My Dad

I'm not very good and Mother's and Father's Day, and I didn't even send my dad a card or gift this year (he's the hardest person in the world to buy for), so I thought the least I can do is to dedicate this post to him of just a few of the things I love about him.
I always considered myself a "Daddy's Girl." Though I have more than I can write, some of my favorite memories from growing up are him coming home from work and smelling like the car air fresheners as I run up to hug him, going on walks with him, dad being the one up when I get home from late nights in high school, and wrestling dad (or watching TJ get beat by dad) for our family home evening activity.
His favorite saying, or so it seems, is "Life's not fair." That is what he always said to me as I complained of school, grades, boys, and life. I never liked when he said it, but I know it's true, and I occasionally imagine him saying it to me whenever I find myself complaining in my mind.
My dad is cool. He (and my mom) get into really fun activities like mini-biking, paintball, and currently shooting. We used to go camping a lot and on a few bike rides as a family. I never worry about being bored in St. George.
He also has a good sense of humor. Last summer I was driving with Kristen in Northern Utah and we were supposed to be following my parents but ended up following the wrong van and taking a little detour. Later, we pulled up behind them and he had written on the back window, "Follow this van!"
He is a great example of working hard and accomplishing goals. He went back to get his Certified Respiratory Therapist degree while I was at Dixie and I can still remember seeing him on campus. It was fun! Not only that, but then he carried out his dream and started his own business. He works really hard.
I am lucky to have such a great dad. He doesn't always get to spend a lot of time with his grandkids, but they love him so much, too. This picture is just my favorite.

Happy Father's Day, Dad. I love you!

While We Were There...

Our trip to the East also included visiting friends and being tourists.
We always love walking downtown.
The one touristy thing we did was go to the National Gallery. We took a really great tour (I would recommend the tours to anyone) and saw this:
If you look closely, he is copying the picture below, but moving the figures around a little bit. We talked to him for a few minutes and he was really nice. His name is Gerald King.

I always love the impressionist paintings. This one below was painted by Picasso. I think it is beautiful.
I got to meet Lauren and Andrew's new baby, Lela.
Lela was born on February 15th and is so adorable. She has lots of curly dark hair and is such a cute little size to hold!
We also caught up with friends Michelle and Brian Prince.
Gabbi showed off her eminent dancing abilities. We enjoyed doing puzzles together.

It was so fun to catch up!

Vacation Destination: OBX

Remember last year when we went to the Outer Banks and I loved it? Well, I still do. Tim and I took our vacation back to DC and snuck a wild weekend with his family in the beaches of North Carolina.
This is a picture of the only downside of the trip last year: Bodie Island Lighthouse...
And this begins our new trip:
Yay! We also took a drive up the coast with Tim's parents to see the Currituck Lighthouse-very beautiful surrounded by lots of trees.
And spent some time in Manteo. Last year there was a wedding here at this lighthouse, so we didn't get to get too close. It's really pretty being near the harbor and cute shops.
Mackenzie stole the show in this cute suit Aubrey got for her.
We moved away around the time she was becoming more lively. She is a busy girl and it was fun spending time with our only niece on Tim's side.
I only went into the water twice, but we spend a lot of time at the beach. I especially liked our nightly walks on the coast.
I expanded my artistic horizons in the sand...

We played a lively game of mini golf. Each hole in the second 9 had a different rule such as spinning, squatting, or balancing on one leg.
We took a walk at the Pea Island Wildlife Preserve and saw lots of birds and turtles (and yucky bugs)

And last, but not least, we awoke (really) early to see the sunrise...
Too bad it was foggy :(
It was a very nice, refreshing trip.
Next I'll post about our time in Virginia and DC.

Happy Birthday to Me!

This was my birthday email from Aubrey. I LOVE it! I have to say, I never would have been able to make those dogs as high quality as her.

Speaking of birthday dogs, check out the wrapping paper Tim got for me...

-Perfect!
The first thing I did for my birthday...
Got a pedicure with some friends. I decided to go the extra mile to get the fancy flowers because I spend a LOT of time looking at my toes during yoga. (If I'm home, 50% of the time I'll get up in the middle and go clip a few nails.) It's nice to have a pretty view.
Then Tim made me delicious mango strawberry crepes.
And got me these beautiful flowers.
The rest of the day was spent getting ready for my BBQ party. I made potato salad and lemon bars and this new Italian Cream Cake recipe from Penzys' magazine, but the cake got stuck to the pan, so instead of making a pretty 2 layer cake, we had 2 ugly but tasty cakes.
Between leaving my phone at the grocery store for a last minute trip and the park being over-run with a graduation party (luckily, we got one table and moved it to a little secluded patch of grass,) I was too stressed to bring my camera :(
Several of my friends from work and church came to help celebrate, and Tim made some delicious BBQ chicken and bratwursts. It was a delicious meal.

I'm excited to celebrate my birthday in the future starting with this
I can watch it any time.
Next Wednesday, I get to go here:
for a Rockies game with my new Rockies shirt!
And my big gift:
Les Mis is coming to Denver in September and Tim got us tickets! I am so excited!

Needless to say, I had a FANTASTIC Birthday!

Chick-fil-a 5K

Last Saturday Tim and I ran the Chick-fil-a 5k!
It turned out great minus the fact that it was FREEZING and WINDY on the last day of April. The 2nd best part: FREE chicken sandwiches at the finish line (notice me holding it above and holding what's left below). We also got coupons for another sandwich in our gift bags.
The 3rd best part: Tim and I both placed in our age groups! (Notice our new t-shirts)
Oh, Did I forget the BEST part? Tim won an I-pod Shuffle in the drawing!!!
I accidentally washed my other one and have been heart broken during my runs since.

-I think I know what I'm getting for my birthday!

Easter Weekend!

Tim and I headed to St. George for our annual Easter Celebration. It's the first time we've been able to go in 3 years. Several cousins and family members from my mom's side of the family came to celebrate. Friday night we had a delicious picnic in the park and early Saturday some of us went shooting. I got to shoot at least 4 different guns!
Saturday afternoon we went on a hike and had a picnic on the red rocks.
I did some birthday shopping (!) then we ate at Cafe Rio for dinner. Saturday night we did our own version of a Peeps Show. Here were some contenders:
Top Left: "Psycho Peeps" (like the movie) Top Right: Rubber Duck Factory Bottom Left: Peep Bones (notice the peep with no "skin") Bottom Right: Pikes Peep (This is the one Tim and I did. Our peep is repelling and the ones on top have little backpacks.)

Mindy's family stayed with us at my parents house, so we got to see the kids find their Easter baskets in the morning. Here is a fun video of them checking out what the Easter Bunny brought:

The Easter Bunny was very kind to Tim and me. I got all of my favorite treats! (We didn't bring Easter baskets, so we used some random toy buckets we found in the room we were staying in.)

After church on Easter, we held an egg hunt with 200 eggs! My mom hid some in crazy places like inside of a random dog toy in the bushes, inside a tennis ball that was sitting in the yard, and in a real bird's nest that was about 20 feet up in a tree. Tim found one buried a couple inches deep in a cup of rock salt on the back porch, and there was even one in the trash. I found a total of 3 of the 200 which is pretty good considering there were 50 people there for the hunt and Easter Dinner. (The bottom right picture is the line for food.) Everything was delicious and fun. After most people left on Sunday, we went to the park to fly kites. It was a perfect day for it.
We drove home on Monday, but not before I set out to run where I've always meant to go...
I took my I-pod on the run for music and realized I could take pictures. Above was the view; below was the destination:
That's right. I ran to Arizona from my parents house! I'm just going to keep the distance a secret...and the fact that Tim came to pick me up.

Happy Easter!

Peeps Show

There are two things I've missed most about living in the DC Metro area this time of year: 1. The Cherry Blossom Festival and 2. The Peeps Show. -Luckily, I've only ever seen it online, so I can still enjoy it in Colorado. I usually don't post a lot of links and videos on my blog, but this is worth it (PS when you get there, click on the Peeps Show V title and wait through the ad). Happy Easter!