family – Page 9 – emerald city diaries

happy mother’s day!

a mother is a person who has the best & hardest job on the planet!

obviously i don’t know from experience, but looking back on my childhood, i don’t know how my mom managed everything – raising me, my sisters & brother, school schedules (hers & ours), working, being a wife, vacation planning, grocery shopping, keeping the house in order, etc.! i know that i am the person that i am today because of my mom & there is really no way i will ever be able to thank her enough for such a fantastic (if i do say so myself) job that she did! happy mother’s day mom!

i also want to give a happy mother’s day shout-out to two other amazing moms in our family: my late mother-in-law marsha & my mother-in-law diane. marsha – i never had the opportunity to meet you, but i do have the absolute privilege of being married to your youngest son & thru him i know that you were the most amazing mom. diane – you have been a wonderful mother to aaron from far away & now are a wonderful mother-in-law to me!

thanks to all the moms out there for being such awesome people. my grandmother says that every day is mother’s day which i know is true, but i would like to take today to say happy mother’s day!

p.s. i planned on including a really cute montage of pictures, but all the pictures i wanted to use are packed. boo. prepare yourselves for next year.

my weekend in pictures: moving edition.

{boxes ready to move!}

{the desk at the escrow office where we signed our names about 67,888 times, approximately.}

{the key to our house!}

{sadie pretty much wants to be near someone (me) all the time. and preferably also touching.}

{uhaul for the move.}

{our rhodie is bloomin’ in the backyard. it is so gorgeous!}

{sadie staking out her yard.}

{happy, happy birthday to my dear friend sascha! sorry we couldn’t stay for karaoke & dancing.}

{thanks dave for expertly packing our uhaul!}

{first dinner at the new house was chicken mole at the local mexican restaurant.}

{we lost some of the bed hardware during the move & “camped out” on the living room floor with the mattress. aaron & i hated it. sadie LOVED it!}

{one of may boxes we unpacked this weekend!}

{i couldn’t find the coffeemaker, so made coffee with the french press. also, a sneak peak at our awesome kitchen tile.}

{we took our first of many, many trips to lowe’s.}

{unpacked the cookies to put in the cookie jar. you can see where my priorities were when unpacking the kitchen!}

well, after a few trips back & forth to the new house & lots of help from our local family & friends, we are officially in our new house (as of saturday evening!) we want to give a big (huge) shout-out to everyone who stopped by to help: ben & sarah, dave, marcus, andy & hailey, nick & jerry!

the house is still a mess (that’s an understatement, for sure), but i am hoping to post pictures of the (pre-moved into) house sometime this week for all of you that are hankering to finally see it.

how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{macaroon ice cream sandwiches at pomegranate bistro. delish!}

{beautiful flowers blooming at my grandmother’s house.}

{friday afternoon pick-me-up: giant m&m cookie!}

{birthday dinner at john howie steak with the fam.}

{happy birthday to my uncle bill!}

{cupcake pick-up for amanda’s baby shower.}

{sneak peek at amanda’s shower décor. more baby shower posts to come this week.}

{charcoals warming up for dinner bbq.}

{wore my first mullet dress to the baby shower.}

{love those fun quotes inside kate spade cards. thanks amanda for the fun wristlet!}

{sadie enjoyed some car rides around town.}

{after seeing blair on gossip girl sport her engagement ring & wedding band, i decided i would give it a try. i am loving it & highly recommend for other ladies that don’t have a traditional wedding set.}

{one of many new evolution fresh shops – the newest starbucks venture in fruit drinks & smoothies.}

{be whatever you want. found a good life lesson while shopping at the gap but no fashion lessons. does anyone else know what happened to the gap? years ago i loved everything there; now i don’t see a single thing i would wear.}

{enjoyed some yummy korean food in the sunshine on saturday!}

{stopped at the audi dealership & admired the R8.}

{sadie decided to go for a swim during our walk in redmond on saturday.}

{leather seats + wet dog = sitting in the back of my mom’s car.}

we had such a beautiful weekend full of sunshine & warm(ish) weather – perfect for the family that was visiting from out of town! how was your weekend?

happy birthday mom!

today is my mom’s birthday & i wanted to wish the best mom on the planet a wonderful & fabulous birthday!

mom – thanks for everything. i couldn’t ask for a better mom {& aaron couldn’t ask for a better mom-in-law!} & i don’t know what i would do without your love & support.

{pictures were taken at our wedding.}

sending lots of birthday wishes your way!

happy happy birthday you two!

happy birthday to you! happy birthday to you! happy birthday dear ben & franklin! happy birthday to you! and many more…

today is extra special since there are two birthdays in the family: aaron’s big brother ben & aaron’s nephew frankie.

{ben in las vegas} {frankie at his birthday party}

have a happy day!

my weekend in pictures.

sorry for the delay in posting today, the busy weekend overflowed into my monday!

{gummy calcium supplements, yes please!}

{i tried out a fishtail braid in my hair.}

{aaron brought me breakfast in bed on saturday!}

{there are beautiful spring bulbs blooming all over our neighborhood!}

{sadie was enjoying a bit of sun & fresh air. she is eagerly waiting for the weather to be warm enough that we can leave the car window open all the time.}

{we went to matt’s for one half of dinner & a movie.}

{the oysters on the half shell were delish!}

{we saw the artist. i really enjoyed it – the costumes were fantastic! can i just wear 20’s fashion all the time? have you seen it?}

{eleven eleven – make a wish!}

{brunch at the barking frog in woodinville.}

{fresh dungeness crab was one half of sunday night reef & beef dinner.}

my mom was in town visiting this weekend so it was fun to catch up & hang out with her. aaron started feeling sick late saturday, but is on the mend. how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{espresso over ice cream at serafina}

{aaron is going to be a groomsman in andy & hailey’s wedding!}

{me, aaron, hailey & andy at the waterwheel}

{the denim bar at madewell}

{peppermint sipping chocolate – much more sophisticated than hot cocoa}

{sadie giving aaron a hug}

{oysters on the half-shell at anthony’s}

{she’s not mad or mean. sadie just grins & shows all of her teeth when she knows she was naughty & knows she is in trouble}

{february vogue}

{cake for breakfast!}

{beautiful paper at daniel smith art store}

{yep, that’s a micron computer!}

{the pretty chandelier at ann taylor}

{sunday dinner was safari themed}

{mini cupcake post-dinner}

{our friend’s dog daisy mae sitting on the couch contemplating life.}

my mom finally got into town – only one day delayed from the snow – and we had a great time catching up & doing a bit of early birthday shopping, yay! such a wonderful weekend!

how was your weekend?

las vegas: the bowl game.

when we originally booked our tickets to las vegas we decided to stay one extra day after the wedding so that we could see the sites. we had no idea that the las vegas bowl game would happen fall on that same day. or that boise state would play in that bowl game (again, darn you bcs!).

happily, we were able to get tickets with my parents who flew down for the bowl game along with thousands of other members of the bronco nation. while the weather was brisk, the game was fun, especially the very first play – scoring a touchdown on the kick off? yes please! – and we cheered & cheered the broncos onto victory!

{mom, dad & me in our bronco blue; mom & dad at the stadium}

{our friends lyle & jean; aaron & me waiting for kick-off}

{go broncos!; fans vocal against the bcs}

{moore & the broncos receiving their trophy; final score 56 to 24}

the win was bittersweet as it marked the end of a true football era; the senior players, led by kellen moore, played their last game in bronco blue (cue tears).

can i get a: BOISE! STATE!

did you watch the las vegas bowl game or any other bowl games this year?

las vegas: the wedding.

aaron’s cousin scott & his then-fiance kelly invited all of the family out to las vegas the week before christmas to attend their nuptials. we have been trying to split christmases between our families every other year, but tickets to indy were pretty expensive (plus renting a car, boarding sadie, etc.) so we decided to spend this year’s christmas in idaho & make the quick trip to vegas (where we knew we would see a little of aaron’s family).

the wedding was on december 21st and took place at the chapel in the clouds which is 103 stories above the strip at the top of the stratosphere hotel. the actual ceremony took place in a beautiful little room where we watched the sunset over the vegas desert, witnessed scott & kelly tie the knot & waved to the webcam that was streaming the wedding for those who couldn’t attend.

{my in-laws: diane & sam}

{the groom before the ceremony}

{the groom & mother of the groom, susan}

{the groom waiting for his bride – cue the tears!}

{the bride & father of the bride}

{the first kiss}

{aaron & me. sidenote: the height difference here is not normal because normally i don’t stomp around in 6 inch heels. yep that’s me at 5′ 9″.}

{love is in the air}

{the bride’s family}

following the nuptials there was a dinner reception where the food & company were wonderful. it was a pretty small group, so everyone got a good view of the head table where scott & kelly were made to kiss every time someone clinked on a glass. they kissed. a lot.

{the happy couple}

a little bit of dancing took place at the end: kelly danced with her dad, scott danced with his mom & kelly & scott shared their first dance. the reception wrapped up with some “we are family” & brake dancing.

{bride & father dance}

{groom & mother dance}

since the night was still young & we were at the stratosphere, some of the boys in the family decided they needed a turn on the big shot (the ride on the needle of the stratosphere). all of the boys made it on the ride with a little liquid courage & there were no shoes or meals lost on the ride (phew!).

{the boys pre-launch}

{take off!}

{at the top of the big shot}

the wedding was so beautiful & i am so glad that aaron & i were able to help celebrate the marriage of scott & kelly. cheers to the new bride & groom!

have you ever been to a vegas wedding?
M

what happens in vegas stays in vegas.

unless you have a blog.

we found ourselves in las vegas the week before christmas for a family wedding & coincidentally the boise state bowl game (darn you bcs). there are too many pictures for one post, so wedding & bowl game pics will follow.

aaron had never been to vegas before & i hadn’t been in quite a few years, so it was exciting to go together for a little holiday vacation. we stayed at the stratosphere because that is where the wedding was taking place, but we spent most of our free time on the other end of the strip. it was great to see some of aaron’s family in vegas since we weren’t able to make it out to indiana for the holiday this year.

{flying out of boise, idaho}

{at the top of the stratosphere}

{the stratosphere}

{waiting for the bus. yay for sunny weather!}

{aaron and me at caesar’s palace}

{uncle mike, aunt sharon & me at planet hollywood}

{aaron & me at the trevi fountain at the forum}

{the mirage}

{the strip}

{freezing at the fremont street experience}

{aaron & me at the venetian}

{the christmas tree at the venetian. so beautiful!}

{the sun shining at the venetian}

{sitting in the revolution sign at the mirage}

{the wynn}

{old vegas at the fremont street experience}

{a beautiful christmas tree at the wynn where we brunched. i need those curtains!}

{beautiful christmas decor at the lobby of the wynn}

{aaron won $1!}

{the eiffel tower}

{the fountain show at the bellagio}

{store front of the louis vuitton store at the bellagio}

{polar bear at the bellagio lobby – can you believe he is made completely of flowers?}

{the revolution bar at the mirage}

we had really sunny weather during the day, but the nights were chilly. aaron tried his hand at black jack, slots & poker; i shopped at zara (no gambling for me!). three days was about perfect for us as las vegas = over-stimulation, but we are planning on going back at least one more time in the future, mostly to see a cirque de soleil show.

have you ever been to vegas?
M