More Summer Fun

We have spent the last few weeks at the splash pad, the parks, and Swig (for Dirty Dr. Peppers and cookies). It's been an amazing start to our summer. 

Elliott and I have kind of semi-joined Val's wards play group. We went once and then happened to go on accident the next week. And so we've made some new friends and gone a few times since. It's great because our ward doesn't have one. It's nice to always have that option at least. One week we met at the park on Tuesday and hit up the splash pad on Thursday. It was a good week. 

Elliott loves to be held, especially by other people. Val is nice enough to hold her being as pregnant as she is and as heavy as Elliott is! 

Addie is on the right. She is a new friend from playgroup. She is so cute and sweet. And Jack looks like a little stud in between those two girls. 

So fun!

Waiting for our drinks and cookies at Swig!

She's pretty good at the cheesy smile. I'll take what I can get. 

Summer & Jack

Our summer has been wonderful so far. Provo isn't unbearably hot yet and we've been enjoying the sunshine! A lot of our summer so far has consisted of playing with Jack. Elliott and Jack are so adorable together. I am so happy that we are going to be here for a while so they can be friends. She talks about him constantly and anytime we go anywhere, she asks if Jack will be there. We love Jack. 

A couple times last week we went over and played in the kiddie pool with Jack in their yard. They kids love it and it gives Val and I lots of time to lay out and chat. It's perfect. 

Seriously, could they get any cuter?!

We took turns cooling off in the water. It was hot! We're also both pregnant...

As you can tell, we all love it!

A bittersweet ending.

Last week Josh was offered a job as a General Manager at Panda Express. After a lot of praying and thought, we have decided to take it. It's a huge change for us. Not that his job will be that much different (still the restaurant business and still a GM) but we have been with Kneaders for nearly 4 years now. It is really hard to imagine not having Josh work at Kneaders. We love the people there so much, and it is going to be so hard to say goodbye. But, the new job is offering quite a significant pay raise, which we cannot pass up right now (needing a bigger place and having another kid on the way). So we feel incredibly blessed to have this opportunity. Plans are still in place to hopefully attend a graduate program next year, so we will have to see where life takes us from here. But for now, we are excited for this change. 

He starts training in a couple weeks. His training will last 7 weeks and then he will be placed in a store. So we aren't exactly sure where he'll be yet, but we do know it will be in Utah County. Everyone he has met at Panda has been amazing and we can't wait to start this new adventure. 

Goodbye Kneaders 

and hello Panda!  

Elliott's First Dentist Appointment

I had a dentist appointment a few weeks ago and when I was finishing up I decided to ask when I should bring Elliott in for her first appointment. My pediatrician recommends around 2, but a lot of what I've read online said as soon as they get teeth. They said it would be great to bring her in whenever, so we went ahead and scheduled an appointment. They warned me that they don't do much at the first appointment. They take things really slow so as not to scare the kids. They mostly just let her play with everything. 

And sure enough, that's about all they did. The hygienist was amazing. She was so sweet and good with Elliott. She let her get up in the chair and showed her how high up it could go and how low it could go. Up down, up down. Then she showed her some of the tools. She showed her the sucky straw (her name for it) and let Elliott try it on her finger. Then she filled a little cup with water and let her suck the water out with the straw. Elliott loved that part. They did that probably 5 or 6 times. Then she showed her the big, sucky straw, which made Elliott a little nervous, so we moved on. Next up was the air/water squirter. Very technical, I know. Elliott loved squirting water, and the hygienist let her squirt it all over the floor. It was so great. Then she showed her how to squirt it into the cup, then use the straw to suck it up. They did that for a while and then Elliott got to meet the dentist. The dentist wasn't as good with kids. He came in and started putting on his mask and gloves without saying anything. Um, you look kinda scary to a 21 month old. Might want to say...something. So I pointed out to Elliott how cool his gloves were! Haha. So silly. Amazingly she opened wide and let the dentist look around and feel her teeth. He said they looked good and that was it. :) I asked a couple questions and then we were on our way. Elliott got a new toothbrush, toothpaste, floss and a toy for doing so well. She was such a sweetheart. We had checked out some books about the dentist a couple weeks ago and so it was fun to make those connections with her and see it clicking. And now when we talk about it, she remembers going! I love this age. She is learning so much. 

Heading inside.

Listening to the hygienist so intently.

How can she look so big and small at the same time? 

Sucking up the water!

Nathan & Alyson Visit

One of Alyson's close friends was married here in Utah over Memorial weekend, so her, Nathan and their adorable dog, Ruby, made the 10 hour drive down for the whole weekend! It was so much fun. Of course, I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked. :/ 

They got into town on Thursday night. Nathan went and played ultimate frisbee with some friends and we hung out at the house with Alyson. She hadn't seen Elliott since Christmas, so we had a lot to catch up on! 

We grabbed Mountain West Burrito on Friday for lunch and then Alyson and Nathan both went into work and I hung out with Ruby at the house while Elliott napped. On Friday night we went to Guru's with Alyson's friend Anne. I love Guru's. We got our food to go and went to the park to eat. That way Ruby and Elliott could run around. :) 

On Saturday we went to Nikelle's (Alyson's close friend) reception. It was a brunch reception and seriously one of the most gorgeous receptions I've ever been to. And the food, don't get me started. Milk, OJ, yogurt (of every flavor), granola (of every flavor), fruit (of every kind), mini quiches, and a million different kinds of sweet bread. I could have stayed and eaten all day. That night some of Alyson and Nathan's friends from Hanford came over and we played games. We played a fun dice game, Bang and Munchkin. All fun! 

Alyson and Nathan came to church with us on Sunday then while Elliott napped, Josh and I caught up on Survivor while Alyson and Nathan went to the park with some friends. When Elliott woke up we made some brownies and went over the Desiree and Justin's house. I hadn't seen them in so long. Scratch that. I saw them a couple months ago at the Dr's office. But hadn't really seen them in years! Desiree had her baby girl just a couple months ago and they still hadn't met Elliott, so having Alyson in town was the perfect opportunity to go see them! It was great to catch up and her baby is seriously cute. It made me so much more excited for our little girl to come! That night we made the most amazing pizza on the BBQ grill. You know, the pizza. Josh is the best. I can never, ever get enough of that stuff. 

Monday was Memorial Day. We hit up Kneaders for breakfast and said hello to Josh then we decided to go walk off all the food at the outlets in Lehi (that way Ruby could come). We walked around the shops for a couple hours then headed back to Provo. 

We met up with Josh and Anne at Zupa's for lunch. Yum. That night Alyson and Nathan had a double date with a work friend of Alyson's. They had mentioned going to Mongolian for dinner. It sounded so good, so I decided to go get some to-go for my dinner. I left about 45 minutes after they did to go pick some up. When I got there, there was a sign on the door saying they were closing for good (I hadn't seen that Alyson had texted me and told me). So sad. So I thought and thought about what I wanted to eat (since it was just for me and not Josh, I could do anything!). I decided I wanted authentic Mexican tacos. What better place than Diego's. So I drove over there (after a quick stop at Swig for a Dirty Dr. Pepper and a cookie [I'm seriously obsessed]) and found out they are closed on business until who knows when! What? So depressing. So I thought I would drive down to Center St. and hit up the Blue Poblano. They have great tacos too. Doesn't exist anymore. Just my luck. Who else has good tacos? The Pico Norte taco truck! I jumped on their Facebook page to find out they didn't have the truck out for the holiday. Worst. Day. Ever. Finally I decided to just go back to Mountain West Burrito since it sounded good and had hit the spot the few days before. I drive all the way there, walk in, and who do I see? Alyson and Nathan, on their double date! I laughed so hard. They had no idea the wild goose chase I had been on just to end up at the same place that had chosen as their alternative when they found out Mongolian was closed. I seriously died. So I got my burrito and headed home. 

When Alyson and Nathan got back from dinner we went to the park and played for a little bit while the boys hit some golf balls and Elliott played on the toys. Then we stopped at Jake and Val's to say hi before heading home. We spent the rest of the night playing Trials on the Xbox and talking. 

Tuesday morning we had just enough time to hit up Kneaders for breakfast one last time before Alyson and Nathan hit the road. 

It was such a fun weekend. I miss Alyson so much! I wish we lived closer. We were so spoiled that year they lived here. I miss it!