Sunday, June 24, 2012

my week via iPhone (+ an award)

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< last sunday was father's day! we have the 2 best pops ever!
> a snack. i love apples. i love cutting my slices extra thin

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< Fantastic Mr. Fox on TV earlier this week! Who doesn't love a good game of whackbat?
> This is a photo Devin took in New England. It's framed in our room and probably my favorite photo we have.

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< my daddy
> the kids all playing in Grandpa Verel's palmer on sunday.

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< Addi. of course.
> chocolate cupcakes with raspberry frosting that I made for a father's day treat for the family party

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< I may have eaten an entire sleeve of saltine crackers for lunch one day
> making up a marinade for some chicken starting with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar

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< i love this guy.
> my baby sister took me out to dinner at Guru's one night while devin was at work

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< Guru's serves People Water - anybody else watching The Bachelorette? #teamjef (except, I wouldn't mind if Sean won.)
> Devin spent wednesday, thursday and friday morning with his Dad on a scout trip, so I spent that time at home, watching the TV shows he doesn't like, in his sweats.

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< closet
> finally reading this book. she is my hero!

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< my parents always have skittles at their house
> sammy! my little sister's dog.

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< popcorn for dinner... it's normal
> Devin and bean at the surprise party for Grandpa Willis!

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< cute banner courtesy of Lee!
> makayla in all her party gear

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>< this little girl

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>< the birthday boy! He was so surprised!

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< devin and grandpa willis hugging
> the baby's sparkly shoes she loves so much

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< pepper! such a cute little dog
> party decorations

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< addi watching the pinata
> makayla's swing!

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< grandpa willis whacks it
> kaden takes a turn

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< candy!
> confetti

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< devin's cousin put together this awesome book of memories and photos we each wrote about grandpa willis for his birthday!
> addi and i discovered that he neighbors had some ducks in their backyard. in this photo, she was yelling "quack-quack, where are you?! quack-quack, come here!" she cracks me up.

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< the neighbor handed me a baby duckling through a hole in the fence, and before we knew it, she was handing over the pen, and a big bucket full of ducklings! all the kids jumped in the pen and played with the ducklings - they were so cute. i can't believe i held one.

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< scared baby ducklings
> i absolutely love this photo of kaden. love his blue eyes!

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< devin's cousin's daughter watching the ducks eat
> magleby's cake for the birthday boy!

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after the party, devin and i drove up to squaw peak to check out the big fire across the lake. it wasn't as epic as we thought it would be, just lots of smoke and an orange sky. it was beautiful. you could see the flames, though.

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loves the views of the valley from up there

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< moon
> we spent saturday morning driving around american fork and lehi looking for apartments. if we can find the right one, we'll be moving soon so we can be closer to work, and also, so we can get a dog! it's really becoming that important to us, haha. maybe it seems a little extreme to some people, but we have wanted a dog since before we were married. i've always had dogs growing up, and devin has always loved dogs. it's important to us! we'd also like to get out of Orem for awhile and be somewhere new with new people in a new place we don't know very well.

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< devin's got me hooked on this stuff!
> saturday evening, Kelli received her endowment in the Salt Lake Temple. It was our first time back since we were married, over a year ago - it was an amazing night! After the session, we walked through city creek and ate at The Cheesecake Factory, and around 10:00 pm, we walked back through temple square to get our cars. The grounds were so quiet and it was warm outside. I had never seen the temple like that without all the crowds!

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< our nursery class today was small, but they were out of control! with 5 minute left, we finally got them all to sit down with their pictures and wait for their parents. fwew! cutest kids ever, though.

Also, my dear sweet friend, Valeri, who has been one of my closest friends since we met just a few weeks before high school started, has included me in a blogger award! Wahoo! So sweet of her. I like passing along this kind of goodness! So... I get the turn to award 5 of my favorite small bloggers!

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My sisters in law, Chloe and Amanda are both incredible writers. They each inspire me in their own ways to be a better version of myself. I look up to them, and love learning from their example. Amanda is an amazing mother of 3 gorgeous children, and an incredible cook. Chloe is one of the most kind people I have ever met.

Katie, who writes often about her young marriage and adventures in living in different places around the country for her husbands job is always a blog I like to read when I'm looking to be reminded of my blessings. She is so humble, and always aware of her good fortune - something I aspire to do more often!

Eliesa is a girl I met through Danica. Both of their blogs are hilarious and filled with awesome ideas that I often wish I was bold enough to try. I love that I can always count on a new post on Danica's blog to make me LOL, and also challenge me to be more creative with fashion, hair and makeup. I've learned a lot from her that way! Eliesa keeps things simple and beautiful, which is another aspect I am trying to incorporate not just in my blog, but in my life in general!

So, girls... if you feel so inclined, you can award this same Blog Award to your 5 favorite small blogs!