Hotel Holt

The last few days we had Nick's mom Linda, Aunt Elaine and Grandma Thompson visiting for a sealing, shower and a birthday. It was so fun to see them! We always joke that our house is Hotel Holt since we have people visit ALL THE TIME, but really we love it! The first night they were here we went to Tuacahn and saw The Little Mermaid. Reag and I went too. Nick had to work so we got a sitter for Hunter and had a fun Girls Night. It was a GREAT show! We got home super late but wanted to do cake anyways. Happy Birthday Linda!

The next day we went to the Dinosaur tracks in town with some cousins that were visiting.

We went to Judd's for lunch and milkshakes. Then we went to the Brigham Young Home to do the tour there. It was so fun to see all the original things of the Prophet!!!

So, just kitty-corner of the Brigham Young Home is this Bed & Breakfast. Can you read the name?! It's so perfect for the time!!! Made us laugh!!

Fun, Food & Family=Good Times!

So maybe we go a little overboard in the helmet department.... so!! No, just kidding. The kids were just playing with our riding helmets. No big deal, it was only 100 degrees outside!!

After church on Father's Day we decided to meet up with family and have a cook-out. It was LOTS of fun being with them and lots of yummy food. And really it wasn't hot, thankfully! Some of Nick's favorite things--treats, DP, family and being out in the hills.

My cute nephew and brother-in-law!! Don't they look so alike?!

My cute niece and sister!

Brandon being so good to Hunter.

Keely and Reag playing with babies. They are such good buddies!

Happy Father's Day!!

We had a great Father's Day. Nick REALLY got spoiled with a Droid, Camp Chef and new clothes and shoes. He needed all of them though, so it was good timing...well, maybe not the Camp Chef, although he would say differently! :) Nick is one of the best dads I know. Always patient and loving and spends lots of time playing with our kids. Our entire lives, Nick has been great with kids and they ALWAYS love them, right from the beginning. It was one of the reasons I fell in love with him. I never had to wonder if he would be a good dad one day. He trully is awesome and we love him so much!!!

I am also thankful for my good dad. He is a great example of kindness, service and humor!! Everyone knows and loves him. I am so thankful for the way he loves our family, especially my kiddies. He is always so good to play and love on them. They adore him for sure. I am thankful that he provided me a great example of how to be a dad so that I could look for and expect those same qualities in my spouse. Thanks Pop, WE LOVE YOU!!!

While we were gone.....

While we were gone......the kids got spoiled!!!! They had a blast all week doing fun things and now I'm lookin' like a dud! My dad and brother came over to our house and watched for us. It was SOOO lovely being able to leave them, especially when they are with family that know everything. I didn't have to write one note!!! It was fabulous! They went to our neighborhood pool and Reag used her new swim lessons skills. Hunter wore floaties and did really good with them. They went to Jumpin Jacks and had a blast!!!!! They went to the rock water and played in all the water FOREVER! Reag rode her bike without training wheels!!!!!! She's been wanting to take them off for awhile but never remembers when Nick's home so leave it to Papa to take care of that! They even planted some fruits, veggies and flowers in our backyard! They did sooo many things and had such a great time. THANK YOU THANK YOU to my dad and brother for LOVING MY KIDS SOOOO MUCH and for all of our other family too. We trully are SOOO BLESSED to have you in our lives. We know you love us and we are so thankful for you!!!Both playing their DS's. My brother has the new cool 3D one and he hooked Reag up with her DS for her birthday. Girl after his heart!

Salt Lake Fun

This past week I had a work conference in Salt Lake for 2 days so we decided to turn it into a fun family week and go up a few days early and play. Then we decided that instead of family fun, lets just make it couple fun! It.was.soooo.needed!!!!! Nick and I went up early Monday and shopped and ate ALL DAY! We went to a new craft store I wanted to check out and then we went to my FAVORITE OF ALL TIME----Gardner Village. It's the best, you have to go! We stopped at an antique store that was super cute then on to the Gateway. Pretty much, it was my day and Nick was really good about all of it. We enjoyed ourselves and took our time and no diaper bags, fishies, cups or nap schedules to worry about=heaven! I LOVE my kids, but everything was so much chiller and yet still faster! We stayed at the Anniversary Inn in SLC that night. It's a themed hotel and we always wanted to check it out, so we figured why not. We stayed in the Swiss Family Robinson Room. In the picture above, it shows the MASSIVE tub and a fun waterfall that comes down as the shower. SO COOL!!! The bed was at the top of the tree. There was even a fish tank!! We had so much fun and obviously we were really impressed with having a nice hotel--it's been awhile that we've stayed in a place with robes and cheesecake and cider. Can you tell by our faces?! We're such nerds, but we have fun!

Tuesday we met up with our cousins Ashley and Kristy and Aunt Elaine and Grandma Thompson at Lagoon. I just happened to have discount vouchers from the school for this week. It was sooo fun to ride all the coasters and NO KIDDIE rides!!!! That sounds bad, huh?! Mind you, one of my favorite vacations of all times was taking Reag to Disney a few years back so really I'm not awful. It was just fun to act like kids and do all the fun crazy rides. The last time we were at a theme park (said Disney trip) I was 6 months preg and couldn't ride fun rides and then had Hunter a month later and we haven't been to a park since so I haven't done the fun rides in a LONG time! We had a blast, but we did realize that the seats are smaller now :) and we get sorer easier!!!! Still good times had by all!

After Lagoon, we grabbed Costa Vida and went to check in at our hotel. For the school paying for it, it was really nice too with cool perks and a great bed with a down comforter! Many of you know, I'm picky and really like nice bedding so this was fab. Wednesday I was at the conference till 3:30 then we went back to the Gateway and then to Temple Square. It's always SOOOO beautiful to be there. It's so peaceful and really remarkable how all the city sounds just disappear. We ate dinner at the Lion House inside the Brigham Young home. Then we ran over to Sportsmens Warehouse. Thursday again conference until 3:30 then we went and got this......

Yep, we got a new truck....finally!!!! We've been talking about it FOREVER! We were seriously looking before we had Hunter, but then that craziness happened. And now FINALLY here we are. We saw it the night before online so while I was working, Nick went and looked at it and really loved it. We talked and I said go ahead based off the few pics he texted me. We've been talking about it for so long that we were on the same page with what we wanted. So I called to check in with him later that afternoon and he was finished up at the bank and just needed me to go sign afterwards! So pretty much I went to sign and then saw the truck after. Major TRUST!!! We love it though and were SOOO ready for something bigger. We still have the jeep, but will use this alot too. Anyways, yay!!!

All Things Thrifty

Guess What?! I was featured on All Things Thrifty!!!! I LOVE this blog and have gotten so many ideas from it--especially my master bedroom. I have loved the colors for awhile, which is completely unlike my infatuation with RED and it all started with Brooke's blog. Anyways, I wasn't sure if I would submit, but got talked into it and now I'm glad I did! Anyways, thanks for all my SUPER SWEET FRIENDS that I LOVE AND ADORE for all your support always--not just for a dumb room, but for all the other real life stuff that is constant. What would I do without you??!! You know who you are!! :)
www.allthingsthrifty.com

Master Bedroom Remodel

I decided that our master bedroom needed a MAJOR re-haul. I knew the colors and I knew I wanted to get a King bed. How in the world we've gone 9 years without one is insane!!!! We started off going yardsale-ing looking for nightstands and lamps. Here are the lamps we found.......not exactly my style, but with a little paint they'll be great! And they were $5 each!!!!!

We found this desk at an estate sale. I already had a new black desk that was great, but I LOVED the detail on this so I wanted to get it anyways and figure out what to do with it later! :) It's solid and has GREAT DETAILS. And I got it for $33!!!! Totally forgot to take a picture before. I also found our great nightstands that are way solid and old-school looking brown, but in my imagination, they were beautiful! And $15 each!!!!!!!! I forgot to take pictures of these too. :(

Love all the drawers. We really do keep it this clean. Well, it does have 2 monitors on it, but otherwise everything stays in the drawers. We even got a wireless mouse and keyboard that we bring out to use. I wish you could see the details better, it's beautiful and antiqued with brown showing through slightly.

Cute Kiddos!

Me and Hunter during Mommy-N-Me swim time. We took the class for 2 weeks and he LOVED the water but was tired of me holding him. He would try to push away from me towards the end. He thought he was sooo brave and I'm thinking, Hello you're 2 and can't swim!!!

Reag LOVED it and was so sad to be done after 2 weeks.

Hunter thinks he's so cool with his glasses the he has to wear ALL THE TIME and yet he's riding Reag's old pink tryk! Which he totally cruises on by the way. He can't reach the petals very well, so he just Flintstones it and I swear I have to about jog to keep up!!

I went in to check on the kids before lights out and this is what I found. SOOOOO CUTE!!!!!!!!

Reag had fun doing Hunter's hair. And yes, I know he needs a haircut! :)

Reag lost another tooth!!! She's losing them faster then they can grow back in. She was so excited to have the tooth fairy come and left her a sweet note asking to keep her tooth. The tooth fairy let her keep it and still left her $2, then she lost it down the drain while cleaning it! :)

Playing the DS and Hunter just watching nicely.

LOVE these cute kids, especially when they're acting like this!!! HEAVEN!

Reagan loves her "silly socks". She has lots of different kinds. She had on these princess ones and Hunter wanted some on too so they got these. They don't match, but hey they're happy!! Nick on the other hand...... :)

Ok, so now I'm gonna post some fun stories and things they've said so feel free to skip along since I do realize it's never as funny to other people like it is to the parents!

• Driving in the car, the radio says Lady Gaga and Reag says "Lady Gaga! She's weird!" (She saw her on Oprah.) I kinda laughed because I didn't really think that she noticed those things or that if she does, that she would then put it together again later. It did give me the opportunity to talk with her about differences and how it may seem weird, but not to judge, etc. Anyways, too funny!



• Driving today and kids are watching movie quietly. Hunter sees a motorcycle outside and yells "MOTORCYCLE!!!" soooo loud we all jumped. Reag says, "Mom, Hunter made my heart stop" so calmly. Me too Reag!!



• My dad was here and he and Reag were putting a toy together and it was taking time and Reag was being super patient. Then he says he's not sure if he can do it all, it might take more time. She says "are you kiddin' me smalls?!" Oh my word, I about fell off my chair laughing!!!! Nick and I say that, but not all the time. She must store EVERYTHING we say!!!!!
  


• Hunter is really good about folding his arms and being quiet for prayers. The other night I was sooo pooped and got kids in bed and we skipped prayers and I was okay with it not wanting to get them back out again. (Not good, I know!) As I'm walking out of Hunter's room, he says "prayers, prayers". It was such a FABULOUS reminder of what's really important and how sweet these little Spirits are. A few days later at church, it was testimony meeting and Hunter was sitting there. He heard the end of one testimony and folded his arms and said Amen. He must have thought it was prayers. So like for the next 5 testimony's we all folded our arms like a prayer and said Amen. It was too cute!



• Ever since school got out, we have been super busy with extra gymnastics classes and swim lessons and family and projects, etc that I was feeling pretty good to just chill and stay around the house one day about a week or so after school was out. Reag comes over to me and says "Mom, when does school start?" Seriously, already asking?!!!!!! I couldn't believe it!!!!!!!! I've since planned more things.