New toy

I just wanted to say thank you Grandma Fike, he loves the rocking horse!

Utah trip

I have been on vacation! My friend Kate and I went out to Utah for a week and had a blast. We visited friends and family, and did some site seeing. The pictures explain most of them. None of the pictures are in order, so enjoy the randomness.

My friend, Sarah is getting married in June, but we were out here to see her bridal shower. Here she is opening my gift, home pregnancy test in a must in my gifts.

We had a chance to catch up with an old friend who used to live in our home ward, Brittany, we had such a good time seeing her. It had been 7 years, since Kate and Brit last saw each other.

We had a small party at Em's place with some of the old Remington girls,( my last apt before getting married) and made the best dessert, Italian sodas! Kate and I ended up having them two more time this trip.

Just chilling with the girls.

Sarah and I after her bridal shower.

We went to church with Brit and her family, then went to lunch afterwards. It was a great blast from the past talking about what has happened to the ward since they moved out.

Brit and her husband Andy, with Kate and I.

We went up to BYU-I to visit Kate's sister Audrey. This was my fav. shot of these two.

Kate making fun of my belly. I am 24 weeks along!

After doing baptisms at the Salt Lake Temple, we saw the Joseph Smith movie in the J. S. Memorial building, then decided to treat ourselves to the Garden Restaurant on top of the J. S. Memorial building. It was amazing view and food.

Touring the Visitor's Center.

Having fun on Temple Grounds.

SLC temple at twilight.

My Aunt and Uncle told us about being able to see the Motab practicing in the Tabernacle on Thursday night, so we went to see them. It was weird not seeing them look alike.

Sarah had dress fitting, and since I won't be here for the wedding, I got to see what her dress is like. I thought it was beautiful.

Aunt Laura, Kate, kids, and I got to do was go shopping! I was in need of summer maternity clothes, Mark was born right before Christmas. I love having an excuse to shop.

We hit the Provo temple, Kate did baptisms and I did initatories.

Our first night there, we went to Leatherby's and had some of the best ice cream. Mine was a chocolate raspberry brownie thing.

When we made the car reservation for the trip, I signed up for an economy car. I wanted something good on gas, and something cheap. When we got there, the rental guy walked us up and seriously said " here is your economy minivan". I wasn't too please, but having worked in a car rental business before, I have had to do that to other people. I figured we could last a couple of days with the van, but we would need to switch out to a smaller car before leaving for BYU-I. Two days later we switched to a Kia Rio. Kate kept calling it our clown car because of how small it was. I think it was the right size, it fit me.

I am such a Mom...

This last week, our well used dryer went completely on the fritz. The motor was over heating, no matter what setting it was on, and therefore not rotating. Ethan and I had been dicussing getting a new one, and oddly enough I was the one doing the major researching this time. Normally Ethan has a lot of down time at work and does the computer researching. But when it comes to the chore of laundry, I am the one that does it. Ethan and I fully when know what chore the other hates, mine is dishes, and his is laundry. So Ethan let me get a dishwasher, making life much easier. I hate the feeling of the food in the dishwater, it really grosses me out. As for laundry, it is not a chore I mind. I actually kind of enjoy it. I can sit there and watch a little t.v. while folding, usually after Mark is asleep. Down time that is still productive.

After going through many different specifications as to what I want, it came down to price, size - 7.0 or larger (need to accommodate for growing family size), if possible a stainless steel drum, and as an added bonus as many features that can possibly be added without jacking up the price. The stainless steel drum to deal with our severe heavy iron problem in our well water. The other stuff would have stained eventually. As for features, that is pretty self explanatory. This was the best deal of them all http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100498354.

They will be delivering, installing, and hauling away the old for free! Five years ago, I couldn't have cared less, it is amazing what makes me excited now. The only downfall is that it won't get here until May 12, which is the day I leave for Utah, meaning I won't see my latest appliance until May 20th when I get home. I am such a Mom