New job!!!

Caden and I have taken on a whole new adventure to make some extra money. We are now the paper delivery couple.. haha its hilarious at times but pretty tiring. We meet at 2:30am and finish anywhere from 5:00-6:30 am. I had to take some pictures this morning to let you all in on this fun job!

My brother has also joined in on the fun....


packing up the car
you cant tell at all from this picture but our hands are BLACK by the time we finish rolling...

Las Vegas Girl Trip

My mom, my sister Ashley, and I go on a girl trip every year with our friends from Idaho. We have gone to some really fun places and this year we were able to go Las Vegas. We had a blast and it was good to spend some time with my mom and sister! 

My mini elvis friend

matching pjs

Mexican restaurant 

HUGE pot pies we ordered! 

limo ride to Phantom

phantom night

our coloring contest McKenzi had for her birthday!

Ash and mom on the airplane

Bear Lake Adventure... or a 4 hour milkshake run!!!!

On Friday Doug and Peggy planned a fun Bear Lake adventure for us all. Peggy went to so much work to get a lot of fun snacks while Doug loaded his truck. Brandi and Daxton, Doug and Peggy, and Caden and I all set off around noon for our exciting day. The drive up was so much fun. We were all able to talk and share hilarious stories. By the time we got to Bear Lake the wind had started up and it was completely overcast :(. SO SAD!! The boys made the final decision and we ended up just getting some yummy milkshakes instead!! The weather was not good enough to enjoy ourselves or to fulfill our fun day we had planned. We were all bummed but we were able to spend a lot of time together and we made it fun anyways!
Peggy told me about a trip they had when the kids were young and how she learned the most important part of family outings are the memories you make on the way there and back... definitely TRUE. We were all able to create such fun memories and it was definitely a day we wont ever forget... despite the fact that it turned out a lot different than we all expected! I am thankful for my fun inlaws and sweet husband who have helped to make this summer so enjoyable!!! and I do have to admit... THAT MILKSHAKE WAS ALMOST AS GOOD AS A CONCRETE!!!!

UTAH HERE WE COME!!!!!

Thats right.. we are leaving Virginia and headed back to Kaysville! Wahoo! We are so sad that it didnt last longer in Virginia... but sometimes not everything works out the way you hope. We are grateful for the experience and the wonderful time we have had. We have gotten to know some really neat people as well as make some good friends... THE ASHBOCKERS. We will miss them a lot but thankfully theyll be back in Idaho in a few months. We are excited to get home and see our friends and family again. We will be looking for an apartment and new jobs before we know it... so we are going to have fun with the few short days we have left here. I wouldnt trade this experience for anything even though it was one of the hardest things we have been through. We are both thankful for what we were able to learn! It is crazy how small things are such great blessings and sometimes unanswered prayers arent answered for a reason....BUT UTAH HERE WE COME!! We cant wait to see you all again.

...Mom's Visit...

On Saturday afternoon my mom flew into Washington DC. She and I had talked about her coming to visit and just giving ourselves sometime to shop and hang out together. We went straight to the Washington DC temple when she got here. It was so pretty and such a great experience. We spent Sunday in Washington DC with Caden. We got to go to the Arlington cemetery, the White House, Lincoln memorial building, and to some other sites around the area. The rest of the time we spent shopping and simply spending time together. It was so awesome to have my mom here. She is definitely one of my best friends and such a great example to me. I am so grateful to have her in my life. I am lucky to have the relationship I have with her. It was so fun to get to be with her for those few days! 

I know this is a lame picture cause its from the wedding.. but my mom had her camera with us and I forgot to take some of the pictures off of it to have them for myself... I wanted a picture with the post though!

s.t.r.a.w.b.e.r.r.y. j.a.m.

I found strawberries last saturday.... BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!! We love to make strawberry crepes so I thought I would take Harris Teeter up on their offer. I got the strawberries and as Caden and I planned out our dinners for the week on Sunday we left out anything that included my 2 plastic containers of strawberries! I just figured I would use them as a side or something later on. As the week went on I totally forgot I had them. By Wednesday night they were looking a little dark and less appetizing. I looked at my schedule and realized I didnt have work Friday so I needed a project or else the day would seem never ending. SO.... I decided to use the strawberries up and attempt to make strawberry jam. I have never made jam or paid much attention to my mom and grandma when they would make it together. I found a recipe I had copied down of my grandmas and went to work! Aubree and I decided it would be fun to do it together because she had also had taken up the BUY ONE GET ONE FREE Harris Teeter special. We bought darling glass jars, fruit pectin, and to my surprise A LOT of sugar. I didnt realize how sugary jam is but..... thats what makes it SO GOOD! We had so much fun making it together and I am even more excited to eat it. Peggy gave me a very helpful hint.... to use RED food coloring. I was amazed at how much more colorful and bright it made it look.. thanks for the tip Peg! Anyways.. I was pretty excited and so was Caden :)! 

FLOOD

We had a flash flood warning on Wednesday. I was at work and within a few hours there was 4-5 inches of standing water in the parking lot! On Cadens ride home one of the boys told him that the small stream behind our apartment building had become a RIVER!! When he got home we decided to check it out. Its hard to tell by the pictures but there was so much water and HUGE slugs on the side walk. The water had pushed over trees and even broken a fence... pretty crazy!