Family pictures

In February we got to go to Cedar City to spend a weekend with Emily and Jared. Emily took some family pictures for us! They turned out so cute - thanks Emily! :)

ALOHA

A couple weeks ago we got to spend a whole week in Hawaii! Thomas' parents were nice enough to let us tag along with them on their vacation to Maui for Kent's radiology conference. As hard as it was, we left our little Emma behind. But despite my motherly withdrawals we had an amazing and very relaxing week.

Here is the first view you see when you enter
the hotel....can you say gorgeous??

Snorkeling at 6:30am...it was pretty dang chilly
on that boat but the water was actually warmer
than the air outside so that was nice!

In Lahaina we went to a magic show that
was so hilarious! and, of course, magical :)

View from our hotel deck

Lounging by the pool: our daily activity

Our favorite place to eat: Cheeseburger...yum

At sunset you could see the whales way out in the ocean
blowing their spouts and swimming around, it was awesome.

This was the rug on the floor of the elevators. They
changed depending on the time of day. So in the
morning it said good morning and then good
afternoon at noon, etc. We never did catch who it
was who changed those rugs every 6 hours or so.......

The infamous macadamia nut pancakes! These were
so delicious that we had them for breakfast twice!
They came with bananas and coconut syrup and
oh man, Kathleen and I still dream about them....

On our last day we drove on the road to Hana.
It was long but the views made it well worth the trip!

Oh, and the gi-normous ice cream snow cone
helped make the trip worth it too!

We found some cool trees and vines along the road so
naturally I had to try and swing on them like Tarzan...
needless to say, it was unsuccessful

Hawaii was such a blast and quite the dream vacation.
Thanks Kent and Kathleen for making our tropical
dreams come true! We are so lucky to have you as
parents/in-laws!

Also, shout out to Emily and my parents, our fearless
babysitters, who watched Emma for us while we were
away! We couldn't have left her in better hands,
thanks so much :)

*To see some adorable photos Emily took
while watching Emma, click here

My life is good..reeeeeeaaaaally goooood

January has come and gone and our little Emma is now 9 months old! She's growing up so fast and she's got some new tricks up her sleeve. She's crawling like a pro and she'll be walking before we know it :)

A couple weekends ago we decided to go camping
It's one of our family hobbies :) It was a
little nippy but we had a blast!

Emma was a little trooper as always!Robert and Melanie came up just for the evening and
brought their two little boys Clark and Kurt. It was
fun eating and chatting around the campfire!
(sorry I didn't get a picture with them)

Thomas brought his gun so we got to go shooting in the
morning before we went back home. Thomas did pretty good...

...but I did a little bit better :)
(just kidding, but I did knock over a soda can and I hit a bullseye)

Emma drove us home. Thanks Emma :)

That same day after camping we went
ice skating with the Thurston fam!

Paige and I are ice skating pros.
We took this picture while skating.
Can you do that? I don't think so....

Thomas and grandma had fun watching
Emma while the rest of us skated :) Thanks!

We are having so much fun living in Arizona
being surrounded by family. Life is good.

....oh, and we went to Hawaii this past week...
hahaha I'll post the pics soon!! :)

These are a few of my favorite things...

#1. These two people :)
#2. Emma's two bottom teeth - adorable and hilarious
(if you look close enough you can see them in this pic)

#3. Inside jokes with my hubby (he makes me laugh so hard)
#4. Blue Bell ice cream - YUMMM. My new favorite flavor is Tin Roof - you HAVE to try it

#5. Getting ready in the morning with this girly on my lap...


#6. The Pioneer Woman blog - it's official, I'm obsessed!

#7. When Emma cuddles with me - this is VERY rare so I cherish every second I can get!
#8. Food Network. You can pretty much count on this channel being on at anytime during the day. LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

The Happiest Place on Earth

On January 8th Thomas and I took a day trip to DISNEYLAND!!!
(it was my Christmas/Anniversary present!)
We flew to Orange County in the morning, rented a car,
spent the day at Disneyland/California Adventure,
and then flew back to Phoenix that night

Look how grown up we are with our rental car

California Screamin' is one of our favorite rides!
(and Tower of Terror but we didn't get a picture)

We had such a fun time at the happiest place on earth
and we lived happily ever after :)