Tuesday, May 26, 2015

March - Part I

I made a tasty (very rich) chocolate bundt cake for a Gruber Sunday dinner while the Tuttles were still in town. My baking failures seem to outnumber my successes, so I like to document them when I can. It was a beaut!


Penelope and Colson




I have said it many times before, but this month I really felt the effects of crazy baby hormones! I went to get a certain waxing done that I have done five or six times before, but this time they had to stop half way through because my skin was more red and sensitive (and bleeding) than she had ever seen! Being a redhead already puts me on the sensitive skin side, but post baby hormones and nursing has really done a number on me! I guess I will be waiting many months before I try that again.


March 5th finally arrived!!! Sister Kimberly Arbon finally arrived home from her mission in Atlanta, Georgia! We went to pick her up from the airport and couldn’t have been more excited! She looked great and was thrilled to be home. We spent the rest of the evening hanging out, eating dinner, getting ice cream at Ritas, and looking at pictures from her mission. That weekend we tried to visit as much as we could to spend some good time with her (while also giving her some space and having some time of her own). Sunday came, which meant Homecoming Talk time. Church was at 9:00am, she did an awesome job, and then we had a party with family and friends afterwards at their house. It feels so good to have her home! The family has definitely been incomplete without her.


Waiting for Kim at the airport:








They finally meet!




Sunday:





Relaxing after the party




We had some of our Pleasant Grove friends over for a St. Patrick’s Day dinner. I had been wanting to have them over for dinner since moving into our new house, and this seemed like a perfect and fun opportunity (especially since it is Kylie’s ultimate favorite holiday). Including us, we had eight adults and eight kids. It was slight madness, but we had a good time eating Shepherd’s Pie, and other green food items, like green jello, a "shamrock drink" from Pinterest, a salad, and we also had Kneaders rolls. For dessert we had chocolate sandwich cookies and mint chocolate ice cream. We had Lucky Charms for the kids and green juice boxes. It was a blast!


The guests included the Dunaways, Provosts, and Stones.

Hayden Provost




The next day was the actual St. Patrick’s Day holiday. Last minute, my mom invited us over so we enjoyed a corn beef dinner and treasure hunt. Charlie loved it! Camry had just got a new car, so we gave that a test ride.


The hunt:









a look at some of the holiday decor at our house


Jason put some serious work time into the garden. He had already pruned the trees back like crazy a couple of weeks before and fixed the sprinkler system. In the garden, he took out the wood planks that were there to make room for a bigger garden and to utilize that space better. He also planted little indoor starters in these little pods. I hope they grow!











Some other pictures from the beginning of the month:



Date night sushi at Koi with the kids. 




Trying out the Bumbo in the bath - there were lots of giggles


Our favorite ice cream (italian ice) place right now

Uncle Jim and Aunt Patience visit


Thursday, May 14, 2015

February - Part II

We were lucky enough to participate in two Lily birthday celebrations. The first one was already mentioned (we went to the Curiosity Museum with them the day of...which also was Valentine’s Day). Her actual birthday party was the following Monday at their house. We had a good time chatting and eating sweets while the kids played and popped balloons. It is always fun to see Charlie interacting with other kids. For some reason, Charlie and Lily play better together than any other friend Charlie has had. I love it!




I had a Girls Night with my PG friends! It was such a nice break from the kiddos and we had a blast. We had dinner at Bajio in the Riverwoods and then did a little shopping at the University Mall. I had to leave a little early since Colson was giving Jason a hard time and not falling asleep, but it was such a fun night off.


Stacee, Kara, me, Kylie




Jason went camping with his high school friends. They went to the foothills of Cedar Hills. They had a fun time riding four-wheelers. In the middle of the night, one of his friends was snoring so loudly that Jason stole his keys and spent the last few hours sleeping in his truck.


While Jason was gone, my friend Amy came over to keep me company. We got Chinese take-out and then ate Haagen Daz ice cream while we watched Magic at Midnight (love Emma Stone, but didn’t love the movie).


We had a date night with my high school friends, Kerstin and Alisha. The husbands came (no kids) and we met Alisha’s boyfriend. We had dinner at Carrabas and then came back to our place for a bit.


One of the girls from my new Orem playgroup (Nicole) is involved in a small soccer group that gets together every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning at the Stake Center. She mentioned it and I showed interest, so she kindly invited me to the group. I was quickly put to shame with my lack of soccer skills, but I had a blast and a great work out. When I told Jason how good the other girls were, he was immediately embarrassed for me and was determined that he should teach me a few things as to not embarrass the Gruber name. I have been twice since then and hope to make it a more consistent thing (the biggest trouble has been keeping the boys happy on the gym stage while we play...if one isn’t crying, it’s the other).


The Tuttles were back in town for Robby’s brother’s wedding. We love it whenever they are able to make a visit! Since they were here, of course we had to visit the Curiosity Museum! That membership is worth its weight in gold! The kids had a ball. The only downside was Harlan was too sick to come...which then became an extended week in Utah for the Tuttles as each person battled the sickness as it hit them. Poor Tuttles and poor Nancy and George.

Nancy watching Penelope and Colson

Our Honda Accord is really starting to let us down. One Friday night we went to go pick up pizza and the car hood started smoking. Jason heard the belt break! We pulled over and stressed over what we should do as it was late, dark, and we had the boys in the car. The boys were crying and we were all hungry. Somehow we made it to Papa Johns and then made it home. It was a miracle. The next day, Jason devoted his Saturday to attempting to fix it by watching YouTube videos. He was able to fix it! But we have decided we should probably be on the look out for a new car.


We had a semi-date (the boys were with us) with Mike and Kate. We went to Five Guys and then came back to our place to hang out, watch shows, and make lemon cookies.

A visit from Great Grandma Gruber



I love our simple yet fantastic life!