A Refresher Course on Chopsticks

August 4 - 10

This week was a pretty normal week with nothing terribly fascinating. Sunday night we went to over to a friend in the ward where they had a campfire in their backyard & we roasted marshmallows. It's not really summer until you've had s'mores at least once. 

Our garden has been giving us zucchini like crazy & I'm running out of ways to cook it. I'm thoroughly in love with them though and cannot get enough, so my little garden, keep growing away!

Wednesday night after Activity Days I was craving Chinese food like nobody's business. It's been way too long so I figured I should go back to my roots. 

It was just what my little Asian soul needed. & we got quite the surprise with Kellan's fortune cookie. A few months before we got engaged, when Kellan first met my father, we were at a Chinese restaurant & he got this fortune. It was incredibly cute & he got it again, what are the chances of that?

The rest of the week was spent getting ready for our exciting trip to Alabama & Florida for my family reunion. Friday night we packed up and headed up to Salt Lake to get ready for our flight bright & early Saturday. 

Ready for takeoff! 

Beaches here we come! 

Splish Splash

July 28 - August 3

Monday was a big day. I put in my two weeks notice for work. This marks the end of an era. Not really, but it was a pretty significant event. 

Tuesday Kellan started preparing for the combined YM/YW activity he had helped plan. A massive water balloon fight. We went out & got about 800 water balloons and begun the arduous process of filling them. 

I don't know what it is about water balloons [or really any balloons for that matter] that are so difficult for me to tie! I think I have pretty slender fingers, but those bad boys are just awful. If it was a matter of life or death I would die! Actually no, whoever it was that was making this a matter of life or death would watch me for a little bit and then feel so much pity for me they'd just tell me to stop and let me on my way. 

But anyways, as we started to fill our neighbor asked if I would be willing to watch her son for a little bit, & of course I said yes. It started off great with Mattix & I hanging out with Kellan while he filled balloons until disaster struck. Literally. 

I kept hearing buzzing but we didn't see any bees or wasps around until I felt a sharp pain in my neck & we looked up to find a large wasp nest. Just like that, Mattix & I were inside the house and Kellan was left to fill balloons all on his own. His young men's group showed up to help but ended up popping about half of the balloons with the wasp spray. Oops. 

Mattix & I hung out inside watching Wreck it Ralph & drinking his milk with a spoon. 

Wednesday Mattix & I hung out again but he got tired of Wreck it Ralph so we watched Tangled instead & colored on Kellan's Anatomy Lecture Guide notebook. Mattix also braved our spare room and found an elephant. 

Hello purple elephant, yes I will sit with you

Our garden has been growing like a weed & I can't seem to document its growth fast enough. Friday we picked up some tomato cages to help keep everything in place, but I have no idea what to do with our gigantic zucchini plants. They're going to take over the whole yard. We also have a very exciting addition to our garden family. A watermelon has begun to grow! It's precious and I can't get over how cute it is. We'll most likely not eat it because I'm not a huge watermelon fan & Kellan is allergic, but for now we're in love! 

Friday Kellan was starting to feel sick and by Saturday morning it was so bad he slept in till about 9 AM. For Kellan, that's a huge deal. So I got up and made him breakfast in bed. We didn't have anything other than milk which wouldn't have been good for his congestion, so he got Sprite & water! Breakfast of champions. 

Then we made our way up to Salt Lake to babysit our sweet niece Shelby so my sister & her husband could go out & celebrate their two year anniversary. Before getting to their house we stopped to pick up some face masks for Kellan so he wouldn't get Shelby sick, & I've got to say; he is going to make one smoking hot doctor. Not many people look good in face masks, but Kellan is one of them. 

After we put Shelby to bed I whipped us up some sugar cookies. Mmmm good. 

Old Souls

I'm so terrible at this whole consistent blogging thing it should be a crime. & I would skip forward to now, but as this is pretty much my sole source of journal keeping I figured I should backtrack quickly.

July 21-27

Tuesday night we went out on a little mid-week date night & saw the Lone Ranger. It was pretty good, but a lot more dark than I was expecting! & those creepy bunnies! Holy cow! My feet were securely pulled up on the seat just about the whole time. [For those of you who don't know, my feet get scared & cannot rest on the ground for fear "things" will reach out from under my chair & grab me. It's a totally rational fear. I know.] 

So the movie was decently good, but the very best part of the whole thing was Kellan & I saw the vision of ourselves in 40 years. A few seats to the left of us was an adorable little couple positioned just like us [minus the woman's feet all over her husband...]. I commented to Kellan how cute they were & that I wanted to still be going to the movies with him when we're sixty and holding his hand. 

Then as we left the theater the same couple followed us to the parking garage & lo and behold they had parked RIGHT next to us! Think that's crazy, just wait, it gets better. They had the same car as us! Their model was a bit newer, but the make and color were spot on. At this point the couple had also begun to catch on to the similarities and I could almost see the thought bubbles saying, "We were that cute once. They have a long happy life ahead of them." The wife & I shared knowing smiles as her cute hubby helped her in their car & my handsome husband held my door open for me. 

Then Kellan & I grabbed dinner and a shake at the Rocky Mountain Drive Inn. 

Wednesday we had work off for Pioneer Day and started it off right with a delicious breakfast at the 1st Counselor's house. Kellan's Young Men came over and helped him set up the back wall for our shed & then we hit the streets of Provo to do some shopping. 

I'm not sure if meeting our future selves the night before had anything to do with it, or all the shopping we had done, but we got hungry extremely early and grabbed dinner at 4:30 in the evening! We were seated and halfway through our meal before the old-timers had even shuffled in. 

We came home and finished our Pioneer Day celebrations with a little Just Dance and a few Fireworks into the night sky. I also learned the very devastating fact that my dear sweet husband does not value fireworks the way I, or any other true American, values fireworks. We've come to the conclusion it may have something to do with him living in Alaska where fireworks in the summer was pretty much impossible, so his family never shot any off till he moved to California. 

Our children will grow up with a very healthy appreciation for fireworks. 

Friday was a very special day. We got news that Kellan's little brother Brigham had received his mission call! We were on a road trip to Las Vegas so we could only Skype via phone but it was still so exciting to see him open his call. Brigham has been called to serve in the Romania-Moldova Mission!! We are SO excited for him, and a little bit jealous of the amazing adventures he will have serving.

Saturday the boys were up at the crack of dawn to go dirt biking and my sister and I stayed with my mom to bake up a storm in her fabulous kitchen. Two ovens, enough space for three cooks & room to spare; who knew one day that would become a luxury?

The accommodations really were superb, minus one little detail. Camillia & Jeff had forgotten to bring Shelby's bassinet and we didn't have one at the house. We were at a loss for what to do, until I had the brilliant idea to put her in a drawer. 

Shelby, if this is the worst you every have to go through you're set

Saturday afternoon we lounged by the pool, had chicken fights [Kellan & I are undefeated] & practiced our water aerobics. We even got my mom to do a little Just Dance! Priceless. 

We stayed till Sunday afternoon & I was able to say hello to a dear friend before we left off for home. 

All in all it was a FABULOUS week!