Kentucky Trip

My sister who lives in DC moved to Switzerland last week, so before she and her family left the country, we met them in Kentucky to visit my parents. The kids did really well on the airplane, I even got Finn to fall asleep on the way there, thankfully. They were busy but happy, at least.

Before my sister arrived, we were pretty busy! We went downtown to the splash pad, visited Findlay Market, attended a concert in the park, and went up to Tower Park in Ft. Thomas for their birthday celebration-family night. Here are the pictures from the first half of the trip! 

4th of July

4th of July is definitely one of the best holidays, right? Ours was super casual this year, but pretty perfect. We all slept in which was great and then spent the afternoon at the pool with these cuties. In the evening, we had a BBQ with TJ’s family over at his sister’s house. The kids entertained themselves so well while we adults got to play Perpetual Commotion, one of our favorite games! Once it was dark, we lit some fireworks and watched the sky light up all night. Oh, summer. You’re the best.

Bear Lake

The last week of June, we headed up to Bear Lake with TJ’s family for a little vacation. It wasn’t warmest week up there so the water was still pretty cold, but that didn’t stop us from having a great getaway!

The first evening, we explored town a bit and spent time at the park right there on the lake.

Wednesday, we hit up the beach right away in the morning where the kids played in the sand and we kayaked some. At lunch, Finn loved sitting outside because he was able to watch all the trucks and cars go by. He called each of them out, obviously. Then I took Finn on a drive where he napped for an hour and I drove around the whole lake. It was so beautiful! That evening we went to the park again and then enjoyed s’mores on the beach. The wind was nuts, but the views made it worth it!

On Thursday, TJ’s brother’s family arrived and we had another beach day. The kids loved collecting little shells and splashing in the water. We rented jet skis that afternoon for a few hours and we all took turns taking them out. I was so happy Eva loved it (Finn tolerated it). We enjoyed raspberry shakes together in the afternoon, then went to the pool for a bit, and that evening we all went out for pizza.

Friday, we rented RZRS and took them out all afternoon. I had to take dramamine, but it was such a blast! We saw a moose and were able to explore up in the mountains a bit. While we took turns taking them out, my mother in law helped them make necklaces and do other crafts. We wrapped up the trip by having a big BBQ with all of TJ’s extended family and had a big Hillbilly Golf tournament. The weather was perfect that evening, thankfully so it was such a pleasant night outside with everyone.

I can’t write the whole post and not write about how Finn experienced, what we think was, night terrors for the first time. Of course, it happened while we were on vacation and sharing a condo with our family. Honestly, I’ve never seen him like that and it was terrifying. He was up screaming his head off for hours for the first few nights but by the end of the trip did better. It made us all really tired but I kept telling myself we’d just sleep when vacation was over. It definitely wasn’t ideal, but he was happy during the day making us be able to handle it enough.

We had such a great trip and sure hope we can return again!

 

Father’s Day 2017

Father’s Day always is around TJ’s birthday so usually it’s just a special celebrate TJ weekend! This year was no different. The Sunday after his birthday was Father’s Day. I made breakfast for him and then we had a BBQ at his parents’ after church. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we love you, TJ! You’re such a great dad and wonderful husband. Thanks for putting up with us.

TJ turns 30!

Last week was TJ’s Birthday and I had a big day planned for us! Breakfast at Kneaders, chalk art festival at the Gateway, then a movie in the park for dinner. But alas. Life doesn’t go as planned. TJ had to work half of the day unfortunately, then by the time he was off, Finn was too grumpy and ready for a nap to go up to SLC. So, we went to see the movie Cars 3 instead and just ordered in once the kids were in bed that night. But the next day we went to Top Golf with his family and ended the night at Slapfish. It was a complete blast and so fun to get out with his family without our kids so we could actually hang out and talk. Happy Birthday, TJ! We love you so much! Hope the 30s treat you well!

,

HIGH Fitness Instructor Certification

A few months ago, my good friend, neighbor, and High Fitness instructor Holly and I started discussing the idea of me getting certified to teach High and possibly team teaching together. I went back on the forth on the idea for a while, unfortunately I waited too long and the Utah one filled up and passed by. Then I realized there was one in Arizona right around our anniversary, so I decided to sign up for the training and make an anniversary weekend out of it with TJ!

It was the first time TJ and I had left the kids together before; the first trip without kids we’ve ever had since having kids. We did leave Eva for one night when I was in the hospital having Finn, but that’s it. So, I think it was time! We left out of Provo on Thursday, and I couldn’t get over how easy it was to fly with my kids! It’s been FIVE YEARS since I’ve flown sans kids. I literally had a small carry on (which TJ carried) and my book. BTOML. I read 100 pages on the airplane and didn’t have to change a diaper in the teeny airplane bathroom. I still can’t get over it.

Thursday night we met my brother and his wife for dinner, then relaxed outside for the evening. Friday we spent the entire day being incredibly lazy. Well, TJ worked a lot. But I laid out by the pool and read for hours. Take me back! Friday evening we met our good friends Ryan & Kacy for dinner and stayed up way too late talking about our funny college memories.

On Saturday, moms got free French toast at Kneaders so we headed there for breakfast (Kacy & I gave the toast to our husbands lol… I wasn’t about to eat unlimited French toast before working out all day long), at which point I headed to the gym for the High Fitness class before the training. The class was amazing. A packed house taught by Amber, one of the creators of the class and a bunch of other great instructors.

My friend Natalie got certified with me so it was really fun having her by my side the whole day, it really took away a lot of the nerves! Fun fact: Natalie and I were in the same Stake back in Kentucky, so we kind of grew up together and we sang in a children’s choir together for a bunch of years. We both moved out to Utah and have done 21 day fix together this year and now are both doing High! Yay!

After the class, we had a lunch break so Natalie and I went back and took a quick shower and changed (we were soaked after the first class). Then from 12-7 we were in the training learning choreography and pretty much what it takes to become an instructor. We then broke into groups and had to teach the rest of the class songs, while we were being graded. I passed with flying colors… hurray! It was a nerve-wracking day but one of the best ever. I literally held back tears several times because I was just so excited and happy for this new stage of life!

To celebrate, Natalie and I headed out to dinner right after at Grimaldi’s (I really wanted to eat at Shake Shack, but their grill was down… WHAT?) and split a pizza and canolli (we were starving after working out all day)! It was a perfect ending to a perfect weekend!

It was Mother’s Day when we came home, and I was so happy to see the kids! We sure missed them but were so grateful they were safe and happy with their Uncle & Aunt (who sent me lots of snaps per my request!). I definitely cried a lot when we left, it was so hard to leave Finn for some reason. But the weekend away with TJ was so needed and the training was an incredible experience!

Playgroup Easter Egg Hunt

We had a neighborhood playgroup Easter Egg hunt one morning before Easter and it was a hit! We did some Easter crafts first, then hunter for the eggs, and of course enjoyed the spoils of our hunt (as seen below with devouring all the chocolate from his eggs). We love this neighborhood so much!

Grandma & Grandpa’s Easter Party

Since we were married, TJ’s parents have had a little Easter party with his siblings and then the grandkids. Here’s our first one with the grandkids:



The kids first decorated picture frames with their Christ photo and then did an Easter egg hunt. Finn clearly was thrilled to be a part of the group photo. He did decorate his frame though and put a sticker heart right on Jesus’ chest. So, that was pretty cute. Here’s a video of our day!

Easter Day

We had a really nice Easter at church and then had our neighbors over for dinner. We took some photos before church, just like last year so I did a little side-by-side comparison of how Finn has changed in one year. Kind of crazy! Finn did not want to take photos with me, apparently. So, you’ll see that in the mix. And then you’ll see my table for Easter. Nothing fancy, but the napkins and napkin holders were my Grandmother’s, my sister just gave them to me. It was really special to use them. She loved throwing events/parties/dinners and I like to think I got that from her. Hope you all had a great Easter!

,

28

Somehow I’m now 28 years old. Time just flies. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my short 28 years, it’s that life just keeps going, no matter what. So, do what you love and make things happen. Sometimes that’s hard for me. Sometimes it’s hard to relax, get off routines, change up my schedule. But if you don’t do that, you won’t do the things you love. So… make time and make things happen. That’s kind of been my motto since last summer and it’s good to keep reminding myself of it.

Anyway, my birthday was nice! TJ surprised me with a cute (and of course, well designed) calendar with photos he had picked out for each month (some literally made me tear up remembering the memories!). Then on Saturday, we had lunch up at City Creek. We were going to shop for a while up there afterward, but Finn was quite a crankypants and needed a nap, so we went home instead. I got to go shopping at the outlets by myself with a 40% additional off at the Gap Outlet (thanks HJ), and then that night I watched the RS broadcast with my mother-in-law and sister-in-laws. It was a nice Pre-bday celebration. Oh and I should mention, my MIL took me and my SIL out for lunch and shopping the week before without our kids and it was such a great day! I’ve really been spoiled!

Then on my actual birthday, TJ brought me breakfast in bed. Because it was supposed to rain all day, I was pretty grumpy, I’m embarrassed to say. But he really tried so hard to cheer me up! I’ve also decided the next warm Saturday we have available, we are heading to the red rocks again for a birthday adventure to make up for it. Throughout the day, several people dropped off gifts, sent cards and packages, brought by treats, sent texts… honestly, so many people reached out and I am overwhelmed at how blessed I am. Thank you all for thinking of me. I’ve had a few things going on behind the scenes recently that have made this month a little harder than normal. I’m good, we’re good, don’t worry, but just know that every message/gift/treat was so appreciated! So THANK YOU!