the tale of our 2nd anniversary

so, our 2nd anniversary rolled around. We purposely didn't really plan anything big because we had already done so many fun things this month and Paul's family had just barely left town. All of a sudden came the day before our anniversary and we had no plans! Paul usually goes above and beyond with holidays and special days and he is always so good at planning cute things so in the back of my mind i just kinda thought he would do something at least dinner or dessert; never really discussed it. Well, Monday came and Paul worked in the morning. Then we went to J-Dawgs for lunch, and ran some errands together. Then we hung out at home for a while then we went to the church FHE BBQ and then decided to instead of spending an evening at home, we went to watch "The Bachelorette" season finale with friends. It wasn't until we were watching Jillian and Ed get engaged that we realized we had a truly lame anniversary! It was just a totally normal day. Yes, we had spent some time together which was nice but we hadn't done anything special!

...the next day, Paul totally redeemed himself. I ran some errands in the morning and came home to these on the kitchen table:The taller bouquet of gladiolas was on the table with a note that read "Happy 2 year anniversary! I love you so much". I was very pleasantly surprised. Then I went upstairs and found the second bouquet with a note that read "I can't make yesterday special, but i can make the rest of this year amazing". That night we went to dinner.
Sometimes days/anniversaries aren't perfect, but my husband is. Love him. Love being married.

happy anniversary to us

exactly two years ago today, i married my best friend. It's been bliss ever since!

Dickson Weekend

The 24th of July is not a big deal.. unless you live in Utah. It's pioneer day! Living in an area that was settled by pioneers ("this IS the place" after all) and having pioneer ancestors makes me feel as though i would be very ungrateful if i did not at least mention the holiday. I am thankful for the pioneers i have in my family lines from and their sacrifices they made for my family, faith and this country. I do not envy anything that they went through but I do admire their perseverance, courage, endurance, faith and testimony.

To celebrate, we went up to Midway and set out blankets and chairs at the park. Then we watched an AWESOME fireworks display. Afterwards we all stayed the night at the Midway house and played games and talked.

Saturday we saw Harry Potter 6 then we went to Five Guys and then to the Midway Demolition Derby! It was a blast! The festivities included 3 ambulance visits, countless cars on fire, tons of funny people to watch, the jaws of life getting one driver out, some cool cars, some beater cars, cars up in smoke, and total smack-downs. I absolutely loved it!

Last but not least, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL! The 26th is Paul's brother Mike's 21st birthday. He is on his mission right now in Taipei, Taiwan and we miss him so much! He will be returning in September and we can't wait. He has been an amazing missionary and i have loved the experience of having a brother on a mission. He has been tearing it up out there in such a hard mission and we are so proud of him. Love you Mike!

It was such a great week with the Dicksons. We always have such a fun time together and there is never a shortage of laughing. I'm so lucky to have married into such a great family and to consider them some of my best friends.

Gottfredson Family Reunion

We had a Gottfredson Family Reunion in Evanston, Wyoming this week on Monday and Tuesday. This is Paul's mom's side of the family. There were a ton of people there: Grandma and Grandpa, the 7 siblings, spouses, and lots of kids. It was really fun and relaxing. Their cabin is in such a gorgeous setting: it's so green and they have 2 ponds and a river running through it. We talked, rode horses, rode the four wheeler, fished, went out in the rowboat, shot guns, rode the zip-line, relaxed in hammocks, ate, played, did crafts, tubed/swam in the river, did a treasure hunt for the kids, watched a family slide show, made s'mores, set off firworks, and over all had some great family time. Stewart got the first catch of the trip.. this pretty rainbow trout. Chris was probably the most dedicated fisherman of the trip.
Jeff and Melissa in the rowboat.
Rebekah snagged a fish too!
Paul caught quite a few also.
(Unfortunately my camera ran out of battery so i only got a few pictures from the first day)

London Marie Barnes

Clay and Tiffany had their baby! Sweet baby London was born on July 19th around 4:30 in the morning . She is 6lbs. 8 oz. and 17.5 inches long. We got to go visit her and she is so tiny and precious... I LOVE HER! Everything went well and I'm SO excited for Clay and Tiff they are going to be the greatest parents and their little daughter is so stinkin' cute! I love it when my friends have babies!

for: Leigh, Whitney and Heather

the other night i went to the malt shoppe with my family and started reliving some of our freshman glory days. and by "glory days" i mean: we owned the jukebox there, i thought they took dining plus, we wrote down and charted out every malt flavor with the intention of trying every single one, we didn't quite accomplish that but got closer than probably any other set of 4 people, we somehow ended up there on quite a few dates, one time this guy was hitting on us but was so disgusted when he found out we were freshman (so sorry?), we would walk there but if we were feeling "cool" we would drive, i pounded cheese fries and a large malt on a regular basis, i saw my freshman algebra teaching working there one night (super awkward), we often had dances in the stadium parking lot with malt-in-and afterward, and of course we snapped a few photographic gems such as this picture:and this one. Oh the days of the malt shoppe. Thanks for your malts, cheese fries, and memories.

Mom and Cassie week

My mom has been here visiting for the past week while Cassie has been at Young Ambassador's Camp. We've had a lot of fun shopping, window shopping, visiting, cooking, and just hanging out with two of my best friends.

On Thursday morning my mom and i went to the Open House for the new temple just built, the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. It was so gorgeous! And really different from any other temple I have been in. I really recommend going if you have any time. The open house ends at the end of this month. It's really fun to be able to see the different styles that go into each temple and no matter that they look like there is always a special spirit in any temple.Friday night we went to Cassie's performance and it was awesome! Those kids are SO talented. It always makes me wish i had enough guts to get up in front of people and sing! Cassie had a solo and she did great. It's so fun to watch her perform!On Saturday Paul and Cassie hung out for a while because i had to work during the day. So what do they end up doing? Paul took her pistol shooting! haha of course! Turns out Cassie is a pretty good shot! That night we went boating for a little bit then went to dinner and hung out.

Paul's family is now in town for this week and we have some really fun plans! From one family to the next! This month is crazy busy but way fun.

our new pet

After over 2 years of an intense waiting period (for one of us) and an anxiously post-poning period (for the other of us)... THIS arrived to our house. Paul's bear rug that he shot in Alaska a few months before we were married. It's here. and it's taking over our extra bedroom. and it kinda scares me. it's staring at me as i'm typing this.With all that said, it's an impressive and huge animal. And it's fur is very thick and soft. Well done Paul.

on the way down

On our way out of California...

We picked up Cassie from EFY in Santa Barbara and drove with her and my mom to Vegas. We met up with Chelsea and Tyler there and:walked along the strip,ate (way to much) at the Treasure Island buffet (i recommend it),ate our fair share of cotton candy,did the tourist thing.

The next day we visited the Las Vegas Temple,and drove the rest of the way home.

"my best friend's wedding"

Whitney has been my best friend since we were 3 years old. I think Morgan is the perfect guy for her and their wedding was fantastic! I am so excited for them to be married and living by us! They were sealed at the Newport Beach temple. Whitney looked SO beautiful. My mom and I did all the flower centerpieces at their reception. Their reception was way fun! There were tons of people there and great food and we danced the night away. For their first dance, they started out to a slow song and then erupted into a choreographed dance! It was awesome. They are 2 amazing people that make such a perfect couple. I couldn't be happier for the both of them.

stop and stare

Our trip to California for Whitney and Morgan's wedding was awesome! Jam packed full of fun things. California style.Our first stop after checking into our hotel: In N Out. I may or may not have eaten 2 cheeseburgers AND animal fries. delish.After that we stopped at the beach(es).

We decided to drive on the PCH up the coast and stopped at Laguna, Newport, and Huntington Beach.Stopped to watch the sunset in a marina.Stopped by to meet this AWESOME fisherman named Victor. I thought he was fake from far away. He was so nice!

The next day we went to San Diego to go to the temple. It was amazingly beautiful both inside and out and a very special experience to be with Whitney going through the temple for her first time!

Happy Birthday Rebekah!

I wasn't here to wish my sister-in-law Rebekah a happy birthday on July 10th! Rebekah is a ball of energy and fun. I really admire how she could just talk to anyone about anything and she is always so sweet to people and thinks the best of them. She is just an all-out cool and fun girl. Happy 15!

for christine

dear hair stylist:
i did my hair curly with the straightener today. This was my first attempt. One side was definitely better than the other once i started getting the hang of it. The back was a whole nother story.. that was not so pretty. I took a picture to show you.
Overall i'd probably say my attempt was a 6 out of 10. i need some more practice but thanks for teaching me "the hhwways".

Happy 4th!

We had a really fun 4th of July!

-We went to the parade in the morning with Leigh. There were literally a million people there but it was fun and we scored some good seats. We saw the two missionaries from Cedar Park: Elder Tueller and Elder Zamora which was lucky.-Then we made a big breakfast at our house and watched the Hot Dog eating championship... Paul was really into it and luckily Joey Chestnut won and beat the Japanese guy which i thought was appropriate for the American Holiday.
-We went for a scooter ride and stopped for some patriotic snowcones with ice cream in them.. so delish. We also went to the carnival in downtown Provo and saw all the booths and stuff.

-Then we went with Clay and Tiffany and Morgan up to Midway for dinner then to Oakley for the rodeo! It was an awesome rodeo, although a little windy. But it was really fun to watch and there were fireworks after so i loved that.happy birthday america! I'm so glad to live in this country.

Deer Valley House

Since about October I have been working as assistant to a Designer doing a house in Deer Valley. It has been a huge but VERY fun project for me to be apart of. The house is so gorgeous! On July 3rd the owners hosted an Open House luncheon for all those who had been a part of the project. It was so satisfying to see everything pulled together and it all looked amazing. We aren't completely done.. still a few finishing touches left but for the most part i think it looks great! My pictures really don't do it justice, but they're fun to look at.