Cayenne

Can we talk about how gorgeous these roses are from Cody? Happy Anniversary indeed! Pictures don't even do them justice, they were like neon coral, SO pretty. They are called 'Cayenne Roses'.

Our anniversary was so great. My dear friend Tanya offered to watch the boys that day and night so Cody and I could just spend some time together (after he worked for 5 days straight? Yeah, I was ready for some Cody time). We had lunch at JCW's and then went shopping for Motorhomes. Yes. We're looking into getting a Motorhome. Probably won't happen this year, but we really want one. That afternoon there was a huge thunderstorm in true Jolley anniversary fashion (it rained on our wedding day and has rained on our anniversary every year...I sort of love it). We came home, got ready and went to dinner. Did some shopping, came home, ate ice cream and watched some of our shows before going to bed. Simple? Yes. Perfect? Yes. It was just so nice to be together! I will admit, it seems like every other year I get super uptight about our anniversary and I want a huge production and fuss. This was a simple year...hopefully next year I don't go crazy.

We did finally sample a Hawaiian Shaved Ice stand that we pass all the time...and boy was it delish. Half coconut/half pineapple for me! I took the boys there a few days later. The cup was a little difficult for Cole to maneuver, but he's clever.

Andrea and her kids came to town again for a few days, so we spent some time with them. Cache and Luke are always so great to watch together...

Saturday I spent all day up at my parents house and we planned some stuff for our family Powell trip which we leave for TOMORROW!! Oh man, I'm so stoked. I'm so looking forward to having a nice, relaxing vacation. The aforementioned Tanya is watching my boys while we're gone because she is dipped in gold. Leaving town is always stressful, am I right? I have to get the house clean and go grocery shopping and get me and Cody ready since he just got done working for 3 straight days, trained all day today and teaches tomorrow. My word.

And you know what else is on my mind? PLENTY. I'm sort of over having every one of my posts an overview of my week. How lame is that? I mean, I want to update since this is a quasi-journal, but every time I read one of my posts I get super bored. And it's my life!! Changes are a-coming. I need to blog more often and of more interesting things. I will still update, forshizzle, but trust me. Changes. Are. A-coming. Along with a fun new development! Oooh, I will make you wait until I get back from my vacation. Til then? I'm out. Powell bound!

Celebr8

We are the Jolleys.

Happy 8th Anniversary to us!!

And then July happened...

Where is Summer going? We have been so crazy busy it seems like it's flying by! Lets get right down to binness.

The Girls Trip was a complete blast! Oh man, I had the best time. We went to Hollywood, San Diego, we shopped, we ate, we laughed until we cried...it deserves it's own full post, so I'll cover that later. Just know that it was epic.

The Sunday after I came home was my sweet niece's blessing. She is such a darling little girl. Marty gave her a beautiful blessing and the meeting was so awesome. We met over at Marty and Jess' for some lunch and mingling.

How sweet is her blessing dress? That bonnet...

Such a delish spread, I think I ate about 40 of those strawberries.

This also happened to be the weekend of the 4th which always seems jam packed with goodness. My sister and her family were in town so we had lots of fun with cousins and hanging out at my parents house. Cody had to work over the Holiday, so I woke up the boys early and we raced down to meet the Patches and the Sumsions for the Grand Parade!

Here's Cache with his cousins Luke, Graham, Sadie (best face award) and Elliet.

Storm Troopers! Totally radical, I geeked out.

While I love the parade, I really don't know if we'll go next year. My kids get bored after 45 minutes and while it was wicked awesome when I was growing up (our house was on Center Street so we used to sleep on the lawn with friends the night before), I'm kind of over it. Is that horribly un-American?

That night was the PGFD Firework show which never disappoints! Plus we get to sit superclose - turns out sleeping with a fire captain has it's benefits. Before the show started the boys were busy with their glow sticks.

Then BOOM!

They put the best show on every year. You may know that they have legalized a bunch of new fireworks this year, so the whole valley was booming all night with huge fireworks... so cool. Our 4th was full and fun! Phew!

The next evening Cody and I went down to Lake Powell with our friends, Marc and Jessica. We've never been down there with them and we had the best time!
We've known them for years. Marc is the Fire Chief and they live just down the street from us. I honestly took about 7 pictures - that's it! Although I did manage to snap this pic of a duck eating out of Marc's hand.
We were only there for 3 days, but it was so relaxing and so great. We had huge thunderstorms every afternoon (I LOVE the storms there), we went into town for dinner on Cody's Birthday!, and Marc and Cody hiked the famous dune while Jess and I (the smarties) waited in the boat.
Our friends Drew and Dana were down there and we go to spend a lot of time with them. So excited that Cody and I get to go back with my family in just two weeks!...wait, almost one week now. Woot!

Since we've been home things have been going 100 miles an hour. We wanted to do all kinds of fun stuff with the boys and work on the house, but that hasn't really worked out. Cody has been working constantly and I'm SO not lying about that. Just take a look! Here's what his past week has been:

Sunday: PGFD

Monday: PGFD

Tuesday: Trained all day at Viking CrossFit, took an overtime shift at PGFD that night.

Wednesday: Taught a class til 5:30, meeting at 6:30.

Thursday: Saratoga Fire

Friday: Saratoga Fire (was able to come home at 9:30pm).

Saturday: PGFD

Sunday: PGFD

Monday: Saratoga Fire

Gah. It's been rough having him gone so much. I have been trying to get caught up. Our internet was down so I spent some time over at the cable company and lots of time on the phone trying to figure that out. I've been the grocery store what feels like 4 times a day, our yard was a disaster and after I exhausted myself trying to do it alone, I hired some neighborhood lads to come take care of it. Worth every penny!! Cody was able to come home the Friday night and we had a yummy, Summer dinner: homemade hamburgers, corn on the cob, potato chips and homemade apple pie.

The boys helping with the corn.

Seriously? Probably the best pie I've made to date. YUM.

Saturday I took the boys to see the new Winnie the Pooh movie - have you seen it yet? It was good! I liked it quite the much and the boys were totally captivated. I must get the soundtrack, all the songs were super catchy. I loves days out with my boys. They are so patient running all kinds of errands with me, which feels like all I've done the past 7 days.

Today has been a real day of rest and goodness knows we need it. It just feels like we've been going and going non-stop all week long. Cody is working again tomorrow (but it's the last shift in a 5 day run!!) and will be home Tuesday, our 8th wedding anniversary. How will we celebrate? Probably with a nap.

Is this thing on?...

It's been far too long, BC readers (or readER). Summer is crazy, our internet was down, we went on vacation...there is SO much to blog and yet I find myself not wanting to blog at all. Bah. If I have any time I just want to relax on my front porch or hang out with my boys...not that I'm saying that those of you who do blog would rather not relax or spend time with your families. Chillax.

But there is much to update on and I will get to it. Hang in there, new posts are just around the corner