Baby Shower

Yesterday I threw a baby shower for my sister Jessie with the Malan side of the family and some of her friends. I spent the day cooking, cleaning, and preparing, but it was definitely worth the effort to see Jessie so happy and blessed with all the fun stuff she got! She got hooked up! She got so many cute outfits, some bottles, a bottle cleaner, diapers, some baby shampoo and soap, burping clothes, a nice blanket, a rubber ducky, a boppie, a car seat, and a travel bed. We played a few games including "name the baby animal" and the one where you guess how big Jessie's stomach is with yarn--what's a baby shower without the cheesy games :). It was a lot of fun visiting with everyone who came, and we had some yummy food(if I do say so myself lol). Jessie also got a lot of good advice about being a mom.

P.S. I couldn't find my camera anywhere, so these pics were taken with my phone camera--better than nothing!

Opening Gifts:

Cute denim shorts!

One of my favorites with the little tiger on the bum!

My cousin Paige, my aunt Laurie, and my grandma Malan

Judy and her daughter, some friends of Jessie

My mom and Jessie

Jessie with all her gifts!

Her cute prego belly!

~Thanks to everyone who came and made this day special for her~

Payson Canyon = Good Times

Dan and I spent the weekend in nature. We had a bonfire with our friends Casey and Kristi--which included roasting weenies, and lots of smores! Ace was so cute! It was the first time Kristi gave him chocolate, and he loved it (duh)! He ate it all night! He was also quite the cuddle bug with me. When I woke up the next morning I had chocolate all over my hoodie...it took me a minute to remember that it wasn't from me!

We also spent the night camping up Payson Canyon at Maple Bench. The weather was perfect! But I forgot our pillows, so it made for an uncomfortable sleep! On top of that, any time there was a noise outside our tent, I would reach over to Dan and ask, "did you hear that??" certain it was a bear. It must have gone and eaten someone else though because our camp wasn't bothered.

My boy scout getting the fire started

We woke up early enough Saturday morning to get out to Maple lake while the fish were still biting. We caught a few fish, and had a lot of fun! At first I was getting pretty bored and discouraged after sitting on the lake for a whole five minutes without catching anything, but soon enough I felt my line start to tighten, and my pole start to wiggle. I quickly jerked and started to real in but got caught in a bunch of moss on the way in. I thought for sure the fish had gotten away because it wasn't fighting any more, but sure enough the little guy was still on my line, along with 10 lbs of moss! After that we had a few more catches and a lot more snags (well at least I did). Fishing is not really my thing because I hate the waiting time...I am so not good at just chilling and relaxing...but the few catches in between made it exciting and worth it! The last cast of the day didn't end so well-- as I bull-whipped my line across the lake! I ended up loosing my hook, line, and sinker. Oh well. It was a good time to end the trip anyway!

No...this wasn't the first time I have caught a fish. My wacky facial expression is due to the fact that the little guy kept wiggling around and getting his yucky fish water all over me!

Dan is not afraid to grab the fish with his bare hands!

We love each other :)

Zumba Party!

Back in November of last year I was at the Orem rec center when I saw a bunch of ladies waiting anxiously in line for something. I saw a lady in my ward, so I asked her what was going on. She said, "zumba!" I had seen flyers for zumba, but had never really thought about going to a class. For some reason I decided to try it that night. Ever since then I have been hooked. I have made a lot of good friends, and look forward to it every week. Part of the reason I love it so much is because I have an amazing teacher (trust me a great teacher makes all the difference!) She is an amazing dancer, and so much fun! She really works your butt off too! Well, because she is so good, better opportunities came her way so she is leaving the Orem rec center :(

To thank her a bunch of us decided to throw her a surprise thank you party. We had yummy food, a DJ with awesome music, and of course tons of dancing. We invited at least 70 people, but only 15 of us could make it. We still had a great time though! I made my delicious creme puffs, only this time I tried a new strawberry creme filling along with my usual banana. The strawberry is my new favorite!

How low can ya go??

I was on the way back up...I got low...

My friend Karen and me

Karen, Ana, and me

The gang who came out to party!

Karen made this cute poster! Cecilia and me

Yuki

We don't need to buy expensive toys for our dog...


She is happy to chew on our hangers, shoes, dirty socks, and any thing else we leave lying around.

If I ever meet a cuter dog, I'll be damned.

If you think there is a cuter dog on this planet...you are wrong :)

When the hubby's away....

...the wife plays!

Dan is playing in an all-nighter softball tournament in Delta. I had planned on laying low, cleaning the house, maybe eating a whole package of Oreos...er...broccoli... and watching a Lifetime Original Movie, but my friend Hailey called and asked if I wanted to play on her co-ed softball team, so I played a little softball of my own.

After our games Danica, Hailey, and I decided to do a little shopping. We went to the mall and looked at sunglasses for about 30 minutes... none of us decided to get some in the end. We ate some dinner, then went to Kohls where I do "expect great things." Oh Kohls. I could close my eyes and fill my arms with the first things they made contact with, and love it all. I had $10 in Kohls cash, and a coupon for 15% off my entire purchase...so of course I had to use them. I got some really cute shirts and a cute pair of jean capris. I called Dan on my way home and told him "I had found a few things I liked at Kohls" He then asked, "how much did you spend?" Before I could answer that question I had to tell him how much I had saved with my coupons and Kohls cash. He guessed I had spent more than I actually did though, so I guess I still have some money to spend :) JK.

When I got home I managed to take a bath, actually shave my entire leg (even above the knee), whiten my teeth, do the dishes, paint my finger nails, and write this post. This is what I call a productive evening.

Tomorrow morning I am going to a Zumba party from 11-2 which I am so excited for! I sure miss Daniel, but it's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't have a cute husband to distract you!

At a master's zumba class...us girls and our amazing teacher (in the pink). I just hate when I have a post without a picture, so this will do!

Graduation, what's next?

Today was Whitney's (Dan's sister) graduation from Salem Hills. They had the graduation ceremony outside on their football field. It was a nice sunny day, and they even had three sky divers come and start things off which was really neat! (one of the benefits of being a brand new wealthy school I guess). It was the usually ceremony...national anthem followed by rifle demonstration thing, class president and validictorian speak, principle speaks, choir sings, then each senior takes his/her turn walking up to get their diploma where you also get/have to strike a pose and get your picture taken while they read your name. Whitney looked really cute, and didn't trip or anything. I was hoping someone would to make things a bit more interesting...but the afternoon was accident free.

The last sky diver carried the flag down with him (obviously lol)

Whitney is a great sister in law. She is so kind and easy to talk to because she can relate to really anyone. She instantly made me feel welcome in the family, and is fun to be around. After the ceremony we went back to Dan's parent's house to eat and visit with the family that had come. Whit got a brand new laptop, and Dan had put a bunch of programs on it so it would be ready to use out of the box. We had some fun with her at first because we wrapped up one of our old, excuse me, ancient, laptops and gave it to her as a joke. She was polite and laughing, but I'm pretty sure she knew something was up because I forgot to include the power cord, and the hard drive was missing. Then Dan came out with the real, new laptop, and she got much happier :)


Throughout the day I was trying to remember how I had felt the day I graduated. Mostly, I think I was relieved because as fun as high school was, I was ready to move on (and move out lol). I was ready to enjoy the summer then start college and be on my own. I don't think I was scared because I had a pretty solid scholarship and plan laid out (which never really happened like I thought it would, but that's okay because it's better :) I remember I was a bit sad that all of my family couldn't be there to see me, and see how much I had accomplished. The only thing I regret looking back is on the last day of school Tacy and I just left instead of sticking around to sign yearbooks. At the time I didn't care, but it would have been fun to look back at it now and see what everyone had written!

I thought it would be fun to put up some pics of my graduation. That night a bunch of friends and I met up at Mckell's house and took some pictures. It is so funny how people go separate ways. I have not seen most of the people in the pictures since high school...but I am glad I was there for the pics because it's so much fun to look back at them now! The resolution and quality is poor because I had to scan them in.

Tacy and me just after Graduation ceremony

The above pics were at Mckell's house; starring: Devin, Ivan, Chris, Tim, Troy, Josh, Tacy, Mckell, Alex, Megan, Alisa, and me!

The 2006 Sterling Scholars, I was foreign language

All the Brickey family that came to support DJ and me
*Side note* I later found out that Dan and his family had been in the exact same area outside the Mckay Events Center that day taking pictures because his sister Bridgette graduated with me*

Anyways, CONGRATS WHITY! Also my sister Ximena is graduating Friday, so it will be fun to see her accomplish the same thing!

Swagger

This truly is the summer of softball for us! Dan plays in Payson on Mondays and Wednesdays with some friends. They call themselves "Swagger". It's been so much fun to watch because they are one of the best teams in both leagues, they like to have fun, and Dan is playing great!





We also play together on a co-ed team here in Orem with some friends. It has been a lot of fun playing on a team that is so skilled and likes to have fun! Dan and I have spent a lot of time practicing so I can improve and have more confidence, and it has really been working! I actually feel comfortable out of the field! I still have a long ways to go, but I am glad I have the chance to play with my hubby :) The weather has been pretty wacko every week, but none-the-less the softball games go on!