Youth Temple Trips

Sam and I have had quite a few incredible trips to the temple this year with the youth! I love going and helping with the baptisms. You can really tell that these kids are feeling the spirit, and it is so special to be a part of. Last time we went (these pictures are actually from the trip in July, but we just went again about 2 weeks ago) I was talking to the temple matron, Sister Hunter about youth baptisms. And she was saying that watching the youth get baptized and confirmed is her favorite ordinance to watch in the temple. This conversation had me looking at these ordinances in a very special light, and I am so grateful for the spirit we feel at the temple and for the opportunity we have to work with our wonderful youth!

Fabulous Fourth of July

Our family started a new fourth of July tradition last year of making floats for the RC Cars! We missed it last year since we were in Pennsylvania for the 4th last year, so we were very excited to participate! The theme for the float this year was loosely based on movies!

So we made a float for the movie "Up"

I made pinwheels the day before. I never even knew you could make pinwheels! So fun.

Our float! Check out the video below to see it in action.

Yes, that is the theme song to "Up" playing from inside out float...We are so proud of it! Excuse me chasing after Sam at the end of the video..hehe.

Jeremy and Maria's float of the Epcot Center

Jason and Krista's Pool Party float

Dad's "Root Beer Float"

Mike and Stephanie's Fight for Freedom float

Sean is such an expressive boy!! Such a cutie!

I love writing with sparklers! ..that is a heart in case you couldn't tell...hehe

I love this one of Sam's RC car coming out of the fireworks!

Sam's Uncle Sam car. How cute is that? I bought the hat for Sam to wear on the 4th, but I think he wisely chose to have his car wear it instead.

Brian writing with sparklers

Kate making designs with the sparklers

Love having such cute kids around to take pictures of!

RBI with KPMG

KPMG (the firm Sam works for) has this great program called RBI--which stands for Rebuilding Baseball in Inner cities. They usually pair up with major or minor league baseball teams for the program. We were working with the San Jose Giants. Such a cool program! Sam and I got to volunteer together for a couple of days, and it was really fun to get to know these sweet kids! Here's a few pictures of our time up in Morgan Hill!

Sam playing catch with one of the girls

These girls were my little buddies... Shhh don't tell but I totally taught them how to make the flower necklaces/crowns, as that was my activity of choice when we played baseball in PE, and I was put in the outfield... haha.

Sam being such a great first base coach!

The whole group!

Yea... we have fun together!!

Some Recent Projects

A few ruffle bum onesies! These are one of my favorite things to make! I just made a polka dot ruffle bum onesie with a matching tie onesie for twins (forgot to take a picture of those)! So much fun!

One of my first projects with my sewing machine! Love all the colors in this little sack! It's primary purpose is for packing shoes.


I made this quilt for one of my best friends from high school who just had her third baby! I got to see him yesterday in the hospital! Such a handsome little baby boy!

Another picture of the quilt with a coordinating burp cloth


Some decorations for a young women's party

(this side is actually the reversed side that wasn't shown at the party)


This is the side of the banner that was showing during the party. The letters were done on paper so they were just taped on. It was a graduation party for our graduating laurel Jenae!


The banner was up on the window too, but I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it before it was taken down! I LOVE these tissue paper pom poms... so easy to make too!


It's been a busy few months crafting and sewing!! More project pictures to come!

My Birthday!

So grateful for my sweet husband and for him always making my birthdays awesome! Although this birth week of mine didn't start out exactly as planned, we still made the best of it. Two days before my birthday I woke up to unpleasant sounds of Sam in the bathroom throwing up. Poor baby!!! I hate hearing him throw up, it makes me cry pretty much every time. We were under the impression that he had food poisoning, as he ate some pretty old mushroom ravioli with alfredo sauce... So of course I was doting on him like crazy. Kissing him, hugging him, etc.

As we were going to bed that night, though, I started to get the feeling that it wasn't food poisoning he had. I was up the entire night just waiting for the sickness to come on. It was torture. Finally at about 6 am it began for me, too. Poor Sam had to take care of me while he was still feeling wretched. So needless to say, on my birthday we took it easy. We ended up going out later that week for dinner. We had a LOT of nice dinners in my birth month, thanks to all the birthday clubs that I sign up for!

I can't remember if the roses were from Mother's Day or my birthday (they both kind of combined together with us not feeling well). My hubby knows the way to my heart is a scotchmallow! hehe


BUUUUT... I got the greatest present of all!! Sam bought me a SEWING MACHINE!!!!!!!!!!!! It has been SOOO much fun learning. I have now had my machine for over a month and have made so many projects with it already!

Unfortunately Sam went out of town on Monday for work, so I've been spending the week all alone at our place. On Tuesday night I was sewing late at night. It was this big project with ruffles, jersey knit, and a few layers so it was a little tough to keep things all together. All of a sudden, my sewing needle went into my finger and broke off. I didn't realize what happened at first until the pain set in, and I noticed the needle had gone all the way through and was poking through my nail! I started totally balling and had to call Sam. He felt so bad that he wasn't there to help me get the THICK needle out of my finger, so he ended up calling my dad to come over and help. Felt like the good old days of my dad taking care of my wound. So sweet of my daddy to come over so late at night. So grateful for the wonderful men in my life!

Tahoe Part 2

Continued photos from our trip to Tahoe! It was one of the last days of the season, so the snow wasn't fantastic, but it was definitely better than expected!

Sam did such a great job boarding! So proud of how quickly he has picked it up! Thank you for wanting to share my hobby with me babe!


Backside at Northstar! Love it!


Haha check out the lack of snow....We were a little late going up this year...hehe




This is the my grandpa and grandma Walton's old cabin. We grew up going here every winter and some summers. I have so many memories here, and I know my siblings and cousins do too! So many good times here. I am so grateful to have had such wonderful grandparents who wanted their family to have fun with each other and be close!
This is our old toboggan run! I so vividly remember the rush as you stood up at the top of that hill to go down!

Tahoe Part 1

Tahoe has always been one of my favorite places to go. I love that feeling when you are on the top of a mountain and ready to drop in... sigh... doesn't get much better than that! Love teaching my hot husby how to snowboard. He did AWESOME this trip!

Michael Bublé Concert

Most of you out there know that Sam and I have a deep love of Michael Bublé's music. We listened to it all the time when we were just friends, and even more when we dated. On our wedding day, our first dance was to Michael Bublé's "Everything." We were both SOOO excited to hear that Michael Bublé was coming for a concert in Oakland! Tickets for his concerts are more expensive than I am used to for concerts... but SOOO worth it. Wow. By far the best concert I have ever been to, and that really is saying a lot. We were dancing the whole time! Someday when we are rich and famous we will get front row tickets to a Michael Bublé concert... but until then, enjoy our pictures from the nosebleeds!!



Video of him performing Crazy Love: