The 4th of July

Daniel got back from California, just in time to enjoy the Fourth of July festivities in Provo.  Good times were had!  Provo really knows how to celebrate the 4th!!

Valentines #32

Despite all the rolling of the eyes and snide comments I tend to make, I really do have high hopes for this stinking holiday.  Silly...I know, but I'm a girl who loves LOVE, what do you expect.  I spend days preparing myself for the holiday and reminding myself that no one is going to surprise me with flowers, my knight in shining armor will not appear with roses and chocolates, Justin Timberlake really is getting married to Jessica Blah and for no good reason, I am still single.  

Yet every Valentine's Day, I secretly hope that someone will surprise me with flowers, that my Knight in Shining Armor will appear at my door holding roses and chocolates, that Justin Timberlake will need an emergency x-ray...see me behind the desk and wonder where I have been all his life, and that I was no longer defined by such a lonely word.  

I can not complain though, I have a beautiful son who let me spoil him rotten tonight.  I picked him up from Megan's house and made him do homework in his room while I put together a Valentine's surprise in the kitchen.  It was so fun to cook a special meal for him, decorate the table and just chill with my little man, The Voice and a spoonful of Nutella (nectar of the Gods).

Here is to my 32nd Valentine's, it really was a great day!  I pray all of you were blessed with LOVE, Happy Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Crepes...mmmm!

Mr. D...my sweet little man!

Trick or Treat

This was such a fun Halloween.  It was the first time we both really got in to the holiday and I think we have created our Halloween tradition!

First we decorated and got the candy ready to be handed out to the trick-or-treaters.

Second we got some Papa Murphy's pizza and started cooking that.

Ari came over and Daniel got his costume ready.

We ate dinner and joined KJ for our Trick-or-Treat adventure.

Once they couldn't hold their buckets anymore, we took the kiddies home for some hot chocolate and marshmallows.

After I sifted through Daniel's candy he got to have a few pieces.

Speaking of sorting candy, Daniel got some apples in his bucket...which I understand is a healthy treat and I appreciate that some of my neighbors are so health conscious.  BUT...I don't know about the rest of you, apples were a Halloween no-no growing up.  Granted this stems from my memories in San Fransisco.  When we were little you weren't allowed to eat candy that wasn't wrapped, home baked items, or fruit!!  Hmmm...when did it change?

Here are some pics from our super fun night...

Happy 4th of July!

We have had such a lovely 4th of July weekend!  We went to the Provo Arts Festival and enjoyed an overpriced meal!  We went to a BBQ at Supersonic Car Wash and watched the fireworks with our friends and family.  We celebrated Ari's 3rd birthday!  Happy Birthday Ari!!!  And we went to the parade today!  What a GREAT few days!  Here are some fun pics from our weekend!

Daniel got all the way to the top!

Happy Birthday Ari!

Oh man, the boys went wild when they saw all the Star Wars characters come down the parade route.

Tre danced every time a band came by!  So cute!

It was really neat to see all the missionaries walk down the parade route!

Happy 4th everyone!  Oh and stop by the Live My Life Project and read the wonderful posts that Megan and Lorien wrote for the 4th!

St. Patrick's Day Parade

I have been meaning to post this for a while now, but haven't.  Don't know why...the pictures and stories are so funny!

Melanie took Daniel last Saturday to the St. Patrick's Day parade at the Gateway.  He had so much fun, I thought I'd let him tell you about it.

"The motorcycles were going around and around.  They were making a lot of noise.  I got so dizzy watching them."

"This was my favorite part, when the firetruck honked it's horn the kid next to me jumped.  I couldn't stop laughing.  There were a lot of people on the firetruck."

"There were these clowns on machine wheels (aka jazzies) riding around us.  It was cool."

"Oh the ladies.  They were dancing to some funny music."

"There were a LOT of dogs in the parade too, there were like a million dogs!  Some of them even had dresses on."

"The white horse was carrying a wagon and it had three leaf clovers painted on it.  Kinda cool."

"The pipers were great.  One guy was playing the drum and he was dancing like crazy.  It was like he was playing Rock Band.  There was a guy sitting next to us who tried to dance like the drummer."

Daniel couldn't stop laughing at this picture long enough to tell me his final thoughts of the parade, but from what I could tell he had a BLAST!!!!

*Pictures taken by Melanie.

Our Halloween

For the last five years, Fia and Scott have thrown these amazing Halloween parties.  There is always good food, great people, fun costumes and a ton of laughter.  This year was no different! 

Ugly Betty and Iron Man

Such a cute idea!!

Our gracious hosts!

This year I also, got to go to Witches Night Out with Fia and her sister-in-laws!  It was so fun and sadly my camera died before I could take one good shot with it.  :(  Garderner Village sure puts on a fun night though, I will most definitly be going again next year.

Water Fun

Ingredients for a fun day:

One Swimming Pool

One Slip-n-Slide

One Water Catepillar

Two Water Guns

Chalk and Rocks

One Beautiful and Daring Sister!  :)

Provo Arts Festival

Every year I look forward to the Arts Festival in Provo and every year it exceeds my expectations.  Truth be told, I've always thought they should close Center Street in Provo off to cars, for the whole summer and turn it into a lovely arts, food and entertainment street.  One day when I'm running things, I'll be sure to put that on the agenda!  Anyways here were some of our favorite moments from this years arts festival.

The festival is held on the corner of University Ave and Center St in Provo, right in front of the beautiful county building.

There was a reptile show that Daniel got to be a part of.  Get a load of that snake!!!  Daniel wasn't scared in the least either, he thought it was AWESOME!

Funnel Cakes w/ Powdered Sugar and Strawberry Syrup, YUM!

The Texas Twister Tea, it's my favorite!

The scouts had a booth where you got to saw off a piece of wood, using a two man saw and then they burned the scouts emblem into the piece of wood.  Daniel and I got tired half way through sawing, the scouts had to step in to help us.  I'm so weak!

I found myself enchanted by this beautiful man.  I've seen this artwork before and have always thought it fascinating.  But the way this man focused on his work, it was as if no one else was around.  Beautiful concentration!

The best part of the WHOLE thing, the mini donuts!!! 

Happy 4th of July!!

LOVES!