Thursday, February 2, 2012

So...we have had some big changes recently in our lives and since a new baby girl is to arrive here hopefully now :) I thought I'd take a break from walking stairs and eating spicy food to update this thing since we will have some very exciting pictures soon.

I do apologize before I catch up I can't find all the pictures of our fun year such as...camping in Carlsbad with the Perkinson's, swimming swimming and more swimming, Grace's second Birthday party, and the Riggs Family Reunion.

One big change that occured at the end of the summer is Brandon's job opportunity in the oil industry which has now taken us to the amazing land of North Dakota- yes North Dakota. What is in North Dakota you ask besides oil...well us now :). And my sister Marie and her family who introduced Brandon to some of the job opportunities.

Brandon started working in August and since housing in our little town is far and few between Brandon had to commute back and forth until we found a place to live (which wasn't until November). It was a hard few months but I quit my job and was able to have fun with Grace, family and friends, pack up our things and get ready for my parents arrival home from their mission in Mexico.


Some friends from work, they gave many sweet things but my favorite was the gigantic pink snow shovel. I will miss St. Joe's.Connolly's annual Newport Beach vacation...eating yummy food and bumming on the beach- just what a vacation should be.
Grace and Benson...they are 3 weeks apart and couldn't love eachother more. Thanks to Benson's amazing mom Brittney we have the most darling pictures of them. Here are just a few.






Grace loves to get dirty, whether at the beach, camping or in the backyard.
During Brandon's few days home with us in the fall we took some great camping trips. One of them we brought my Dad's dog Duke, another of Grace's BFF's.



Pumpkin picking time for Halloween.
Father Daughter outing in our ward. Since my parents had recently returned home I was attending with my Dad and Grace with hers! My brother Don came and brought his girls, Kennadee and Raylen- it was VERY fun.

Halloween...Grace wanted to be a lady bug like the "Lady Bug Girl" books and Benson was nerd- SO cute!


My oldest nephew Ben recently left for his mission to Milan, Italy! He is such an awesome kid and is a great missionary! Also Grace is just as photogenic as me which is evident in the above picture!
One last fun lunch with friends (Sarah Toleman, Whitney Hale and Kasey Perkinson) before leaving for the cold.
Grace opened most of Christmas after our Christmas vacation in beautiful AZ.
Some of my cute nieces and nephews at dinner.
The teenage girls, too darling for their own good.
Zoo lights. I must say, I along with everyone else was very jealous of Grace and Benson's set up.

Family hike. Yes I am very pregnant.
Going to church on Christmas Day.
New P.J.'s from Grandma Connolly on Christmas Eve.
Christmas Eve dinner at Ammon's with my parents and Don's family.
Temple lights.
Grace's "funny" face as she calls, others are quite frightened however.

Just before Christmas we had white everywhere, however after Christmas we have had very little snow and only one week with the high in the negatives. We have been SO blessed to have a mild winter.
Grace's room.
I still need to fill in some pictures and find something cute to put in the empty frame.

Our family room, as you can see it is directly in front our "dining room" which is directly in front of our kitchen and just to the left of our "office" and "laundry room". Our apartment is small but it is new and clean and I am grateful to have our little family together.
Wish us luck with the our new baby, hopefully we will have some darling baby pictures to post SOON!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Kayli's Wedding Extravaganza

Brandon's sister Kayli got married yesterday. Although my parents are away on a mission, they of course we more than happy to let us have the reception in their backyard and use MANY MANY items from their home to make this party awesome. The theme was a vintage/shabby chic style. We included lots of twinkle lights, lamps, kerr jars with candles and flowers everywhere, candle chandeliers, picture frames, trunks, lace/crocheted items, various fabrics and fun collectables. Thanks so so much to all those family members and friends who lent items, time and talents to make this night so beautiful.

Moments like these just melt my heart!!

Kim, Hailey and Emmy darling as ever!


Grace and Benson, BFF's (or so Grace thinks!)




Brownie Bar






Christensen cousins



It is hard to tell with her concerned look, but Grace adores her cousin Emmy



Gift Table




The Wedding line


Signing Table area with Bryce Gurr's amazing frame work and Brittney Gurr's fabulous photography



Signing table, does the cute desk look familiar Mom??



Fun seating and "vinette" areas



Water and Lemonade table




The tent...would you guess this tent has been spotting on the beaches of Carlsbad and possibly during many campouts and "Mountain Man Rondezvous" events? You may not be able to see but Brandon found these darling candle chandeliers that we hung throughout the tent and under the swingset/gift area...definitely my favorite part
of the decor.


Grandpa and Grandma Christensen



You have to love this girl!!



Grandpa and Grandma Connolly


The happy and gorgeous couple... Mr. and Mrs. Ethan Amon

The Thomas clan...they are growing up way too fast!



More delicious food prepared by the Gurr family- it was all delicious!! Did I mention it was delicious!?

Food Table


Brittney's awesome bike!!

Brittney's husband Bryce and their son Benson
























Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Tis the Season

Sorry I am having technical difficulties (surprise surprise) and cannot pull up our other fun pics. But perhaps in another 6 months or so I will get in the "blogging mood" and post some more.

Merry Christmas!!

Family parties: With both sides here in town we have had a few. This image shows how fun Grace is at parties. All she wants to do is run and play which is fine unless you want to visit with others and take pictures. So, here's an attempt at a sweet and sentimental photo of Grace with her Great Grandma and Grandpa Connolly.

Poor Benson (Grace's cousin), Grace just loves him so much and sometimes a little too much!







Dancing with the musical trees- always a fantastic feature of Zoo Lights.





Going to the Zoo Lights: a must for everyone.



The real Santa is scary but a cow Santa is cute? I sure hope she isn't planning on joining the FFA soon- not that there's anything wrong with that :)!







Visiting Santa at Bass Pro Shop: You would think Grace would love Santa the way she always smiles and says "hohoho" whenever we see an image of him, but of course not the case. Therefore, Mom and Grace had a visit with Santa together.




Silver Bells, Christmas Sweaters and of course "Wham's" greatest holiday hit "Last Christmas I Gave You My Heart" are just a few of my favorite things about this season, but having a toddler to share it with is the BEST!



Here are some things we've done so far...

Monday, August 30, 2010

Grace is SOOOOOO DARLING!































Is it normal for a mom to just want to play with their baby all day and stare at her when she sleeps because she is SO STINKING CUTE! Seriously sometimes I just can't even handle it and I have to immediately maul her with kisses!
On our family vacation Brittney took some awesome pictures for us- she is SO talented, if you want to see more of her stuff check out her blog brittneygurrphotography.blogspot.com she really is amazing.





























Sunday, August 1, 2010

Happy Birthday Grace!





Yes, it has been practically a year since either Brandon or I have blogged. It is absolute, we are terrible bloggers! Even with so many family and friends living out away from us I am still the worst at this. Anyway, I will not make any promises but I thought a quick update would be better than nothing- right?
Our baby Grace is no longer a baby- she is a toddler! She loves dogs, books, eating "big girl food", swimming and smiling at everyone she sees (particularly people of the male race).
Below are some fun pics of Grace on the big day enjoying her cake. She defintely ate way too much frosting and with the rest of her cake deciding it would be a fun sensory activity to smear it all over her body.
Enjoy and perhaps Brandon or I will post again someday soon, or not, we shall see!