The CHI

So you know those info commercials for the hair straighteners? I love to watch them for like 10 seconds and laugh at how straight they get your hair. Yah Right! Their models don't have real frizzy/curly/wavy hair, it's pretend. :) I have naturally curly hair and straightening it is a challenged to say the least. My friend introduced me to the CHI - it is the amazing hair straightener that your stylist uses for sure. They are expensive and work great. We made a trade that I would watch her little girl while she teaches piano and she will straighten my hair with the CHI. It is a great trade!
I decided to create my own before and after pictures just like the info commercials. And here they are. I also finally broke down and highlighted my hair. I finally let the gray win and there are very light subtle blonde highlights. I love it and so does Tyler. He said he feels like he has a new wife - "it's exciting!" :)

Long Time no Blog

I know it has been forever, but I have been so busy and when I have a spare moment I don't know where to start to get updated on the blog, so I don't. I am a slacker I know.
In June for South Ogden Days they had a 5K Run and Tyler, Emma and I walked it. Notice we walked, not ran. We did it in 49.02 minutes. And now our Stake is putting one on and we are going to do it and see if we can beat our time. I was the one holding Tyler back so I have been walking with my friend CarolAnne every morning. We are walking 2 miles and will work our way up to 3.5. It is a hard walk, especially when it is up a gradual hill and I am pushing 27.5 pound Emma! I feel skinnier everyday though! ;)
Here we are before the 5k in June with a lot of people from our Ward. CarolAnne, my walking partner and her husband Ryan Knight are in the first picture. Ryan took 1st place in his division in the SOD 5K go Ryan!!!

PING PONG!

Tyler mows our neighbors lawn every week, (a job he kept after selling the lawn care business) to make a little extra money. He asked me a while ago if he could buy a ping pong table and has been saving his lawn money... so he went and bought one tonight. He was so anxious to play he got his friend Ryan Knight to help him set it up as soon as he got home. Emma had a great time "helping" too. I am not sure who was more excited, Tyler or Emma.
Tyler just corrected me, it isn't ping pong it is Table Tennis. I stand corrected.
Let the games begin...

The Fourth of July!

We had a wonderful 4th of July and hope you all did too.
We took Emma to the Layton Parade and then had a BBQ at my Mom's then went to the Fireworks. Emma loved that too. Nothing phases that kid though let me tell you. She will sit on your lap for 5 seconds, ooh and ahhh over the fireworks then she is down on the ground looking for something else to do or someone else to sit with for another 5 seconds till she moves onto something else. Here are the pictures of her at the parade, with her glow sticks on so we could keep track of her as it grew dark. It came in quiet handy! And sitting with Kyle, one of the many people she "visited" while the fireworks were going off.

Timber!

Timber!

Here is our beloved tree falling to the ground! Sorry the picture isn't too good. I am not sure what happened. I will have to look into that. But you get the picture when it drops to the ground.
The street is coming along slowly but surely It is going to be so nice when it is done!! :) I am trying to be positive....
We miss the shade, but are so grateful for our neighbor who signed his life away to save his tree. We get his shade in the evenings. Thanks Ben Joe! His Tree misses our tree. They were growing into one another across the street. You can just tell he is sad. They were good friends. It's just not the same...

Our Cruise!!!

Finally I am getting our cruise on the blog....slowly but surely!
We had such a great time! It was fun to put the slide show together and remember it all. I have never slept so good and ate so well. I didn't have to worry about anything and it was soooo nice. Well, I did worry a little, about Emma, but more than anything I just missed her. There were a lot of kids on the cruise and Tyler and I would just shake our heads, we don't know how on earth we would have been able to take Emma! Grandma and Grandpa Groves watched her for us and took great care of her and we are so grateful for that!
We went to to Catalina California and Ensenada Mexico. May 28th - June 1st. We first went to Catalina and it was so beautiful! The cutest island ever! I would love to go back. I wanted to go exploring, but the group wouldn't rent a golf cart with me - party poopers! But I promise you there is a lot to see there! It was fun! We went snorkeling that morning, our first time and it was AMAZING! I don't have any pics of it, because we put the camera in the locker and that was the end of the photo opt. We were in wetsuits, because the water was pretty cold, but apparently it was "warm" according to our guide. Humm...then why the wetsuits??? :) Nonetheless, there were beautiful fish and coral at Lover's Cove and we soaked it all in. I was really surprised on how salty the ocean was. I really have never gotten into the ocean before. Been plenty of times, but the weather was never nice enough to get in. I felt like I had eaten a whole bag of tortilla chips and my lips were raw from the salt! It was crazy! The 2 hours FLEW by and we couldn't believe when time was up. We saw some pelicans and other neat birds and also saw a seal! It was amazing! I can't wait to go snorkeling again, but next time I want to do Hawaii where the water really is warm! :) That was also our Anniversary (May 29th) Three Years! What a way to celebrate!
Ensenada has no pictures because we got a last minute great deal to the blow hole and flea market from a local Mexican and I didn't have my camera and didn't want to go back to the boat for it, but that is okay, because there wasn't a lot to take pictures of. The country side was pretty but poor. It was Mexico. The Coastline was gorgeous and we loved Carlos our taxi driver. He and Tyler and James spoke a lot of Spanish and he took great care of us. We loved the flea market at the blow hole and got some great deals. My favorite, a cute Mexican dress for Emma. So cute! Vicki got her hair braided and it looked great as you can see in the video below! The blow hole, which for you who don't know it is where the ocean comes up into the crevice of a rock on the coast and shoots up the ocean water like a geyser. It was pretty cool.
On our Day at Sea we relaxed and played Shuffle board and miniature golf. It was a cloudy, windy, and 61 degrees so we didn't lay in the sun or swim, but it was nice anyway. On the cruise we saw a lot of shows and comedians, ate good food, (Side note I didn't gain any weight! That was my goal. YEA!) We took naps and people watched! There are some interesting people in this world! :)
We loved everything about the cruise and we highly recommend it! You can find a great deal like us and it is so worth it! We are now cruisers. And no, we didn't get sick. The only side effect for me when the boat rocked was it made me drowsy. I have never slept soooo good! But I was ready to come home to our Little Emma. But boy did I need the trip. I didn't realize how much I needed it till I got home and got back into the stress of life. It was nice while it lasted. And I am glad I have pictures to remember it all.

Emma and the Goats

A few weeks ago we took Emma to feed some baby goats; aka kids, and they were just that! It was amazing! My mother's Relief Society President has raised them for years and has about 10 babies right now that she feeds from a bottle. We went over one evening to feed them and let Emma see them. She loved it as you can tell from the video. They were just her size and she would just pet them and laugh and was in complete awe. It was so fun to watch her. I learned A LOT about goats, they are a very interesting and I think special animal. They are very smart and also very stubborn. The Lady who raises them shared with me what she has learned raising them and also how it has helped her understand the comparison of goats in the scriptures. It was fun! At the very end of the 1st video you can see one of the goats jumped up on Emma, too funny. She didn't even care though. They would jump up on me and nibble at my arm. It is amazing. They were so cute and so busy, just like Emma, maybe that is why she felt so comfortable around them. Tyler took this video on his new cell phone, so it isn't the greatest quality. We forgot our camera! I know, what were we thinking!! :) Enjoy!

Emma and a Bunch of "Kids"