Alisha's Baby Shower

In June, my mom planned a fun informal baby shower for Alisha, who was due with a baby boy the first week of August. 

We met at Aspen Creek Grill for dinner. Mom and Tessa prepared a few games and we showered Alisha with gifts. She's a beautiful mama-to-be, and it was fun to see family members I don't get to see too often!

It was kids night at the restaurant, so they had a balloon artist - the kids all got swords with a belt.

Alisha is already such a great mom to Nalon - she's got this boy mom thing down!

Fathers Day 2018

On Fathers Day, we took Jackson to church with us and presented Brandon with his gifts - a new watering can and tickets to see "Whose Line is it Anyway?" live. Then we headed down to Columbus to have lunch with my parents, grandma, and Tessa. 

I'm so blessed to have my own father - a wonderful example of hard work, faith, and diligence. He's been a solid force for good in my life, and as an adult has become one of my most trusted advisors. He gives wonderful counsel and shows through his example what a Christ-centered life looks like.

I'm also blessed to have Brandon as a husband. He's a wonderful, attentive father to Jackson and always reminds me, through his example, what it means to prioritize your child. I can't wait to see him with our children and to partner with him in raising them. 

Girls Camp 2018

Even though I was in the Young Women Presidency in my ward, I was not tasked with spending the whole week at Girls Camp. I did get to go down and spend an afternoon and evening with the girls, though, and bonus - my parents, who were both helping out for the week.

The theme this year was Livin' the Dream - referring to Lehi's dream in 1st Nephi. It was Ward Night, so other ward YW presidencies and bishoprics were there. Our bishop and one of his counselors came down, along with their young daughters. We played games and had a quick fireside. 

Grandma came out for the afternoon, too, and got to see the Shoaf granddaughters that were there (Jesse's daughter Olivia pictured here).

I hadn't been back to Girls Camp since I was a youth myself. It's in a totally different place now, but it was fun to reminisce about my years there - so much fun! I was happy to be coming home to my air conditioned house and comfortable bed, though!

Elexis's Baby Shower

Brandon's sister Elexis was expecting her first child with her boyfriend Kris - a baby girl, whom they decided to name Nova Rose. The baby shower was held at Rustic Root - an adorable antique shop and tea room. The theme was Beauty and the Beast. I was in charge of games, though we only had time to play a couple of them - Beauty or Beast (a how-well-do-you-know-the-parents game), Baby Gift Bingo, and Late Night Diaper Decorating.

Sisters!

After the shower, we went back home and set up our new vacuum and hung out with Brandon!

Anniversary Trip 2018 Part 2: Boston

When I was booking plane tickets for our trip, I went back and forth on the dates. I finally decided (I thought) on June 1-8. Friday to Friday. So I booked our apartment in Maine for Friday to Tuesday, then booked an apartment in Boston for Tuesday to Friday. When we were driving back to Boston on Tuesday, I was looking at the map and noticed that next to the Boston airport on my Google Maps, it had a date and a time for an upcoming flight. And the date was Thursday, June 7th. So I frantically checked my itinerary, and sure enough, our return flight was booked for Thursday. I have no idea how I got it mixed up in my head - my only thought was that maybe I had just forgotten to change the return date when doing a search and ended up booking it that way. Regardless, we ended up with just one full day in Boston, which was kind of a bummer, but we made the most of it. And fortunately, we were able to cancel the last night of our apartment in Boston.

We met my friend Brother Simpson at Harvard, where he teaches Institute. He gave us a walking tour of campus, and pointed out lots of interesting facts that now I can't remember. I remember this was the library, and I'm pretty sure it's the largest collegiate library in the world. 

This was a freshman dorm, I believe. Or maybe it just held the freshman dining hall. But Brother Simpson said it's pretty cool inside and looks like Hogwarts.

Not far from campus we visited George Washington's headquarters during the Siege of Boston, which later became Henry W. Longfellow's house. It was right across the street from the LDS Institute.

We crossed over into Boston and visited the public gardens.

Then we started the Freedom Trail, including sites like Boston Common, Old North Church, Faneuil Hall, and the site of the Boston Massacre.

We took the ferry across the harbor over to Charlestown. The ferry was a cheap way to get a great view of the harbor and the skyline!

On the other side, we saw the naval shipyard, including the dry docks, and toured the USS Constitution, which is the world's oldest commissioned naval vessel still afloat, famous as "Old Ironsides" from the War of 1812.

We ended the day in the North End, where we indulged in Giacomo's pasta and Modern Pastry cannoli. Brandon said the chicken parmesan was the best he'd ever had!

It was a long, whirlwind day but the weather was beautiful and as always, it's so neat to be where such important historical events took place.