Rafting the Arkansas River

Last week Kevin was in Colorado Springs for his firm's litigation retreat, and after the all the "rah rah" meetings, the training presentations, the congratulatory "aren't we awesome" dinners, they got to choose a fun activity.  Kevin skipped the spa treatment and chose instead the river rafting.  I don't think he even thought about how cold it would be this time of year - brrr!

Well, as this was one of the first runs of the season for the rafting company, they obviously had a few kinks to work out.

First, they oiled up the boats so much that one guy almost fell out, asked to trade spots with Kevin, and then when they hit the next rock, out Kevin went!

And his ride down the rapids was fully documented by the on site photographer!

He even held on to his oar!

Unfortunately, the guide wasn't very good and they kept getting stuck on rocks, but Kevin had a blast!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures because Kevin spent a small fortune buying them :)

Mornings with Reagan

It is a shame that as mothers, we rarely get pictures taken of us.  As there is usually nobody else around, I have started to resort to lots of self portraits with my phone that are usually less than flattering, grainy, and filled with double chins and arm pits as I try to get me and a wriggling child in a picture!

These were taken around 6 AM one morning (Reagan is an early riser and Colin is a late one) and even though I haven't brushed my hair, or my teeth for that matter, I love them.

I suspect that is because I mostly only look at Reagan :)

Smiles Here and There

Colin doesn't always appreciate taking pictures while he's trying to eat a french fry!

Big brother graciously sharing his blocks with Reagan

Sometimes Kevin and I live for the weekend and our date nights.  We try to go out every weekend that we can and we finally ate at a restaurant I've been wanting to try for months - Sissy's Southern Kitchen.  The Hansens were so much fun and the food, while overpriced, was yummy.

The vibe and decor was southern cooking and hospitality meets uptown trendy retro chic.

Us gals ordered Shirley Temples  

And for dessert I got an amazing (best dish of the night) banana pudding

Kevin was only home for a day in between trips and Colin could not get enough of Daddy!

Sleeping at the park after a jog

When you take off your pants, it is important to leave your shoes on!

It was so chilly last week we enjoyed a fire.  Summer is right around the corner so it was nice to have it be cold one last time!

Reagan is still swaddled and it just reminded me of her little burrito brother. 

A Visit From Auntie Stacie

Auntie Stacie came for a visit while Kevin was at his litigation retreat in Colorado Springs.

So, of course we had to make an ice cream run

We went to the Dallas Arboretum

 We played outside and flew kites

Went on a date to Pei Wei and Yogurtland

And unsuccessfully roasted hotdogs at a bonfire. 

 It was great to have my little sister in town to help with the kids and to talk! Just like old times, we shared a room and talked late into the night about everything and nothing. And just like always, we got into a teensy bit of a fight (my fault) but that's okay! 

I love you, Stacie! Thanks for coming!

Daddy, What Doin?

When Kevin was younger, his family would house swap with his second cousins. They would get to come down to Cedar City and see the National parks, Shakespeare Festival, and all the other fun Southern Utah sights, while the Grady's would play in Provo and go to Lagoon, Seven Peaks, BYU campus and get in some decent clothes shopping (Kevin's least favorite part).

Part of the fun of staying at the Magleby's was always getting to sleep in their sons' cool beds: a race car bed and a tractor trailer bed.

From those nights spent in the "bed" of a tractor trailer (get it?), Kevin vowed to one day build his son a fun and imaginative bed.

Little did he know that his future wife also had a love of cool beds and herself slept in a pink castle bunk bed complete with slide and cubby holes until she was almost twelve.  

Thus, the tractor bed was born! 

After some back and forth deciding which type of bed to build (we considered race cars, firetrucks, boats, trucks, etc) we ordered detailed drawings of a front loader tractor bed and Kevin wasted no time in getting right to work!

We had six sheets of plywood delivered and Kevin was thrilled to make the first cut:

Cutting out the wheels using a circle router jig.

Colin's been loving all the time with Daddy.  He constantly asks, "Daddy, what doin?" to which Kevin replies that he is building his tractor bed....over, and over, and over!  "What doin, Dada?" 

He's at a really fun age where he is exploring and asking questions, and while that sometimes is annoying, it is quite endearing at the same time.

And this is where we have left off - Kevin has been travelling lately and hasn't been able to work on it, but it is really starting to come together! 

In the end, it is supposed to look like this:

Tapas Party

It doesn't happen often, but every once in a while I will catch myself and think that I am living a scene from a movie.  It usually isn't a real movie, but more like I am living something that only ever actually happens in movies.

One such moment was attending a backyard dinner party a friend of mine threw last month.

It was beautiful, to say the least, and the entire time I kept thinking that real people do not go to backyard soirees like this...

It was just lovely

From the hanging lights to the candles, flowers, delicious food (provided by all of the attendees), fun conversation, and all the tiny details, I was absolutely blown away with the loveliness of it all!

It was a party that will be hard to beat!

(And I am surely not even going to try!)

 Prepared Menus

The Lovely Ladies

 The Dapper Dans