Anderson Camping

July 15-17:

For the last two year, Nick and I have been invited but unable to go to the Annual Anderson Camping trip in July.  This year we were finally able to go and  we had such a good time!  The weather was beautiful and it was very relaxing.  My only complaint would be the massive amount of mosquitoes!  Hopefully, we will be able to go again next year!

Riggin's Rodeo

May 6 -- 8:

It was another successfull Riggin's Rodeo weekend!  On Friday, Kristen, Stephanie, and I packed up and left Boise around two o'clock.  We had heard that there was construction around Banks, so we decided to go through Weiser to get there.  It was such a prettier drive but made for an interesting trip and a fun story.  We stopped at a cute diner in Indian Lakes and I had a delicious strawberry shake.  And then, shortely afterr getting on the road again, I got pulled over for speeding!  The officier was very friendly and lucky just have me a warning, he was even willing to pose for this picture!

We made it to our annual motel, The Big Iron, and relaxed until the other girls arrived.  Nikki had the wonderful idea of getting us a new weed sprayer that we turned into "Cox and Coffey" are liquor dispenser for the rodeo.  Our neighbors tried to help us put it together, but in the end Karen and Stephanie figured it out, it was pretty hilarious! 

We finally made it "downtown" and were very sad when we saw that one of the three bars was closed down.  Our night was full of hanging out, drinking, dancing, and having fun!  Kristen, Lacy and I were troppers and ended up closing down the bars and then had an eating party in the bathroom!

On Saturday, the only one really hurting from the night before was Karen, but eventually we all got ready and took our annual truck picutre before heading to the rodeo.  We made a quick pit stop at the grocery store to fill up our weed sprayer and then finally made it to the rodeo.  The day ended up being beautiful and packed with "what happens in Riggins, stays in Riggins" stories!

St. Patrick's Day

March 17th:

Once again Anna and I, wore these oversized leprechaun hats for work!  Anna bought them over four years ago and every year it brings laugh and smiles to our patients!  They can be a little difficult to work in, but the bonus is that our heads stay nice and warm!

Later that night, Audrianna came over for the weekend.  We had fun hanging out and enjoying green food.  I had bought mint chocolate chip ice cream to have for a green dessert and Audrianna informed me that she didn't like mint, so Nick and I enjoyed some!

Chucky Cheese with Audrianna

March 24th:

Randomly, we decided to spend a few hours at Chucky Cheese.  Audrianna's eyes lighted up when we pulled into the parking lot, she was so excited to be there!  Our evening consisted of playing games and watching Audrianna play in the jungle gym! 

Kristen's Birthday

March 12th:

To celebrate Kristen's last year in her twenties, she decided to have a 70's party and karoke at the Sunshine Lounge!  We started out the evening by have food and drinks at Mariak's.  It was fun to see everyone's 70's costumes!  As you can see, Kristen was all decked out!

For Kristen's present, Kristen Elle and I got her the crazy rain-cowboy boots that she wanted and I couldn't resist to get her this Easter decoration, it flops it's ears and sings "Hip Hop Hooray."  Later that night we made our way to the Sunshine Lounge, and our night was filled with karoke singing, drinking, singing Happy Birthday, and eating mini cupcakes!

Jennifer's Birthday

March 4th:

On Friday night, we headed over to Brent and Jennifer's house to celebrate Jennifer's birthday.  As you can see, she had plenty of help opening her presents!

For her cake, I had tried an new recipe that I had got at my bridal shower (thanks Jamie).  It is chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, cool whip, and health pieces.  I thought that I had messed up while making it but it turned out to be pretty yummy and of course we didn't have much problem eating it!  

And of course the kids had fun playing with all of Brittney and Colten's toys.

Abby's 6th Birthday

February 20th:

Yes, another birthday party!  This time we were invited to Abby's party at the Fruitland Gymnastic  and Dance Center.  Unfortunately, Nick had to work all day on Saturday, so it was just Audrianna and I driving to Fruitland.  As soon as we showed up Audrianna ran off to play with Abby, Aden, Brittney, and the other kids invited to the party.  Jennifer and I spent the afternoon chasing Hannah and Colten around.  At first Hannah was a little timid of all the equipment but soon she was running, jumping, and have a great time!  Abby got to open all her presents, everyone sang happy birthday and ate cake, and she was so happy and grateful that everyone had a blast at her birthday.  After the party we went back to my parents house for pizza and to hang out for the evening!

Valentine's Day

February 14th:

Not even married for a year and already having a mellow Valentine's Day . . .which was exactly what we wanted!  We decided to celebrate by working out at boot camp, eating a Smash Burger (yes, it's a greasy as it sounds), and watching the Bachelorette!  Even though we had agreed to not get each other anything, we both ended up having a card and small gifts for each other.  Nick was a little more creative and gave me a certificate from the National Star Registry that allows me to name a star and have it registered!  I, on the other hand, knew the secret to my husbands heart was through candy so I got him a bag full of gummy candy!  We had a wonderful evening hanging out on the couch, analyzing the Bachelorette and eating Nick's candy!    

Super Bowl Party

February 6th:

Nick and I hosted a Super Bowl Party in honor of Taryn's Birthday (yes, we like to celebrate)!  It was Super Bowl XLV was between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers.  We had a pot luck consisting of lots and lots of yummy football watching food!  And, of course to make watching the game more fun, we had a little betting on the side.  Nick had made cards that had player's names written on them, anyone who wanted to play could buy two cards for a dollar, and if the player on your cards scored in the game, you won the pot of money!  It was a pretty fun game until Taryn and Kristen keep winning.  We all have a great time hanging out, eating, gambling, and watching the game.  The Black Eyed Peas half-time show was not as good as expected there was something wrong with the sound, but other the performance was amazing.  The game ended with the Packers winning 31 to 25.

Colten's 2nd Birthday

February 5th:

My little nephew, Colten, will turn two on February 7th so we celebrated his birthday at his house with a "Cars" themed party!  Opening presents went quite fast, because Colten had so many little helpers ripping through all the wrapping and bags.   

And once again, Uncle Nick got convinced to put together Colten's new toys!  After presents we tried to get a group picture of all the kids but they were too excited to start the pinata!

The kids took turns, one at a time, pulling on the strings until the pinata broke open...

And then the mad rush for candy and prizes began.  The older kids defiantly had an advantage because they knew what to expect, but it didn't take long for Colten and Hannah to figure it out!

Audrianna was thrilled about her large bag of candy!  After candy came cake time, and once again, Colten had lots of help blowing out his candles! 

We had a great time watching Colten at his 2nd Birthday party and as soon as we left Audrianna asked when we could go back!

Happy Birthday Colten!

Lane's Birthday Dinner

February 4th:

We celebrated another birthday on Friday, this time it was for Rachel's husband Lane.  We went to dinner at Cool Hand Luke's in Meridian, which is were we had our wedding "after party" back in September.  We had not been there since that night, so it was fun reminiscing about our wedding!  We sat in the bar in some very comfortable chairs (I would highly recommend them).  I had the salmon  plate which was very delicious!  Nick enjoyed steak and ribs, and a couple of  the drink special, "huckleberry lemonade."  It was great chatting and catching up with Rachel and Lane.  Rachel is 28 weeks pregnant and very excited to have little Reese in two weeks.