μαραθώνιο

There she is folks, my HAWT wife ran an entire marathon this last weekend. Despite waking up at 3 AM, driving for an hour and a half to reach the starting line, waiting in line for 30 minutes to used the port-a-potty on the top of the mountain, getting rained (a lot) & hailed on, having a hurt knee before she even started, she still did it. 26.2 ridiculous miles.

I'm really proud of her. Watching someone prepare for a marathon is a pretty inspiring thing to witness.

I love you hot wife!

Treasure Hunting and Farmland

Since the snow all melted in April, I've really come to enjoy the quaint and run-down places that are everywhere in Idaho.  I find it all very charming.  Just in my little 30 minute drive from here to Rexburg, there are all kinds of deteriorating barns, adorable white farmhouses, tons of rolled up hay bales, ginormous tractors rolling around on the street like it's nothing out of the norm, and even some cute antique shops.  I've been taking a few pictures, but it would be so very fun to get a nice camera and take a day to photograph it all.

When we moved to my grandma's old house, I decided to go through the pasture (picture above) and the sheds to see if I could find any hidden treasures.  I started at this shed...

and I ripped off the door... which, if turned sideways (and cleaned up a bit), I think would be a really fun headboard. 

I also just really like the wood on the shed...

It would be fun to cover a wall in a house with it, just to add some character, similar to this...

photo via The Lettered Cottage

Then I went and looked through this old shed...

and found my mom's old saddle and stirrups, fun!  It made me wish I had a horse.

I like chestnuts, like this one.

She's beautiful.  Being in Idaho has always made me want to have a horse.  I've never really wanted one anywhere else I've lived.  Maybe that's because I grew up associating Idaho with my grandma's horses.

Anyway, I digress.   I looked a little deeper in the shed, and I found some vintage skis.

Cleaned and stained, I think they could be fun.

I finished up looking through some other old sheds and places I used to play as a little girl.  I didn't find much else, just lots of fun memories. 

It's been fun to re-visit some of my fondest childhood memories.  We like living here, although we're aching to feel settled again (we'll only be in this house until January).  We're trying to decide whether to build or buy, stay in a neighborhood or go a little more rural.  Save for a nice house, or buy a fixer-upper and go all DIY on it.  Any suggestions??

I'll be back soon-ish with family pictures, we've been doing so much that it's hard to get it all in one post :) 

Potato is to Idaho as Summer is to Sunshine

Ok, so obviously, a little time has past since my last posting.  But the blog is still looking better than the time gaps between my journal entries, so I'm feeling pretty good about things.
In the past couple of months, we've moved, put together a huge dessert table for a wedding, finished a tax season, adopted a cat, watched a ton of basketball, started marathon training, taught the kids how to swim, and celebrated a birthday.
First up, my family's cat decided to start a family, and in early April, the little rat-like looking things were born.

Fortunately, it only took a couple of weeks for them to start looking like cats, and the kids loved every second of it.

If you want to see the most hilarious video ever about cats go here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTTwcCVajAc&feature=player_embedded
 Hilarious... and pathetic.  I truly hope she finds her soul mate.

Over Easter we went down to Vegas.  The weather was great and the people were better.  We had a blast.   So did our bank account.

Ashton's favorite part was the ride home.

 

The whole thing just wore Hallie out (sweet keyboard, yeah?).

At the end of May, we made the move to Idaho Falls.  I miss being so close to my sisters, but it's reeeeaally nice to be able to be any place I want to be in about 5 minutes (as opposed to 40).  We took one of the kitties with us, and she loves the new pad.  She sleeps with Hallie at night and likes to snuggle right in.

Then in June we decided to go up to my grandpa's cabin with Stu's family.  The weather was surprisingly good up there.  We fed the fish, tried to catch the fish, played games, shot some soda cans, rode the four wheelers and ate a lot of food. And we slept in a warm room on a bed... my kinda camping.

Since then, we've just been trying to get settled in, figuring out what we want to do with the rest of our summer, and just enjoying Adam being home (this is the first time in our six years that he's come home and hasn't had to study for something).  

We hope everyone else is enjoying their summer!  We miss all of you that are far away.  Hopefully you'll hear from us again sooner than later next time around :)

Since January

Ok I got all my pictures!
So in January, I got to make a cake for my cousin's wedding...

 

 

Everything was pink at the wedding, super feminine and therefore super fun.  I like girly  :)

Then it was Hallie's 4th birthday.  Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Jake came into town and we had a great day together.  Hallie was definitely princess for the day.

Oh yes... and Ashton knocked out his front tooth.  He looks a little homeless, but I find it kind of endearing too.  Here he is on his first tie-wearing Sunday ever.

Then in February, my brother turned 12, so for his birthday present, I made him a basketball cake and jerseys with all his teammates name and numbers.  It was a big hit with the boys :)

And Hallie and Tate hammed it up at the party.

I haven't really taken any pictures since then, but we're doing well.  We joined a gym and the kids ask to go swim there like 12 times a day.  I've started running again and plan on running either the St. George or Santa Barbara marathon this year (I would prefer the SB marathon, although the timing isn't superb... but a marathon along the coast?? How amazing would that be?!).The weather is kinda sorta starting to warm up, so maybe the snow will be gone by the end of April :)

Adam keeps working like crazy, we miss him, but I'm just grateful I have lots of family to keep me company.  And a job.  Definitely grateful for a job. 

We'll be moving to Idaho Falls next month, which is warmer and not so windy.  Better for us thin-skinned folk :)

A post is coming!

I promise to get a real post up this week. 
I've been trying, but every time I sit down to do it, I realize I need Adam's computer, it has all the pictures.
But Adam isn't here much, so I have very small windows of opportunity to get it done.
I thought a few times about just writing up a post without pictures, but those aren't much fun.
I thought about boring you with my unusually-strong-for-a-female-feelings about Brandon Davies or the Heat's failure to win any big game (which I'm actually glad for, those boys need some humbling) and just loaf around when they have huge leads to end up LOSING again. lame.
But most of you don't care about what I think about basketball (I get my unusual female obsession from my dad).
So instead, I'll just promise you a good ol' post with pictures and no ranting in a few days.
And remind all my Vegas friends that I am only 6 weeks away from being with you...
and I'm sooooooooooooooooooo excited :)

As I type this, my fingers are falling off

Lately we've been seeing a lot of this....

And you may be thinking, oh, it's so pretty!!
But then you get more, and it looks like this...

Not so pretty, or fun.
Then you get more.  So much, in fact, that you could build this...

if your hands didn't fall off in the process of making it.
Not to mention, we've been seeing a lot of these...

 This is Adam, standing next to the hill behind our house.
ok not really, but basically.


And this is what really happened just last week.

 yes, that's a -21 on there.  That's the temperature it was when I woke up.  So cold that your breath freezes while it's still in your nostrils.  So if you're out for more than 30 seconds, you're basically dead.

And this is what I've been doing with my husband a lot lately... (I'm the one in the white hat, he's on the boat).

 Thank you tax season and CPA tests.  



So I'm ready for a vacation.


But I don't foresee one anytime soon, so I guess in the meantime, I'll consider building my next house like this...

It IS completely made of snow.


Until it starts to warm up and we can feel our extremities once again :)

 

We're Alive!

I know it's been a loooooooooooooong time since I last updated.  We've had quite a lot happen in the past couple of months.  We put our house up for rent in Vegas and found great renters fairly quickly.  Then we packed up and headed to Idaho at the beginning of December, just in time for it to turn freezing cold!
We had a very busy but wonderful Christmas.  We unpacked, I was able to help create a hot chocolate bar for the business my dad helps manage, and then we built a kitchen for the kids for Christmas. 
Then in January I made a wedding cake for my cute cousin.  I also put together a fun little dessert table for Hallie's birthday (she turned 4!).  Now I'm just trying to catch up on everything... like the blog :)
It's been fun to live by my family.  The kids love having cousins to constantly play with, and I like having the company while Adam works late hours and studies.  My sister and I have been taking watercolor classes together, too.  It's been wonderful, so besides the weather and missing some great friends, I really can't complain about living here.
We're really looking forward to coming down to Vegas in April to thaw out.  We can't wait to see our friends and visit the ward again.  We miss it!

first snowman of the season

the famous blank-stare

little mary...

smiling... or grimacing??? at her baby

christmas eve par-tay

the christmas day princess

ashton getting ready for the snowmobiles at the cabin