Baby Showers and a Christmas Playlist

I am a big fan of parties, small, big, it doesn't matter.

This last Saturday I had the opportunity to host a friend's Baby Shower. I decided to to give it a winter picnic theme...

The invites had a splash of plaid

 (as did the party favors) and for the most part I just threw pinecones and candles around the room.

The Pinecone Banner

Chocolate Cake!

The Sign-In table with the Mom and Dad to-be

The Baked Potato Bar

The Guests pt.1

The Guests pt.2

The Playlist I had going on during the Shower (and have had since in my head):

A Request

Can we just pretend that I didn't just abandon the blog, and start over?

Okay. 

Well, we'll start over next week. Today I'll just share some pics from the last... couple of months (ouch) so I don't feel so guilty about being so neglectful...

Visiting my stud of a brother after his football game.

Some of the best photos my sisters took of themselves. (I'll have to share some of the silly ones later!)

Camping up by Bryce Canyon with the Boys

Some panoramics of Bryce Canyon.

Artwork from the Russian Exhibit at the Woodbury Art Museum

My friends, Rebekah and Brianna, and I with the Russian Folk Dancers who performed at the Woodbury Art Museum's Opening Night. 

Learning to juice...

and can apples!

Halloween!

 Fall Temple Trips, Walks around Town and Voting!

The 4th of July

The Fourth of July really started the eve before. 

Mike and I were invited by his cousins to a block party. 

There was...

Face Painting

Cotton Candy

Sparklers

Some better than others

And a Dance party!

The next day...

Mike and I woke up at 5:50 this morning to prepare for the Freedom Run.

The Running Group (minus Suzie R.)

Mike and I

The Course

It was a hot day, but this has got to be one of the funnest runs I've ever been on (with the exception of my first run)! For the first mile there were speakers pumping inspirational music and for the majority of the race course there were people lined up on the sidewalks, cheering us on (okay, they were really there for the parade later in the day, but it was still nice of them to cheer for us). 

My time ended being 32:26, which is better than my other times (38:40-1st race, 35:10-2nd), and I beat Mike so I'm pretty proud :). 

At the finish line volunteers handed out medals (cool!) and water bottles. There were Gatorade and water stations, fruit, ice cream, bread and chip stands... it was pretty sweet!

Mike and I after the race

After everyone had had their fill of goodies, we headed down to University Avenue for the parade! Mike needed a 'shower' so he left for home, but he promised he would join up with us for the parade.

Olden Patriots

Navajo Representative

ROTC Rep

 It was so much fun watching the balloons, floats and Utahn State/City Leaders go by. (I made sure to hoop and holler when the UVU President and float came by -represent!) After almost 2 hours into the parade (approximately 2.5 hours after we split ways) Mike showed up for the parade. Within minutes he was bored, so we left.

After we got home and watched a little bit of Independence Day, our friends, Kim and Casey, came over and together we went to Bicentennial Park to play Disc Golf. Now, I've only played the game once before, and never on the field we played on so it was no surprise to me that I completely and utterly lost (with a score of 14 over par). But it was fun anyways (and you know that I'm going to sneak over there and practice every change I get).

Later, we all went over to a (random) Apartment Building's pool. Of course when we got there there was two guys from my old high school playing basketball so Mike HAD to join in. So the boys splashed around while Kim and I chatted to the side. 

After about an hour it was time for us to go, so we said goodbye to Kim and Casey and rushed home to change for our friend's barbecue! It was sooooooo good! After it was over Mike and I were only too happy to take home two heaping plates of left-overs! 

The night was not over yet tho, when we got home we picked up some ice cream and root beer then made our way over to our friends, the Lewis's. There we played games and had floats until the Fireworks began. 

It was awesome!

Post California Trip

Wow, it's amazing how a brief hiatus from blogging can turn into a 2-3 week long absence :$

Sorry about that.

Anyhow, our trip to California, while short, was much needed! We left Thursday morning and stopped in Hurricane for an hour to visit with family.

There was dancing, and swimming, it was quite a party. unfortunately we couldn't stay so we all got back into the car and continued on our way to Cali.

Over the next couple of days we stayed at Susan's and Charlene's homes and ate at Dino's and Corner Cottage!

Can't get enough of them Burritos!

The best part of the trip tho, was seeing our little nephew, Landon Thomas.

On Sunday, the entire family gathered for his baby blessing, and boy was it beautiful day!

The Original Seven

The Randall and Marilyn Hess Family

 We had so much fun holding little Landon and spending time with Mike's family...

But all good things must come to an end, so on Monday we said our goodbyes and left for Utah.

On the way home, we stopped at the Hebdon/Wright house again for some more pool time and then we drove the rest of the way home.

It was a great weekend and we sure hope to see all of our family again soon!

Heavenly Chicken Tacos

I've eaten a lot of tacos in my time...

Some made at home, and some... not eaten at home. 

So I know where to go for the best tacos. 

Mike's mom for instance, makes the best regular tacos. 

If you're looking for a good shrimp taco I know a stand in Cabo that is to die for.

Looking for Carne Asada? We'll have to hit up a family friend in California. 

But!

If you would like to stay at home and make yourself a delicious chicken taco then you have to go to One Stop Cook and follow their recipe for tacos! 

Try it! I promise you won't be disappointed!