OHIO/UTAH

So they have been having some problems with licensing, cancellations, etc here in Minnesota and have decided to transfer our office to Toledo, OH. Because of the cost of the move and the difficulty of finding enough rooms to accommodate everyone, they have asked the wives to go home. I had a really hard time with this at first, but I just decided to toughen up and make the best of the situation. This will be another 7 weeks apart for me and Brenton... on top of the 4 weeks we spent apart in May. :( I hate being away from Brenton, but hopefully it will work out for the best. On a positive note... at least I have a lot of family and good friends to go home to in Utah!

We are all leaving this Sunday morning, the boys (and a couple girls) going East to Ohio and the girls West to Utah. Dana and I will be driving my car home with Crystal Brough driving alongside us. Three girls, two cars, and a 1,160 mile drive... kind of scary huh?! Just hope we don't break down or get a flat tire. haha :)

Too old to play at the park...?

BYE BYE BIRDIE

We had seen signs around town for the musical Bye Bye Birdie. It was being put on at Staring Lake amphitheater about 1.5 miles from our apartments. Since we jump on any opportunity to get out of the house, we decided to walk over and watch it.

The picture below basically sums up what we thought of it... The acting/singing was awful and so was the story line.

So after about 30 minutes we made our way over to the awesome playground and pretended we were kids again.

We had races down the slides...

...and rolled down the hills!

Although the play sucked, I would say our trip to Staring Lake Park was a success! :)

CHICAGO BALL

Last week, we finally had good weather on a Sunday, so after church the boys got together and played a game of Chicago Ball. It is kind of like softball, but it is played with a big, soft ball so you don't have to wear mitts. It was fun to spend some time outside watching the boys (and Krista) play.

Brenton didn't feel the need to join the huddle before the game...

Brenton and Trevor found it neccessary to show off their sexy, white legs while playing in the outfield.

Krista is an all-star and played with the boys while Makel and I (not wanting to embarrass ourselves) sat under a tree and watched. She did a great job!

We also spent some time swinging in the greatest swings EVER! Until we got sick to our stomachs... maybe we are getting to old to play at the park.

NEW DECORATIONS

The Bloomington Farmers' Market opened up, so Amy and I went to check it out. We weren't too impressed with the produce, but we did find some sweet paintings at the Theatre Yard Sale to add some color to our plain apartments. My cow (I think thats what it is) painting was $1 and hers was $2. I'd say we got a good deal! :)

SUMMER UPDATE

So I have been awful at blogging this summer and don't really have an excuse because I'm currently just a stay-at-home wife for the summer with nothing to do but hang out with the girls, cook, and do laundry. But here is an attempt to get caught up on what we've been up to here in Minnesota.

This state is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! I love it here! The weather is really up and down and the forecast is never right. I thought I would hate living somewhere that doesn't get in the 100s in the summer (even though it did 2 days this year), but it has actually been really nice. It gets warm enough for the pool, but it is still cool enough to go walking and do things outside. There is so many walking trails and parks close to us and my favorite thing this summer has been to go on walks with the girls.

Here's a couple pics of the lake by our apartments. There's a beautiful 2.5 mile trail around it. On Sunday night I convinced Brenton to go on a little walk with me and we got to watch the gorgeous HOT PINK sunset. The picture doesn't at all do it justice!

BRYANT LAKE

There is a small, sand-bottomed lake just a few miles from our apartments so a bunch of us went and had a lake day a few weeks ago on the boys' day off. We just relaxed on the beach and went for a paddleboat ride. So much fun! We also went back again two weeks later for a BBQ. We made tin foil dinners and s'mores (AKA my favorite food).

COMO ZOO

We found out St. Paul has a free zoo, so we decided to go check it out. We were thinking it was going to be like Willow Park, but it was actually pretty good for being free. It has most animals that we would see at a regular zoo, except some of them looked a little malnourished. :( And it had a beautiful Japanese Garden and a little carnival with rides and concessions.

MINNESOTA ARBORETUM

The girls and I took a trip to the Minnesota Arboretum a couple weeks ago. It was really pretty, but a lot of the flowers hadn't bloomed yet. :( The highlight of it was probably the hedge maze that was surprisingly kind of hard. We wandered around it for a while running into dead ends everywhere and then Krista began leading and we were moving quickly and smoothly til she said "Hey guys look i found the entrance!" So we had to start all over again, but finally made it through. A little kid did try to help us, but the girls didn't trust him so we went on our own... not a wise choice because he was long gone by the time we got out.

BWW

Every Tuesday night is wing night at Buffalo Wild Wings and wings are really cheap, so every Tuesday when the boys get home we go there and eat. Wings aren't my favorite food, but it is fun to see everyone and have a night off from cooking. :)

MINNESOTA SUMMER

It is summertime and, of course, Brenton and I moved out of state for another year of selling. This time we will be enjoying our summer in the BEAUTIFUL Land of 10,000 Lakes. The city we live in (Eden Prairie) was rated #1 place to live by Money Magazine in 2010. It is about 10 miles outside of the twin cities and 10 minutes from the Mall of America. :) We have everything we need within a mile of our apartments. And my personal favorite is the lake right next to the apartments with a 2.5-3 mile walking/jogging trail around it. The girls and I walk it on a daily basis. So pretty! We love it here!

This year I got lucky and was able to get work off and drive here with Brenton. I love road trips! It was a 20 hour drive and Brenton drive the entire way while I relaxed. He claims its because he doesn't like to be a passenger, but I think it also has something to do with thinking I don't know how to drive. When passing through South Dakota we decided to make a quick stop at Mount Rushmore. It is so crazy to me that someone could carve something that big and with that much detail out of rock. We would have liked to actually go into the memorial and spend more time there, but we had to get back on the road quick.
Unfortunately, after the first week I had to go back to Utah for 4 weeks to finish up teaching and school. It always sucks being away from Brenton for that long... I don't do well without him at all! Im just glad that I had Celeste and Courteney to keep me company and have lots of sleepovers. I flew back out the day after the dance revue along with Courteney. We had a VERY scary flight and thought we were going to die landing in Denver (literally)! I have never been scared to fly and I did not want to get back on a plane after our layover. Luckily we landed safely in Minneapolis and the world didn't end before we saw the boys (like that crazy guy predicted).
I'm so happy to be here with Brenton and having so much fun hanging out with the girls and enjoying the beautiful summer weather that we are finally getting!

FUN IN THE SUN!

This past week Brenton and I had the opportunity to go on a 4 night cruise from Miami to the Bahamas. Our friends Ty and Courteney came with us and we had so much fun just relaxing on the beach and soaking up the sun. I took about 300 pictures on the trip so this post is going to be loaded.

GETTING THERE

With all the times we have flown since we've been married/dated, this was the first time we actually got to fly together.

The boys thought it would be better to just wait until we landed in Ft. Lauderdale to get a rental car and a hotel... Lets just say it wasn't! Courte and I said a lot of "I told you so"s that night as the boys walked from one rental car place to another to another and then drove from one hotel to another trying to find something available.

In the end we did get a cheap rental car and a nice hotel. :)

THE SHIP

When we boarded the ship on Monday afternoon it was raining with tornado warnings in Miami and Key West (which was our first stop on the cruise).

Luckily it cleared up fast and we had beautiful weather the rest of the trip!

Brenton liked to pull up his swim suit and show off his sexy legs. ;)

The onboard shows and activities were a lot of fun... though we weren't able to attend many since we were at a port every day.

Formal Night

KEY WEST

There wasn't a ton we wanted to do in Key West so we just walked around some shops then walked to the "locals beach" about 15 minutes from our port and soaked up the sun.

Brenton went exploring while the rest of us took a nap on the beach.

We had fun just sitting on the rocks and watching the ocean and boats while the waves splashed us.

Courte and I showed up for breakfast in the same coverups. :)

NASSAU, BAHAMAS

Nassau was our favorite place we stopped. It was so beautiful and the weather was perfect!

We tried to book and excursion on the boat and it was full so we decided to wait til we got off and ended up getting a way better deal. We found this guy named Roger who took just the four of us out on his boat to a reef to snorkel. The boat ride was so much fun and so was snorkeling after I got over the fear of being in the open water and actually putting my face in it and swimming.

Right after Roger helped me put my snorkeling gear on he tried to throw me in all alone before Brenton even had his gear on.

The people that can't swim get life jackets around their waists. :)

The water was so clear and pretty! And the warmest ocean water I've ever felt!

As much as they say "don't touch the reef" here are my wounds from accidentally kicking it a couple times.

Brenton and Ty loved to pose for us to take pics of them.

Yes my eyes are closed, but its the only pic we have with our buddy Roger.

After our boat ride Roger dropped us off on Paradise Island by Atlantis and we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and relaxing at the beach.

Our boat didn't leave Nassau til 11:30pm so we were able to go on a little night walk.

As we were walking I heard a lady giving Courteney a bracelet and telling her that they give one to all the visitors for free so naturally I walked over to them and a boy gave Brenton and me necklaces and then ask us for a "donation."

The boys will never stop reminding me that nothing is free.

Lionfish

COCCOCAY, BAHAMAS

This was our last stop before heading back to the U.S. It is a small, privately owned island Royal Caribbean that was set up kind of like a resort. They had places to snorkel, jet ski, kayak, swim, etc. and lawn chairs laid out all over the beach for us to use. They made a BBQ lunch for us and we just relaxed by the beach all day.

There were crabs climbing all over the rocks.

Of course we had to go snorkeling again. I just love the pics that look like we all had lip injections.

A floating mat is the best way to lay out.

We were so sad to say goodbye to the beaches and warm weather!