Happy "Zoo" Year

It was new years eve and we were feeling a little blue. 

No party invites. No fun plans. What were we to do? 

(Ok, the rhyming here is unintentional and will stop now) 

So my sisters, mom, and I decided to throw ourselves a "zoo" years bash. 

We quickly rounded up all the animal themed costumes, 

toys, food, and plants we could find in our house. 

After dinner we watched "Zoo Keeper" for the first time.

I think that is where the zoo-themed idea came from.  

We made the cutest snake sandwich for dinner. 

The tongue was the best part. 

My mom has a billion silk plants that set the perfect scene for our zoo year party.

We had candles glowing in the bushes and plastic animal toys decorating the room.

We had a fun time in our goofy animal costumes. 

Dad was a gorilla, Mandy and I were zebras, Josh was a tiger, 

Mom was a bunny, and Emily was a huntress. 

The gorilla stole the show!

He was making funny animal jokes up all night long.

Even though it is already March,

 I hope you have a happy "zoo" year, too!

Mandy's 17th Birthday!

My awesome little sister Mandy had an super fun birthday! 

We partied all day long and had three of her favorite meals. 

We had crepes for breakfast which where so divine! 

Then I had a big surprise for her, 

a pastel drawing I had spent the previous day on for her.

 She loves hair, like so much, 

so I had a lot of fun with it using her favorite colors. 

She was so surprised and she loved it. 

For lunch we went to pasta factory (yum! my fave). 

Mandy's birthday is my new favorite holiday, 

because we all get spoiled and I love my sister(ever)!

For dinner, in honor of Mandy's love for Mexico, we had fajitas. 

Yep, it was quite the party day. 

So far Mandy has had quite the year, too. 

She got her first job at Brick Oven, 

and because of that she got her first car.

A black Acura TL. 

(She must be trying to be like her big sis or something.)

I have the best little sisters (ever) in the world! 

I love them so much!

Happy 17 Mandy!

Christmas Down South

Way down South in Southern Utah... we had a wonderful Christmas. We had our fancy and fun Christmas eve dinner, and after that we played "reindeer games." We slept over at my family's house (least comfortable night of my life... ever. Dang hide-a-bed.), and woke up early for present opening. We went to Church where I sang "Baby in a Manger" with my mom and sisters. We played some fun games in the evening with the whole family together. 

My mom always decorates the tree so beautifully with all white decorations, some of which are fruit. It is made to symbolize the tree of life. It helps us remember what Christmas is all about, Jesus Christ. 

The morning after Christmas we all got together again to go shooting. The weather was great! I wonder why I ever dreamed of a white Christmas as a child. Blue skies are way better.

On my very first shot, I nailed the clay pigeon using our new shot gun.  Josh was pretty proud of me. I think my big brother Alex was even impressed. The best part was that I didn't even get a bruise because I wore a puffy coat. 

Check out this great shot I got of Josh nailing the can of pop. Making things explode is so much fun to watch.

Thanksgiving with the Macs

We had our first married Thanksgiving with the MacDonald side. We had a lot of fun with the family. It is always a party when we go up to visit! 

We took fun Christmas card photos in our fuzzy-topped hats that Scott gave us. My hat has the Dixie State College logo on it and Josh's has Utah State, because that is where he's planning on going next fall. Scott's is half and half BYU and U of U. Oh the controversy! 

We also took grandkid pictures for the Bangerter side. It's so funny to us how much older we Macs are than the rest of the grandkids. They are so cute though, huh? We played in the leaves and had a picnic at the park. The fall colors up in Salt Lake were beautiful.

This duck at the park seriously had an afro. It was so cute/funny! 

Guess Who's Having a Baby Boy!

Well, it's not me, but I am super excited for one of my best friends ever, Cammy (Forsyth) Rigby!  She found out just a few days ago that she is having a baby boy. She is graduating from BYU this semester and  is going to have a baby boy in May. Since they are not sure where life will be taking them after graduation, she had her baby shower in St. George this weekend. It was so fun to see her and catch up with what is going on in her life, as well as in the lives of friends and neighbors that came.

It was especially fun to see and talk to Sammy Myers and Brianne Hoefelmann! Brianne has two darling little kids now, I am so happy for her! Sammy is getting some experience in the parenting department as a nanny! How awesome would that be? I have a lot to learn from my friends before I'll be ready to be a mommy, that's for sure.

Since Cammy's husband, Chris, loves Star Wars, I found them a cute little outfit with a Star Wars themed hoodie and t-shirt for their baby boy. I can't wait to see him in it someday!

My mom and Emily also came to the shower with me. I love going out with the girls!
The company, food, and atmosphere was so great at the baby shower! We had Cafe Rio style grilled chicken salads and cupcakes! Both of which got a "YUM" out of me.  I wish the best to Cammy and Chris and secretly hope that Chris gets a job offer in Logan, which is where we will be next fall.

Speaking of fall, the trees are finally changing colors and the leaves are starting to fall. I love it, mostly because it is not too cold yet. Last night we went out with my parents on a double date and we took our first autumn pictures of the year.

We went out to eat at 25 Main. The cob salad and the fettuccine alfredo with chicken are both pretty delicious if you ask me. And even on a Saturday night, you don't have to wait very long to get your food. I love going on double dates with my parents. We have such a good relationship and can just talk, laugh, and chill.

After dinner we all cuddled up back in the old truck and headed to the college's art show and closing night of their play. Gourmet chocolate truffles were served, which were very satisfying. The art was mostly abstract. There were a bunch that looked like little kid art collaged together. Josh claims that if he draws the pictures and I collage them together, we could make thousands. I am almost done with my art degree and still haven't decided quite what I want to do in art. I think that is partly because I am too busy getting through my degree to experiment with my style. I will figure it out someday, because I have the most supportive family cheering me on.
I am so thankful for you guys! You're all amazing!

Keep Calm and Just Graduate

I have to keep telling myself this... and so does Josh whenever I forget. It's no secret to those who know me well that I have a tendency to get a little stressed over just about anything. You could say I'm a perfectionist that can't actually do anything perfect. Always the runner-up in pageants, 3.9 GPA in school... you get the drift. But anyways, trying to figure out my final semester schedule has literally given me a headache. Unfortunately, being a senior in college is not at all like being a senior in high school. Fortunately, Josh's smile and an occasional bowl of fruity goodness can keep me sane.

Last weekend Josh and I had a fun little stay-at-home date night to help me de-stress. We made delicious homemade strawberry sorbet, played games, got in our pjs, cuddled up, and watched a fun movie. It was exactly what I needed! The next couple days I was able to "calm down" and accomplish a lot... and then Monday hit. At least I will always have the weekends and spending time with my husband to look forward to... and now (but not for long) the leftover sorbet...

Love notes: They make my day

I think it is about time that I do some bragging about my amazing husband. He has been sick for the last few days, but he still finds the time and energy to write me love notes and leave them all over the house so I find them at different times. No matter how stressed I am when I find them, they turn my day around and put a huge smile on my face. Because he leaves so many little notes around for me, I have to leave big ones or use a sticky note for each letter just to get ahead. Being married to someone who is so thoughtful is the best.

Last night I came home at about 8pm from working hard all day and he said, "I've been saving this for you!" He ran into the bathroom and pressed play on the i-pod and the song, "Come Away With Me," by Norah Jones, came on. He pulled me in and we slow danced right there in the kitchen, complete with dips and twirls. He was listening to Pandora an hour earlier and the song came on and he ran in and "saved it" for me just so we could slow dance to it later. It was so cute!