Sunday, March 27, 2016

A lot can happen in 7 months.

WARNING: This is a very long post. It might take you a while. 
So get your scrolling finger warmed up. And grab some popcorn. 
Or chocolate. Although, I understand if you have to take a few breaks
in between sessions. No hurt feelings. I'm just happy that you're 
actually making an effort to read my blog. Thank you.

Well hey there, old friends! Been a while, eh?  I figgered it was time for me to do a little update on this here blog so that you can see what we've been up to. Or not up to. Mostly up to. Whatever that means.

Following the style of my last couple of posts, which seemed to work well for when I have missed a few months (7 months. But who's counting?), we'll start with where we left off, shall we?

September 
  • The end of summer means the end of kickball! Such a fun season with these crazies.
  • September = college football! Go Utes!
    While Kennedy and I didn't go to any actual games, we sure had fun tailgating with friends before the games started!




  • September also means State Fairs! I was told that the best one in these here parts is the East Idaho State Fair in Blackfoot, Idaho. Wooo-eeee! It was actually really fun! I witnessed my first Indian horse race, which was essentially Indians relay-racing on horses. Who'da thunk? 


  • September also means the beginning of a new school year. Believe it or not (I'm still not sure I believe it), Kennedy started middle school. I don't want to talk about it. (But she sure does. She loves everything about it.)

         She is growing up WAY too fast. I swear we kids didn't grow that fast back in my day. The good news is that she is more amazing, sweet, and fun than I ever thought possible. 


She's also super fast. She won 3rd place in her school 5k 
in her age range! Definitely doesn't take after me, there.

  • Work/play trip to Boise. I had work meetings while Casey and Kennedy played with some of our friends, until I could meet up with them.


  • San Fran! One of my best girlfriends and I took a short weekend trip to San Fran. SOO much fun! Love you, Sandy Pants!


October
  • My brother and his sweet family came to stay with us for nearly the entire month of October. We always have such a great time. The cousins played hard. Dress-up, pretend, singing, Minecraft, etc. I love when they can spend that much time together!




Aysia was frightened of Maddie when she first arrived and avoided
her with every step. Within a week, however, she was her best friend.

  • Also in October, I was cursed with a baaaaad case of poison ivy. (Casey and Kennedy also got it- just not as severely as I did.) The damn stuff was growing in our backyard! I was absolutely miserable for two weeks straight. UGGGHHHH. I will spare you the pictures of my rash. But don't you worry- we bulldozed the sh** out of that area to get every last bit of that ******* plant.  #%&!@! (I kind of apologize for the expletives in this paragraph. But not completely. It's still too soon to feel remorse for my language.)

  • And of course, Halloween.



  • Because I love her, Maddie and her sunshine bear. D'awwwwww.

November
  • Annual Turkey Lurk's weekend! Our friend group stays in a cabin up in Park City every year in November to have a friend's Thanksgiving dinner. SUCH a fun time with such an amazing group of friends. 

  • Kennedy played Jr. Jazz this year- she loved it!

  • Casey's sweet grandmother passed away in November, and she had requested that he and his siblings sing a song at her funeral. She was a wonderful lady.
  • Thanksgiving. Vegas! Warmer than home, but less warm than I would have liked. At least the company was entertaining and the food delicious.

December
  • Sticking with the "jazz" theme, Kennedy is in her school jazz band, this year. She doesn't love it quite so much as basketball. But she looked totes adorbs at her concert, anyway.
  • This year we spent Christmas in Breckenridge with my brother, his family, and my mom. It was so cold that I could have sworn we were north of The Wall (GOT reference...).  BUT we braved the cold a few times to go skiing, and then came back to the condo to thaw out by the fire and have a Star Wars marathon.  It was so nice to spend the entire week with them! 



  • Again, just because I love them, my two girls.

January
  • We're having a BABY! We are all thrilled- but I daresay Kennedy may be the most excited. She finally gets to be a big sister!
  • Maddie had puppies!! (Yes, it was planned. I mean, come on - if I had to be pregnant, so did she.)

February
  • Puppies. All day, erre day. Our entire month of February was just that. Puppies. They were SO adorable. A lot of work toward the end before they went to their homes, but ohmygoodness. They were adorable. 


March
  • It's a girl! Eeek!! (I had to find the colored (pink) jelly bean inside the cake.) Kennedy can't WAIT to have a little sister so she can "teach her how to be a cool girl." 
  • True to form, we have to make life as busy and as stressful as possible, so we decided to do another kitchen remodel!! (And floor, and yard, and walls, and windows.) We're so smart! We wouldn't want life to get dull, now, would we?

  • First day of spring- spent outside at the park to enjoy the gorgeous weather, and for Maddie to enjoy her puppy-free life! (She seemed relieved to have her puppies finally gone. She's back to her old playful self!)

  • Sixth day of spring- spent outside in the cold snow at a Michael Franti concert in Park City. SUCH a great concert. Favorite song is The Sound of Sunshine. Obviously. 

  • This Easter, our friends decided to do an egg-hunt and brunch together, now that most of us have kids. So. much. fun. 


Some of my most favorite friends in the world. 


Annnnnnnd that's it! I'm all caught up! Happy Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, blah, blah, blah, and happy March 27th!

If you finished this in one sitting, congratulations. Go take a nap. You deserve it. I will be taking one, also.

Friday, August 7, 2015

Four more months.

Now that you've had a break from me for a few days, I'll tell you about the next four months so that you will be all caught up on my oh-so-exciting life.

APRIL
After moving/painting/cleaning/repairing the 
new/old house, we needed a vacation. Conveniently, 
Casey's sister was getting married in Seattle over Easter weekend.

So of course we made a vacation out of it.

We were lucky enough to be there during the beautiful Mount Vernon tulip festival.

We also were able to hang out with (and stay 
with) my mama while we were there!

We visited Deception Pass. (I love this picture.)

And together Kennedy and I re-defined "cool."

Happy wedding, Morgan & Jason! 

MAY

The only thing worth noting for the entire month of May is the fact that I did this:

No lie. I freaking re-upholstered a chair. 
Four of them, actually. And I never want to do 
another one for the rest of my life, so don't ask.

JUNE

June started out with sunshine at the Pride Festival!
(Yes, Kennedy is a banana. Because why not?)

Kennedy turned 11! (I'm still crying. There's no way she is that old.)

And can I just say... she is the sweetest, most loving, 
generous, talented, intelligent, beautiful girl I have ever 
laid my eyes on. And I love her. SO much.

She has been obsessed with sports lately, so she had
a sports-themed birthday party, and of course they
played "Pin the basketball on Michael Jordan's hand." 

And as luck would have it, the weather was perfect, so we
were able to have a swimming party!! (She said it was
her best party ever. Good job, me.)

And, once again, my besties helped me out. This time 
with Kennedy's birthday party. I just love these two.

Next, we went on a couple's trip to Cancun with some of our closest friends!
We stayed at the same hotel where we spent our Honeymoon.

We spent the majority of our time at the beach. Obvi.

But we did take a day trip to Isla Mujeres. 

Las chicas hermosas - waiting for the ferry.

Los hombres guapos. Also waiting for the ferry.

We rented golf carts and drove around the island. SO much fun.

And stopped for some scenic photos.
(Yes, the water was really that color.)

*Sigh. Paradise for sure.

We also stopped by this colorful wall, because we felt like it.

Other than that, we played at the pool, ate a lot of food, 
karaoke'd, shopped, played beach volleyball, and relaxed. 
And ate more food.

And took a million pictures.

I am so glad we have such AMAZING friends who like to travel as much as we do.

Lastly (yes, we're still in June), we went boating with some of our other
really good friends at Echo Reservoir. Summer is pretty fun. Especially with friends.

 JULY


We went camping near Yellowstone for the 4th of July.

Breathtaking, right?

Maddie was in doggy heaven.


Doggy. Heaven. I have never seen her so worn out.

We saw a huge moose while we were playing in the river!
We kept our distance and backed away slowly.

It was seriously gorgeous. (If you could ignore the mosquitoes.)

...and we couldn't ignore the mosquitos. So on the
second day we all packed up and drove to a friend's
house to "camp." And watch fireworks.
It was a blast (no pun intended).

 On the way back home, we stopped to see the majestic Mesa Falls.
'Twas majestic indeed. And there were no mosquitoes. Bonus.

Kennedy has been practicing her mermaid skills.
(This tail is WAY harder to swim in than it looks. Just trust me.)

We visited the animals at the zoo.


This is the only gorilla I would ever dare poke in the eye.
(Ok, I actually meant to pick his nose. But I didn't see
where my finger was. Oops.)

Bald eagle!

I also made a spontaneous 2-day trip up to Seattle to
surprise my brother and his family. They were so excited.

We got a new nephew! Welcome to the world, Beckham!
(I'm already his favorite aunt, by the way. He told me.)

Also in July, we had the Price family reunion! We loved 
having a bunch of the family stay with us from out of town. 

We are kind of obsessed with this niece of ours.

And we had our 1 year anniversary. 
Awwww. 1 year-old frozen cake. 

And you guys- he got me roses. I heart him.

Also, after living in our house for 4 months, 
we FINALLY got some artwork up. (Thanks for
the help, mom!!)

Lastly, I made my first caramel apple pie for Pioneer Day. 
Not to brag or anything, but it was amazing. Sorry I didn't save you any.


And whaddya know? Just like that, I'm all caught up. *Whew. 
Maybe next time it won't take me 8 months (and then 10 hours) to update my blog. 

p.s. I miss all of you fellow bloggers and blog stalkers. <3