more pool and friends from out of town

more pool time last week. we are trying to make sure the boys are keeping up with their swimming so we don't lose the skills we have learned. so far so good!


my mom's college roommate and dear friend, sharon was out visiting from MN! it's always fun to see friends that we don't get to see very often. we had a good time catching up, talking about pinterest (sharon, have you started an account?)and eating good food. why does food always taste better when you're sitting outside on a warm night? thank you to my in-laws for watching the boys so we could enjoy our food and relax!


my little old man. this is what happens when you forget a hat and have to cover your 6 month old in sunscreen.

this might be the only time i have ever seen brayden sit still! it's no wonder he and ryder are such good friends!

we continued on in the eating as we celebrated my sister's new teaching position. way to go, auntie allison!






my aunt bonnie is so good with our little ryder. heck, she's great with all our kids! thank you, auntie!

bachelorette finale

amanda planned a fun little bachelorette finale with white cupcakes and tiaras for all. thanks for hosting such a fun little evening! of course we all dressed in white in honor of the big proposal, some in wedding garb. to be honest i think we should have worn black since i am not a fan of this current bachelorette and it was a bit of a pitiful season. she could have used some class especially in the way she treated the men. who lets a guy get down on his knee to pop the question, knowing you aren't going to accept?! i am glad this season is over and i am hoping the producers do a better job a finding their next bachelor/bachelorette.

back to our sweet reality...

returning from the absence of children is a little adjustment, but we're back on track and catching up. last week we started back in with our simple yet wonderful and sometimes all too crazy life.


the only thing cuter than this is...


this!


we played plenty at the park
we're still figuring out this whole hand holding thing.



we're also learning that when you take something home from the park that isn't yours it's called STEALING:)

fortunately friends forgive;)

the big 7

it's that time of year, the time when stew and i kiss our kids goodbye and head out ALONE! we look forward to this every year! we are so grateful to have family that provide this opportunity for us, taking on our three VERY young and active boys to make this a reality. thank you!! it was so wonderful! we felt like newlyweds. what a gift!
i am a huge fan of celebrating anniversaries. i love to celebrate birthdays(though they come all too often) and all holidays for that matter! but the way i see it, birthdays happen regardless of what you do, anniversaries take a lot of work. so if we're going to go all out once a year, it's going to be for something that we work hard at! let's hear it for 7 great years of hard and rewarding work!

last weekend we said goodbye to these lovely little faces, knowing that my mom and aunt would take very good care of them. i might even venture to say they watch them closer than we do.


we loved our hotel! honestly, how could you not, knowing there would be no 5 am wake up call or any crying children! hello black out curtains and waking up at 8 am! heaven.

stew surprised me with my favorite wine!


and then we headed down to our little and i do mean LITTLE pool for some reading and swimming.


dinner at our favorite place to celebrate our anniversay! we have yet to miss a year(thank you, auntie!) at roys!


best appetizer ever: the canoe

and lest you think we would leave without dessert.


saturday night we hit up the chart house, another favorite spot on the water. this salmon meal is still one of my top favorite choices! i am not sure if it's the food that's so great or the fact that i didn't have to share a single bite!

on our way home from dinner we saw a train. funny how you don't even have to be with your kids and you immediately want to scream, "look, it's a train!" it's true, i did miss our craziness a bit:)


but not enough to miss out on a few days alone with this guy. my mom is so right, the greatest gift you give your children is to love your spouse. lucky me. i hope i never forget this.

favorite things

i am addicted to pinterest and it was through my new favorite addiction that i found my desire to host a favorite things party. turns out that melissa had already heard of these parties (clearly she's more in the loop than i am!) and was already wanting to plan one! we had so much fun planning this little shindig. we even managed to find a new favorite meal (the thai peanut something wrap) at wine steals as we were "planning" one evening over a glass of wine.
(picture hijacked from melissa's blog) you might want to check out her account of the evening.
please note that we now have a shared email account. we're totally those dorky girls. no shame. heck, go ahead and email us!

along with the invite we included these instructions: Here’s how it works… You bring 5 items of one of your favorite thing 6 bucks and under (not 5 different items….5 of the same item)…examples are kitchen utensils, lipgloss or nail polish, food, anything that you LOVE and want to introduce the group to. Have fun with it! There will be no judging…..unless your item totally sucks. Just kidding!


every gal went home with a bag full of goodies...a pen for note taking, a survey(previously put together) of all the gals favorite things( ie... makeup, date night, restaurant, store, and such), a set of everyones favorite recipes all tied up in strings (previously submitted earlier on), and a CD with a compilation of our current favorite songs(O.P.P. might have made its way on the CD). the night of the party all the women could use the bags to tote their new items home.



as each gal walked in they stopped to put there name on five pieces of paper before dropping them into the jar. they then grabbed a question hanging on the tree, to be answered later.


there were different questions that melissa put together, hung on the tree with numbers to give an order to the gifting process. i chose this question because i knew without a shadow of a doubt which day i would love to live over and over... the day i married stew! it really was my favorite day, surrounded by our friends and families, celebrating the years to come.














no shocker here, but i brought my favorite colored serving bowl/dessert bowl, from my favorite store(anthropologie), filled with one of my favorite candies and a recipe that calls for those health bars.

melissa's favorite thing was adele. i seriously can't hear adele's music without thinking of her. it was perfect that she brought these CDs and it was perfect that i GOT ONE!! i got some great new favorites! one that i would recommend and will be buying as gifts are these. you can buy them at hansens surf shop and pure barre and probably a thousand other places. honestly, the best hair tie i have ever worn. leave it to the gal who works at pure barre to know the ins and outs of what works. thanks, murph!

the goodies!




loved hearing all the answers to the questions.


jamie holds her favorite thing up and it was potato soup (i didn't get it, but i plan on buying it). love the fact that she shared that you just need to add water which is good since she always has water on hand.










the crew that was willing to give this crazy 'favorite things' party a whirl! thanks!



a special thanks to these two! how cute are they?! andy, thank you for your photography skills. i always appreciate the man willing to help a group of girls capture a fun memory!