New baby niece

I'm an aunt for the first time! Kyle's brother and his wife had their little baby girl Josie last Saturday.

She is SO adorable! To make things even cuter, she makes little squeaky noises. Ah, I think we're in love :) This is going to be one spoiled little baby.

Baby Josie

Kyle holding the little one.

I think she was in the middle of her squeak-cry here :)

Happy!

Congrats Kalvin and Kiri on your baby girl! 

Malheur Forest

Last Friday Kyle, me, and a friend of ours decided we needed to get out of the valley and take a break (we've all been stressed with work lately). We drove up to Malheur Forest in Oregon, my first time being there. It was gorgeous! There was a forest fire there almost 10 years ago and the extreme fire damage is still there!

Breaking down camp.

(yes, we had more than 1 tent up.)

Near our campsite was this very authentic outhouse.

no, we did not try it out. ;)

This may sound silly, but the funniest thing about the trip was when we stopped at this "last chance" convenience store outside of Vale, OR. 

As we were leaving, I saw this rooster standing outside, looking intently inside where we were. So, we walk out the door towards the car and the rooster follows us to the car doors! Almost hops in! And, even when we start the car, it doesn't even spook the silly rooster. 

what's up, weirdo chicken?!

He continued staring intently at us as we drove off.

Zoo Boise

A few weeks ago Kyle and his sisters and I decided to make a trip to the zoo! I must say, the zoo is still a fun place to go as an adult!

A special feature they have this summer is a butterfly exhibit. Note to self: if you want to be attracted by butterflies, wear a very colorful shirt!

Tons of butterflies were landing on Katherine the whole time! It helps that she wore a very bright-colored shirt :) . It was so funny and really awesome. 

There are so many gorgeous butterflies out there! 

A big hit with our group was this sloth-bear. He was so funny to watch! He had quite the personality; I swear he was flirting with our group. 

I should also mention the sloth-bear's humble abode. His living spaces were AMAZING! I was insanely jealous. The sloth-bear comes from India. The decor all around his pit is Indian-themed. 

They had a lot of other fun animals: 

Can you spot the leopard? 

Monkey!

This was a personal favorite: spooning rabbits! Awww! 

Penguins!

Some kind of anteater rat

Beautiful zebra 

Baby prairie dogs! They were so adorable and tiny like hamsters! 

P.S. Listen to what Mumford and Sons did with this song. Totally in love!

Happy 4 Years

Happy 4 years of marriage to my hubby and I!

And here's to many, many, many more! To see other marriage/anniversary posts go here and here.

And, here's one of our lovely love songs to add more love to this lovely post ;)

Happy happy news

Good news...we are moving to Boise! Our living space is a tiny 2 bed 1 bath townhouse in the downtown area. Pictures will come...I may even do a before and after thingy. Although, the after part won't come for a while. Unpacking isn't fun to do.

More good news...Kyle has a good job with Verizon that includes insurance and all that good stuff! Did I mention we get a discount on our cell phone bill? Yep! Happy stuff! He's going to finish his associate in a bit at a community college then probably finish up at Boise State. Wowsers, we're turning into Broncos!

Some more good news...I am SUPER close in getting a job. Yay me!

And yet, more good news...Grocery Outlet is just down the road! So happy for cheap groceries.

Happy Father's Day!

My dad is THE coolest dad in the world! Happy Father's Day, dad!!!

1988 or 1989 -- here I am sitting in my dad's cool roadster!

Summer 1989 (Yes, Ben looks like a Native American baby, and no, he was not adopted!)

June 2005 -- For my senior graduation trip, my dad took my family and I to the 4 Corners area. We saw a lot of other national parks as well.

June 19, 2008 -- My wedding day!

Forever, For Always, No Matter What

Yesterday was our wedding anniversary -- 1 year has flown by fast!
Happy anniversary, Kyle!
Here's to many more years...

SO fashionable!

One of the perks of having a brother on a foreign mission is the neat gifts he sends us! Ben is serving a mission in Peru right now. It's not his original mission, but due to political unrest in Bolivia, all American missionaries had to leave and Ben was temporarily reassigned in Peru. However, things are working out and the church is letting missionaries back into Bolivia. Ben should be sent there later in the summer! He's very excited!

Anyway, Ben sent Kinsey and I some purses from Peru! We decided to model them...

In remembrance...

Monday, my family and I went to my grandpa's grave at the Idaho Veterans Cemetery. It's located in Northern Boise and it has a very beautiful view of the valley!

Family time!

Mama Bert (my grandma) is visiting my family for 3 weeks so I also got to see her over the weekend! It was sooooo good to see her!


Mama Bert came last year for our wedding and made my wedding cake, too! She is very talented! See?


My cousin Jacob is living in Rexburg, too, while going to school at BYU-I, so he drove up to see Mama Bert and the family

Lol. I walked out to my family's garage and I found the cat sitting on the 4-wheeler, like it's his ride or something!

Can't forget little Griz, my family's dog. I swear, if I could take home that dog, I would! He's the funniest dog!


Can't forget precious McKinsey!

Unfortunately, I only got pics of Kyle's family at graduation :(