Adventures in House Hunting

Since Cassidy got a full time job and decided not to go to Grad School this fall, we've been searching for a more permanent place to live up here. We originally started looking at town homes, but then decided to find a less expensive, older home. We've seen a few sets of houses and are starting to figure out what we do and don't like. There was a home we were really excited to see, but it had gotten pretty trashed since the pictures were taken. It needs way too much work done, so we had to cross that one off our list. 

Then, the other day, we may or may not have accidentally broken into a house. 

See, there was a house with no pictures online, so we wanted to drive past it to see if it was worth seeing. Well, the house was vacant, so we got out of the car and were looking around. There was an open window in the back, so I was looking through the window. Then I decided to try the back door. It was unlocked, so I went in. Then there was a beep! 

It was the motion sensor on the alarm system! So we had to hurry and leave!!!

Last night we saw another older home we really liked, but it was in a renter neighborhood, so we had to cross that off our list too. Bummer. 

Here's hoping we can find our home soon! 

Another Wedding!

 

Summer is wedding season, for sure! Last weekend, a cousin of Cassidy's got married. They had a beautiful outdoor ceremony and then in door reception at a Country Club in Cedar Hills. It was great to catch up with everyone and see folks we hadn't in a while. Ellie was pretty well behaved, too! She even tried some new foods: 

 

 

Gnawing on Cassidy's pretzel : Sucking on yellow peppers!   

 

They had a Photo Booth at the wedding, so we got some of these gems:

 

 

And, of course, one of Cass with the lovely Leslee!

 

Happy Birthday to Me!

So yesterday was my birthday, and now I'm officially old! I have to say, though, birthdays are much nicer when you live close to family and have people to celebrate it with! I got a whole birthday weekend, with more birthday goodness to come :) 

Friday, Cass took me out on a date, a real date! We went to Tepanyaki for dinner (yum!) and then an improv comedy show while my wonderful father-in-law babysat Ellie. Saturday, Cass's mom Chris took us out to Mexican for lunch. Then yesterday, I got a nap!, and then we went to my parents' house. Mom made ribs, we had cake, and played Trivial Pursuit. I kinda sucked at it; Jordyn answered one of the questions for me! (She's very bright. It was about dinosaurs.) Then on Saturday, Mom and Dad are taking me out to Tucanos, and on Sunday, the Ainges come home! Happy Birthday to me! 

The Great McCoy Weekend

Two weekends ago was our Great McCoy weekend. Cassidy's Grandpa Harry had his 75th birthday and a lot of family came out to help celebrate. On Saturday, Harry was given the best present of all as he baptized his younger sister. It was really neat to be at the baptism. Everyone was very excited ad a little emotional to see Ann be baptised. 

That night there was a "luau" to celebrate Grandpa Harry's birthday. The Soaki family made us a yummy dinner and then performed for us. 

Sunday we had more festivities. Ann was confirmed in church and we barbecued for dinner. It was a fun weekend! 

Ellie loved being the center of attention! 

Welcome to Crazy Town!

So our lives have been a little crazy lately! The past few weeks have involved many a drive up and down i15. We spent time searching for apartments and interviewing for jobs. On one of our weekends up, the McCoy side of the family had a "Welcome to the Family" Party for Ellie. We were able to get a few cute pictures of Ellie with some cousins. 

 

 

 

 

Then Cassidy got offered a job and we decided to move on up! We're currently living with Cass's dad while he works for Greenify, and then we'll be moving down to Provo for school in the fall. It's been a busy and crazy few weeks! 

Cassidy's Graduation

Cassidy graduated from SUU this past week and had three days of celebratory, ceremonious events! On Thursday the College of Humanities and Social Sciences had their award ceremony where Cass received his Certificate of International Relations. 

receiving his award &
being teased by a professor for turning in a paper late

showing off

Friday was the commencement ceremony for the whole university, and since it was just speakers, Cass attended by himself. That's also when they moved their tassels and became official graduates.

Chris, Pyper, and Nathan came down Friday night and Pyper loved having Cass play with her in the pool! I was just boring and sat on the edge though; it was so hot in there! Plus Ellie was sleeping in her carseat and I wanted to be able to hear her if she woke up. 

Saturday was individual college commencement. In the morning Cass got his AAS in Information Technology, and in the afternoon he got his BA in Political Science. Ellie was asleep for the ceremony, but she woke up as soon as it ended and wanted to eat, so she wasn't very pleasant for the pictures! 

 

receiving his diploma and shaking hands

 

Congrats on your graduation, honey! So proud of you and love you!

 

Easter

So I guess a lot of babies in Cedar get jaundice, so they tested Ellie twice for it in the hospital and wanted us to bring her back in on Saturday to get tested again. After we took her for her jaundice test, we ran to Wal-Mart real fast (yup, I'm that mom!) to get her socks and small blankets since we were a little unprepared for her birth. While we were there, we saw that they had the Easter Bunny out, so we had to get a picture!

Then on Sunday we went to church, just to sacrament, so I could lead the music. And I felt like I should really go to church since I had missed a ton because I was miserable at the end of my pregnancy! So here's some cute pictures of Ellie in her cute dress: 

We tried to take a picture after church, but Ellie was hungry so we gave up.

Happy Late Easter! 

Our Life Lately

So I'm a slacker blogger lately, but life has been pretty chill. We had a super romantic date where we walked down to the Taco Bell for the new Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos. They weren't as good as we thought they were going to be though.

Then, last weekend, or two weekends ago, really, Cassidy, cousin Caitlyn, and I trekked up to Flowell for the farewell of the latest Elder Swallow. Joel was called to Manchester in England. He gave an awesome talk and will be an awesome missionary. And it was great to see the Swallow side of the family. We played "family rook" for hours. I'm not very good but it's fun! 

This past week was Cass's spring break, so he was able to catch up on some work, school work, and rest. Now he's gotten his mo-jo back and is ready to finish this semester and graduate! Speaking of finishing the semester, we have lots of options now for post-SUU life. Cass has been accepted into the Masters of Education Administration program at the U and University of Nebraska, as well as the Masters of Public Administration program at the U and BYU. He even got a scholarship to BYU! We're just waiting to hear back from the U for a few things, and then we can make our decision! 

So that's life for us right now. Pretty routine for the next few weeks til Baby Girl gets here! 

Of Birthdays, Baptisms, and Baby Blessings

This past week was a busy one for our family! Jordyn turned 8 on Monday and was baptized on Saturday. She was so cute and was going to stay in her baptism dress and carry her new scriptures around all day if we let her! Jenn had her birthday on Sunday (am I allowed to say how old she is??) and it was William's baby blessing, so we had lots of family time! We had a great time seeing everyone and can't wait til it's their turn to come down here! 

How to Not Look Like A Victim of Domestic Violence

So, I'm clumsy. And I bruise fairly easy. Sometimes, I look like an abusee. Yet I still have this small child obsession with bruises. I want to poke and prod and sometimes I wonder how much blood is under there; it's gross. But I also wanted to know if there was anything I could do to make my bruise go away faster. It's rather unsightly and Cass felt bad about the bruise, family even teased him about hitting me & I kept saying I "walked into a door."  It going away would be good all around. Plus, it was deep so it hurt. 

My internet research said to ice it initially, then heat it. So I iced it a few times (remember the rule when icing: 20-30 minutes, no direct contact with skin), saw a little change in it, and then did some heating on Monday (follow your heating pad's instructions!). Warm showers help, but it's not a direct enough contact to help the bruise. If you don't have a heating pad, a warm wash cloth would help a little; it's better than nothing! And a little over a week, my bruise is healed! All gone! 

And that, my dear friends, is how to stop looking like a victim of domestic violence without awkwardly layering on the clothing even though you're pregnant and think it's too hot every where and really just don't like long sleeve shirts anyway! 

Initial Damage: bruise is so fresh it looks red, black, and purple

After Ice & Heat, a day or two later: Visible change

A few days: Starting to fade around the edges & lighten in color

One Week: Blood flows down. Bruise is darkest at the lowest point, and fading a ton.

A week and a few days: hardly visible. 

It's a Girl!

awwwww . . . isn't my child an adorable little thumb sucker? 

We went and got the ultrasound done on Monday afternoon. I had a feeling, not super strong but still there, that it would be a girl. Cassidy had no predictions either way, but thought I was being ridiculous in thinking it was a girl. Well, I may be ridiculous but I was right! 

We skyped with our families that night and everyone is way excited for our baby girl!

Now, if you're not into alien-esque fetus photos, feel free to leave now. 

But I just think my alien is adorable! 

Red Ribbon Week

This past week at CMS was Red Ribbon Week. It's a big deal, because all faculty and staff can dress up too. And some times dressing up equals jeans, and since I have two and a half pairs of pants that fit, and one is jeans . . .  I'll let you do the math :) 

The best part of Red Ribbon Week? This poster ---

(She probably would have gotten first place if she could spell 'girlfriend'!) 

"Undercover Day" as "Where's Waldo?" 

College Day

Pajama Day

My super cute slippers

Thursday was "Career Day" and Friday was "Best Dress Day" so . . . I just wore my normal work clothes. Hope your week was as fun as mine! 

Pink Day!

supporting one of our cancer survivors! 

In case you didn't know, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Last school year, two of the ladies in my department at CMS were diagnosed with Breast Cancer. They have both already had their surgeries and are back at work on the road to full recovery. Two other teachers have battled breast cancer in the past few years. This month, to support them, we wore pink on Fridays. We even got special shirts (you can see how we all match!) with a pink ribbon with their names on it, as well as "CMS is stronger than cancer!" 

Yesterday was our Lee's Denim Day. We all donated & got to wear jeans. It was really neat to see everyone in their pink shirts and show their support for these special ladies. They have been so strong inspiring through their journey and a great example to me! 

Spectra Point and Ramparts Overlook Hike

Last Saturday, Cassidy and I went for a Hike up Cedar Breaks. We did the Spectra Point and Ramparts Overlook Hike. I checked the weather beforehand, but only checked for Cedar, not for the mountain. My bad! It was a little chilly and windy, but I said we'd get warm once we got moving, plus the sun was out. (Luckily, Cass still brought his hoodie on the hike! I needed it on the way back!) 

The trail was super muddy, so our shoes got very gross, and there was some snow on the ground. It was a tough hike, but the view was amazing! The contrast of red rock, snow, and the bristlecone pines was pretty neat. 

View from the trail head, no hike required!

all muddy! And this was just the beginning!

a lookout point along the trail

I tried to climb the tree . . . no dice

Spectra Point

Soaking in all that is Spectra Point

more Spectra Point

Cassidy's Video, with even more of Spectra Point :)

Yes, he climbed over the protective railing . . .  

Back on the trail towards Ramparts Overlook

Bristlecone Pines

See? Totally cool! Not what you'd think at all!

I made it! But just barely . . . can I blame my tired legs and lack of balance in the mud on the baby? 

Ramparts Overlook

Squirrel got so angry at us! He was yelling and hissing!
He was right over head and I was nervous he was going to jump on me! 

You can't really tell, but the backs of my legs were all muddy too!
But I was so glad to be back at the car and done hiking! It wore me out!