it be?  I love my church.  It brings so much joy to my life, and I get so tired of all of the misconceptions that are spread concerning our beliefs and practices.  Some Mormons are weird, sure.  But so are some Catholics.  And so are some people of any religion.  I know that especially with Mitt Romney in the media, there are going to be more and more rumors spread and things taken out of context, so I just wanted to put the truth out there--from a real Mormon.