House Warming Guests

So after getting a little bit settled into our house we had quite a group of visitors. My mom came the week after we moved in to help me start painting, decorating and getting things organized. So my projects are getting checked off one by one. We painted all the hallways upstairs and my kitchen and dining areas (pictures to come) with the help of my sister-in-law Becca, my mom and Cody helped a bit as well. I am in love with my color choices and I am still steaming on ahead. Next will be my sewing room and Cody's office.

The next week we were greeted by both of my sisters, their husbands, and their children. It was so much fun! We played games, we went to the park, we went home decor shopping, we went to lunch, all the good stuff. The boys even got a round of golf in while they were here.
My big boy Porter and I swinging on the swings at the park around the corner from our house. He remembered me pretty quickly, such a blessing. He is such a sweet, cuddly boy. We love him so much.

The boys (Randy-married to Kelly, and Jeff-married to Erin) weren't about to let the kids have all of the fun. They got into it to. When they play, they play hard and as dangerous as they can. So watch out!

Fallon had so much fun playing on everything she could get her hands on. You can see Jeff in the backgroud pushing kids on a little contraption. They had way too much fun on that thing.

Jeff and Porter. Porter sure does love his daddy!

Rhett had gotten a little tamer in his old age...haha. He isn't as adventurous and fearless as he used to be. But boy does he like to laugh, mimic, and talk, talk, talk!

Here he is again doing it just like his daddy taught him. This little guy is all smiles and go go go all the time (as long as he isn't tired).

Here is Rhett and his Mama (Kelly). If he can't see either of his parents, he likes to ask over and over..."Where Mama? Where Daddy?" (he just started talking up a storm a couple of months ago, he was what they call "tongue tied" before. so after he got his tongue clipped, he talks like crazy). But he says my name and Cody's name super well, and he likes to ask where we are too, its cute. We were impressed. :) He also liked to chase me around the house. I couldn't get enough of this boy!

Here is Emery at the discovery center at the Gateway. They had to find something to do with the kids while I was at work on Monday. This place was a hit. If you are in Downtown Salt Lake, and you need to entertain children, this is the place to go.Porter watchin' all the kids. He is content to watch whatever is going on. Such a chill little guy, and he is super cute!

Emery & Fallon enjoyed the snow while they were here. It was their first encounter and they loved it. Here they are trying to catch it in their mouths.

Here is part of our backyard; that awful split rail cuts our yard in two...new fence to come...But the view is amazing at sunset, sunrise, night time, we LOVE it!

Porter wasn't as convinced the snow was a good idea. Here is his dad trying to coax him into playing in it. Not diggin' it.

We loved having all of our house guests. It was really sad to see them go. The house is really quiet and empty now. But we know they will be back. Thanks for coming you guys. And thanks Kelly & Erin for my awesome house warming gifts and all the decorating help! See you in 4 weeks when we are off to CA for some more fun!

Easter Weekend

So this Easter was great. I can't remember the last time Easter & General Conference fell on the same week. It could have been more recent than I think, but I don't recall.
Anyway, I thought it was pretty special that we were able to celebrate the fulfillment of the Atonement, the Resurrection of Christ, and listen to our wonderful Prophet, Apostles and General Authorities this weekend.
Friday started as a date night for us. We went to dinner, drove around Bountiful for a bit, and just enjoyed each other's company. Also, date night would not be date night without a trip to the grocery store! Awesome. Cody has been obsessed with this new website about food storage, and deals to stock up on. (Side note. Cody was so cute when we were dating. A couple months before we got engaged Cody was telling me reasons he wanted to marry me. He had been sitting in a lesson at church about food storage the week prior, and he got a surge of emotion. He said that was when he had the thought, I want to marry her, so we can do things like Food Storage together to prepare for things to come. So when we were having one of serious chats he blurted out "I want to marry you so that I can do food storage with you!", at the time it stunned me, now, not so much. I just thought that was cute, and we are now fulfilling his dream). Cody saved us $40, I'm pretty proud of him, our total went from $96 to $51.
Next we decided to Red Box, which is pretty common for us. We got "The Time Traveller's Wife", which I would not recommend to anyone, ever. But that is an entirely different post. Cody was cute and lit our fireplace because it was a crisp night, and we had the slider wide open. It was wonderful. I love the smell of cool, fresh air coming in, cuddled up on the couch with my babe, and the electric blanket. :) Nothing sweeter.
The next morning we got to start enjoying the 2 day spiritual extravaganza which is General Conference. How wonderful is it to hear those voices?!?! They are almost as familiar to me as the voices of my family. They bring peace, comfort and understanding ever time. The talks were all amazing, and very relevant (as always), we thoroughly enjoyed it.Then off Cody went to Priesthood Session. My sister in law Colette was nice enough to come up and keep me company while he was gone. So her and I and the kids had dinner, took some pictures of the kids, played some games. And then it was bath time. The kids had a great time in the bath. We love having them at our house, Cody was sad he missed them by about 20 minutes.
That night Cody and I decided to camp out in our family room so that we were ready for conference the next morning. No sleeping in! So we did. It was fun, but we wouldn't do it on a monthly basis or anything. We had our trusty air matress, which made for a pretty good night's sleep, and a good spot in the morning as well. It was fun to watch the snow fall in the early morning as well off our balcany. There is nothing like waking up looking out a large window with the sun glaring off of the purest white.
Sunday was the day of the rising of our beloved Savior. And what a beautiful day. The snow in the morning, and then by noon it had all melted away(which is usually how I prefer it, MELTED; sure its great to look out, but its freakin cold!). I loved so many talks. It was great. They just seem to get better and better.
This is my favorite Easter picture. Victory! He is Risen! I know my Redeemer Lives, and he loves each of us individually. Its such a special time of year. I love it.
Cody and I decided to nix the Easter baskets and new clothes this year, since we weren't going to our ward on Easter Sunday. That way we really get the full effect of what Easter really is. And we didn't miss them one bit!

After Conference, my friends from home (Camarillo, Ca) had our 3rd Semi-Annual Taco Party. Its just a fun get together every conference when some of them drive up to the rest of us for the weekend. We love getting together for anything, especially good food. Brian & Cameron always make great tacos, and they always provide the Death Sauce.
Cody has really jumped into the group quite well, and who could help but like him? He is about the nicest guy there is. Any of you that know him would be able to confirm that statement. :)
All in all it was a great Easter weekend, a whole lot of fun, laughs, and spiritual fulfillment!


Ps. My family came the last week, but I am waiting to steal pictures from my sister for that post. Also, I am still slacking on pictures of the house. But we have been painting like mad, switching out light fixtures, planning attacks, and trying to get every thing settled. I PROMISE I will get it posted sometime this month!

Attitude of Gratitude

So as most of you know we closed on our house yesterday! We are super excited for this new chapter in our lives. Its really put us in perspective. We are sad to leave people in our ward, but we are happy to be able to enter into a new ward, an new adventure, filled with possible new friends and neighbors.
But really this experience has really thrown us into an attitude of gratitude.
We are grateful for the many things we have been blessed with. For both of our families that give us support by the boat load. For the encouragement from our friends, and we know how blessed we are to have all of you in our lives.
We are grateful for the gospel that brings us so much peace in our lives. And believe you me, we needed peace more than anything else in this world that past 6 months with everything that has gone on in our lives in addition to our home search. We are thankful for our the way things just seem to turn out, making us aware of a "Master plan". I am grateful for the scriptures, for direction it gives, as well as the council of the Prophet and his apostles. How wonderful is it to be able to look to them for such informed guidance.
I am thankful for the priesthood power, and the man in our home that lives worthy of it. It gives me an awesome sense of comfort. The ability we have to be sealed together and the bond it gives a family in and out of this existence.
I am thankful for temples, which are equal in beauty to how many blessings we receive from it. I am glad that Cody and I started going monthly even before we were married, it put us in the habit really early on. Even though I may have gotten off to a rough start, it has brought us so much joy to go and spend time together there. I am thankful to live in such a close proximity to so many temples (I think there are at least 5 or 6 within 30 minutes) so that we are able to get our stuff together, and just say "hey, I feel like going to the temple tonight, lets go!".
I am grateful for so many things in my life, and taking steps just reminds you of how much you have to be thankful for. I need to do better at being able to take in things every day, and not just in prayer, but just taking it in and thinking "I have so much to be thankful for".
As much as there is hardship and struggle, there are blessings and gifts along the way as well. "Count your many blessings, see what God hath done" because wow is it amazing!
PS. I took pictures of the house yesterday, but I forgot my usb cord, so I will be posting them soon! Love you all!

My New Favorite Place for Breakfast

So my good friend Kiernan and I decided that we were going to go to breakfast this morning. Cody was going to be gone most of the early part of the day, so it was the perfect opportunity.
We were originally going to go to Mimi's Cafe, cause their breakfast is amazing...but as we were driving we thought we might want to go on a little adventure. So we went to a place Kiernan had heard about, but had never been called Eggs In the City. We weren't really sure exactly where it was, but knew the general area. So we decided to scout it out and just drive until we found it. After driving and admiring some cute little vintage houses, we found it!
WOW! My new favorite place! The atmosphere was so fun. It reminded me of home a little bit. It was a bit of a hipster, indie, small coffee shop vibe, which I love! (for those of you in Ventura County, think Old New York Bagel meets Central Perk on FRIENDS). The inside is kind of industrial looking with exposed silver duct work, and chalk boards, cute counter, bistro tables, and high bar stool tables. I just love the one of a kind places, not so much chain eateries.
Not only was the atmosphere awesome but the food was SO good. I got a Ham, Spinach and Pepper Jack Cheese omelet which came with some heavenly potatoes and toast. It was delish! Kiernan got this fantastic looking stack of pancakes with awesome fresh fruit and walnuts on it, and some yummy eggs. It was SO yummy and fresh.
The people that work there were real laid back and chill. Awesome. It reminded me of working the Salon Circuit back home. Which I miss terribly. You don't get a lot of places like that here in Utah, so it was a diamond in the rough! Its in a quiet neighborhood in Sugarhouse.
I love Sugarhouse. I wouldn't really want to live there, its better for people who are still living the single life, but I love to go down there and hang out in the cute little shops and the cute little random places to eat. Just gives me a little glimpse of life back in the Los Angeles area. I will be going back soon, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for something different, with a sweet hipster vibe. Check it out next time you are in town!
Hope you are having a fabulous weekend!
I know a lot of you back in CA get what I'm talkin bout! :) haha Miss you guys like crazy!

The day of love...

So this Valentine's Day we decided would be a bit different. No fancy dinner, no gifts, no flowers, it just didn't feel right this year. We wanted to kind of focus on other people this year instead of ourselves. The thought of buying more stuff for us, just seemed like a waste. Do we really need more stuff? Do I really need to get another bouquet of flowers? He does that enough throughout the year...So we decided we would try to make it better for someone else.
This year we chose Colette, for obvious reasons. This is the first Valentines Day without her wonderful husband, and I really wanted to just ease the sting, even for just a minute. So Cody and I took her two older children and got some flowers and a card for Mom. (Plus, I am sure Colette could use a little more me time). Cole picked the prettiest flowers he could find, and Hallie decided she wanted to pick the card all on her own. They did a great job! We got suckers to share with Mom and the other kids that would be at the house later that night. Cole & Hallie couldn't be happier. They both love and adore their mom so much, and they should, she is amazing. Colette has been a real example to me of what faith, diligence, perseverance, love, and selflessness are. She has done so much for Codes and I and we couldn't think of anyone that deserved an act of kindness more. Not to mention she has always been a great example to me in the past couple years, and a great friend and sister. So Happy Valentine's Day Colette! We love you! And don't worry, we made time to talk and tell eachother we love eachother between all of the chaos. ;)
Hope you all enjoyed your Valentine's Day! I would have to say that we did.