Blondes Have More Fun

It was refreshing to be home for (almost) a week before setting off for the weekend to Zach’s cabin with my high school friends.

My brother bought his first home!  I still can’t believe he is getting married in less than two months.  Zach and I took him a house warming gift for Family Night:  Little Caesar’s Pizza and Peanut Butter Oreos.  The Oreos were my contribution, considering it is my newest addiction and pregnancy craving.

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He hasn’t officially moved in yet.  There are still a lot of things he is planning to work on before we haul his stuff all over there.  My mom doesn’t mind, however.  She is trying to convince his fiancé to move in first so that he can stay at home longer with my mom.  She is having a hard time “cutting the cord” as my dad tells her…daily.

Also, I’m blonde.  I’ve been wanting to do it for months, but it has taken some time and patience on my part.  I still have my dark roots, but the majority of my hair is so light that when I look down most days I don’t even recognize myself!

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Zach had to work on the 24th of July, so we didn’t do any holiday activities during the day.  As soon as he got home, however, we set off for the rodeo!  We went out for dinner and then drove to the Energy Solutions Arena for the event.

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The Days of ’47 Rodeo is a lot different that our other two rodeo experiences:  the Ogden Rodeo and the Jackson Hole Rodeo.  These guys are serious business – ranked worldwide!  We couldn’t think of a better way to spend this particular holiday.

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Friday, after everyone got off work, a few of my high school friends all met at my house so we could drive up to the Hendo Cabin together.  We had dinner in Bountiful and then made our way up to Causey.

As soon as the sun went down we were out making s’mores…

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Whitney completely rocked my world with her jar of Nutella.  I will never look at a s’more the same again!  A little square of Hershey’s chocolate seems sad in comparison now.  She has ruined me forever…

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After a late night we all slept in.  Once we were all up and going we decided to take a little adventure down to the reservoir.  We found three old tubes in the garage of the cabin and planned to float in the water.

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We also had a picnic on the shore of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and bags of snacks.

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It was a great weekend with beautiful weather.  We were so glad my friends joined us!

This weekend also marks the end of my 23rd week.  I am officially 6 months down, 3 (and some change) months to go!

23 weeks

I am growing used to all the movement that is going on inside me.  This little lady is moving almost constantly now, most active around 8:00 in the morning, then again at lunchtime, and 10:00 at night.  6 months for me marks the last month I can go without maternity pants.  My days of rigging my pre-pregnancy pants with rubber bands are over.  This babe is still sitting really low – the majority of my bump is below my belly button.  I can still fit in most of my tops, but my pants can’t take it much longer.  Along with my pre-pregnancy pants…I might retire my bathroom scale.  I haven’t hit double digits in terms of weight gain yet, but the rate at which I am growing I know it will be soon around the corner.  Other than your typical pregnancy symptoms I have nothing unique to add.  Other than I love being pregnant.  I can’t wait to add this little one to our team…

The Happiest Place on Earth

I have missed out on the Hendo Lake Powell trip for 3 years in a row.  This year, with my work situation much different, I got to go!  Since it was put on the family calendar months ago, I have been waiting for this week to come.

We left Wednesday after Zach could get off work and made the drive down to Page.  It was the fastest drive to Powell I can ever remember.  We only stopped twice.  The second stop was in Kanab so Zach could get a giant snow cone.

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After stopping at Walmart for some food and supplies we didn’t make it to Antelope Point Marina until around midnight.  This year the Hendersons decided to sleep on the houseboats in the marina that night and leave early the next morning to our campsite.  Since we have such a large crew, we rented two houseboats.  Bright and early the next morning we filled up and pushed off to meet Zach’s parents at our home for the next five days.

We started our day off right with some paddle boarding.  It was my first time, but became a daily activity for Zach and I.

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The kids were so thrilled with the thought of swimming all day that they didn’t even notice when some of the adults ventured off to do some surfing and wakeboarding.  Even though Zach was a little hesitant, he let me surf first and then wakeboard.

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It was a different sensation trying to get up with a pillow under my swimsuit, but the captain was patient with me and I was really safe [no wake jumping allowed this trip].

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Zach also tried his hand at surfing.  It’s his favorite and he makes it look really easy…

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We spent the rest of the night eating dinner, lounging on the houseboat, and playing games.

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Day two we took the two boats to a drive down a canyon cove.  It ended up being a little longer excursion than we planned and we got home just before dinner time.  Right at Zach’s favorite time of day.  He calls it the “Golden Hour” – when the sun goes down behind the red rocks and you can’t get sunburned, but it is still light enough to be out on the water.  We did another paddle boarding session along with a little canoe ride while enjoying the sunset.

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Zach spent the rest of the evening doing his version of “sun bathing”.

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The next day we took everyone over to a nearby cliff for some cliff jumping.  The kids would have stayed for hours, but we had to make a run to the marina for some supplies.

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Mark and the boys also rigged a zip-line from one of the houseboats to the rocks.  It wasn’t super professional, but it worked.  It provided hours of entertainment for everyone, including Zach.

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The evening was really relaxing.  Papa got a full-body massage and Zach and Georgia had a dance-off.

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Our last full day was Sunday.  With the last full day usually comes lots of sunburn and tired kidlets.  There were measures that had to be taken with certain pale-skinned nieces – layers upon layers, with an added stylistic choice of goggles.

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Early Monday morning we made our way back to the marina with the houseboats and all our gear.  We made the drive home from Page [along with four stow-aways].  Overall it was a successful trip – no injuries and no serious damage to any boats, jet skis, or other equipment.  The only casualties were a few head colds and some sunburned cheeks.  We can’t wait for next year already!  Thank you Mark and Jeanene for a fantastic weekend in my favorite place on the planet!

This week also marked the end of my 22nd week.  That 6 month mark is approaching!

22 weeks

21 in Las Vegas

Later in the week Zach and I went to the Jazz scrimmage to check out the new Jazz players.  It was all Zach talked about the entire week leading up to it.  Not only was it a sporting event, but it was free.  Nothing makes Zach happier than a free date night.  It was fun to see what we have in store for the upcoming season…

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Friday night when Zach got home from work we left for the airport to head to Vegas.  Zach and I’s wedding gift to my brother was a suit for his reception.  We planned to buy him exactly what we wanted, but weren’t having the best of luck in Salt Lake.  So we decided to make a quick family trip to Vegas to find Blake his wedding suit.  Blake and my parents decided to drive and by the time they arrived in Las Vegas our plane had landed.  They picked us up from the airport and we went straight to get food at the Wynn Buffet [in our comfy plane attire].  Luckily any attire goes in Vegas.  Zach fit right in, double-fisting cookies and cream gelato.

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We spent the rest of the night walking the strip, people watching…

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It was so nice having my brother and dad in Las Vegas with us.  That meant Zach had two friends to gamble with until the wee hours in the morning while my mom and I hung out in her room.

The next morning, after breakfast, we drove to Fashion Show Mall.  We went in and out of a few stores [as many as my dad and brother could handle] until we found the winner.

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I have to admit it made me a little emotional to see him trying them on.  The thought of my baby brother getting married still doesn’t seem real.  We are so happy for him!

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Afterwards we took everyone to BurGR at the Planet Hollywood.  Even though the wait was crazy, my dad and brother went gaga over their custom burgers.  We had some time to kill before dinner so I dragged everyone over to the new Sprinkles Cupcakes at the LINQ.

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My parents hadn’t been to Vegas before this trip in over 5 years.  Since everyone got to do something we each were dying to do [mine was obviously Sprinkles] my mom requested that we visit Hershey’s World at the New York New York.  She was in heaven.

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The upper level was Reeses land.  I tried to get a photo in front of the peanut butter arch, but it turned out to be a much less glamorous photo op.  (It’s super slippery, probably to prevent children from attempting to scale it).

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The next morning my family left early to make the drive all the way home.  Since our flight didn’t leave practically until the next day, Zach and I decided to have a big breakfast and walk it off at the Forum Shops at Caesar’s.

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We spent the majority of our last day roaming from hotel to hotel.  We tried to stay inside the majority of the time because temperatures outside were at 109 degrees.  After Caesar’s we went back to Fashion Show Mall.  And because we hadn’t eaten enough, I made Zach walk back over to the Venetian to grab some dessert at Bouchon.

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We managed to catch the last little bit of the Argentina vs. Germany soccer game before heading off to dinner at Nobu back at Caesar’s.  I am excited to be able to come back and try a roll other than a California roll.  Sushi is still the only thing I miss when it comes to pregnancy no-no’s.

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We had such a great weekend with my family.  They are crazy.  The only family crazy enough to venture to Vegas in July, apparently.  We can’t wait until September to see Blake in his new suit!

As for the babe and I, we were coming to the end of 21 [weeks] on this trip.  How fitting?  21 in Vegas.  Nothing new to report other than I am growing bigger.  My bump is starting to expand and my selection of pants that I can wear are dwindling.  She is becoming even more active as the days go on.  Zach can feel her move almost every day and my mom even felt her move over the weekend.  I love the kicks – they reassure me that all is well.

21 weeks

As for this week, Zach and I are looking forward to Lake Powell with his family.  We are taking baby girl to her mom’s absolute favorite place!  Hopefully the temps don’t hard boil my baby.

Half Baked

This week was more of an eye opener for me.  Not only did I officially hit 20 weeks [5 months] but we celebrated the 4th of July.

Monday I met some old co-workers of mine for lunch at Tsunami (plus Tina’s little one).  It was so great to catch up with these ladies.  Life has changed a lot in three years.
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Monday night for Family Night, Zach and I had a Barbacoa picnic in a park down town.  It’s not the best location, but has plenty of shade from mature trees and is located right next to a skate park.  Dinner and entertainment.

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July 2nd was our big 20 week anatomy ultrasound.  We both had been looking forward it for months, it seemed.  Zach took the whole morning off to spend with me.  He drove me to the University Hospital.  The whole drive there all I could think about was how badly I wanted to see her…and how long the drive was.  It made me a little anxious to think I would be making the same drive while in labor.  We both were a little nervous, I think.  We were pretty silent the whole drive until Zach said, completely out of the blue, “I can’t wait to see her toes!”  It totally melted me.

Luckily, her toes were there.  Along with all her limbs and major organs.  People who say you can’t love someone until you know them are mistaken…

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She had her hands in her face the majority of the time, but we did get a few shots of it.  She has my chin, we think.  That’s about the only facial feature we could distinguish.

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We both were so relieved to see she had all her fingers and toes.  She’s also measuring right on her due date – to the day.

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We celebrated with “breakfast” afterwards at Banbury Cross.  The gentlemen at the drive-up window must have sensed our excitement.  He gave us the blueberry doughnuts for free.  A blueberry doughnut is pretty exciting, but a FREE blueberry doughnut is even better.

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The 4th finally came and we spent the whole day with family.  We had a BBQ in Magna with the Fotheringhams for lunch and afterwards drove down to Sandy for the Hendo BBQ.  After the food came the fireworks.  We were lucky enough to find three little hitch hikers.  Our niece Sammy said, “Just pretend we are your three kids.  This is what life will be like when you have your first three kids.”  I don’t know how many children she thinks we are having…

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We found our spot on the lawn of the Salt Lake Country Club green and waiting for it to get dark enough for the fireworks to start.  Sammy shared her glow necklaces with us.

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This is our favorite firework show of the season.  Not very long, but a beautiful location and not overly crowded.  It was a great finale to our holiday.

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The next morning we relaxed most of the day, until I declared to Zach that I was dying to go to Leatherby’s.  Zach hates Leatherby’s.  But he took one for the team and sacrificed his weekend meal so I could have some hot fudge and french fries.

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5 months down – 4 to go!

20 weeks