life is good

About a week ago, Brittany and I were talking about how fast summer went… and she suggested that we have one more cookout all together before the warm weather disappears for good. So on Friday, we did just that! We grilled and then planned to have a game night (which really just turned into all the boys playing Xbox and all the girls sitting around and chatting… which was still a lot of fun)!_MG_9413

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Karl even came! It’s been a while since we’ve been able to do anything fun together. Nothing beats picking on your little brother 🙂09132013photogrid3

We had hamburgers, hot dogs, Amanda’s amazing pasta salad, and I made some s’mores bars that actually ended up NOT tasting like real s’mores… but you can’t go wrong with something covered in chocolate, so they were still a big hit.
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Jeff and Lelia joined us for games, and Chris and Cerina were in town (from North Carolina!) so they stopped by. These BOYS. ARE. CRAZY when they’re together! Love it. (This was a tickle fight in case you can’t tell. Jeff versus everyone else… haha!)09132013photogrid1

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On Saturday, I worked pretty hard to get everything ready for Kaya’s one-year photoshoot. I finished the cake, Michael bought her some balloons, and we got her dressed. I LOVE how these turned out and I can’t wait to share the rest.
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She loved her balloons so much (even when they had already fallen to the ground the next morning).
_MG_9601We had our awesome friends over again on Sunday night, because someone needed to eat the cake left over from Kaya’s photoshoot (which she didn’t smash)! We played some more games and laughed a lot.

Life is good.

4th of july 2013

Our Independence Day started out pretty relaxed- we slept in until about 8:30, which felt amazing! I went on a 4.5-mile run with Jax and then got to spend the rest of the day with my two favorite goofballs._MG_7093_MG_7100 My mom bought Kaya this adorable shirt a few weeks ago, but she didn’t have any matching shorts (apparently this kid only owns shorts that are pink, purple, or plaid…)! So, I sewed a pair of white ones for her super fast. I should have made them longer because they kept bunching up… but all her shorts seem to do that anyway._MG_7072I love this little stinker (which apparently means that I can never decide which pictures to post. They’re all too cute)!
kaya07042013At dinnertime, we had a cookout with some of our best friends (but we were still missing a few who were out of town). We enjoyed hot dogs, green beans, grapes, and these chocolate chip cookies.
_MG_7128-2 - Copy You can’t really tell from this picture, but Kaya loves Brittany. They’ve been buddies since Kaya was tiny._MG_7118_MG_7122

Jax even looked festive (I sewed him this bandanna about 5 minutes before our barbecue)!
_MG_7113Don’t be fooled by this photo… the puppies were only calm together for about thirty seconds.
_MG_7124 After dinner, we headed off to the town’s fireworks. We showed Kaya what sparklers can do. She was mesmerized and kept looking for more all night!_MG_7147 She wasn’t afraid of the fireworks (I was a little concerned they’d be too loud for her). As usual, it was a great show._MG_7167_MG_7169 _MG_7165 _MG_7166 _MG_7180 fireworks2013I’m so grateful to live in a country where we can make our own choices and express our opinions. Happy Independence Day everyone!

picnic at the pond

On Friday night, we went to an ice cream party to celebrate one of our senior missionary couples (they were visiting as they passed through this part of the country)! While we were stuffing our faces with ice cream there, we decided that we haven’t spent a whole lot of time with our friends recently, so we planned an impromptu picnic for Saturday afternoon.

I was sort of in charge of coordinating it… and I say “sort of” because I just told people what to bring and where to be at what time. Being “sort of” in charge also means you have to know to bring charcoal to actually grill… whoops. Good thing I have Michael to help me out with these things!

We waited in the car while Michael ran in to Kroger on the way there. (“What’re you lookin’ at?”)
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Sunscreen-spiked hair! SO cute._MG_4106We had absolutely perfect weather for a picnic (it was also perfect for a run, and I did 8.5 miles that morning- my record high thus far)!_MG_4135 The babies stayed in the shade for most of it. We haven’t used our stroller all that much, but it sure came in handy on Saturday._MG_4116 Amanda, Caitlin, and Liam (he’s hiding under the blanket!)_MG_4121

As we girls said, “How many boy scouts does it take to start a fire?”_MG_4118 Many minutes later…_MG_4125 We did eventually get to eat (hot dogs, burgers, chocolate-chip cookies, carrots, and jalapeno-flavored wheat thins)!_MG_4128So grateful for great friends, good food, and beautiful spring!

a picnic, cookies, and silhouette weekend

This weekend we had a lot of random fun! Michael had a work-sponsored family picnic on Friday, so we kicked it off with that! I’m not really sure why he made this face when I told him to show me BOTH of the sandwiches he ate…

There were even snow cones! I’m still partial to Italian Ice, though.

We also made some sugar cookies together. We have a “ding-dong-ditching game” going on with our friends who live down the street, and they got us last week… so it was our turn. We had already been thinking of making some treats, anyway, so that was just extra motivation! We ended up dropping them off at a few friends’ places, but sadly, a lot of them must’ve been out for the evening because hardly anyone was home.

We made sugar cookies, dipped in chocolate and sprinkles. Mmmmmm. Of course we had to make some strange shapes, like trains, dinosaurs, ducks, bunnies, and cats!

While Michael was at church meetings yesterday, I played around with my camera and Lightroom. I’ve seen quite a few photos like this one, and it was pretty fun to recreate it myself.

independence day 2012

I was so excited for the Fourth of July this year, just because I was really looking forward to having a whole extra day to spend with my buddy! We also had been invited to a picnic with some friends, so how could we not have fun?

Whenever I have to bring something to share, I love taking the opportunity to experiment with my cake-decorating skills. I even made a recipe for white cake that I had never tried before! Everyone loved the cupcakes, and I have to say, I think I am finally mastering that traditional “frosting swirl”.

I love how these turned out.

We had a great time at the picnic, despite the crazy heat!

A silly-face photo is almost always required.

There were even HUGE freezie pops, and you know how much we love those.

We were going to go to the town parade (I’ve never been before and wanted to check it out), but we didn’t really leave the picnic in time to go, and this tired and hot pregnant lady ended up taking a nap instead. Oops.

We did make it to the fireworks, though! I had an especially fun time photographing them, since this is the first year I had a tripod! Here are some of my favorite shots.

After fireworks, we played with sparklers! It’s practically a tradition in my family on the Fourth of July, so I couldn’t resist getting some when we were at the store. I don’t think I’ll ever outgrow running around and waving them like crazy. This year I tried writing some things with the long exposure.

God Bless America!