My LITTLE obsession

On our quick trip home a couple weeks ago, one of my most favorite parts was seeing my little man. Cooper is absolutely adorable, which should explain the reason I took over 300 pictures of him in just over 24 hours of being with him. I even "dibbsed" him a couple weeks before coming home so that everyone knew he was mine all day Saturday. I ended up sharing him for a little while, but we spent some good quality time together. We played hide-n-go-seek and blew bubbles. I also fed, bathed, and put him to bed. He's my little buddy! And during it all, I snapped many many shots. I wish I could put them all on here because I love them all, but since that would take forever and whoever reads this probably isn't as obsessed with him as me (except Alyssa of course), I have picked some of my favs.

Happy Birthday Elder Murphey!

Tyler's 20th birthday was last Sunday, June 14th. We miss Ty and wanted to celebrate for him since we couldn't celebrate with him. We made a cake with orange sprinkles and had orange balloons (his fav color). Tyler is loving Guatemala and is an amazing missionary and we are proud of him. We love our Elder Murphey!

My First Hair Cut

Last week was my first time cutting hair all by myself! I have had my mom teach me over and over again how to cut boys hair, but I wasn't confident enough to do it without her help until last week. Curt has cut his own hair for years, but I thought that I would give it a try (that way I could choose how long I wanted it to be :) I didn't take an after picture, but not because I butchered it...just because I forgot to! I only made one little mistake so his sideburns are a bit shorter than he would like, but hey..not bad for my first time! He's one good lookin man!

Rainbow Revolution

I love rainbows! I'm not a fan of rain, except for when the rain produces rainbows. Curt didn't quite have as much enthusiasm as I (i.e. he didn't jump up and down and run outside with me), but we still did enjoy the beauty of the earth together as we captured a few pictures. I firmly believe that cameras should have a rainbow setting because every picture I took just didn't do it justice!

Con"grad"ulations!

Curt's younger brother, Greg, and my younger brother, Troy both graduated from high school on Saturday. It was so fun to be there for the festivities! The actual graduation was only an hour which was the perfect length! :) Congrats Troy and Greg and we know you will both be successful in the paths you pursue!

My family


Curt's Family

Priceless!

2 New tires: $200
1 Alignment: $50
1 Muffler: $303
2 CV joints: $315
1 Starter: $308
Making it to Spokane in time for dinner (and Graduation): PRICELESS!

As you can see, we have had a month of not-so-fun unexpected expenses. They say when it rains it pours! I don't know about you, but I can think of many other things I would rather spend $1200 on rather than new car parts...but as luck would have it, that wasn't meant to be! In preparation for driving to Spokane, we got some things fixed on the car and thought we were ready for the drive. We got in the car to head up to Bountiful for a little jump start so we could leave early the next day when the car started to play tricks on us. It didn't start the first time, but then did the second so we didn't pay too much attention to it even though it had never done it before. I could make this a really long story, but let's just say after a lot of worrying (might I even say freaking out on my part :), we made it to Idaho Falls where instead of a quick bathroom stop and fill-up, we spent 3 hours and $300 dollars on a starter. But even with all that, the truth is we are grateful that we were still able to make it home with only a few hours lost...It really could have been a lot worse, so in hind-sight, we counted our blessings. It was a super quick trip home, but so very worth it!

Millie the Cutie!

Curt's family had a reunion in Boise this past weekend. He begged his family the whole week before to bring Millie so he could meet her, and he got his way! She is a maltese chihuahua and is just so cute! She slept in her kennel in the room we stayed in and I took her out in the mornings to take care of business (while Curt pretended to be sleeping), and then she when she came back in she was all about play. We had lots of fun playing with her!! I have always been anti dogs, but..well, we'll just have to wait and see. Maybe someday...

Picnic Not in the Park

Since I got home from WA on Sunday and Curt and I hadn't seen each other for 3 weeks, we wanted to have a fun date. We wanted to have a picnic at the park, but because Curt had class till 6:30 and it was the season finale for Dancing with the Stars at 7, we had to improvise. Instead of a park, we had a picnic in the living room, complete with chicken tenders, pasta salad, cookie salad (Curt's fav), and watermelon. It was a fun picnic and I'm so glad to be home with Curt!

Speaking of being home with Curt, when we got home from the airport Sunday night, the house was spotless, and there were roses on the table and a sweet note. Curt is an amazing husband and I'm so grateful for him! Since he doesn't have class on Tuesday, we were able to spend the whole day together! First, we went scrub shopping, and he helped me pick out lots of cute ones! We then went and saw Grandpa Barnes and went out to lunch with him at Lambs Cafe in downtown Salt Lake. We took a little afternoon nap at Grandpa's house, helped him with some things he needed and then headed out to dinner. We ate at a Greek restaurant called Dasks in Holladay. We had gyros that were delicious, and had fun celebrating 10 months of marriage! The pic is of us with Baklava, a Greek dessert. It wasn't our fav..we're more of the chocolate lover type!

Projects Galore!

While at home, my mom and I were able to work on some projects that I/we had been wanting to do for a while. I wouldn't consider myself a crafty person, but I loved working on these and I loved the feeling of satisfaction with each finished project. Hopefully these are a few of the many projects to come...

1. Magnet Board- My dad made this for me for Christmas, but it needed painted and spiced up. So I painted it black, then my dad sanded the edges and stained them for me. I think it looks great! And since my mom had a ton of wooden shapes in her craft closet, I painted some different pieces for holidays and attached magnets. I am so excited to hang it up in our home!


2. Family Proclamation Frame- My mom gave me The Living Christ version of this, but I have been wanting to make the Proclamation to the Family one with our wedding photos. It was super fast and easy to make. I love that it brings back so many memories and also reminds Curt and I of the values we want to teach our children.


3. Happy Easter Blocks- My mom bought a pattern to make these a while back, and we finally got around to it! (A little late for this year, but I'm excited to put it our next year.) This project was a bit time consuming since we made several sets, but to make one set it doesn't take too long. We also did the same pattern on the back but with the word "SPRING" instead so it can't be displayed for even longer. Super cute and fun! (Pleas excuse the upside-down "S")


4. SUMMER Blocks- Since we were in the block mood, I wanted to make a set for Summer and I thought a watermelon theme would be really cute. I love the colors that I found digging through my mom's scrapbook paper, and just a little plug, the Cricut machine is amazing! The watermelons turned out very cute and we love the finished product!


If anyone has any cute, fun, and easy craft projects, let me know. I doubt my excitement for crafts will last too long so I have to try to keep it alive for as long as possible!

Late Mother's Day Thoughts

I'm home sweet home back to Provo after a 3 week long trip to my other home in Spokane. Curt says I can't have two homes but I call them both home, so I guess he's wrong :) It was nice to be home to take care of my mom and to see my family. My parents were down here for graduation, but my mom wasn't doing well. We went straight from the airport in Spokane to the emergency room, followed by 6 days in the hospital. No fun! But I'm glad I was there to keep her company since hospitals are not the most fun places. She had her 4th round of chemo (1/3 done!) on Wednesday, and they lowered her dose. Since she was ending up in the hospital after every dose, I think that was a good call!

I never posted an ode to my mom on Mother's day, but everyone should know that she is an amazing woman! I'm really not sure if I could make it through what she is going through, but she is handling it all with determination. She is the most unselfish mother and would do anything for her kids. I know it's hard for her to rely on others during this trial, but I can feel the strength of her testimony. The outpouring of love from our ward and neighbors has been truly amazing! I am deeply grateful that I know she is being taken care of even when I cannot be there.

Mom- Thank you for your strength and the inspiration you are to me. Thanks for maintaining your sense of humor even when you can barely stand up. Thanks for loving me unconditionally and for teaching me that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only source of true happiness. Thanks for coming to my graduation, but even if you hadn't, I still would have known how much you love and support me, because you have done so my entire life. Thanks for being the greatest example of a mother that anyone could ask for! You're my hero!