YEAR ONE

Although it doesn't seem that it's already been 365 days....

Dallin and I celebrated our first anniversary on Sunday!! What a wonderful year we have had!! I can't wait for the next year.. and eternity after that! :)

Dallin planned out the weekend celebration... but kept it a secret from me! haha.

Here's how the last few days went down.
Wednesday night Dallin kicked me out of the house for a few hours so he could go shopping and do any other preparations that needed to be done for the weekend.
Thursday morning Dallin went to work at 8am, and a few minutes later I got a call asking me to go see if he had left something on the table. I get out to the table (meanwhile Dallin has hung-up the phone) and see that his computer is sitting on the table with some random little bowls with stuff in them...


after watching the slideshow, I learned that the bowls with stuff on them were the things needed to give myself a little spa treatment, and make myself a delicious smoothie.

After relaxing and getting the royal treatment, I was instructed to pack our bags and the food that Dallin had made the night before to get ready for a road trip!! The powerpoint informed me of what we would be doing the weekend.... and that we were leaving at 3pm. It couldn't come fast enough!!

After the quick drive home, we stopped to see Lori, Darran and the girls, ate dinner with my family, and partied all night (with the family and Jessica and Chelsea.) We played some fun games, and talked A LOT! The perfect way to start off the perfect weekend.

Friday morning we woke-up, babysat Eliza and Talia, went and did some sealings at the temple,

spent some more time with family, and then drove to the Cameo Heights Mansion

(This is where Dallin and I spent out first night together... Dallin even reserved the same room.)

We were at the mansion from Friday until Sunday morning, and loved every minute of it. We spent time in the hot tub, drank hot chocolate and made s'mores (with the pre-made packages they provided,)

watched a few movies while eating popcorn,

went swimming and tanned by the pool, walked through the apple and cherry orchards (while sampling a few cherries,)

played the grand piano, ate lots of delicious food,

and even spent some time with Chris and Stephanie Baer.... who coincidentally were right across the hall from us also celebrating their anniversary! We got married on the same day, why not have the same anniversary celebration!? haha! It was fun to eat lunch and breakfast with them and run into them around the mansion.

Way to go Dallin for planning such a wonderful vacation and for keeping it secret the whole time! I love you!!!

'Tis the season...

... for BERRY PICKING!!!!

Although the berries were a little late this year, they are finally ready! We.are.so.excited!



Last night for family night we went and picked strawberries. They are delicious and beautiful. I think we've already eaten about half of the 3 1/2 pounds that we picked. haha!



They are amazing just by themselves, but for dessert last night Dallin had the wonderful idea to make a strawberry cheesecake shake. It was great! (yes... that is a full slice of cheesecake)



Can't wait until the blueberries, raspberries and blackberries are ready!!!

Happy Husband's Day!!

I love Father's Day!

A few of the reasons why: the little kids in church singing about how much they love their dads, the treats that the men usually get (and are so kind to share with the ladies,) thinking about all the wonderful things our father's have done for us, and spoiling the men as much as possible. :)

I hope our dad's realize how much we love them and are so thankful for all they have done for us! We hope you had a great day!

As for us... we celebrated Husband's Day. I surprised Dallin with a few manly gifts, including his very own grilling apron. :) I also made a cheesecake for dessert because I know it's one of his favorites... It didn't turn out perfect, but it still tastes delicious. I guess I will just have to try again... I'm sure Dallin won't mind. :)

I love you Dallin!

Fun at the beach

This last weekend Danielle, Trevor and Mom came to visit Dallin and I in Hillsboro as a little celebration of the kids finishing another year of school. IT'S SUMMERTIME!!

We had fun going out to dinner,
eating Krispy Kreme donuts,
playing tennis,
grilling in the rain (love you Dallin!),

and going to the beach!

We drove there Saturday morning and spent the day at Cannon Beach.


The weather was Gorgeous! I think everyone got a little sunburned...we definitely weren't expecting that!

We checked out the tide pools around Haystack Rock

and saw lots of sea anemones, hermit crabs,

and a few starfish.
Then we ate lunch, walked up and down the beach looking for sea shells, took a nap, chased a little rabbit around trying to get a picture,

and finished the day eating dinner at Mo's.


It was so great to have the family visit for the weekend, although we all agree it ended too soon. Hope they had as much fun as Dallin and I did.

Oh and here is a beautiful picture of the Portland Temple at night. We love having the temple so close. :)

SYTYCD

I LOVE watching movies/shows that involve dancing.

BUT this season of So You Think You Can Dance is extra special because I know one of the lovely ladies who is competing. Caitlynn Lawson is from Moses Lake, WA and we danced together many times with Today's Generation (our dance company.)

It is so cool to see someone you know on tv!! She is such a sweetheart and is so very talented (obviously since she made it to the Top 20.)

So... if you like to watch dancing (or even if you don't), you should watch this show. And maybe even send in a few votes for Caitlynn!! She's the one in the middle.... :)

Starlight, Star bright...

Since we were in Hillsboro for the second weekend since Dallin's internship started, we decided to check-out downtown Portland. We walked along the river for a while, and were very entertained by the assortment of shopping, restaurants, and people.

We chose to go to Portland because of the Starlight Parade. The parade was very entertaining! There were really sweet floats,

and some very talented marching bands, hula-hoopers, and storm troopers?!

The best part of our trip was the 5K Starlight run that happens right before the parade. (We didn't run in it, we just watched.) The reason it's so fun is that a big part of this race is the costume competition. Nearly every person that ran was dressed-up in some way.

People are quite creative! I couldn't stop taking pictures of all the costumes! haha!

We had a great time in Portland, but I am so glad that we live 30 minutes away from the big city and not right in it... I don't know if I could handle all the people and the noise!

Oh... and here's the HOT PINK Hummer-stretch-limo-of-awesomeness that we chased around downtown trying to get a picture... this was the best we got...