first day

Last Monday was Brandon's first day of third grade! Wow! Where does the time go? He had a great week and LOVES his teacher. Thank goodness!

The awesome Mrs. Courtney and my big third grader! 

Lake Tahoe

 Lake Tahoe is not far from us at all (just shy of three hours), so John thought it would be the perfect first year anniversary get away for our family. He found us a great little quaint place for us that allows dogs. It had a nice pool and spa, ice machine right next to our room (8 year olds LOVE that sort of thing!), Applebee's just across the parking lot and a giant bathtub with jets! It was perfect!

If you look close you can see our cutie lil Penny having a grand ol' time in the woods! 

You don't have to look hard to find ME though! Yikes!

We found this awesome shopping area right across the street from where we stayed that allowed dogs in almost every store! Penny was so excited she didn't know what to do with herself! 

In our room we had this ghetto-fabulous idea of filling the sink with ice to keep our drinks chilled. :) The little ice bucket just was not big enough for the three of us! Then we discovered the mini fridge...ha!

We hiked Eagle Falls and it was just beautiful! The hike was not very strenuous at all so I was able to make it without taking too many rest breaks. 

The fact that we forgot to bring bathing suits didn't stop this guy from having a blast!
 The water was very refreshing. 

Here is the huge tub with jets that Brandon adored! I got him all set up, adjusting the water temp and giving him soap, then left to go relax. A few minutes later I go in to check on him and all he says is
 "I think I got a little carried away!" Yeah, ya think?! Bubbles are just so fun. 

The next day, Brandon wanted to swim first thing in the morning. 

If you ask Brandon what the best part of the hotel was, we would probably say
"The free hot cocoa in the lobby!" My son LOVES hot chocolate...even in the super hot spa!

We had to try "The Best Milkshakes in Tahoe." They were just okay, not wonderful. But totally fulfilled my milkshake need!

We wanted to go the beach but soon realized that dogs were not allowed on any beach we found. :( That was the one bummer part of having our Penny with us. Instead we decided to explore a bit and happened upon this great place just off the road. We had it all to ourselves and loved it. Brandon found fish, made instruments out of rocks and sticks, collected some neat pebbles, swam for forever and just loved being in the water.

What a blast! We have deemed Tahoe our "go-to" place for a quick vacation! It is just so gorgeous with or without snow. I'm hoping we can go back this fall. 

Our trip "home"

We went on another trip "home." It is always so great to be with family. Brandon got to spend the week with his dad Jeff, and I got to have some much needed sister and mom time. Being up north we sure do feel like we miss out on a bunch of wonderful family things, like first days of school. Well I was lucky enough not to miss this little lady's first day of kindergarten! Lily looked SO adorable in her uniform! I was grateful to share this special day with my sisters and her.

Penny's best friend Lola was happy to see her. They played for HOURS! 

My family (both sides) threw me the most amazing baby shower! It was awesome to see many of my friends that I hardly ever see, and I got the most beautiful gifts. 

My amazing mom made this diaper cake! It is the cutest thing!

My nieces and a cousin from the Shipley side. It was such a fun day!

 My sweet and wonderful husband had the privilege of baptizing our nephew Donovan. 

It was an emotional, beautiful day. 

We celebrated Lily's 5th birthday! My sister made the cutest "microphone" cupcakes to go perfectly with the Hanna Montana theme! They were delicious too!

We were happy to have Brandon back after a week of him being away from us. As always, it was a great trip. Can't wait till we can live by our families again. They are just the best.

Grammie and Donovan came to visit!

Brandon was in heaven when Grammie and Donovan came up to visit. We took the boys to 

Water World for a day of fun. They LOVED it!

Brighton was not happy about the temperature of the water...it was FREEZING! 

She kept kicking me super hard. Ha!

While they were here Grammie took Brandon back-to-school shopping and she took me stroller shopping! So fun!

 We just had to go into the city too. Here are the boys at Ghirardelli. YUM.

Too bad I didn't get any pictures of us all together. :( It was such a blast having them here!

 We love visitors!