Connors Come to Conference

I love Conference weekend! And this one was one of my favorites ever.

My parents flew into town on Thursday morning and came straight to my school to meet their grandstudents. My dad has never come to my class, and my mom hasn't come this year. It was so fun to have them!

True confession: we spent the entire morning on Spring Cleaning. When my parents came, they gave me flowers, handed out ring pops to my kids, and got a special sneak peek performance of one of the songs from our end-of-the-year program.

We were supposed to be at the Salt Lake temple for a 5:00 session, but we didn't make it. Instead, we spent 3:00 - 5:30

- driving to the FrontRunner station to drop off Cassidy Jane
- driving from there to SLC
- driving all around Salt Lake, looking for a quick-food (but not fast-food) place to eat
- driving past the Blue Lemon, then spending 10 minutes trying to turn around and get back to a parking space close to it
- ordering and eating at the Blue Lemon
- running back to our car, finishing the meal as we ran
- choking
- recovering
- finding a new place to park so we could go to the temple
- realizing we were not going to make it to the 5:00 session, so then my dad started
- feeling woeful and insisting that my mom park at a hotel because they apparently have "nice dressing room areas" in hotels
- parking in the hotel parking garage, where my parents took turns changing in the car while I took turns eating lemon squares
- going into the temple, after asking only five people for directions

5:30 is about when we walked through the doors and conveniently ran into my dad's mission president. So, obviously we didn't make it to the 6:00 session either, because then there was too much catching up to do.

Even though things didn't go exactly as planned, it was a nice night.

Friday was Fun Day! We went rock-climbing and played soccer  at UVU, Shimps vs. Connors.

They were acting all nervous about climbing! But they actually conquered their fears and did a good job! I was very proud.

After that, we went to my dad's mission reunion. It was delicious and someone famous came! Not President Obama. Although, he was in town this weekend, because I guess he didn't hear that it was only the biggest weekend of the year for Utah.....but yeah it wasn't him.

This famous person was on the Hispanic version of You've Got Talent and got to the finals. He sang two songs in Spanish and looked deeply into everyone's eyes and I promptly got a crush on him forgot his name. Alejandro or Alex something. Then the pres and his wife gave talks in Spanish and I got an appreciation for how hard it would be to learn another language! I was trying so hard to understand and I couldn't keep up! Stephen translated most of it for me.

The reunion ended whenever everyone wanted it to end and headed home. So naturally, we were just about the last ones to leave.

We had breakfast on Saturday morning with the Shimps! I love having both of my families together.

I don't know why I thought this would be a good picture as half of the food is not even here....but we had waffles, eggs, sausage, and these toppings and orange juice. Use your imaginations :)

We had tickets to the Saturday afternoon session of conference so we left pretty much right after the morning session. I can't get over how beautiful Temple Square is at conference time!

I've done it so many times before, but it was still nice to be in the conference center to sustain our cute leaders. I love them so much and love feeling the love they have for us.

While the boys went back to Lehi for the priesthood session, the girls met up with Aunt Lila (my mom's sister) and her friend Sue. We went to Texas Roadhouse and happened to get the same waiter I just had last week when I came in! So that was a little embarrassing. But fun!

My parents left on Sunday. We watched the morning session at the Shimps and then said goodbyyyye. Thanks for coming padres!! Next step: buy a house and move out here.

Be Mine, Stephentine

If there's one thing I love more than Valentine's Day, it's Valentine's Day that falls on a Saturday.

And if there's one thing I love more than that, it's when that Saturday happens to fall in the middle of a 3-day weekend. 

And as if my heart isn't already overflowing about this much wonderfulness packed into one holiday with the opportunity to spread that holiday out over 3 days, the one thing that could make all of this even better is something that happened this year. Called, all the national parks were free. 

And not to mention, Friday Feburary 13th was my last day on-track. SO, holler about that. 

Stephen and I started our Valen-weekend with our traditional big fight a few days prior. I don't know what it is, maybe the stress of how much I love Valentines Day and how much I expect for it gets to him, or maybe we just like to spice things up so we get snotty with each other. We're working on it.

Whatever the reason, Friday was Make-Up Day. Aka, the day Stephen added these to my life:

The cutest workout shoes!!

We've never really had a Make-Up Day before, to be honest.....but it worked! I almost peed my pants. I don't consider myself a material girl or even really a shoe person, but apparently I am on 

Make-Up Day. Some people might disagree with me, but I think fights are okay in a marriage. Don't go crazy or anything, and don't try to start fights, but knowing how to resolve conflict is very important. I think sometimes people freak out when they have a fight and they think they're never going to make it because they're fighting and they shouldn't be, but it's really okay. And if everyone would just calm down and hug and kiss and say they're sorry and then have a Make-Up Day to prove it, then everything could be fixed in time for Valentines Day. 

Which I barely took any pictures of, so sorry about that. 

It went like this:

Go to Bruge's for breakfast. They're in Provo now and it is delicious!

Drive drive drive. Read Cosmo. Listen to music. Play getting-to-know-you games c/o The Dating Divas.

Arrive at Snow Canyon! Not a National Park. Pay $6. 

It is worth it.

Get out. Roll in the sand. Try to learn how to do a backflip. Get scared err time so just hang out while Stephen does all the work of lifting and flipping.

Look around for a place to climb.

Try out our new camera tripod. 

It works like a charm :)

Climb and hike and play all day until the sun is setting. 

Go to the petrified sand dunes and try to climb to the highest point.

Put on music and dance.

Sit and wait for the stars to come out.

The stars are out, and they are breathtaking.

Try to find our way back to the car and get very lost.

Almost fall off a cliff.

Pull out the phone flashlights.

Become convinced that we are going to be wandering around in this desert wilderness until we give up and huddle together for warmth until the sun comes up and we are able to find our way out, if we haven't frozen to death by that point, and then when we make our way back to Cassidy Jane Carbaby, she will have been booted since she wasn't supposed to be in that parking lot past 10pm. 

Find our way out??

Pass several signs that say "Not a trail!" 

Feel bad. Ish. It wasn't on the purpose.

Drive out of the park and to Outback Steakhouse!

Change in the car. 

Lament because I didn't remember to paint my toenails and I brought wedges for date night.

Eat all the food, and even drink flavored lemonade. 

Drive to our hosts' home! 

Sit up and chat with Brenley and watch House Hunters. 

Go to sleeeeeep. 

Go to church.

Go kinda close to Snow Canyon on this beautiful hike. 

No pictures do it justice.

Go to Green Valley Loop. 

'Froading in a Honda is....still fun. *said hesitantly* Next time we'll get an ATV or side-by-side or something made for this. 

Watch in awe as some people try slack-lining across the canyon. 

Go climbing. 

This was a special day for me because there were two other couples that started climbing by us. And for the first time ever, I was the best girl there! The guys were pretty good, and it seemed like they went a lot. Like they were couple friends who took a bunch of trips together. But the girls weren't that into it and I guess that just made me super-confident or something, and I did my first 5.10 outside. It was so fun!! I've come a long way since my first time rock-climbing outside.....

Stephen also squeezed some bouldering in. Or maybe this was on the hike?

Drive to the Dixie sign. If there was a dental school here, maybe we would end up living here in Geezy. We consider this as we climb to the top of St. George's version of the Y. 

I'm glad we did, even if it is a little underwhelming. 

Drive over to the St. George temple. 

Consider taking a picture but we are wearing climbing clothes and the lighting's weird and it's kinda cold, so just get back in the car and drive on. 

The next day we take Zions! I love this place. 

We drive in fo freeeee and drive around, through tunnels, around mountains, taking the scenic route. 

We pop out for a brief hike.

Overhear this: "I think our kids are like, genetically predisposed to falling off cliffs."

Start hiking down. 

Get off the trail somehow?? What is wrong with our sense of direction?

Keep driving. 

Stop for lunch at Oscar's.
Become BFF with the owner so he gives us free carrot cake! Or maybe that was just him feeling Valentinesy. Or perhaps because he messed up our order. Hard to tell with these friendly small-tourist-town folks.

I have always loved Valentines Day, but I especially love celebrating this day when my Valentine and I first said "I love you" to each other. On fight days and makeup days, in Provo or in St. George, whether I'm in the driver's seat or he is, Stephen is my Valentine. It was a wonderful weekend that couldn't have been better with anyone else :)

Merry Shimpmas

So, Reese Witherspoon is pretty much my homegirl. We know this. But she and I differ on one thing - Christmas.

Actually I have no idea how she feels about Christmas. But in her movie with Vince Vaughan, "4 Christmases," she hates Christmas with her own families, and Christmas with Vince's families, too. I, on the other hand, love having Christmas with both families.

We had Shimpmas the weekend before real Christmas. It went like this:

Friday
-Michael's birthday
-Presents and cake
-Aaaand a scavenger hunt to the best present: leopard geckos!

Lacy and Leo :) Hopefully they make some leopard gecko babies soon!

Saturday
- Wake up in a twin bed. Actually on the floor, next to a twin bed. Somehow Stephen and I fell asleep in Logan's bed, and Natalie fell asleep in Michael's bed, and Brandon fell asleep in his own bed, and the birthday boy fell asleep on the couch, and who knows where Logan slept. All I know is, he had to have been more comfortable than I was.
- Go home to shower and gather up presents.
- Go to lunch with the Shimp parents and Craig and Stephanie. We are adults so our lunch consists of talking about our goals, discussing relationship secrets, and shared fries and cocoa.

- Go home to get ready for ice skating. We have planned to leave at 6:30.
- It is 6:30 and the parents are nowhere to be seen. They are last-minute shopping.
- It is 7:30 and I'm almost done curling my hairs.
- It is 8:30 and the parents are back! We pile in the car.
- See the lights at the temple

- Go ice-skating at the Gallivan Center
- Watch a couple break up on the bench next to the skating rink
- Get taken down on the last lap around by Logan (aka Pretzel-Legs)

- Get videoed by some guy standing on a trashcan and recording falls, laughing hysterically each time he catches someone
- Hold hands with errbody else because sometimes, Stephen likes to leave me behind and ice skate as fast and dangerously as possible without me holding him back

We are now at the level where we do tricks, like this one. Which I like to call, the headless lifter.

- Watch Michael pro it up all over the ice and decide that he needs to take hockey lessons

- Go to eat dinner (at 11:30pm) at The Pie, where we were probably the only BYU fans in the whole joint
- Everyone gets a little freaked out and asks if I was "wild" in college and if I am "trying to kill us" by bringing us to this "sketchy place" where no one "has ever even heard of kids or something"

- Then everyone sees the pizza and gets a little freaked out because it is the biggest pizza anyone has ever seen and we can't even eat half of it
- Drive home and promptly pass out

Sunday

- Wake up and get Christmas jammies!! Logan was NOT happy about this, since it is a Christmas Eve tradition and we were opening them early and breaking tradition. But they are my absolute favorite thing.

- Christmas gift exchange with the kids
- Christmas for the couples who are leaving. We got prettttty spoiled with clothes, a Shark something-or-other that cleans our house, gift cards, and for me, workout clothes that I am so thrilled about I might just work out next year.
- Go to church
- Play Scum, which one of these times, I am going to write a blog post exactly transcribing what happens in a game of scum up in here. It is so hilarious.....even more hilarious than dinner here.

So Christmas #1 was great! We've somehow managed to do 2 out of 2 married Christmases with both families, and even though I know it can't be like that forever, I've loved it so far :)