3rd Year Anniversary

3 years with my sweetheart has FLOWN. I LOVE being married to Vic. If any of you know him very well, he is the biggest sweetheart, always thinking of others (especially me), and a true romantic at heart which is hard to find these days. We always give each other the traditional wedding gifts & this year was "LEATHER". I gave Vic a leather baseball book to remind him of the Braves baseball game I let him go to last weekend and he gave me this gorgeous leather purse :) I'm so glad he figured out that it was about the only thing I'd want that was leather!

To CELEBRATE I made Vic his favorite breakfast, banana cream pie and after work had his 1st professional massage booked for him. He loved it, I'm so glad I found someone good! After that we went down by the river then ate at Canyon Crest. It had a great view & the weather was perfect, but I forgot to take a picture! Then we went to LAS VEGAS for the weekend which ended up being twice as fun as I planned! I had looked up a lot of stuff online, but I figured we still have too much time to look around. Not so, there is NEVER ENDING things to do in Vegas! The first night we stayed on the strip & went to the "V ultimate variety show" which was so good. It had comedy, dancing, acrobatics, flying guys, and magic tricks. I haven't laughed that hard in awhile & loved hearing Vic laugh just as hard :) We wanted to see all of the night shows outside of the hotels & didn't end up getting back to our hotel until 2am!

The next day we slept in, had a yummy lunch & Vic unsuccessfully tried his luck at poker while I went shopping for our new BABY BOY! That's right we found out right before we left. Vic is beside himself with excitement! I was hoping for a girl, but a boy will be fun too :) The little guy wouldn't look at the camera, but here is a profile.

Vegas has never ending shopping & I wish I would have had 5 more hours to do more! After shopping we met back up & went to a magic show which was cool, but this guy was such a cheeser (not near as good as the night before). Anyway, we watched that then had just enough time to get down to our next show "The Mentalist". It's the true guy that they've made the show after because he can read people's minds. It is a totally crazy talent & he even had Vic stand up & told him his full name even though there is no way he could have known that! It was so good & I was so tempted to buy his DVD & book! After that show we went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner & I wish we had one of those near us. It was so yummy! I love their huge menu.

We then went & checked into the Ritz Carlton & it was so fancy. I'd stay there again every time if I could afford it. They definitely know how to pamper their guests, plus they have the nicest rooms too :) Here is a picture of their cute little shopping village. I felt like I was in the movie Beauty & the Beast.

Here is the Lagoona that we spent a ton of time in after a huge beautiful breakfast. It was so much fun & the sand was the perfect texture.

After that we spent more time playing in the pool. It was everything I love.... little cabana boys going around wiping off people's sweat for them, taking their orders, and hot sun. It was the next best thing to being on the beach!

Here is the view from our room. I planned on renting a boat & playing on the lake, but we ran out of time!

Overall, an AMAZING weekend with my AMAZING husband of three years.

Backyard Makeover

This spring I decided to do a major makeover to our backyard. It all started with the fact that Vic promised me a gazebo with outdoor couches, but I was trying to figure out how to have that, an area to BBQ, & a table in the shade... so this is what we wound up with!

Here is an upclose shot of our wall that took a million loads of dirts, bushes, & plants. You can hardly see the bushes because my flowers are growing so well!

Here is the BEFORE PICTURE taken from the existing deck.

And here is the AFTER PICTURE

Here is how ugly & plain the back of our house looked...
...and the much improved back of the house!
I couldn't play with the backyard & not touch the front so here is the BEFORE

...and here is the AFTER picture.

And last, but not least.... I am so proud to say that the only thing I did for this garden was cut up the grass & put in the retaining wall around the outside. Vic did all of the tilling, planting, & weeding. He loves vegetable gardens & I told him it was all his. I didn't think he'd really do it & he had a late planting start, but it's growing good & I'm so proud of him!

My Pride & Joy

I feel like I've been the busiest bee ever lately trying to finish up a zillion projects & here are a few of them. I started this blanket for Vic's anniversary gift last year & figured I'd better finish it before our next anniversary! It took so much time that I think it will be my first & last pieced together quilt, but Vic was DYING to have a huge levi quilt so I couldn't help but spoil him ;) It's huge & covers my entire front room floor!

This project took MUCH less time & was so much more gratifying! I hated the color of our fireplace so I dyed it the same color as the wood on our couches & it tied the room together nicely. Here is a before & after.

...and here are the little joys in my life. We went to Idaho Falls for the 4th so here I am holding baby Kiersten & Kara is sitting next to me. They were so much fun to be with! (Katie, Becky, & Mom in the background are joys too!)

Here we are doing sparklers. This picture would be perfect if you could see all of tiny Kiersten (on the left) holding a firework! It was so adorable until she set it on her head!