The Long Days

Ashlynn 6 Months

2011-12-07T21:08:00.001-08:00

I haven't posted in a long time and I intend to catch up once the holidays are over, but I wanted to quick jot this down while it's fresh in my mind.

Ashlynn turned 6 months a few weeks ago and just had her pediatrician appointment yesterday. The poor girl had shots and that's always so hard on a mom. She is weighing in at 16 pounds which is in the 75th percentile. She's also in the 75th percentile for height and head. The nurse said she is very proportioned :) the doc was very impressed with how strong and mobile she is, although I'm sure they say that to every mom. She wanted us to work on her sitting up on her own, so that's a new goal for Ashlynn.

We are expecting Ashlynn to start crawling soon. She will get up on her knees and rock back and forth. I'm not sure I'm ready for the challenge crawling brings, but will still be proud of her :) She is trying so hard to keep up with her big brother!

My favorite part about being a mom is seeing Tyson and Ashlynn play and laugh together. It is so sweet to hear Tyson make Ashlynn giggle which in turn makes Tyson laugh. Sometimes I wish I could freeze time....these kids are growing up way too fast!

Here are some recent pics of Ash. This is one I took today of her trying so hard to crawl.

Shaving Cream Art

2011-10-12T07:12:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have been sucked into Pinterest....I found this idea there :) I put food coloring in shaving cream and let Tyson do some artwork in the bath. To say he loved it would be an understatement.

The ugly brown was supposed to be purple

Ok, I added a little art of my own :)

Apparently Tys thought my rainbow needed a little work.

Here is a recent pic of our Ashlynn girl. She's almost 5 months old and so fun...she just started to laugh/giggle and its adorable.

Fall Bucket List

2011-09-22T14:33:00.000-07:00

Ever since the weather started to get a little cooler all I can think about are the things I want to do with the family this fall. I decided to write a few things down so I don't forget.

FALL BUCKET LIST

apple picking
make leaf art with Tyson
caramel apples
go on a hay ride
TRICK OR TREAT
go to a pumpkin patch
pumpkin carving
make fall cookies
caramel apple spice from Starbucks

As you can see, I'll also have to add a few extra workouts to my fall schedule! Gotta love the Fall!

Football

2011-09-10T15:55:00.000-07:00

Does anyone relate??? :)

Tyson's 2nd Birthday

2011-09-09T12:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Tyson's 2nd birthday! I can't believe how fast the last 2 years have gone by. Tyson is such a joy to our family. He can put a smile on anyone's face! Here are a few things we love about Tyson.

He loves any and all sports. He likes to watch and play them. Golf, basketball, soccer, football, tennis, he even loves ping pong.
He can make a basket from half way across the room (no kidding...)
We taught Tyson about how Jesus makes him happy and he walks around saying 'happy happy happy'
He thinks that whenever he says Thank you, he has to add you're welcome to the end. He'll say 'thank you you're welcome'
The way he gets so excited when his Daddy comes home from work. He loves his Dad so much and follows him around every chance he gets.
He will say things just so Bryce will tickle him.
When he stares out the window, and you can tell he's thinking hard about something important.
When he blows us kisses. He'll even blow kisses to the teller at the grocery store.
The way he says 'songs' at bedtime. If we let him, he would have us sing him songs all night long.
When he lays next to Ashlynn and gives her hugs and kisses. He loves her so much.
He's our little helper. He helps me clean up the house and helps Bryce with the manly chores.
HOOOOOOOOOPPPSSSS!!!! (anyone who has heard him say this knows what I'm talking about)

I made him a HOOPS cake this year :)

We sure love our little Tyson man. Happy Birthday, buddy!

Enough said...

2011-08-27T18:49:00.000-07:00

Posted by Bryce

New House

2011-08-25T18:42:00.000-07:00

We close on this baby next Thursday.

I have all of our stuff boxed up, new furniture bought, old furniture sold, and paint picked out.

Now we wait...

Earthquake

2011-08-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had an earthquake in D.C. I thought it was my upstairs neighbor freaking out again, but then realized the ground was also shaking. We had no cell service for about 4 hours after it. It turned out to be a pretty awesome day because Bryce got to come home from work early. So our little family went to the park :)

Best Friends

2011-08-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

For those who don't know, we had Ashlynn on May 26th and just a week and a day later, Amy and Corey had Brielle. These little girls have been so much fun and Amy and I love to chat about them everyday. I'm pretty sure they already consider each other their best friend. If you're not convinced, maybe these pictures will help.

They eat together (pic taken at Red Robin Yum)....

Sleep together...

Go to church together...

Play together...

dress the same...

And travel together!

Love these little girls! Now we're hoping Corey and Amy will relocate to the east coast permanently so these two can play together all the time! :)

Pittsburgh

2011-08-16T13:22:00.000-07:00

At the end of July, Ed flew the entire family out to surprise Laurie for her birthday. Although we are all convinced that she knew and totally faked her big surprise, we had a blast! A few highlights were SWIMMING (straw game!!), Pirates game, golf, celebrating birthdays (Laurie, Corey, and Marina), good food, and just hanging out together. It was fun to get to know our new sister, Stefanie, better! If anyone is wondering, she LOVES pickles. We also got to spend a little extra time with Corey, Amy and Brielle. They flew out of the Dulles airport, so they spent a night in our little apartment. Boy did we (or our neighbors above us) show them a good time. Nothing like being woken up at 4 am to a party gone bad! Good times, good times :)

Denver

2011-08-16T12:06:00.000-07:00

After Powell, Bryce flew home to work and the kids and I stayed with my parents in Denver for a while. It was so fun for us because Annie, Mike, Julie and their kids were also there. Tyson had a blast with the girls. My mom never disappoints with tons of activities to do with the kids. We also had a girls night where my Dad watched the kids and all the girls went to dinner and shopping! So fun :) I love visiting Denver and wish I could do it more often!

Tyson and Ashlynn both LOVED swinging on the swing with Grandma!

We celebrated Courtney's birthday by having games in the backyard. Fishing was one of them!

Happy 1st birthday Courts!

Yummy cupcake!

Fun at Powell

2011-08-14T19:22:00.000-07:00

After the wedding and hanging out at the Long's cabin (trying to go in order here if you haven't noticed), we met up with my family for our reunion at Lake Powell. This was a highlight of our summer...nothing gets better than a house boat filled with awesome family and waterskiing. Heaven! Here are some pictures from the week...

These 3 were determined to get up on the wake surf together...an hour later...they gave up ;) It was fun to watch them try!

Bryce surfing

Dave is pro

Cliff jumping

Love these 3

Tyson, Kaylee and Linds squirting Grandma with the water gun

View of the houseboat and Bryce in the water ready to slalom.

What a good lookin guy...yumm....

Captain Tys

Tyson loved riding the tube with his daddy!

There is that good lookin guy again...love them.

Sorry, I had to.... :)

Kaylee and Bryce on the 'fast ride' (check out Bryce's face vs Kaylee's face)

Love Powell!

Not pictured - dance parties on the top of the houseboat. I will get video and post...seriously hilarious! Julie has some serious moves.

Thanks to my parents and the Willardsons for making this trip possible for us. You guys are the best!

Shane and Stefanie Long Wedding

2011-08-14T18:40:00.000-07:00

We were able to head over to St. George for Shane's wedding at the end of June. We had the best time seeing everyone again and meeting our new little niece, Brielle!

The happy couple

Daddy daughter

Proud Dads

Ashlynn's Baby Blessing

2011-08-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago was Ashlynn's baby blessing. Both of her Grandparents were able to be there along with the Winkles and Jones. The blessing was so perfect and Ashlynn looked so beautiful. A few things that I remember from her blessing...she was told a few times that she will be influential to her family and others and that the Lord will use this gift even while she's young. She was also blessed with a strong testimony and to easily believe the words of the prophet and Book of Mormon. I remember the word influence used a lot during her blessing. When the blessing was finished, Bryce held her up and she looked so perfect.

Her blessing dress is very special to me because I had it made out of my wedding dress. I'll have to post a pic of me in the dress so you can compare They look very similar. The beautiful blanket was made by my mom.

Sorry - Bryce had already changed before we got a picture :)

Ashlynn Long

2011-05-29T15:10:00.000-07:00

We welcomed Ashlynn to our family on Thursday, May, 26th. She was born at 3:39 pm and was 8.8 pounds, 20 inches long. The delivery went very smooth (except for my epidural wearing off right in the middle of labor...ouch!) Ashlynn has been the perfect baby so far. She has nursed great, very rarely cries, and is so calm. Tyson is so sweet with her. I was worried he'd have a hard time adjusting to her being around, but he just gives her kisses and then goes about his business like normal. I have always felt so lucky to have Bryce and Tyson in my life and to add Ashlynn to the mix has been so wonderful. I feel so blessed that she is ours and love her so much.

Tyson loving his little sister

Coming home from the hospital (outfit picked out and bough by her Daddy)

Beautiful baby girl!

*Sorry for the cell phone pics...I'll work on getting some good ones and put them up

Melting Pot

2011-04-14T11:12:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else know yesterday was National Cheese Fondue Day at the Melting Pot? I sure didn't, but luckily my awesome cousin, Amy set up reservations for us all to go!

We got the cheese and dessert fondue (cheese one was free, of course). My fav was the dessert! So yummy!!! Nothing better than strawberries dipped in chocolate. We loved having a night out with Chace, Amy and Cayden! (picture of them to come) Amy and I decided that we could make this on our own. We both have fondue sets so we'll probably be doing that sometime soon. If anyone out there has a good fondue recipe please pass it along!

Spring Break

2011-03-31T11:30:00.000-07:00

Last week we had a visit from 2 of our favorite people ever! My Mom and Annie came out for their Spring Break. We had a blast together! Here are a few things we did...

Of course we had a ton of shopping to get done for the new little baby coming in less than 2 months. Tyson was a trooper. He wanted to hold the bag and as soon as he got it, he fell right asleep! I'm glad he already understands the 'man's job' while shopping - hold the bags and keep quiet :)

There is a fun park just 2 blocks away from us called Frying Pan Park. It's a little farm with all the regular farm animals. Tyson loves to come here and see the chickens, cows, pigs, etc.

We headed into D.C. one day and went to the Wax Museum. I personally really liked this museum. It was interesting to see how lifelike they could make each statue look!

We went to the national cathedral and listened to the organ demonstration, which was awesome!

My friends threw me an amazing baby shower! It was so much fun and I came home with some really cute stuff! I loved that my mom, sister, and aunt could be there :)

National Cherry Blossom Festival! It was a little cold, but still very pretty!

Anytime Tyson saw 'horses' he just HAD to ride them. Of course, Grandma was a sucker and let him ride at every opportunity!

We basically had the best week ever and it was really hard to see them go. Luckily, my parents will be back out when the baby is born so we will see them soon.

Thanks to Annie and Mom for the fun times! You're the best!

Newborn

2011-02-27T19:17:00.000-08:00

This week I came across an album of Tyson as a newborn. I couldn't believe how little he once was. I thought it would be fun to post an old picture of him.

It sure makes me excited for our new little girl. I have finally started a wardrobe for her and am eying a few accessories to go along with the outfits (headbands galore!!) The next 3 months are going to fly by! A few things I'm looking forward to....
-My mom and sister coming to visit (only 19 more days!!!)
-Moving into a new place...possibly buying a home
-Tyson starting nursery next week!
-A visit from the Longs
-Bryce's yearly bonus :)

Life for us has been pretty great. Most nights Bryce and I just end up playing on the floor with Tyson. He's pretty entertaining right now. He's learning new words everyday and it's fun to see him try to use them. My personal favorite is the word PLEASE. He pronounces it PEES and sometimes adds the L at the very end. He loves everything sports. He has a Little Tike basketball hoop that he uses multiple times a day. Today we raised the hoop above his head because it was so easy for him to make a basket. He especially loves playing ball with Bryce. Bryce will stand far away and shoot and Tyson thinks he is the coolest Dad in the world!

The weather is supposed to be nice this week. I love that it's the beginning of March and its already in the 60's. We're all set up for a few play dates with friends at the park. I hope everyone has a great week!

Tired Tyson

2011-02-09T09:26:00.000-08:00

Tyson had a very busy weekend playing with the Long side of the family. He refused to sleep the whole weekend! He's still recovering from the fun time and here is proof!

I was doing my hair in the bathroom and came out to find him just like this. He found his binky, blanket, and bear. Nap time anyone?

SNOW!!!

2011-01-28T09:25:00.000-08:00

If any of you watch the news, you've probably heard of the snow storms going on out East. We have loved every minute of it except for Bryce's commute home one night. It took him a good 8 hours! Crazy. Today I took Tyson out to play in the snow. Getting him ready was quite dramatic. He really didn't want to wear his coat. I can't blame him...it was a bit puffy! It reminded me of the Christmas Story where the little boy is in that ridiculous snow suit and he's telling his mom he can't put his arms down.

Below are some pictures of his initial reaction to walking in the snow...he turned right around! It took him a little while to warm up to the idea. We sure had fun! I loved seeing his reaction when I threw a snowball at him.:)

2011-01-10T08:39:00.001-08:00

New Baby

2011-01-08T16:00:00.000-08:00

I've had a lot of questions regarding our baby in the oven lately. I thought I'd clear a few things up on here...

This baby is not an oops baby, but very much planned! First reason...We felt it would be fun to have kids closer together. We will let you know if we still feel that way in about a year ;) Second reason.... there is a Lake Powell trip this summer that we wanted to attend (and not pregnant) Third reason...Tyson has been such an easy baby we felt like we needed more of a challenge...joking. Fourth reason...we both felt good about it!

Tyson and #2 will be 20 months apart and hopefully best friends. We find out the sex of the baby this Monday. I did a poll on Facebook to see if people thought we were having a boy or girl. 12 said boy, 8 said girl, and 1 said the baby will cross it's legs so we can't find out. We don't really have feelings towards one or the other. It would be fun to have a girl, but it would also be fun for Tyson to have a close brother. We're just hoping for a healthy happy kid.

I am 20 weeks and can't believe how fast this pregnancy has flown by. I will be very busy the next 20 weeks to get everything prepped and ready! Let the nesting begin!

We'll let ya know Monday!!!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-12T19:52:00.000-08:00

We had a great trip this Thanksgiving back in Colorado visiting my family. All of my siblings were able to come so it was a full house! My parents gave us our Christmas gift early (video camera) so I got a few good clips from the trip...unfortunately, I'm still trying to figure the whole thing out so those will have to come later. Here are the 2 pictures I got :) I kept forgetting to take out my camera!

The kiddos decorating the Christmas tree

Tyson LOVES his little cousin, Courtney! I would always find him talking to her, touching her face, or kissing her. I was so glad that I actually captured the moment! I sure hope he feels this way about his new little sibling :)

I'll post a few other funny videos later (hopefully no one will hate me, ha ha)

Before we left for Colorado, all of the Longs met up in D.C. for a quick visit! It was great to see everyone. We gave them a very quick tour of D.C. and had lots of fun. Laurie sent a few pictures to me that I thought were cute.

The whole gang in front of the D.C. Temple.

Tyson with his buddy.

Thankful

2010-11-24T18:29:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving, the Long fam is thankful for baby #2 on it's way...due May 29th :)

Family Prayer

2010-11-18T12:37:00.000-08:00

Last night, Bryce and I were very proud parents! This may seem a little silly to some of you, but we were both really excited....

Every night before we put Tyson to bed, we have family prayer. One of us will hold Tyson down and try to fold his arms. Some nights he resists the whole idea and just wants to play, some nights he'll just sit there and stare at us.

Last night was totally different. We both got down on the floor to pray, Bryce says 'Tyson lets say prayers' and Tyson comes right over and sits down, FOLDS HIS ARMS, and waits quietly for someone to start. We (in total amazement) scramble to hurry and start the prayer. During the prayer, I peeked to see what he was doing, and he was blinking for long periods of time (closing his eyes like we do). At the end, we said amen, and Tyson throws his hands in the air and says 'MMMMMMEN!!!'

I'm so glad that Tyson has picked up on this concept. I know he feels the spirit when we pray with him. I hope that prayer is always part of his daily routine. We love our little Tyson and feel so blessed he is part of our family :)

Rachael Ray in D.C.

2010-11-14T17:57:00.000-08:00

For my birthday this year, Bryce surprised me with tickets to the Metropolitan Cooking Show in Washington D.C. These tickets also included an admission to see Rachael Ray! Obviously, I was soooo excited and had been counting down the days. I have always wanted to see this lady in action! She always makes me laugh whenever I watch her show. Anyway, I thought it was so sweet of Bryce to do this. He is the most thoughtful husband, I am just so lucky.

There she is! She made 4 different dishes in an hour all while answering audience questions. She made it look so easy. I guess that's why she makes the big bucks!

She is just as nice in real life as she is on her show. Totally down to earth and funny!

Here is the convention part of the day. Over 300 food vendors all wanting you to sample their treasures. Bryce called it 'Costco on steroids'.

Paula Deen and Bobby Flay were also at the convention doing shows.

Thanks to Ed for watching little Tyson (I'm pretty sure he had just as much fun with him as we did at the convention!) Overall, AWESOME day!

Love Fall

2010-10-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

This is the view from our bedroom. Virginia is so beautiful right now! The weather is perfect and the leaves are a pretty yellow/orange color. This definitely makes up for the summertime heat.

Some things we've been up to....

Julie and I threw my cousin Amy a baby shower. We had a great time! I made some duck cupcakes and someone gave her a cute sleeper with duckies (thus the pic). Amy's babe is due anytime now, and we're all so excited to finally meet the little guy.

And what's a post without a picture of Tyson? Here he is after eating the above mentioned cupcake. As you can see from the mess in the picture, Tyson is a very busy kid. He is the best toddler a mom could ask for. When he's tired, we will ask him if he's ready to take a rest. He will drop whatever he's doing, find a binky and waits by his crib for us to put him in.

We are getting really excited for the holidays over here! Between Thanksgiving and Christmas we will get to see all of our siblings and parents on both sides.

I told Tyson the holiday plans and he headed straight for the door! He wants to see Grandma and Grandpa now!!!! (and Annie, Steve, Meri, Jeff, Jessica, Mike, Julie, Kaylee, Lindsay, Courtney, Corey, Amy, Shane, Hunter and Marina) He will be one busy kid!!

Tyson's 1st Birthday!

2010-09-09T18:22:00.000-07:00

It was Tyson's birthday yesterday (Sept 8th)! We pretty much celebrated twice. Once with the Longs in PA and then again on his real birthday. Here are some pictures of the two events!

Opening presents from his parents and both Grandparents

I made Elmo cupcakes since he LOVES Elmo. (is anyone else singing in their head 'la la la la, la la la la Elmo's song'???)

He loves Koda (Long's dog) and Koda loved his leftovers!

We took him to Chuckecheese and he had a blast! He was a little young for most of the stuff, but there was a fun kiddie area that he loved.

At the end of the day he came home with all of this....

Big thanks to our parents for all the gifts! Tyson is one happy boy!

Happy Birthday to our favorite little guy!

Steve & Meri's Wedding!!!

2010-09-07T17:37:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from Steve and Meri's wedding in July! The wedding was beautiful and everyone LOVES Meri!

So pretty :)

Bryce and Karli

Tyson's cousins - Kaylee and Lindsay

Mom and Dad

Auntie Annie with Tys

Steve looking a little nervous!

Handsome Devil

2010-08-22T06:41:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help myself. I had to post this.

My 2 Boys

2010-08-20T11:01:00.000-07:00

I wanted to write a quick update on my two favorite boys.

1. Tyson - I finally took him to the Doc today for his regular check up. He is 30 inches long (75th percentile) and 20 pounds (25th percentile). I don't remember his head measurements but it was in the 95th percentile. So basically, Tyson is an orange on a toothpick! The doctor kept saying how cute he is, and although I know he's just being nice, I have to agree strongly with him. I love this little guy to pieces. He is so fun play with and will always put a smile on my face. Sometimes (notice I say sometimes) I am even tempted to wake him up from his nap so we can play. :)

2. Bryce - Lately we have been watching the TV show 24. For those of you unfamiliar with the show, it's about a federal agent named Jack Bauer who stops terrorism. Last night we watched an episode before bed. Around midnight I woke up to Bryce army crawling towards the bathroom. I inquired what he was doing and he stood up (half asleep) and got back into bed. The next morning I asked him what happened. According to his dream, there was someone in our bathroom and Bryce, playing the role of Jack Bauer, felt it necessary to army crawl into the bathroom and attack this man. I am still laughing just picturing Bryce army crawling! It's great to know I have my own personal Jack Bauer to protect me :)

I count my lucky stars every night for these two. I'm very blessed and can't imagine a life without them!

Videos

2010-08-07T18:19:00.000-07:00

When Bryce and Tyson play, Bryce will tickle Tyson's chin and Tyson will let out big gut laughs. It has now become a competition between the two of them, Tyson trying to hide his chin. It's pretty funny...

Tyson is now walking and waving bye-bye!

What can I say, I'm a proud mama. I will post pictures of our recent trip to Colorado and Steve's wedding soon!

Cow Appreciation Day!

2010-07-09T11:18:00.000-07:00

Today at ChickFilA is Cow Appreciation Day! If you dress up like a cow they give you a free meal! So......

We dressed up! I know it's a little ridiculous, but hey a chance to go to lunch with some friends for FREE? I'll take it! Moooooooo!!!

(Tyson LOVED his juice box!)

East Coast Vaca

2010-06-08T12:28:00.000-07:00

This last week my parents came to visit! It was a fun and busy week :) They got in Thursday night and I immediately put them to work by helping me hang all of my decorations/pictures. I held off doing that part when we moved in because I wanted my Mom's expert decorating advice with where things should go. I'm very happy with how the apartment is looking now. Thanks Mom! On Friday we met up with the Winkels and went to King's Dominion...a very fun ammusement park! There were so many fun coasters that I loved. Bryce was going to try to meet us there, but wasn't able to get out of work on time. I'm hoping to take him there soon because I know he'd love it! On Saturday we headed to Virginia Beach to spend time on the beach! The beach house we stayed in also had a pool, so we had our choice of the ocean or pool. The weather was perfect the whole time and we really enjoyed the relaxation.

Tyson was very unsure of the sand the first day. Anytime we sat him down he got scared. But he slowly warmed up to the idea and loved it by the last day! He even swam in the ocean and had a great time!

Below are a few pictures to prove just how relaxing this little beach trip was.... :)

The next week we hit a lot of history spots in Washington D.C. Some of the places we saw were the Washington Monument, Mt. Vernon, D.C Duck Tour, amd the National History Museum.

One night everyone came to our place for dinner and to hang out. We ended up watching Toy Story :)

I must say, it was very hard to say goodbye to everyone but it's good to know we'll see everyone soon! Thanks for such a wonderful trip Mom, Dad, Julie and Mark!!

Our Little Garden

2010-05-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

While I was out and about yesterday, I noticed the 'Gardening' section of the store. I looked around and decided that it would be fun to grow a few things out on our balcony! Here is what I came home with....

According to the internet, you should let the seeds soak in water first. Who knows if that is true???

This baby is the one I'm most excited about! Yummy tomatoes!!!

Most of the packages say that these will start sprouting within 7-15 days, so I'll let you know how it goes. I have the itch to go back to the store and buy flower seeds. The other side of my porch is looking bare AND I have potting soil left! :)

Graduation and Moving!!!

2010-05-14T20:16:00.000-07:00

Well everyone...HE DID IT! Bryce graduated from BYU in Construction Management! Tyson and I are so proud of him!

Bryce landed a job in the Washington D.C. area. He started work on May 3rd, which didn't leave much time to pack everything up and move across the country. Bryce and his brother Corey drove the truck out while I waited back with Tyson in Colorado. Once they got to Virginia we flew out there :) It was very sweet of the both of them to make the drive for us. I couldn't bare keeping Tyson in a car seat for 30+ hours. It was sad to leave Provo - I didn't think it would be, but it was. We are going to miss so many friends and family. And of course...we are really going to miss being so close to these two....

We often times find ourselves wishing we could just call them over like before. We sure miss you guys!!!!

However, we are sooo lucky and get to live just down the road from these two....

They were nice enough to go apartment searching for us while we were still living in Provo. They did a great job because we love our apartment (who wouldn't when you upgrade to a bigger place???) and we really love the area.

Bryce has started working and so far really loves his job. I have started my work as a full time MOMMY! I must say, it has been awesome. Each day is an adventure for us! I have met some other mommys from the ward and we do all sorts of things during the day. So far we have gone shopping, lots of long walks, and went to a farm! Here is Tys with his new best friend Ben.

Oh...and did I mention that my little Ty guy is now on the move? Yep, that's right....he is CRAWLING! Look out :)

So Sweet

2010-05-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

Mexican Riviera Cruise

2010-05-14T19:32:00.000-07:00

Right before Bryce graduated, we were very lucky to go on a cruise to Mexico! We left Tyson with the grandparents (who were both VERY excited to help) in Colorado and spent the entire 7 days childless. It was AMAZING! We had a blast. Unfortunately, I didn't get as many pictures as I thought. But here are just a few....

Our beautiful ship!

One of the excursions we did was parasailing. It was so pretty and peaceful up there. Except for Bryce trying to scare me. We also did the zip line and snorkeling!

We had a new animal in our room everyday!

New Crib

2010-03-23T16:28:00.000-07:00

We finally broke down and bought Tyson a crib... This is how he feels about it.

Tyson Playing

2010-03-03T12:21:00.000-08:00

One of my friends came over yesterday with her little girl. We put Tyson and her together to play and Tyson LOVED IT! He was just laughing and smiling at her the whole time. Here is what I got on video. Tyson is the one grunting and laughing.

Just Because

2010-02-25T13:31:00.000-08:00

After having rice cereal and sweet potatoes

Just waiting for Daddy to get home and give him a bath :)

Valentine's Day!

2010-02-17T21:22:00.000-08:00

I don't usually like to post about this kind of stuff, but Bryce was just so sweet this Valentine's Day. Things have been so so busy at work. I even had to work on Saturday - we had our Elms social in the morning and I worked the office until 4 pm. Yuck. Anyway, right when I finished Bryce sent me away for a surprise manicure and pedicure! If anyone knows me, they know I love a good mani and pedi. There was another girl at the salon having the same treatment done thanks to her boyfriend. All we could talk about is how wonderful our men were :) When I got done, I came home to a Valentine themed apartment. The lights were out and candles lit everywhere. He took me on a little scavenger hunt around the apartment that ended with dressing up and joining him for dinner. He made a steak and shrimp dinner with a few other sides. It was delicious. Needless to say, our Valentine's Day was perfect. I'm a lucky girl to have such a wonderful husband.

I also wanted to include a picture of my 2nd love.... Tyson is now 5 months old! He currently loves his toes, rice cereal, and will smile (and sometimes giggle) at anyone who pays attention to him. We love him. so. much.

The picture of him in his bumbo is a little scary. The flash startled him...just makes me laugh.

Las Vegas - NAHB

2010-01-25T17:14:00.000-08:00

Last week we all headed to Vegas for the NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) competition. This is a national competition Bryce participated in with a team of 5 other guys from BYU. 40 different schools come to compete. They had to develop an area from scratch, do all the marketing, and present the proposal to a board of investors. They started this whole thing back in September, so it was a lot of work for Bryce and many nights without a husband/daddy.

Here is the team right after they gave their presentation. They were pretty excited to be finished, but soon after got anxious to know how they did!

Bryce and Tyson right before the awards ceremony....a little nervous!

Look who took 1st Place!!!!!!!!!

Tyson and I were very proud of Bryce! All of his hard work paid off!

The whole team happy as could be.

The rest of the week we played around on the strip. There was so much to see! I had never been to Vegas before so I was loving every bit of it. My favorite part was the M&M store and the fountain show at the Bellagio - so pretty and fun!!

We decided the next time we're in Vegas, we will be ditching the kid and staying at the Bellagio. :)

4 Months Old!

2010-01-14T13:28:00.000-08:00

Tyson had his 4 month check up this week. The doctor says he's doing great! Every time we go in, the doc always comments how strong he is. Tyson is in the 36th percentile for weight and the 89th percentile for height. So basically he's a tall skinny baby.

Life is just getting better and better with Tyson around. He is always smiling and playing and just recently started to laugh! He is able to grab toys and play with them (or bring them to his mouth to suck on). He's doing great with sleeping during the night and taking long naps. I'm glad he's back in his schedule...Christmas break kinda threw him off. Our next plan of action is to get him to sleep all through the night. Right now he gets up once. If any of you expert moms out there have any advice on this...leave me a comment!!!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-09T16:51:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year, we were lucky enough to spend 2 1/2 weeks in Colorado! We had a blast!! The first week and a half we spent with my family. Here are a few pictures...

Bryce, Lindsay, and Kaylee

Sisters (with Mike in the way...)

Annie and Linds

Picture says it all

Julie made the gingerbread...she's pro. Everyone else helped decorate.

One of the activities we had on Christmas Eve was a pinata. Bryce was trying to ride it.

Christmas morning....so many presents!! It took us a total of 2 1/2 hours to open everything.

We went to Jump Street the day after Christmas. There were long rows of trampolines to jump around on. They also had a trampoline section to play dodgeball on. SO much fun. The girls loved riding this panda bear. Kaylee was the driver and ran everyone over.

The week after Christmas we went up to the Long's Cabin. We had a great time! Snowmobile rides, sledding, snowboarding (yes, I attempted snowboarding), and lots of yummy food by Laurie!

I put Tyson on the bed to play and you can see what happened. He just loved all of the attention!

Precious.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Ed!

2009-12-04T14:42:00.000-08:00

As you can see, Tyson wasn't really into getting his picture taken today. But we hope Grandpa Ed has a great Birthday!

Update

2009-12-03T13:50:00.000-08:00

My friend, Brynn (not to name names), always gives me a hard time about updating my blog. So here ya go - 3 posts :) Here are just a few random pictures from the wedding and over Thanksgiving Break. We went down to St. George and met up with all of Bryce's family. It was so nice to get away and the weather was awesome! We were able to relax, get a temple trip in, Bryce got to golf and I got to shop and see NEW MOON (loved it). What could be better?

A little update on Tyson - basically we just love him to pieces. He's such a good baby. Since we got back from St. George he's been on a great sleeping schedule. He goes to bed around 8 or 9 pm, wakes up once during the night to eat and then sleeps until 6 or 7 am. He loves to lay on the floor and just kick his legs and talk to himself or anyone who will listen. He's already in his 3-6 month clothes! It was sad to put away everything he's grown out of, but at the same time, its fun to pull out all the new stuff. The above picture is just after his bath...he loves having baths :)

Happy Birthday Briggs!

2009-12-03T13:41:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, we went up to Sandy to celebrate Briggs' Birthday! We had fun being with the family again. The only pictures we really took are all with Tyson (go figure) but it just goes to show how much he loves his aunts and uncles.

Tys and Great Aunt Lynnette :)

Tys flirting with Gayle

Hangin with Uncle Curt

Briggs blowing out his Birthday candles. Happy Birthday Briggs!!!

Corey and Amy's Wedding

2009-11-30T14:48:00.000-08:00

On November 21st Corey (Bryce's brother) got married to Amy in the Draper Temple! It was so fun to see them get married and have all the family together!

Goof

2009-10-27T22:02:00.000-07:00

Goofy pictures of Tyson...blessing pictures to follow!

1 month old

2009-10-07T14:41:00.000-07:00

Tyson is one month old tomorrow! For the grandparents sake, I thought I'd post some pictures of him. He has grown so much already it's crazy. We have decided he looks exactly like Bryce as a baby. Let it be documented that Tyson is a great baby! He's either eating, sleeping, or playing (I call it his daily exercise). He very rarely cries. We love this little guy so much. Bryce and I will get in arguments about who gets to play with him. :)

Tyson Allen Long

2009-09-20T18:08:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been almost 2 weeks since Tyson arrived and I've had many requests to get some pictures up. So here ya go!

The delivery went amazing...I was induced at 5 am on September 8th. The doctor asked what my pain level was at that point (which was nothing) so I told him a 1. He then asked what my pain tolerance was....and I said a 2. :) He gave me the epidural right after along with the button to push anytime I felt pain. I pretty much slept through most of labor. At about 12:30 the doctor checked me and I was ready to go. So they got everything set up, I pushed twice and Tyson arrived at 1:02 pm! He was 8 pounds 2 ounces, and 21 1/2 inches long. It was a great experience! The moment I heard his little whimper I was hooked. He has been such a sweet baby. Yes, we have to get up during the night and change a bunch of poopy diapers - but you get so much more in return. We just love this little guy to pieces!

Nice and fresh :)

New Daddy!

First bath

First family pic

Surprise visit from his cousins!

Bear Lake 2009

2009-08-09T18:14:00.000-07:00

The last week of July, we had the privilege of going to Bear Lake with my side of the family. We had such a great time, probably one of our favorite trips since we've been married. I will let the pictures speak for themselves...there are lots of them!

Lindsay - our niece. The best part of the whole trip!

Bryce throwing Breann and Annie

Kim, Bryce, Marie getting a beating from Curt

Everyone trying to balance on the surf board

Parker, Tyler, Bryce and Steve with their sand TV land

Bryce and Julie wakeboarding

Mike, Kaylee, Katie and Lindsay on the water weenie. It was so slow, Linds fell asleep!

We stayed at a huge lodge that fit us all! One of the nights, my family threw us a baby shower. It was really fun and we scored some great things for the baby! Thanks so much you guys!

On the morning ski. Chace is wakeboarding in the background while everyone stays warm in the blanket.

Tyler realizing how much he wants to have one of his own :)

Surfing

Bryce the MERMAN

The masterminds at work

Thanks for a wonderful trip!!!

Bryce TARZAN Long

2009-06-01T15:57:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial Day weekend we headed up to the Long's cabin. It was a very nice and relaxing getaway. I think I took a total of 3 naps! Lately I have been super tired and napping all the time, it's crazy. So while I was sleeping... Bryce and his cousin Keith put up a new and improved zip line. It's about 50 feet long and you start out at about 40 feet high. To land this zip line you either let go and land in the water or are implanted in the bank. Here we have Bryce going down the first time. Sorry about it being sideways...I tried and tried to change it around but nothing worked. Enjoy!

Best Friends!!!

2009-04-08T14:19:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Bryce and I went up to Rexburg to visit Adele and Jake. We had a great time and thought the weekend was way too short. We also got to visit Jeff and Jessica, which was way fun. We basically just bummed around and watched conference the whole weekend. Taylor (Adele's cute baby) was a bit of a distraction for me during conference, but I'm not complaining! She is so fun!

For lunch we went to Big Juds, which Bryce thought was named Big Juggs. Their hamburgers are obviously HUGE, but Bryce was lovin it.

Del and I are both pregnant and due one day apart from each other! Both of our birthdays are in September, and we're both having September babies. Just so precious. We thought it would be fun to do a belly picture together - here we are at 17 weeks!

2009-03-31T10:54:00.000-07:00

Trip to Ireland!

2009-03-30T11:07:00.000-07:00

After a week of being home and getting used to the time change, I think I'm ready to post about our awesome trip to Ireland.

Day 1: After flying all night we arrived in Dublin at 7 am (2 am US time). We headed towards north Ireland to a town called called Coleraine. The drive was very pretty (although I was having a very hard time staying awake!) We stopped along the way to see the pretty views. By about 6 pm that night we were all spent. We stayed at a fun Bed and Breakfast that night. The Northern Irish have a much thicker accent than down south. It was pretty entertaining to listen to and watch Ed try to figure out what our waitress was saying.

Day 2: On Monday we went to the Dunluce Castle (sorry no pics), Giant's Causeway - the result of an ancient volcanic eruption, and Carrick-de-la-rede - a rope bridge connecting Ireland with a small island. The first 2 pics are of Giant's Causeway. Mom, I thought you'd like the picture of Giant Causeway's Organ :)

Day 3 (St. Patrick's Day!): Tuesday was the St. Patrick's Day Parade!!! The parade was awesome, and we had grandstand stadium seats. There were marching bands from around the world and each of the countries were represented with different costumes and floats. It was fun to see Marina with the MVHS band. Bryce and I were screaming her name and telling her to look at us. She was trying really hard not to laugh and just keep playing!!

Day 4: We went to Glendalough which are ruins of a monastary dating back to 600 AD. That night we went to St. Patrick's Cathedral to watch Marina sing with her choir. The building was so beautiul inside, we tried to get cool pictures but the lighting was pretty dark.

Day 5: We stopped in Kildaire and toured the Japanese Gardens and National Stud Farm. This is where all of the stalions for racing. Ireland is known for their horse racing, so it was cool to see the stallions. Bryce also insisted on a few goofy pics. I also added a pic of Bryce driving the Euro Van. This was pretty entertaining as the drivers side is on our passengers side, and you're also driving on the other side of the road there. Needless to say, Bryce was very nervous.

Day 6: We took a ferry across the Shannon River and then went to the Cliffs of Moher. This was probably my favorite site of all. The cliffs reach a maximum height of 702 feet. It was beautiful. We laughed at all of the signs regarding suicide. Apartenly that is a hot spot.

Day 7: On Friday we drove back to Dublin but stopped in Castletown and toured a manor house that was built in the 1700's. It was cool to see an Irish castle! They wouldn't let us take pics of the inside :(

A much needed thanks goes to Laurie and Ed for taking us on such a fabulous vacation. Bryce and I were commenting the other day that the Ireland trip was just what the doctor ordered!

1st Baby Pic

2009-02-24T15:52:00.000-08:00

We had our first doctor appointment today. I think it went great, it was fun to see how excited Bryce was during the ultrasound. It's little heartbeat was so fast (but I guess that's normal) and Bryce was amazed. Below is a picture of our little baby. If you look closely, it kind of looks like this kid has a baseball hat on???? Maybe we will have a boy after all.

My official due date is September 14th. Just 4 days before my birthday!

We find out the sex at our next appointment - March 31. If you'd like to be apart of the poll, please leave a comment and say if you think it'll be a boy or a girl. We'd love to hear what our fellow bloggers think!

Help!

2009-01-16T22:18:00.000-08:00

Okay world...it's time to brace yourselves. The news has come and you all need to pray for Katie. I'm not sure if she's going to make it. I know I sound terribly scary right now, but the truth is...it's scary. Katie and I have officially procreated...This means that in the ballpark of September, Katie will be forced to have a "little me" running around. Ask my parents, this is a task no person should endure. My parents curse on me of wishing for a kid who is just like me is unfolding before our very eyes...so please, pray for Katie. She'll need all the help she can get. One of me is a lot to handle. Two of me?....can you even imagine?....

Winter Cabin Trip

2009-01-09T14:47:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun this year at the cabin! There was snowmobiling, sledding, snowboarding, good food, and an awesome firework show! Ed bought fireworks in Wyoming and shot them off one night. It was so pretty with the colors of the fireworks reflecting off the white mountains.

Ho Ho Ho!!!!

2009-01-09T14:40:00.000-08:00

Makin the rolls!

Some were a little tired from the wedding a few nights before...

So sad

Jeff and Jessica Wedding

2009-01-07T14:42:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures from my brother's wedding a few weeks ago. The wedding was so pretty with lots and lots of snow!!!

Christmas Season

2008-12-03T13:40:00.000-08:00

Well the Christmas season is now here and we are really enjoying it! We were able to snag our first Christmas Tree from my Grandpa who decided he didn't want 4 trees anymore. Bryce calls it an upgrade of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

Our apartment is all decked out in Christmas decor now. It's funny how a few decorations really makes you feel the Christmas spirit. We are counting down the days until we go back to Colorado to spend Christmas break with the Longs.

Thackeray Wedding!

2008-11-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

This last Saturday, Bryce and I were able to head to Portland for Alli and Tyler's wedding. It went by so quickly, but we had a great time! We are so happy for Alli and her decision to marry Tyler. He's a great guy! I am going to post a lot of pictures this time, for those family members who were not able to attend. Enjoy!

Saturday, November 8th in the Portland Temple

Mr. and Mrs. Thackeray!

Loved the shoes Alli :)

Crazy Grandpa

Both sides of the family

They each looked so beautiful!!!

Best wedding cake I've ever had (spice cake, yum!)

How cute does Briggs look in his tux?

Dancing

We found the culprit...

Bryce the bouncer

Off to Cabo!

Hunting 2008

2008-10-29T13:25:00.000-07:00

While I was in Denver with my family, Bryce went hunting with his Dad and brothers. Ed's comment from the trip was - SLOW DEER=LUCKY KIDS. :) I'm glad Bryce was able to get away from his very busy schedule here and have fun at the cabin.
I thought this was a cool picture of Corey and Hunter.

Oh Canada...

2008-10-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, were invited to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving at the Snyder's home. Brynn and Danny did an awesome job with the turkey dinner and all of the decorations!

We were supposed to dress up as Canadians. I just wore the Red/White colors, but Bryce went all out as a lumberjack. He just HAD to take the chainsaw with him....

The food was delicious and we had such a fun time playing games afterwards!

Jones Wedding!!!

2008-10-13T15:09:00.000-07:00

Amy and Chace Jones - October 3, 2008. The wedding ceremony was so beautiful!

Here we are at the reception...we always manage to find the cozy seats and just laugh together

Cutting the cake - Amy looks surprised???

I took a few pics of Gayle crying during the reception :) Here is a before and after for ya.

Sisters

Bryce dancing the night away. He sure got around that night ;)

Cabin Trip with the Jarmans

2008-09-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

We had a fun time at the cabin this weekend. Our friends Michael and Marissa came with us. It was so relaxing and the weather was perfect! We saw deer everywhere. They even came up to the deck while Marissa and I were reading :)

Birthday Thank You!

2008-09-22T13:49:00.000-07:00

I celebrated my birthday last week and I wanted to post a big thank you to everyone for all the phone calls, texts, and gifts. You guys made it so special, especially Bryce! He did a fun scavenger hunt when I woke up and then took me to a nice dinner that night. The waiter brought out my birthday present! It took me a little off guard.

So far my favorite year has been 24, so we'll see how 25 goes ;) Thanks everyone!

Update and BYU vs UCLA

2008-09-17T13:43:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since we last posted on the blog! We had a few problems with our computer but we're back up and running! Bryce and I have been very busy the last month or so. We had check in for all of the tenants at the end of August. It was CRAZY! We had over half our apartment complex move out and then a whole new slew of kids move in. It's just now starting to slow down for us. Bryce started school again and is enjoying his classes. He just got a new calling as the intramural coach (Yep...that's a calling here at BYU). If you know Bryce, you know he was super excited about this. So he is the coach of our soccer and football team. He is also on a softball league with some buddies from his mission. I'll post some pictures of him playing soon. I recently joined a deep water aerobics class with my friend from the ward. When I mentioned this to Bryce and Corey they both started laughing their heads off. Apparently water aerobics is an old lady thing...and I kind of agree. HOWEVER, it is DEEP water aerobics! Oh well, I have fun going with my friend and I'm sore the next day. :)

Here are some pictures from the big BYU game on Saturday. We were able to score All Sport Passes to the football games. I felt kinda bad for UCLA....talk about a disappointment for them. I also added some pictures from The Elms social I put together. It was a tailgate party called 'Bash the Bruins BBQ'. It was lots of fun and we had over 250 kids come! Not bad, right?
Our BYU shirts the Snyders made for us! Thanks guys!

Brynn and Danny - we have seats with them and also Chace and Amy (who were MIA that day....hello???)

Glenwood Springs

2008-08-07T13:31:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a fun trip with the Craigs at Glenwood Springs! A few of the highlights were......

Swimming at the Hot Springs Pool. We spent a day at the pool and had fun watchin Annie and Bryce get in an ice cream fight. I wonder who won....

We took the Gondola up the mountain and spent the day there. There were lots of fun attractions...like the Bull Ride and Alpine Slide!

We took a cave tour (or Tuuur, as Elwin would say).

While Bryce and I were in line for the Alpine slide these two fellas asked to take a picture with us. He kept calling me Darlin and was worried I was planning on stealing his gun...too funny.

Most of my attention was with this cute one during the trip - I loved it!

Crazy family all together

Marlin Fishing in Mexico

2008-07-20T16:37:00.000-07:00

These pictures are from a couple months ago, but I wanted to post this for scrapbooking reasons. Bryce took a trip to Mexico to go Marlin fishing with the guys. We have loved eating the fish they caught...yum! My favorite is definitely the Mahi Mahi!

Echo Lake!

2008-07-14T21:58:00.001-07:00

On Saturday we were lucky enough to make it to the Lake for a few hours with the wonderful Willardsons! We loved it and had a GREAT time!

Katie wakeboarding

Everyone taking a turn to surf. The goal is to get in the sweet spot so you can let go of the rope and still surf with the boat. Dave and Chase were pretty good!

Cali takin a swim

Bryce as the flag boy

This is a funny video of Katie learning how to surf. Wait until the end when she falls...notice how she plugs her nose.

The Fruits of Hustle

2008-07-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

Warning: This post may gross some people out!!!

Last Thursday night Bryce had an intramural softball game. The game was going well until Bryce slid into second base along with a HUGE rock! He cut open his knee and of course had to get stitches. Here is a picture I took on my phone right before they stitched him up. He got 6 stitches. All was well after we got home and through the night. When he woke up Friday morning he was in A LOT of pain and couldn't even walk. He waited it out until today thinking it would get better, but it didn't. We decided to go back to the urgent care to have an xray done. Nothing is broken but he has an infection. I hope the antibiotics will fix the problem and he will heal quickly. I've felt so bad for him all weekend...poor guy.

4th of July Weekend

2008-07-08T20:26:00.000-07:00

Bryce and I had a fun and relaxing holiday weekend together. It was nice to have Friday off from work.

On the 4th we started the day off by going to the Freedom Festival down Main Street. There were a ton of booths that had food vendors and other random things to buy. There was a blood drive bus there and Bryce was all for donating. I told him I'd wait with him while he donated. It turns out the guy working there talked me into donating as well. He said every person that donates will save 3 lives. How do you say no to that?!?!?! I was scared to death during the whole process, but I made it!

We met up with Amy and Chase to play games and watch the fireworks!

We spent some time at a pool in Orem. They have very fun water slides that we both enjoyed!

We went to Payson to enjoy the mountains and beautiful lake. We made a yummy campfire dinner - steak with tinfoil veggies and potatoes. It was soooo good! We played a little lacross and took a hike around the lake.

It was a great weekend! We are looking forward to this Saturday as well. Waterskiing with the Willardsons! :) We can't wait you guys!

Y Mountain

2008-06-26T15:55:00.000-07:00

This morning Bryce and I decided to hike the Y! We figured this is something we need to experience while we live here in Provo. The total trip is 2.5 miles long. The way up is a steady incline so we enjoyed the workout. The view was very pretty!

June 2008 Cabin Trip!

2008-06-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

We had another great weekend trip at the cabin! It was a short trip, but well worth it. We shot guns, relaxed, and SAW A BEAR! No kidding!

He decided to take a dip in the pond. Everyone stayed on the back porch to watch and take pictures. The bear then started to make its way up to the front of the cabin. Naturally we all moved to the front to continue watching. On our way, Ed decided to be funny and scare me, Whitney, and Corey by pretending like the bear was right by the truck (where we were). Boy did it work, we all started running back towards the cabin scared to death! Funny funny Ed :)

Everyone taking a turn shooting

Bryce was proud of this! When the target is shot, it will spin around a couple times. Bryce shot the target, and then shot again right after and hit the back side as it spun around. Very impressive Bryce!

From left to right - Ed, Grandpa Chet, Ron, Whitney, Robin, Hunter, Corey, Bryce, Katie

Steamboat Colorado

2008-06-19T22:42:00.000-07:00

Last week we spent some time in Steamboat Colorado for a fun vacation with the Longs! Bryce and I both had a blast and dredded coming back home. Here is a little of what we did...

Marina (Bryce's sister) is an amazing softball player and had a big tournament so we were able to watch a couple of her games. I like the picture of her above at second base...she looks hott!

The Steamboat Rodeo!

Whitney on the horse!

Hiking up to the waterfalls

On the last day we rode the Gondola up to the top of the mountain. It was so beautiful! I was sneaky and took a picture of Marina and Ed. I think it's precious!

We were all sad to leave Steamboat, it was lots of fun and so pretty. But we are heading up to the cabin this weekend! We decided to go last minute. I'm excited to be in the mountains again.

Sista-Sista!

2008-06-10T21:09:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we had my sister Annie in town. She's at EFY this week so she came a little early and spent the weekend with us. We also had my cousin Breanne come down to share in the fun. Friday night Annie made dinner for all of us! She did a wonderful job. She made parmesan chicken and a great strawberry jello salad. Bryce and I were very impressed! On Saturday we spent most of the day doing the Luau (the girls helped us a lot!) and later we went swimming. Sunday we were invited up to the Willardsons for dinner and ice cream (and cookies....hahaha) We always have such a great time up there. Here are a few pictures of Bre and Anne being silly....pretty much the entire weekend!

The Elms Hawaiian Luau!!!

2008-06-10T20:54:00.000-07:00

I have not posted anything about our new job at the Elms. Basically, I am the office manager and Bryce is the maintenance manager. So far with only a few glitches to work out, we have LOVED this job. Bryce has become very handy to have around.We live on site in a cute little apartment, with the office connected to it - makes for a rough commute! Our favorite part is we get FREE rent/utilities plus a set amount every month! One of my many responsibilities is to put together a social every semester. This semester we had a Hawaiian Breakfast Luau! I really enjoyed planning this event. For breakfast we had ham, pancakes, and all sorts of yummy fruit. We planned a couple of different games...my favorite was diving for hidden treasure! We threw lots of quarters (laundry money!) to the bottom of the pool for the students to dive for. I also had a drawing going on throughout the whole party. These kids were hooked up! Here are a few pictures that I took.

Saturday Night Baseball

2008-05-25T20:26:00.000-07:00

For Bryce's birthday, Mike and Julie gave him tickets to the Beez game! We went to the game last night against Portland. It was so much fun! There is something about baseball games that we both love - the field, the smell, the game. There were some funny guys right behind us that were cracking us up the whole time. They were being mouthy with the Ref and the other team. Oh and of course we won the game, sorry Lynnette! We decided to spend the entire day in Salt Lake. We went over to Gateway and shopped a little and saw the new Indiana Jones movie. We highly reccomend it! Anyway, here are some pictures from the game. Thanks Mike and Julie for the (amazing) seats!!

I wanted to add a picture of my cute hubby! He is on our ward softball team and is (in my opinion) the best player on the team. He's hit a homerun at every game, and all the wives on the sideline start cheering really loud when he gets up to bat. One of the girls said, 'Man Katie, I'm pretty sure Bryce is single-handedly winning the game for our team!' Aaaah, such a proud wife :)

Intramural Soccer

2008-05-20T20:47:00.000-07:00

Bryce and I joined a BYU soccer team a few weeks ago. It took a little convincing for me, but Bryce was all for it. Since I've never touched a soccer ball prior to playing on the team, I'm not exactly talented. But we have fun playing and it's good exercise. My cousin Amy is the one who invited us on the team. Here are a few pictures from the game tonight.

Popcorn!

2008-05-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

The game is Sixes Tag and these are the rules:

1. you link back to the person who tagged you.
. . . My good friend, Ash!
2. post these rules on your blog.
. . . Check!
3. share six unimportant things about yourself.
. . . See Below, but only if you want to know some really random facts about me.
4. tag six random people at the end of your entry.
5. let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs.
6. enjoy the results.

Six UNimportant things about me:

1. I’m a clean freak. I take pride in a clean house that smells yummy!

2. I love FUZE! Low carb, no sugar, with lots of vitamins. My family introduced this to me last weekend. So far, I think my favorite flavor is Tropical Punch. Get to the grocery store and try it out!

3. I miss my Colorado girlfriends dearly

4. My favorite food - any kind of sandwich! Panini, sub, loaded with whatever - I welcome all the fixins.

5. Rachael Ray can always make me laugh with her corny sayings - Yum-O, EVOO, and we're good to go! She is my favorite celebrity. I even have her cookware!

6. I can wiggle my ears without moving anything else on my head :)

I tag Gayle, Katie M., Melinda, Adele, and Katie W.

We're Off!

2008-05-08T22:46:00.000-07:00

The other night Bryce asked me why I haven't blogged lately. I think he might actually like this blog thing....hmm.... :)

Anyway, I'll give a little update while I have some time today. Last weekend we moved out of Alpine and into the manager's apartment at the Elms. It's a lot smaller but Bryce and I agreed that we like it smaller. Sounds weird, I know but it's more homey and cozy. We REALLY like having a bigger bedroom - it's huge. I'll post some pictures once I have all of our pictures up and it looks more organized. I have just a few more finishing touches to do. Bryce was great during our move. He moved all of our stuff on his own, and Chris Logan helped with the big furniture. He worked so hard on Saturday! I was a proud wife.

Last night we went to the Logans for dinner and games. It was FUN! We had an Italian style dinner. Melinda made a great bruschetta appetizer/side dish, salad and yummy dessert. I made a bruschetta and cheese stuffed chicken that turned out pretty good! We ended up having a nerf dart war. Bryce looked classic in the protective gear including goggles and all! I really wish I had my camera to take pictures of the dinner and the dart war. We're excited to get together with them again :)

Tonight we are flying to Denver for the weekend to spend time with our families. Our parents live 5 minutes away from each other so it makes it really nice to visit them both! We will be able to talk to Steve (my brother) and Shane (Bryce's brother) who are both on their missions right now. We're both very excited for a little break!

BOSCH

2008-04-30T21:26:00.000-07:00

Having grown up in the Craig family, it is simply my duty to carry on the tradition of delicious home-cooked meals and home-made bread/cookies right out of the oven. While I haven't exactly mastered this feat yet, I do enjoy giving it a good try! The last few months I have been using a hand mixer to attempt this. Sometimes it worked out, other times not so much. In enters the idea of a Bosch...the unattainable dream I thought would take many more years to attain. The Bosch is the amazing bread mixer that makes 10 loaves of bread at a time, and is one of the best mixers on the market! It's a mixer, a blender, a food processor...your everything in one! Plus, I grew up with the Bosch, therefore, it's what I always wanted. Don’t get me started on the ‘KithchenAid is better’ comment because you will lose the debate :)

Ta-Da - A Bosch! I know, I know, who gets this excited over a kitchen mixer!? Well, this is a stinkin' nice mixer and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Thank you to my Mom, Lynnette and Julie who put money towards it when we got married! I also need to add Bryce in here. He paid the remaining balance today when we picked it up. Don't worry Bryce, you will get a lifetime of fresh home-made cookies and bread :)

I got a little excited tonight and made wheat bread AND chocolate chip cookies...YUM!

Jarman Wedding in Mesa!

2008-04-28T21:19:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we headed down to Mesa, AZ for the Jarman Wedding. Michael is Bryce's old mission companion and Marissa and I have been friends for the last year. We love hanging out with the Jarmans and were pretty excited to be apart of their wedding!

Here is the happy couple coming out of the temple. We were lucky enough to be invited to their wedding ceremony in the temple. It was such a special experience for me. I haven't been to one since Bryce and I got married and it was nice to take in what was being said instead of being the one on spotlight.

Everything about the wedding was perfect! They had a beautiful reception that included dancing (which Bryce loves), dipin dots, delicious food, nice weather, and a great bride and groom! It really made me want to get married all over again! Has anyone else felt like that???

Fun pictures of Bryce and Michael swimming in the pool.

Us in front of the Mesa Temple

This was a fun trip that ended way too quick! But it was nice to relax together after the wedding. We went to Phoenix on Saturday and walked around some cool shops and got a nice tan by the pool! It was 91 degrees :)

Happy Birthday Bryce!!!

2008-04-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Bryce's Birthday! We had a great day...well week really. Laurie, Bryce's mom, came out to visit on Monday. It was a very quick trip but we loved having her here. We went shopping for Bryce and to dinner at Bryce's aunt and uncles house, which was yummy. On Saturday Bryce had to take a final but here are some of our other activities...

He woke up and immediately wanted to open presents! As you can see, he still has the sleepy eyes in this picture.

He wanted a new set of scriptures, and Mom and Dad Craig came through! He also asked for a new suit which his parents bought him. I'll have to take a pic when he's all dressed up for ya Laurie :) I don't have a picture, but he also got a nice tent from me. We both love to camp and now look forward to a lot of that this summer! Anyone want to join us???

We went to dinner with some of our good friends to celebrate!

Blowing out the candles

2nd attempt to blow out the candles. Bryce and Chris were determined to blow them out in one breath. They re-lit them 3 times! We had a great time with the Jarmans and logans!

Happy Birthday Bryce!!

Nice Wednesday Read

2008-04-16T11:12:00.001-07:00

I thought some of you might enjoy a good read today. This morning I got to work at 6:45 am. It was a very normal morning, just doing my thing. At about 10:15 am I receive a text from my mom. Here is what the text said - 911 YOUR CAR HAS BEEN STOLEN. CALL ME ASAP. Yes, that's right. My first thought was that this was some joke my mom and Jeff came up with. But I give her a call anyway. She explains that the police found the home number and that indeed, the car had been stolen. She gave me the details on who I needed to call and what I needed to do. To make a long story short, someone stole my car this morning, went through EVERYTHING in search for anything worth money. Of course, my car is a P.O.S and there was absolutely NOTHING worth their time. My stereo doesn't even work! So what do they do? They ditch my car and stole another car. The owner of that car called the police and reported his car being stolen with my car in it's place. The police called and wanted me to come pick up my car and get all the reports taken care of. There wasn't any damage to my car, except the key ignition is messed up. We'll have to get that fixed. But they didn't even break a window or use very much gas. I guess you could call them nice thefts. Although, I do feel for the other guy who still doesn't have a car at this point...

How's that for a Wednesday workday?

Shooting

2008-04-14T05:54:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went shooting with Michael and Marissa (who will be getting married in 2 weeks, wahoo!) Whenever we go to the cabin, shooting, or camping Bryce makes me wear his camo hat...haha. Nice, right?

Notice the hit in the last picture - Ed would be so proud :)

Tumbling Gym

2008-04-07T19:10:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night we were invited by some friends to go to a tumbling gym in Provo. It costs 6 bucks and you just play for an hour and a half. SO FUN! Here are a few videos from the night...

Bryce called that marriage counseling :)

That was Corey running at Bryce!

Conference Weekend

2008-04-07T16:23:00.000-07:00

Wow, was Conference great or what? I'm sure everyone will post about this, but I loved it. It was neat to sustain Pres. Monson Saturday morning, his talks were amazing. I heard from Bryce and Corey that he told a funny story at the Priesthood session. Thanks to Margaret (who is in the Tabernacle Choir) I was able to get 4 tickets to the Sunday morning session. They were great seats, about 8 rows back! We invited Corey to come out for the weekend, and then Delayne joined us.

The Willardon's invited us over for the afternoon session and lunch. Yum - it was delish. We had a great time, as always. Here are a few pictures...

The wonderful hosts - Aunt Gayle and Uncle Curt!!! Isn't that a cute picture of them???

The picture of Bryce doesn't really need an explanation....you can figure it out on your own :) The other is of Amy, Jared, and Dave in the background.

Our First Apartment

2008-04-01T11:02:00.000-07:00

I've had a few requests to post pictures of our apartment so this will be pretty boring for most of you. Sorry! But here is our first home...
We are assistant managers at Alpine Village which is a single student apartment complex. We get a discount rate for working 5 hours a week....great deal! Since it's meant for single students, we are in a 4 bedroom apartment. The bedrooms aren't very big, but we still love having all of the space.

Kitchen, living room, our bedroom

There are 2 bathrooms, but we only use one (except when we have guests) and the other is used as a linens closet.

This is 1 picture of the other 3 bedrooms. They are used for a study, storage, and guest purposes.

We were just offered to manage The Elms apartment complex. We are pretty excited about this offer. I will be working in the office and Bryce will do all of the maintenance work. This includes free rent plus a salary wage. So....we will be moving from Alpine at the end of the month into the manager's apartment at The Elms. It won't be as nice of an apartment, but you can't beat free rent!

Warm Me Up!

2008-03-31T13:14:00.000-07:00

Bryce and I had a nice weekend together. We didn't do anything special really. Friday we hung out with some friends (Chris and Melinda) and Saturday we went to the gym and then met some of my family at Thanksgiving Point to see Horton Hears A Who - great movie :) It's so funny to go to movies with Bryce...he laughs SO LOUD and people will turn around and look at us to see who it is laughing. It's a contagious laugh, gets me every time. I love it.

Saturday night we met up with some friends of ours from Colorado. We had an intense game of 'farckle'. We are looking forward to this weekend. I was able to get conference tickets for the Sunday morning session, so we invited Corey to come out and come with us. We're pretty excited about that! I love conference weekend!

Ok so what is up with the weather? I'm soooo ready for some nice sunshine and all we're gettin is snow! I guess this will make our trip to Phoenix/Las Vegas in a month all the better...ah....can't wait!!!

The Menace at Tennis

2008-03-26T12:47:00.000-07:00

The Longs would appreciate this after our game last weekend.

Dennis = Bryce - Margaret = Katie

I have a new goal. That is to become a better tennis player by May (next time I'll be playing with the Longs!) Wish me luck!?!?!?

Easter Weekend

2008-03-24T20:33:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we headed to Grand Junction to spend Easter with the Longs! We surprised them late Wednesday night - they were expecting us Thursday night. We had SO MUCH FUN!!! Here are a few things we did together......

Coloring easter eggs and the easter egg hunt was my favorite part of the weekend. We woke up Saturday morning to a house filled with eggs hidden all over. The Long Easter Bunny is pretty tough...I thought so at least. I had a hard time finding eggs!

Of course March Madness was a big part of the weekend. Thanks to Ed, I now have a bracket filled out and am doing great! On Saturday we played a game of softball. Katie, Marina, and Bryce on one team. Corey, Laurie, and Hunter on the other. Ed played and pitched for both teams. We had a great time and the weather was beautiful! I have to say...Laurie is a wonderful cook! We had delicious food everyday. Thank you Ed and Laurie for a fun weekend :) We're excited to do it all again in May!

Hoop Dreams of a Saturday Night

2008-03-18T16:49:00.000-07:00

Here we have the Mansells up against the Jonhnsons. We won't ever know the better team because most of the Johnsons didn't show up. Hmm...that tells me something! It was definitely fun to watch. Go to Katie & Rob's blog to see more pictures. Katie was the amazing photographer!

Chicken Parm Recipe

2008-03-17T10:17:00.000-07:00

One of Bryce's favorite meals is Chicken Parmesan. I wanted to make it for him the other night, but was sick of the same old recipe. I found this recipe on kraftfoods.com and tried it out. We both really liked it, so I thought I'd share.

4 oz. (1/2 of 8 oz. pkg.) cream cheese, softened
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
1-1/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
6 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1-1/2 lb.), pounded to 1/4 inch thickness
1 egg
10 ritz crackers, crushed (i just used bread crumbs)
1-1/2 cups spaghetti sauce

PREHEAT oven to 375ºF. Mix cream cheese, spinach, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese and 3 Tbsp. of the Parmesan cheese until well blended; spread evenly onto chicken breasts. Starting at one of the short ends of each breast, roll up chicken tightly. Secure with wooden toothpicks, if desired. Set aside.
BEAT egg in shallow bowl or pie plate. Mix remaining 3 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese and the cracker crumbs in separate shallow bowl or pie plate. Dip chicken bundles in egg, then roll in crumb mixture. Place, seam-sides down, in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
BAKE 30 min. or until chicken is cooked through (165ºF). Remove and discard toothpicks, if using. Serve topped with the spaghetti sauce and remaining 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese.

Enjoy!

Fondue/Movie Night

2008-03-14T10:51:00.000-07:00

Since both Bryce and I have both had a looooong week, I decided to whip out our fondue set that we received from our wedding. Bryce was gone taking a test so I ran to the store and bought all the ingredients needed. I also rented a movie from Redbox (nice little deal, and cheap!) I rented August Rush. We really liked it! After 30 minutes into the movie Bryce was hooked. Anyway, here are some pictures of the yummy chocolate fondue. I was wondering if anyone had any good cheese or oil recipes so I can actually make a dinner out of this??? Let me know, I think it would be fun.

My Dear Grandma - Marilyn Mansell

2008-03-13T10:53:00.000-07:00

This last Tuesday my Grandmother passed away. We were told last week that she would have 2-5 days left to live. Naturally, my entire family gathered to be with her until she passed. I have always been very close to my grandma and loved everything about her. She has been involved in my life since I was born. She never missed a birthday, graduation, or any celebration. This last year was especially hard on her to go anywhere but she still made it to my wedding and wedding dinner. She always made her family number one in her life. She has been such a great example to me. I love her and already miss her so much. I'm thankful we have knowledge of the plan of happiness and the reassurance that we will be with our loved ones again. Anyone who raises the 5 children she had has earned the highest degree of glory as far as I'm concerned.:) I have been traveling to Sandy and back with Bryce since last Thursday so I could be with my grandma and family. I have especially appreciated Bryce the last few days. He has happily come to all of the family gatherings, looked through all of my grandma's photo albums with me, and has helped my family with random chores that needed to be done. He knew exactly what I needed this week and did it with a smile. I love you Bryce, thank you for being so wonderful. Below is my Grandma's obituary...I don't feel like it even comes close to what an amazing lady she was, but I guess it will do. :)

Marilyn Jean Selander Mansell 1934 ~ 2008 Marilyn Jean Selander Mansell, age 74, died on March 11, 2008 in Salt Lake City, UT. She was born on June 24, 1934 in Salt Lake City, UT to Kenneth Andrew and Nellie Watson Selander. She married H. Kent Mansell on December 23, 1955 in the Salt Lake Temple. Marilyn was a graduate of South High School and the University of Utah. She taught English at Murray and Highland High Schools. She served as Young Women's President and in Stake Relief Society presidencies. Marilyn loved painting, music, cooking and writing award winning roadshows. Her favorite pastimes were family history and playing games with her family. Her greatest accomplishment is an eternal family that loves to be together. She is survived by her husband, H. Kent Mansell; children, Kathryn (Brent) Craig, Mark (Leslie) Mansell, Gayle (Curtis) Willardson, Lynnette (Elwin) Hunt, Julie (Mark) Winkel; sister, Barbara Johnson; 20 grandchildren and two great-grand-children. Preceded in death by her parents. Funeral services will be held Sat., March 15, 2008, 11 a.m. at the Cottonwood 11th Ward Stake Center, 6400 S. 1830 E. Friends and family may call on Fri., March 14, 2008 at the Cottonwood Mortuary, 4670 S. Highland Drive, from 6-8 p.m. and on Sat. at the church from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Interment, Holladay Memorial Park. Contributions may be sent to the Marilyn Mansell Family Memorial Fund at the University of Utah Credit Union, P.O. Box 58025, Salt Lake City, UT. 84158

Stupid Quiz

2008-03-12T09:43:00.000-07:00

Katie made me take this dumb quiz about cake. Apparently I'm a lemon cake...I think whoever made up this quiz is a fruit cake. But I'll have to say, the characteristics listed for lemon cake are pretty right on...strong, sexy, and overpowering.