Thursday, June 28, 2012

Girls Week 2012

That’s right, another Girls Week! It seems like just yesterday that we were all in Las Vegas livin’ the dream. This year was Nancy’s year to host in Alpine, Utah. Being eight months pregnant, I was so glad to be going somewhere close to home.

Everyone arrived Wednesday evening. Nancy and I picked up Alli and Amy from the airport and enjoyed some delicious pizza at a small Italian restaurant in Salt Lake City (I believe it was Settebello). On the way home, we picked up April in Riverton. And so the five-some was complete and Girls Week officially began. Once we arrived back in Alpine, we were given the weekend itinerary and enjoyed delicious banana bread.

Here’s a look at our fun-filled Girls Days Weekend:





Girls Days officially begins!

 Nancy's famous banana bread


Thursday
Draper Temple
Lunch at Food For Thought
“Tour of Homes” - April, Grandma Gruber, Karl, Emily
Dinner
Home for relaxing and fun


Breakfast

Draper Temple

Food for Thought

Touring April's home:




Newly remodeled master bedroom - Looks awesome!

Visiting Grandma Gruber:

She had the most gorgeous plants and flowers all throughout her backyard! So pretty!

She treated us with an elegant "snack" of fresh berries and chicken salad

Karl's "Tour of Homes":

Waiting for Karl to arrive


The home Karl will be moving into/renting as soon as it is completed

Visiting my house:


Jason was fixing the swamp cooler when we arrived




The big sisters teaching Jason how to swaddle a baby on a toy stork!

Sadly, at this point I was feeling very sick...experiencing some Braxton Hicks/cramping. I stayed behind for a bit to rest at home, while the others went on to dinner. The original plan was to eat at J-Dawgs, but my nausea kind of messed that one up. Jason took my back to Alpine later that night to join up with the girls again.



Friday
Leave for City Creek Mall
Lunch at Cafe Rio
“Father of the Bride” at Center Theater
Dinner at home
Games - Farkle


So as you can see, the plan was to go to City Creek this day...and we were actually on our way to City Creek when I started feeling really light headed and dizzy. The moment they handed me a bag, I immediately started vomiting into it. I know...TMI. But with that unfortunate turn of events, we turned the car around and headed home. I felt so embarrassed and sad. All of the girls were so nice about and said they didn't care at all, but I had to be the fun-sucker at a fun weekend like this. Yet again, Emily is messing up the plans. As a result, we ended up spending the afternoon at home and eating lunch at Cafe Rio. The good news is, I was feeling well enough by the late afternoon to attend the play at Hale Center Theater.



"Father of the Bride" at Hale Center Theater

I have to say, this play was ridiculous! Actually quite terrible! I have been to Hale Center before and have enjoyed most of the plays I have seen there, but this was definitely the worst. It was hilarious how awful it was. It made the memory all the more sweet! There was an old couple sitting next to Amy and she overheard the wife say to the husband, "This is so stupid!" in her old lady voice. Later on in the play, she whispered to her husband "This is the stupidest thing I've ever seen!" And even later, she said again, "This is the stupidest one they have ever done!" It was hilarious to hear Amy tell us the story after the show. I think the old lady had it right on the button!

Dinner at home: BBQ Beef Sandwiches
(nice fingers George!)

Saturday
Lunch at Trellis Cafe (surprise baby shower for Emily)
Actually made it to City Creek Mall
Dinner at Cheesecake Factory
Photoshoot
Relaxing and games at home



Heading to Trellis for lunch, I had NO CLUE that they had planned a surprise baby shower lunch for me! I was completely shocked and completely grateful. My mom and sisters were there, as well as Aunt Jean, Khirsten, Cierra, and Maria. So nice and so fun!

They surprised me with a big gift - a beautiful crib and changing table! I couldn't believe it! So thoughtful!



And to top it all off, we got a delicious BTS cake!
Jason snuck in at the end to pick up the gift and was able to join in on the cake.

The original plan was to walk The Gardens at Thanksgiving Point after lunch, but since I was feeling better and we missed out on City Creek the day before, we decided to give it another go. This time we successfully made it! Sorry Gardens!



Nancy surprised us with matching shirts...perfect for our photoshoot:


Silly!

Sunday
Pack up
Drop Alli off at airport
Church at Joseph Smith Memorial Building
Lunch at Little America
Drop Amy off at airport
Drop April off at home




Bye bye Alli!




And so concludes Girls Week for another year! Thank you, Nancy, for a wonderful weekend!

Home Sweet Home

I know this has been a long time coming, but we have finally gotten our apartment decorated and furnished to a satisfactory level. It feels a lot more like home, and we are really happy with how it turned out. It has been a long process, but an enjoyable one....one that Jason and I were able to work on together. I am really lucky that Jason has an eye and an interest in helping with the home decor. I know that not many husbands would want to participate in this kind of thing.

So here it is, a look at our home:

UPSTAIRS


Our bedroom
 


Bathroom



 2nd Bedroom (Nursery)


 ...and eventually it was transformed into this to prepare for Baby Gruber:


We are excited to eventually add baby pictures to the walls

DOWNSTAIRS


Kitchen




Front Room




OUTSIDE

 Our garden in May

Here it is in early June:





We were thrilled when the rose bush started blooming! We thought it was just a dead ugly plant!


And here it is in late June:

 The tomato plants are MASSIVE!!

Somehow, the African Daisies that Jason gave me for Mother's Day died, so we replaced the dead flowers with new ones:






And there you have it...our home...for now (at least until next February)