Girls Only

We have had many family fun times that have either accidentally or on purpose ended up being girls only. Pink shower curtains in the bathroom, all girl lunches, shopping trips, dance dress shopping, girl movies, on and on and on. Because we are so used to a life where girls rule- we were even more excited this weekend to get together once again with all our favorite girls and celebrate the coming of our newest member to the girls only club.





In only a few short weeks baby girl Griffith will put on her tutu and join us for girl time. We couldn't be more excited...Lori and I threw the shower. With a little help (or a lot) from my mom it turned out so very adorable and we were extremely proud :) Lori is half aunt and half sister to us. She has thrown a million showers for our family-we are so grateful to have her as our trusty dependable aunt/friend/sister all in one.
My mom made the cute hot pink tutu in these pictures!! She is getting pretty good at making them if anyone ever needs one :)


Pink, sparkles, polka dots and bows all in one-what more could a baby girl ask for









We do have husbands, but they are very cooperative. So..until someone has a baby boy-when we go to Rexburg to visit-girls rule. boys drool.

Excitement of Late

This weekend we went to Arizona. I have mentioned before how much I love our getaways to Arizona. I love the long car rides where Shawn's textbooks don't exist and it's just me and him (and sometimes his little brother Aaron) and the open road. I love traveling, I love looking out the window at the skylines of big cities, and the open fields of the tiny towns we pass through on our drive. Shawn and I have planned our whole future out on those ten hour drives many times..and every time we go home we have a different idea for our lives then the time before. The reality is we have no clue where life will take us-but I love thinking we can have somewhat of a plan.
This is how wonderful we look at about hour seven..


This weekend our adopted niece Kylee was sealed to her parents.I was so thrilled to be able to be in the temple. I was so nervous for my wedding and never learned to love the temple until I had gone back a few times..It was a wonderful experience and we love Kylee and her parents so much!! We spent our weekend obsessing over her and wearing her out completely. Shawn loves Kylee and when she cries he likes to think it's only because she wants her Uncle Shawn. Every time I see Kylee I am amazed at how happy she is and what a good baby she is..look at all her happy faces. She is made for this family in every way..Right down to her big smile and big lips :)








Shawn's mom and I are training for the Lake Havasu half marathon..I haven't wanted to mention that because I have secretly had a back out plan until this weekend. This weekend we ran a monumental (for us) ten mile run! Not bad for a girl who attempted track and cross country multiple times, never to last a week. I am very grateful to have Shawn's mom available to run with me..I would never have kept my legs moving on my own






After we ran we sat in a freezing cold bath because we wanted to still be able to wear our high heels for Kylees blessing and not be completely sore. SO we put on our swimsuits and kept each other company to distract from the cold..Shawn's brother walked in and was not happy to see his mom and his brother's wife together in the same bath tub haha

I have two step-sisters a sister and a sister-in-law all having babies within the next two months. Shawn and I couldn't be more excited to reap the benefits of smiling babies all around us :) Our lives seem completely full and busy, and we can't wait to squeeze in four brand new little friends.

Flying Solo..kinda sorta

I just dropped Shawn off with all of his camping gear to go snow camping with the scouts this weekend. I am not excited to be left behind. They are actually digging out snow caves to sleep in. I don't know WHY that sounds fun. I think camping should only be allowed in the summer.

On to the best thing that has ever happened in the past six months. My Christmas camera money from Shawn finally turned into the actual camera itself last night. I came home from a 13 hour shift really tired and really not excited to be all by myself this weekend. Sitting on my bed was the box for a Canon Rebel XSI camera. It made my whole night. And now I am not alone after all..I have entertainment for the next 24 hours until my best friend is home.
First pic taken, do I look excited??


Then we ate the best food ever


I think with my new camera, a few friends, a house to clean, blah blah blah I might actually forget I am even flying solo in the first place..just for one day-oops

Bahamas gone bad..

My brilliant sister signed us up for the Valentines Day Massacre..presented by 97.1 a radio station in Salt Lake City. It consisted of 97 women diving into a cake full of all kinds of prizes..the grandest being a 5,000 dollar wedding ring. WE went with very hopes of selling the ring on ebay and flying to the Bahamas..or someone even closely as cool as that

This face is pre-disappointment.
l



Sadly for me, Jaimee got disqualified being 7 months pregnant (obviously).
But I tried my hardest..I almost got my head taken off.


I am sad to face the truth about how un-intimidating I look in this picture..



Looking back on it I can't figure out how I even had the liberty to be disappointed. My mom reminded me that both of us girls never collected one single egg at any childhood easter egg hunt..and when I played basketball my happiest moments were without the ball in my hands. Aggresive behavior is not my specialty...we all have our personal talents right?

Will I be there next year?? Umm, of course. Will the Bahamas still be around? Right when we got in the car to leave Shawn said..girl you tried your best.
We all know what that means.

Three is Company..

We just got back from El Paso. I don't have any pictures from our trip yet. And Most of them aren't very beautiful-please don't judge. However, this one is one of my favorites. Not because my hair looks good or anything even in the same category as that-because wait none of it does. I only like this picture because of the people in it with me..

They were 2 and 1 when I was born. They were the king and queen in castles on the couch-and I was the maid. They were in high school, and I was in Jr. High-They drove me to school, and dropped me off at the Broulim's stoplight and made me run for my life WITH my backpack before the light turned green. Together we proudly sported wranglers on our first day in an Idaho elementary school. We rebelled and watched VH1,missed curfew, got grounded, and fought with our parents, thinking we had it so hard. I tried really hard to do my part as Josh's hockey goalie, his fellow ninja turtle, and his fellow wood wittler with his pocket knife. I was the last up the ladder to the treehouse when we were chased by our dog, and the guinea pig sent to see if the coast was clear when we were doing something we really shouldn't. we were weird little country kids, but we were pretty happy.

Usually I'm glad they do everything first-Josh has two kids and is leaving for Afghanistan and Jaimee is having a baby in just a few months. I couldn't be a more proud little sister. I might wish I could lead the way sometimes, and have the first baby, or be the first to graduate from college..but lets be honest-I'd be their maid again any day. They are the very best. Sometimes life gets a little bit routine, and then sometimes I wake up and realize just how very lucky I am. Thanks to El Paso for reminding me. I'll post more pictures when I get them.

Love Love..Blah Blah Blah

In college I used to like my anatomy textbook more then dating. I used to feel sick to my stomach very often from "romance overload". I used to stay up late with my friends, because they were way more fun at night. I used to come to the decision quite often..that love was lame. That love was "for the birds" as some would say..
But then something very eventful happened..I was invited to join this team:

And now my slippers are kissing birds..

And our rug looks like this...

And we eat off heart plates and sit in matching chairs..

And I homemade hearts so our apartment can feel loved even though we are a little bit poor at the time..(Thanks Shayna :)

And we hurry home as fast as we can so we can sit by ourselves on our couch as close as we can and eat pink frosted brownies with valentines sprinkles (that aren't as cute as they sound because I am a horrible brownie froster.)

And today home all by myself I took a little look around. And I came to the conclusion that love is not lame. And it is definitely not for the birds. Being semi poor and crappy frosted brownies are actually much more lame..
cheesy?? ya but I'm okay with that. for this month only.

Happy Valentines Day to all little love birds!!

Plane Tickets, Track Meets, Football games....

Last week we had a little bit of company. It's about time! Shawn's family came and stayed with us and we watched his little brother Aaron run track at BYU. Aaron is amazing we are excited to watch him run more this year!! we played games, ate good food, and had a usual good old fashioned really fun time with his family.


Besides company our life has been so wonderful with the three day weekend as well as the huge long break from Shawn's school. Shawn just had to go back last Monday and I had to adjust to not having an errand partner on all my days off . Unfortunately our time together has been spent mainly watching the Cardinal's football games, and the Sun's basketball games. Since when did I all the sudden have to become an Arizona sports fan?? Maybe it's since Idaho doesn't a team to support so I think I can feel good about it.
I am only a fan for short periods of time, and then I am secretly happy when the Cardinals lose in the playoffs so I can stop watching it every spare second..I try to be a very good sport, and I actually like it just a little when Shawn acts like he needs me to watch with him(which is kinda rare) and when he cares about my input and calls me his "teammate"



This weekend Jaimee my mom and I are flying out to El Paso, Texas to attend our niece Olivia's Princess third birthday party, and to see Josh before he gets deployed to Afghanistan the end of next month. I am soo excited to see Josh and his kids. I am also excited to be on a trip with Jaimee and my mom. It will be fun for us to all be together and I am always up to visit anywhere new! I have never been to Texas before. I have also never spent more then twelve hours away from Shawny boy. I'm hoping I can make it four days! Fortunately I will be in very good company. See ya when we get back!