Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Memorial Day Weekend

At the last minute we decided to head to St. George for Memorial Day weekend! It was such a blast!! My mom and sister, Becky, were going to stop in Cedar City to check out the college, and my other sister Amanda and her fam, decided they were going to go, so we said, "why not?!"

Isn't this a cute Barbie, or what?!

Becky... always trying on shoes!


We just did the usual swimming, shopping, playing games, the boys went golfing, we went house hunting (Don't worry, not for now... but for future purposes!) and we just relaxed! The weather was perfect for the most part, so just a great weekend!!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Summer treats!

There are a few yummy treats that I just love about the warmer weather. One main one is the "snow shacks" or the "snowie's" or whatever you want to call those, but I love them! Black cherry to be more precise!
But another new favorite is this place in Bountiful called "Yogurt Stop". Such a great idea... you choose what kind of yogurt you want, add whatever toppings you want (I when I say "you", I mean you do it yourself!), then you give it to the cashier to weigh it in and you pay. I get whatever random mixture I want, and that's that. No extra money for the extras! Wonderful!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Mother's Day 2009

I have so many wonderful memories of today... Mother's Day! What an awesome day to remember our Mom's, and even the role of womanhood! I am so blessed to have so many wonderful influences in my life.
First and foremost, my mom!! What a woman! She and I tend to share a brain and I love it. She is my one of my very bestest friends and I love that she is so silly and weird with the rest of us! Words don't describe how amazing she is, but I just love her so much!!

My mother-in-law is also so amazing. What a self-giving woman she is. At a moments notice, she will do anything for anyone. Always willing to help and give advice and I am just lucky enough to say that I married into a great family! She did such a great job raising Jared, and I couldn't ask for more.
And finally, my role of being a mom today! I am feeling overwhelmed with joy at the sound of Zack playing with a toy on the blanket and making the little blah, blah, blah sounds right now! What a year we had watching him grow and make it one day at a time. I love everyday being a mom to him! And I am glad I have the opportunity to do it!!

How much better does life get today???

Monday, April 27, 2009

California 2009

Where to begin?! How about the beginning!!
TUESDAY, APRIL 21:
We left for the airport at 6:00 AM, but our adrenaline was pumping so we were ready to go! Zack did OK, all things considered, but he was pretty tired. Our flight went well... however, Zack did decide to go to the bathroom right at take-off and poor Jared had to take him to the bathroom and change him in the plane's bathroom as soon as the seatbelt sign was off!! Not fun there :>
When we got to Cali, we got our rental car and headed out. We stopped and got a few things at Target then headed to In 'N' Out for lunch (Jared's choice). I will admit that the burgers were good, but not "famously" good. Sorry everyone!! Then we checked into our hotel and went back out to a mall and then to one of the highlights of our trip, the Anaheim Angels Baseball Game!! This was our first major league baseball game, and WOW, it was fun! We did leave a little early because Zack had hit his limit that day, but the Angels won the game 4-3!
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22:
We got up and started with a little shopping. We went to Trader Joes and then to a mall... but we were anxious to head to the beach, so we didn't shop much! We headed for Laguna Beach, but had a rough time finding a place to park, so we headed back to Newport Beach. We did make a stop at the Newport Beach LDS Temple, and that was (as always) so beautiful! Then we headed to the beach, where the wind was blowing, the sky was cloudy (or was it the Marine Layer?!), and we pulled our jackets out instead of our swimming suits! Needless to say, not the way we wanted to spend the day at the beach, but we ended up having an excellent time splashing in the water still. That night we went to dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Restaurant, and I would give it 2 thumbs up! Lots of fun there!!


THURSDAY, APRIL 23:
Day one of Disneyland. We checked out of our hotel that we were staying in, and headed to The Grand at Disneyland for our next 2 nights. Without saying too much, I liked the room just fine, but not worth paying that much to never be in there! Anyway, Disneyland was great that day. There were a lot of people like always, but we got through the lines really fast! Pirates was our first ride (fairly typical for us), and so on. We kept moving from ride to ride, and made it on everything we wanted to that day. Zack's favorite ride was Small World, which ended up being really fun this time! We also did manage to make it through with some pretty sore feet!
FRIDAY, APRIL 24:
Day at California Adventure. This ended up being one of my favorite days. It was more crowded than Thursday, but if you use those fast passes, it really pays off! We had a great time with Screamin' California trying to take pics right as the 'blastoff' went, but that was tricky. Also, the new Toy Story ride was awesome! That was the longest line we waited in up to that point (30 minutes), but that wasn't even that bad. I must add that Tower of Terror scared the pants off of me! I have been on it once before and it scared me, but apparently, time helped me forget that. I couldn't believe how genuinely scared I was on that ride. My mom and sister made sure to make fun of me pretty hard though!!
SATURDAY, APRIL 25:
Half day and Disneyland and California Adventure. Since we had accomplished all the rides we wanted to the first two days, we decided to hit our favorites and take it slower this day. Our feet couldn't handle much more. **As a side note, why does it always seem that everyone else walking around doesn't have sore feet, but I am ready to cut mine off to help with the pain??**
ANYWAY, we made it through half of the day and were ready to crash. So we said goodbye to the Disney parks and headed. We went to California Pizza Kitchen for lunch/dinner and then decided to go to another Angels game because we had to much fun the first night. We were so tired for this game, but it was still SO MUCH FUN!!! Unfortunately, they lost 8-9 in the last inning. Too bad. I think I am officially an Angels fan now!

SUNDAY, APRIL 26:
Our flight left Cali around 10:00 AM, so we got another early start. Our flight was good, and yes, again Zack needed a diaper change. But, it was my turn to change him this time. I managed to take him into the bathroom on the plane just before takeoff. And as I was changing him, he decided to 'wet' his shirt completely in the front, the diaper didn't hold in the back, so it was up his back, and I was in the smallest bathroom with no changing table in my life! What an adventure that was.
Whoosh! We're glad to be back, but miss the vacation time. A BIG, HUGE thank you to my favorite mom and sister for taking us with them on their vacation. We had such an amazing time and are so thankful for the much needed time away. Loves to you both!!!!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Vacation!


We are off to California tomorrow on a much needed vacation. My mom won a trip to Disneyland and invited us to go along. We are so excited to go! And it will be an adventure taking Zack along! Lots of firsts for him this week...
Vacation, here we come!!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Easter


So I LOVE coloring Easter eggs. It could very well be one of my favorite things to do in life (I don't know why though!). So Saturday morning Jared and I colored our eggs. We decided this year that we would only do one dozen eggs (in the past, I have done a dozen by myself... and then some!). Anyway, I kept making colors, so we ended up with 8 colors for 12 eggs... duh! I always try to see how dark I can get my eggs to go, and the one that "won" this year, ended up changing colors completely when it dried! The purple looked almost black when I pulled it out, now it looks like this... it really has a metalic look to it! Don't ask me how that happened!!
On Easter morning, we exchanged Easter baskets from the Easter Bunny! Jared and Zack got matching plaid shorts with white polo shirts. Then Zack got some sunglasses and sandals (mostly for our upcoming trip to Cali next week!) and Jared got some new socks, shampoo, and candy!
Zack playing in my Easter basket

That night, we went to Jared's parent's house for dinner. They had an Easter egg hunt, and Zack LOVED it! He had no idea what was going on, but Jared was running with him in the backyard and he couldn't stop smiling!

The Fam before church


It was also Zack's first official day going to church. We did alright, but man it's a difference having a baby with you! But, we survived the first time!

Zack before his first day at church


What a fun first Easter with Zack!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Happy Birthday Jared... and Talon!!

Zack loved the balloons!

Today Jared celebrated his 29th birthday!! Yipee! Since Jared had to work, Zack and I went to visit him and brought him balloons and cupcakes. Zack seemed to love it... and as you can see in the picture, he loved the balloons too!

Jared's birthday dinner while waiting for Talon to arrive!


We also got to celebrate Talon Joshua Doan's birthday... literally! My sister had her first baby boy, and Jared was so excited to share his day with him. Talon came in weighing 7 pounds 12 ounces. What a sweet little boy!!
Happy Birthday to both boys! We love you!!!

Little Talon Joshua Doan

Talon and Zack!! This is my favorite picture!!