Taste of Paradise

Brad and I went for a walk on Sunday and stumbled upon this couple while out! Of course I ha to make Brad go pose with them!

It was Megan's birthday on Thursday- she is the OA out here. We took her to Red Lobster for lunch and then, of course, we had to go to Bahama Bucks after. Mindi's parents were in town for a few days, so they joined us as well!

 We had a tornado warning in our area. Luckily nothing scary ever came through, except for this dust storm. We had to leave the store early so we didn't get caught in it because we were told if we were to drive in it, we wouldn't be able to see anything in front of us.

A blog is in the making for these bows...

A day at the pool + bahama bucks = a perfect summer day!!

Texas!

We were in 8 different states in just 4 days! It was a little crazy those 4 days, and a lot of driving.. but everything worked out and we are happy where we are! So here is the story: we had contemplated switching companies and going with one of Brad's mission buddies to Louisiana. We finally decided, about a week before we left, that we would go with them. They were starting the summer off in Kansas City, so after staying a night with Kylee and Brody in Colorado, we headed there. Our GPS took us through Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and finally Kansas. After being there for one day, some things changed at Vivint, making it more beneficial for us to go back, so we spent the next day traveling to Texas. 

We are living in Lubbock, TX. It is a really nice city and our apartments here are really nice! We have a 3 bedroom apartment, so if anyone happens to be in this area and needs a place to stay, you'd be more than welcome to stay with us! ;)

Oh the joys of shopping from scratch. Felt like newlyweds all over again!

I went to lunch with the other wives my first Saturday out here at On the Border.

The wives and I also went to this really cool science museum one day. They have this cool kid area that has a cute pet store, grocery store, and a music room. They also have a butterfly museum that we got to see.

After church on Mothers Day, we walked around the Lubbock temple- which is in the same parking lot as our church! Then we made crepes with some of our friends, and then we were able to skype with my parents and Brad's whole family! We haven't been all together for about 2 1/2 years. But, between 3 different skypes, we were able to see and talk to everyone! 

 

 I seriously love this girl! She is one of my friends little girls- she was playing in the mirror one day while I was babysitting.

Two of my absolute favorite places- Firehouse subs and Bahama Bucks!!

April

 This picture was actually in March.. but we had an Easter Egg hunt at All About Kids. We had over 1500 eggs to hide- and you better believe that we ran out of places to hide the eggs, and just started throwing them all over the ground! :) We let everyone in at once, and all the eggs were gone in about five minutes!

 We went to Provo to babysit for one of my friends for a few days. Stacey, Nick and their twin girls were with us in Houston/Amarillo Texas in 2011. We had so much fun with their cute girls! We took them to Thanksgiving Point to see the dinosaur museum and the animal farm, went on lots of walks, played at the park and dyed Easter eggs.

Brad played some catch with Cam one day

 and.. we got a nasty sliver out of Jake's finger. 

 We had to go to Provo one day to get some things done for the summer and decided to stop by In-and-Out for lunch and to Krispy Kreme- two of my favorite places!!

Brad had his mom give him a haircut and decided it would be fun to have a mullet. I only let that last for about 2 minutes! ;)

General Conference was great, as usual. I absolutely love our traditional picnic that we have during the Sunday afternoon session. 

 Brad and I took Kalani to her gymnastics meet in Ogden since her mom was in Australia. I absolutely love watching gymnastics and it was so fun to see Kalani do her thing. She was great!

Malachi and Makoi always look out the cat door anytime anyone leaves the garage. It is so funny!

 We went to the Jordan River temple with Jake, mom and dad. It was such a beautiful temple- I always love seeing new temples. We went to dinner after at Red Robin.

Drum roll please........ We closed on our very first home!!! :) It is located right below campus. It is a tri-plex, so there is a 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartment. We will be living in the 2 bedroom and renting out the others. It's hard to believe we are home owners, and it doesn't really feel like it's ours yet, since we haven't moved in, but we are so excited! There are two grad students living in our part, and they will move out at the end of September and we'll move in. 

 We babysat the Hess' the last few days before we left for the summer. They had two different ducks come in their pool, which we thought was pretty crazy. Come to find out, they have been coming every night for the past couple months. How random is that though! We fed them some bread, and enjoyed watching Sofie (their dog) chase them around the pool.

We took them to the park, and to the fun park to play! Man I love these kids..

On Sunday, we took them to church, and for a walk/bike ride. 

 Then we went to Hillcrest, joined by my family and the Bundy's. After the park, we went to my parents for a yummy dinner and to say goodbye to everyone.. :(

 It was so dang sad to say bye to Jake! He leaves for his mission in just two short weeks (sorry mom- I'm sure you don't want to be reminded..) and we will be missing his farewell, which I am so sad about. He is going to be a fabulous missionary and the people of Washington are very lucky to have him.

March

Dallen brought all of us hats from Chili! 

I loved hanging out with the Galvin's and Coy's and their two cute boys one Friday night. We went to dinner and played some games. Then, just a few weeks later, we hung out with the Galvin's and Brown's and their babies. It was so fun to see them together because they were born 1 day apart! Again- we went to dinner and played games.  

Brad Graduated from USU in December. I am so proud of him- he is such a hard worker and this is such a great accomplishment! We went to campus and took some pictures of him- but he decided not to walk. 

Dallen gave his homecoming talk on St. Patricks day and then we had a lunch after. We headed to Carol's school for the second part of a progressive lunch- a cafe rio burrito. It was so fun to see some family members that I don't get to see a ton, including Grandma, Paul, Von and Rick and Kylee and Brody! Then we headed to the Skeen's for dessert and games. Kylee and Brody came to visit since it was their Spring Break. It was so fun to have them and we did a lot of fun things while they were here. 

 Cam's birthday was on Monday (the 18th) so we headed to Ogden to go to the Salomon Center. We ate lunch at pizza factory, played arcade games, watched Jake and Cam do ifly and the rock wall, and did the flow rider. It was such a fun night!

The Bundy's came over for a delicious Rumbi Grill meal made by my mom and then bowling after. 

 

Thursday was such a special day! Jake went through the temple for the very first time! The sunset was so beautiful after we got done. We had dinner at my parents afterwards. 

 

 I love that it is getting warm enough to take these cuties to the park!

Ok, Ok... I know you guys are probably really sick of me posting pictures of babies that aren't even mine-- but she is just so cute! This is my friends baby that we watched for a couple hours on Saturday.

We went to The Crepery with some friends for the first time and boy was it delicious