Happy Birthday Riss!!!

On Tuesday, we celebrated Marissa, and the day she came into this world! I don't remember my life BM (before Marissa), and I can't imagine it without her, she is my baby sister and my best friend! Like most sisters, we've had "our moments" but as we've grown and matured, our relationship as sisters (and friends) has deepened greatly. I am thankful beyond words to have Marissa in my life. She is kind and generous, brilliant and witty, loving and compassionate, a true friend. I love you sister!!!!! This is your year :)

Mom had this idea for me to make Riss an "edible arrangement"---how'd I do?

Luckily I have miniature cookie cutters and was able to add some creative flare in with the yummy fruit and chocolate covered strawberries!

After the bouquet presentation we headed to Tomato Street for her birthday dinner. This was in the car we parked next to. Weird.

These pics are from the Race for the Cure, hence the matchy-match pink :)

Pre-race car pic

Post-race maple bar at Madeleine's

SERIOUSLY???

I'm moving.

A Friend Filled Weekend

On Saturday I drove to one of my favorite places on earth: LEWISTON! It might be stinky to some, but to me it is filled with great friends and great memories :) WHY did I choose to end my spring break here?


Because my dear friend Lindsey is having a BABY BOY!!! And we got to celebrate her, and her bun in the oven--Grady! She got hooked up--way to go Linds, you're almost there, I'm so so so happy for you & Kyle!

I also got to meet baby Morgan, at the shower. And catch up with her mommy, my lifelong friend, Laura!

Before I headed back up the hill, I reunited with my friend Ann Marie for some "fuel" to make it back to Spokane. Ann Marie is so full of life, I absolutely loved catching up, and I think our visit was the best fuel of all!

Just when I thought I couldn't fit any more fun into one day...I got to eat dinner at Twiggs with MORE FRIENDS!!! And as much as I love and adore my home town of Lewiston, I just can't imagine my life without Spokane, and all the people I love RIGHT HERE!

Spring Break in Utah!

I just returned from a wonderful trip where I visited my dear friend Leah, in Utah! Although it wasn't a tropical retreat from the freezing Northwest (it snowed almost everyday in Utah too)...it was so nice to get away and reconnect. Thanks for having me Leah, you are the hostess with the mostess for sure! I can't wait for our next visit :)

Here we are on the Army base Scott works on. He took Rylan for an afternoon so we could explore down town Utah. See those amazing mountains? They were all over, and breathtaking!


Baby Maddy was sicky poo the whole time :( But Scott had the magic touch to get her to sleep, in fact, his magic was so powerful he put himself to sleep too!




Despite her sniffles she was still such a happy girl and I loved getting to know her sweet little personality :)



Here is Rylan, I mean, Spiderman (this face paint thing seemed cool until he had to wash, aka: use sand paper, to get it off--poor guy!)

What would a visit with Leah be without a trip to Walmart? We were preparing for our craftiness! Unfortunately I have no pictures of our creations, but believe me---she brings out my best crafting :) You should see the quilts this girl can make!

Bath time!

Maddy is so petite, it's hard to believe she is 6 months old already!

Not only can she craft, but she can cook! I was so well fed in Utah! And introduced to many new and awesome recipes---these are her sweet potato fries--yum!

Rylan's super cool GOLD BIKE...story to come soon on Leah's blog!

Maddy was trying to impress me by attempting to crawl. She is so close! But right now she can do a sweet downward facing dog yoga pose (didn't catch it on film).

Rylan was so kind to tell me that I could stay for a few days; it took mere seconds for him to warm up to me...and invite me to snuggle him in bed! We had so much fun making thumbprint critters, tickling, chasing, sledding on the blanket, making popsicles, and playing store (Ry, I don't think your prices are too high!). He patiently waited until 8am to wake me up each morning by crawling under the comforter "hiding" from me!

Note the writing on his PJ shirt...and note that I didn't encourage his pose---his personality is so fun and silly!

Olympic Stadium at the University of Utah

One of the many spectacular views! The mountains were like this every direction you look, it felt like you could just walk there and take a hike (maybe once the snow melts!). You step out Leah and Scott's front door (or back door!) and see them! And when it's clear outside you can even see Salt Lake itself from their back deck! AMAZING!

From on top of the Memorial building in Temple Square you can get this view of the Salt Lake Temple---it's HUGE! Leah and I took a pretend marriage photo on the front steps. The gentleman who took it said they built four identical front steps in anticipation for all the weddings that would take place there.

Leah and I are both a little directionally challenged.

This is a statue of Jesus inside one of the Temple Square visiting centers. While there, we also saw where the Mormon Tabernacle choir practices, the giant conference center that seats over 21,000 people, and has a roof that is basically a city park, and got a brief tour of the LDS headquarters inside the Memorial building (where we had all the great view pictures).

Here is one of Maddy's attempts at crawling. So cute!