20Apr 2017

Catching up to Conference

By K + Z 0 Family, Sloan Permalink 0

The end of the month of March was our RS Activity that I was in charge of. It was required that we did something for the Relief Society birthday…so…I did an 80’s themed party at Classic Skating with birthday cake. That counts, right? It was encouraged to dress up and so dress up I did. Madonna circa 1988.

Surprisingly I had everything already at my house – except the jelly bracelets that I found at F21. So…a $4 costume for the win! It was a pretty good time. I’ve never seen so many women playing laser tag and LOVING it.

Friday Zach and I went out on a date and it kicked off our weekend in the best way. Date nights are one of the highlights of my whole week and I look so forward to getting to talk to Zach for hours and eat hot food.

Then that weekend was conference weekend. I’ll be honest – I was absolutely elated for conference. Sundays are kind of hectic with both Zach and I being in presidencies. So I was stoked about having “pajama church” for the weekend. Saturday morning was spent making crepes.

Sloan has never been a huge fan, but she finally came around. She killed her crepe.With only Nutella left in her hair to show for it.

During the first session I made some frozen yogurt cups with granola and fruit. They were a hit and I can’t wait to make them again!

I have been meal prepping for a while now – and recently started prepping lunches and even breakfasts. It was overwhelming at first, but I got in the swing of things and it has saved me so much time and heartburn. Lunches are my weakest meal. So this has helped me more than I can say.

Later, Sloan was happy to listen to the music from the choir and paint, color, and play with magnets. We made it through the first two sessions (with the help of a nap) with no hiccups.

Zach went to priesthood session with his Dad and Sloan and I had a girl’s night at home. I meal prepped until he returned and got SO much done.

The next morning we made German pancakes and smoothies.

Monday morning came and we missed Zach. A weekend all together all the time was wonderful and we missed him when he left us to go to work.

We started our day off right with a run around our neighborhood and Sloan was as happy as a clam.

Then we made Monster Muffins and Sloan smashed hers for lunch. They are going to be a regular around here. Hopefully she never finds out there is spinach and four other fruits and veggies packed in them. I’ll never tell.

But we started our week out healthy and happy – which made up for missing Zach. I would be cool if conference was every weekend. Just saying.

19Apr 2017

March Madness

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

I know it’s April, but so much happened last month besides Targhee and our St. Patrick’s Day festivities.

In March there was a lot of baking. Cookies, mostly. But other things as well.

Cheesecake has been a family favorite. But I don’t ever give up on those sugar cookies. I just can’t. I helped host a shower for a sweet girl in our ward and my food assignment was sugar cookies. So I made three dozen for the shower and I felt like I was eating cookies for the entire month!

The shower turned out so cute, all thanks to Rebecca and her darling decor!

And my favorite part of hosting showers? The leftover flowers.

We spent a lot of time outside – there were days when it really felt like spring was going to stay. It didn’t, but we don’t mind!

And for those days went it wasn’t spring – we painted our toes, made homemade ramen, and went to Kangaroo Zoo. Which Sloan calls “Kazoo!” for short.

We also went to Beauty and the Beast – which we loved. Gaston came, too.

Before Targhee, we practiced a lot inside on the carpet snowboarding with our new helmet.

Only a day after we returned from Targhee, Zach left for Cabo with his friends. But he didn’t leave us empty handed. He had a whole bag of surprises for Sloan to open (one for each day he was gone). He is the most thoughtful person and he even attached a little note for me on each one.

Sloan is beginning to change. Her personality is mostly the same, but she’s growing up. Learning a lot, comprehending more than I can imagine, and exploding with emotions (good and bad). Trips to the store aren’t as breezy as they used to be. Unless we get a cart with a car. And find a friend, I guess?

But luckily she is always down for a run in the jogging stroller. Not without a snack, though. And more snacks upon arriving home.

Some more highlights were going to the Discovery Gateway with our neighbors and friends. Sloan loved it and loved being with the twins just as much.

I also got to attend my old college roommate, Whitney’s, baby shower. She’s having a little girl here soon!

I’m lucky that both of my current roommates love pizza. So I make it often. Probably too often.

We had a couple dates this month, too. Our latest involving hot chocolate and macarons. It was wonderful.

Not as wonderful, but delicious considering, Sloan and I are addicted to protein bites. Almond butter + protein powder + raw honey + chocolate chips. When you want a cookie but you’re trying to eat clean = protein bites!

It was a great month. March was one of the best to date. Our little family of three is making memories that are going to stick.

28Mar 2017

Targhee 2017 / St. Patty’s

By K + Z 0 Family, Holidays, Personal, Vacation Permalink 0

Targhee with the Hendersons was a little later than usual this year. It happened to fall over the weekend of St. Patrick’s Day! So – to keep up with tradition – we had our St. Patty’s Day dinner a few nights before heading up to WY.

We decorated with left-over decorations from Sloan’s 2nd Birthday. Balloons and streamers make a simple rainbow, and Sloan thought it was the greatest thing she had ever seen.

We spread out some chocolate coins and gold paper plates and we were set! Homemade green bread and rainbow linguine were on the menu. Sloan enjoyed playing with the colorful noodles more than anything, and Zach and I got to eat a full hot meal without any distractions. So I’d call that a definite win!

We continued the rest of the week making green meals, in good fun. I tried the most delicious chicken artichoke pesto pasta recipe that all three of us went crazy over. I’ve already got it on the menu again for this week.

Thursday after Zach got off of work we packed up the car and drove up north. The drive went so smoothly – the best road trip to Targhee we’ve had to date. Sloan read books, we all listened to music, and we finished the ride with a showing of Beauty and the Beast. We arrived at the resort around 8:30 pm. We unloaded and got Sloan into bed and then unpacked all our supplies in our room.

When Sloan woke up – the Leprechaun had left her something in our room. I love this age – everything is so magical and I don’t want it to ever change. Her favorite item in her basket? A tiny green cutting board of her own to help me with dinner prep.

That morning was Gina and I’s meal assignment – a Leprechaun Breakfast! Lucky Charms, green french toast, and little green footprints leading towards the “pot o’ gold” that the pesky leprechaun had left the kiddos. They loved every bit of it and a real leprechaun ended up gracing us with his presence (aka Zach is the creepiest costume to date). Sloan was unsure at first, but that didn’t stop her from grabbing her loot out of the cauldron when it was her turn.

Then we dropped Sloan off at the Kids’ Club so Zach and I could snowboard together for a few hours. To be honest, I was extremely hesitant to do this. Zach told me it would be pointless for us to drive all the way up there and both not ski. So he set up Sloan to stay in the Kids’ Club for half a day to test the waters. Long story short: she ended up doing great and didn’t want to leave when her time was up.

Zach and I even got 8 runs in together with a few other members of his family before lunch time!

When it was time to go pick her up we got to spy on her through the windows. She loved having her cousins Cole and Clark in there with her!

As soon as Sloan woke up from her nap back at our room we all set off for some snowboarding time together. We took Sloan on the kiddie lift for the first time and she was in awe the whole time. I will say though, snowboarding with a toddler goes a lot smoother when it is in the morning – not in the afternoon. We learned that the first day and didn’t make the mistake again.

That night we had dinner at the Branding Iron to celebrate Jeanene’s birthday [which was actually on Sunday, but we wanted all of us to be together to celebrate]. Sloan hung out with her older cousins while all the adults ate peacefully downstairs in the restaurant below them.

The next morning we did some earlier snowboarding together as a family. Sloan enjoyed it so much more in the earlier hours and did amazing on her little board – especially considering the snow conditions. It was icy and it made her go extra fast down that little bunny hill.

Cole and Sean and Siri came out for a bit, too and Sloan got to shred alongside her closest cousin for a bit. It’s so nice having these two only a few weeks apart – Sloan adores Cole!

After our shred sesh we dropped Sloan back off at Kids’ Club and she couldn’t have been happier. Zach and I got more time to snowboard together and met up with the majority of his family members and some of our nieces and nephews.

Part of the crew on the crest.
Mark the Shark and I cutting up some corduroy. Zach and I on the cat tracks.

It was all so much fun and so great to be together. When I picked Sloan up from Kids’ Club she was bummed to leave, but when we got back to our room she took a KILLER nap. When she woke up we went swimming at the pool along with a few of her cousins.

We had taco night in Mark and Jeanene’s room and then made our way back to our room to put Sloan to bed.

We left the next morning after Zach got a few runs in and I packed up our gear. We made it home before dinner time and in record breaking fashion unpacked the car and ALL our bags before we passed out for the night.

Targhee is always such a great time – and we were blessed with amazing weather while we were there. So grateful the Hendersons keep this tradition going, we never want it to stop!

01Mar 2017

Hendo Girls do AZ

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

We’ve had our annual (but not so annual, considering we haven’t done a girls trip since I was still pregnant with Sloan) Hendo Girls trip to Scottsdale this last weekend. We’ve had it scheduled for a while and it creeped up on me considering we have been going nonstop the last few weeks. Jan/Feb have been crazy months for me – and March is going to be absolutely bananas for Zach.

We left Thursday morning for Arizona. We flew out of the storm covering Utah and arrived to sun and mild temperatures in Scottsdale. First things first: we ate. We didn’t even make it to our hotel. We had a late lunch at a darling little place that came highly recommended from Gina, Arcadia Farms Café.

Afterwards we made it to our hotel to drop off our bags and settle in. It was gorgeous and the grounds were seriously top notch.

We had a bit of down time before Gina had scheduled us all for hot yoga. Jeanene and I opted out [I’ve done hot yoga before and was mortified at the smell of the whole experience – myself included] and instead of getting our sweat on we went across and down the street from the yoga studio to eat at Shake Shack. Jeanene doesn’t even really like hamburgers. She is such a good sport.

Afterwards we went to pick up the rest of our crew back at the yoga studio.

The next day was spent at the mall. We shopped, we had lunch, and we shopped some more. We had dinner afterwards down town, grabbed some Spinkles Cupcakes, and then went back to our hotel for an in-room movie. We ordered some popcorn, sodas, and treats – which eventually made up for the totally depressing love flick we chose.

The next morning we were up bright and early. Some of us stayed up later than others watching said depressing movie. The “wear your sunglasses inside” kinda late…

We had a brunch and then it was time to trapeze. Yes, I am serious.

Our hotel conveniently offered trapeze classes. When planning the trip – Gina asked a concierge about nearby hikes. The concierge asked, casually, “and do you ladies trapeze?” It was game over after that and we were all signed up to get our swing on.

First, we mentally and physically prepped ourselves. We observed. We stretched.

They didn’t waste any time. We were briefed, strapped up with harnesses, and then asked to climb the ladder. The first time was a little overwhelming. You are given commands – but when hanging and swinging it is a little harder to commit to those directions. Especially when swinging from your knees! But after a few tries we got the hang of it. We even advanced to the next trick – swinging and being caught by our instructor, Efe. Efe was hilarious, patient, and incredibly gay. It made sense – no straight man could bend like that, I am telling you.

It was honestly a total blast. I am so glad Gina singed us up – because I would have never in a million years done something like this if it were just Zach and I at the hotel by ourselves. Girls Trips will do that to you, I guess.

After freshening up – we made our way back to the mall. I even convinced a few more people to join us for Shake Shack for lunch. Again.

We had an early dinner afterwards at a great little Italian place down town.

Then we rushed off to our movie – Hidden Figures – at the nearby AMC. The movie was amazing and if you haven’t seen it, you must. It was the perfect feel-good end to our night.

Sunday we all met down in the lobby for our hike up Camelback Mountain. We made it up to the helicopter pad and Gina, Rachael, and I decided to attempt the steeper and higher elevation climb to the peak. It was a great little workout and the weather was a dream. I could live in Phoenix/Scottsdale area in the winter and be happy as a lark.

We showered up, had brunch at Olive and Ivy, and got pedicures and manicures back at the hotel.

Then we went to dinner at my favorite, Bandera. Even just the cornbread could have satisfied me. But their Macho Salad is literally life changing. We drove to find what we deemed the floating sperm (aka the strange art installation with flying/swimming fish creatures in the sky) and then made it back to our hotel for s’mores.

The staff sent us a plate of all the fixings and we put on some layers for the outdoor fire pit. By layers I mean some of us put on our hotel robes and slippers and made our way out in public to the fire pit.

The next morning we packed our bags, had breakfast, checked out of our hotel, and had one last lunch together before heading to the airport.

I am so grateful that the Hendersons make an effort to do trips together. Life gets so busy – and we have 27 kids between us! So getting to spend time alone with my sister-in-laws is a rare occurrence. I am so glad I got to have a weekend away with them, it really was fantastic.

15Feb 2017

30 / Las Vegas

By K + Z 0 Activities, Family, Food, Personal, Vacation Permalink 0

Zach.

He is the best husband that there ever was.

I woke up on the morning of my birthday to surprise after surprise. I heard Sloan wake up and went into her room. Once we were both up and ready we went downstairs. Zach had a full spread waiting for us. Bagels and cream cheese, fruit parfaits, muffins. He even had balloons, decorations, and cards.

In one card he gave me some spending money for our weekend out of town. The other card told me to hurry and get ready, because he had a babysitter coming over and we were going to spend the afternoon at the spa. I couldn’t believe how thoughtful the whole gesture was. Once she arrived, we drove up to Layton for our couples massage.

It was so relaxing and enjoyable and when I got ready to leave – he took me into one of the private rooms for a foot soak. He had a large Diet Coke, sandwiches, and my favorite treat – a Cutler’s cookie – waiting for me.

Once we got back home – Sloan had just woken up from her nap. We played the rest of the day together, honestly doing nothing productive at all. As I moved from room to room, I would notice little notes Zach had left me around the house. He even left me a note in my car. I couldn’t help but tear up every time I read one. It made my whole day – even more than the spa and the amazing breakfast.

It was honestly a perfect day. I am not big on birthdays for myself. I always try to make them special for Zach and Sloan, but mine I could take or leave. But this particular birthday was the best I’ve ever had, by far. Zach always makes things so fun and special, and he really went above and beyond to make it wonderful.

That weekend we had planned to go to Las Vegas for a quick getaway. We stayed at the Encore (first time for the both of us) and Zach literally let me do all of my favorite things: sleep in, work out, eat, and shop. It may sound uneventful to some – but that’s my kind of vacation. We arrived there Friday afternoon. We had lunch at the Cafe at the Wynn – where they have my favorite salad in all of creation.

We took an afternoon snack break at Sprinkles, for a red velvie.

Then we took an Uber to the Forum Shops. We spent most of our time at Nike and stopped in a few other places until it was time for our dinner at Joe’s.

We shopped around some more and then made our way back to our hotel.

The next morning we both went to the spa. I had an appointment for a facial (my first one ever) and Zach wanted to enjoy the spa amenities. The facial was amazing – in fact, I’ve been converted. I don’t think I could pick a massage over a facial now that I have experienced one for myself. She did put some amazing product on my lips, which I loved, but gave them a tingly sensation. I would later realize that “tingle” was numbness and I wouldn’t regain feeling in my lips until the next morning. But still…I loved it and would do it again in a second.

We later had lunch at Shake Shack.

We then spent the majority of the day at Fashion Show Mall and Zach wins the award for most patient husband. I don’t even want to know how long we were in Zara – I can’t think about it.

We then went to dinner at Momofuku. It was already packed when we got there at 6:30 – luckily, Zach got a reservation. When we arrived I was totally bummed they didn’t have chicken pho on the menu, like their New York location. But, the waiter assured me I would love the “chicken noodle soup”. It wasn’t until my first taste of my dish that my faith had been restored. Even though the menu was completely different – it was so very good. He can do no wrong, that David Chang.

We stopped on our way out at the Milk Bar – where Zach treated himself to something coated with cereal that he really liked.

We contemplated going to a movie, but decided to take a suggestion from my sister-in-law Gina about the “Feature Presentation” that they offer at the Wynn hotels. When we got back we ordered two candies, a buttered popcorn, and two sodas in CANS and ordered a movie to our room. I had no idea they even offered this – and it was totally worth it (and less expensive than a real movie with all the trimmings, I might add). It was an absolute home run! (Thank you Gina!)

We slept in and packed up the next morning, eager to get home to Sloan.

A lot of my friends have been struggling with the thought of turning 30, but I feel the opposite. I feel good. I am excited. My 30-year-old self is completely content. I never dreamed as a teenager I would be in love and married to my best friend (well, I hoped…but I didn’t KNOW), have the sweetest little soul for a daughter, and to be able to make memories with them every single day.

Ask me how I feel at 50, ok?

Because 30 is actually pretty bomb, guys.

29Jan 2017

Dirty 30 in Palm Springs

By K + Z 0 Friends, Personal, Vacation Permalink 0

I’m going to be 30. In less than a week, but who’s counting? My high school friends and I decided we needed to do something to celebrate this milestone and we voted to go on a Girl’s Trip. We debated on several locations: but Palm Springs won out for the most convenient + best weather.

We had booked the flights and vacation home several weeks in advance, and the trip totally snuck up on me!

We flew into Palm Springs late on Thursday night. We didn’t arrive until after 10 pm. We went straight to grab our luggage and then to pick up our rental car. Once all was settled (and crammed into the back seat of our crossover) we drove to a nearby grocery store for some supplies. Little did we know that we would be returning to this said grocery store every day (some days multiple times a day) during this trip. Thank you Ralph’s for putting up with us! They even had Sea Salt Caramel Halo Top in stock – so I couldn’t have been happier.

The property we rented was one of my favorite parts about the trip. My mediocre iPhone photos don’t do it justice. Whitney is the one with a professional camera. The pool was in and of itself a game changer.

One day my dream is to have a lap pool in my backyard. Swimming laps is one of my favorite things to do for exercise. One day.

We unloaded our groceries, unpacked our bags, and settled in. True to form – we didn’t call it a night until well passed 3:00 am.

The next morning we woke up to rain. We had breakfast, showered up, and went to lunch at Bill’s Pizza. I wasn’t expecting it – but it was actually one of my favorite meals of the entire trip.

After lunch we hit up the outlets just outside of Palm Springs. They had nearly every store you could think of. Their Lululemon Outlet even had a 30 PERCENT OFF EVERYTHING sale. Britt and I were over the moon. Since the rain didn’t let up, neither did we. We weren’t finished until it was nearly closing time.

The next day was warm and sunny. I went on a run before the rest of my crew was up and at ’em. I had been dreaming of it for weeks. Running on the treadmill has had me gloom and doom lately, so running amongst all the mid century modern homes and palm trees was like a little slice of heaven.

I got back, had breakfast, and showered up for the day. Since the weather was good – we grabbed lunch and then drove over to Indian Canyons for a hike. The first route was short, but it was my favorite. There was a natural spring coming down the canyon with palm trees lining nearly the whole way. It was so picturesque and the temperature was perfect.

We did a second hike – called Palm. It was short and sweet as well, but a great view and more of a desert landscape mix. It was the perfect activity for the warmest day of our trip.

Later we had dinner at Trio – a surprisingly busy restaurant down town. We stayed up again – way passed 3:00 am – and awoke very slowly the next morning.

We all weren’t up and ready until the afternoon and decided to get a late lunch at Melvyn’s [Britt’s request – it was one of Frank Sinatra’s favorite restaurants].

The chicken pot pies were bigger than expected, but it hit the spot on our rainy afternoon.

After our late lunch the rain wasn’t letting up. So instead of staying at the house, I convinced a few to go back to the outlets with me.

We shopped around until closing time, returned home, and then went and picked up some pho for dinner.

We ended our night with a swim in the heated pool while it rained!

The next day we had to be up earlier in order to get ready, pack up, and check out of our place. We loaded up our rental car, locked up the house, and set off for brunch. Turns out the occupants of the entire city had the same plan we did on that rainy morning. Our brunch spot was a hub of activity – so for the sake of time we decided to eat at the airport.

We all got lunch and awaited to board our flight.

We always joke how close we are – but we never see each other. Last time I went on a trip with these girls – I was about 4 weeks pregnant with Sloan! Time passes so quickly. We always promise to see each other more often, and hopefully we will keep that promise this time. Because being together at Christmas is not nearly enough.

So glad I have these ladies to celebrate this milestone with and I couldn’t have picked a better way to do it!

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