Summer 2010 Stuff :)

There are a lot of things I never posted about from this summer and so I'm throwing them all together!

First, I ran my first 5K! I know for some people that's not that much, but for me...it was a victory :). Cade and I ran it together with Emma (crying for the last 10 min). We met our goal and ran it in 30 minutes. It was great accomplishing something like that together!


GIRLS NIGHTS
I've also had some fun girls nights lately. Me, my mom, and sisters all went to Park City together for dinner and shopping. We had tons of fun hanging out together; especially since it was our last time together before Boose (Katelyn) went to college in Idaho! (I'm sad I didn't take any pics that night!)

I also got together with a friend to help make some crafts. I made some pretty frames for Emma's room a while back and Kelsie is pregnant with a boy and wanted to make some "boy" frames to decorate with. (Her husband is into rock music so we wanted to make sure HE liked them too :)). You can't really see the guitars on them in this picture though.



A couple friends (Ildy and Erin from my student ward) and I got together and went to a place called "The Chocolate" in Orem. Now if that name doesn't make you want to go, I don't know what else would draw you into heaven. I highly recommend going!!! (A little pricy, but worth it every once in a while).


I liked the place so much, I went back and took Katelyn with me (this was the last LAST hurrah before college :)


This is SO my sister :). Oh, I love her!


Last of all, we had fun celebrating birthdays this summer. For my birthday, the end of August, I had my family over for a fondue night. We had cheese fondue and a chocolate fountain. It was so fun!



After opening my presents, my Dad said he had a late birthday present for my Mom. He photoshopped and framed a picture of my Mom and her 3 sisters when they were little. It turned out SO SO beautiful. YOu have to see it in person. Of course my Mom cried :). It was such a great gift!


Then for Nathan's Bday we went over to their place and had lots of Nathan's favorite finger foods and snacks. For dessert we had snow cones and we broke a pinata. It was tons of fun! Steph always knows how to throw a party!


My family also got tickets last Christmas for Broadway tour of "Lion King". Oh, I just LOVE musicals and feel inspired, uplifted, and feel like singing everytime I attend...at least those that are the inspiring, uplifting type :)....
Anyway, if you haven't seen it...the music is amazing and the costumes are amazing!!! I loved it!

House Stuff :)

Cade and I have been loving our cute home, but most of all I am very proud of my hubbie...Introducing OUR GARAGE:
(Cade soaking in the job well done)


Cade and his dad spent many countless hours fixing up this garage. Before they touched it, there was drywall up with strips of tape and a normal nasty looking garage floor. After 6 gallons of paint for the walls, a floor kit, and many many many hours later...it looks great!!! I'm so proud of them.
Before:


After:

Cade's friend Tyler also helped out a ton

Cade's Dad, Dale. He's so great...a saint to put it one way...


I've also been having fun decorating, finding sales, and making this house our HOME! I'm not much of a shopper, but I DO LOVE finding sales! I often look on KSL to find cheap decor, furniture, you name it. It makes it fun when you can find things for cheap, but love the way things look.



These little red tables I found at Roberts for 75% off, so they ended up costing $12 for both...I was pretty happy!

But most of all, what makes this house home and so wonderful to be here and be alive are these two people, the best people in my life:

(This picture is their scruffy picture, Emma wanted to copy Daddy and add wiskers, so after spreading her little finger foods all over her face, I think they look even more alike :) You can't really see it unless you click on the picture and zoom).

Hood River with the Close side!

Right after Durango, we traveled in the opposite direction to Hood River, OR with Cade's parents. We went to visit Tara, Johnny, and Ashur. I had never been up there to see where they live and I'm sooo glad we did. It was so much fun and Hood River and the surrounding areas is GORGEOUS!!! I didn't get a picture of Tara and Johnny's neighborhood, but picture if you will a cute little home, to the east an airport office building, to the west hangers (where they store airplanes), and behind a complete runway, with airplanes all over...awesome, huh?! They live right on the airport. It's great! So some of fun things we did there were: the guys went fishing one entire day, while us girls and babies went to the Portland zoo, went berry picking, shopped around Hood River, went on an AWESOME plane ride around Hood River and the Columia Gorge (It's fun having a brother-in-law that's a pilot), and lots of laughing and playing games and eating good food. We had a blast!

So the day we went to the zoo was $4 day. At first we thought "awesome it happens to be the day we were planning"...then we got to the zoo...the line was forever long and we didn't know if we'd even get in! So we had lots of time in line to take pictures :). The babies did really well too! It was so crowded we kind of looked from a distance at many animals, but overall it was a really fun day.



Proof we actually DID see some animals :)!

The boys fishing. They went with an instructor who taught them how to fly fish. They said they had a really great time!


Some day this will be a scary thought...

Just as happy as can be in her favorite place! She loves being under the table! And who can blame her, it's like a permanent fort!

Tara took me to the cemetary where they buried Ashur. It was great to see and such a beautiful spot. I love the airplane on the head stone. They did a good job designing it.

Cade in Johnny's office workin away! He brought his stuff so he could work a few days. That just always allows us more time to be away. It's a blessing that he can work remotely with his job!

Grandma and Grandpa Close picking blueberries. And man were they good!!! Fresh off the bushes!

Grandpa reading stories to the grandbabies...they LOVED it! They were paying attention to every word...so cute!


Playing war with the babies legs...well, you can tell who's really having fun here...don't think it's the babies.


The plane ride around Mt. Hood...so amazing!



Picture of the Columbia Gorge



Cade and I also got to celebrate our 3rd anniversary. We spent the day at the Portland temple in the morning, then went to the Columbia Gorge and ate at a restaurant right by the Multnomah Falls and hiked there (absolutely beautiful!), and spent the night at a bed and breakfast by Bridal Veil Falls. It was soooo much fun! And I can't express how grateful I am for my wonderful husband! He is so amazing and makes me feel just as beautiful and fun as he thought I was the day he met me. I love him with all my heart!

We went hiking for a bit and we looked down and could see the restaurant where we had just been eating.

Hey, it's Oregon, what can I say?...

Durango Vacation!

I know, I know, it's been a LONG time since I've made a post! I keep having people say, "I keep looking on your blog for updates...". Well, here I am because I know all of you just wait and sit on your computer all day waiting for a blog post :). After reading this you can get on to your exciting lives again. :)

This summer we had a blast! Unfortunately our family vacations happened to be right back to back, but they ended up working out and we had so much fun with both sides of our family. First we went to Durango Colorado. I had never been there before, but it is a beautiful place! Stephanie's grandparents have a cabin amongst all these beautiful pine trees. I LOVE the outdoors and it was so fun to be in nature, but with all the blessed utilities of today :). We went to the rec center one day and played b-ball, raquetball (well, some of us just stood against the wall and we tried hitting each other...yes, childish, but we laughed until it hurt!), climbed the rock wall, and went swimming. It was a lot of fun. We also went river rafting/floating down the river :), and a lot of fun activities/games/great food...you know, the usual! We also celebrated Jordan and Wills' birthdays. Here are some fun pictures!



Wills definitely found a new obsession...Robin's motorcycle...he wouldn't let go of it...and no one was allowed to touch :)


If anyone knows Steph, you'd know these cakes were just "thrown together"....she's amazing at everything she does.





Henry got worn out by all the fun...