Time Flies

As many of you already know, we have completed our move to Utah. It has been about three weeks now. I have been putting off blogging, because we have been se busy day-to-day. We are living in Provo now with Jason's parents, his little brother and sister. We were able to clear out two rooms for Griffin and us. Griffin's room is a creamy yellow that looks great with his decor we already had. Our room is pretty large, and we are comfortable here. Almost every day, after Griffin and I wake up, Jason's dad comes downstairs and greets us. He always tells me to go back to sleep so he can spend his morning one-on-one time with Griffin. Sometimes I do go back to sleep, others I do my chores. I try everyday to help Jason's mom around the house. I try by doing laundry, tidying up, doing the the dishes, running errands, and doing some busy work in their office. The weather here is beautiful! I cannot get enough of the beautiful backdrop that is my backyard. The best part is my days are open. I am pretty free to do whatever I want. We don't have a lot of money, so I usually just hang out around the house and try to organize our rooms more. I would love to catch up with more people. 

Here is a little bit more info about what we have been up to lately:

We were taking a drive through Springville one day and we saw a Sno Shack. Jason said that he thinks they have the best snow cones around, so we decided to stop and get one. They had so many flavors, I didn't know what to choose! Jason said one summer, someone had put one in front of the car wash his family used to own and he tried a new flavor each day. He got black cherry, his favorite. I got black raspberry. It was only a dollar for the small and it was so good! He was right. So now I am on an Icee kick. Last night I requested that Jason pick me up a Slurpee from 7-11. I forgot how good they are!! 

I have been spending a lot of time at my Grandma's house. She lives about three minutes away from Jason on Main Street in Orem. Their yard is so beautiful, and I love sitting outside with her and chatting. She has a great porch swing that Griffin loves. Every time he sits on it with me, he gets so relaxed. He even took a nap on there once.  My Grandma has been in out of the hospital lately, so I know she enjoys it when I come see her. I try to bring her a treat each time, because she and my Grandpa have a total sweet tooth. Yesterday we went and Griffin had tons of fun. He crawled around the whole house (their house is very small, but spacey) and he got to sit in the grass and play with hose and yes, get soaked. My Grandma showed him some snails and baby birds, and I tried to teach him how to suck on a Honeysuckle. I plan to spend many more days there.

I also have been going to the Orem Cemetery. This does sound creepy I know, but it is so serene there. I first went there when we barely got up here to go see my Great Grandma and Grandpa's plot.  That first day we went, my dad called me. He said that my other Grandparents (his parents) were having a party for their 60th Wedding Anniversary at the Senior Center in Orem. It was perfect timing. I got to see my dad, my step-mom, one of my brothers, and my little niece and nephew. Also, all of my cousins were there that I haven't seen in forever. 

The second time I went to the cemetery was last Monday, June 9th. That date is my great Grandpa June's birthday. My great Grandparents practically raised me. They were my second set of parents and I spent a lot of time at their house. I went to school from their house and I met my best friend next door. I even met my husband next door to them almost nine years ago. So, it is important to me to go visit them. Also, I put Griffin on the grass with me and he just sits and stares. It is so nice. 

On Saturday, May 31st, one of my best friends got married. I met my friend Becca in first grade. She lives in the same north Orem neighborhood as I once did. She got married to Cameron Cox and her wedding was beautiful. She did it in tones of purple. She likes me enough to make me a bridesmaid, and I was thrilled to share this day with her. Jason and I went to the ceremony alone, then went and picked up Griffin for the reception. Becca's friend Brooke and her husband and their little one, Kaydance were also there and their little girl is around Griffin's age. They played together a lot. I loved being able to see Becca's mom and dad, and her brother. They are a part of my childhood I will never forget.  Also, which was really cool, was my old Girl Scout leader came to the reception. It was fun.

When we first arrived I started noticing all the signs for the Parade of Homes. Immediately I knew I had to go and this would be my perfect chance. I asked Jason about it, but I assumed he would decline. Little did I know, he would end up loving it too. We bought our tickets last Saturday and have been visiting some of the 28 homes throughout the week. It is so much fun. Today is the last day, so I'm sad because we could not see the last 7 or 8 homes because Jason had to work, and I didn't want to take Griffin by myself. (And I would have to Map Quest them all because I am stupid and I don't think Jason really wants me to go without him). There have been about four homes that were absolutely amazing. Our favorite was 12,950 square feet and included a movie room, a craft room, six bedrooms, seven baths, a pool, a huge yard, the best master bedroom, the neatest kitchen and an indoor basketball court. It was beautiful. 

In Arizona, Mexican Food is a staple. I have totally been on a Mexican kick since I have been here and I have gone to Costa Vida twice. I love it. They give me strange looks when I order my food without meat, but I told them to get used to it because it will be a regular occurrence. Mi Ranchito is Jason's favorite and I like it okay, but I am in love with Costa Vida. I'm all about freshness. Its no Chipotle or Macayo's but it will do for now.

We have been very fortunate to be able to spend a lot of time with our family and friends while we are here. I have only seen one cousin (from my mom's side) and her son so far, but I hope to see them all while I can. They all live in Emery County, so it is a must to take a few days to go there. My cousin Chantel is about three years younger than me I think, but we were pretty close growing up. Her son is Xeke and he is about 18 months. They were hanging out at my Grandma's one day, so I joined them. Even just hanging out in the backyard with family is so fun for me. I especially love that it doesn't get dark until about 9pm.
Jason has two dogs. Smokey and Chance. I don't know what kind of dogs they are because I don't know that much about dogs. But Chance is old and Smokey is young, I do know that. Griffin LOVES the dogs. He loves every dog and cat. He literally squeals in delight when he sees them. I try to take them on a walk with me whenever I can. I can't take both of them, but sometimes Jason or his sister joins me and we take them both. Griffin just sits in the stroller with his little head popped out the side the whole time to make sure the dogs are by him. I'm not much of a dog person, but it is so cute to see them with Griffin. Don't get me wrong, I like dogs and all, but I don't do well with the slobber.  P.S. That dog in the picture looks nothing like these dogs and that girl is far cry from what I look like for sure (notice her tiny waist). But I thought she was really cute and hey, she does have brown hair.
Our yard here in Provo is very big. Jason's parents purchased the lot next to their house a couple of years after they moved in, then they fenced it and made into a big yard. They have a basketball court and a trampoline. Lately, all kinds of little kids from the neighborhood have been coming over many times a day to ask if they can jump on the tramp. But there are some kids in particular, that I have grown to like. Every time they come over, they ask politely. They never let the dogs out, and they keep and eye on their little sister. The little girl's name is Liliana, and she has taken a liking to me. I asked her mom once if I could take her to the park, and she said yes. So I took her there with Griffin and brought her fruit snacks and a Capri Sun. She was in heaven. She was very chatty. She likes me a lot, she said because I am a girl and she doesn't always want to play with her brothers. I call her Lily, and she is just three years old. Now, from time to time, she rings the doorbell every 5 minutes bringing me "gifts." She has brought me all the newspapers every day, a basket, a toy, flowers, a wrapper, and a water gun. Sometimes I have to beg her to go home because I am busy, but she pulls at my heart strings. I don't think she gets very much attention at home, so I have taken her under my wing. I'm home all day anyway, why not?
Jason's little brother is 17 and he goes to Provo High. He is on the baseball team and is playing Summer Ball too. We have only gone to one game so far, but I foresee us going to many. It was pretty fun. Jason's family are HUGE baseball fans, so they are very involved. It was a chilly evening, but it was fun because all of us were there. After the game, Jason took his brother out to the field to throw. Griffin and I got to explore the bleachers (he will scale anything these days) and then we watched Jason hit as his dad threw to him. Griffin gets a lot of attention anyway, but when we go to games, his grandparents really like to show him off.
Jason and I went to see the Sex and the City movie and I loved it. I was a little surprised to learn that Jason liked it too, being as he has never even seen one episode. I am not a SATC fanatic, but I have seen the show, and I do enjoy it. I thought they did the movie perfectly. Any fan of it will be delighted. We also went to Winger's about a half an hour beforehand so I could get some Cosmos. It was a great evening. I will go see it again with anyone who has not gone and their husbands won't go! Or they just want to see it. (;

Almost every day I take Griffin for a walk along the path next to the Provo River. There is also two great parks too. One of them is the Paul Ream Wilderness Park. It is seriously like right behind Jason's street. I love taking Griffin for a walk there because it always seems breezy and there is always people on it. There is a duck pond over the bridge too. And, at the park, they have baby swings, so we have to stop and do that too. I love it.

Last night we actually met some new people. Our old friend's Meagan and Geoff and their two kids, Kaison and Kameron came over. They brought their friends, Seth, his wife Jade and their kids Jessica and Jordan. We ordered Pizza Hut and played pool and foosball of course let the kids run around the house and the yard. The kids were ages 6, 5, 2, 11 months and 7 months, so it was very loud and we were chasing them all around. But we had a great time. Jason grew up with Geoff, so he is one of his best friends. Meagan and I actually met Geoff and Jason at the same time in the summer of 1999. It is funny to me that we both ended up marrying them, years later. We should definitely hang with them all again, the kids had a great time, I think.

Well, just so you know, yes I do have pictures of many of these events. Duh, I mean I carry my camera with me in my purse everywhere. But, we have not been able to locate our device that connects to from the camera to the computer just yet, so I can't share. But, hopefully very soon that will be found so I can update with some cutie pie pics of Griffin.