Idaho… our future place of residence!

So people are always raggin on Idaho and iwanna put an end to it once and for all. It’s not their fault they have a potato museum… ok honestly who in the world has a potato museum?! Anyways, it’s also not their fault that they are next to Wyoming… arguably the most boring state in the U.S. (its right up there with Montana though). Nevertheless I think someday we will end up in Victor Idaho, home to one blinking traffic light, one milkshake shop, one school which is K-12, and one of the coolest cabins EVER!

These are the peeps who made it to the cabin: Brian Allphin, Sarah Barlow, Elliot Hales, Emily Hales, Braden Hardisty, Daniel McKinley, Jessie McKinley, Caleb Perkins, Lauren Perkins, and Daveman Wangsgard (in alphabetical order so nobody gets mad). We drove up to the Crandall family cabin Thursday night and got there at one in the morning. What a surprise when we found that everybody else was already playing ticket to ride, they are addicted… just like Emily and diet coke! We got up and went to the lake and me, bri, and braden were the only MEN who jumped off the dock! It was awesome, and freezing.

We rode the wave runner, even jess did, don’t worry we went real slow. Max loved his first time on a wave runner! We rode the knee board, and best of all we tipped over anybody paddling in the canoe. Daveman did a few backflips for us, showing off for his girl, while I sat on the beach reading the newest book “Ender’s Game.” It’s great so far! My daddio recommended it to us. Real books are soooo much funner and easier to read than text books! Holy cow text books suck!

After getting back to the cabin the games were on (almost like the hunger games!) and all the guys, plus caleb, got dressed in our paintball gear. I hit braden 3 times, daveman 4 times, nian once or twice or 8 times, elliot a couple times, and even though caleb was the biggest one playing I couldn’t hit him once! I was voted most improved by the guys. nian was voted most wussy, and the other guys were honorable mention.

and this ice cream shop found a more innovative way to serve their cones--hooray for victor!

We got back and the girls had painted their nails, such a girly thing to do! Then we cooked steaks and played way too much ticket to ride. Jessie won two games in a row by one point each time. Caleb was the one that lost by that one point. The next morning we went into Jackson and messed around for a while. What a cool arch made out of antlers eh?

Makes you wanna go watch Charlotte’s Web eh?

After deliberating for about an hour we decided to go tubin down the Snake River. It was sweet. Freezing, but sweet. Jessie decided Max would be safer on shore so she sat out with Emily and Lauren. Max would have come out as a little Eskimo so it’s probably a good thing she didn’t get into the glacier-fed river. Ok, but im only exaggerating a little bit. After we were done, Elliot turned into a caveman and beat up a poor defenseless garter snake that didn't even have teeth and had just eaten. i hope you feel tough Elliot.

Then we went home and made barbeque chicken. Can I be the first to commend daveman on basting those chicken breasts perfectly?! Haha, he complained the whole time that he would have to marry someone that knows how to cook because he knows nothing about it. He’ll learn! Then we flew down to the second coolest town in Idaho… Driggs. Population = enough to fill the drive-in on a Saturday night. We watched The Proposal and Terminator Salvation. Can I say how low the standards for movie ratings have dropped?!!! It is ridiculous how bad movies are these days. But I do have a secret weakness for Terminator, all the fighting and manliness, and cool story and everything… Jessie fell asleep after about 5 minutes.

So you all thought we were done having to deal with mice right? Well… not quite yet. I was in the bathroom and I heard the most terrifying high-pitched scream (from caleb) and I ran out to jess and Lauren saying they just saw a mouse. Caleb looked hilarious with his marshmallow roaster as a spear to kill the mouse with! After chasing it around the living room, it ran into my box, we threw our boxes at it, it got scared and had a heart attack. When it was twitching on the ground both jess and Lauren yell out “oh guys you killed it” in a sort of disappointed, sad tone. We thought “are you kidding?” you wanted that thing dead more than we did. Girls will be girls.

The next day was clean up day and we finally got out of there a little after one. So let me tell you about how mad God gets when you don’t go to church! Either that or dave is just a horrible driver! Just out of Pocatello, two hours with me as driver and everything was just peachy. Then I go and let dave drive. It wasn’t five minutes later that his bad driving causes the tire to explode into a thousand million pieces and we had to pull over. Ok, so it was still in one piece, but a very mangled piece (not a mangelson piece, sorry josh and Brittany). We put on the itty bitty donut of a spare tire and continued on at a blazing 55 mph. slowest return trip EVER! so...go to church! But we made it home safely and it felt so good to be home. Now we just need to get a dog so it gets super excited and happy whenever we walk in the door. Sorry elliot and Emily you’re probably really mad right now cuz we could have a dog but we don’t and you have to be depressed to get one. I say you should stay not depressed. Anyway. It was an awesome trip and we are very grateful to everybody for making it a memorable weekend! Thanks friends!!!

{the 24th}

has this summer FLOWN by to anyone else??? seriously, this little boy of ours is going to be here before we know it! i've been crazy busy with school but wanted to get caught up with our festivities from the 24th of july. here is how we spent our lovely day:

{taste of the valley}

to sum it up: a pregnant girl's paradise.

but really, it was great. 24 vendors came and set up camp around the provo courthouse {including provo college of massage therapy}. after buying a punch card for $10, you got to go around and sample TONS of delicious food {and get awesome free pens}. we dined on p.f. chang's lettuce wraps, gloria's little italy's delicious pasta and dessert, c.p.k., pizzeria 712, einstein bagels, costa vida, tucano's...just to name a few. our awesome friends emily and elliot joined us {also the one's who introduced us to this} and we had a great time. we highly recommend it to anyone who will be in utah valley next july 24th {we will be there for sure!}

after spending a few hours enjoying the sunshine, food, and company we went home and relaxed. that night we met back up at a park in orem for a bbq with a bunch of our friends. we ate, {i promise my life doesn't revole entirely around food} played croquet, and watched the boy's light each other on fire...literally. boys are crazy. it was a great night, though. we deserved it too, because the next day we spent ALL day on campus. gotta love taking summer classes.






thank goodness for the holidays...even the less celebrated ones {such as pioneer day}.

{first hair cut}

before:

during:

after:

technically, i never got a official "after" picture, because when the above picture was taken the haircut was only half done. the clippers unexpectedly died in the middle of the cut {and danny had to be to work...} so he went to work looking somewhat like a bald man. {not my fault}. anyways, it was my first hair cut ever, and i must admit, it wasn't bad at all! i may even consider joining my little sister at hair school this september. haha. my husband is pretty brave, and it's almost time to pull out the clippers again! {great way to save some $$$}

after we got all cleaned up from the haircut, we made french toast and used the gift that danny's mom got him for finishing up his soccer season: a sandwich cutter {in the shape of a dino}. one pretty awesome device.

{the hunger games}

COULD YOU SURVIVE ON YOUR OWN, IN THE WILD, WITH EVERYONE FIGHTING AGAINST YOU?

Twenty- four are forced to enter. Only the winner survives.

"In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death – televised for all of Panem to see."

basically, the hunger games is the BEST book i have read since harry potter. and that is saying a lot. seeing as i could read an entire harry potter book in one day {or less}. all i'm saying is try to get your hands on this book. it may sound a little morbid, but i guarantee you won't regret this read.

{the big 30}

since i will be 30 weeks on wednesday...i thought ya'll would like an update on the little baby growing inside my belly.

i couldn't be happier with the way this pregnancy has gone so far. it is one miraculous event taking place within my body. our little boy has found his way up to my rib cage {awesome} and he LOVES showing his mommy just how hard he can kick.

we set up his crib tonight...and it is starting to feel that much more real. in two months we will have a brand new precious baby boy. wow.

{byu vs. lancaster rattlers}

saturday was quite the night for us here in provo, utah. danny played in his very last byu soccer game...and he was AMAZING. he was part of the starting line up and played for the entire first half and ten minutes into the second. byu played the lancaster rattlers, and it was quite the intense {dirty} game. we tied 3-3.

before the game started, they honored all of the seniors {the wives got to walk across the field with them}. it was a neat experience for both of us. danny has made SO many wonderful friends--all of the guys on the team are awesome. his coaches are great, and we have both learned so much from the time spent working with the team. though many injuries were endured on danny's part, i think it has brought us closer together as a couple. but, we are both glad that his ankles will now have a chance to finally heal.



danny had quite the fan club there--we are so blessed to have family so close. his mom made signs for everyone to hold up while we walked across the field, and i made a poster which we taped onto the fence surrounding the field.



thanks to everyone who came for the support, cheers, and fun times that we had during all the many, many soccer games.



now we get to look forward to our own son tearing it up on the field!

{fourth of july festivities}

i. love. the. fourth.

it is most definitely my favorite holiday. the hot air balloons. the parade. the warm, sunny weather. the fireworks. the delicious food. the patriotism. it doesn't get much better than that. and this year was no different.



i talked danny into starting our festivities early, so on july 3 we woke up super early and went to the balloon festival. he has never seen hot air balloons up close before, so we had a really good time. crazy to think that next year we'll have a little boy of our own to experience the balloons with all over again. we can't wait.



after the balloons had all launched, we went to the provo bakery and got some doughnuts fresh out of the oven {yum}. we didn't have class, so we decided to take advantage of our free day and spend a few hours at seven peaks. brittany and her little brother came with us too. it was super crowded, but we had a good time going on the slides, and being lazy in the lazy river.



we didn't end the day just yet...after seven peaks danny and i headed to the freedom festival down on center street and spent the rest of the night there. we had so much fun looking at all of the different vendors and the random things that they were trying to sell. our favorite part of the festival though, was the "scales and tails show." i'm not a fan of reptiles, at all, but the show the guy put on was so interesting and we learned so many cool things about snakes, tarantulas, scorpions, etc... {the best part was it was all FREE!} he even put a scorpion in his mouth. insane.



on the fourth we got up to go to the parade {danny had to leave a little early to pass out flyers for their big game that night against the outlaws} but we met up with the rest of my family and watched from our usual spot on university. i got to see my cute cousins from north carolina {ella and audrey} who are getting so big.



that afternoon we had a bbq at my grandma's with tons of delicious food {can you tell i talk about food a lot?} and then headed to the soccer game at 7:30. danny got to start, and he played basically the entire game! we had a HUGE turnout {tons of my family were able to come} and it was a fun game to watch. afterwards we watched the stadium fireworks, and then, to avoid traffic, we walked home! {one of the many benefits of living so close to campus} my friend kim, and her sister jen are pregnant as well, so we thought we'd get a group shot since we are all at different stages in our pregnancies.



another fourth of july has come and gone. but, what a great holiday it is!

god bless america

{lindsey + jordan bush}

you know when you hear about those girls who send off a missionary?? most of us think, "good luck! you'll be married in less than a year to a new guy who has swept you off your feet!" well, this is exactly what i thought when lindsey sent jordan off in october of 2006.

we were roomies at byu-idaho at the time and we all gave her a hard time. {making fun of the paper chain she made--counting down the days until he came home, writing him faithfully every week, etc...} but after the first year, she was still going strong, convinced that they were going to get married and have a beautiful summer reception in his backyard. turns out her dreams came true. jordan got home from his mission in illinois in october of 2008, and june 27, 2009 they were married in the rexburg, idaho temple.

since kierstin and i made it into rexburg at about 2:30 friday morning, i was able to get a little bit of sleep, and then get ready for the sealing at 11. i'm SO glad i was able to make it. lindsey and jordan were both beaming--they are perfect for each other. they had lots of family and friends there to support, and linds looked absolutely beautiful.

the reception that night was in jordan's backyard, just as linds had envisioned it. and it couldn't have been more perfect. the weather was beautiful, the music was great, and the food was delicious! {i probably ate way too many goodies, but the carmel/chocolate dipped pretzels that they had were just too yummy} i was able to see so many of my old room mates {jannette, katelyn, kelsey, jill} and we had such a great time!

congrats linds and jordan! we couldn't be happier for you two.

{california soccer trip}

right after summer semester started, the byu men's soccer team took a trip down to california, and i was lucky enough to go with them! thursday, june 25 we flew into the huntington beach airport bright and early and then went with the team to i-hop for breakfast. around 11 a.m. we checked into embassy suites and we all crashed for a couple hours. later that night we all hung out at the mall {which was less than a block from our hotel} and got ready for the big game that night against the southern california seahorses. they tied 3-3 but it was fun being able to watch the guys do what they do best. i had fun watching the game with the girls {kim christenson, sarah bindrup, and danny's mom}. that night dinner was served in the hotel lobby, and afterwards we dipped our feet in the hot tub and relaxed...gotta love being on vacation.

friday the guys didn't have a game to play so we had a free day at the beach! we piled into five vans and drove down to newport beach where we spent the day soaking in the sun, playing in the sand, eating delicious gelato, and having a grand old time. i love the beach. danny and i haven't been since last summer, so it was definitely good to be back.

since i'm pregnant...and losing my brain, when i planned this trip i TOTALLY forgot about my best friend, lindsey hobbs' wedding on june 27 up in rexburg, idaho. about a week before we left for the trip i realized the huge mistake i made and ended up switching my flight. SO to make a long story short, after we spent the day at the beach, danny's parents drove me back to the huntington beach airport and i flew out of sunny california around 7 p.m. and arrived in slc at 10. my awesome friend kierstin picked me up, and from there we made the long trek to rexburg. whew. it was quite the day.

i was so glad i was able to go to california for a couple days though. since this is danny's last year on the team, it has been fun for me to go to all of his games and cheer him on.

{quick little update}

1. as of yesterday i am 28 weeks along! i still can't believe it. our little boy has been kicking/moving/doing somersaults constantly...it's the craziest feeling in the world. i try to describe to danny what it feels like from the inside, but i can never seem to do it justice.

2. we are still homeless. {kim and clay have been SUPER nice to let us take over their upstairs apartment with them} but all of our stuff is still in boxes in their garage and several rooms...

3. yesterday, the dry wall guys came and fixed the gaping holes in our kitchen ceiling, and they are going to re-paint all of the places that got damaged! hooray! we are so glad we don't have to do that all over again. plus, we are getting new carpet throughout the entire basement {yay!} and that is going in either friday or monday. then we will have a home!!

4. i promise to put pictures up on here. soon. i just need to find my camera/camera cord in the many, many boxes we have lying around. i can't guarantee it will be any time soon.

5. life is good.

{a series of unfortunate events}

remember a few weeks back when i announced that we would be moving again?

well, we moved out! but...we have no where to move IN.

turns out while we were vacationing in sunny california, the pipes in our new place decided to burst. the kitchen upstairs got damaged-the wood floors all need to be replaced. but the biggest damage was done in our sweet little apartment {the one we just barely re-painted}. the kitchen ceiling is no more, and lots of the paint stripped off the walls because of all of the water damage. it seeped under the carpets in the living room and the master bedroom, so that all needs to go, and until it can all be repaired...danny and i are homeless!

don't worry. i'm not complaining. lucky for us, we have lots of wonderful family and friends who feed us {since we have no fridge} and give us a place to lay our heads at night. but, it is just a little bit humorous to me that danny and i seem to have the best luck! hopefully this isn't a trend that follows us wherever we go {but if it is, i may just have to write a book about all of the wonderful and crazy adventures we are so blessed to be able to go through}.

so. if you've been wondering why i've been slacking on my blog posts--thats why. i promise to get some pics up soon {since we just had a BLAST in california, and i got to go to a beautiful wedding last weekend in rexburg, idaho} but until then, keep us in mind. and if you're ever making dinner and realize you made way too much for you and your family to eat...don't hesitate to call! we'll be there in a heart beat.

p.s. today marks the beginning of my THIRD trimester. yeah. soo crazy. baby boy mckinley is getting so big. and he loves to kick. {just like his daddy}