Explora with the Johansons

Scott's sister was down again so we went to Explora with them.  My kids LOOOOVE their kids so much.  I love seeing them play together.

 I can't believe this was only a couple months ago... she looks so young!

cousins!

 I don't know why this cracks me up so much!

it hurts!!

9 years

On August 23 we celebrated 9 years of marriage!  We went out to eat, then went shopping, then to Menchies.  We had so much fun just like always.  I can't believe we started dating almost 10 years ago.  So cray cray.  You want to hear about our first date?  Oh you do?  Ok!  :)

Our first date Scott asked me to go snowboarding with him at Kelly Canyon.  Before this date I thought he was preppy which I wasn't so into but I did like him a lot... On our way Scott stopped to get gas and when he got out of the car he was sagging his snowboarding pants hard... that's how I knew he was cool.  bahaha so serious.  I was way into skater/snowboarder guys.  He bought me a Sobe and we were on our way.  On the way he was playing Rage Against the Machine which I just so happen to like and listened to all the time with my high school guy friends, so I was singing along.  Scott was very impressed since it was his favorite band.  :)  At the top of the hill I suggested that we take some back country trails I had been on in the past, so we started down the other side of the mountain.  On the way down the snow got really deep and we got stuck!  We could not move!  This was not what I was expecting!  haha Scott was such a good sport though.  We got in a snowball fight about then :) then walked down the mountain.  It was such a good date and we had SO much fun.  I knew I liked him a lot after that but I thought maybe we were just friends, but a few days later Scott asked me out for Valentine's day.  We were attached at the hip from then on... seriously every single day and I never looked back!

 

Jaclyn's Wedding

My sister, Jaclyn, got married the week that school started, so Kenna went to school Monday and Tuesday, and then we took off for California!

This was not a typical trip because we were soooo busy with wedding stuff!  The first day we did squeeze in the outlets and Elizabethan cupcakes!  Heaven...

That night we went to sister's bridal shower!  It was set up so cute and vintagy.  I gave sister a cute apron, hot pad, and oven mitt from sur la table.  Jaclyn had to answer some questions and then we watched a video of Taylor to see if they matched up.  They did really well!  Taylor is a funny kid...

enjoy this blurry picture...

Next day we went to a wholesale flower market to pick out flowers- by ourselves!!  Not easy!  We ended up finding some gorgeous flowers though.  She wanted the flowers put into lots of different size vases on the table so we decided to just buy them ourselves and stick them in the vases.  It didn't end up being too bad... I would love being a florist!  So fun!

Jaclyn with a car fulllll of flowers!

That night was the bachelorette party!  It was a bonfire at the beach.  Jaclyn threw the bouquet she used in her bridals that day since she wasn't doing a bouquet toss at the wedding... 

Kara's getting married next!

of course I gave Jacks a little somethin somethin.  Stacy kept it classy as always with her gifts (1st timers kit anyone?)

Perhaps the funniest part of the week is that I got the hugest zit of my adult life... on the week of my sister's wedding... 

The night before the wedding we had a dinner with Jaclyn's new in-laws, the Cranes.  We ate pizza, helped set up tables for the reception the next day, and let the boys swim.

after setting up

The morning of the wedding, my mom and I arranged all the flowers.  I made all the main centerpieces for each table.  It was SO fun! 

 We had our makeup done by the adorable Natalie Rumsey

Everything was going perfect!!!  Then as we were leaving we made the quick choice of leaving the kids in their clothes and having my sisters dress them at the last minute.  So we left for the sealing and on our way we realized the girls didn't have a way of bringing the kids to the temple!  (one small car!)  So inside the temple I'm stressssssing!  Scott ended up asking the girls if they could borrow a car from someone, and Kara's friend Jessie saved the day!  We were so grateful and so relieved!  

The sealing was beautiful.  I loved being in that room with so many members of my family!  

So when we came out the girls were pulling up with our children basically in tears because they couldn't figure out their outfits and the whole car situation and everything... it was so horrible!  I felt soooo bad and wished so badly we could  have had a do-over!  We shook it off though and moved on with the day!

After the temple we went to set up.  It was so fun because Jaclyn had her reception at the same house I had mine.  I had some major Deja Vu going on.  Right before the reception we snapped some family pictures...

The reception was sooooo beautiful.  It was fun seeing it all come together

We presented gifts to the couple, and mine was a recipe book that I put together of all our favorite recipes.  (not my best angle...)

 Then we had a dance party.  It was soooooo fun!

It was such a beautiful day and I'm so happy for Jaclyn and my new bro Taylor.  Isn't this picture GORG?!!

saying goodbye the next morning.

1st day of 1st grade!

Makenna started 1st grade this year!  Here is her first day of school... 

I'm trying to make this a tradition... haha she seems to like it.

In front of door picture

You can see her teacher, Mrs. Roberts in the background here.  She has been SO great!  We really lucked  out again.  Can we just look closely at this picture?  Yes she is the only white kid in this pic.... is it weird that I kind of love that?  I love that my kids have grown up with so much diversity.  Sometimes I forget that we are the minority here...  :)

End of the Summer

After our amazing trip to California, we only had 3 weeks left of summer! 

Sadly, 2 days after we got back we found out our sweet 15 year old niece, Joy, was diagnosed with Leukemia.  It was heartbreaking news but we felt at peace that it would be ok.  It has been a hard road so far but as far as we know the cancer is now gone!  She still needs Chemo every week for the next year so the hard part is certainly not over.  She has to come down to Albuquerque every week for a few days.  Every week.  So hard.  We have been able to visit with her and are happy she is doing so well!

This is at the Playground for the sick kids at the hospital.  Such a fun place for them.

The Olympics started and to kick it off we went to a fun Opening Ceremonies partay.  We had olympic themed food, games, and watched the opening ceremonies of course!  

I became quite obsessed with the Olympics watching them every day.  I love the swimming, sand volleyball, and the gymnastics.  

We still played in the water lots and went to the pool as much as possible.

For Stacy's birthday we went out to Tucanos with Stacy and her roommate Amber.  We just love both of them and are so glad they are so close by!  Such a fun night.

We went to Hoots and yes this is the best picture I got.  I am so lame with picture-taking these days...

We also took a trip to Explora with a bunch of friends!  It was really fun.

A week before school started I realized we still hadn't camped all summer!  I called up the Johansons who we had planned to go with and they were in!  So the weekend before school started we went to the Jemez mountains to go camping.  We were looking for a spot and happened upon a dirt road.  We slowly recalled that this was the exact spot we had gone camping at just a few years before!  The spot is AMAZING!  Completely private, yet already set up for camping with a man-made firepit, and AMAZING views.  We really lucked out.  

 the kids spent a lot of time in the camper where they also slept!

 Camryn was stuck in baby jail.

Happiest baby ever.

This sequence of events perfectly summarizes what the men were up to...

gorgeous

 Jace and Spencer

family picture

The kids went down pretty good and we stayed up talking.  I love Jeff and Erika so much.  They are so much fun!  We always get so giggly around them and stay up way too late.  :)

The kids played a bunch the next morning while the adults packed up after some yummy breakfast burritos.  

My sweet girls.

 The Burns joined us and we went on a hike.  It was a perfect hike for kids, only about 1/2 mile or so.  The waterfall was really pretty.

After our hike we went down the mountain and had a picnic.  Then we let the kids get in the cold water.  They loved it.  It was a nice hot day so that water felt great! 

 

  My kids started to have meltdowns so we decided it was time to go.  It was such a great camping trip though and the perfect end to our summer.