Anniversary Trip

 On June 27, 2017 we celebrated our two year anniversary. I know, TWO WHOLE YEARS. And they said we'd never make it... 

Stephen took some time off work and we planned a getaway to St George. Even though St George is usually only 5 degrees cooler than Phoenix, trust me, you can feel the difference. 

We drove to Las Vegas on Sunday night after church. We got the audio book of Atlas Shrugged, which is one of Stephen's favorite books- I've never read it before and we are still working on it so no spoilers!- and that kept us busy and alert on our drive. Rory slept the whole way and will therefore forever be our favorite child. We made it to John and Ashleigh's house pretty late in the evening, but were still greeted by John and Vienna. I was worried how Rory would handle Vienna since the only other dogs she had seen in her life she had totally flipped out, but she LOVES Vienna. John was playing fetch with her and Rory thought it was the funniest thing in the whole world. 

Monday morning Stephen woke up early to buy us some Pink Box donuts and John and Ashleigh made delicious french toast. After eating way too much, I stuck a couple more donuts in plastic to go bags and we took off for St George. 

We went straight to John and Lucina's house to drop off Rory so they could watch her while we celebrated our anniversary. Stephen had made hotel reservations for us but he wouldn't tell me where. We drove up the cliffs with the big D on them and he said, "Do you have any idea where we are going yet?" I responded, "This is the way to Nate and Linne's house..." and he said, "Yep! You guessed it! We are staying in their basement and the girls are going to make us dinner tonight." It didn't sound like the evening I had anticipated so I was trying to act excited when Stephen kept going past their street turn off and said, "Or we can just stay here instead." 

We pulled up to the Inn on the Cliff and it was gorgeous. Here is the view from our room: 

There was chocolate waiting for us on the bed so obviously I was in heaven. The Inn also has an attached restaurant so we got all fancy for our dinner reservations that evening.

We started with Italian sodas and some crispy Parmesan fries. They were both delicious. Yes, that giant fry appetizer was obviously meant for a much bigger party than the two of us, but I've never been a quitter. It was so nice to enjoy a dinner just the two of us. We are not big on eating out, and when we do it's usually drive thru Chick-fil-a, so to be at a fancy dinner with no baby to worry about was such a treat. 

My dinner, noodle purses filled with pears and four cheeses in a cream sauce with spinach and tomatoes

Stephen's country fried chicken and potatoes. 

 I was so stuffed, SO STUFFED, that I couldn't even THINK about eating the cazookie they offer on their dessert menu. Oh well, guess that means we have to go back to try it next year.

Anniversaries call for selfies because let's face it, we are only getting older and fatter. 

 We regrouped after dinner and let our stomachs do a little settling. We had plans to go to Rockville the following day so we stopped by Nate and Linne's to pick up a park pass and got to chat with her for a little bit. I rallied and decided I had room for dessert after all. We went to Iceberg for a little milkshake. I had been there once or twice before and I remember the shakes being bigger than I expected. When I told Stephen I wanted a mini size he looked at me incredulously because I never want a mini size, but he shrugged it off and followed my lead. As soon as we got our shakes we kept saying over and over again, "THAT'S a mini!?" They were delish.  And ginormous.

Stephen will tell you only ice cream can make my face look this happy.

We went back to our hotel with our giant milkshakes in hand and Princess Diaries just so happened to be on TV. I sat in bed and ate my gargantuan dessert and watched my movie and cuddled with my husband (and ate his shake too) and realized that life will probably never get better than this moment.
Basically the moral of this story is that after two long years of marriage, Stephen has learned that food is the key to my heart.

Being married to Stephen is truly better than I could have ever imagined any marriage being. I felt like as a realistic person, I grew up thinking if I can get someone to marry me that is strong in the gospel and nice to me and my family, I will have it made. It would be great if he were handsome and funny, but that seems like asking a lot so I'm cool either way. So then I meet Stephen and I was like; gospel- check, nice- double check, handsome and funny- CHECK and how on Earth did I hit this jackpot?!? But it doesn't stop there. Stephen is good at everything he tries. Seriously everything. It would be annoying except for the fact that I'm the one that always benefits from it. He can play guitar so well! I knew that when we were dating, but he will seriously learn any song that I want him to in like twenty minutes. It's insane. And that's with a broken finger that doesn't work anymore. And he's handy! I never expected to have a handy husband. He keeps fixing things around the house and coming up with new projects and I am amazed at what he can do every single time. He even has an eye for decorating. It's sweet because he says he will always defer to my judgement, but the few times we have disagreed about where something should be in the house or what would look good, he's usually the one that ends up being right. He can cook, and he's very good at it. I get more practice than he does nowadays so I think I am finally catching up, but the first half of our marriage he was so patient with me as I ruined meal after meal. How frustrating for him, because he would have been eating great if he was in charge of meals, but he never once got upset over it. And he even took me out for ice cream for dinner on days where I'd made something that was inedible. He's romantic. The first time (Yes, there have been several since) that he came home with flowers for me I was baffled because I was like, "What? Why? How? Who died??" And they were 'just because' flowers. Basically I could write a novel about all the reasons why my life is better now that Stephen is a part of it, and maybe someday I will because I recently thought of a title for my autobiography and it's too good to waste: I Can Look Good or I Can Get Stuff Done- But I Can't Do Both: The Kylie Earl Marsh Story

Back to our trip!

We got up the next morning and toyed with the idea of going to Kneader's for breakfast, but we had been spending a lot of money on food already, so we decided to give the complimentary breakfast at our hotel a try. They brought it right to our room and HOLY COW it was so good. Fresh fruit yogurt parfait, hard boiled egg. Tillamook cheddar cheese, homemade cinnamon roll and orange juice. As dreamy as our entire stay was, I really think we talked about this breakfast the most of all.

After breakfast we went to our temple to do a session. The last time we went to the temple together was before I had Rory, so it was really wonderful to be together in that special place again. We walked by our sealing room and I got butterflies remembering how I felt in that same place two years ago!

After the temple we went back to Stephen's parents to pick up Rory. Several times during our anniversary date Stephen asked me if I missed Rory. I told him, "Honestly, I don't because I know she is having the time of her life with your parents." John and Lucina love to sing songs to Rory, show her cute videos, read books to her, and just love on her all day long. And I was right, she didn't even notice we were gone.

This is the face of a child who did not miss her parents even one little bit. 

And who can blame her? 

After spending a little time with John and Lucina, we took off for Rockville. This time was Rory's first time at Rockville (not in my tummy) and we were all pretty stinking excited about it. 

John and Lucina came up with us to make sure the house was ready for us and to show Rory the persimmon tree they planted when she was born. 

Rory's first Rockville trip!

Wednesday: We decided to head into Zion to try to do some of the smaller hikes with Rory. Shout out to Ashleigh for letting us borrow her awesome Ergo carrier- I'm a huge fan. Well, Zion was PACKED! It's awesome that so many people are in to National Parks, but stinks for us because there was absolutely no parking! We drove through the park, and it was still gorgeous seeing it that way. We ended up pulling off to the side of the road and taking a little walk right from there. Rory fell asleep right away, but it was still nice to get out and about. 

 After a little nap time and relaxation, we went out to Oscar's Cafe for dinner. We went here for our anniversary last year, and it was just as delicious this year. Rory loved staring at all the other people and the flies loved my hair so it was a good night for everyone.

When we were looking at the menu I saw the dessert options and said, "Ooo, they have a brownie sundae." Stephen replied, "We are getting the carrot cake." Stephen is not a plan for dessert kind of guy and we usually only order dessert if I want something so I was seriously so thrown. Stephen was looking forward to dessert! We are rubbing off on each other. And the carrot cake at Oscar's is seriously amazing. 

Must. Eat. Cake. 

At dinner, we were discussing our plans for the next day, Thursday, and we were going back and forth on whether we should stay the night at Rockville again, or if we should head back to St George. Out of nowhere Stephen said, "Well, we have tickets to see Shrek the Musical at Tuacahn tomorrow night, so we should head back to St George tomorrow. Happy anniversary!" The tickets came as a total surprise and I was so excited! This all really happened by the way, my life is just really this cool. 

After dinner, we took a little walk down to the bridge to get some pictures and work off that cake.

One of the VERY best things about Rockville, even though there are so many very best things, is that Stephen makes me a s'mores fire every single night. He makes me the most perfect little roasting fires and I eat as many s'mores as I want. And true love means not keeping track of how many s'mores the other person eats. 

Thursday: We opted for a lazy sleep in morning, and Rory for once obliged! We woke up late, took a morning nap, and just hung around the house. We also watched The Fantasticks which was fun because I had never seen it before. John Marsh does a great rendition of "Never Say No" so I have been wanting to see the show ever since.

We decided to try our luck and head into the park later in the day hoping that the crowds would die down as the day got hotter. We were right and we had no trouble finding a parking place this time. We hopped on the park shuttle and headed toward the Emerald Pools trail.

Though it was nice to have the park less crowded, we were there during the hottest time of the day so I was instantly terrified that Rory was going to get dehydrated or heat exhaustion or something horrible like that. We took lots of water breaks and kept her in the shade as much as possible. I was also terrified that I was going to slip and fall while wearing her. Basically, I didn't truly enjoy the hiking experience until about halfway through when I handed her off to Stephen.

 Rory prefers to hike with her head thrown back so she can see all the nature around her, or check out the other hikers, or maybe because she's up against our gross sweaty bodies- I dunno, it's one of the above. Whatever the reason, It's adorable and people kept stopping to ooh and aah over her. It was a fun hike and Stephen and I are in complete agreement that Rory is the coolest baby ever. She is so much fun to hang out with.

After the hike we had to hustle home to get packed up and head back to St George to make it to Shrek the Musical on time. We made it back to Stephen's parents house with about 15 minutes to get ready and leave for the show. It was a little crazy, but the show was so much fun to watch and we had an awesome time together. The leads for the musical were SO talented, as was the entire cast, but the staging was definitely interesting without the rotating stage they used on Broadway for the original (which I saw on my senior trip to New York.. twice!) They used live horses in several scenes that were gorgeous so that was a really awesome addition.

We snapped this picture as we were running to our seats. 

When we got home Rory was asleep in a pack n play upstairs so Stephen got to pick her up and bring her down to our room, which is basically his most favorite thing to do in the whole wide world, so it was safe to say it was a great night for everybody!

Visitors in June

June brought us back to business as usual. We were back to our regular routine patiently awaiting the visitors we would have coming this month. Get excited, they're good ones. 

Stephen loves to hang out with Rory in the morning before work. This is when I caught him doing his hair and Rory's at the same time. She doesn't have much to work with, but their twinning totally cracked me up. 

Rory now pulls the water bottle from my mouth when she is ready for her turn. Which is always. 

 We got to do a little swimming at our old apartment complex with my friend Emily.

Are you sure this water's sanitary? It looks questionable to me.  

Everything must get in my mouth!

Rory has discovered puffs and she gives them two thumbs up, five stars, 10 out of 10!

She loves golf balls and hates getting her nose wiped. Thus, this picture happened. 

I'm starting to have to barricade things. Look at her blurry little hand, always on the move!

When I need a little break I put Rory in the jumper- she can jump now!- and turn on a show. Her favorite is anything with music and girl loves Ed Sheeran.

The first weekend in June was when our first visitors arrived! Clayton, Stephen's best friend, and his girlfriend Alicia came to Gilbert for the weekend for Alicia's friend's wedding and they were able to stay at our house. We didn't have a ton of time with them, but it was enough to get some delicious food together and to remind ourselves how much we miss seeing Clayton every day. It is so fun to have such good friends. 

We took them to LoLo's Chicken & Waffles because that place is delicious and also a little hilarious. Alicia had been once before and could only remember they had delicious blue Kool-Aid so she and Clayt went all out. The Kool-Aids were delicious and also HUGE. 

She is my daughter

Now I'm hungry just writing about it...

And then the very next weekend we had a visit from my bestie Madalyn! She had a break in her work schedule so she was able to hang out with me for THREE WHOLE DAYS and it was glorious. We ate so many delicious things. Plus she showed up with gifts! I am currently obsessed with this T-shirt she brought for me. I wore it to Girl's Camp (for the one day I went) and girls kept being like "Hey, cool shirt." and I actually really did feel like a cool mom.
Mady flew in Wednesday night, but I got called to be a Beehive adviser the Sunday before she came, so I picked her up from the airport, drove home, put Rory to bed, and said, "Hey, glad you're here. Please watch my baby. Kthanksbye." And she did it gladly because she's the best. I got back from Mutual and we chatted and ate Edward's S'mores pie until we were too sleepy and full to continue. Verdict: It was yummy, but very sugary (and coming from us that is saying something) and we prefer our Marie Callendar's Chocolate Satin Pie.

The first day we just hung out and around the house and chatted for the morning and it was bliss. And then Stephen came home early from work because apparently the universe was celebrating my half birthday or something, and so we got to hang out with him. Then Stephen watched Rory while we went out and did some shopping. That night I took Madalyn to Fluff It for gourmet s'mores. Madalyn's was a mint marshmallow, with chocolate ganache, on a chocolate chip cookie. I got a vanilla bean marshmallow with Nutella and peanut butter on a peanut butter cookie. Both were A+ delicious. And so so messy. Is there anyone in this world that can eat s'mores without getting them all over their face? If so I am interested in taking lessons. Please and thank you. 

Mady also helped us further indoctrinate our child, which is really what a best friend is for. GO COUGARS! 

 The next day we went out shopping, but only after stopping by Sodalicious for a little sustenance. We got two cookies and a scotcheroo, because we're both watching our weight- HAHAHA jokes. Verdict: Inventor of the scotcheroo you are invited into our exclusive best friend club and also I think I love you. Peanut butter Off the Rails (Nutella frosting) is as delicious as it sounds. The chocolate cookie was also amazing, and Mady said during the holiday season they put peppermint frosting on them which she fins to be a little too much and I thought sounded just about right, so I'll get back to you on that one.

After a long day of shopping, we put Rory down and left Stephen at home and went and found ourselves some yummy Mexican food. Madalyn went for the Chicken chimichanga and proudly finished the whole thing because it was delicious and she is a lady. I got pork enchiladas with sweet potato sauce which I did not finish because 1) I wanted to be able to eat that meal again it was so good and 2) I only made it halfway through dinner before I started thinking about that S'mores Pie sitting in my fridge. 

Mady and I are always horrible at taking pictures when we are together because we are always busy talking and/or eating, so I hope you can see that this entire write up is a HUGE point for me in the adulting category. Let's be real though, nothing makes you feel more like a mom than saying, "Let's take a picture!" 

We redboxed the movie Arrival on the way home and watched it with Stephen, and YOU GUYS, I guessed the ending of that movie like halfway through and that is going on my gravestone because it was a very big deal for me. Cool mom and a genius. Wow. 

Us and future us??? 

 On Saturday we took Rory swimming at the community pool. We weren't there for long, but it was cute while it lasted and that's really all that matters right?

Saturday night we went out to Oregano's for dinner and tried not to think about the fact that Mady would possibly ever be leaving us. Stephen and I shared the Ziti with Meatballs and I am writing this down because I always forget what I like there, even though everything I've tried is delicious, but now I've got it in writing. I like the Ziti. We ordered a pizookie even though we had but three Nothing Bundt Cake bundlets earlier in the day to eat for dessert. But we only bought ONE pizookie so I was actually like super impressed with us. We got half chocolate chip half Salted caramel and it was WHOLE-Y delicious. See what I did there?  

Rory sat in a high chair for the first time and it was maybe the cutest thing that has ever happened to me. She ate her puffs for a while very happily. Then she people watched for a bit. Her favorite thing to do was find a server and lock eyes with them as they passed by our table. Inevitably, as they would walk by they would say to her, "You're so cute!" At which point she would smile and look away shyly and then find another server to stare down. This baby is just the coolest.

This head not pictured guy sitting at the bar behind Rory was speaking kind of loudly during our meal so he kept catching Rory's attention. She would strain her neck around to try to see him or lean back in her chair so she could get a good look at him upside down. When he got up to leave he said, "Well, you are not the cutest thing ever. I have not fallen in love with you at all." It totally warmed my heart and I keep thinking about it. I hope that Rory will always be so sweet to people and good at making friends!

Madalyn had to leave early Sunday morning, but we were all too full to eat our Nothing Bundt Cakes- rookie mistake. We tried to redbox another movie, but couldn't find anything good. We tried searching for iZombie season 3 episodes, but instead stumbled upon all the seasons of Pushing Daisies which Mady and I love because we are soul mates and Stephen had never seen before! We ended up watching 3 or 4 episodes. We had to multitask though because we were busy finding Mady potential Arizona husbands on Mutual (Tinder for Mormons) so that she can move next door to us. Don't even get me started on how fun/ addicting those apps are. We haven't found 'the one' yet, but we're not giving up hope. 

Right before we went to bed, we went ahead and taste tested the bundlets because it was absolutely necessary in order for us to get a good night's sleep. We got Red Velvet, Cinnamon Swirl, and Lemon Raspberry. They were all delicious. Stephen likes the cake, but thinks that the frosting is way too much. I like it all, but see his point on the frosting. My rankings were Cinnamon Swirl, Lemon Raspberry, and then Red Velvet. I did not happen to stand on a scale after Mady's departure and I think that was for the best. 

I love Madalyn, and she is the coolest for being my friend and loving my baby and hanging out with me when she has a well-deserved break.

And then life got back to normal and I had to start eating salads again. 

This is Rory at Walmart sitting in the cart for the first time. Notice the nursing cover overlaying the cart and every soft thing I could find in my diaper bag shoved in around her because I was terrified. I also walked around slower than the majority of the senior citizens in the store because I was so afraid of jostling her or something. She LOVED it. I couldn't get her to sit up straight because she could get a better view of the action like this: 

 She employed the same technique she had learned at Oregano's and stared other customers down until they told her she was cute. This is a picture of her doing exactly that to a single man.

Rory is getting more mobile by the day and loves to pull herself up on to things. She doesn't get to her feet most times, but she proudly sits up on her knees and reaches for whatever it is she is after. I love that her going after the iPad just makes it look like she is SUPER in to my fitness DVD. 

I never manage to get a picture with her in it, but my friend Emily is always good for a weekly swim/ lunch date. She knows the best places to eat and then she and I sit and chat in the pool while Rory floats alongside of us. Emily is the best. And Rory is pool tolerant- most days. 

Stephen's First Father's Day! All he wanted was a new wall mount for our giant TV so that it will not topple down on Rory when she starts pulling herself up on things and for me to master his mom's lasagna, which I attempted but did not succeed. A lame present, a disappointing meal, and this guy still had a smile on his face? Yep, he's a real dad now. 

Our good friends, the Bartons, had a baby boy that had Trisomy 18. Little Michael only lived for 11 hours, but his life completely touched and changed mine and many others. Rory and I were able to attend a beautiful service with friends and family. I will never forget Sarah singing "Come Thou Disconsolate" with a strength and beauty like I've never seen before. The Bartons have been pillars of light and strength for everybody amidst their own tragedy, and I am so grateful for their examples. This is Rory and their daughter Rebecca playing at the luncheon afterwards. These girls are almost exactly a year apart. Rory thought Rebecca was the coolest and Rebecca thought it was naptime and she was ready for this baby to quit following her around.

With Rory's newfound mobility I have had to get really creative with ways to keep her busy and contained so that I can do things like shower. This bath tub play pen worked SO well. About twice. And then she was over it. But it was adorable while it lasted. 

Thanks to Stephen I was able to go to Girl's Camp for one night and one day. He took the day off work and I headed to camp Tuesday night with two other leaders. It was so fun to get to know the girls a little better and I had a blast. Obviously, Rory and Stephen did too. 

Rory has now decided that she will no longer sit quietly in any church meeting. Little did I know, the foyer is a kid haven and church has never been cooler. We both loved it. 

Last, but not least. this is Rory pooping in her bouncer and I die laughing every single time I look at this picture. The struggle is so real, baby girl.