happy birthday mommy!

here we are in december.

the greatest month of the year!

and today

is one of the greatest days!

not because christmas is in 18 days

(although that is exciting)

but because today is 

my dear mommy's birthday!

Happy birthday mom! 

ok so i am again struggling to write this post.

how do you get a present 

or write a blog post that will make up

for the absolutely incredibly

last (almost) 21 years of my life

that my mom gave me?!

so... that being said,

enjoy these pictures of my dear mom

and the captions explaining them!

so after my sister got married and moved out

it was just me and my mom in the house.

it was sunday morning, and we

were accidentally a little late for church!

we couldn't find anywhere to sit

in the chapel so we went behind the curtain

in the overflow. we were very irreverent 

and took a few pictures.

this is one of them. mom is so funny!

this picture of mom pretending to stab me with 

a fork was taken one day after church.

we (obviously) were eating dinner

i don't remember all the details of the picture

but i do think i was texting someone 

and she said something like

"do they want me to stab them with a fork?"

in a joking way..

we probably laughed for a good ten minutes about that.

good times on the airplane! 

this beauty was taken one year ago 

while we were on the plane to DISNEYWORLD!

it was our christmas present.

and i have to tell you,

that was probably the greatest christmas

ever!

we got to spend so much time together.

and go to disneyworld! who wouldn't love that?

oh mommy dear.

we were running errands early one saturday.

my mom and i are both early birds

(my sister and her husband would sleep all day if you would let them)

we were going to lowes in bountiful.

it sounded fun to take a picture so we did.

one fine sunday afternoon this summer

my mommy was grilling. 

i like helping her cook.

so i went outside to the grill,

and we took a picture! 

yup.. we are that cool!

my family is crazy.

they got obsessed with the show

grey's anatomy.

so went to disneyland this summer

and they ended the night watching that.

my mom took the whole family to disneyland!

(she even took my hubby! and this was before he was my hubby)

she is always taking us on fun vacations!

(this picture was taken by ashlee hair. check out her blog! she is amazing!

www.ashleehairphotography.blogspot.com)

this picture was very obviously taken on my wedding day.

it was right after tyler and i walked out of the temple.

it was so great to see all the people outside

waiting for us and supporting us but the first person

i looked for when i walked out was my mom.

she helped out so much with the wedding plans!

she help prepare me to be a homemaker from the very start!

she taught me how to cook, how to clean.

she taught me the importance of a clean home

and a work ethic.

my mom has always worked so hard to give my sister 

and i everything we ever needed.

on top of the essentials,

she gave us things we wanted! 

what an example she is to me.

she has taught me so many things.

she is the first person i go to when i need advice.

she always knows the right thing to say 

to make me feel better when i am sad.

i love my mom!

i love her for teaching me to be independent.

i love her for letting me dress myself 

in crazy weird outfits when i was little

so that i could grow up to be who i wanted to be.

she taught me to be kind, loving, and selfless.

she taught me to be giving

she taught me the importance of family

and having a good relationship with every family member.

she taught me to work hard for the things that i want.

she taught me the importance of an education.

she taught me to be patient and forgiving. 

my mom is seriously the greatest!

she sent me this picture this morning.

this is her birthday outfit.

she is so stylish! 

i am so blessed to have been raised by such and incredible lady.

i don't know what i would do without her!

i look up to her so much! 

and i can only hope to one day be half the mother to my kids

that my dear mom was to me.

{i love you mom!}

have a happy happy birthday!

my daddy's special day!

it is my daddy's birthday!!!

happy birthday daddy-o!

i am so sad that i am not there to spend

the day with you.

and i wanted to do something

special and cool to make up for it!

so lisa and shane were so wonderful

and they took me around downtown seattle so that 

i could put together this little number

just.. for.. you.

i love you daddy! enjoy. :)

{Alki Beach overlooking Seattle}

{this is the original starbucks! how cool is that?!}

{this ferris wheel is for a fair. unfortunately i will be gone before then}

{in front of the EMP. it's a music museum! and the most AWESOME building. i took more pictures to show you later}

{pike place market. it was so crazy busy that day! we had to hurry and snap a photo every where we went}

{this is the troll bridge. if you look to the right of me you can see a buried VW beetle. the troll was built on top of that which was donated. the troll is 22 years old! {i think.}}

{obviously you know what this is.}

{safeco field! where the mariners play}

{hard rock cafe! just for you daddy. i stopped inside and got you some presents. it's a pretty terrific store}

{this is century link field where the Seahawks play! there used to be a seahawk statue but they took it down.}

{this would be the ever so disgusting gum wall! for a decade people have come to place their ABC gum on this. yes. i put some on there too.}

{pike place market theater. and what a great sign that is!}

{this would be the feet of the gigantic hammer guy! he is huge. we tried to get a picture of all of him. i will show you when i get home}
daddy,

happy birthday!
i am sorry i am not there to celebrate.
i hope you got the card i sent you ok.. i cant
wait to come home and see you!

you are the best. such a great example to me.
i  can't thank you enough for everything you do.

love,
your little girl.

father's day.

happy father's day!

((this is my daddy. isn't he a good looking guy!))

so i thought that writing this post would be easy.

[[i love my dad so much!]] 

and i appreciate everything he has done for me

and everything he has taught me.

but how do you write a blog post, a letter, or get a gift

wonderful enough to make up for all the amazing gifts your dad has given 

you and all the lessons 

your dad has taught you?

to say the least i am struggling with what to say in this post.

so.. i decided that i am going to share a few of my 

..favorite memories..

that i have had with my dad!

ever since i can remember my dad, lauryn and i

have gone camping in island park
 for the family reunion over the summer
around the 4th of July.

my favorite thing was to sit around the camp fire 

and sing while my dad played the guitar.

also every summer

we would go to fairmont montana

and stay in a condo with pools, and golf

and tennis and a petting zoo.

one summer, lauryn couldn't go with us.

so that year it was just me and my dad.
one day while we were there

we drove into a nearby town and
 there just so happened to be a fair.
 my dad and i walked around and looked at 

all the fun little vendors, he let me get my face painted

and then we went to this awesome candy shop!

recently, my dad and i have been able to spend fridays

together to just have some daddy daughter time.

we do seriously sweet things like:

-guitar lessons (i'm learning.. he is very patient with me)

-leather crafting.

-wood crafting.

-going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead.

i don't think my dad knows how much i appreciate this time 

that i get to spend with him.. he is the greatest dad!

not only do we celebrate our dads on fathers day

but our grandpas and uncles and other men in our lives!

i am so lucky to have such awesome male examples in my life!

dad.. thank you for all that you do for me.

i cannot tell you how much it means to me.. and how lucky

i am to have a daddy like you.

{i love you.}

{happy fathers day!}

my summer adventure

about a month ago i was laying in bed reading a fantastic book

"the lucky one"

and i got to thinking about things. i needed some excitement in my life!

so that afternoon i drove to st george for a day!

that was great and wonderful but not quite exciting enough i guess!

so now that my nanny job is over for the summer

and with the wonderful boss i have over at ume 

[[thanks kristen!]]

i have ended up in washington state!

{this is a picture taken from the freeway driving into seattle}

i am loving every minute of it here! 

i drove down by myself. 

((which was a fantastic drive))

and i am staying with my lovely and extremely kind

uncle shane and soon to be aunt lisa.

they are so sweet to let me stay!

they even set up a cute little room for me with 

a futon and a bedside table.

on my drive here i passed a town in idaho called

bliss

of course i had to stop and get a picture!

-what a lovely town that would be to live in.- 

shane and lisa have been so good to take me around

and show me all the wonderful places in washington.

i am so excited for all the adventures that i am going to have!

{happy summer}

altering a dress..

so a couple of months ago my big sis cleaned out her closet.

i went through her pile of things that she was giving away and this

beautiful dress was in there!

[[excuse the photography.. it isn't one of my strong skills and i didn't bother having anyone else take the picture for me..]]

obviously i was SHOCKED as to why she would want to get rid of this.

{the zipper is broken}

easy fix for someone who knows how to sew!

so it has been sitting in my craft box for a couple months.

i had a free day this past week so i called up my 

amazing grandmother who knows how to sew,

and she helped me fix this beauty!

i decided i wanted to make it into a fun little skirt.

so here is what we did!

first, we cut off the top.

next, we had to unpick the zipper so we could later replace it.

we then sewed the top shut, sewed the zipper in place, and voila! 

i have myself a {cute} little skirt to wear!

a huge thanks to my grandma for helping me out! 

i could not have done it without her!

and thanks to my [lovely] sister for the dress.

it was so great to spend some time with my grandma.

my gramps kept coming downstairs to where we were

crafting and giving us tips.

he said i should have just used suspenders.

(thanks gramps! you are super helpful!)

happy {monday} and have a happy week!

spring is here!

spring is finally here and i am so thrilled!

i love spring. it is definitely my favorite season.

(although summer is right up there.. maybe tied for favorite)

i sleep with my window open because it is finally warm enough...

every morning i wake up and i love that i hear birds chirping!

not to mention the fresh smell of spring.

i love seeing all the flowers 

and being able to drive with my windows down.

needless to say

i love spring and everything that comes with it!

i can't wait to:

go for bike rides

go on picnics

go fishing

play with sidewalk chalk

go on hikes
fly kites

it is a wonderful time of year!

happy spring! :)

they're baaacckk!

good morning!

so this last weekend my sis and her hubby moved back from idaho!

[[yipee!]]

i will admit that at first i was a little bummed

(sorry sis!)

they temporarily moved into the basement which is where i was..

but i have decided to look on the bright side of things 

and i am so excited to have them back!

here are the reasons:

1. the obvious one being that they are family!

2. they are super hilarious

3. i don't have to drive 3 hours anymore
if i want to visit them

...and...

4. i get to have craft days with my sis again!!!

so even though i had to lend them my basement

-for a very short time-

i am grateful to be able to just go downstairs if i want to see

my best friend.

i am seriously excited to have them back in utah

so we can hang out all the time.

happy thursday all! [: