July 2014 part 2

 The annual GAS reunion was up here as well. We definitely lucked out and had all our family come to us this summer. It was awesome! :) We should do that every summer, because really, Idaho is the bessst. 

Oh, before reunions got under way, it was Jenette's birthday. And I have these pictures that should be shared of that sweet and sassy sister of mine! :)
Prom 2008- we we're in the same date group and everytang!

And now pictures from the Gas reunion:

Thursday we just hung out and waited for everyone to come in.

Shooting bows

 David the jungle gym

 

Had a little surprise baby shower! It was so sweet and unexpected. 

My little helpers showing off these adorable onesies that Keri made: 

("I like big bucks" and "Idahome Boy")

 Handsome David

 

It ain't a secret that David is always the favorite. :)

 

Made ice cream and explored the property

We stayed at a cabin in Island Park and also had camp set up on my parent's property a few miles away from the rented cabin. My Dad certainly knows how to set up a camp in the middle of nowhere.

 

All the grandkiddos (except Josh who was sleeping)

Friday was spent exploring Yellowstone and West Yellowstone (again, but with different people this time, so it's all good). 

Old Faithful

 Grand Prismatic Lake- we hadn't been to this area of the geyser basin before. The contrast in colors was amazing!

 Babies babies babies!

^This picture of Wyatt could be made into some sort of meme.

And then we went to camp and had dinner and celebrated Spencer's birthday. The day before as gifts we're being brought out for the mini baby shower, Spencer was convinced that all those gift bags were for him...until he realized they weren't. Poor guy! So we really wanted to make sure to get him something special. When we were exploring West Yellowstone Spencer saw an orange camo knife that he really wanted. So when he wasn't looking we got him the knife. It was fun to watch him open it up.

^ And Nonnie got buffalo teeth necklaces for the kids. ^

Finally got to love on this ball of mush. Being so far away is hard after being so close.
And holy moly it looks a bowling ball is stuffed in my shirt. Ha! Being pregnant is weird. 

 Spencer trying out his birthday kite.

 babies in camp! 

The girls were so cute keeping Liv and Wyatt entertained playing Peek-a-Boo.

Camp bath from Liv. ^
Saturday we pretty much just packed up and headed out. It went by too fast! 

We went out to dinner at Big Jud's (where the burgers are bigger than your face!) and then Frostop for root beer floats in Ashton with friends one night after floating the river in tubes. (Idaho, we love you and your perfect summer weather! Not too hot, not too cold.)

And if your main squeeze doesn't know his way around a set of tools, then you should find a different man. JK. kind of. Tuesday night I showed David a picture of a bookcase made out of pallets that I want to put in the living room. Wednesday night- we have a bookcase!

Love it! and him.

We finally got the 2nd bedroom cleaned out and are now working on turning it into a nursery. Eeek! So excited! Goodbye July, hello August and baby preppin'!

March 2014

Final project for my floral design class:

Celebrated my birthday with friends at Snake Bite. So yummy! We told them at dinner that there was a bun in the oven. At this point we had only told my mother and my future employers for my internship. So it was an exciting night. We see Brandon and Janet a lot and David, okay me too, was struggling to keep our little secret a secret for much longer. (photo taken outside restaurant. Downtown IF has random very large...art? pieces. Like skateboards, bikes, and other items that I can't remember right now...)

Came home from dinner to this beautifully arranged fruit pizza from David and Reed's Dairy ice cream from the Peacock's. Yum!

Went on a field trip with my horticulture propagation class to USU and drove by Pedro's house in Preston, ID on the way back. We got to meet with professors at USU and talk about their research, etc. We also stopped at the ISU extension site in Aberdeen to see the research work being done there. Lots of cool stuff and the only picture I took was of Pedro's house. ha! I was worried about this field trip all semester because I had been nauseous and tired and nauseous the last three months. But by the end of March, right in time for this trip, I was finally feeling ok again. It was a much appreciated blessing to not have to worry about being sick and still trying to be perky and act not pregnant alllll day with my peers and professor. I also got to see Ashley and Azalia when we stopped for lunch. It was great!

Finished my shirt for my clothing construction class.

 When I measured myself for this shirt, it was going to fit perfectly. By the time I finished it I was three months pregnant and it was a little snug. Needless to say, I've only worn it once.

Finally got serious about putting some pictures and decor up.

October!

Woooeee mama! We are busy! David is still surviving his many tough classes. Giulia is still having fun in her classes. Oh and we also clock in to work every weekday. Weekends we've stayed busy with projects. And somehow we've managed to go to the fitness center together almost every night. We have a few more mid-terms to finish this week = we are halfway through our first semester at BYU - Idaho!!! In short, October has been on hyperspeed. We would be alright if it went a little faster the next few days- we are heading out for our hunt on Thursday afternoon! No Halloween parties for us. We'll be having our own party finding and setting up camp on Halloween. Then Friday and Saturday- it is on! 

Now for pictures. From our fancy camera flip phones:

HORT 311 chainsaw use and maintenance. Yes, I started and used one. Yes, I took one apart and cleaned it. Yes, I sharpened the chain. And yes, I put it back together. Yeehaw!

 HORT 230: working on a circular design. Don't look too close at it, it's a work in progress. But I do like the patio that cascades down to the firepit with a sitting wall.

Got the command center up. Chalk board on top. Plexiglass/markerboard in the middle. Tin sheet/magnet board on bottom. We still need to put the framing trim up. 

Finally found some curtains for the kitchen! I wanted something with a strong red accent. But everything with red was either all red, or really weird patterns and colors, or expensive. So I found this tablecloth with a floral print that I liked, cut it in half, hemmed the cut, and ran a seam across the top to pull the curtain rod through. Also pictured- new light fixture in the kitchen. Much better than the golden nipple that was there before. :)

 The apple orchard on campus! Love this place.

 

Smoothie gone wrong. When I tried to twist the pitcher off the power base, the pitcher twisted out of the part that keeps the pitcher connected to the base. Follow me? So, everything quickly dropped out of the bottom.

And you can't let a good smoothie go to waste!

Finally got something up to cover the open staircase window/opening.

HORT 311: stump grinder

HORT 311: Timber!!! We watched our instructor cut down a dead tree in the gardens.

And then we practiced making felling notches with a chainsaw. These are my notches.

 Spray painted our wood side tables white.

We had the cutest little visitor the first weekend of October!!! It was so lovely to see you Ashely and Zaley! Thank you. :) The morning that this picture was taken, there were several tractors/diggers/etc in the yard ripping and tilling everything. It was fun to put Azalia up to the window to watch the tractors and then the workers outside would see her cute self in the window and would smile and wave big at her. cute!

The very end of September we bought fancy flip phones. And we don't really miss our smart phones except for the awesome gps/navigation. Now we actually have to look up and know where we're going before we get on the road.
 

For Giulia's Arboriculture/HORT 311 class, we had to do a group project. Essentially, we could do whatever we wanted. We made a tutorial on how to properly prune a tree.
Here is the crab-apple tree in our yard that we used as our subject.
Before pruning:
 
  After pruning! It looks like a tree!!! Can you tell which way the wind blows most often?
Our original plan was to take the whole thing out, but when the guys in my group saw the tree they said, "No! Keep it! It has potential, it just needs a trim." So, the tree survived the chopping block.

And we also planted an apple tree in the front boulevard. When I have the video all edited and narrated maybe I'll put it up here. But it's not due until December...so.....

We got a package all the way from Delaware!

Inside were 4 Apple-cider doughnuts!?!?!! 

 yum!

Sighted in the rifle. 

Giulia's arm was a little sore afterwards. 

Now, back to studying for tests and quizes and completing design projects and getting ready to leave for our hunt! Hopefully when we check in next, we'll have a picture with a deer or two.