July!

We had a wonderful fourth of July! Afton and Matson blessed their new baby so my family was out here and we had a blast. Bree even got a tattoo at the parade:) She is so cute these days! When she sees something she likes she says "OOOOO" it is super cute! Here is a video of her doing it.




Some of the nieces and nephews set up a little stand where they sold food. It was super cute and they made like $200!







Joseph and I had a wonderful anniversary! We went to dinner at the Tree Room up at Sundance and had a wonderful dinner without the constant moving Bree! I am proud to say that after four years we still love each other :) Joseph is the best husband and father and I am lucky that he choose me:)



We went to Joseph's family reunion up in Idaho and it was an experience! Joseph's mom passed away right before we got married so I never had the chance to meet her in person. It was her families reunion we were at. It was really fun to spend time with all these people I had never met and get to know a different side of Joseph!
We kinda got "distracted" cara-vaning (is that a how you spell it) home in twin falls! Super fun! Of course Joseph, Katie, and Nate had to go cliff diving.....I used to be all brave and stuff and I used to like scary movies and haunted houses!! I had no fear. NOW-I am the biggest wimp....so I stayed on the ground and took pictures:)



Bree had a really bad diaper rash while we were there so she and we spent a lot of time in the sink at the church. It was the only thing that would make her happy......poor girl! Notice the RED MATCHING shirts WITH our names on them-gotta love family reunions.



Then we went down to Manassa Colorado for my family "reunion." My brother Brett is there serving a church service mission and my dad grew up there. It is an itty bitty town 8 blocks by 5 blocks. They have a huge party for the 24th of July every year and my family always goes. Last year if you all remember I was having a baby......so I wasn't able to attend. This year we made it happen and had a blast! They have a parade, carnival, rodeo, demolition derby and some awesome food choices! Brett got to walk in the parade with the missionaries-they sang Call to Serve and Army of Helaman-brought tears to my eyes! We are so glad he is able and willing to serve the Lord.



Bree had an awesome first Birthday and we loved watching her enjoy cake and her new dolly:)



Yeah for July! What a month!
Oh and did I mention that no weight has been lost to date...............awesome. AND I still LOATH running............

Dang you, BECCA!!

I am now embarking on the hardest thing I have ever done...... no thanks to our friend, Becca Uda [link], who just ran a marathon recently [link]! Her marathon made the rest of us look bad and stuff, so I had to go and buy this....




Mostly the reason I am posting this is so I won't wimp out. I am really good at determination and dedication for about two weeks-then I am usually over it and move on to something else. This book told us to tell our friends and sign up BEFORE training so then the commitment is that much harder to break.....

So my friends wish us luck! We are being "forced" to be swim/bike/run people now:) Oh and did I mention Joseph and I can't swim?.........this could be interesting. We have been only training for about two weeks and so far I've gained weight (what the??? The reason I am doing this is to get rid of my last 10 Brielle pounds!!!!!)

Hopefully on August 29 I will be a sexy running, swimming, biking, mom:) See you at the Bear Lake Classic Triathlon [link]!


P.S. Thanks Becca:) You are my inspiration! Lots of love (at least for now) ;-)

Yummy Yummy

I have a gas oven that heats up my house like crazy! So I am always looking for fun things to cook WITHOUT using my oven/stove.......kinda hard. Anyway-try this one out! If you don't want to go out and buy the mustard and cheese you can use spicy mustard and regular cheddar cheese or even mozzarella cheese. Happy grilling!
Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Mustard
Martha Stewart Living

1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup chopped fresh dill (or, if you have to, 1Tbs dried dill as a substitute)
2 garlic cloves, minced (approx. 1 tablespoon)
salt + pepper
2 chicken cutlets (6 ounces each)
1 large red onion, sliced into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
3 ounces aged cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
1 baguette, cut crosswise into 4 pieces and halved horizontally
3 tablespoons creme fraiche (sour cream or plain yogurt work just as well:) )
3 sour pickles, thinly sliced lengthwise ( optional)

1. Mix 1/4 cup mustard, the oil, dill, garlic, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 3/4 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Add chicken and onion rounds, and toss to coat. Refrigerate, covered, for 30 minutes.

2. Preheat grill to medium-high. Grill onion, turning often, 8-10 minutes. Grill chicken on 1 side for 3 minutes; flip, top with cheddar, and cook 3 minutes more. Cut cutlets in half. Grill baguette, cut sides down, for about 30 seconds.

3. Mix remaining 3 tablespoons mustard and the creme fraiche in a small bowl. Spread onto cut sides of baguette. Sandwich chicken, pickles, and onion between bread.

I love summer!

Birthday Boy Joseph!

Happy Birthday to the love of my life!







Last Monday was Josephs 28th Birthday and we decided to have a small get together BBQ. We had lots of people come who mean so much to Joseph and we had a wonderful time. Though Bree decided to be sick.....really sick....so ALL day she slept like 2 hours and ate nothing but 3 pieces of watermelon. Joseph got home at 5:50 and Bree and I were both washing off throw up #3 for the day. BBQ started at 6 and I was a mess (not to mention the house) None of the food was prepped and nothing was even remotely ready for the guests......I was a bit frazzled to say the least.. Bree continued to scream throughout the evening and I was about to go nuts. Everyone was kind to try and help by holding her and making ALL the food for dinner:) Friends are the greatest aren't they?? But as all you moms know-when your child is sick....who do they want most??? Yep mom:) So I got a wonderful workout holding her all night until 2am when I had had it and gave her some benadryl:) Thank heavens for drugs:)

Bike People

Joseph and I have decided we want to be bike people. Bike people are so "outdoorsy" and are "muscley" and just look cool in bike shorts and helmets.
So our friends Lauren and Shane (who are total bike people) took us out for my first ride since I was like 12. We went up Provo Canyon and biked around 3 miles. It was beautiful and a lovely easy ride. And I didn't even crash! The babies were not so thrilled to be sitting so close to each other and we discovered that Bree is quite the bully when it comes to other children.....(which actually is a blessing in Nursery-she can hold her own with those big kids)We loved it! And decided that we are going to be bike people! The next thing we are saving for is bikes and a little bike holder thing for Bree! Yeah for bikes! Thanks to Lauren and Shane for the amazing food and amazing afternoon!

First lime tasting:)

Before:

After:
Verdict- yeah for limes! Takes after her mom:)

We sprung from our beds to see what was the matter!!!

I don't know how many of you have experienced this phenomenon when you are suddenly woken up in the night by some sound and you automatically think, there HAS TO BE SOME BAD GUY IN MY HOUSE AND HE IS GOING TO KILL US!! You freak out, wake up the man, and tell him that you SWEAR YOU HEARD SOMEONE IN THE HOUSE!! This happened to my mom several times-one of the most memorable was when she SWEARS that there was a DOG in the kitchen!!! She heard it scratching and scratching.....my dad calmly informed her, that after a full search of the kitchen no dog was found. Though he did blow his nose......which was later discovered as the source of the "dog scratching."
Well this happened to me last night at 12:05.....there was a loud loud crash and I was freaked....Joseph kinda moved but then I woke him and told him to go check.....someone has just broken in and broke a window or something. While he was gone "finding the bad guy" I thought to myself "WE NEED A GUN or a bat or something," He came back to the bedroom, unharmed, and then I told him that the sound sounded like it came from OUR ROOM. Sleepy hero Joseph turned the light on to further the investigation........this is what he found




Our closet fell in. Yep the shelves just ripped out of the wall and everything came crashing down. Now, why did ONLY I get woken up by this......Joseph was sound asleep as everything came crashing down-Should I be worried?

I actually may die because of this.......

I have decided that if you are called to be Nursery leaders you should have different requirements then the rest of the ward:
#1. Payment
#2. Special jump suit uniforms that are
a)PANTS
b) germ proof and
c) pee proof
I know now why ladies wear frumpy dresses to church-they MUST work in the nursery. I need to find me one of these!


#3. A prescription for Xanax
#4. children's benadryl
#5. Disney movies.......ANY movie for that matter
The only thing good about my calling so far.....SNACK TIME. Ok, I'm done complaining.......this is just really really hard for me........I am so out of my zone and I pretty much want to die by the time church is over...........heck I think I am loosing my testimony slower and slower each week....

We actually did a 5K....just to see what all the hype was about mostly

Top five and bottom five of jogging a 5K (yes I said jogging there was no running involved)

Top five
5. My new orthotic shoe inserts actually fit and are comfortable
4. I actually fit into my sports bra.......come on people this is a miracle since pregnancy-don't pretend you don't know how happy I feel!!
3. I got to jog with my favorite two people in the world
2. Bree would scream so I was "forced" to take a quick cracker/juice break of course to make her feel better :)

1. The run ended with breakfast—lots of cream cheese and some bagel to go with it...Hey! I earned it.

Bottom Five

5. Joseph and I got called as Nursery leaders. Nothing to do with the 5k, but still a bottom five. Just kidding. But it will be harder to make friends.
4. Not having a set playlist on my ipod.......so I would just start to get in my groove with a little Van Halen "JUMP' when "Ye Elders of Israel" would ruin the moment......(true story)
3. Seeing a little kid running with only one shoe! AAAAAAHHHHH talk about shin splints
2. Jogging by a mobile home park and realizing Joseph almost made me move there when we were first married. He'd probably still like it. "Cheap Mortgage" Whatever cheep mortgage my eye!! I want Bree to be able to play outside without worrying that she will step on a used needle or get bitten by one of the 18,000,000 stray cats.
1. It hurts......yep everything in my body hurts except my eyelashes :) I don't get why people actaully CHOOSE to do things like this. Becca and Theresa: you are amazing.... I could NEVER do what you do.

All in all I guess I could say I am glad I did it- JUST because I can say that I have done a 5K but mark my words I don't see myself getting to stoked for more running anytime soon