Goblins in a Valley?

 This summer we went to Goblin Valley and Grand Junction, CO on vacation with my brother and his family. It was a BLAST! I was learning and trying to do new things with my camera so I apologize now for the over exposed pictures.

On our trip we went to Grand Junction, CO. My cousin lives near there with his family. He was able to tell us a really cool hiking spot to something called "The Monument"

 There was this cool rock that had a tunnel in it. The kids had to explore... I was too scared there was going to be a giant spider inside that called this its home.

She is a country gal at heart.
                                     

On our way down to CO we stopped at Goblin Valley. This was my first time there and it was just about one of the coolest hikes I have ever been on. I can't wait to go back again! We did the hike up Little Wild Horse Canyon and then went to Goblin Valley.

Goblin Valley

Little Wild Horse Canyon.

The narrows were so much fun! There was one point where you had to turn sideways to get through. We had a ton of fun climbing walls and hiding in crevasses... when I say we, I mean mostly my niece and nephew. Mike and I joined in occasionally. Before you even enter the canyon you have to get up this one rock...it is pretty tricksy. Okay, okay, it was only tricksy for me. At one point I had three people telling me what to do and trying to pull me up and in the process got myself stuck. It was pretty awesome. I made it up finally without any pulling of pushing. It was a proud moment.

Baby Boys

Pinterest is a very dangerous site for me. I don't know what I did before it though... I probably thought I had original ideas and my crafts were not nearly as cute as they could have been. My best friend Emilee is just about ready to welcome a new little boy into their family. So of course that meant it was off to Pinterest to find something cute for her new addition. I made these three onsies with the ideas I got there.

I apologize for the poor quality of pictures but you get the idea.

Work on the Nusery

I am a pretty crafty lass sometimes... when I say that I mean I ENJOY doing crafts... with the help of Pinterest of course. Since we don't know when we are going to welcome a new little one into our family we are always preparing... we might only get a few days notice. Plus it is SUPER fun to decorate and get things ready. Of course everything has to be gender neutral but I haven't had to sacrifice any cuteness because of it. These are some of the things that we have completed so far.

 I am a little obsessed with owls and so that is the theme, if you will, for the nursery. I made this valence with the cutest owl fabric ever.

Before and after of a chair that I reupholstered. It isn't perfect for sure, but it is a large improvement.

 This past Christmas Mike got me a Silhouette. This is why I wanted one so badly... I have done lots of other things with it, don't worry. I'm not that silly that we would spend that much money on something for one project... it was just a really good excuse for getting one.

These last two aren't things that I made but that I am really excited about.

We bought this quilt at a silent auction for $50. Some of you may be saying "what a rip off!" But for those of you who know about quilting know that the fabric alone was probably $50 if not more. Then the time to put it all together and to have someone quilt it. I LOVE the way it looks and it is something I am so excited to add to the nursery.

I can't remeber when I heard about these books but I have been wanting them for a long time. Mike and I were killing some time at Deseret Book (very dangerous for us) and I came across these lovelies. Of course they had to be mine. I am so excited to read them to our children...they will have no choice but to be some of the most awesome kids alive after reading these. ;)

The Niece and Nephew

Can I just say that I have the best family EVER! I used to complain all of the time about being the youngest and having no siblings to grow up with. My closest brother in age to me is 5 years older... which doesn't seem like a lot now, but at the time it was HUGE. Now that I am older it is so cool! I have so many friends and loads of nieces and nephews to hang out with.
We have been spending a lot of time with my brother and his family lately. He has two kids in high school and they are both involved in athletics. It is so much fun to go and cheer them on at games. My nephew is a football player and my niece is a cheerleader. Get ready for a picture overload.

 Announcing the football team.

Aren't they two of the best looking kids you've ever seen...yep, that's what I thought.