The first sunny weekend in Rexburg!

I guess if I'm going to be a legit blogger, I have to start remembering to take pictures of all our fun activities. But I forgot this weekend, so you'll just have to bear with me as I find google images to help fill in the "picture blanks" this blog.

This weekend was the first sunny and warm weekend in Rexburg this year.  Brant and I been struggling with the fact that it is almost JULY and this is the first weekend of the year that we have been able to enjoy my brand new swim suit I bought in April and get cute pink rosy cheeks and (of course) make sure all our friends are using their SPF 15 for sun protection.  But now that we have rediscovered the sun and summertime, we are both going to have a hard time getting re-motivated for school and work tomorrow. (I work in a basement office with no windows, and Brant is in classes all day....we are not ready for Monday!)

We started off our weekend a little on the lame side. Brant did homework on Friday night, and I worked late. But the rest of the weekend made up for it.

Saturday morning, we woke up and got our bountiful baskets. It wasn't the best week we've had, but still awesome. We got carrots, celery, baby tomatoes, strawb's, limes, bananas, apples, green onions, 3 heads of lettuce and...I feel like I'm forgetting something. I don't remember though. But, so far, everything has been delicious. I can't wait for next week's surprise.

After we got our bountiful baskets, we rushed home and changed into our Sunday best.  Our friends, Julie and Morgan, decided to bless their little baby Nolan.  It was a really great event.  I kind of liked the way they did it.  It was similar to a baptism, minus the talks.  All family and close friends were invited, and of course, a member of the Bishopric. They started with a prayer, opening hymn, the blessing, and ended with a prayer.  It was very simple, but the spirit was definitely present.  Baby Nolan's blessing was great. And of course, Julie picked out the cutest baby blessing outfit for him.  After the ceremony, Julie and Morgan invited everyone to stay for a lunch that they had prepared. But...

Brant and I had to book it out of there. We were so glad that we were invited and got to be apart of Nolan's blessing, but we had a BBQ to get too. Our friends, Annie and Abraham (Abe), planned a delicious BBQ. They invited us and another couple that became our new friends, Kim and Mike.  It was a great BBQ.  Annie And Abe planned for hamburgers, hot dogs, and brots! I couldn't eat a hot dog, but I did scarf down a hamburger and a brot. (Brant scarfed down a lot more. ha) But on top of that, we had cheetoes, sour cream & onion chips, BBQ chips, a coleslaw salad (Aunt Amy's recipe), and dessert! It 36 hours later, and I still am pretty full from our BBQ; so is Brant!  So you know it was good!  I also got football lessons at this BBQ.  The boys were throwing around the football, and the girls were in the bathroom so I was just awkwardly sitting there and decided to go throw some ball with the boys.   My hand-eye coordination isn't very good, but after some tips from Abe and Brant, I got better throughout the day.  But I hate to admit this, my back, arms, and legs are sore. haha. But I improved and could actually throw and catch the football by the end of our BBQ.   Everyone was pretty proud and supportive in my football efforts.

Well, at this point, our day is only half way over. Brant and I were starting to get a little tired, but we had to get to Kenzie's third birthday party of the week. Our friend, Kenzie's, birthday was on Wednesday.  Last Saturday, Kenzie and I went up to Gateway in Salt Lake for a quick shopping spree.  I consider that a mini birthday celebration. Then we had a surprise party for her on Tuesday night that we went too. And then we went to Rigby Lake on Saturday. Kenzie and her husband, Austin were there with Lauren, Blaine, and Chris. They had all been there for a good 2 and 1/2 hours before Brant and I got there.  But everyone stayed for a good 2 more hours once we got there.
Lauren, Blaine, Chris and Austin got soooo burnt. They all have listened to me preach about the importance of sunscreen, and I commend them because all of them (except Austin) put on sunscreen when they first got to Rigby Lake; and then they reapplied when Brant and I got there. But it was their first time out in the sun all day like that, and SPF 15 just doesn't cut it. ((For everyone reading, the first couple times out in the sun for the year, you should wear SPF 30 or above, and reapply close to every hour. After you get your base color for the year, then you can just wear SPF 15. But make sure your sunscreen blocks UVA and UVB rays.   Some sunscreen only blocks UVA rays, but UVB rays are equally as dangerous, if not more so))  Anyways, I feel really bad for them because they are all lobsters.   After they all left, Brant and I decided to stay a little bit longer. Brant got in the freezing cold water, and I attempted too but only made it to my mid thighs.  I couldn't go much further, it was FREEZING!  So then Brant and I laid down for a while and we took a little nap...when I say little nap, I actually mean it was a good hour long nap.  Brant admits that he woke up to the sound of him snoring - that's embarassing.

Brant and I headed home, took a shower and got cleaned up. We had leftover coleslaw salad for dinner, neither one of us were very hungry.  Then we headed to Walmart. Brant has been begging for a new chair for his desk because his old chair has no back support and no cushion. So we get him a new chair.  Nothing too nice, or too different than his old chair.  But it gives him more back support and have more cushion and he is more comfortable as he is doing home. And we got me a new full length mirror. (My old one was literally broken in 6 different places) We also got us some cute new roll up beach towels since we didn't have any - and with the 4th coming up next weekend, we definitely need a couple, because you know we will be outside all weekend! I can't even wait!!

After Walmart, we got a call from Kenzie, Austin, Lauren, and Blaine asking if we wanted them to pick up our matching Old Navy 4th of July shirts. So of course we had to contribute. All 6 of us are going to be sporting our matching shirt next weekend as we watch fireworks in Idaho Falls. I'll take a picture for sure!   Then we invited them all over to watch "Just Go With It" and enjoy our delicious homemade cookie dough ice cream.  You all must come over and eat it with us sometime.

Well that was just Saturday! We were exhausted after everything, but was a fun day! It reminded me of what summer was like in high school, ya know..when I got a summer break. ha.

Today was great too. Not as exciting, but a nice summer Sunday.  Brant and I slept in a for a while, then went on a bike ride to have a picnic lunch.  I found this delicious chicken salad lettuce wrap recipe that was perfect for our picnic.  We laid out and took a little nap under the sun again. Then rushed home, got ready for church. Enjoyed all three hours of church, went Visiting and Home Teaching. Then I made a bangin' salad for dinner; using a lot of our Bountiful Baskets goodies. And I made a homemade BBQ salad dressing that was delicious. And now we are ending the weekend the same way we started; Brant's in our room doing homework and I'm just blogging my life away.....