Trip to Washington: Roommate Reunion

The last night we were in Washington we were lucky enough to have two of my roommates/friends from BYU-Idaho, and their handsome other halves, over for ice-cream. We had a great time with Shauna + Steve and Kersie + Kyle!  The guys were so great to put up with Brooks' shenanigans ;) while Kers, Shauna, and I had fun trying to get Ava to crack a smile (goodness that girl's poker face is unreal) and to show off her new-found baby steps. Loved every minute of catching up...and reminiscing, goodness I miss the good ol' college days. :) Love you ladies!

^^ Coaxing Ava with the phone..."Come on baby girl!" ^^

^^ Kersie and Ava's matching, lime green socks. :) ^^

^^ I can only hope that one day when Ava goes off to college she'll be blessed to have roommates like I had! ^^

Trip to Washington: Double Date

Later Saturday night, after the triathlon (hence me looking exhausted in these pictures), my sweet parents were awesome and gave the littles some Grand-mom and Gram-pa time while Adam and I went out on a double date. :) We met up with my lady-love Britney and her handsome husband Adam who I've been friends with for ages, but my Adam has never met them, so I was beyond thrilled that we could all finally get together! It was a night filled with laughing, bottomless steak fries, milkshakes, burgers for the boys, plenty of talk about our ridiculously cute littles (wish Brooks and Ava could've played with Jude this trip!), some grown up talk (oh glorious adult conversation without interruption;), and more laughing. :) After snagging some pictures, even one with Lady Liberty herself, we said our goodbyes all too soon...goodness we need to live closer!!

Thanks for the fun night Adam and Britney! Love you both to pieces.

^^ Photo bombed by Lady Liberty ;) ^^

^^ Love. Her. ^^

Trip to Washington: A Day at the Coast

The day we picked up Adam from the airport, we drove straight from Portland to Lincoln City for a day at the coast. The weather was overcast and rainy, much like our trip to the coast last year, but this time even more chilly and windy. Our long-time family friends the Kellys were so generous though, and invited us to spend time at their beach house...it was absolutely charming, so we didn't mind one bit that much of the day was spent inside, cozy, eating delicious food and playing games with the sound of rain on the roof and windows. But stormy weather didn't stop us from getting out to explore a bit of the gorgeous Oregon Coast! Well, except Ava, she was a trooper to stay inside all day. :) Brooks loved marching around in the sand, hands in his pockets, looking for sticks...until the wind about blew him away. ;) And when Adam and I went out together, we turned into a couple of kids...stealing kisses, jumping for joy, and writing out names in the sand. ;) Loved every minute.

Thank you Dave and Jessica for the wonderful day!!

^^ One of "Gram-mom"s many kid-friendly card games that Brooks loves! We had a rousing game, as you can tell. ;) ^^

^^The incredible view from their deck...the water's right there! And Ava below, watching Grandpa & Grandma join Dave & Jessica for a little exploring.^^

^^ Head over heels for that guy of mine. ^^^^ Dave was so sweet and fixed us some cocoa with extra whipped cream when we came back inside...mmmm! ^^^^ Dad, Mom, Jessica, Dave...thank you again Kellys, for everything!  ^^

Showering Kira & Baby Girl with Love

This past Thursday I threw a baby shower for a beautiful friend of mine...Kira is the type of person you feel instantly comfortable with, she makes you want to be better, she has an awesome sense of humor, she'd do anything to help a friend, she's a super mom, and she finds beauty in everything around her. She is one of my best friends and is such a blessing in my life. Kira has two sweet children that joined her beautiful family through adoption...we adore both of them. And now she has a miracle baby girl growing in her belly! I still remember when she told me she was pregnant, and thinking about it I have tears in my eyes! Adam and I have not struggled with infertility, but people we love have and it makes my heart ache, and definitely reminds me to not take it for granted. So knowing that Kira is now experiencing pregnancy and will soon give birth for the first time, to her third child, puts butterflies in my stomach!

Family and friends of Kira's came over for an evening to shower her and her baby girl with love. :) While enjoying a nutella fondue spread, cupcakes (thank you Karen!), and raspberry lemonade (thank you Adriana!) they wrote words of wisdom and love notes on baby blocks I decorated for little Miss J. Then we played a couple games...the first one was a Madlibs birth story we all created for Kira, and it made for some good laughs! Then everyone became baby sketch artists and drew a baby girl I described to them...but their canvases were paper plates they had on their heads, which made for some hilarious, picasso-like portraits. ;) Then came the generous gifts from everyone! It was so fun ooing and awing over everything and imagining Baby J being in Kira's arms so soon. :) And as a little "thank you" for everyone coming to the shower, they left with a facial masque and some chocolate they could enjoy after they had a relaxing shower at home. ;) Kira, you and your little girl are SO LOVED. Can't wait to meet her and soak up her newborn sweetness!

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I absolutely loved planning the shower for Kira! And I wish I could say I came up with all the details on my own, but some of them were inspired by creative ideas I found online...thank goodness for Pinterest and Google. :) 

Nutella Fondue recipe: here, I tripled the amount of nutella it calls for

Cloud cupcake-topper idea: here

Hanging cloud centerpiece idea: here

Baby block memento idea: here

Madlib Birth Story idea: here

Baby Sketch Artist game idea: here

No matter how long it's been...

You know those friends that you don't get to see nearly as often as you'd like...as in, years pass between hugs? But no matter how long it's been it only takes a few minutes of talking that you're cheeks hurt from laughing so hard (that's for you Shay;) and it feels like you're back in middle school all over again, talking about cute boys and sharing Lip Smackers...except now you're talking about your cute husbands and sharing red lipstick. haha!  Well, that's what it was like last week. I loved kicking off the new year going out to lunch with old friends...two of my best friends, Makinzie and Shalyn. Goodness I love those two! And it was pretty awesome watching our three little ones together (missing Brooks who spent the afternoon with Daddy) who were born just weeks apart. Ava was one lucky lady spending the day with cute Brody and Lincoln. ;)

Love and miss you ladies already! xo

PS - Remember this Kinz and Shay?? General Conference weekend, April 2007...good times. :)