Little miss Kiley

So Kiley got to get experience something pretty awesome on Monday night. She got to sing in from of 21 thousand people with David Archuleta! She currently rehearses with David’s voice coach and was asked to sign in the David Archuleta concert this last Monday. Bryan and I weren’t able to make it out but got a chance to talk with her last night. She said it still hasn’t kicked in that she got to sign on stage with him…. I guess she was pretty nervous, but when we asked her if her voice was shaky….she said no… so I am guessing she did awesome! She is such a talented little girl…. Her singing voice is just so spectacular!!! Anyhow I just had to get a shot of her with her Christmas present from us on…. and of course her new glasses! Carla also sent me some photos of the concert…. Enjoy!

so tuckered out at the end of the night, but still in her David sweater! hahaha

Christmas time!

So the holidays are almost here! Too many things to get done, not enough time….. Well Bryan and I have been keeping busy this holiday season with some decorating, traveling, holiday parties, soccer, and of course some horseback riding.

My Mom and I decorated most of the house this year while Bryan was in Vegas in November. We put up the Christmas village which normally goes up at my parents house….but my Mom insisted that it go up at our house…. Guess she just doesn’t want to have to deal with all the taking it down… it really is fun to put it up and such a pain to take it down… Anyhow the place is officially decorated. Bryan and I went and got the tree a few weeks back and he decorated it all himself!

We were able to make it out to Utah for Thanksgiving and it was so nice to spend some time with Bryans family. Time with the Todd’s is always a blast, but the time always goes too fast. We got to spend about a week there and it only seemed like a few days. Hopefully we can make it out there again soon!

Zalsa and I

Christmas picture of the barn
Turkeys in the side lot....there were 33 this day.... Bryan and I caroling....hahah Kumo enjoying the new Christmas decorations that are sort of invading his perch

And the decorating begins

Slight remodel

So ever since Bryan and I bought the house we have been full of remodeling, upgrading the house. We fell in love with the crown molding in the house, but never really understood why the builder didn’t put in all over the house. The room that really stood out for being strange was the formal dining room…. No crown molding?!?!? That’s just crazy! Anyhow we were missing molding in the entry way and hallway as well…. So we found a remodeling company in the area and got an estimate and decided which items to tackle. We choose to do the painting the family and dining rooms, molding in the entry, hallway and dining room and we opted for wainscoting in the dining room. I have always LOVED wainscoting and wanted it in at least one room in the house. Anyhow here are the before and after pictures…. Both rooms turned out amazing and the crown molding matched seamlessly with the original molding in the rest of the rooms!

So... we bought a horse!?!?!?!

So in July I was anticipating my transition to my new team at Intel. I moved laterally in the company and as a result got back my free time in the evenings and on the weekends. I was wondering what I was going to do with all this new found time, and decided I might just take some riding lessons. Well I took some lessons at a facility in Granite Bay, and eventually got in contact with a girl I had ridden with in Pony Club growing up. Well I totally lucked out! I immediately clicked with Dani and started riding at her facility in Granite Bay about 5 times a week. I helped her out by exercising some of her horses and got a chance to ride one of her horses she had for sale. I immediately fell in love with this horse. Her name is Zalsa and she is a 7 year old Dutch Warmblood. She had a foal last year and got a late start under saddle. Dani got her in June and she had very little time under saddle. So when I started riding her, she was still very green (inexperienced). She had some initial trust issues, but she is such a sweet girl…. Very willing to try her hardest. Well we have decided to start training her for Three Day Eventing. We started jumping her at the end of August and she has been loving it ever since. I have been able to take her cross country schooling a few times and she is turning out to be a brave little mare! Anyhow this last weekend I went out to Star Vaughn with Dani and three other students of Dani’s. It was a great day… got Zalsa over all the fences, which is a HUGE accomplishment for such a green horse, especially since we only really started jumping her a little over a month ago! So here are the pictures from this past weekend:

check out the lightening bolt on her butt! yeah!

Visiting Samantha

So I was able to visit Samantha at the beginning of September. I met Samantha while attending ASU and instantly became friends. I have many fond memories at her parents’ house in Scottsdale and love spending time with her family. After leaving ASU we have maintained our friendship with *almost* yearly visits. Last time I saw her was March 19, 2010 when she got married to Jonathan! Since then she has been living in England since that is where Jonathan is from. Anyhow so I got to visit her and got to know her husband a little more. It was a wonderful weekend of relaxing and catching up. Just wish it was a little longer L I miss you already Samantha!

Summer update!

So Sorry I haven’t posted in a while. Things have been super busy lately with Summer in full swing! Here are some recent happenings:

Bryans stuff:

So Bryan has been super busy with Softball, Soccer and Golf. He has been in these three leagues all summer and since I have officially moved teams at Intel, I am now able to attend some of these games. Bryan is really improving in his soccer skills! He has been playing goalie lately in the league games and even his touch is improving! I need to get some pictures at the next game!!!

Bryans good friends got a puppy yesterday.... here is a picture Bryan just sent me... they went home and played with the pup during lunch!

Golfing:

So my parents have been in town for most of the summer and have been golfing like crazy. Bryan and I have been able to golf with them on a few weekends and are loving it! We are gearing up for this coming weekend since we will be going to Pebble beach with my parents for their wedding anniversary. We are so excited!

Stuff around the house:

So shortly after we moved in we bought a nice dining room table. No chairs, just the table. Well it’s been about a year and we still didn’t have any chairs. Bryan and I are very picky about chairs and the print and we just could never find one that both of us liked, until we saw this one below. We totally love them and can’t wait to paint the dining room one of the shades of color on the chairs! Yay!

Kumo:

So Kumo has had a pretty posh summer. He has been chasing turkeys in the backyard, whining at bunnies during Bryan’s softball games, and being a lazy bum at my parents house while we are at work…..

Kumo staring at the turkey in the tree
this is what he looked like after my Dad has just finished petting him...what a wierdo!
Do you see the bunnies?

Horses:

So as some of you know I grew up riding horses. I had a pony growing up and got a Morgan horse when I was about 9. I loved it! However high school came around and between school, soccer and boys I ended up dropping the riding all together. I always knew I would eventually come back to it. So now that I am done moving around for college and am planning on being in one place for a while, I decided to pick it back up! So I have been riding a bunch lately! Seems like I picked right back up where I left off! I am riding at a friend’s place. Her name is Danielle and I rode with her in Pony Club when I was younger. She is just great! I am so lucky that she is letting me exercise some of her horses and am loving all the lessons I am taking. I have decided I LOVE jumping and really want to get back into Three-Day Eventing!

Photo of Zalsa and I...i love her!
Photo of Dani jumping!!!!

My friend Nikki:

So I am totally missing my friend Nikki…. I want to go to Tanner and go walking with the dogs! Hopefully we can nail out a trip to Utah soon and I can get to see her! So I just couldn’t resist posting just one little photo of her cute little pup pup. She breed her female a while back and has been hoping to sell the puppy. Well just this week he got an owner. They are naming the cute little red guy “Kuma”, which means bear in Japanese…. So sweet…

fireplace before and after

So today I am working from home because our fireplace is getting painted...it looks 100% better now that its done..... you can't really tell but the before color was really green.... we aren't really sure why...

BEFORE:

AFTER

kumo loves the all house fan

I woke up last night to Kumo sniffing away.....I turned on the light and this is what I see...
he loves the all house fan :)

Fourth of July weekend!!!

So far this weekend has been pretty eventful! We went to the Folsom Rodeo this weekend with our good friends Cesar and Natasha. It was really fun, but the first hour we were all so hot. Thankfully the sun went down and we were able to cool down. Sunday my parents came over for dinner and I cooked them some Salmon, parmesan risotto and green beans. It was a yummy meal. Then today Bryan and I made a trip to green acres to pick up some plants. Here are some pictures from the weekend. Tonight we are heading to Natasha and Cesars for a little fourth of July paaarrrrtttyyyy.

Here is the waterfall finally working!!!!

Bryan planted some elfin thyme right along the concrete edge, It looks like grass, but you don't have to cut it! We are hoping it takes well to that spot.
I planted some sweet potato vines along the top of the retaining wall. They are the same two plants that are taking over my pot. I can't wait until they are big enough and cascading down the wall!!!

My pot flourishing!

Bryan re-planted his pot and it looks fabulous!

I only got one pictures from the Rodeo....and its of Cesar holding Natasha's purse...it was so funny, he was turning away from the camera to put it down... :)

much needed update

Finally, the much needed update post! So thing have been really crazy lately… my work schedule has been suffocating me lately, and that is an understatement. It is now official I will be moving to another group at work later this summer and I am counting down the days. Here is the fun stuff that has been happening since my last major post.

1. Hail storm…. So much that it looks like snow?!?!?! Yup that is right. This storm was short but very loud. The thurder was so load the house felt like it was shaking. It hailed like crazy for about 5 minutes and then stopped. This is what we were left with… pretty cool huh?!?

front yard:
backyard - right side

backyard - left side

2. Some accessories for the backyard….. oh no the backyard is not done… don’t get me started on that topic….Anyhow last weekend Bryan and I decided to go out an accessorize our back door. We have this large patio space to the right of our backdoor and it basically collects shoes. We decided it was time to liven in up with some pots and a nice storage bench. It was so fun running around the nursery picking out pots and plants. Bryan I decided to each do one pot. So we ran around each picking flower, it was so fun to watch Bryans decision making process. He is so cute! This is the result of the weekend trip to Green Acres.

Bryans pot:

my pot:

pots with the storage bench:

3. Our patio furniture finally came in, of course right after we had visitors Anyhow its looking fabulous and we seriously can’t wait until the rest of the yard is done. (Seriously when will it be DONE?!?!?!....ahhhh!!!) Bryan and I are really both liking how its turning out, we just want it to be over so we can start working on our little mini projects.

4. Nikki comes to visit for a week! Oh gosh it was so nice having Nikki here. I had about a week off from work in the April and my friend Nikki from Salt Lake came out to visit. We had such a great time just relaxing and catching up. The weather finally warmed up for here for her visit and we spent most of the time relaxing and playing with the pups. Nikki brought her lovely little Makoa, who I totally adore. He is such a cuddle bug! Anyhow we made one large trip while she was in town. I organized a group of Klee Kais to meet up in San Francisco. So the Saturday while Nikki was here we made the trip. It was so much fun to meet a whole bunch of Klee Kais and get to meet some wonderful owners. The trip was a total success! We ended up having 12 Klee Kais in total. I really do miss not living close to Nikki. We get along so well and she just constantly cracks me up. In a perfect world she would be my neighbor. It was really hard when she left… made me miss her even more L Which reminds me I should start planning my next trip to visit her. We are going to try and visit each other at least once a year.

Makoa sleepin on Nikkis foot

the pups on Kumos favorite perch

cuddling pups

Makoa wanted to cuddle with Kumo all weekend, this was probably the closest it came to it so we had to get a picture

Me and Kumo playing with little Rusty at the meetup

The group picture at the end of the playdate