The 4th of July and Happy Birthday to me!

James and I had a classic Kaysville 4th of July.  Or at least we tried.  I went to the annual breakfast with my parents and Lauren at the DATC.  James didn't go with us because he was golfing with his Dad, uncles and cousins.  I was glad he was able to go this year, he missed out last year because I had to work.  James invited my Dad to go as well but my Dad declined, saying he doesn't cuss enough to golf.  

After the breakfast I took a nap and I woke up when James finished golfing.  We went to the parade but left before it even started because it was so hot.  I was starting to feel sick and I didn't want to sit in the sun for an hour.  We walked back to my parent's house and sat in the cold basement.  I drank lots of water and put my feet up.  

We went to his aunt and uncle's house in Clinton for a BBQ with family.  We stayed for a few hours and then went back to Kaysville for another BBQ.  My Mom's sisters all drove up from Utah county and my grandparents came too.  We celebrated the 4th and a couple of birthdays; my Grandpa's 79th and my 29th.

I should have waited a few more minutes until everything was on the counter...

Me and Grandpa...should have taken another picture, this one is not great of either of us.

Afterwards we ate dessert, lots of dessert.  My aunt Emily made two really good cakes and I made a Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova.  It turned out the best out of any of my previous pavlovas.  I know I "shouldn't" have made my own birthday cake but I had time the night before while James was at band practice and I love to cook!

We walked up and looked at the booths in the soccer field, and talked to a few people.  There was a band playing when we were there and I didn't think they were that great.  I told James that Mid 6 was better.  Soon after that comment was made my Mom told James that Mid 6 was better than the other band.  I think they are pretty good.  We went back to the house and lounged around until the fireworks started.  We watched from the backyard because we didn't want to fight the crowds and my parents had taken the parade blankets home with them.  Usually they leave them and we watch the fireworks from our parade spot.  I wonder how next year with a baby will be.  Will we even be in Utah?

The next day we went back up to Logan after eating breakfast with my Mom.  She made baked oatmeal for my birthday and it was SO GOOD.  I think I could have eaten the whole pan (not a great idea.)  After a quick stop at home I went to the costume shop and James went to the lab.  I worked on a really fun (and slightly frustrating) sequinned dress for "Lend Me A Tenor."  I had wanted to finish it (or at least get the major seams sewn) by the end of the day.  I had to leave early for a doctor's appointment so I was hoping I would have enough time to go back to the shop before the end of the day.  The appointment went really well (nothing to report) and I was back with enough time to finish the major seams.

After I got home I waited for James to finish up at the lab.  When I got to the kitchen I noticed this:

He used the S and the A from his birthday banner

My husband is too funny.  After he got home he gave me my birthday presents.  I thought it was really funny that he taped everything down in the box and decorated the edge with tissue paper.  Even more hilarious was the fact that he even taped the free samples in the box with the items.  I love him so much.

The key chain in the upper right corner is a replacement for my current one.  I lost most of the robots on my first one!

We ate dinner at Le Nonne and then bought some ice cream afterwards.  I ended up taking the rest to work to share the next day.  I figured we didn't really NEED to have another container of ice cream in our freezer.  Plus, I would have likely eaten most of it by myself and then felt sick afterwards.  Anyway!  I finished the sequinned dress the next day and finished off the jacket that goes over the dress.  It wasn't easy to put a zipper in a dress like that but I managed.  I was just glad that the designer picked fabric with soft sequins so I didn't have to remove the sequins from the seams and then reapply them by hand.

While you probably can't tell from the finished product, I used a Butterick pattern based on Pippa Middleton's dress from the Royal Wedding.

We omitted the neck drape and the train but it has the same style lines!  I kind of want to make another one, it was a pretty easy pattern to sew.

Photo Overload

This past week has been really fun but tiring. It started early on Monday, I packed up my giant bag and drove to Kaysville to help watch my niece and nephew.  We did a lot of fun things:

We walked down to the ponds to feed the ducks.

Some of the ducks were overly aggressive and they stole the bread out of Avery's hand.

Avery and I made cinnamon rolls while Parker took a nap.  She was a very good helper.

Testing the sugar/cinnamon ratio

Waiting for the rolls to rise

Parker was a cute as always!  I can't believe how fast he is growing up.

We also made masks.  Avery requested a pretty mask and a scary mask.

The orange mask is the "scary" mask

Jordan's wife Lindsey came over for dinner and played "Pretty Pretty Princess" with Avery.

Avery dressing Lindsey up in ALL the jewelry!

I also worked a little while I was at my parents' house.  I'm designing "The Marvelous Wonderettes" for the Midvale Arts Council this summer.  The musical centers around four girls in a singing group.  Act I takes place at their senior prom and Act II is at their 10 year reunion. I finally put pen and pencil to paper to get the ideas out and visualized.  If the prom dresses look familiar it's because we're renting Weber's West Side Story dresses.  I can't believe I designed those four years ago!

ACT I

ACT II

I also used the time to visit Target to update our baby registry.  I noticed this set up and I thought it was funny:

Milk Duds and a breast pump...nice.

Last week there was a police stand off in our tiny town.  Apparently a young man was threatening suicide and the police blocked off the block.  There was even some news coverage.  I think it resolved itself peacefully.  I hope.

Road closures

News vans

Main Street

Finally, TODAY.  Our friends Annie and Rob were sealed this morning at the Logan Temple.  They got married last year, six months after Rob was baptized.  They were both glowing this morning.  Happiness all around!

The happy couple

We ran errands afterwards and I found the CUTEST measuring cups at TJ Maxx.  I had pinned them on Pinterest a YEAR ago and then I found them at a discounted price!

Happy Birthday James!

James turned 29 on Friday and he was happy to not spend the day moving somebody. Last year he moved us in to our current apartment and the year before that he moved me into our first apartment. (He joined me after our honeymoon.)

On his actual birthday I got up early and made him breakfast in bed:

I made too much sausage...

Later that day I made a birthday banner and started on his birthday pie (strawberry rhubarb.)

  I finished the pie on Saturday because I knew we weren't going to eat the pie until then.  James' birthday present this year was time in the recording studio with Mid 6.  They recorded that evening so I stayed in Logan and James went to Provo.  It wasn't ideal being apart but I was able to get a lot done around the apartment and take it easy.

On Saturday I had a baby shower thrown by the ladies in my ward.  I was totally surprised by the generosity of the women in my ward.  They were so nice!  My Mom and my Grandma Keller came up to attend the shower that morning.  It was a really fun shower.

The tower of diapers and wipes

James got home as we were unloading the gifts after the shower.  We went out to lunch and then to the water lab.  Because we were going to the lab right after James suggested we try Herm's Inn because it is on the way to the lab.  I was very impressed with the decor, it was so cool!  (The link is the architect's blog and it shows off some of the building and the food.)  Once we were at the lab James got to work and I did too.  I wrote thank you notes.  All of them.  It was a pain but WORTH IT.

I also rearranged our spare room and put away most of the gifts.  We sorted the baby clothes by size and I boxed up anything larger than 3-6 months.  I have no idea how big Mina is going to be!

Less than 10 weeks to go! Yikes!

Vegas Weekend

This past Monday my Mom texted me and asked if I wanted to go to Vegas that weekend.  She said James was invited too but she understood if he was too busy with school.  I was a little hesitant to go at first because I really like spending time with my husband and I didn't want to be a bother.  I did want to go visit my sister and her family for one last time before they move away.  Josh's graduation ceremonies were scheduled for Friday and Saturday so we drove down Thursday afternoon and headed home Sunday morning.

The bright lights of Vegas

It was really fun to spend time with the kids, who doesn't love Parker?

Seriously.  Just try.  He'll melt your heart in second.

Avery took this self portrait on the way to her dad's graduation.  She loves taking pictures.

She also loves taking pictures of her shoes.

And more of herself.

By this time she was pretty tired of the graduation ceremony...

A very blurry picture of Josh receiving his hood and medallion (or necklace as Avery dubbed it)

Congratulations Dr. Armstrong!

\

The Armstrong Family

On Saturday afternoon/evening we went to the park so Avery could see the surprise my parents brought from Utah.  While we were walking she handed me this tiny flower.  Here is what she said,

"This flower is for Mina because Mina likes flowers."

I thought it was really sweet of her to give her unborn cousin a flower.

And Avery's surprise: paper lanterns!  Just like in Tangled!  She was pretty excited to see the lantern take flight. My Mom found them at Hallmark but you can also buy them on-line.

We were kind of hesitant to let another one go (we had a total of SIX) but we decided to do another one.  By that time we had started to attract a crowd.

A pretty good sized crowd.

One last lantern for Vegas.  We're saving the other three for next month when they visit before they move.

Up

Up

and away...

We headed back to Kaysville after a delicious breakfast of cinnamon french toast (thanks Dad!)  We stopped ONCE for bathroom breaks and to top off the tank.  Not too bad for a girl who is 6 months pregnant!

I love this picture of my parents.

We needed to get home so we could Skype with Elder Keller.  He's doing great! It was really nice to see him and talk to him.  Hilary and her family even joined in from Vegas via Facetime on Lauren's phone.  Technology is so crazy and great.

One last thing!

We went to dinner at this great place called Firefly to celebrate Josh's accomplishments.  It was really good!  It's a tapas kitchen which apparently means they serve appetizers and you share a bunch as a table.  The bacon wrapped dates were amazing.  Not so amazing was the time I tried to eat a toothpick when I was eating some salad.  I had left the toothpick from the bacon wrapped date on my plate and put salad on top.  Oops.

For dessert we got takeout from The Cheesecake Factory.  We shared three pieces between the five of us. We saw one of the Sister Wives.  I wasn't sure which one so I looked it up.  Apparently it was Meri.  I had to look it up afterwards.  She was just hanging out with friends and we aren't really the kind to approach people.  Unless we know them personally.  But that's just a normal thing to do.