back to reality

Does anyone else feel like it takes just as long as a vacation to get caught up after one?  Life has been so crazy lately.  I love it though. 

My trip to Atlanta was an absolute pleasure.  Beck and I flew back to visit my favorite older sister, Tiffini and John.  Their kids (Axel and Yogi) loved Beck just as much as he loved them.  It has been years since I have gotten to spend a whole week with Tiffini and I loved the whole thing.  She really spoiled me and Beck.  Atlanta is a beautiful city. I love the windy, wooded roads.  I got carsick driving because I was looking left, right, left at the incredible homes on either side of the road. 

Tiffini and I often talk about recipes and food when we chat so we decided to try our hand at some funky recipes while I was there.  One night we cooked Pan-Seared Tuna with a shiitake-cream sauce and mashed cauliflower....mmmmm...another night we made shrimp risotto and grilled flatbread with candied onion and goat cheese.  You're jealous right?!  Do you think we are gourmet cooks?  It may have tasted like it was made by professionals but I don't think it takes gourmet cooks 3 hours to cook dinner. One of my favorites was our Thai night.  We chose three recipes that we thought sounded delicious.  Green curry chicken, chicken and mango lettuce wraps, and Thai Coconut soup.  Everything turned out sooooo good, even at 9:30 at night...

We kept ourselves busy during the days though too.  We worked out, shopped at stores that made me wish I had millions of dollars to spare, played with the dogs, hung out with Tiffini's friends, went to the Atlanta aquarium, got manicures, played with Beck, and had lots of girl talk.  I loved that Beck got to spend a whole week loving on his Aunt Tiffini. 

Even though I did feel bad being away from Chase for Beck's first Halloween, we had so much fun celebrating Atlanta style.  Beck loved greeting the trick-or treaters.  He was the cutest little scarecrow ever, if I do say so myself!!

Tiffini and John were the best hosts ever.  I think its hard to have someone (and their baby) come disturb regular life for a week but they never acted annoyed about working around the baby's schedule, or having to wait for fifteen minutes while I waited in line at the baby changing station at the aquarium (blowouts happen at the worst times don't they?!) Anyway, Thanks for making it such a wonderful trip guys.  Beck and I sure love you!!!

Coming Soon...

Lots to catch up on. 

1.  I just got back from a delightful trip to visit my sister in Atlanta.  I'm waiting on pictures so I'll tell you about that later.

2.  Beck is 8 months old!

3.  My dear sister in Law Abby just got called to the Santiago West-Chili mission! 

We are so excited for her!  Thank goodness for technology.  She skyped in the family that was missing (including me), and had granparents on speaker phone.  Love this girl.  She will be a fabulous missionary.
4.  Halloween.  Beck was the cutest scarecrow you ever did see.  No really, wait till you see! 
5.  The SILs and me are having a girls night tonight...and lets be honest.  We can't wait!

day 1,462 of eternity together

Today is a special day.

It marked the first day of our Fifth year together.  Four years ago on October 21, 2006 Chase and I were married. What a great adventure it has been.  Lots of ups and a few downs, but it definitely has been a wonderful ride.  Chase is a great husband.  I never have to question his love for me. I never have to question his desire to become the best man he can become.  We just have so much fun together.  I love that he has the same quirky humor that I do-even if other people don't really think its funny.  I love that he provides for our family and doesn't complain.  Watching him become a father has expanded my feelings for him like a balloon connected to an air pump.  To see him as such a tender, involved Dad just makes my day, every day.  Each time he gets up in the night and tries to calm Beck down, even though he knows there is a 90% chance that nothing but nursing will work, my love grows deeper.  He wants to be there for each moment; even the poopy diapers and tired nights. 

That makes me want to stick by his side. 

 For eternity. 

the one where Penny saves the day

Our dog is a hero!  It really could have been disastrous, but no, our trusty dog came to the rescue. So here's the story.

I ran inside to grab something real quick and left the car running.  Beck and Penny were both in the car.  When I got back out to the car (roughly 30 seconds later) I realized the doors were locked.  Car on? check. Beck awake? check.  Penny whining? check.  I don't usually cuss but-"crap". 

Besides that, I was supposed to be somewhere very soon.  It wasn't long before Beck started crying.  Penny sensed something was wrong and was whining at me through the windows.  Then I got an idea!  I coaxed Penny over to the Passenger window and started calling her name and tapping on the glass.  (This also placated Beck for a little while)  Of course she got all stressed out trying to figure out a way to get out to come to me.  It only took a few seconds of this before she stepped on the automatic unlock button and voila! She unlocked the doors for me!  HERO dog! 

Thanks Penny, you're the best. 

P.S.  Abby was actually on her way with a spare key when Penny unlocked the door.  That part makes the story a little less exciting though doesn't it?  I still appreciated Abby.  She was a hero too.

fall leaves

I just can't get enough of Fall.  I love everything about it, the crisp weather, warm colors, scarves, boots, crunchy leaves, pumpkins, halloween...I could go on and on.  I can't help but get a twinge of anxiousness every day as the leaves get more and more colorful.  Every day that they look prettier than the last, means they are one day closer to falling to the ground-leaving lonely, skinny trees.  Its a weird thing I think of I know.  Anyway, we thought it'd be fun to go out and take some pics in the beautiful scenery.  Once again, Jalene did an amazing job capturing our little guy.  Seriously, I want to eat these pictures...or just Beck. 

Look at a few more of the pictures HERE

I just love these two. 

one trip wasn't enough

Last week when my mom was in town we met Kaela at Garner Village.  We had lunch, walked around all the girly stores, and had a fun girls afternoon enjoying the adorable witch decorations.  It was so much fun that Kaela and I decided to bring our husbands and meet again for a picnic! 

This time we went to all the manly stores too. Ok.  There is no such thing at Garner Village.  The closest thing to it would be the Wild West store.  I think the boys had fun too though.  We took lots of pictures because lets be honest, who doesn't like fall scenes! 

Favorite moments of the outing:
*watching how cute Garrett is with his nephew.  Some people just don't know what to do with babies...he does

*posing for a million pics with my sis-and pretty much doing the same dumb face every time because I can't think of anything else

*holding my husband's hand as we walked around

*paying $4 for a lollipop that Beck dropped at the candy store-Wait I take that back. Not a favorite moment

*watching my baby take in all the new sights. (You can tell from the pictures he is mesmorized by his surroundings)

*Anastasia's Attic-a store filled with princess stuff.  Not hot pink, glittery princess stuff...more like vintage lace, Russian tea hats, pearls, and romantic gowns.  mmmm...I loved that place.
 

Here are some more fun pictures of the evening.

 Can you see where Beck gets his facial expressions? 

 We had so much fun with these newlyweds!

I definitely want to make this a yearly tradition. 

Dear Mimi,

Mommy and I had so much fun with you last week.  I loved all the play time we got in. The toys you brought for me entertained me for hours and I can't wait until I fit into the cute clothes you brought.  I wish you were here every day to read to me and watch Baby Einstein together. Mom sure appreciated all your help feeding me and especially hanging out with me while she went to the Nuskin Convention.  I was so lucky to get to spend so much one on one time with you!  Cuddling with you is the best.  Although, I'm sorry I didn't nap very well for you...now you know how Mom feels!  I just like to play all the time!  Meeting Kaela at Garder Village was so much fun too,  lots of great photo opps!  The "fun with Mimi" week ended way too soon,  I can't wait until the next time we get to hang out!  Love you!!

-Beck