The Big Dance [Recital]

Today was the big day!

After nine months of dancing lessons, Adi and her classmates performed! They did so well! (Honestly, I was quite shocked and wondered where it had come from it was so good.) 

Adi, Maizey, and Hattie in the green room

Adi in her costume and make up (and for the record, putting eyeliner on Adi is one of the hardest things I've ever done.) 

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Faces... 

Smiles... 

The giggles. (Seriously her eyes are so gorgeous!)

Adi and Hattie holding hands on their way down the hall before showtime!

Adi and Haley before the show! They're so stinkin' cute! 

On stage, getting read to dance "With my foot I tap, tap, tap!" (Although you can't tell, Adi is the third from the left.)

After they all danced, they brought the house lights up with all the dancers on stage and when Adi saw Austin her face lit up. It was seriously precious.

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Have you ever guesses that Adi is spoiled and "the only baby ever born"?

Evidence.

Twenty people (all of her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and two great grandparents--we really missed Adi's Great grand-mother, Joan) who love and adore this little girl. She is so precious and we love her.

After the show we gathered together for a group photo!

Top Row, Left to Right: Erin, Jennifer, Jake, Austin, Bri, Sarah, Grandma Ellen, Nate, Grandpa, Grandma, Adam, Brad, and Grandpa Great

Bottom Row, Left to Right: Tyler, Ryan, Chris, Adi, Gavin, Hannah, Andrew, and Me

Outside, we took even more photos. And I will just say I have one photogenic little three-year-old. (Yesterday the photographer for their dance pictures said Adi was a cute little poser, because she put her hands on her hips and started to strike a pose.)

May 11, 2013 - Adi, Momma, and Dadda at Adi's first Dance Recital | American Fork, Utah 

Momma and the Binx. 

More evidence of spoiling. Daisies from Grandma Jennifer and roses from Dadda.

After the recital, we headed to Paradise Bakery for some yummy dinner. This little Binx was rewarded with a mini Carrot Cake cupcake. (So funny, when she started seeing the orange carrot in it she started picking it out--she'd already eaten half of it--and said she didn't like it. Until she tried it that is.)

Yummy cupcake!

A four-generation picture on two sides! 

Grandpa Great, Papa and Grandma, Daddy, Binx, Momma, Grandma and Grandpa, and Great Grandma Ellen

We were even able to snap a cousins picture--the first ever with all three kids looking at the camera.

Success!

Cousins! Adi (Age 3 years, 3 months), Gavin (5 years, 1 month), Jake (2 years, 9 months) 

Last, but definitely not least, a snap shot of this little girl and her daddy (they both adore each other and I love it.)

Adi and Ry

All in all it was a fabulous first recital, the first of many I'm sure for this little girly girl. 

Santa Claus Came to Town

This week (and the coming week) has been insane and with finals and an event every night (and for ten consecutive days), we've felt a little (or a lot) overwhelmed.

Because of all of the insanity, we missed the annual Santa Party. But, once again, my amazing mother-in-law stepped in and suggested that Adi Tango with Santa.

So, she did!

After having spoken to all the kids that were here, Jennifer handed the phone to Santa Claus and Adi got to smile and chat with him for a minute.

She was completely overjoyed with one of the most incredible ear-to-ear smiles I've ever seen!

She told Santa she loved him and got to blow kisses to him before he had to head back to the North Pole!

Here's to technology and being able to chat with Santa even if we couldn't make it to the party!

[Belated] Surprise!

In July, Ryan, his siblings, and I decided that we wanted to decide my mother-in-law with a surprise birthday dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Salt Lake.

So we did! It was so much fun getting together, especially because Adi love, love, loves her cousins!

Aren't these two just the cutest!?

Summer Weddings

Within the next week, we have four summer weddings! Yesterday began the festivities with Ryan's cousin, Dani's reception. She and Jon are the most beautiful couple and their reception was gorgeous! Jon is going to be attending BYU, so they'll be moving down to Provo in the next year or so, and we're so excited to have them close!

Congratulations Dani and Jon! 

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We got there a few minutes early to catch the last of the photos...

And then headed inside for the party...

Dani's vision for her reception was simply gorgeous. Shabby chic with old and new touches.

It was in an old hardware building that has been converted into office space. It was beautiful The industrial feel was contemporary, but the exposed brick made it timeless.

I loved the hanging tea lights, banners, and other table decorations and flowers too! 

Adi liked meeting the "princess...

And the ice cream bar and darling chalk board ideas were darling. 

Yes, please. 

Adi had fun seeing Grandma Jennifer and Papa...

And danced her little heart out... 

It was a fun night!

Hopped Up on Sugar for a Good Reason

A week ago Sunday, was Grandpa Great's 85th birthday, so as a tribute to him, my amazing mother-in-law helped put together a fantastic surprise party! 

It was so fun to get together with family and see pictures from Grandpa's life! 

Naturally, there were delicious sweets and both Adi and I were hopped up on sugar! You know your little girl is growing up when she can not only see things on a table, but grab them. (: And naturally, Adi wanted to share with her favorite person: Grandpa Great!

We love you grandpa and are so grateful for you and your amazing example. 

Pictures courtesy of Ryan's aunt Julie

Santa Party | 2011

Four years ago, when I became part of Ryan's family, I was privileged with the chance to sit on the real Santa's lap. In fact, I've been blessed to be able to sit on his lap every year; it has been a tradition in Ryan's family for over twenty-five years. 

Each year Santa comes to a Sunday-evening family Christmas party. It's been dubbed the "Santa Party" because Santa makes a special trip, with a special naughty and nice list. He invites each child (or in my case adult) to sit on his lap, asks specifics about school, life, jobs, etc, asks what we want for Christmas and when all is said and done hands out delicious cherry candy canes. (He even manages to bring a few extra for Brooke :) 

Last year, Adi met Santa for the first time. She did fairly well and this year she did even better. She must be her mama's child because although you can't quite tell in either of the videos, she loves Santa. (Again, I won't mention that I've been priming her since September.)

And do I love that she loves Santa? You bet.

Santa Party | Christmas 2011

Halloween Party!

At my in-laws, there is never a dull moment! We have fun playing, eating, and just having a wonderful time...

See?

For Halloween, my mother-in-law has a fun party with decorations and everything (this year double counted as birthday and halloween)... so I had to snap a couple pictures... 

The final touches...

The spread... check out the worms and "monster's eyes" (the candy and grapes...)! 

And don't forget the "Happy Birthday" sign in the back, the spider-web tablecloth, and  caldron of "blood". :)

Like mother, like son. :)

Happy Halloween! 

A Quarter of a Century

Spoiled Rotten? 

Guilty, it's true. 

But do I not-so-secretly love the attention, yes.

This week I celebrated by 25th birth day. 

I feel so... old? No, that doesn't describe it accurately... Let me explain. 

When I turned 21, it felt so right. I was and felt 21. 

Now, five years later, it's so weird. For the past few years, when people have asked how old I am, my automatic response has been: 21. Even years later. I have to stop and realize (all over again) that I'm no longer 21.

I keep thinking that at some point it will pass and feel natural to be 22, 23, 24, 25... but I keep on waiting. 

This week was weird. 25? Up until last year I had really wanted to road trip for my 25th--just for an excuse to rent a car. But, because of my job, I've already rented one. It will be fun however to go to Denver in two weeks and rent a car 'for real'. 

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Anyway, the birthday festivities were fab.

Tuesday, a couple colleagues from the college gave me a little gift... 

...what they didn't know: I am absolutely infatuated with caramel-covered apples. So delicious. (Needless to say, I made it all the way back to my office before I devoured (with some help) the whole thing. Gluttonous, perhaps. Worth it, totally. 

After work on Tuesday, we went to my parent's house for dinner. They've started a new birthday dinner tradition and I am in love. We had shrimp curry (one of my favorite dishes) with bacon-wrapped-tater tots and potato salad. All my favorites. Yummy. My parents (and grandmother) are such amazing cooks, I must learn how to make some of these amazing delights! And, they spoiled me with a couple gifts, love, love, love!

On my actual birthday, I woke up bright and early (4:50am) to go to the gym. I had great morning workout and came home to a 6am surprise: my favorite breakfast, hot-off-the griddle crepes with blueberries, strawberries, bananas, and homemade whipped creme. (My mouth is watering as I think about how yummy it was.) Adi, Ryan, and I had fun eating and having a great morning. 

After breakfast Ryan and Adi gave me some fun gifts. They gave me some clothes, a pretty ring, and some shoes. (Have I mentioned that since Ryan I have fallen in love with shopping. Who would have thought.) 

(Shoes from Ryan and purse from my parents!) 

Work was great. Busy and short. My colleagues sang to me in staff meeting and one of our student employees, and my intern decorated my door. It was so thoughtful! 

It just got better from there because... I took half the day off! 

Ryan and Adi showed up at my office with beautiful roses and a balloon! So sneaky! I didn't even suspect! Ryan said Adi picked them out--she's got great taste--heartbreaker. Heartbreaker. 

We took advantage of our free afternoon and went to Tucanos for lunch! (Yay for free birthday coupons!) Four words: I love glazed pineapple. Period.

After lunch we went home and took a wonderful afternoon nap--something I don't get to often enough. Definitely a birthday splurge. 

That evening Adi had a fever, so she stayed home with Ryan and I went out with my cousins. We had fun gabbing, crafting, and eating delicious cupcakes. 

(I made these! Can you believe it!)

The day after my birthday we were all a little sick. Adi's fever got worse and worse, so I stayed home from work. We tried to make the best of it. 

Friday/Saturday we went to Farmington to celebrate with Ryan's family. My brother-in-law's birthday is the day after mine, so we choose the festivities together. I chose breakfast: crepes (yum!) and he chose dinner: steaks. We had plans to craft Saturday (the girls anyway), but got carried away with a new hair do... more to come! And of course... presents! My mother-in-law is an amazing gift giver. She listens to everything you say... and brings it back even years later. Love her!

(The Pier 1 Imports Tasting Party! I have wanted this soooo badly. 

Now I have it--and Ryan's telling me to throw a party. Yes please!)

All in all, the week was incredible. I feel so spoiled and loved. I may not be 21, but life is good and I am grateful. Here's to another great year. This time next year we'll be off on another adventure!