Chlarson Family Fun!

The last few weekends have been full of trips up to Sandy! It's been such a blast to spend time with Brandon's family- especially since his younger brother, Cory, arrived home from his two year service in the Suva, Fiji mission! PLUS Brandon's older sister Alie and her two little girls, Mariah and Lacey, came out from Atlanta to be here for the big family reunion. 

Before Cory came home, we had some time with just Alie and the little girls. Brandon's niece, Lacey is the cutest girl. I seriously think she could be on TV for a variety of commercials. :)

Brandon is such an cute uncle. I think it's because he's a little bit of a child at heart. :) His niece Mariah completely adores him.

Mariah has the sweetest smile! She's quite the dancer and singer too!

Later, all the family was kind enough to come to Provo. We feasted on Texas Roadhouse then we all went back to our little home and played some games. Mariah obviously whooped Uncle Brandon. :)

That weekend before the big arrival of the missionary, we all had a HUGE treat: DISNEY ON ICE! I have discovered that I am seriously still in love with all things Disney. Like no joke. So we LOVED getting to see three little mini stories unfold beautifully on the ice: Princess and the Frog, Cinderella, and Tangled.

Mickey just makes everyone happy!

The magical stage

Lacey LOVED the show. She was clapping and bouncing the entire time.

Cinderella had some cool costumes- especially for the little mice.

 Tangle was my favorite! I seriously love the story, the lanterns, and all the music.

Then on Saturday, the BIG day had arrived! Brandon's mom was SO excited- as were all of us to see Cory arrive! We made lots of posters and wore yellow shirts- the welcome home color.

Lacey cute as a bug ready to meet her Uncle Cory

I have some pretty awesome in-laws. Clearly!

CORY HAS ARRIVED!!!! (sulu on and all!)

The four crazy Chlarson siblings... Oh and yes my husband is the one sticking his head through Cory's skirt. Oh goodness... :)

We stayed up in Sandy that night and went to Church with the full fam. The little girls match so cute.

I must say I enjoy having some nieces! Mariah and I became especially good buddies while they were here. We were so sad when the Cordells had to head back to Georgia but we're looking forward to June when we'll see them again. The Chlarsons certainly know how to have a party!

February Fun!

February is one fun-packed month for our family! Valentines Day, President's Day, and most importantly, Brandon's Birthday all occur in one short month! Here's a few photos of the highlights!

VALENTINE'S DAY!  

For our FIRST Married Valentine's Day, I decided to keep things crafty and made Brandon a framed subway art of all the reasons I love him. :) I think he liked it! Brandon spoiled me with an aeropostale gift card (I know, I know- it's really a little girls clothing store but I love their clothes!), an adorable stuffed animal (Roo from Winnie the Pooh- one of my favorite characters from the good ole days), and a beautiful hand-made card. He's such a sweetheart!  

That night, we were both just getting over a nasty stomach bug- SO much not fun, so we decided to save our hot date plans and kept it simple with a light Thai meal and a fancy chocolate fondue dessert. :) 

This was a little pinterest holiday fun I tried for our Valentines Day. I wish I had more of a domestic thumb! 

My fabulous, romantic husband definitely had some magical plans for us on Valentines Day Part II. He was so understanding about rescheduling our original plans till the following weekend when we both were feeling better. I'm so glad we did because we had a wonderful time and I got to be spoiled rotten 2 weekends in a row! :) For our hot Valentines Day, Brandon took us to Thanksgiving Point to check out the rockin' Dinosaur museum there (I LOVED the star-filled tunnel at the beginning). We had fun trying to do all the little kid puzzles and looking for the 13 hidden gnomes throughout the exhibit. They must have literally been the size of a peanut because we only found 2. (And I promise you we were looking very close!) 

Afterwards, Brandon COMPLETELY swept me off my feet and took us to dinner at The Harvest: a ridiculously tasty restaurant with all sorts of decadent and exquisite cuisine. :) We felt like we were living the high life and ended dessert with the most divine creme brulee. YUM!

THE LINCOLN DINNER

Over President's Day, we were happy to have a three day weekend to head to Colorado and spend some time with my family. My mom squeezed as much fun as humanly possible into our 2.5 days there! We started out Saturday night by introducing Brandon to a 30+ year Priday tradition: The LINCOLN DINNER!

What is the Lincoln Dinner you may be asking? Well, when my parents were dating, my mom found out that my Dad really loved and respected President Abraham Lincoln. So she decided to get a little birthday party together for this awesome Civil War hero on February 12th (his actual birthday). My Dad obviously loved it and loved my mom and ever since they've been hitched, we've held the Lincoln Dinner every year.  (Please notice my Father's new Lincoln tie I gave him for Christmas... )

Some of the awesome activities include eating delicious Southern food (Lincoln was born in the South- Kentucky to be exact).....

Eating some giant chocolate Lincoln Log cake (in the corner of the picture there), singing some Civil War Era songs,

Taking a Lincoln history quiz, playing fun Lincoln games, and even being honored with a visit from Abe himself. And what else would he recite but the Gettysburg Address?? 

We end the night dividing into teams and having a Lincoln Log building competition! This is no joke people!

I'm so glad we were able to come this year! Brandon definitely needed to be a part of this important Priday tradition. Plus we loved spending time with the nephews. Isn't Spencer such a cutie?

Such handsome boys!

BRANDON'S GOLDEN BIRTHDAY

While we were in Colorado, we began the many celebrations for Brandon's 24th Birthday on the 24th! (That's a big Golden Birthday folks!) The little nephews sure love playing and being silly with Uncle Brandon.

Ashton with the Birthday Uncle...

And just the two of us. I love our tradition of telling the person why we love them when we give them a birthday gift. :)

My Mom treated Brandon to some of his favorites- including a homemade birthday lemon meringue pie. I think my parents like having another son-in-law to celebrate. :) So great to have him be a part of the Priday fam!

The day before Brandon's actual b-day, I planned a special birthday date for him. It was a little scavenger hunt leading him to Diego's Mexican place for lunch, a Wreck It Ralph dollar movie, Olive Garden with Brandon's family, and a rousing round of indoor black light mini golf! 

I hope Brandon liked it! (his overly enthused face might be a good sign). :)

The Birthday Boy with his new Jazz shirt and B-day banner. 

At Sunday Dinner, Brandon and his cousin Krista shared a delicious Birthday dinner. :) (Look at that tasty chocolate cake!) 

And finally! One of Brandon's gifts from me was an hour of golf at this snazzy indoor golf simulation place. So he redeemed that recently and played a round of golf in "Hawaii". I enjoyed watching him without having to travel around from hole to hole. :)

February's been a wonderful, busy month! I always love lots of fun things to celebrate. Now let's bring on the spring!!!