Weekend with Char!

Moms. I have so many moms. I have my Mom, I have 2nd Mom (my best friend's mom), and now I have my Other Mom (my mom-in-law) -- and they all ROCK.

But this weekend was special because Char came out to freezing cold Utah to hang out with us. We always have so much fun with her and I love spending time together. She just makes everything seem brighter and happier. And Devin just loves her to death, so he's always in a good mood when his Mom's around.

Anyway, here's a little recap of the weekend. Char flew in on Friday, Devin picked her up,we went to lunch at Cafe Rio (YUM!). Then met back up at our apartment. Devin had to work so it was just me and Char for the night. We went to the MOA and saw the sacred gifts exhibit, it was breathtaking. Then we went to the grocery store (see what I mean when I say she's awesome- she goes grocery shopping with me when she comes in for the weekend!) She ended up paying for our groceries... sneaky mom! Then we went home, waited for Devin to get home, played games, and watched a movie. 

Th next day we went on a hike to the Y. So fun! I loved it. After, we went back to the apartment, showered, went to Iceburg and got huge onion rings and shakes (and then we all felt sick afterwards!). Then we went back to the MOA. It was awesome. Devin actually really liked it. We had steaks that night and played games. Devin had some homework to do so he was busy doing that while Char and I talked and played speed. Boy oh boy did I learn some awesome things. Like the fact that she raised pigs... what!? Char???

Anyway, she caught a flight out early the next morning. I was sad I was too groggy to wake up in the morning and drive with them. But that was our awesome really quick weekend. Wish we could spend more time with her but love the time we do get! 

Typing away at my computer, I heard the doorknob turn and watched as Devin walked in the door after a long, long day. I think it was about a 14 hour work day for both of us. He had grabbed the mail on the way in and told me we had something "exclusive offer" from Carnival (The cruise line we went on our honeymoon to). At first  I thought it was probably junk mail, but then after I looked at the envelope, I remembered that cruise lines often give away special trips for promotion (and especially after Carnival's stint with the two ships they had to drag in from sea). So I opened it up!

Here's what I saw:

I was like, what?  So I hopped on Carnival and checked it out. I pretended to book a cruise and the total was $176 for both Devin and I. Can you believe it? That was the TOTAL. I was freaking out at this point. And I was also thinking it was a scam. So I called up Carnival and the lady told me that they were real, and they randomly send these out, and it's rare to get one. The lady I was talking to was telling me how jealous she was because she had worked there for 5 years and never gotten one! 

At this point I was dead set on going on a cruise. So I was searching around and seeing when and where we could go. I told Devin and he was psyched. He had the brilliant idea of seeing how much it would be to have Mike and Madi come with us. So we called up the cruise lady again and got some estimates. $300 per couple? What. Really? So we booked it. 7 days in Mexico and 3 days in Puerto Vallerta and Cabo. I'm psyched! Can't wait to get some sun finally. What a blessing from our Heavenly Father <3

The Battle of the 7 Up

Pictures tell a thousand words, right? So I thought I'd post some pictures of my latest connundrum:

I'm sad because I couldn't open the 7 Up - and I look really scary because it is night time. (Sorry!)

(please ignore gross nail polish!)

So I asked Devin for help. Can you tell he's psyched to get out of his warm bed and come help his ridiculous wife that desperately wants 7 Up at 11pm at night?

Well, it turned out that the soda had sat in our fridge for so long that the carbonation had made a lot of pressure and Devin couldn't even open it himself. So he's doing this thing we call "Ecuifying" in our house. He took a knife and cut a hole into it! 

(He served his mission in Ecuador, so whenever he and his companions had to fix something in a ghetto way, they called it Ecuifying... and I guess it just stuck with us!)

It worked. I was psyched at this point.

 And just as I go to take a drink of this delicious 7 Up, I see a crack in my cute glasses! A crack! A CRACK! Dang it. I swear, in this family we are cursed with the "cracking, chipping, breaking your china and glasses" curse.



As you can tell, I was pretty upset. Grrrrr.

Until next time soda... Until next time....

What Up Jazz Night?

So while my Dad was out of town in Hawaii doing his whole bike racing thingy... My mom decided to take Logan out on a date to a Jazz game and she invited me and Dev. I had really been wanting to spend some time with Logan, and Devin loooooves basketball, so it was the perfect excuse!

It was on Monday, and Devin had school in Salt Lake until around 6 so we met up with him at his office, which is literally right next door to the Energy Solutions area which was perfect for parking.  We went a little bit early because we had tickets to dining beforehand in the stadium. It was called Legends Club or something. It was pretty cool.

We were seated immediately and got whatever we wanted to drink, then we served ourselves at a yummy buffet that had steak, salmon, chicken, quinoa, potatoes, beans, salad, breads, cheeses, fruit... basically anything you could think of. When we were stuffed we just stood up and walked to our seats which were just down the hall. They were in the lower bowl so that was pretty cool. However, the Jazz were playing the Toronto Raptors... so let's just say it wasn't the Miami Heat or anything... (I'm bummed I forgot to get tickets this last game...) Either way though, it ended up being a close game. We stayed until the end. I know--we're so loyal, aren't we!? Logan LOVED it. It's so fun to see Devin bond with my little brothers, especially over sports because it's something they all truly love.

 (like how I used this picture on my updated blog? :})

 I love this picture but I wish I had gotten one of me and Logan as well!

Logan was literally on the edge of his chair the entire time. And as you can tell the game wasn't really that intense because half of the seats behind him aren't filled... It's so cute to see how much he loves basketball!

(please ignore disgustingly chipped finger nail.)

And that was our Basketball Night!

Fire & Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire 

I hold with those who favor ice.

But if it had to perish twice

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice 

Is also great

And would suffice.

-RB

Writing about this weekend's adventure reminded me of this fantastic poem by Robert Frost. And as much as I really want to make fun of it because I can hear Bella's voice from Twilight uttering it, it really is inspiring. 

Here's my own version for fun:

Some say the world will end in pollution

Some say with China.

From what I've tasted of politics

I hold with those who favor China.

But if I had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of inversion

To say that for destruction global warming

Is also great

And would suffice.

-KZ

This weekend Devin and I woke up and visited Tommy and Kim and their little boy Oliver. He is so little, it's crazy - 3 weeks old now. I can't believe it! Afterwards, Devin and I went to Olive Garden because we were starving. And we love food. And Olive Garden. Afterwards, we headed back to our place where we met up with Jordan and Tanisha for our double date!

 It was a double blind date actually, (meaning J-bag and Tanisha had never met before) and it was actually really fun. I'm not sure they are a going to get married and have babies, but they seemed like they were having fun! We went to an event at the Riverwoods that was called Fire & Ice. There was ice sculpting, live reindeer, marshmallows, fire dancing, fireworks and music! We took pictures and froze our toes off. It was magical. Then we headed to The Chocolate and got a piece of cake and some hot chocolate to warm up after.

(OK, just to let you know, their hazelnut hot chocolate is amazing - tastes like Nutella in a mug)

Afterwards we headed back to our place where we played Apples to Apples, Nerts, and Spoons. We had chips, drinks, and yummmmmmmmmy cookies. (Can you tell I look food yet?) Mike and Madi came over and so did Matt and Jess and their little baby, Lincoln. HE IS ADORABLE. I couldn't get over it. He is 2 months old now and starting to put on weight so he is Mr. Chubbs now. I couldn't get over his cute round cheeks! (And yes I was melting inside because I had been able to play with TWO babies that day)

After we were all gamed out, we appropriately ended the night with an episode of 24. And that was our fun weekend date! Here's some photos and a video of the fireworks. 

(Oh funny story - as Devin was pulling out of the parking lot to leave the Riverwoods the fireworks starting going off DIRECTLY above us. I don't think I've ever been closer to fireworks. He thought he was being shot at and freaked out. It was hilarious. Then we pulled away so we were out of the firework ashes range and I took a video of the pretty lights.)

A real bobsled from the Utah Olympics!