2015 Recap: Vancouver, Canada Trip!

Marcus and I were lucky enough to take a trip to Vancouver, Canada with his parents the first week in August. My parents kept the kids which made all the driving and touring a big city so much easier. We walked all around the city seeing things like Stanley Park, Granville Island, and all the different parts of town. We had a great time eating good food, playing games, swimming, and just spending time together. It was a really wonderful trip! We were also able to spend a couple days in Washington which allowed Marcus to complete the process of getting his bar license there and most importantly, letting us see the Jones'!

 These are the two pictures I got of the border crossing into Canada.

The view of Vancouver from our room.

 We happened to be in Vancouver during Pride weekend and it was CRAZY busy. Seriously, so many people. But that only lasted the first 3 days of our trip and then it became easier to get around.

 Marcus, Johnna, and I went to see Les Miserables and it was AWESOME! All the actors were so good and we're so glad we went!

I love him.

The kids had a GREAT time with my parents. We lived with my parents for two years so being with them is like home to my kids. Grandma and Grandpa are so much more fun than Mom and Dad anyway.

We did a session at the Vancouver Temple which is always amazing.

See, Clyde and Johnna really did go with us! :)

 

We brought back shirts for the kids.

They had a great week with Grandma and Grandpa and both crashed as soon as we headed back home to Ephraim.

Thanks for letting us go to Canada with you, Johnna and Clyde! It was so great!

2015 Recap: Babies!

The Smith family got two new babies at the beginning of the year- both boys!

First, Kyle and Grisel had their third baby and first son on February 8th! They named him Landon Christopher and he's perfect! I must say, they make some ridiculously good looking children! And then they moved back across the country to North Carolina right after Landon was born and we don't get to see them anymore. :(

Brand new

Landon and oldest sister Ashlynn

Landon and older sister Madison

A recent picture of Landon. <3

Then my brother Kendall and his amazing wife Ale had their first baby on April 6th! A little boy they named Alan Kai. He is the sweetest and cutest baby!

To say my kids were obsessed with baby Alan is an understatement.
We got to spend a good amount of time with them for about a month before they
moved out to Indiana for Kendall's promotion.

Here is a recent picture of Alan. <3

2015 Recap: Shelby and Andrew get Married!

My little sister got married at the beginning of the year on January 10th! I worked with Andrew at Chick-fil-A and gave him Shelby's number to ask her out on a date. The rest is history! 

Shelby asked me to decorate the bottom two (fake) layers of her cake.
They purchased a cheesecake for the top layer and her friends placed fruit all over the cake to finish off the look.

I also was in charge of this sign to let guests know where to go.

The Smith Family! Unfortunately, Marcus and Claire were home sick. :(

Shelby has had this close group of friends since Middle School.
They all flew out for the wedding and they were a HUGE help!
They took care of the babies while we were inside the temple, they did the flowers,
they decorated the cake, they did hair and makeup, and so much more. Such a great group!

Shelby and the nieces and nephews. Two more nephews were born within a few months after the wedding.
(Claire and Marcus were feeling well enough to make it to the reception)

The happy couple.

 

It was a beautiful day to celebrate Andrew and Shelby! Now they're expecting their first child and we're so excited for everything they have in store! :)

2014 Recap: Christmas

CHRISTMAS 2014! Such a magical time of year and it's gets better each year with the kids as they start to realize what is going on and get into it. Claire didn't totally get it yet but Johnny was able to follow what was going on and kid excitement is so contagious!

Marcus has a small collection of Christmas snow globes. They are so beautiful and I love them!

We called this our toddler-proof Christmas tree. 

I made our stockings!
I love them and have enough fabric to make more as our family grows.

Some gifts for the kids.

We spent Christmas Eve at Aunt Brittany's where the kids got to unwrap their presents
from her and Grandma and Grandpa Gilson. And they got their annual Christmas jammies.

We spent Christmas Eve in Centerville with the Gilson family. Then we went home and did Christmas morning just the 4 of us at our house. Then my dad picked us up in his truck (it was snowing and the truck has better traction- good thing because we wouldn't have made it home that night in our car) and we spent Christmas evening with the Smith family. Christmas is such a wonderful time and we were blessed to be able to spend it with both sides of our family.

2014 Recap: Halloween and Thanksgiving

It's been over a year since my last post. Crazy! I really like to have a blog as a sort of journal but I'm obviously not very good at that. So here's to trying again. I'll do a couple posts of the highlights of the last year.

First off: Halloween 2014!

Our super cute Halloween countdown from Aunt Patsy!

Making cupcakes and Halloween crafts at Grandma Smith's.
We miss our Smith cousins!

Halloween Sugar Cookies

Cornbelly's! I got free tickets through my job and we had the BEST time.

We went Trick-or-Treating with our Gilson family in Aunt Brittany's neighborhood.
Johnny the Cowboy and Claire the 50s girl

Cute Claire and Lola.

Next up: Thanksgiving 2014!

We spent Thanksgiving at my parents house with all of our Smith family! Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of all of us but it was a great day.

We did a Thankful Tree during the month of November and everyday Johnny
said something he was thankful for and we wrote it on a leaf.

Thanksgiving Cupcakes

Thanksgiving Manicure

Claire finally let Aunt Grisel hold her! :)

Looking classy on Thanksgiving.