January - April 2013

Life has been moving at a quick and steady pace for the Ott family!

January found Mom and Dad celebrating their 28th wedding anniversary, and Emilee learning how to stand up with support.

February we went to Big Bear for super bowl weekend, and Emilee got to experience snow for the very first time! She looked like a little marshmallow puff in her snow suit.

Emi also celebrated her first Valentine's Day by going to get frozen yogurt with mommy.

March found us busy preparing for Emilee's 1st birthday party, and even more thrilling, we found ourselves expecting a new baby - due this Thanksgiving!  

Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to take many pictures of Em's birthday, but I did get the whole party on video. It was so wonderful to have all of our friends and family from out of state visit, and just to see how many wonderful people came to help celebrate Em's big day! We are so blessed!

We also celebrated our first Easter in our new home, complete with an overabundance of food!  It was a very relaxing day with family.

April has been a wonderful month as well! We celebrated Mom's birthday with a lobster/steak dinner at our house, and then Grandma, Mama and I went to a tea parlor the next morning. 

Camille and Brendan got engaged, and we couldn't be happier to soon be adding such a wonderful guy to our family!  Camille also celebrated her 24th birthday and college graduation today at the Old Spaghetti Factory.

Overall, life is good!  We are planning a few trips in the near future, as we won't have as much time (or funds) once our newest addition comes into the world. :-)  Some of our destinations include Monterey (CA), Colorado, Iowa and Redding (CA).  We are looking forward to so many wonderful things!

(Here is a short video of Emilee's 1st year of life, including a little bit of the pregnancy.)

How it all began!

I guess I should start this by giving a little intro about us! :-)

About Candace
I was born and raised in Southern California, and have lived in Arcadia, Temple City, Glendora, and now Placentia. I Graduated Cal Poly Pomona in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, and a minor in Marketing Management. I'm currently working as a Marketing Coordinator for University Housing Services at Cal Poly Pomona.

My favorite hobbies include traveling, drawing, cooking, running, boating, watching movies, and going to the beach.

About Matthew
He was born and raised in Southern California, and grew up in Costa Mesa as a kid. He has since lived in Huntington Beach, Pomona, Chino, Fullerton, and now Placentia with me! He graduated Cal Poly Pomona in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in Computer Information Systems and currently works at Boeing.

His favorite hobbies include playing guitar, flying RC planes, traveling, going to the gym, listening to music, computer games, as well as going to the beach.

The day we met!
Tuesday - May 10th, 2005

Candace's Side of the Story - A day or two prior to the day we met, I had told God that my heart was in His hands. I prayed that He would bring the right man into my life without me trying. I only simply asked that this man would be Christian, genuine, and have the guts to approach me.

I was standing in line getting Subway at Cal Poly Pomona, before my next art class. At that time, Matt was walking by and noticed me standing there waiting. He came over and stood behind me. At that moment I turned around to see if I could find anyone in the Bronco Student Center that I knew. I noticed Matt looking at me and smiling. I felt immediately embarrassed and turned back around. He then spoke up and told me I looked like I was ready to go to the beach (I was wearing shorts and flip flops). Still feeling a little shy I turned to look beside me to see if he was talking to someone else - I looked straight into a wall. He introduced himself and we started talking. I distinctly remember him complimenting my hair, being very easy to talk to, and cute! He gave me his myspace, and we parted ways.

Two days later we started messaging each other, and decided to meet at Campus Crusade for Christ (campus club I was involved in). Over the next month we wrote back and forth, went on 2-3 dates, until he kissed me and asked me to be his girlfriend on June 11th, 2005.

Matt's Side of the Story - I reached a point in my life where I said, ok God, I give up, I am going to leave it up to you in order to find the right girl. I had a couple humble requests, this girl be a Christian, she have a sibling, and that her parents would still be together.

I was in between courses at Cal Poly Pomona when I decided to stop by Subway and get something to eat. There was an incredibly attractive girl there, with this wispy blond hair and something compelled me to talk to her. I said, "Looks like you're ready to go to the beach.", she looked at me surprised, and turned to look behind her to see who I was talking to, and looked directly at a blank wall. I laughed and said, "Yes you!"

I gave her my myspace address and thought I might not see her again, but she messaged me. A month later we started dating and haven't looked back.

How we got engaged! - told by Candace
Mammoth Mtn. - March 21st, 2009

We had been planning on going to Mammoth Mountain with a few friends for a while. Our good friend Katie had connections to a free cabin, so we all took Friday off work and drove up for the weekend.

Saturday morning it started snowing this perfect soft and fluffy snow, and it didn’t stop all day! After lunch we went for a walk outside. We walked through the trees, finding shelter under them from the falling snow, and having fun making tracks in the fresh powder. We walked to the top of this hill that overlooked the town and that’s when he took my hand, knelt down on one knee, and proposed to me in the falling snow! After exchanging hugs, kisses, laughter and excitement, we walked back to the cabin to warm up by the fireplace. There we prayed for God to bless our engagement, and our future marriage together!

We spent about 2 hours calling and texting family and friends the good news, and later we popped a bottle of champagne when our friends got back to the cabin.

Where we are today!
Placentia - April 2010

We have now been married for almost 6 months, and LOVE it! We have been keeping busy, and trying our best to enjoy each day as it comes. Even after 6 months, we've gone through your fair share of trials... but having benefited greatly from them! You truly learn very quickly, what it takes to keep a marriage happy and healthy. Patience, forgiveness, and of course - a large dose of love! :-) Although... even greater than those, is God!

We decided to create this blog, to keep the loved ones in our life feeling connected! We have to face it, we don't always get to see everyone, and so we hope that this blog can give a little glimpse of how we're doing!