Update!!! (For you Lizzy D)

Ok, ok the lull has gone on long enough!!! It's hard to get started once getting so far behind, but I'm back. I'm bloggin. And I'm excited about it. I told my dear friend Lizzy D (who I didn't even know looked at this blog!!) that I would finally update my blog for her birthday. Finally I'm doing it. I'll give my best shot to cover the notable moments of Jan-Apr with more of a picture show..... and hope it isn't too overwhelming because I've got to get this update out there!

JANUARY
We kicked off the year with a trip to NYC on New Year's. It was a DREAM to ice skate under the Rockerfellar Christmas tree and see 'White Christmas' on Broadway. All our pics from that trip are lost :(

Then, we had my awesome auntie Shanna and cousin Vincent visit for a week.
FEBRUARY

NO ONE saw it coming, but Snowmaggedon of DC. A bit of our documentation...

Weather like that called for homemade bread bowls. I've been meaning to try my SIL's recipe. Mmmm...
Valentine's

The weekend before V-day we started what I would like to make our annual Valentine dinner party. I had a ball putting it all together. Everyone brought a course, and it was a delish 4 course meal. I'd feel like a fraud if I didn't admit that I was inspired by Julia Child.

Valentine's Day- Josh spoiled me rotten. He's a cute husband, guys. He got one of his young men at church to serenade us with violin over dinner he cooked. Can we say champ???

On a less romantic note, then we went to Target, got nerf guns and set up the window with each window square earning certain points. Every round won, you get 1 min of massage. Let's just say I owe JOsh 7 mins and he owes me 2. :( I've never been good with guns.

Visit from Liesel and Blake, our dearest BYU neighbors that live in Williamsburg now. Love them.

JOSH'S 27TH BIRTHDAY!!!!! Surprise getaway to Bed&Breakfast in Charlottesville, VA. We toured Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's home) and saw his grave. He was one of a kind.
MARCH
Special missionary moments. Too many details to tell, but Josh went out with the missionaries and started teaching Jose and Elizabeth with them for several weeks. Jose asked Josh to baptize him. I helped Elizabeth out of the water and she was so pure and the spirit was so strong. We adore Jose and Elizabeth and admire their amazing testimonies and spiritual strength!!!!

Beautiful MaKenna (LIttle bro Cody's bestie) and her friend Paige visited for a few days from Southern Virginia University. Wish we could have spent more time, but they are our favorite college girls around.

MARI'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!! This is my 5am birthday bash before Josh left for work. A lil CP (cereal party- tradition) with my fave forever Kashi. What's the big package behind me? BEST PRESENT EVER!!!!!! ROCKIN' CRUISE PILLOWS. He ordered the pillows I fell hard for on our cruise 2 years ago. Now sleeping on a cloud, my friends.
Other best bday gift, my fam comin' to town!!! They threw me an unforgettable shindig. Good thing we still had the karaoke machine we borrowed, and that dad brought his BeeGee's cd with him. It got wild.

More visitors? YES!!!! IT was one right after the other. Score. Kimberlee my most darling gal pal from high school and her hubby visited for a week from Atlanta!!! :) Her bday was in January, but this was a milestone year. We had to have ourselves a little party. We loved getting to know Michael better, and I've missed my KiKi!!!!!!

Oh yeah, did I mention I got Josh CAPITAL TICKETS for his birthday? (HOw many times will we say the word birthday, the extravaganzas are almosssst over). We had a blast and a half at the Capitals Hockey game. These people love their DC teams.

Go Caps!!!

APRIL
Once again, the cherry blossoms blew our minds!!!!!!!!! (Wondering if this post will ever end?)

I just love this shot. It embodies how we can never get a decent picture,
but we'll just keep trying over and over, forever and ever.

More eternally joyful events. Josh got to take a weekend to Canada and be there for a special family from his mission getting sealed.
Grandparents!!!! Grandma Doris and Brian visit. They were spry as any 21 year old tourists. They spoiled us and took us out to eat 100 times and here is us and FDR.
WHOA what a grizzly beast post. But those are the high points. We don't have anymore visits on the calendar (that was just a rush) but anyone's invited for sure!!! It's been a pretty hectic few months, but we've loved it. Family and friends make life so sweet. And just being home with Josh makes life the sweetest.