North By Northwest

Well, while I'm sitting waiting for the sun to come out and fog to burn off, I'll go ahead and post our Washington trip.

We had a great time in the Great Northwest and loved spending time with my family... Particularly Nannie (who had never met Jake and Kaiya) and, of course Matt (whose graduation was the reason for the vacation).

 Matty. The star. I love this kid!
We barbecued on the deck and I snapped a few pictures of my baby brother.

My dad with Jake.

It was Michelle's birthday while we were there and my mom made this yummy cake. She's pretty sad here because it fell apart...but it was soooo good!

My Nannie. Isn't she pretty? I can only hope for her skin at 76! Seriously.

Matt and his buddy Daniel goofing around at Seminary Graduation.
So proud of my little Matty.

My mom and Michelle made Matt a pinata. I think we were all more excited about it than he was, but he and Brad had fun beating the crap out of it.

The violence of the smashed pinata upset little Jakey (poor sensitive guy), but this sucker made up for his tears.

Grandma and Jake at Camas High School Graduation.

Kaiya and Jake got sick of the stands, so Brad and I headed out to the football field.

Crawling...

...Crawling.

The crowd.

Matty.

I love this picture because Jake is wearing Matt's old sweater and he really looks like his uncle. So cute!

Matt and his buddies.

Matt and the Parents.

Matt with my mom and Nannie.

Matt and Nanners.

Awe cute.

Michelle, Kaiya, Mom and Nannie.
Four Generations! How cool is this?

My Four Generation Picture.
Isn't my little man handsome?

Pool-Time Past

A few weeks ago Laurel and I took the kiddos to Payson Pool. It was a good time had by all, well, except Jake, who really didn't enjoy the pool much. We made him endure anyway though.
Hey, at least we made good use of the waterproof camera case.

 

Happy Birthday Michelle!

I love my baby sister.

Today is her birthday and we are both up in Washington for baby brother's graduation. We celebrated tonight with burgers and cokes, played with Nannie and babies, laughed at Mom's sad (but delicious) birthday cake attempt, and spent hours talking together as a family. Then, we both got ready for bed in the bathroom--and were laughing so hard we worried we'd wake up the little ones. I love sisters. They rock. And I love that I spent some of my favorite single years living with and hanging out with Michelle everyday. I love that people still sometimes ask if we are twins. And I love that no matter how old we get, we can still be

as immature as ever.

Bad News--Good News

Bad News:
I dropped my phone in the toilet (Yes. Again.) and it no longer works.
My pretty, shiny, new, red phone. Sad.
I also got somewhat stranded in Orem for a while when my car decided it was against me. Luckily, I was right by the Mazda Dealership which, luckily, is right next door to the Honda Dealership because Legacy Mazda is empty... something about embezzlement and stolen cars? Wow.
Anyway, after a brief conversation with a security guard, I hoofed it to Honda with a sleeping baby on my shoulder, used their phone to call Blaine, Bountiful Mazda, and Mazda Roadside Assistance for a tow home to Salt Lake. Wonderful Blaine picked me up and we headed home. Good thing it's still under warranty.

Good news:
Thanks to sickness that is (thankfully) over now, I am a Gossip Girl addict. You know, "You know you love me." "I'm Chuck Bass." "xoxo." Gossip Girl.
I'm reminded of what Alison told me about this show when it first started... it's everything wrong with America and everything I hate about TV... and I LOVE it.
She's right. It's awfully good.
Hey--I loathe Reality TV, so I guess this is my outlet. Yes, I am aware that I am substituting one kind of garbage for another, but at least mine has pretty clothes and is supposed to be scripted.

And the best news:
Jake and I are headed to WA tomorrow for Matty's graduation.
I can't wait. Although, we'll miss you Blaine. I promise. :)

MY HEROES

These two rock. Nuff said.

Rock Bottom?

Doug reminded me of this picture tonight when I shared with him (and the rest of the Carters) that I may or may not have peed my pants while I was throwing up today.
I guess he's right... it can always get worse.

Thank Goodness

I've been feeling down today.
Thank goodness for sisters who always talk to me and these songs. They are making me smile.
(Thanks Brent and Ben for turning me on to these happy tunes.)

Pool Time! (Last of NM trip)

As usual, we had a great trip visiting the Carters in New Mexico. I saved the best for last: POOL TIME! We love the Carter pool... and Jake loved the kiddie pool. Thanks for a great time, Nona and Grandpa. We love you.

 Just testing the water.

Daddy and Jake in full-summer-garb.
He doesn't really like the sunglasses. Darn.

Happy baby.

More...

And more.

The two J's.

They loved it. Can you blame them?

I Heart Conan

Foiled!

It happened last night...

My first trip to the new Nordstrom Rack and I found the perfect pair of summer wedge sandals.
Cork. Suede. Red. I was in love.

But I had to convince Blaine.
So, I carried 'righty' around the store with me for a while. I know-- I'm weird. Sometimes I need to hold on to something in a store to convince myself that either: a) I really, really want and/or need it, or b) I don't. (I was also wearing a darling Nordstrom plaid jacket at the time. Don't judge me.)

Anyway, we had just put back the jacket and were on our way back to women's shoes to make a decision. I was leaning on buying the red beauties as I rounded the corner to discover that 'lefty' was M.I.A. Instead of my box with one shoe there was nothing. "Huh," I said, as I looked at Blaine quizzically.

Then we saw each other. The pretty, tall, blonde girl with excellent skin and style. She was looking at me holding [my] box with 'lefty' and I was standing there with 'righty' perched in my hand. We awkwardly laughed at ourselves and the predicament we had found ourselves in. It would have been an adorable situation for a Romantic Comedy, except that we were only interested in those damned shoes.

We exchanged some phrases like, "Um, you saw them first," {her} and "Well, I really shouldn't be buying them anyway" {me}. I think she was a little intimidated by Blaine, who kept making "jokes" that we were going to slash her tires and beat her up in the parking lot. I assured her that he was "all talk" and ultimately let her have them. (And, no they didn't have any more in my size... I checked.)

I was so depressed the rest of the night I almost didn't enjoy the rolls at Texas Roadhouse. *Sigh*

Her parting words to me were, "Thanks... you have some major goood Karma coming your way."
I hope so, Pretty, Tall, Blonde Girl with Excellent Skin and Style.
I really hope so.

Fly Me to the Moon

While in NM, (that's NEW Mexico for you simpletons out there) we participated in the traditional Carter Rocket Festival. We all built our rockets (and by "we all", I mean that Blaine made mine), painted them (by "painted" I mean that I adhered some stickers), and then sent them flying.
I'll be honest, when I heard the plans for said Festival, I was kind-of excited--I mean, I thought it might be fun and kinda cool, but was not expecting the phenomenon the Carter boys were making it out to be. Needless to say, it was pretty much awesome. Who knew that blowing things up into the air could be so much fun? I won't include any captions on these pics, because well, they pretty much speak for themselves.