Family Pics

Thanksgiving weekend we had some family pictures taken by our family friend Sean Huntington. We did a session with just Cory, Goose, and I and then my mom got the rest of the family together so she could get some family pictures taken too. He did a great job and I'm so happy with how they all turned out! 

Tis The Season

My sweet friend Heather Lee kindly reminded me that I haven't updated my blog in a while. So, I figured I better update it before I get too far behind.

Like everyone else, we've been happily busy with the holidays...

The week of Thanksgiving my little brother Jake came home from his mission in Denmark. We are so happy to have him home, especially just before the holidays!  My Aunt Ria even came in from California to see him so we were all glad to have her here as well. 

Also Thanksgiving weekend, Cory's good friend Lance (basically his brother) had his sister visit from California. I had never met Becky and Cory hadn't seen her in years so it was a treat for us all to get together and to listen to them talk about memories with each other. 

After Thanksgiving we all started getting ready for Christmas. Lucy loved the cold weather and getting bundled up to walk the neighborhood and look at Christmas lights. 

And of course it just wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't visit the temple to look at their wonderful lights! 

A week or so before Christmas there was a big Christmas party at the clinic I work at. It was a family party so we took Kenna, Kai, and Goose with us. They got to meet Santa, have fun in a petting zoo, play with snow, and meet Bumblebee. It was a really fun time!

This year we were lucky enough to have Cory's parents come down from Pinetop to spend Christmas with us. Lucy adores her Grandma and Grandpa McElprang and it was fun to have them there when she opened her presents, especially now that she's getting older and actually likes opening up presents! 

The day after Christmas we headed down to Mexico for a few days of fun in the sun. After the busy holidays it was nice to get out of town and have some time to just fish, sit on the beach, eat some tacos, read a book, and RELAX! Lucy Absolutely loved the beach and would constantly point to the ocean and sign "more". She could not get enough of it! 

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season as well! 

Jolley Family Reunion

The first week in August we were able to go up to Pinetop for a week for the anual Jolley family reunion. It was nice to get out of the heat for a while and enjoy some fresh mountain air. Lucy had a blast getting to spend a ton of time with her Nana, Papa, Grandma Delma, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

I think my parents loved having all the grandkids around too!

Of course we have to play a game of cards when we all get together

We were able to spend an afternoon up at Love Lake

And took some nice walks

Lucy was able to meet Cory's best friend's mom, Gwen

Bathtime for Lucy & Brock!

Cory and I had a chance to go to the Snowflake Temple with Sam and Nicole

It was such a nice, relaxing week. We were sad that it went by so fast and cannot wait until the reunion next year. In the meantime, we are just trying to survive this crazy heat!



gotta love me some lip gloss!

Down East Basics is having a great giveaway right now. Just check out their blog for a chance to win a set of What's Your Virtue? lip gloss. I love that all the lip gloss names are wholesome and uplifting. LOVE IT!



California Vacation

Last week Cory, Goosey, and I were able to spend a few days in California with my family. It was a very last-minute trip but it ended up being very fun. We drove down with Sam, Nicole, and cute little Bug and enjoyed every second of the non-scorching weather.

Of course we had to walk on over to the beach (although to be honest I'm not a big fan of California beaches....I think I'm too spoiled with the beach in Mexico). Lucy loved it though!

One day we decided to go to the Birch Museum. I hadn't been there since I was 12 and we'd gone for an ELP field trip, so I remember I liked it but wasn't sure if it would still be as good. It turned out to be so much fun!

Can you tell Lucy LOVES water!?

Lucy could not get enough of the different kinds of fish. All she wanted to do was pat on the glass at all the fish going by. She was mesmerized!

One day we were able to go over and check out the Mormon Battalion Museum. The presentation felt like a mini Disneyland ride but it was actually pretty fun. I was surprised at how much Lucy enjoyed it. Truthfully I was a little worried that she might be a little bored out of her mind (actually I thought that might be the case for me too). Fortunately it was a really fun place!

At the end of the tour we got to pan for gold. I was horrible at it and Lucy just wanted to play in the water.

We also had the chance to walk around the San Diego temple. I hadn't been there since the open house when I was little so I was excited to go back. Unfortunately we had the Goose with us so we weren't able to do a session but it was still really nice and peaceful to walk around the grounds.

Overall it was a fantastic trip. We loved being able to sit back and relax and spend some time with the family. It's just a bummer that summer is almost over.