Is it really June?

Holy cow this year is going by fast! The older I get the faster the years seem to go. Probably because I spend most of my time working. :P

We have been having some fun around here . . . I'm about halfway done with the nightstands I'm working on. That is taking longer than I expected. Not because I am doing something really cool to them or using some new method of painting or decorating, but because I am a slacker. And because I have an 18 month old that doesn't want to just sit and watch mommy spray paint. I tried to explain to her how it can be fun to get high off toxic fumes, but she just wasn't listening. I worked on them a bit tonight but of course, I ran out of primer. What. Ever.

So on to the fun stuff. Yesterday my nephew Jared was baptized. It was really cool to be there and watch him have that experience. It was especially cool to hear my brother-in-law talk and bear his testimony. Josh and his brother are a lot alike and bearing their testimonies is not something you hear them do often (cause, you know, big tough guys like them can't show their emotions too often, it would hurt their image). But when they do bear them, they are pretty awesome and pretty powerful.

The next part of my day was very fun also. My sister Mandi and two of her friends have birthdays in June. Colin and I co-hosted the party at my house to let Mandi have a bit of a break this year. If you know Mandi you know that she is a lot like me and sometimes we have a hard time delegating. So Colin had the idea of taking the party off her hands so that she could enjoy the day and not be so stressed. We BBQ'd burgers. One guest was shocked to see me, a girl, at the grill. I had to explain that in this house, I AM the grill master- thank you, daddy for passing along those skills. :) Everyone brought lots of yummy food and we just chilled outside, talked and ate. It was a lot of fun!

A few pics . . . in totally random order

The yummy cakes. This picture does not do justice to Rachel's completely awesome poke cake (the white one). It was so freakin yummy! My chocolate cake looked pretty and tasted . . . well, like chocolate cake. Not gross, but not fantastic either.

The three stooges . . . Mandi, Ryan and Kelly (just noticed that Sasha is in the background trying to open one of the birthday presents. No, my kid is not spoiled, not one little bit)

The birthday kids, Mandi (29), Kelly (30) and Yunuen (29)

Rachel, Mandi's friend Angie and I went in on an iPod for Mandi. Below is the box it was wrapped in. You can imagine the process to get from this . . .

. . . to this . . . .

Awesome wrapping job Rachel!!!

There goes Sasha to play in the dirt.
According to my nephew Oliver, it is not a birthday party unless you have a pinata. And this is what happens when you give a three year old a Louisville Slugger. Carrie Underwood's got nothin' on Ethan!

Whitty and Scuba-Steve- always the life of the party!

Mandi and Ryan

From left- Deanna, Truly, Mandi and Chrissy

After all that, I still had energy, can you believe it? Josh and I met up with the Gwynn's for dinner and a movie. It was perfect to top off such a busy day on a date with my husband!

And then this morning we discovered we had mold in the basement. No bueno.