maui favorites, anyone?

One week from today - Wes & I will be on a plane to Maui, Hawaii while Nate gets to hang out with Dama {grandma} and Papa Marz for a week!

Last year was our first trip with Wes' co-workers. Now that we know exactly how the week works - we'll probably venture out a little more than we did last year. Although we did find a few favorites that we are very excited to re-visit.

While I've been to Maui many times - I always hear of new things to do or places to go when I ask around. So . . . for all of you who have been to Maui and have any recommendations {activities, food, a great beach, etc.}, I'm all ears.

nielsens & friends - more birthday fun!

I have some great friends in my ward that took me to custard last night for my birthday. It was fun to get out with them and chat and eat some yummy oreo custard. Thanks girls!

{forgot the camera - so no picture to prove it!}

the big 28.

I turned 28 yesterday. On one hand, I can't believe I'm that old. And on the other hand, I think . . "wow, I'm only 28."

Thank you for all of the fun packages, phone calls & messages yesterday. I appreciate it!

I had a great day. Wes pretty much gave me a break from all of my regular daily duties. No cleaning up. No dishes. I didn't feed Nate at all. Or put him down for a nap or bed. Or really do anything but play with him! It was a nice break from the regular stuff. Oh, and he got up with Nate while I proceeded to stay in bed for a while to read! A perfect birthday morning if you ask me.

The day consisted of a little shopping with my mom in the morning & lounging in the pool all afternoon with Wes & Sam. And then the entire family arrived at 4pm for swimming, Metro Pizza & an icecream cake. Our usual request! Sam's birthday was last week so we celebrated both of our birthday's last night with the fam. I've always loved having our birthdays so close. It's fun to celebrate with her and the entire family. I love that Abbie told me at least ten times - "happpyy biirthhhday auunnt liinnndssay." It was a big, drawn out, full of energy, happy birthday over-and-over and I loved it.

The kids enjoyed the play sink, the make-shift water slide & abbie and nate loved watering the flowers. Kyle was there to celebrate, too but I didn't get him on camera. {I didn't get many pictures due to my camera that is having some serious issues - so between Ali, Sam & I here's what we've got . . . }

I have to say that one of the highlights of the day was Wes figured out how to get Nate to swim by himself with the help of a swim vest and floaties! As soon as we put both on - he was good to go. He didn't have any balancing issues and literally swam around the pool over and over. He loved it! He kept saying, "Nate - self. Nate - self." Translation: I'm doing it all by myself. It will make swimming soooo much easier from now on!

Once it was bedtime, Wes took Nate home while Sam and I went to see My Sister's Keeper. I read the book and L O V E D it so I wanted to see the movie. I liked it. It was definitely a tear jerker at times but overall I thought it was pretty good. And it was nice to be at a movie! I

haven't been to a movie theater in months so it was a nice treat.

Boojiboo Flirty Apron GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

You can never have too many aprons!

melissa's salad. a summer favorite in our house.

I thought I'd share a favorite summer recipe of ours. It's called Melissa's salad. Melissa is a lady I grew up with and she has the best salad recipes. This one came from her and it's been a family favorite for a decade.



What you'll need.
Juice of 2 fresh lemons
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 lb. bacon, diced
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 cup fresh parmesan cheese
2/3 cup toasted almonds
1 cup croutons
Lettuce – 3-4 heads of romaine
1-2 chicken breasts marinated in Yoshida’s teriyaki sauce

What to do with it.
Cook bacon. Grill marinated chicken & cut in to bite size pieces. In salad bowl combine lettuce, tomatoes, parmesan cheese, bacon, chicken, almonds & croutons. Toss with dressing.

To make dressing: combine lemon juice, garlic, salt & pepper. Beat continuously with a fork. Add vegetable oil. Mix well right before you pour on salad.

{the parmesan cheese and toasted almonds are best from Trader Joes. We use real bacon - not bacon bits. And we put a little less oil in the dressing than what it calls for. Other than that, it's pretty darn simple and delish.}

dinner with the fam - with a smelly twist . . .

My mom spends quite a bit of time in Utah. Whether it's to spend time with my 93 year old grandma or when she spent time with her dear friend Babs, she's in Salt Lake quite a bit.

My dad started a little tradition when she's gone. He takes all of us to Cafe Rio for dinner. Tonight was one of those nights. We always enjoy seeing everybody - it has turned in to a fun night out with papa. We almost always go next door for some custard after dinner.

Nate didn't eat much at Cafe Rio. Wes and I have learned lately that when he doesn't want to eat - there is usually a reason. So, we didn't force him to eat anything. When he didn't want icecream, we figured he wasn't feeling well. And then - he barfed all over me. In Nielsens. He even had strawberries coming out of his nose. Poor guy! I have to say it was really smelly but he seemed to feel great after he threw up. Our fingers are crossed that it was a one-time barf! I hate seeing little guys sick like that.

We had a great weekend.

It all started with what was supposed to be a kid-free dinner with our friends Anya & Sam. Until, for the life of me, I couldn't find a babysitter for Nate. So, we turned it in to pizza and swimming in my parent's backyard. Which is a great option for us in the summer! Nate adores Anya's boys - Noah and Ikey. They play and play without any fighting!



On Saturday, we decided to do something a little different with Nate. We took him out to Boulder City to ride the train. It was a perfect Saturday morning activity for Nate. He was so excited to ride a "choo-choo" and was totally content the entire time on the train. After our ride, we had delicious root beer floats at the A&W in town.







Then it was straight to grandma & papa's for our usual Saturday afternoon activity - the pool. Nate was really tired so he went straight to bed when we got there and he slept for 3.5 hours . . . and that was only because we finally woke him up at 4:30! It was such a relaxing afternoon for Wes and I. I spent the entire time outside on a raft reading while Wes alternated between the pool and watching sports inside. Nate played outside for a bit before we headed home.

We took Nate on a long walk to get some of his energy out. He now prefers to push his bike instead of ride it. It comes in handy when you're trying to tire him out!

And today? Fathers Day. It was a nice Sunday at home with our little family. When Nate woke up from his nap, I went in to get him and told him I needed help getting daddy's presents out. As soon as he heard the word presents . . . he said, "cake?" I thought it was pretty funny. He somehow already knows that presents bring cake.

Nate and I are very grateful for Weston R. He's such a fabulous dad to Nate . . . always taking him to do fun things and making him laugh. Nate loves his daddy . . . and so do I! Happy Fathers Day, Wes. Thanks for all you do.

We're also both very grateful for our dads . . . they rock!

girl time for sam's birthday

Yesterday was Sam's 26th birthday. She's a very busy gal between nursing school, work & her calling at church as the RS President. Not to mention her social life. So when I discovered that she had tonight free - I asked her to pencil me in so I could actually see her! Wes stayed home with Nate and thanks to Ali's friend Nikki - Ali was able to join us, too to celebrate Sam's birthday.

We met at Town Square & had a nice dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. Ali had to leave after that to go get her girls but Sam and I spent the next two hours roaming Town Square doing a little shopping and a lot of chatting. I don't get much time, if any at all, with just Sam {i usually have a little one year old on my hip} so it was nice.

Happy Birthday, Sam. We love ya.

Lake Wedowee 2009 - Part 2

When we weren't on the lake - we were at the pool.

Wes’ parent’s house has a community pool that we had all to ourselves all week. It overlooks the lake & the dock where the jet skis were so it was easy to switch on and off. The pool had a kiddie pool, hot tub & big pool with a massive beach walk in that is perfect for the little ones. Nate walked around saying “hot pool, warm pool, or cold pool” all day long. They played - and played - and played for hours every single day. It has the perfect set-up! Kendal loves to race in the pool. Nate quickly caught on to this game and he loved to sit in his boat and kick his legs as fast as he could to win the race. Then he’d say “more race” over and over. The kids loved their popsicles and Capri Suns at the pool.









Nate loved Grandpa G’s truck. He’s obsessed with any mode of transportation so you can imagine his excitement when he got to ride in the back of the truck with his cousins down to the dock. He also loved the 4-wheelers. He got to go on a few rides with Wes and his Aunt Leigh.



We spent a lot of time on the back deck. Alisha brought little cars and bikes that the kids rode over and over and over back there. That combined with grandma G’s radio for some dancing and Spencer’s bubble machine – they were set. When they weren’t running around on the deck, they were in the loft playing with toys. Kendal shared her stuffed dogs with Nate which he loved. He even named one Taco after his friend Claire’s dog, Tahoe.





One night we roasted marshmellows outside and made smores. The kids loved it and the smores were y-u-m-m-y.





We slept in one of the rooms in the basement which we nick-named the cave. It’s an awesome, window-less room. We put Nate’s pack-n-play in the closet and he slept really well! It was so dark in there we never knew what time it was. The only way Wes and I knew it was time to get up was the pitter-patter of little feet upstairs. Robert & Doreen were nice enough to give up their room so that the little grandkids all had a closed door to sleep behind. Thank you!

We celebrated quite a bit during our week on the lake. We celebrated Fathers Day for Robert. We had a little baby shower for Alisha and Leigh who are both having a little girl in September. And we had a little birthday party for 3 June birthdays!

One thing I love about visiting Wes' family is that we get a dose of southern charm while we're there. Everyone is always so nice and friendly with their southern accent that I love. I love going in to the tiny town of Wedowee to go grocery shopping at their little grocery store. It's the perfect small town experience for me!

Thanks Griffeth clan for another fun week full of great memories. We had a blast and it was fun to catch up with everybody! You're always welcome to come visit us in Sin City. :)

Griffeth Family Vacation - Lake Wedowee 2009 - Part 1

Oh man, did we have a fun week.



Wes’ parents recently bought a house in a community on Lake Wedowee, Alabama. This was our first family trip to their new house. There’s nothing like jamming 16 people in to a house for a week! It was really fun to be able to hang out with Wes’ family. We don’t see them nearly enough & we really enjoy their company. It was fun for the family to see Nate’s personality. It’s hard to convey his goofy personality via pictures!

What did we do for an entire week? Played on the lake. Swam in the pool. Ate yummy food. Played games. Chatted & chatted. Rode 4-wheelers. Watched cousins play & play. Laughed.




NATE had soooo much fun with his cousins. Within 20 seconds of waking up in the morning or from a nap he’d say “play”. He loved having constant entertainment. His big cousins {the Thornton kiddos} were absolutely fabulous with Nate, Olivia & lil’ Spence. They totally understood that they were younger and pretty much gave up any toy any of them wanted. Even almost-3-year-old Trey was such a good sharer. I was so impressed! Nate LOVED them. Nate was surprisingly well-behaved for the most part. We definitely spent a little time in time-out but I was pleasantly surprised with his behavior.



Lake Wedowee is beautiful - surrounded by big, green trees. A significant change of scenery from our desert.



We spent a lot of time out on the water. Nate loved the jet ski. He always asked Wes for “more turns” and he liked to have his hands on the steering handles. By the end of the week, we decided to try out the tube. He rode the tube with Wes. He didn’t hate it but he wasn’t asking for more of the tube. He wasn’t a huge fan of water hitting him in the face. But he did alright!

Everyone had a great time on the lake. Bayley is our 7-year old dare devil always asking for faster. If we didn't go fast enough - she'd try to stand on the tube to add some excitement to her ride. We wish Alabama were a little closer so we could join them more often!

It was a fun change of pace for the week. Not only were we on vacation – but we were in a completely different part of the country than what we’re used to. It’s beautiful in the South. We had some rain. Saw some big bugs. Tried to get used to the humidity. But best of all? Nate and I got to spend a full week with Wes. We were spoiled.

After nine hours of travel getting back to Vegas – we’re glad to be home. I’m sure glad we cleaned our house top to bottom before we left because I’m too tired to do anything more than laundry for a few days!

Thanks Robert & Doreen for a fabulous week.

Part two of the vacation coming in the next day or two!

and we're off . . .

Well, tomorrow night we're off.

The three of us are headed to Alabama to spend 8 days with Wes' family on the lake. We haven't spent quality time with everyone since last June so we're excited!

But I have to say, packing STINKS. I'm over it. But knowing we're going to get to do a lot of this makes it worth it.


{last year's trip to the lake}

Adios for nine whole days.

i heart my birthday month

I really like birthdays. Everyone's birthday. It's one day a year where it's YOUR day. I try to make an effort to remember birthdays. I don't always succeed, but I try.

My birthday is at the end of June. I just started receiving all of the "birthday specials" that come in the mail. I have a coupon to The Gap. One to Anthropologie. A gift card from a vendor. And a few more I can't remember. Does that mean I get to go shopping? It is, after-all, my birthday MONTH.

When I was a senior in highschool, right after we graduated, we called June "the month of fun". I'm ready for it.