The Christmas holidays have come and gone and I feel very blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful family. My sister Natalie and her family were able to fly in from Georgia and I was SO grateful to see them. My niece Olivia is the CUTEST thing. I was afraid she might not like us since it's been so long since we've seen her but she just loves everyone she sees and ran around, smiling and laughing all day. What a doll. For those who know Natalie, you know she's always loved kids and they have always FLOCKED to her in droves, so it's no surprise that she is a wonderful mom. I sure miss them.


Here's a fun picture of our other niece. She was loving this and kept asking for more. Brave little girl!

Here's our Christmas tree this year. It looks so much better than it did last year! It was so bare, seriously Charlie Brown style. But that's how it is when your newlyweds and one of you is a student. It still needs an angel for the top but I haven't found the right one yet.

I love Christmas time! We have had lots of beautiful snow this year that really puts me in a holiday mood.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Gavin and I spent Thanksgiving with his family this year. We had so much fun eating, playing games and watching football (yes, I said I had fun watching football). It was fun to spend time with our new niece. She is such a pretty baby! Here's some pictures from the fun weekend.

I'm curled up, ready for a nap. This might have been pre-feast. All the anticipation tuckered me out.
Gavin with Jarah. Sorry about that camera flash Jarah!

So we had a little trouble getting everyone in the picture at the table, so this is the whole group...in two installments. Gavin is getting a nice camera for Christmas so this won't happen again. :)
Take 2, with Tobin and Whitney this time.

I love this last picture of Lauren holding Jarah, it's so sweet and beautiful. Being an aunt is so much fun.

Labor Day Weekend

We went camping with friends up in Riggins, ID for Labor Day and we had an ABSOLUTE BLAST! Good weather, good friends, good food, and INCREDIBLE s'mores! Lara bought some seriously huge marshmallows and we had fun roasting them over the fire. Here's Matt after he took a bite:
And me mid-bite. I felt like a little kid again because I couldn't help getting it all over my fingers and face.
Gavin and Anna around the fire, getting lunch ready.

Gavin decided he wanted to swim across the river and climb the mountain. He's so adventurous!

You can barely see him across the water, but he's there.

It was such a fun trip. We've really missed our friends Matt and Lara since we left DC, so it was nice to meet up again. It was fun to see the Kirkham's too.

We had a really nice campsite neighbor who let us each take a ride on his 4-wheeler, and they showed us how to pan for gold and let us use their equipment. It was hard work, but we did get a couple of flakes of gold--real gold--right there in the river! It was fun to learn. I had one whole speck of gold in my pan and I was pretty proud of myself.

Well, we're back in Idaho again. It was such a wonderful summer and I definitely miss the east coast, but I'm glad to be around family again. It's good to be back.

Gavin and I have had lots of fun the past few weeks. Now that we have STUFF again (we lived in an unfurnished apartment all summer to cut costs and simplify) we have taken a couple fun camping trips. The first one was up around Idaho City. It was gorgeous. We camped by the river and enjoyed exploring and looking for wildlife. The fish really liked Gavin and kept biting at his legs. There is a video at the bottom. Even though I loved and miss the lush greenery of Virginia, Idaho is beautiful too...even if Boise is a desert. :) Here are some pictures from our little trip.

Gavin was adding to a little dam someone had built.

Despite all the rocks and twigs and stickers, Gavin is still barefoot. But that's a given if you know him. :)

Gavin is the best person to go adventuring with! I get excited over every little thing I see and he just laughs and gets excited with me. I'm so grateful to live in such a beautiful world with so much to see and discover, and to have such an incredible person by my side to discover it with.

It's hot outside! But I LOVE IT! Bring on the 90 degrees and humidity baby! Gavin, on the other hand, is not such a fan. Here's some funny pictures of him trying to stay cool.

Outside the Washington DC Temple--it was very bright!

Popsicles and cold water bottles. I love summer!

WASHINGTON NATIONALS GAME, 8 ROWS FROM ALL THE ACTION!

Matt got free tickets so he and Lara took us along! They have been the best tour guides and friends we could have asked for! Thanks so much Matt and Lara!

The excited group! The boys could hardly contain their excitement. Gavin about cheered himself hoarse just for the little boy who threw the opening pitch. :)


Me and Lara!