Coaches Show

We love attending the Coaches Show before every Utah game. It is really neat to see Kyle Whittingham and the players that they host each week on the show. Here are some pictures of the first show...

The partners in crime! Sam and her cousin (who is the same age) in their matching outfits:

Coach Whittingham is such a nice guy. He is always so willing to take pictures and talk with all of the fans after the show. He was such a good sport to take a picture with the twins ;)  

Another fun hiking trip...

Volunteer/Service Opportunities?

With the new school year started, Nic and I have set a lot of goals for our family. I am very excited about the changes we are making to try to better our home, parenting, spirituality and relationship.

Now that Sam is getting a little bit older and taking good afternoon naps, I want to make good use of my "free" time. I am looking for a volunteer or service opportunity where I can either:
A) Bring Sam along with me in the mornings
B) Work from home on a project while she is taking a nap

Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I know that's kind of a unique dynamic, I am not sure what kind of service I can do with Sam. I am hoping to find something that will be a good fit! Let me know if you have any ideas!

Back to School

I love back to school time. Most people are so sad when the summer is over, but I love the fresh start that the new school year brings. I love structure, organization and schedules. Not to mention the wonderful weather that Fall brings!

Nic starts his FINAL year of law school tomorrow. I am so excited that we are nearing the end of this long journey. There are so many things that I am looking forward to! Nic and I have been married for over 5 years and we have yet to buy a car, a house, heck we have never even bought furniture or any major purchase. I know that sounds crazy but we have been trying to avoid any debt until we are completely done with school and have a secure job. Now that the end is in site... I am dreaming of buying couches, having my own car, decorating and so many stupid little things that I have been so eager to do as a homemaker & wife. I realize we may still be a few years away from some of these purchases, but I am still so excited just thinking about it. Isn't it fun dreaming about the future?

Pineview, Our pet hawks & Hiking

Part of our family went to Pineview Reservoir last week. The kids all loved playing in the water, the babies seemed to prefer the sand though. We had a fun BBQ and enjoyed spending time together.

Every year a pair of Red-tailed hawks nest in the trees next door to us. We love watching them each spring and summer as they have a new little one who leaves the nest. This year they had twins! It has been so much fun to come outside and see them flying around our house. One day one of the hawks actually landed on the bird bath that I have outside of my window...what an amazing site that was. You don't realize how big they really are until you are eye level with one.

Nic and I went hiking last weekend. One of my favorite things about living where we do is that you can be in the mountains hiking within 10 minutes of our house. It was so beautiful up there and I can't wait to go back. We had a deer walk right in front of us on the trail, it was so neat. I hope you can see it in the 3rd picture.

Goodbye Benj

We had to say goodbye to our brother Benj today. He is leaving to serve a 2 year LDS mission in Tijuana.We are so proud of his decision to serve, but we are really going to miss him. This is the 3rd brother in 3 years that we have had go on missions. I will be happy when they have all returned home safely. 

 

We had family pictures taken before he left, here are a few...

Sammy's Party

We were living in DC when Samantha turned 1 years old, so now that we are home we wanted to celebrate her birthday with our family. We started setting up for the party on Saturday afternoon. About a 1/2 hour before the party started the clouds started rolling in and we had to make a last minute switch to my in-laws house. I think it actually worked out better because all of the kids had so many fun things to do. Here are a bunch of pictures of the day..

Nic doing his amazing work on the BBQ

Nic and I got Sam this climber, all of the toddlers loved it!

The kids LOVED the tramp, horse, and gathering eggs from the chicken coop!

Sam got this adorable rocking chair from my parents.

Sam got so many awesome presents!

My amazingly creative sister made the cutest gift for Sam. These are blocks...they spell her name, have shapes, pictures and colors on them, AND have pictures of everyone in her family. Can you believe that? I can't believe how talented she is and I can't believe she came up with such a unique gift. Thanks for all your hard work J!

Thanks to everyone in our family for coming and spoiling Sam so much. We love you and appreciate your influence in Sam's life.

My head is spinning!

It is so great to be back in Utah! I didn't feel like I needed to leave DC, but now that we are home I am so happy. I am loving the cooler weather, seeing family, and having a car again.

Since our plane landed my head has just been spinning. My house is out of control and I hate chaos. I need to get organized, so I am using my blog to write down my thoughts and tasks. We have a lot of family obligations this week. Nic's brother is leaving on his mission so we have jammed the week full of family pictures, dinners, etc. Not to mention we are finally celebrating Sam's 1st Birthday this weekend.

I need to:

• Finish unpacking
• CLEAN (everything in the apartment is dusty and gross from us being gone all summer)
• Laundry, Laundry, Laundry
• Buy replacement stroller (Delta broke ours on the flight home)
• Shop for Sam's Party (gift, food & paper products)
• Make desserts for Benj's farewell
• Oil Change/Car repairs
• Get my pictures ready to enter in the Davis County Fair
• Get Nic suits for upcoming interviews
• Get the yard ready for Sam's party

Once those things are completed, I desperately need a girls night with my sisters! I missed them so bad.

Poor Nic has started on his other internship and has to complete 150 hours before school starts at the end of August. Not to mention the huge "honey do" list I have for him. He works from sun up till sun down, I admire him so much.

I feel sad that the summer is pretty much over. I feel like I missed the whole thing because I was gone. I can't complain though, it was such a neat opportunity we had for the summer. Hope to see all of you soon and catch up on everything I have been missing! Have a great weekend!