Austin and Aften's Wedding Shower

My cousin Austin is getting married next month to a cute girl named Aften. We've met her a few times at family parties and we think she's great! My sister in law Aileen and I threw a family wedding shower for them at my house. It was great to meet more of her family and get together with all of my family as well. Here are some pics from the fun night!

No family gathering is complete without some fun interaction between Kyrie and Lily. Although it looks like Lily is poking Kyrie in the face with a fork, the girls were actually taking turns feeding each other spaghetti noodles off of each other's forks. It looks like Kyrie put hers down to get a drink of milk and Lily wasn't quite done yet. Despite the face poking, we are glad that the girls are getting better at working and playing together.

This cute little boy is Alex, my cousin Jessica's son. Isn't he a happy little guy?

The toilet paper brides. Christy (second from the left) won the toilet paper wedding dress design challenge. Her group included my Aunt Tanya who is an amazing seamstress. Although, an honorable mention goes to Shelby's team (far right). The rest of her team consisted of all men, but we thought her flower was a nice feminine touch.

Two beautiful brides :)

Happy Birthday Johnny!

We celebrated Johnny's 29th birthday last week! Somehow we managed to not get very many pictures of the birthday boy himself, but we do have some pretty cute ones of my little helper. Happy Birthday Johnny!

Lily enjoyed helping with the birthday cake so much that she only licked the icing twice. She is quite the expert with sprinkles.

And this picture is just because. Can't pass up chocolate and pig tails.

One of those days!

Last week was a busy, but incredible week! I saw a good friend from high school perform in Into the Woods - amazing. I hosted a baby shower and went to a bridal shower - good times! And my cousin in law/college room mate Shirsti got married on Saturday. I was able to be there for the sealing in the Salt Lake Temple. It was an ideal ending to my week. I will admit it - some days I am just tired. The dishes are piling up, my 16 month old is getting ready to leap off of the kitchen table, I can't exactly pinpoint where a funky smell is coming from .... you know how it goes. So on Saturday it was relaxing to be in the temple with a lot of people who I care about.

I enjoyed catching up with the Christensen family. We have all kinds of random connections besides now being family. Koseli's and Shirsti's aunt was a department secretary in the department I worked at at BYU-Idaho. It was great to see her again and talk to her about people we both know. It brought back a flood of memories from that fun time in my life. Some of my best friends come from my Ricks days.

One of Johnny's cousin's wife's sister (how is that for a mouthful?) was also my visiting teacher when I was first married. It was good to remember those days, too!

As I thought about all of these memories - it made me grateful for the different seasons in life. I can't say that I have a favorite. Every time has its own special significance and little excitements. This week brought back so much nostalgia from high school, college, newlywed days. It reminded me that the best isn't yet to come or in the past - it is here right now. So I am going to take care of those dishes, hug my little dare devil, and somehow find that funky smell .... and enjoy this season of life to the fullest.

Here is my little dare devil. We've been sick with colds this weekend. She woke up early today and then crashed mid play during Signing Time.

And here is my happy reminder that it is fall. Caramel apples anyone?

Lily is obsessed with cell phones. Luckily we have some old ones that she can play with. Johnny was trying to put her down for her nap and she fell asleep talking to herself on the phone

We had Cami's baby shower on Wednesday. Baby Croc should be here in the next few weeks. Any name suggestions?

My niece Ally had fun at the baby shower, too. She has such cute eyes! I love their shape.

And ... we're back!

Our camera from Costco arrived today! We were going to wait for the day after Thanksgiving sales, but with Lily growing so fast ... we couldn't help ourselves. I never knew how picture crazy I was until we didn't have a camera! Johnny and I were thrilled when the little package arrived. However, as you can see from the picture above, someone else was not so thrilled. She thought the package was for her!

We christened the new camera at Coldstone as you can see in the picture below.


Our camera from Costco arrived today! We were going to wait for the day after Thanksgiving sales, but with Lily growing so fast ... we couldn't help ourselves. I never knew how picture crazy I was until we didn't have a camera!

Here's the latest updates in our lives:

• Lily's weekly trips to the Little Gym appear to be paying off. While she is playing around the house I occasionally see her doing little dance moves that she learned in class. Pictures to come! She also climbs ANYTHING. She would spend all day on top of the kitchen table if I let her.
  
• Lily's vocabulary is also expanding. Her latest words are hat and hot. The best part is that she pronounces hat and hot with a British accent. Sometime long, long ago I recall watching Teletubbies and hoping that someday I would have British children or children with British accents. Dreams do come true.
  
• My brother Conner is in the MTC and, in fact, only has a week left in the MTC before he is off to Califonia.
  
• Johnny and I saw Into the Woods at Hale Center Theatre last night. Amazing. Loved it. Especially since a friend I knew from high school as in it. I always enjoy seeing people I know doing things they are passionate about. For example, every month when I open the Ensign I always look for my friend Melissa's name first. It reminds me that I need to be stretching myself and working toward my dreams. I remember talking to Hilary and Ashlee earlier this year about how it's important to keep doing things you enjoy and learning new things. I don't suppose Signing Time counts? Anyways - long story short. I am eager to take back up some old hobbies and start a few new ones. Thanks for the inspiration everyone!
  
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