Nutcracker!

I have been spoiled this year! For my birthday back in July Broc got me tickets to go see the Nutcracker by Washington Ballet! Well for anyone who knows me, knows this was seriously the BEST GIFT EVER!!! I danced in the Nutcracker for many, many, many years growing up and I absolutely love everything about it! And naturally I was thrilled that I got to take Broc to his very first ever performance of the Nutcracker! Well who would have known but the exact same week we had tickets for Washington Ballet's show, we get a free invitation in the mail from Zion's Bank for another performance of the Nutcracker by Ballet West in the Kennedy Center! We still are not quite sure how we got on the list but of course I was tickled pink! Poor Broc was out of town the night of the Ballet West Nutcracker but I did not let that stop me from having a grand old time! I took my good friend and we made a girls night out of it! Seriously!?! Two Nutcrackers in one week??? I was in heaven! I told Broc someday I will make it a tradition to bring out girls to the Nutcracker each and every year and I mean that with all my heart and soul! I love ballet! Sure did bring back so many fond memories! Thank you Broc and thank you Zion's Bank for making this girl one happy ballerina this Christmas season! 

Dinner Group Still Going...Two Years Strong!

For all those concerned about my favorite little monthly tradition of dinner group...never fear! It is still going strong! And just as a quick recap, here are all the meals we have accomplished since Easter! Love the food but mostly I just love my friends! :)

Giving Thanks!

Broc and I got to spend a wonderful, long week in Utah for Thanksgiving this year and it was absolutely spectacular! It would be far too hard to capture all the details of the trip in one blog post so I'm just going to dump some pictures and call it a night! I love that family of mine! They truly make life worth living! Thanks for an outstanding trip home to all our family and friends! We love and miss each of you!

Hostess Funeral the first night we were home!

Out to lunch with the family before our Forgotten Carols Play!

She still sucks those fingers and of course is always the center of attention!

Love the Forgotten Carols with the family!

Spiritual Dinner at Rob and Whitney's! Special night!

Someone is getting married! Hot stuff right there! Love these ladies!

While the gals were gallivanting the boys were building things! ;)

Got to spend time with so many wonderful friends that we love and adore!

And of course a trip to Utah would not be complete without a trip to Wingers! Thanks Rob and Whit!

Thanksgiving feast with the family! What a great meal!

And some post turkey day shopping! Great deals with great ladies!

Did some hiking with the little brother while he was in town! Loved seeing him!

Even ventured to the new City Creek! Beautiful place I tell you!

And our last night in town we cooked a delicious meal and ate on Grandma VandeMerwe's china! It was awesome!

Took the brother back to his apartment all stashed with orange crush! It was so fun having him around!

And then we had to say goodbye to this little one! Good thing we are both coming back soon! Don't grow too quick little Sophiee! We love you!

We are still alive and so is the flying squirrel!

It's been a while...okay a long time! I know! But the important thing to note is, we are still alive! And obviously from this video the flying squirrel is too! Hope you enjoy this little gem more than we did! ;)

We were just minding our own business when all of a sudden our new friend went darting across the floor! I was up on the kitchen counter in a second and Broc was running around like a mad man trying to find his shoes! Thank goodness this little guy didn't give us too much trouble! What an adventure! So here I am again! I am recommitting to my blog because life continues to be exciting with many surprises around each and every turn! 

3 Years and Going Strong!

Sometimes it is hard to believe that Broc and I have been married 3 years! When I think back on the beginning of our relationship it amazes me to see how much time has passed! We have known each other for so long it gets me excited! I can't wait for the day that he has been a part of my life longer than not being a part of my life! Year by year we will get there eventually! ;) As I was looking through some wedding pictures and reminiscing about our special day I could not help but find this little gem!

Oh the expressions on our faces as we stepped out of the temple doors! Our faces say it all! Clearly we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into and yet I wouldn't have wanted it any other way! Marriage has taught me so much and I feel so blessed that Broc is the man I married! Without him life just would not be sweet! Thanks for the last three years of happiness you have given me Broc! I know we celebrated the official 3 years a few weeks back but just need to make sure you know how much I love you! To the never-ending eternities to come and more...Love you boy!

Weekend Adventures!

We have had quite the weekend adventures in the last few months! It started with Cheery Blossoms and a Math Museum!

We really enjoyed being out and about with good friends Bren and Sterling! These two know how to make the best of a wet Saturday morning and we are glad we got out with them! Plus we never would have discovered the awesome Math Museum on our own! Lucky we had them along to show us the way! Then my parents came for conference weekend and we had a blast! We went to our favorite Ted's Montana Grill for some Bison Burgers! Yummy! We filled the weekend with muffin making, conference watching, Sunday afternoon walking and quality time talking, talking and talking!

And then we had Aubrey and her girlfriends stay for a night which was a blast as always! We did some touristy things but mainly focused on the food this time! We made sure to fill them full of Cafe Rio, Chick-Fill-A and yummy nutella stuffed calzones! It was quite the successful weekend if you ask me and fun as always to see good friends! :)

Then we celebrated Easter with our favorites and had a feast! It was so nice getting together with our good friends to celebrate the Resurrection of our Savior! We got all festive for the celebration complete with a died-egg centerpiece and sparkling cider in our fancy cups! Now you know we are living big when we bust out the fancy cups!

Phew! Like I said...we have had quite the weekend adventures as of late! But I love making memories with Broc! We have so much fun and for that I am truly grateful!

Homemade Granola and Decorative Jars!

You know you are in for a fun afternoon when it includes homemade granola and decorative jars! Emily and Amy and I decided to mix things up a bit for dinner group last month! Instead of just making a meal...we decided to add some crafting into the mix as well! Thanks to a new found love of Pinterest, Emily found some creative and relatively easy crafts that we just could not pass up! So put it all together and it was one fun afternoon of using wax paper instead of parchment paper, shaking the frost paint vigorously, concentrating hard on cutting out the stencils and all around good company! At the rate we are going, we will have full bellies and beautiful homes in no time! Hooray for dinner group adventures!



Amy and I attempting to get the granola unstuck from the wax paper! Who knew wax paper was not supposed to go in the oven? But in our defense...both Broc and Billy loved the finished product so maybe using wax paper wasn't that bad of an idea! :)



Emily prepping the mason jars for our decorating! Apparently fingernail polish and rubbing alcohol help get the sticky stuff off the jars! Emily did an awesome job!



Amy following directions and shaking vigorously for 2 minutes before spraying! Way to be a great shaker Amy!



And then we sprayed the jars as evenly as we could and waited for them to dry! It was so easy and I think we were all pleased with the end product!



Perfect weather for an outside craft! It was so fun to try something new for a change! We have certainly taken dinner group to a whole new level now!



And the finished product! Not too shabby eh? :)