Go Austin

My little brother-in-law made the front page of the paper for basketball. To check it out go here. I am proud of him and can't wait to see him play!

Welcome home

My little brother returned home from his mission this last week, wow 2 years flew by! It was great to be at the airport when he flew in.











Pictures only show so much.. I wish I could have captured the excitement, emotions, and awkwardness (just from Taylor).

A Night in Vegas...Another Murder Mystery

We did another murder mystery with Jakes family this year. It was a night in Sin City. It as fun to be with everyone but we missed Craig, Sarah and their girls!

Ryan (Bookie) Teri (Security Sam)

We had a bar with "mocktails"

Jake (Bartender)

Emily(Daughter of Casino owners) Chris (Black Jack dealer)

Chad (Lounge piano player and singer) Katie (Gambler)

Dad (Ronald Trump). We was firing me in this picture.

Austin (Ace High, a gambler)

Austin was the one that was murdered. Katie's character was the one who did it. It was fun to be with everyone! I am disappointed that I did not get a picture of Bret and Maren (I could have sworn I did!) Brett was an Elvis impersonator, and Maren was a show girl. They had the best costumes! Thanks to Emily for putting this all together!

Other fun things we did...

The kids love Grandpa. They were a train and he was pulling them around. So cute. I love these kids!

Ninja Turtle, and Race Car Driver

Witch

Buzz Light year

Orange M&M. He kept telling everyone that Grandpa loved M&M's, and that Grandpa was going to eat him. He was so excited about this!

A little Butterfly

and a Bat

All the kids together before they left trick or treating.

I love being with my nieces and nephews, they are the best. I love their cute little laughs and how they always want to play. Thanks for a great weekend everyone!

Pojo's

Meredith and I have been friends since the 7th grade. She has recently moved to Boise, which is wonderful for me to have someone to hang out with since Jake is gone. We have "date night" every Wednesday night. This week we went to Pojo's which I was so happy about, it is one of my favorite places, but Jake didn't love it so much, so we rarely went. It is a big arcade place, where you can play the games and tickets come out. We did the photo booth which was fun. I have never done one before. Meredith took the other 2 pictures.

Turning 25 on the 25th

Jake turned 25 this year! I threw him a party at my parents house. It was so fun to get together with family.

Jake made BBQ Chicken with is always great!

Jake's family sitting around talking, waiting for food.

Jake loves being with his nieces and nephews!

After lunch we had a Minute-to-Win-it party. It was a blast. I just wish I would have gotten more pictures!

Emily doing the Oreo eye wiggle.

Trying to balance 3 golf balls. No one was able to do it. Dave and Sandy won the minute-to-win-it games. They were awesome!

After games we had cake and ice cream.

Jake and I were laughing because the cake looked like a kings crown...

And of course there always has to be a doggy pile at the end...

I love Jake so much and I glad that we could celebrate another birthday together. He is amazing and I am grateful for all he does for me. Especially now that we are doing the long distance thing.

Becoming a Man

A couple weekend ago when I was home visiting Jake and Austin got on a kick to rip a phone book in half. They both succeeded and have become men. Congratulations boys!

Finally!

McKenzie has started a blog! She was selected for Wishing Star and has posted about her experience. To see that and follow her blog click here.

Pink eye

I went to Twin Falls this weekend to visit Jake. He got pink eye while I was there, so we spent Saturday afternoon in the doctor's office. I have never had pink eye (knock on wood) but it does not look pleasant. He had to stay inside since he was contagious so we had a weekend full of t.v. watching, and it was wonderful!

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

On my last post I posted pictures of my nieces and I making pizza rolls, but forgot to add the recipe. If you are interested click here.

Summer Fun

Jake and I went down to Utah for a week after we finished summer school. We were able to spend a few days with Coleman and Pam. We had so much fun. I wish we lived closer so we could see them more often.
Cole and Pam at Boondocks. We played miniature golf, and Pam and I wouldn't leave until we played Skeeball.
After a few days with Cole and Pam we met up with Jake's whole family and spent the day at Lagoon. Here are some of the kids getting buckled in and ready to go.





All our nieces and nephews had a blast! Here they are waiting to go on a ride.

Eating lunch at the park and deciding which rides to go on next.

Jake and Austin were very tired after there long day at Lagoon.

Jake and I joined Chad and Katie's family for Family Home Evening. I think Jake was more a distraction!
After spending a few days with Chad and Katie, we headed up to Bountiful and watched our 3 beautiful nieces while their parents went on vacation.
We made stuffed pizza roles. They were yummy! And the girls had so much fun making them!
We met up with Katie and her 3 kids on Friday and went to the Discovery Center in Salt Lake. The kids had fun seeing everything and playing with their cousins.













The Discovery Center was awesome! I don't know who had more fun Jake or the kids. We love our nieces and nephews and enjoy all the time we get to spend with them!