22Dec 2015

Winter Wonderland

By K + Z 0 Activities, Family, Food, Holidays Permalink 0

In years past, I used to dread when a big snowstorm would roll in. But with a one-year-old in my house [and no commute to Salt Lake for work] I couldn’t have been more excited when I saw the forecast for this week. Sloan has experienced snow before – but not to this extent. She is actually old enough to play in it now. Monday, during Zach’s lunch, he came home to build a luge for Sloan to slide down in her snowsuit.

She also discovered she could EAT the snow. Which was possibly the highlight of her whole week. She doesn’t look thrilled – but she tripped out when we took her inside.

Monday evening – for FHE – we went with Mark and Jeanene to Rodizio for Zach’s birthday dinner. Yes, his actual birthday was in September – but we are a little behind on birthday dinners currently. Sloan loved watching the snow fall through the giant windows and later would enjoy (even more) the servers bringing skewers of meat to our table every 30 seconds.

Mid week I dressed Sloan in her gingie jammies and we decorated a gingerbread house. We had some structural issues – hence the peppermint columns – but everything turned out alright. Turns out Sloan doesn’t care for frosting – but she sucked on the gingerbread child that was included in the kit for a solid 20 minutes. We’ve had a lot of mail being delivered. Family members are sending gifts for others to my house so they can keep them a surprise. Don’t even ask to see inside my pantry if you come over until AFTER Christmas Eve. It looks like a FedEx delivery truck inside there. Sloan loves a good mail day – she loves even more when stuff we can actually open shows up…

This week Sloan got a lot more goodies in her advent calendar. My favorite was “One reading of Dad’s favorite Christmas book”. If you haven’t read The Christmas Cookie Sprinkle Snitcher – YOU MUST. It is a Hendo Family favorite…as it should be.

Saturday a few of the Hendersons went down to Las Vegas for the BYU vs Utah Football game. In a strange turn of events – the wives weren’t actually invited to the game. Instead, we were told we could “go to lunch and go shopping”. We flew down Saturday morning and I can honestly say it was the best football game I’ve ever been to. Sorry, Zach… My parents watched Sloan for the day. She was in heaven – doing all the last minute Christmas shopping my parents had to do. She thrives in a public setting…

We weren’t even there for 12 hours [the shortest amount of time I’ve ever been to Vegas] but we managed to have lunch at the Wynn Cafe – please get the Asian Chicken Salad…please, shop at Fashion Show Mall – Zara IS FINALLY OPEN, hit up Caesar’s Forum Shops, and have dinner at Joe’s with the boys once the game was over. I’m pretty sure after Zach saw the damage that was done at the NIKE store he probably wished I would have just gone to the game, but like I said: best game I’ve ever been to.

We flew home around 8:00 pm – saying goodbye to Vegas at night is my favorite view of the flight home.

The next morning was church bright and early. I had to teach the lesson in Relief Society (just a sub, obviously) and afterwards we made our way to the Henderson extended family Christmas party at the Layton Skating Rink. Sloan could have watched her cousins all night and played in blow-up land for the rest of her little life. She also has fallen hard for Lael’s infamous sugar cookies. I couldn’t even sneak a bite without her mouth gaping open for a taste.

This upcoming week is already going to be bananas. We have a family or friend party every night leading up to Christmas. Even though the schedule is daunting – I can’t wait to see all my loved ones and count the days down to Christmas. THREE more sleeps until the big day!

21Oct 2015

Fall Festivities

By K + Z 0 Activities, Family, Sloan Permalink 0

I’ll be honest – I’ve been praying for fall to come for nearly the entire summer. It’s not that I don’t love the summer months, but fall takes the cake for me. Or pumpkin cookies. Whatever. The weather has been so pleasant. Even though we have had some stormy days, that doesn’t stop Sloan and I from enjoying the dreamy temps.
Sloan loves to see the decor in our neighborhood. I take her down the same street on our walks so she can enjoy a few of her favorite houses in all of their blow-up glory.

We spend almost all of our afternoons at Danger Park – swinging and sitting on the forbidden rocks.   I am just trying to soak up every last minute with my 11 month old. It almost doesn’t seem possible.
This last week I conned Zach into going back to Cubby’s in Sugarhouse for another tri tip salad. He obliged – but his tri tip was in sandwich form. Give Sloan a straw and she’ll be as happy as a clam.   She also has found her singing voice. She sarenades us [and all of the other customers] while we dine. Dinner AND a show, I guess. Cooking has become a lot more fun with another mouth to feed. Every meal is Sloan’s “first”. This week she tried manicotti for the first time and nearly out-ate Zach.

At least I found a meal that I can make that they can both devour.

I also baked. Baking and fall go hand in hand with me. I rarely bake goodies at home anymore [trying to eat fairly clean] but pumpkin chocolate chip cookies have been calling my name. So there was no stopping me…  I spent a lot of time this week prepping for an upcoming Hendo Girls Trip. But priority one before I left was mailing out all of Sloan’s first birthday invites. My father-in-law has never been prouder to see a name he picked out for a grandchild stuck enough to plan a birthday after. Work stuff hasn’t changed. Most days I feel a little overwhelmed with the projects I have taken on. But I don’t regret it when I see all the fun development. Custom awards for the Alder executives got cranked out this week.

Along with the outdoor signage being installed. This was a huge one. I designed this MONTHS ago and production has been rather slow. It’s so fun to see these things happening, finally!

I’m looking forward to a week [almost a week] off from work stuff when I travel to New England with the ladies in Zach’s family. What I’m not looking forward to is being away from my two little BFFs for that period of time. By the time I return home I will have a one-year-old on my hands.

07Sep 2015

Labor Day Weekend 2015

By K + Z 0 Activities, Family Permalink 0

Monday night for Family Night we ate dinner down town before driving up to the University. We wanted to gear up before the first football game of the season. We strolled around campus and then each bought some Ute attire.

Sloan scored a multi-pack of t-shirts and wore them pretty much all week – she looked like a die hard fan.

Speaking of a big score: I found the most exceptional thing for Sloan at Target this week. She’s outgrowing her beloved PUJ tub and I’ve been trying to find some way to transition her into bathing in the big tub. As soon as I saw this yellow monstrosity in the baby aisle at Target – it was all downhill from there. Zach was totally mocking my purchase until he saw how ecstatic she was bathing in it. Besides, Zach’s nickname for Sloan is ducky [because of the long hair she was born with on the back of her head that resembled a duck tail] so it was a match made in heaven.

Progress is slowly but surely happening at my Alder project. The majority of the furniture has been delivered and placed. The custom reception desk I designed was installed as well. It finally feels like everything is coming together…

Thursday was the long awaited football game. My mom volunteered to watch Sloan for the night. We put her in her red Ute tee for good luck. Zach and I then met his sister and our brother-in-law at Rice Eccles for the festivities. They scored Crimson Club dining passes for us – so dinner with a view – as the people started to flood in. Zach ate two red velvet cupcakes. TWO.

The night ended with a victory for Utah. I kissed Zach goodbye and Gina and I drove up to Park City to meet the rest of the Hendo ladies for our weekend up in Park City [and Midway] for Swiss Days. My very first night away from my baby. It’s no secret that I am not a big fan of Swiss Days and all that it entails – I go for the family time, not for the shopping. A girl’s weekend with the Hendersons is always a good time though – so I put my big girl pants on and left Sloan at home with Zach.

To my surprise – I kind of crushed Swiss Days. I have never spent more than $20 at their booths…until this weekend. Let’s just say that Sloan’s supply of slouchy beanies has grown exponentially. Plus they had Diet Coke in can form, so you can’t lose in a situation like that.

After we hit the booths and had our traditional lunch at the local pizza joint – we returned to our hotel to shower and nap. A nap in the middle of the day. It felt like Christmas, kind of. If I had spent Christmas checking my video monitor in my baby’s room 40 times a day…

That night we had dinner at the Riverhorse on Main Street. The sea bass rocked my world.
We drove back to our hotel just in time to roast some mallows at the s’mores bar and enjoy a free concert in the hotel lounge. The finale of the night, though, was a dip in the hot tub outside.

The next morning we slept in, got a work out in, and checked out of our hotel. We kept the party going with lunch in Park City, shopping at Fashion Place Mall, and dinner at From Scratch before a movie at Station Park.

The long weekend was a total success. When I returned home – Sloan had left me a note and my favorite treat on the dining table.
One thing I have learned about being a parent is to never say never. I have had to eat a giant slice of humble pie [multiple times, actually] when it comes to the things I vowed I would never do. For instance: smothering my child with kisses and loves to the point where I could eat her face. I could have cared less about the cookie. As soon as I walked through the door all I could think about was mauling my child to death. Though the time away was relaxing and fun – nothing beats coming home to a gummy grin.

I missed Zach, too…of course.

30Aug 2015

Round is a Shape

By K + Z 0 Activities, Family, Friends, Personal, Sloan Permalink 0

I will never let my husband forget the time he commented about my muscle loss after giving birth to Sloan. I was elated that I had made it to my pre-pregnancy weight and he informed me it was probably because I had “lost so much muscle”. Thank you, love. It’s been burned into my brain. I really am on a mission to get in better shape, in all honesty. And as much as I joke that “round is a shape” – now that I am no longer nursing Sloan I have no excuse to limit myself to strenuous exercise. I do miss those extra 500 calories…

With that being said, I reached a personal best this week – I ran over 10 miles. Something I haven’t done since getting pregnant. I’ll never love running – but I am addicted to the way I feel afterwards. Or maybe it’s the cookies that I eat afterwards that I am addicted to. I will never know. [PSST…Brownie Batter Oreos are OFF DA HOOK!] Tuesday Sloan had her 9 month appointment. She has jumped from the 1st percentile in weight to the 7th. She’s a whopping 15 and a half pounds!

We celebrated with milk and cookies after. A bottle for Sloan and a Cutler’s sugar cookie for me. It’s tradition – and tradition is important – even when you make health goals. Also, she propped her bottle on top of that toy all by herself. I was so impressed I had to document it. Ingenuity at it’s finest…

That afternoon we met some friends at the new park that just opened at the end of our street. Zach and I have deemed it the “Danger Park” because of the controversy it has stirred up in our neighborhood. People are really hot and bothered about the rocks they placed in the play areas. Sloan just got her swing on with her pal Parker. The rocks didn’t bother her that much…

We actually have visited almost every evening this week. Sloan, in an act of defiance, even sat upon the rock for quite some time.

Later in the week we drove down to Alder to help with the carpet tile installation and furniture placement. The CEO of Alder has a connection with presidential hopeful Rand Paul and he and his campaign decided rather last minute to have an event at our building while visiting Utah. We’re nowhere near done with the design of the space, but things are coming along [slowly] enough that we felt we were ready for the campaign visit.

I still am ga-ga over how the way finding turned out.

The custom reception desk was also installed and all the corresponding furniture was placed.

It was fun to see all the door decals that had been installed over the week as well.
After we left Alder I convinced Sloan to stop at Madewell at Fashion Place with me on our way home. So to Madewell we went – with a stop at Hot Dog on a Stick, for good measure.

Thursday Zach left for a golf trip with his friends. Sloan caught her first cold [undoubtably from our doctor’s visit] and instead of staying in, just the two of us, we decided to have a sleep over at my parent’s house. They are actually going through the process of selling their place – so our little slumber party might just be the last time I ever sleep in my childhood home. It was nice to have my mom and dad distract Sloan from being sick. She loves seeing them and sort of forgot that she wasn’t feeling well. PS – This is her first bout with sickness in all of her nine months of life – breastfeeding really is magic. If it wasn’t weird I would have nursed her until she was 12.

We loved hanging with my parents. We played, ordered pizza, ate hot fudge sundaes, and my mom and I stayed up way too late going through old boxes of my belongings. The next morning my mom ran errands with Sloan and I before we drove back home.

Meanwhile, the Rand Paul event at the Alder Headquarters seemed to be a hit. It was fun to see my custom light fixture pop up in a few photos…

Sunday I had a baby shower for a friend down in South Jordan. I’ve been friends with Stacey since my days at BJH and it was so great to catch up with some old friends and celebrate her and her baby girl.

Afterwards we had a healthy dinner at my parents. We cooked some salmon given to use by one of Zach’s jet charter clients – fresh from Alaska. We all had our first taste of Christmas Melon as well – Sloan was down wit it.

Someone got a little too excited and puked all over themselves – so she went the rest of the night in her birthday suit. Jumping on the tramp in nothing but her diaper was a major highlight.
We’re glad to have Zach back. Sloan gets the biggest heart eyes for him after her returns from being gone. I’m glad to have him home again, too – but seeing her light up as he walked through the door was the highlight of his return for me.

09Aug 2015

Freaking Football Season [Already]

By K + Z 0 Activities, Family, Sloan Permalink 0

Monday I made two friends – Jenn and Lindsey – go shopping with me down at the mondo Forever 21 at South Towne for a Ladies Night. We dined at the Wild Zucchini Grill beforehand. I am not a salad lover, but I had not one complaint about this meal and can’t wait to go again. PS – I didn’t know it was a chain created by the previous Cafe Rio Owner…

We braved the chaos that is any F21 store and then made our way back home. I love spending time with those two – they just get me.

Tuesday Zach had a rendezvous planned for some Utah Football season tickets after work and Sloan and I decided to join him. He asked for season tickets for his birthday, and I agreed he could get them if he found good seats for a good price. In true Zach fashion – we met the guy in a sketchy gas station parking lot. He showed Zach the goods and the deal was done. I was shocked when I found out that Zach had finagled his way into getting FRONT ROW TICKETS between the 30/40 yard line AND made the dealer agree to sell him the same seats next year. Zach always seems to maneuver things just right and you would have thought that he won the lottery with that grin…

Wednesday I went visiting teaching with my companion and Zach and Sloan set off for the park. Sloan loves to swing – the park is her happy place. Zach snapped this photo mid squeal and looking at it makes my ovaries hurt.

I picked them up on their way home and we grabbed some grub for dinner. In-N-Out Burger, if I am being specific.

That night the weather was cloudy and cool. I decided last minute to go on a run [even though I had a gut full of cheeseburger] to take advantage of the cooler temps. I have to laugh at myself, because the stars usually have to align for me to have a good run. My iPod has to be fully charged, shoes adjusted, my favorite headband on…you get the idea. This literally was the unluckiest I have ever been on a run in my entire life. I left a little bit later than usual and it was already dark outside. Everything just kind of went downhill from there. I got bit by mosquitos [later to discover three GIANT dime sized bites on the back of my legs], got sprayed in the face and mouth by a sprinkler, had a bug buzz straight into my right eye – leaving it to water for the remainder of my route, had to hop over a vinyl gate when I got lost in the dark, got spooked by a creepster cat, ran my face into a low-hanging branch on Chidester, nearly stepped on a rotting vole on the trail, splashed my whole right leg in a puddle, almost ran into a curb when someone flashed their brights at me [thanks a lot ya hoodlums], my shuffle went dead at the end of mile three, and I swear someone was cooking breakfast for dinner at 9:30 because I had to run downwind with the smell of pancakes and bacon teasing me! Basically it was a recipe for disaster since the sprinkler got the best of me. However – I pushed past 6 miles, something I haven’t done since getting pregnant with Sloan.

Even though I was a complete [cold and soaked] train wreck, I accomplished something that has been nagging at me for months. Everyone is different – but once I can crack 6 miles it is usually a cake walk to put on extra miles on top of that.

We laid low the rest of the week, got a bunch of work stuff checked off my to-do list, and even pampered ma girl. She got her toes painted her favorite color and has been obsessed. She didn’t move a muscle the entire time I had the polish out.

Since the weather wasn’t as hot we spent every extra second outside. Walk after walk after walk…

Friday we stayed at home. We made dinner, had a good cuddle sesh…

…and put Sloan to bed so we could enjoy a red box and some ice cream.

Saturday we drove up to East Canyon to meet my family for a day on the lake. We knew the weather could take a turn for the worse, but we decided to go for it. We were there for 20 minutes when it started to rain and then hail. Sloan took solace in letting me swaddle her in a beach towel. I secretly loved it and plan to do it until she won’t allow me to do so.

The storm got pretty heavy so we pulled the boat off the lake and made our way over to the resort’s pool. We hung out in the baby pool with Sloan.

Sloan even got her first swim lesson from grandpa Gary. She thought floating was relaxing but did NOT love holding her breath under water. She’ll get used to it, though…

After our pool party we had to rush back home in time to get ready for our date. We all showered up and once the babysitter came Zach and I went out for a fancy dinner. We’ve decided we are using our date nights to do things that aren’t as kosher with a baby – like dining at restaurants with white linen table cloths and such.

We wandered over to City Creek afterwards to do a little browsing and ended our night with a vanilla cone from McDonald’s. We had THE best time. But it didn’t stop me from creepin’ in to Sloan’s room while she slept and giving her some cuddle time.

Sunday I had a total mom-fail and forgot diapers, but we managed to not alienate too many people during sacrament, so I call that a success. After church we drove up to Ogden to have another delicous dinner at Mark and Jeanene’s. I have never had a halibut kabob, but I want to make it a regular thing from now on. We visited for a while until we made our way down to Farmington to stop at Zach’s sister Lori’s house for a quick visit. Pre-Season Football has officially started – so we had to head home in order to put Sloan to bed and so Zach could sit six inches away from our television and watch the game.

I love/hate football season. I already miss Zach…

03Aug 2015

Friday Light Hikes

By K + Z 0 Activities, Family, Sloan Permalink 0

Monday night after Zach got off work we drove up to Zach’s brother’s house to help him with some plans for an office built-in he is doing. Sloan and Zach enjoyed the kiddie roller coaster while we measured up the space. Sloan already adores her cousins.

Tuesday we drove down to Orem to see the progress on the Alder Headquarters. A lot of the furniture has shown up [now it just needs to go in the proper locations] and way finding and signage starts going up this week. Progress is happening – it’s just coming slow.

On our way back we dropped by my brother’s warehouse to visit Blake and my dad. Sadly, Blake was on a delivery and we barely missed him – so we played in his office instead. We enjoyed our lunch with my dad before heading back home for Sloan’s afternoon nap.

We also made our weekly visit to the splash pad. After work is the prime time to go – there are considerably less people and Sloan can run the place as she sees fit.
We were a bit concerned about the little fellow behind Sloan in this picture [red shirt / blue swim trunks] – he didn’t move for a solid 20 minutes. Good thing he was just taking a breather…

Thursday Sloan decided she was too cool for her afternoon nap, so we drove down to Fashion Place early to do some shopping. We had plans to meet my design friends for dinner later, but hit up the shops to kill some time. We dined at Brio, at which Sloan only broke one plate (it was a bread plate…so it could have been worse). I love spending time with these friends. They are some of the sweetest and most creative people I know. What I don’t love is this photo – but beggars can’t be choosers. It’s tradition that we take a terrible group photo…Friday morning Sloan decided that she would try her hand at standing all by herself. It almost gave me a coronary, but she thought she was so huge and grown up. She’s a pretty rad chick. Friday evening we had plans with family up Big Cottonwood Canyon. We decided to make the drive up to Silver Lake before our dinner, just the three of us, for a little hike.

We loved the views and the temperature was so refreshing. 75 degrees is my happy place, I’ve decided. Sloan just loved hitching a ride with dad and taking everything in.
I am thinking I am going to make Friday day hikes a tradition – even if it’s just Sloan and I. We’re going to call it Friday Light Hikes. Almost as good as Friday Night Lights, but sans Tim Riggins.

Saturday we had the most relaxing day. We slept in, read Sloan’s new favorite book 10 times…

…ran some errands, grabbed fish tacos at Lonestar……and made it back home in time for Zach and I to get ready for date night.

I must admit: Date Night was hard for me at first. The first few times leaving Sloan and having the babysitter put her down for bed absolutely crushed me. But I’m so glad Zach pushed so hard for a weekly date night, because it has been so fun dating Zach again. It has gotten easier, too. Especially since we found a babysitter that I really like and trust. We had the best dinner at Settebello and then caught a movie in Sugarhouse at the new remodeled theater. It’s nice not having to drive up to Layton for the AMC with the recliners – now the former ghetto dolla theater has the reclining seats as well!

Sunday was very low key. Church was interesting – Sloan has found her voice and has made it a personal vendetta of hers to sing LOWDER than each hymn in sacrament. I secretly love it, though.

After church we relaxed at home and took a long scenic drive. We drove up the Bountiful Temple and then around and up to Fruit Heights. We had dinner at home, just the three of us, with a walk before putting Sloan down for bed.

Is it too early to be anticipating fall? Not like I want to shoo summer away, but it is my favorite time of year.

Category Activities

Winter Wonderland

Fall Festivities

Labor Day Weekend 2015

Round is a Shape

Freaking Football Season [Already]

Friday Light Hikes

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