Kenny's Birthday in NYC

To celebrate Kenny's big  26th birthday we took a little drive down to New York City.  Normally that would be a pretty cool wife thing for me to do, taking my husband to NYC, but because it was only two hours away from where we live it didn't seem quite as extravagant.  Although we didn't have to travel too far it was still very worth it and incredible to see the big city!  Here is a timeline of Kenny's great birthday! :)

Kenny waking up to the apartment decked out in birthday gear. It's an old family tradition of mine built from my mom always printing out happy birthday signs and putting them up around the house. 

Finally found a parking spot in New York after an hour of driving around!  We explored Central Park mostly to see people dressed as if it were the beach!

The one and only Empire State Building!  Very cool building.  Very uncool that it costs $20 to ride the elevador to the top!

Times Square was incredible!  I realize now that Salt Lake City is so small!  Another cool thing was how many mormon ads there are! This is where Kenny got to....

Have his birthday dinner... a New York hot dog... which suprisingly tastes like... well a hot dog!!

That teeny tiny little bump in the skyline there... well that is the Statue of Liberty in all it's majesty. 

It was such a good birthday and such a good way to celebrate Kenny getting so old!  Love you Ken!

Christmas in July!

So us wives here in good ole Bear, Delaware are getting really creative with all our free time.  We decided we needed a little Christmas cheer.  So on the hottest day of the year (so far) with humitdy going over 10000% we decided to have a little Christmas party.  Christmas has always been near and dear to my heart so I was super thrilled about this party of course.  We decided to have it at the pool and have a white elephant gift exchange and bring christmas treats. I decided to make sugar cookies with a recipie from my sister-in-law Amanda. 

3/4 cup of shortening
3/4 cup of real butter (left out all day to soften)
2 cup Sugar
4 Eggs
2t vanilla
5 cups flour
2 t baking powder
2 t salt

Mix fist four ingrediates well.  Then add the rest and mix well.  Chill 2 hours.  Bake at 375 for 7-9 min

So I wanted to make these cookies AWESOME!  So planning ahead I left the butter out in the morning so that it could soften just as the recipie said.... well I had forgotten that I left the butter on the stove... that I forgot to turn off.  Opps!!

Butter was EVERYWHERE!  So I tried to salvage what I could but honestly I ended up wasting some butter.  So after that little incident I went on trying to finish what I started.  Well I didn't plan enough time to let them chill and cool after cooking so I could frost them so I ended up going to the party without any cookies haha.  Good thing I had a funny gift in mind... mwhaha.

Here was all the cute gifts...

This is cute little Chansi, nicole's daugher who we all love!

Cute girls with their funny gifts!

So here was the gift I came up with.  Before you judge, remember it has to be creative and something we already had at our house.... so this is what I came up with..

Slippers!!! Made out of pads!  Creative I know right? haha  We all had a good laugh about them.

This is Nicole, who throughly enjoyed her gift and even wore them to bed that night until her husband realized what they were!

This is Makelle and me with our awesome gifts!

It was such a hot day that we all only stayed at the pool for twenty minutes before we almost hit heat exhaustion, but still was a fun Christmas party!  Merry Christmas!

To finish off the day I went home and finished those cookies... even though they caused me such grief they turned out very moist and yummy!

Parents for a Visit!

I love my family and love spending time with them and definitely haven't gotten to see them enough this summer.  Luckily my parents were able to come into town and visit us!  We filled the week with a visit to Gettysburg...

I think Kenny and my dad enjoyed all the history a little more than me and my mom! :) Or maybe the three hour tour was just a little too long.. haha  It was amazing to be in such a somber place where so much of our Nation's history lies though. 

The rest of the week I got to show my parents all around Philadelphia.  They agreed it was a fun place although none of us are fans of the crazy traffic. 

Then we drove six hours north to Palmyra, New York.  We were able to see Joseph's Smiths house, the sacred grove, and the Hill Cumorah Pageant.  It was amazing and the spirit was so strong in these places. 

While we sat in the Sacred Grove my dad read part of the scriptures from Joseph Smith History and wow it was really neat!  It was also fun to see my parent's testimony through their eyes and example.  I loved being there and having that experience with them. 

We got to play tennis, explore old towns, and play card games throughout the week!  It was so fun having them come to visit and we're so happy they did! 



Movie Stars??

Kenny has always told me that people tell him he looks likes James Bond (Daniel Craig) I on the other hand say pft... ya whatever.  Since we have dated and gotten married I have been with him on SEVERAL occasions to where people claim he looks exactly like him!  And it has followed him clear to here on the east coast So here is the evidence...

Yeah? No?  Yea....I don't know if I am entirely convinced either.  

Coming Back!

Time is so tricky.  It flies by without you even looking up to notice, or it can drag on until seconds become years.  The past two weeks time was even more confusing then it usually is!  I went home to Utah for two weeks which was very long but then again not long enough!  I got to see many of my friends…

Lots of my family…

I was able to attend a wedding, a bridal shower, and helped plan a baby shower all in two weeks!  But there was one thing I didn’t get to do in that two weeks - see Kenny!  Two weeks without him was crazy!  While at the same time I was having a blast being back home to familiar scenes, I couldn’t help but want the time to go by quickly so I could get back to him!  So slowly, but yet quickly the two weeks went by.  I got on my plane to come home and had an awesome opportunity to talk about my religion to the lady next to me.  I was able to answer her questions that no, the sister’s wives are NOT part of our religion and yes, we ARE allowed to have candy.  I was really happy to clear up those misunderstandings. 

 As soon as I got off the plan I could not wait to see Kenny!  Finally he came around with the car and there he was! ... With a dark thick mustache?

(ok well he wasn't wearing the helmet at the airpot but mustache... yes haha)

Yes my dear husband likes to keep me on his toes and laughing.  I am glad he keeps life so interesting.  But I was just happy to see him and not to mention our very clean apartment and flowers he had gotten for me to welcome me home. (Please notice the ‘vase’ haha).  I sure love him, and it is GOOD TO BE BACK!

crafting

I have now experienced the joys of crafting.  First of all, I went to the dollar store and bought dollar frames and headbands that were actually one penny for three of them… that’s right one penny. (I have also experienced the joy of bargain shopping can ya tell?)  So I took my dollar frames and modpodged some old scrapbook paper I had lying around.                

Then after I crafted that up, I wrapped the headbands in fabric and hot glued material flowers on them!  Easy!     

So even though I still have a ways to go till I get to this…        

          

(This was my sister’s baby shower that my sister-in-law, Mandy, created.  Go to www.joyinthejumble.com)     

I don’t think I realized that it would be so fun to get crafty!  This is living proof that ANYONE can craft!

              

Then because I was feeling crafty I ended up making cupcakes with delicious frosting made with powdered sugar, cream cheese, and fresh raspberries. Hmmm....

Back In Utah!

The past two weeks I have been back in Utah for some very special occasions!  First was Lucy's blessing.  It was so neat to see my brother-in-law bless little Lucy with such a sweet blessing!  It was so fun to have everyone together and I got to meet Lucy's birthmom who is such an amazing girl!    

Then I was able to go to the Sealing of Lucy to her parents at Mt. Timp Temple, the next Saturday which was amazing!!! It was a big testimony builder of how important families are and how they are really meant to be together forever!  Here is the beautiful family...

So amazing to be able to come back for this but oh man do I miss Kenny!  Good thing I am going back this Friday, cause I sure miss him!