Utah Visitors: Haley & Logan

This past week my baby sister and her friend Logan planned a last minute trip to Utah to play before school started.

It was so fun to have them both and we absolutely enjoyed the time we were able to spend while they were here.

Haley and Logan got on a train Tuesday Afternoon in Roseville California and 16 hours later, at FOUR in the morning, arrived in Salt Lake City. 

 They didn't waist anytime having fun and with only a couple hours of sleep, woke up Wednesday morning and went shooting with our sister Aubrey and her husband Daniel. I felt like a mom of two teen aged girls as I packed their lunches and sent them out the door for a day of fun. The turkey sandwiches were a success as well as the shooting adventure.

Later that evening Haley and Logan spent some time with friends (BOYS) that Haley met at EFY a few weeks ago while she was in Utah. Again I felt like a mother as I tried to sleep waiting for the girls to get home when curfew time came around. They arrived home safe and crashed after a long day.

Thursday was a "recovery day" and the girls and I both slept in until NOON.

 Clearly Utah fun was already exhausting the girls. 

When we all finally managed to pull ourselves from our slumber, Haley fed the baby (her first time feeding a baby), we had Spanish Rice for lunch, we made Oreo Balls (the most amazing treat EVER), and lounged around playing with baby Hunter until Kevin got home. We all took little Hunter for a walk and then the girls headed out again for another night in P-Town with the boys.

 

After the girls left Kevin, Hunter and I were able to hang out and relax for the evening. Kevin is such a great father. 

He does a great job with feedings, bath times and cuddling.

 Some of my favorite moments are to see my two boys cuddled up together. 

Clearly Hunter loves his daddy.

 

Friday, the girls and I set out early for an afternoon of shopping. It's a lot of fun shopping with teenage girls. Haley has an amazing style and I love EVERYTHING she picks out. Of course she is gorgeous and has a rockin, tall, thin body so EVERYTHING she picks out looks PERFECT on her. She is just so stinking beautiful. 

We stopped by some of our favorite stores; Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack, H&M, Victoria Secret and Bare Essentials.

Baby Hunter did great also. We were able to feed him in the Nordstrom mothers lounge and he slept most of the day. I am still so amazed how great of a baby he is. 

We picked up some fun things for Haley, and I got my first pair of colored jeans. 

THANKS MOM!

Friday night, we met up with Aubrey and Daniel again at Guru's in Provo for dinner as a family.

We enjoyed a delicious meal, took the girls on a quick drive up to the Y to see the view, and then went to BYU for some bowling. It was so fun to have a family date night. We all laughed and had a great time. 

 

 

 

 

 

Mom requested a family photo of our Friday night adventure, so Logan was able to snap this one when we got back to our place. (Plus a few others)

 

 

 Saturday morning we took it easy. We originally planned a hike to a waterfall on Timpanogos, however Hunter is still too small to fit in our baby carrier and we did not feel like hauling a car seat a mile up a mountain. So we played some card games in the morning and planned a trip to Bridal Veil falls in Provo canyon instead. 

 

 

 The weather was beautiful and there were so many people out on the trail. It was a lovely evening stroll along the river to the waterfall. 

We decided to have a picnic dinner at Vivian Park nearby the waterfall and roast marshmallows. The park was full of families barbecuing and playing games. Because of all the fires in Utah this summer bonfires were banned from the park. So we ate our turkey sandwiches (by request of the girls), played a game of Farkle and saved the smores for later. We got to the park just before the sun started to set behind the mountain and as soon as it went down the temperature dropped and it got so cold. We all had sweaters on and we had to bundle little Hunter up to keep him warm. He looked so cute. 

 We got home and were able to roast marshmallows in our backyard.

They were delicious. 

 

 

 

 

 Sunday Haley and Logan went to church with me while Kevin stayed home and took care of Hunter. The girls helped me teach my Primary class, Kevin and I teach the 5 year-olds, and the two little boys were completely enamored with Haley and Logan. We usually have nine kids on Sunday and it is work to keep them in line with Kevin and I both teaching. This week we only had 4 kids and I had two helpers so it was pretty easy.

Sunday evening we headed down to Elkridge to have dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Goold. We love getting together as a family at the grandparents house. 

Hunter loved all the attention he got from his great grandma Carol. 

We had Hawaiian haystacks and root beer floats. We Skyped our parents and watched a video of pictures of my Grandfathers retirement from the California Dairy Industry. 

Monday was the girls last day in Utah and before their 11:40pm departure time on the train, we tried to make the most out of their last few hours with us. We went grocery shopping so the girls could pack food for the long train ride. We had JDawgs for lunch at their new American Fork location. So yummy. 

We took Kevin some left over JDawgs and then we hung out at home talking and laughing.

The girls got ready for one last outing with their friends (BOYS) before they left. Clearly Haley had alternate plans for coming to Utah besides hanging out with her big sisters and nephew. 

I finally got the girls to the train station about 11pm and waited with them until they boarded the train headed west. 

 

 

Thanks for visiting Haley and Logan.

Come back soon.

We really did have so much fun. The girls are so funny together. I loved Logan's funny faces in almost EVERY photo we took. I loved how Kevin waited with his gun on the couch when Haley's FRIENDS came to pick the girls up.

I loved how Haley had NO IDEA what to do with a baby (#babyofthefamilyproblems). I loved how the girls could play card games for hours... into the wee hours of the morning. 

Here are some more photos of our week:

 (YES, I take a million photos and I am so glad I do)

This Sunday my sister McKenna arrives! 

In two weeks both mine and Kevin's parents and siblings will be here for little Hunter's baby blessing.

I just love when family comes to visit.

Happy Wednesday Readers. 

Introducing: From Head to Toe in Love. (A Fashionistas Confession)

 When it comes to fashion, I’ve always considered Carrie Bradshaw a fashion icon of mine. Her outfits sometimes left me cringing but mostly coveting. She wore each outfit with an unmatched confidence and I loved imagining someday having a fantastically unaffordable wardrobe like hers.

I myself have never been brave enough to go BOLD with some of the styles I love. I always tried to play it safe and kind of follow what everyone else was wearing to make sure I didn't embarrass myself. 

Since moving to Utah, and seeing how ladies rock their own styles EVERYDAY, I have really tried to let down my guard and ROCK my own look. I have wanted to start dressing my age and look sexy and more like a lady.

Of course I follow fashion blogs and rip out pages of fashion magazines to inspire my style, but still on a newlywed budget with a new baby (who knew kids were so expensive), I do my best with what I have had in my closet for the past few years and the few new items I get here and there.

Shoes are my obsession.

Marilyn Monroe said: "Give a girl the right pair of shoes and she can conquer the world." 

I have had the same size foot since the 6th grade and I believe I still have a few pairs in my pile from my middle school days.

I am a bargain shopper to the core. I love the big name brands and would maybe someday LOVE to own a pair of shoes worth a couple hundred dollars (REALLY just to say I did) but I absolutely love finding a great shoe for an AWESOME price. This sometimes leads to the purchasing of shoes when I already have more then I could wear in several months.

I have recently been inspired that it's OK to be unique and try new things. It's OK if I'm not wearing the same thing everyone else is wearing. It's OK to mix, match and blend colors and accessorize in my own way. It's OK to think of myself as the FASHIONISTA I have always dreamed I would be even if no one else thinks so.

So this blog feature, From Head To Toe in Love (inspired by Carrie Bradshaw Quote), is going to be me showing the world MY individual style (along with the Hubby and Baby Boy) while sharing everything I know, everything I'm learning, what inspires me, awesome deals and tons more on Fashion.

Slacks & Skirts Sundays. 

This Sunday I rocked  a new bright ORANGE skirt. I LOVE these knee-length Bodycon skirts. They are comfortable and hug the waist, butt and legs in all the right areas. My top is a few years old. I was into loose fitting tops for a period of time, not being completely comfortable in my own skin, and now after having a baby I can still wear some of those tops until I complete OPERATION HOT MOM. 

The SHOES are BRAND NEW. They were my impulse buy of last week. My feet are little wide. I am usally a size 6.5 but find my feet sometimes feel too crammed forcing me to jump to a size 7, which in turn has extra room in the heel. Solution: by size 7 shoes with straps over the top. My feet are way more comfortable and the shoe doesn't slip off.

Top - Charlotte Russe - $19.50

Skirt - Forever 21 - $15.80

Shoes - Ross (Brand: Madeline Stuart) - $16.99

I have always admired my husbands style. The first day I met him he was wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a polo shirt (he had just come from golfing) and I knew right then he had good style.

Kevin works in commerical real estate and spends most days in slacks, a dress shirt and tie. 

He is so handsome and wears his business clothes very well so Sundays are just like everyday in the week for him when it comes to picking out his outfit. 

Shirt, Slacks & Tie - Van Heusen

Shoes - Steve Madden

"And we were dressed from head to toe in love... the only label that never goes out of style." - Carrie Bradshaw