The Zoo

I took last Monday off of work so that Sasha and I could go to the zoo with Aunti Pam and cousins Mcartny and Paige. We had a lot of fun and Sasha loved the animals! She gets so excited, it just makes me laugh.

It was a good day at the zoo . . . a lot of the animals we saw were pretty active so we actually got to watch them doing something rather than just sit there. We'll definitely be going back soon!

Sasha, Paige and Mcartny

Pam, aka Giselle (from Enchanted), she actually got the bird to hop up on her fingers, it was pretty funny!

Measuring up against the gorilla's

Riding the carousel. Sasha loved it!

And finally the train. I think it was a little bit of sensory overload for Sasha, but at least she didn't cry!

This is a cute video of Sasha watching the Monkeys. She gets so excited about animals! Of course as soon as she realized that the camera was on she got much quieter. Little stinker!

Run Forrest! RUN!

Last weekend Josh competed in his first marathon- the Park City Marathon. Arguably one of the most difficult marathons in Utah to run because of all the hills and steep terrain. But he had a blast! He finished 12th in his age group and 45th over all.

Last few steps to the finish line

Eeewww, he's all sweaty!

"Dang alligator bit my hand off!" Name that movie!! Sasha's hand in this picture just reminded me of that and made me laugh. She's actually in the middle of waving. (It's Happy Gilmore, in case you were wondering. Chubbs, the guy with the wooden hand)

Yet another great Scrapbooking site with great deals:
https://www.cropchocolate.com/

Thanks Rachel!

Project Runway

This is my #1 favorite show and it starts up again tonight!!!! I am so excited!

My #2 favorite show of the moment started last night, so it's been a good week. If it weren't for Project Runway moving to Lifetime, I would keep my TV permanently locked on Bravo. Oh well. I guess I have to give the remote something to do.

And to top it all off, I'm taking Friday and Monday off of work for a nice, relaxing four day weekend! I'll tell you all about it next week. It's going to be fabulous! It's okay to be jealous. ;)

I had a birthday shout HOORAY!

On the 11th I turned the big 2-8! Just in case you were wondering, 28 is NOT over the hill!

Josh bought the balloons and SWEARS that this balloon said Happy Birthday when he took it out of the bin. :) I still love him.

Okay, so 28 isn't really that big a deal, but I like birthdays. They are fun to celebrate and should always be a big deal. It's the one day out of the year that you are more special than everyone else.

I started the day with a Sea Salt Scrub and massage at the Garden Day Spa. SO NICE! I have never had anything like this before but you can bet that I will be doing it every chance I get! Then I got a pedicure, had some lunch and just sort of wandered through town aimlessly. I loved it!

That night I met up with some friends and family at one of my favorite restaurants- CHARLIE CHOW'S!!!! I love this place! If you haven't been there, you really should go. Good Chinese food!

It was a great party with Dave, Ann, Mason, Madilyn, Steve, Whitney, Jake, Wes, Wendi, Vincent, Josh, Sasha, Chris and my mom!

Thanks everyone for making my birthday great!

I got a sewing machine from my mom so you can bet that I am on my way to becoming not just crafty, but SUPER crafty! I'm excited to get it set up and start using it!!!

"Aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies"

Last Friday we took a trip to the Davis County Fair. Sasha LOVES animals so we thought it would be fun for her. She went absolutely crazy! Here's a few of the fun pics . . .

I am totally in love with shetland ponies! They are the cutest things ever!!!

She really wanted to touch the goats, but everytime one would get its mouth near her she would start to squeal and flap her arms so the goats got scared!

Four Generations

Saturday Sasha and I went to my mom's for lunch and then to a movie with my Grandma for her birthday. We thought it was a good opportunity for a four generation picture. I love my mom and Grandma and everything they have taught me. I can't wait for them to pass it along to Sasha. She loves her Grandmas!

Cathcing up

Time for some updates. More China pictures will be coming soon, as soon as I can get Josh to tell me the stories behind the pictures. You know, more than just "this is a place we went in China that had this stuff." He's goofy. :)

My brother Ryan and his family came into town last week for my SIL's grandmother's wedding. It was so good to see them! They have been living near Buffalo, NY while my brother is going to school. We didn't think we'd get to see them this year so we were so happy when this opportunity came up for them. Of course I didn't take nearly enough pictures, but I'm sure Des will post some on her blog when she finally has the time.

Bubbles with G-Pat

Cousins Sasha and Violette. V is only 5 days older than Sasha. Des bought these cute matching outfits for them so we were glad to get the chance to put the girls in them side by side, instead of just comparing pictures. Sasha is a couple inches taller than Violette, but V has about 6 pounds on Sasha. They were pretty cute playing together.
I just loved Sasha's face in this one!

Me, Sasha and cousing Penelepe

Josh's Aunt Gwen moved to Colorado a few years ago but this week she has come back to visit so we had a picnic on Wednesday night with all of Josh's family and some of Gwen's kids at a park in Centerville. It was great to see Aunt Gwen, it's been a long time. Uncle John had to stay home. The poor guy- he has alzheimer's and it would have been very difficult for him to travel. So Aunt Gwen checked him into a rest home while she is gone so that he will be well taken care of.

Aunt Gwen has a little dog, not sure what kind it is, but Sasha is in love with animals! She was playing with the little puppies and squealing! Then Josh's brother brought their dog Harley to play at the park and Sasha squealed even more! It's too cute! Saturday morning we went for a walk and she dogs acrossed the street. She sat up in her stroller and started squealing again! I can't wait to take this kid to the zoo!

Sasha loves it when Grandpa Howard plays the guitar or banjo and sings to her. She just stares at him, then when he's done she gets the biggest grin on her face! Melts his heart everytime.
A rare Lakin family photo. Funny how when you try to plan these things out they never work. Well, we all ended up at the park and realized that everyone was there just before it got too dark so we hurried and snapped a picture. Not the most glamorous but hey, it proves we were all in the same place at the same time. With Paige back east at school and everyone going a million different directions with work, school and kids it can be kind of tough sometimes. So we take what we can get.
Saturday we went to Lowe's and went a little nuts. We've been talking about what we could possibly add to our backyard to make it that much cooler and we decided we needed a fire pit. So we bought a fire pit. And a hammock. And some chairs. And some patio furniture covers for the outdoor furniture. But in our defense, most of it was on sale. SO if you want/need some patio furniture- go to Lowe's! It's all 50% off right now so its a great deal!

Here's me and Sasha, chillin in the hammock.

Then we invited Howard and Lily over to make S'mores by the fire. It was fun. We decided the fire pit was the perfect addition to the backyard. So come on over anytime, there's always something to do at our house!