24th of July

This year, the Pioneer Celebration was in Pima.  As we live in Pima, we weren't able to avoid it (inside joke) so we went, and SO GLAD we did!  At the last minute, Miles's parents, brother Jess, and his two kids came and parked their little bodies by our apt to watch the parade.  My Aunt Maxine came to and we had a great time!  Miles's dad bought Pima (or Taylor) Freeze for us so we were lovin' life munchin on good food and watching all the people go by...the kiddos got to pick up some candy too, so there life was pretty much complete!

After the parade, everyone came inside and we proceeded to feed them all the Blue Bell ice cream their bellies could hold!  We also showed Miles's dad, the tv show, "The IT Crowd."  Good times...and it was fun just to visit and watch the kids torture the cat...lol.

We then went to the football field to get our pie on and eat some bbq while watching the pageant.  All I can say is wow.  They did an AMAZING job!  The singing was spectacular and the spirit was so strong...really renewed my testimony and admiration and appreciation for our pioneers...what amazing and faithful people!  I loved the arrangement they sang of "Come Thou Fount" as it was done acapella and by women...so beautiful, and what added to that beauty was my lovely hubby AND Walt singing next to me..lol!  At the end of the show, they sang, "Come, Come Ye Saints."  This song GETS ME EVERY TIME.  Wow.  They asked the audience to join in for the final verse...of course the power went out but the whole audience did not miss a beat.  Wow again.  I had to stop singing I was so choked up.  As soon as the song was over, the fireworks began...and holy moly, they were AWESOME! Right over your head...so so cool.  Miles and I laughed at ourselves because we caught ourselves oohing and ahhing with the best of them:)

After the show, we ran onto the field so I could see my bestie, Julee Dorr.  Now, to say I love this girl is an understatement.  This woman has changed my life.  Her friendship came at a time when it was desperately needed.  She taught me to be comfortable with myself, to laugh, to be goofy, and that its okay to love the gospel! Many of my best memories are with her.  I love, love, love this girl and she will always hold a special place in my heart!!!  

Funny story....right before we took this, her baby spit up on her other daughter's hair.  It seriously looked like a bird had pooped in her hair....SO FUNNY!!!

POOL GLaDIaTor 2012

For fun, we (I should day the boys since they did make it, although I had the idea) decided to set up a board over the pool and play "Gladiator" and try to knock each other off with sticks! We used PVC (is that what its called?) and wrapped it with bubble wrap.  It was fine until you started hitting each other, the bubbles POPPED and when you got hit it HURT! So we moved to pool noodles (lame) and eventually wrestling!  Def worth the time and effort and a new favorite game for the pool!

 The first round.Don't know what they are in for...hence the smiles!

 Miles makes his move

 TRIUMPH!

Having fun!

 After Jess getting hammered in the knee by the stick, boys decided to wrestle

 Miles FINALLY gets knocked off ( I seriously have 20 pictures of him knocking everyone else off)!!!

"Big Man" floating in the pool!

Mr. J chillin' out

  Miss J gettin' ready to knock Grandpa off!

 Getting some tips from Dad before wrestling him!

 Holding hands is fun.

 Mr. J showing off his big guns and knocking Grandpa right off....ol' man didn't stand a chance!

 Right before this Jess was talking about how he has told his kids to plug their nose so much that he does it.  Next picture I take of him is this...too funny!

 Miles and his front flip that seems more like an elaborate shoulder roll!

 Jess doing his back flip..freaked his mom out...lol

 "Big Man" versus Miles.

BM won!

 Jess and Mr. J

 Moved onto catching the football that is thrown from across the pool

 Miles's turn

 Miles seriously LOVED this board...

Miss J jumping off!

We seriously had SO MUCH FUN! I just wish I was in better shape for it....I had seen a lady the day before and had some "stuff" done to my back and wasn't suppose to do anything physical for a few days.  Well, I did a few rounds with the sticks on the board and thought I was in the clear....until I went to swim across the pool..holy pain!  Definitely learned my lesson, LISTEN TO THE DOCTOR!  But it was really fun watching the boys go at it and especially the wipeouts.  Good times.

A few funny videos...

And please ignore my obnoxious laugh!

FUNNIEST thing watching "Big Man" fall in!

"I AM THE CHAMPION!"

Don't Hate Me Cause I'm Beautiful

Miles has awesome hair after working all day in a hat!  What makes it more funny is how oblivious he is to it.  Just takes that hat right off without any knowing how psycho his hair is and goes right on doing his thing!

And folks, I swear neither one of us TOUCHED his hair...this is EXACTLY how it looked once the ol' hat came off!

Miss Mischief

My FAVORITE picture of my little one...don't let this innocent face full ya...this girl LOVES to get into trouble...

Catchin' a fly in the kitchen window AFTER eating a rose from a flower arrangement Miles gave me....

Snuck into the cupboards and quite happy with all the glassware....

Helped herself to some corn at dinnertime....

Playing peek-a-boo with Miles while putting holes in the curtains...

Have to forgive her when you get moments like this! 

HaPpY BELATED BirThDaY MiLes

The beauty

My Love turned the BIG (cue sarcasm) 24 this past April....celebrations were minimal but filled with lots of love!  I made a candy cake that I hoped the big boy would love since he's a HUGE connoisseur of candy.  It was sweet, not gonna lie!  A little too much if you ask me and I ended up just eating some of the kit-kats.  It was fun to make even though I ran out of kit-kat bars to put around it.  I even bought extra but it still wasn't enough.  Would have bought more but it was the Sabbath, and ya know, I was trying to keep it! So look past it and render yourself to the fabulous sweetness that was this cake!  Miles  was treated to several "birthday" dinners and loved the attention, I'm sure!

I would just like to say that I only had ONE meltdown while making this cake.  And may or may not have talked loudly to Miles when frustrated about the kit-kat situation....but in the end it all ended up in our happy bellies!

 Miles sister, Kelly, and niece, Samantha, took Miles out for lunch....glad they were able to.  My work was stupid and did not let me off to go, so I was glad someone was able to treat him!

A little music for your day.

BOyCe ThOMpSoN ARboREtUm

Miles and I went to the Arboretum with our friends, Gina and Travis , back in January/Februaryish?  We LOVE hiking and enjoyed our nice stroll through the park.  It was an easy hike and I was ill-prepared for it.  I had never been and my lovely hubby said I could wear whatever shoes I wanted.  HE LIES!!!!  JK but I had thee WORST shoes and constantly had to stop and dump out all the rocks!  Still it was fun and a fabulous workout!

We decided to go to mesa, since it was 45 minutes away, and ATE PEI WEI (our fav) with Gina and Travis....AND we scored a HUGE sale at Downeast Basics and I basically got 3 cardigans and 2 shirts for 20 bucks...SCORE!!!!

 AND PROPS TO THE PEOPLE WHO REMEMBER THIS SHOW!!!! I always secretly wanted to be on it and may or may not have played my own version at the local grocery store!!!

Tortellini Carbonara

I have been on a cooking kick lately...what am I saying...I LOVE to cook ALL THE TIME!  And lucky for me, I married someone who LOVES to eat my cooking.  Lately, I have taken to pinterest and finding recipes there.  This is my most recent one, done last night.  It was INSANELY easy and tasted AMAZING! I probably said, "I LOVE THIS" at least 10 times while eating.  I would have eaten a second plate but I literally had stuffed myself as much as I could with pure awesomeness.  I reminds me of something you would get at Macaroni Grill.  All we were missing was bread (watching the carbs).

TORTELLINI CARBONARA

INGREDIENTS:

1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated cheese tortellini

I got ours at Costco....soo good!

8 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

I tried a new way of cooking the bacon and we loved it.  Here's the link  http://www.momontimeout.com/2011/07/baking-bacon-how-to-guide-to-making.html

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Cook tortellini according to package directions.  Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine the bacon, cream, parsley, and cheese; cook over medium heat until heated through.  Drain tortellini; toss with cream sauce.  Serve immediately.

Seriously folks. If you love pasta you will LOVE this. I'm already craving another plate!

Chef Miles

Sunday morning, Miles made an AMAZING breakfast! He cooked up eggs, bacon, pancakes, and even one with CHOCOLATE chips! It was SUPER tasty and wonderful.  I just had to take pictures of him cooking cause when I walked into the kitchen, I DID NOT expect to see this:

 OR THIS

I laughed out loud...the pictures DO NOT do it justice. Seriously EVERY cupboard was open, trash, and pancake dust all over the counters....I will say that he did clean up EVERYTHING and even wiped the counters (we're working on this) and washed AND PUT AWAY all the dishes.  Well done, my love!

RooSEVelT LakE 2012

We joined some of the Curtis Clan for Memorial Day Weekend at Roosevelt Lake.  We got there saturday morning and stayed till sunday afternoon.  IT. WAS. FUN.  Our friends, Gina and Travis, joined us and we probably spent most of our time on the lake.  When we got there, Kelly and Kevin were there with their two girls.  It was fun to spend some time with them for a bit before they left.  Miles took the girls out on the jet ski and lets just say they DID NOT enjoy it and there were a few tears shed...hahaha!  While at the lake, I drove the jetski for my FIRST time!! LOVED it and honestly I drove pretty much the rest of the weekend, poor Miles...hahaha!  It was super addicting jumping off waves and seeing how big of a splash I could make with it!  Mile's parents were the best and made us delicious food and we enjoyed spending the time with family and friends out in the sun.  Definitely came home sporting some FRIED skin but we cannot wait to go back out there again!

THE CatWaLK 2012

We went to the Catwalks in New Mexico around mid-May.  It was my first time and I absolutely LOVED it!  Its not a hard hike which was a plus and made it all the more enjoyable.  It got kind of hot so we soaked our tootsies in the FREE-AZZZING water!  The suspended bridge made me super nervous but once I walked across I was fine, and pretty soon we were both jumping on it trying to see how much air we could catch! Miles thought he could be Bear Grylls and went after just about everything that moved.  Me, on the other hand, had no desire and seriously FREAKED out when I almost stepped on a lizard.  It was a GREAT hike and has inspired us to get back into hiking and spend more time outdoors!