Dirt, sweat, and a little blood...

Here's a little look at what I've been doing this summer...

(Anybody want a tire filled with cement? Use it for tetherball...!)

I'm taking a break now...

Start of Summer

I've been out of school for two weeks now, and it has been really busy! Here are a few highlights:

I decided to be domestic, and make strawberry jam. I had never done it before. Well, I once "helped" make raspberry jam with the Freckleton's. 

By help, I mean I stirred the sugar and poured the jam into jars...

Turns out, it's so easy! I don't think I'm ever buying store bought jam again.

 Malone loves being apart of things, especially cleaning and yard-work. The other day, I was watching Levi mow the grass, and I had to snap a few pictures of his "helper"

So, my goal for our backyard this summer is to get all the weeds pulled. I've spent a few days out there, and filled a few garbage cans. So far, I'm pretty pleased!

Not sure why that tree died...

 Last weekend, Jordyn, Bart and the kids were in town. We had so much fun!

Levi enjoyed some cuddle time...

 On Memorial Day, we got to take Mike and Lisa's new boat out. It was great! It fits us all! 

Here we are with Payton and Jordyn. It was a little chilly!

Levi with Bennett

Here we are with Payton

Summer...Here we come!

April Fun...!

So, April went fast, right? It feels like I blinked, and there it went! 

I can remember some fun things we did though...

 We had a blast at the Bon Jovi concert.

 Thanks Brad and Terri for the tickets!

We also took a fun, quick trip to Phoenix for some baseball. 

Here's an even quicker recap:

Our seats for Fridays game. 

It was a beautiful night for baseball, they opened the roof!

Here are the two palest people in Phoenix...

and probably the most tired (11 hour car ride?!)

The next morning we got up and went

 to our favorite place to eat in AZ... Over Easy

We got an order of Waffle Dogs, which are 

sausages dipped in waffle batter, and fried. YUM! 

Our seats at Saturday night's game

Levi, admiring Chase Field from our seats at Sunday's game

Right above the Diamondbacks bullpen

I was also admiring the field, just from a different perspective... 

I had to take advantage of the "All You Can Eat" seats... :)

We love you Phoenix, and I'm sure we'll be back soon!

On our way home, we decided to go through Vegas, 

and once that was decided, another stop was decided for us...

You don't just go through Vegas, and not stop for 

Earl of Sandwich!

YUM! So worth prolonging our 

drive home in the middle of the night!

Malone stayed with Mike and Lisa while we were gone, 

and he had a good time with their dog, Charley.

This is pretty much how he spent Monday...

........................

The other day, Levi left for a little bit, 

and I came around the corner to find this:

That's loyalty! Love my Malone!

Spring Break

So, I'm on spring break right now, and it seriously couldn't have come any sooner. So far, I've been really good, and not been too lazy :) I've done a little work in the yard, just cleaning up all the dead stuff, getting the lawn ready for some seed. We are hopefully getting our sprinkler system fixed this week, so we can have an easier time keeping our grass green this year. We looked into putting in a basketball court... but that will have to wait a few more years haha! I hope that this spring we can get our deck in. We have all the Trex material, just gotta get it assembled  Sometimes it feels like it will never end! Today was rainy, so I spent the day inside, cleaning bathrooms, and doing some painting... yes, we still have unfinished painting projects from when we moved in! Have I mentioned how much I love our house? It is so great the way we have it, but there is still so much I dream of doing. This summer I want to stain the kitchen cabinets. 

Levi has been busy with school, and keeping his options open for employment. Changes are in store for us, one way or the other... I'm hoping for one way more than the other... but we shall see!

So, Levi reminded me of some pictures I took, and never put on the blog. I really need to be better about updating this thing more often. Back in January, we went down to the South Town Expo Center. We've been going to Expo shows this year, and I actually really like them. This time, Levi and Mike went to the gun show, and Lisa and I went to the home show. Levi ended up with this treasure to add to his gun collection.

It's an AR-15. I think he is gearing up for the zombie apocalypse... 

We have been watching the Walking Dead a lot lately...

Then, in February, Taylor and Katie invited us to a Grizzlies game. Those are always fun! During the game, a puck came flying out at us, but luckily we have fast reflexes and ducked. Levi walked away with a game puck, though!

Ok, so now onto what you all really want, cute pictures of Malone, right? 

Well, I hate to break it to you, but we got rid of him.... 

April Fools! 

While we have threatened him that we are going to get rid of him (only when he is really naughty) I think it would break our hearts. I sometimes wonder how lonely life would be without him.

So, one of my favorite things to snack on is popcorn. For our anniversary, Levi got me a 

hot-air popper, so I usually use that to make popcorn. I always share with Malone.

As you can see by this picture, popcorn is one of Malone's favorite treats, too! He even knows when I'm sneaky and make it in the microwave:

I just love him!

He's been enjoying the warm weather, too. We've been going for really long walks when I get home from work. He's doing better at not pulling me :) Often times, I'll come into the kitchen and find him just laying by the back door. Sometimes he goes out when I find him here and open the door. Most of the time, he just lays there and looks at me like, "What?" 

The other day, we had a guy come to spray for bugs. Then, I left to go to a Relief Society activity, so Levi put Malone outside so he could do some things around the house. About 20 minutes later, Levi opened the door to let Malone in, but he was nowhere to be found. He called for him...no answer. So, Levi walked around to the east side of the house, no Malone. Over to the west side of the house...the gate was open, and of course Malone was missing. Levi was so scared. He ran out to the front yard, and heard some commotion of dogs down the street. For those of you who know Malone, he is soooo friendly. He will run up to anything that moves, to try and be it's best friend. A lot of people and other dogs take this the wrong way, and Malone has even been bit because of this. So, of course, Levi's immediate fear was that Malone had ran off to make friends, and was causing a fight. He then looked up towards the house, trying to figure out what to do....and there was Malone, sitting on the front porch, waiting for Levi to call to him! When Levi told me this story, I just couldn't believe it. I would like to know if any people had walked by while he was alone, and just stayed on the porch... Malone is such a good boy!

Yesterday was opening day of baseball, so of course, there is a game on as I'm writing this post. I went through the pantry when I got home from the grocery store and found a bag of peanuts. I gave them to Levi to snack on before dinner (which is going to be hot dogs and garlic fries, our new tradition) and when I walked into the living room, this is what I found:

These guys are so cute, and the best of friends. Life is so good right now :)

Way Past Due...

Ok, I've finally got the ambition to write a little something about our Christmas. It was pretty low-key, and I loved it. I had 3 weeks off from school, and only had to work at Hickory Farms until Christmas. Levi took almost 2 weeks off, too! We spent a lot of time with our families, we have so many! We went to the movies almost every other day. We played with Malone so much, I think he was deeply depressed when we went back to work...

We got Malone a couple of shirts from Petsmart on Christmas Eve. He wasn't too fond of them...

We all had a great Christmas:

Malone got a tad spoiled... But seriously, he goes through toys so fast!

This was my main gift from Levi. I feel pretty cool to be a gun owner, now I just need to take a class so I can learn how to handle it. I also got an ice cream maker and a ring to wear to work so I don't have to wear my wedding ring. I'm always afraid I'll lose a stone!

Levi's Christmas wasn't quite as cool as mine, but he still made out OK  He got some new shoes, slippers, and a whole bunch of meat from Omaha Steaks.

Thanks to our families for such a great Christmas too! We got way spoiled :)

These two have such a love/hate relationship. So cute!

Fall 2012

Well, here we are, about to end November and head into one of my favorite months. Despite the fact that I hate cold weather and snow, there is something about December that makes me feel so cozy and warm. I love wearing warm, comfy clothes, snuggled under a blanket, sipping some hot chocolate. Now that we have our Christmas decorations up, I'm sure we will spend some time sitting in the light of the tree, listening to Christmas music (one of my favorite traditions). 

We got our Christmas stuff out last Saturday. 

It took a few hours, and almost a whole cheese ball!

 But.... Let's rewind a little...

Back before Halloween, Taylor and Katie invited us to a Utes game. Despite the cold, we had a good time at a great game, even though football is not my sport ;)

While at the game, Katie and I decided that we wanted to carve pumpkins. So, we made plans for the next Monday to get it done! In the years I've known Levi, he has never carved a pumpkin, so I knew I needed to be creative in order to get him to participate. I'm pretty sure I found a carving that was right up his alley:

Despite our best efforts to support Romney, we all know what happened a few weeks later. 

We also had the opportunity to head out to Wendover to see Sawyer Brown again. We've been going out every year for the past few years now, and even though the show never changes, I still love it. Their music is classic, and they put on a great show! We even got to meet the band before the show.

Here we are with Mark, the lead singer

and with Hobbie, the pianist.

Let's end with another comparison of Malone''s growth: 

5 Months

7 Months...looks like he's crushing Levi!

...I sure love that dog!

Election Day

It's Election Day! I am so anxious and excited and nervous for the results. Levi has been saying he is nervous for days, and  I woke up pretty nervous this morning.

 

Before Levi left for work this morning, I had to get a picture of him. He ordered this shirt a while ago, and it came last night, right in time. I hope it helps bring some luck!

We believe in you, Mitt, and we believe in America!!!