Penny: The newest addition to the family

Welcome to our family, Penny! For Emma's 3rd birthday we brought home a Golden Doodle puppy (a golden retriever mixed with a standard poodle). We had been searching and looking at different breeds and decided on this one. A Golden doodle is supposed to have a sweet and very family friendly temperament like the retrievers, but mix the poodle side and they shed very little to none. We brought her home a couple weeks before Emma's birthday. Emma knew that when Daddy got home, he had a present for her. Daddy walked in with a big box with a bow on top and when Emma opened it she was so funny. She stood there looking forever and said, "it's a puppy"...I could tell she didn't know what to think...was the puppy really for her? It was really fun to see her and Reese with Penny that first day. Here's some cute pictures the day we brought her home:

Am I still glad we got her? Yes, yes I am! If you asked me within the first few weeks of having her...I would say that I didn't care if she ran away. In the beginning, I had the hardest time, not with potty training, but with Penny making Reese cry a lot. Penny just LOVES Reese and wants to play with her all the time since she is the same size, but Reese does NOT like when Penny pounces on her or chews on her (go figure). So I had a really hard time thinking, "why did we get a dog if she's going to make my kids cry all the time. My children are much more important!" But after a month and a half of having her, Penny is learning really fast! She no longer bothers Reese and obeys really well! She is only 3 months old and is completely potty trained, goes outside by herself and comes to the door when she wants to come in (we don't have a fence so that's amazing), knows how to do tricks- sit, down, stay, come), and isn't chewing up our entire house. I have more days that I want to keep her verses not...that's a good thing :). It helps that she is adorable! I love her and am (now) grateful she is a part of our family!

Riviera Reunion/Retreat

At the first of October, my freshman year roommates and I got together for a retreat in Midway. One roommate had access to a timeshare so we all got together to catch up- just us girls again- just the way it used to be 8 YEARS AGO! I can't believe it has been 8 years!

Just a little re-cap on my freshman year. It was incredibly insane- that's the best way to describe that first year in college! These are some memories:

Waterballoon fights (randomly all the time), riding DI kids bikes through drive-through restaurants, Sweatin' to the Oldies parties with Richard Simmons, PRANKS galore, pulley system from our apt to the boys apt across the back windows, spaghetti fights, going crazy from Lortab (just one of us, Michelley :)), U2, 4 of us sleeping on a twin size mattress, weekend 'O fun in the bus (literally some guy friends owned a bus), staying up until 2 or 3 mostly every night, kidnapping each other for birthdays, studying on lawn chairs in the community laundry room, etc. It was a good year :).

Well, 5 of the 6 of us were able to get together and although we only stayed up until 1:00 in the morning- not 3:00 like the old times :), we had a blast catching up. We first went to a mexican restaurant and enjoyed hearing about each others lives and what everyone is up to. After we talked and talked, we went back to the time share and talked some more and played games. We had plans to swim, hot tub, watch chick flicks, etc. but we just wanted to talk and catch up on the last few years. It was so fun and while we were playing games, I was crying so hard from laughing. Part of it was because it was so late, the other part was because these girls are so dear to my heart. I LOVE them so much and am so grateful I was blessed to have them as roommates for my first semester away from home. I'm so glad we got to spend some time together. And once again for my incredible husband who allows me to have time to continue important friendships!

Some of us packed more than others for just one night:

We played a hilarious game called Telestrations. That's when I got cracking up SO hard!

 

I love these girls!!!

[In the pic: Laura (Dean) Morin, Vanessa (Porfiri) Parkes, Michelle Walker, Me, and Jenny Ostraff]

Close Family Pics 2012

 

Our Family Pictures!!! A friend I knew in high school is now a photographer. Her name is Andra (Hansen) Meyer. She now lives in Washington state, but comes to Utah often. She did our family portraits and I absolutely LOVE how they turned out. It only took months to figure out what we were going to wear and what we wanted to do (no joke!) but I love how they ended up. And even though pictures with babies can be extremely stressful, the girls did SO well! I especially LOVE the pictures of just Emma and Reese. Their personalities were captured so well! 

 

Time with my Sis in Santa Barbara!

It had been too long since Kristen and I could just hang out together and catch up. Even when we were at Lake Chelan as an entire family, at the end of the trip Kristen and I couldn't believe that we never spent time one on one. Our babies schedules were just too opposite and we were constantly busy with them.

So my wonderful, amazing husband let me fly to Santa Barbara for 4 days and be with her (without the girls). I know...he is amazing. He took off work Friday and most of Monday and watched the girls by himself for 4 days straight while I...played. And yes, I did feel extremely guilty, but Cade really insisted that I have that time with my sister.

Of course the night before I was supposed to fly, I had the stomach flu and was in the bathroom all night. I thought for sure I would have to cancel my flight so first thing in the morning, I went to the Doctors office to get a written note to fax to the Airlines in case i needed to switch my flight. But with a lot of prayer, I was able to fly there with no problems.

I was so excited to be able to just be with Kristen and talk one on one. Friday was very low-key since I still wasnt feel great. I slept in (really late) and we hung out at her house for most of the day- ran a couple errands but that's it. After Andrew got off work we went to an Italian Restaurant for dinner. Saturday was our girls day out. Kristen and I went to state street and walked through lots of shops, then ate lunch at a cafe, got pedicures, and walked some more :). It was so fun! At night, Kristen and Andrew went to their Bishop's house for a new member dinner (they were there to welcome the new members) and so I got to spend time chasing Jaxon around! Man, that kid NEVER stops moving! I was trying to get pictures of him, but he wouldn't hold still long enough for me to catch him! He is so adorable and so much fun! I also added a video of him that is adorable. He loves making lion sounds and it is so cute!

 

As you can see, he wasn't a HUGE fan of his costume at first :). It was hilarious!

 

 

After they got back from the dinner we went back to state street ate ice cream and handed out cupcakes to homeless (well, Andrew did...Sisten and I just watched him :).

Then came Sunday and after church, we went on a walk along the beach and pier which is one of my favorite things to do! It is so beautiful and it was a VERY warm day. We also ran into a Porsche Show so of course we had to walk through for fun :). I don't know anything about cars, but Andrew loved seeing it! We went home and took naps, then made dinner (which was SO yummy! Thanks for the recipes Sisten!). After dinner we drove to Butterfly Beach. The sun had already set, but it was gorgeous! I guess it's a beach that a lot of celebrities go to- and I can see why because it's so beautiful.

Sunday night we just talked, and giggled and played some games. I LOVE spending time with sisten! I love her so much and am extremely grateful to my wonderful husband who allowed me to go and spend that time with my sister! Another thing I am very grateful for is technology these days. Because of having FaceTime on my phone, I could see my family every day and see my girls giggle and smile! And now that I am back in Utah, Sisten and I get to do FaceTime any time we want and see each other and our kiddos. It makes long distance SO much easier. I love her and am very grateful for the time we spent together!!!