By Popular Demand

Here are the photos captured by Cody's iPhone after Evey marked me as her territory and Heather whisked her away for a diaper change

My thought process: "Oh snap... did that really just happen to me?! Yup... and Ileana is laughing behind us cause she saw the whole thing"

I attempted to cover up the giant spot with Evey's book

And here is innocent Evey the previous Sunday just after waking up in Sunday School

I love this little girl! :)

Playing Mommy

The first week in June my brother and his wife left on a trip to Virginia/DC for some business and some pleasure. Along with my brother's sword (its part of the "business" he was going for, he owns a Martial Arts Studio), some books for reading, and cute new clothes, they left behind their 3 children for my sister and I to have fun with :)

Heather was the main substitute mommy for the week and I just did what I could here and there. It was a long week, but it was a super fun week as well. For the majority of the week I stayed with Heather at Derek & Naomi's house with the kids where we had fun playing house. I love my nephews and my niece and it was so great to spend all that time with them! I miss them so much when I am away at school so I was relishing all of our fun and experiences of the week.

There were several moments throughout the week where I truly felt like I was playing mommy and that I was getting a glimpse of motherhood. It was an adventurous week!

-quieting children in Sacrament Meeting with books and cheerios
-holding a sleeping Evey in Sunday School
-vacuuming while holding Evey
-waking up to Evey and/or her brothers tip-toeing around with that just-woke-up-happiness and squinty eyes
-convincing Ethan to eat all of his food at most meals
-feeding Evey her "num-nums"
-buckling car seats
-changing diaper after diaper
-getting pee all over my skirt in Sacrament Meeting when a diaper overflowed

Yes, it was a very adventurous week... and I loved it all! When I happened to go home or go to work during that week I definitely missed the kids. It was a fun experience and I am grateful for the opportunity I had to spend that time with Ethan, Tai, and Evey! It was a fun glimpse into motherhood. And now, believe me, it will be quite some time before I have three of my own! :)

Utah portion (Part 3)

Karina and I drove back to Utah the Sunday after the wedding and had a great time talking, laughing, and singing the whole way. Road trips with the right people are amazing! :)

We were surprised to pass through SNOW. In MAY. The END of May. But I digress...

Karina's family is so awesome and we had a great time hanging around with them! I am grateful for their hospitality and generosity during my stay with them :)

One of my favorite pieces of their hospitality was the giant marshmallows that Karina's mom bought. We made the best s'mores ever! I LOVE s'mores and these giant beauties put me in S'more Heaven! See for yourself:

cooking them to perfection, although Karina is much more patient than I am and my marshmallows always caught on fire :)

mine is the one with the burns, haha

yummmmm!

Holly in S'more Heaven

While in Utah we decided to go down to Provo and visit some friends that stayed at BYU for the Spring Term. We had a great time with them and ate a delicious meal at Cafe Rio! Sadly I left my camera in my bag the entire day and have no pictures, but it was super fun to be back and have fun with Weston, Julie, Trent, and James! It felt weird to drive away that night though rather than just back to our apartment.

The next morning Karina surprised me by making an excellent breakfast and even served it to me in bed! Well... she served it on a table that she placed next to the couch I slept on :) It was so sweet!

Karina even used our bridesmaid bouquets as a centerpiece!

We enjoyed our breakfast as we watched the first episode of The Bachelorette. We love that show :) Then we got ready and visited the Bountiful Temple where we did some baptisms and then took so many pictures of the beautiful Temple grounds.

[click to enlarge]

After returning to Karina's house and getting changed, she gave me a tour of Kaysville. We went to her high school and I concluded that Highland is very ghetto... haha. My high school could not even compare to Davis High School! But the rest of Kaysville was pretty small compared to good old Palmdale. It was fun to see her hometown :)

Part of the tour included one of Karina's favorite spots in Kaysville, this cute little park in a neighborhood near her own. We had a blast playing on the swings before I had to get dropped off at the airport and return home to California. Here are some of our fun swinging pictures:

[click to enlarge]

It was a great last day of my trip! I had such an amazing time!! I am looking forward to another road trip sometime and definitely some more trips to see my family in Idaho!

Family Fun! (Part 2)

My trip to Idaho was filled with family visits and tons of fun! I am so grateful for Susan and Randy opening their home to Karina and I and for their amazing daughters who made us laugh and giggle and smile the whole time :)

We even had the chance to meet up with Leiann and Christie with their families [minus Colby and Troy who will just remain little boys in my memory forever it seems ;)]. I loved getting the opportunity to see their beautiful homes and play with their amazing children!

Idaho is a beautiful state and it is now filled with awesome memories for me! Here are some great pictures from the trip!

The drive up to Idaho!

a few of Christie's chicks + our lovely new button jewelry
[my chick kept trying to escape, but I kept it safe and sound :)]

Sarah snoozin on the drive back to Kuna from Melba

Talitha and Rachel had a hard time keeping their eyes open with the bright flash, haha

haha, you can see Lydia asleep in the corner

This was our favorite street sign-
Karina and I would always yell "VICTORY!" as we passed it

Susan gave us a tour of Kuna before the reception,
here we are by the famous "Kuna River" [named by Susan]
where I got to wear my new rain boots for the first time!

Sarah and I getting warm by the fire

It was such an amazing trip! I wish I would have taken more pictures of everything and everyone, but I was having too much fun to remember my camera most of the time :)

Dani's Wedding

I had such a great time on my trip to Utah/Idaho!! To cover it all will most likely require a few posts, but I figured I needed to start right away to share pictures of the actual wedding day.

Danielle and David were married in the Boise temple on May 22, 2010! It was a very cold and rainy day, but Dani was gorgeous and everything turned out so great!

Karina and I in the car outside the temple

The newly married husband and wife!

check out her sweet shoes!

After taking group pictures outside the temple [huddled together and with giant umbrellas] we warmed up in the car and headed to the wedding luncheon put on by the groom's family for the relatives and close friends before the reception.

Between the luncheon and the reception we had a bit of down time and headed back to Susan's house, but I'll post on that later.

The reception was held at a church building near Dani's house and it was so beautiful!

The reception still being set up

Love is the 'Sweetest' Thing- candy bar!




Dani and David dancing surrounded by family and friends

Karina and I had fun decorating the car!


Partners in crime!

Off they go!

It was a very long and great day! I am so happy for Dani and David!! I am grateful that I was able to be there and be a part of their special day :D