The Courtright's

The Goat Whisperer

2011-09-05T19:23:00.000-07:00

Chase loves, loves, loves the goats at the zoo. He is so adorable with them. He walks around their pen with them with one arm flung over their back. He looks them in the eyes like they are best buds, and he snuggles up to them in any way he can. People always end up watching Chase, "The Goat Whisperer," with the goats because who can resist a 16 month old cuddlin' up to a goatie! This boy is a cutie!

Courtright Family Reunion 2011

2011-08-28T21:13:00.000-07:00

Event: Courtright Family Reunion 2011
Date: July 20-24
Theme: Pioneers
Location: East Wenatchee, WA
Activities on the Agenda: Making Pioneer Handcarts, Bead work and necklace making, Swimming, Dancing, Junior Olympics, Singing, Devotionals, Hiking (that was definitely an adventure), Tons of Fun

Practicing our "Whenever I think about Pioneers" Song that we sang at church.

I played the violin while Christina played cello to accompany the song.

Lined up for the Junior Olympics.

Target practice on the uncles.

Check out them guns! We weren't about to lose the waterfight.

Cute Cousin Hair!

Check out our mad limbo skills!

How low can ya go?

Courtright boys with their boys.

This was a wonderful family reunion! We loved it! Of course, the time we spent as a family went by way to fast. We love being with family.

Girls Retreat in Mesquite

2011-08-22T15:15:00.000-07:00

This was my first real get away by myself EVER! And I loved it! It was so much fun. First off, I had such wonderful friends here in Portland who offered to take my kids during the day while Mike was at school. Thank you, thank you! And Mikey was so excited for me and extra willing to watch the kids so I could go out with my sissies and my momma for 4 days straight without a schedule. I flew into Vegas and we headed to the Casablanca hotel and resort in Mesquite.

There was lots of swimming and sunning to be had. Some of my favorite things to do! I read. I talked. I laughed. I really enjoyed myself. : )

Me and my lil' sis Giada. We'd walk right in from laying out to go eat lunch. Lunch that was not, I repeat, NOT prepared by me. : )

We did lots o' eating. Another one of my favorite things to do. Why do I love food so much? Sigh...

Went out on the town...okay...there's not that much of a town to go out on. But this picture shows that we didn't wear our swimsuits the whole time.

Spa treatments! I tell you what, I could get used to it! Yes, I could.

Sippin' margaritas poolside. (Non alchoholic, of course!)

Gettin' our toes done by Momma. She does the BEST nails!

Saying goodbye as triplets...yes...we all have the same dress...same size and all! Love it!

Thanks ladies for such a great trip! I can't wait to do it again!

Presenting the Courtrights 2011

2011-08-08T22:09:00.000-07:00

I've determined that it's pretty dang near impossible to get that perfect family photo. I mean you do all the prep work...doin' the hair, dollin' up, gettin' fancy...and then the reality of it all sets in. There's us, the parents, smiling, while all the while inside our heads we are desperately hoping the kids will cooperate and that the whole process will proceed smoothly and quickly. Then there is them, the kids, who the whole time secretly plan to make family picures the longest, most stressful 30 minutes of the day. Kira will pose for the camera all day long, yet when it's family picture time, the comets align and out comes the dark side. That being said, I was pretty ecstatic that some photos turned out. Here's our fam in 2011.

Summer Travels

2011-08-07T23:30:00.000-07:00

I tell you what...we have had some of the worst summer weather here in Portland this summer. So we had to get the heck outta dodge to find some good weather. We ended up in Island Park, ID. Henry's Lake to be exact. Mike's favorite place on earth. Here's one of the reasons why...

Besides being absolutely gorgeous up here, the fishin' also rocks. Here's a sweet 3 lb. Brookie Mike caught. We went fishing together one day for a couple hours. The tally ended up being: Kim - 5 fish. Mike - 3 fish. Yep, I beat him. Don't tell him I told y'all.

Chase didn't quite know what to think of the fish.

We took a day trip up to Virginia City, MT and took a tour by stagecoach. I can't believe riding in those things was such a luxury. That thing went bumpity, bump, bump, all through the town. But it was fun to have the experience!

We went to this museum in Virginia City that had all these interesting factoids, antiques, and these crazy lambs. This lamb had one head and two bodies. Veird! The beautiful model there is my niece, Giada. Isn't she gorgeous? Guess how old she is. Come on, guess.... I bet you're wrong. She's only 11!!!!

We went on a walk with all the kids and this little dog and Chase rode together the whole way. They both loved it. Dog truly is a kids best friend especially when they both get to ride in the stroller.

Going out on the town to see Home School Musical at Macks Inn Dinner Theater. Hilarious show! One of the funniest I've seen in a long time.

Grandma taught Kira how to spray whipped cream into her mouth straight from the can.

Ahhh yeah!!! Summer, summer, summer time! Lovin' it!

Giveaway on my Food Blog

2011-02-26T21:59:00.000-08:00

Hey peeps! Just wanted to let you know there is a giveaway rollin' on my food blog. Check it out and enter.

Chase's Photo Shoot

2011-01-13T15:31:00.000-08:00

Can you believe this kid is 9 months old already? He has been so much fun! He is so very different from Kira in many ways. Where Kira was the short and fat (fat may be an understatement) baby, he is the tall and skinny. Where Kira was the best and always pleasant baby, he can be a little whiner pants. Where Kira didn't crawl 'til 10 months and didn't walk 'til 14, he army crawled at 5 1/2 months starting crawling somewhere in between there and now and walks around furniture. He is also a dare devil, and Kira has always been cautious. He has 3 teeth now and loves to smile and show them off. He has everyone fooled into thinking he is the best baby ever because when we are out and about he is on his best behavior (but mommy knows his little secret). He really has been a delight. I love to cuddle with my little Chasey! It has been so fun to see Kira and Chase interact, especially now that I think she won't inflict any bodily harm upon him. These photos were taken by a fabulous young woman in my ward, Breanna Henstrom. She is interested in photography and wanted to do a photo shoot of Chase. The pictures turned out so great! Bre is so talented. Which one do you like best?

Shutterfly Christmas Cards

2010-11-19T15:35:00.000-08:00

So I wanted to start early to get a great picture for our Christmas cards. We went to Jared's Wild Rose Ranch in Island Park, ID this summer. It is so gorgeous up there. Perfect place for pictures, fishing, hiking, playing, whatever. I was so excited. My mom brought her super extra spectacular camera to take pictures. We took about 150 pictures. Now I know why people photo shop pics to get the perfect one. For the life of us, we could not get both kids and both parents, for that matter, to look at the camera at the same time and look decent. Seriously...

At least Chase is looking at the camera in this picture, but I don't exactly think he's having fun.

Yep, not looking again. This is pretty much how the photo shoot went.

It's hard to look good when you have a little girl squishin' your cheeks.

Since we didn't get that one perfect picture, I was super excited to see that Shutterfly has these collage Christmas cards. Super cute!

Of course if you did get that perfect picture, they have Christmas cards perfect for that as well.

I love, love, love personalized cards and gifts! I just think they add that personal touch you sometimes need. Check out Shutterfly. They've got some great personalized gifts.

If you have a blog, you can also score 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly by blogging about it.

Name that do!

2010-10-30T23:19:00.001-07:00

We love Halloween!

We love dressing up!

Love the food!

Love the witches bru-ha-ha! (Check out my food blog for recipes.)

Love to create new hair styles. So I concocted this one this year. Can you tell what it is? It definitely has to do with Halloween. Most people figured it out. Can you? Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!

Mini Trip to Lincoln City

2010-09-14T12:57:00.000-07:00

The beach makes us happy! It is so relaxing for us. We decided to head to the coast for Labor Day to have a little R&R. It was a perfect day! We bundled up preparing for a chilly day at the coast and were left wishing we were in shorts. It was a perfect day! Perfect day at the beach = Happy Courtright's! Happy Daddy

Happy Mommy

Happy Girl

Happy Boy

The beach in Lincoln City was awesome. They have tons of tide pools with sea anemones. Mike was tickling them so they would give us a pucker. We found tons of mussels. It was really fun. Not so fun, was nursing Chase on the beach. I didn't have my hooter hider so I was using our jackets as a make shift cover up until a dog come sniffing me out. He jumps on top of Chase while nursing and tries to get in on the action. What the? I thought dogs only like to sniff people's rears.

Yoga on the beach with Kira! Beth, you would be so proud. :)

Tillamook ice cream! Best stuff ever!

Do you think this child has seen to much nursing? Seriously. This was not a staged picture. This girl sure makes us laugh!

Oh yeah! The oyster shooters to end the trip. When I was in Chile, I ate these things live. You could squirt lemon juice on them and see them move. Then you sucked them down your gullet. I dared Mike to do it with me. These are dead of course. I think they taste better live. Just suck away and they pretty much slither down your throat.

Slurping up the shooter!

Oyster shooters? I dare ya to do it!

No Necks and Whole Necks

2010-08-20T15:41:00.000-07:00

So one of the questions that passes our minds when I'm pregnant is: Will this child have a neck? Because as you all know, Mike has no neck, and I have a whole neck. Mike has often wondered what life would be like with a whole neck. He swears he'd at least be 2 inches taller with a neck. T-Shirts wouldn't be like turtlenecks. He would've actually be able to wear his football helmet on his head rather than on his shoulders and his ties wouldn't have to tie around the bottom of his hairline. What would it be like to turn your head to see behind you instead of having to turn your whole upper torso? Yes, the woes of a no neck. So out comes Kira and guess what? Yep, that's right, no neck.

Here they both are. Notice the lack of neck. That's right folks, there's not much there.

Still not much of a neck on the girl. She is stinkin' adorable, no neck and all.

Check out the Christmas pic. Notice there is a bit of a strain for the two no necks to get their heads up. Another impairment of the no neck. Lack of mobility in moving your head as compared to a whole neck. I'm starting to think this should be a categorized disability. :) So the question is: Is Chase a no neck or a whole neck? Everybody knows it's hard to tell on a baby because they are typically no necked for a while, but I think I have determined accurately what baby Chase is.

A half neck!!! He definitely has got something there. Not as much as me, not as little as Mike, but right in between. I'm pretty sure I've now got a half neck. I wouldn't trade my no necks and half necks for a whole world full of whole necks. I love them to pieces.

So my family sent me this picture with this caption "The rest of Mike's neck". They told me they found the rest of Mike's neck at a baseball game. Yes, they even documented it with a picture and sent it to us. This man has Mike's two inches. I guess I'd have to call that a double decker necker.

Love this Kid!

2010-07-14T17:22:00.001-07:00

It's that time...

2010-05-29T14:22:00.000-07:00

It's Potty Time!

Baby Chase

2010-05-21T19:48:00.001-07:00

We have loved having baby Chase in our lives. Kira loves him so much it hurts....him literally. How to keep a crazy two year old from mauling her baby brother is beyond me. Here's some things we've learned about baby Chase in the last 5 1/2 weeks.

He looks a ton like Mike.
He shoots poop rockets like no other.
He has a bit of a temper.
He always thinks he should be sucking on something (preferably on one of the twins).
He is generally nervous around Kira.
He sleeps like a champ during church. (He must get that from his daddy.)
He has sensitive skin. (He has had rashes since birth.)
He loves to be held.
He loves people talking and singing to him.
He is always moving even when sleeping.
Pooping is a full body experience.
He's a handsome little buddy boy!
He is so dang adorable!
We love him to pieces

Here are some random pics!

The day has come...

2010-05-05T17:58:00.000-07:00

I still don't want to do this, but feel it is a must. My recipe blog has started to be frequented with Chinese comments which are including sexual English words. Don't know where these people are coming from, but they can connect to my personal blog from my recipe blog. So I really feel I have to go private for my family. I might even have to change my recipe blog address or see if I can get the situation under control. Anyway, you know the drill. Leave me your info and I'll keep you connected.

My Peeps

2010-04-25T08:49:00.000-07:00

I love this little guy!

I think this is the sweetest picture. Love these two to pieces! I love my peeps!

The New Man in the House

2010-04-15T15:49:00.001-07:00

Introducing: Chase Michael Courtright

Born: April 12, 2010 at 10:18 pm

Weight: 7 lbs. 14 oz.

Height: 21 1/4

Yep, that's right...

2010-04-10T07:20:00.000-07:00

I'm still pregnant!!!!!!

Groovy!

2010-03-04T09:12:00.000-08:00

Who says a 7 month pregnant lady can't dance? This is a pic from our ward Valentines party. They said to dress up in any era dance attire. Everyone else was dressed in formals with shirt and tie. Mike and I walked in dressed like this. We did win a prize for craziest dress and became known as the crazy Courtright's by a few.

Okay, so I love doing Kira's hair. Not so much the process of it because she doesn't love having her hair done. But if I don't do it, she looks like a vagabond like the above picture. Hair hanging all over the place. (Side note: She drew that "y" herself. It's totally backwards, but she wrote it and said "y".) Back to hair. So I love making Kira's hair look cute. I have a couple of hair blogs I get ideas from and sometimes just use my own.

Here is Kira's Valentine heart hair. This was a popular hit. Everywhere we went people kept commenting on it. I decided to get a picture of it. It so much fun to give her cute hair do's. After I'm done Kira always says, "Pretty!" She likes the end result too!

30 weeks and growing!

2010-02-06T18:37:00.000-08:00

Here's a pic of me preggo as ever at 30 weeks. Seriously, you would think I have never been pregnant before! I am having all these crazy pregnancy things happen to me which never happened when I was pregnant with Kira. At some points, I'm thinking....Is this normal? So with Kira, I was just sick the whole entire prenancy. Yes, it got better, but I threw up until the end, and threw up 4 times during her delivery. This time, I'm done throwing up now! (I think.) I still have some NAUSEOUS moments but it is much better. Thank goodness!!!

So I've been recently plagued with DIZZINESS! Not all the time, but I definitely have had dizzy spells. One so bad it made me puke like I'd been on a rollercoaster. Then I had this horrible, acidy, unearthlike burning in my throat. Why the heck do they call it HEARTBURN when it has nothing to do with your heart? Daily CONTRACTIONS. I felt maybe 3 Braxton Hicks during my whole pregnancy with Kira. All the sudden I'm contracting like crazy, multiple times a day. What is going on here? Severe LOWER BACK PAIN! For reals! I had to take some drugs just to get to sleep the other night because it hurt so bad. I also have some nerve in my lower back that is going a little crazy on me. I never had any of these symptoms with Kira except puking my guts out. This little boy is also so high. I never ever felt Kira in my ribs. Shoot, I'm only 7 months and this boy thinks he's Chuck Norris. So is all this stuff normal? Like I said, you would think that I had never been pregnant before. Plus, I'm so much bigger with this little guy. Here's to 9 more weeks of pregnancy. (Please let me be 2 weeks early. Doesn't 7 sound so much better than 9?)

Kira turned 2!!!

2010-01-12T18:58:00.000-08:00

Here we are with our two year old!!!! I can't believe Kira is already two. The time has flown by! She got to have two little birthday parties this year. One with my family while we were in Vegas and one in Portland with all the folks she loves there.

The Barbie cake. Kira loves Barbies!!! She likes dressing them, putting their shoes and clothes on, and playing with her Barbie house. (Thanks Werner's! She loves it!)

This is just so Classic Kira. She is a big ham!

This is Kira smiling at herself in the mirror with her pretty birthday hair. I love it!

Kira's birthday do!

This is from her party in Portland. Kira loved, loved, loved the party. I think it was like heaven for her because all of her favorite people were there. She always had someone to play with. This is cake #2: the catepillar.

It was hilarious because she couldn't get the second candle to go out. As you can see from the pic, her bangs are blowing straight up, but as for the candle, didn't even flicker.

Eating her spoils. I think this is the only bit she actually ate.

Kira is such a blessing in our lives. She has a sparkling personality and is a complete socialite! She has a great capacity to love. She loves to sing and dance. Her favorite movie right now is "Up". She wants to watch it everyday. Kira loves to tease and have fun. She's always been a great gal. We love her to pieces!

Zoo Lights

2009-12-16T10:08:00.001-08:00

At the zoo here in Portland, they put up tons of Christmas lights for the Zoo lights celebration. It was incredible. We had a great time. It was packed at the zoo. We had to take the Shuttle over. The Shuttle was a School Bus. Kira loved riding on the bus and seeing all the lights. I love Christmas lights too! Zoo Lights is fabulous!

Here's Kira having a fabulous time!

Some of the lights at the zoo.

Here we are waiting for the shuttle.

Mikey and Me

5 Month Comparison

2009-12-06T21:38:00.000-08:00

So this is me 5th months pregnant with baby Chase. I am already feeling much bigger than I did with Kira. It's crazy how much faster this baby has popped out! I am officially 22 weeks and starting to have a little bit more energy now that puking is at a minimum.

Here's the comparison picture. This is me 5 months pregnant with Kira. I wore those same jeans last week and decided I could not wear them again because they were so tight around my belly. I swear my abs ran away this pregnancy! What happened?

We're having.......

2009-11-19T16:33:00.000-08:00

30 and lovin' it!

2009-11-11T09:42:00.000-08:00

Yep, that's right! I turned 30! I actually had a great birthday. My birthday was on a Sunday, and I was literally able to relax all day. Mike took care of Kira the whole day. I also didn't puke the entire day which even makes it a more successful birthday! Mikey made me breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I took a long nap. When I woke up from my nap, Mike had put little notes all over the house for me. So I had this trail of messages to follow. He arranged for someone to watch Kira so we could have a candlelight dinner too, along with some of the bubbly. It was an excellent night. I was so spoiled with visits, gifts, and calls from friends and family. I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family. I guess that was even more why I felt so good. I feel like at 30 I am tremendously blessed with all the great things in my life! Fabulous husband, the cutest little girl in the world, great family, wonderful friends, the Gospel, pregnant with another babe, all the good stuff.

Mike surprised me by taking school off on Monday and took me up to Mt. St. Helens. It was awesome! The drive was about 2 hours. We had a great time exploring and checking out the mountain. We had a little picnic as a family and checked out some of the beautiful lakes and rivers around the area. It was a great day. I've determined that 30 is a great age!

Here's the family pic on my birthday.

My gifts from Mikey and Kira including the Snuggie which I love.

Mt. St. Helens Observatory

Kira discovered snow for the first time (that she remembers).

Mount St. Helens in the background.

Presenting....

2009-10-24T11:10:00.000-07:00

The Halloween crew for 2009.

Starring: Kira as Little Red Riding Hood

Mike as the Big Bad Wolf

Kimmy as the Sickly Old Grandma

Here's the trio!

Kira had tons of fun at her first official trunk or treat where she could actually collect candy. She loved looking at all the costumes people wore. She even won a cake from the cake walk. Here she is in the car with her basket of candy. She was exhausted at the end of the night, but she would not let us hold her candy. Kira made us hold her while she held on to her basket of candy. She's no fool. She knows Daddy has a sweet tooth. She literally could not take her eyes off all her loot.

The goods from trunk or treating. Pretty good stuff if I do say so myself. Quality goods!

2nd Trimester!!!

2009-10-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update on being pregnant. I am finally into my 2nd trimester, and I wish I could say I feel great. Puking has slowed down a bit so I can probably say things have gotten a little better. I have been able to go out and about a few times which has been nice. To say I feel good though, would be an overstatement. But hopefully, things will get better as more time passes.

There's no picture with this post. There's nothing to show as far as a belly goes yet. If I wanted to show you a picture of something that's grown, I'd show you a picture of all the junk in my trunk. I thought I'd spare you the view though. : )

We find out what we are having in one month! Cast a vote on the side bar. What do you think we are going to have?

I'm hoping to feel good for our Halloween party this weekend because the costumes are all practically done. So sick or no, I will be going. We must wear the costumes! Halloween must go on!

Besides that, all is well with the Courtright's. Hope everybody has a fabulous Halloween!

I finally left the house...

2009-10-04T16:35:00.001-07:00

Since I have been pregnant, I have been an anti-social, puking, hermit. Seriously, I have rarely left the house. After two months, the puking is finally slowing down, and I have determined that I cannot miss fall because I love it! So this week, I decided to try to go out and do a few things. I made it to the zoo, and we went to a pumpkin patch with some friends. It was worth it to see Kira having so much fun.

Here's my little doll baby! I bought her this outfit last year for $1.25. I waited all year to put it on her. Finally she can wear her little Halloween outfit.

So we went to the Roloff Farm. They had a free petting zoo which was awesome. Kira was in heaven even though all the animals were bigger than her. She loves all animals! They had a miniature cow, alpacas, goats, rams, pigs, sheep, and other little crazy animals all that you could pet.

The alpaca and me. It reminded me of Chewbacca.

So the Roloff Farm is famous because the people that run it are on the show called "Little People, Big World" on TLC. I actually don't watch the show, but our friends the Werner's knew all about it so they filled us in. This is us and Matt Roloff the dad.

The Courtright's and Werner's underneath the pictures of the Roloff family.

Kira loved the pumpkin patch. She was petting and sitting on all the pumpkins. She also learned to say the word pumpkin while we were there.

We took a wagon ride of around the property. It was AMAZING. They had a soccer field, basketball court, an old saloon town, a pirate ship, a castle, the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, and other stuff. We aren't talking miniature here. It is all life size for people to play on. It was incredible.

Kira absolutely loved the wagon ride and kept giggling to her friend Brynlee who she loves! They actually got us on film while we were on the wagon ride so we had to sign waivers just in case we end up on TV.

This is us with some of the Roloff's from the show. They were super nice folk. Very down to earth.

Kira seriously had so much fun. It was worth all the puking after just to see how excited she was and how much fun she had.

It's official...

2009-08-21T18:55:00.000-07:00

We're pregnant! Yes, I'm already as sick as ever. We are excited. I'm just hoping this sickness thing passes by quickly because I can't do anything. In fact, this post will be short so I can return to the couch. The due date is April 13th.

Classic Kira

2009-08-13T19:38:00.000-07:00

This is my crazy little Kira! She's so much fun! She's been talking up a storm in Spanish and English.

Lovin' the blackberries while berry picking. This orchard is only 10 minutes away from our house. Sweet!

This is her cheese face. I take out the camera and she says, "Cheese" and smiles like this.

One of the many faces she makes.

Here's another. What a doll!

Here's yet another face she makes.

So this summer we've been getting to know and love Portland. What we've been up to:

going to the beach
swimming (anywhere and everywhere)
berry picking
going to the zoo
taking the subway to downtown Portland
hanging out with new friends
hanging with the Morty's (dental school friends)
playing at the park
visiting family

Touring Oregon

2009-07-21T11:26:00.000-07:00

When my sister came to visit, we took a little tour of the Northern Oregon coast. According to the GPS, we traveled all the way into the Pacific Ocean and back. After we went driving through the ocean, we decided we'd check out some sites. (For all you Office watchers out there- I can totally see why Michael drove into a lake according to GPS directions. Hey, you just want to do what the little voice asks. Our Garma gets a little crazy sometimes!) Here's some pics of the trip.

"Look mom, a pirate ship!"

"Should I really be doing this?"

"Yes, I love the sand!"

Freezing our Astoria's off in Astoria at Shipwreck Cove.

Mike's feeling a little piratey at Shipwreck Cove. Arghhh, baby!

We made contact with the Sea Lion Clyde.

So if any of you are Goonies fans, here's the house that the boys lived in in the movie. Mike was a little disappointed because he wanted to see the contraptions to open the fence and door and stuff. Yes, the house has converted to Judaism.

Kira at the Rose Gardens. Isn't she a doll?

Smelling the roses at the Gardens.

Here we are at the Rose Gardens. It is gorgeous there with more roses than I've ever seen in my life!

The Beauties of Oregon

2009-07-09T11:21:00.000-07:00

I, Kimberly Courtright, will be your tour guide through a few of the beauties of Oregon therefore proving why everyone should take a trip to Oregon. If you look below, you will proceed to find the awe inspiring Wahkeena Falls and Multnomah Falls.

This is little Kira wondering if we are there yet.

The lovely Rochelle, aunty of Kira, showing the scenic background of Oregon.

Hey, it's me the tour guide, showing you Wahkeena Falls.

Here's Multnomah Falls! The upper falls drops 542 feet. The lower falls 69 feet.

Multnomah Falls again. I about ripped my pants sitting on those little prickly bars.

This is just a small taste of what Oregon is like. Don't you want to come and see it for yourself? Then you can stop and visit the Courtright's too in their new stomping grounds.

The Styles of the Young and Playful

2009-06-30T11:28:00.001-07:00

Some of you may remember "The Hairstyles of the Young and Playful" from June 2008. The 2009 styles are all about accessorizing! Check them out and see if there aren't any you can use this summer.

Style: The look of the criminal
How to Recreate: 2x4's with 3 holes for head and hands

Style: The Tiki Princess

How to Recreate: Put as many leis on you as possible making it difficult for you to move your arms.

Style: The Sporty Girl

How to Recreate: Look cute and carry some type of sports equipment around always.

Style: The Pirate

How to Recreate: Pirate Hat, Eye Patch, and a scratchy mean, ARRRRRGGHH!

Style: The Russian

How to Recreate: Fur hat.

Style: The American

How to Recreate: Stand in front of the flag in matching colors and look adorable.

This just shows how easy it is to look good and pull off a new look. I'm surprised I haven't seen more wearing these. Once again, thanks to our model Kira for showing us the new looks of the summer. Which new style is your favorite?

First Post from Oregon!

2009-06-10T17:56:00.000-07:00

Here we are officially on the West Coast. We are pretty much all settled in and have gotten mostly everything unpacked. We are renting a 3 bed, 2 1/2 bath house. It's in a really great neighborhood. Our ward is humongous!!!! It was shocking to see it. Everyone seems to be really nice though. Oregon is absolutely gorgeous with lots to do outside. Plus! We've seen the sun more than the rain since we have been here. Double Plus!

Here's our backyard. We have a nice patio, a grassy area, and then an area in the back for a play place. We even got a sweet grill off Craig's list for free! Triple Plus!

Kira loves to squish her face into the screen door. Here she is as Miss Piggy.

Here she is again with another classic face.

Here she is as Sloth from the Goonies. We thought it appropriate since it was filmed only 1 hour away from here.

Driving up the coast for our anniversary. Yeah, we should have gotten a sitter, but we don't know people well enough to start needin' services already.

My favorite place - The Beach!!! The sand was perfect and I was in heaven!

Checkin' out the view.

My hottie!

The best four years of our lives!!!

Is There a Doctor in the House?

2009-05-10T20:57:00.000-07:00

You can all officially address Mike as Dr. Courtright. That's right, open wide people- Mike is officially a dentist. I'm so proud of him!!! He worked really hard and has excelled in dental school. We had so much fun celebrating his graduation with family and friends. Mike's parents, my dad, my sister Tiffany, and my niece Giada were able to come out and see him graduate! These pics are from Graduation and the awards ceremony!

Future College Graduate!

He did it!!!! He graduated for the first time since high school!!!

The dental school wives - some of the best gals I've ever met!

The guys

The couples

Graduation Pics

More Grad Pics

Click on the collage to see the pictures up close.

Road Trip

2009-05-04T19:38:00.001-07:00

So just a random side bit, before I get into this post. When I was younger, I absolutely hated road trips. I liked traveling, just not the getting there part. Why you may ask? I am one of those cursed people who has extreme motion sickness. Not so much now (just never ask me to go on the Teacup ride at Disneyland), but when I was younger, I could guarantee you a barf session on every road trip. No joke.

Now I actually really enjoy road trips because I am not sick and Mike and I sit and chat about everything in the book. We even have the atlas game we play every road trip. So we took another road trip to see our newest little niece Ivy. She is beautiful! Look at that hair!

This is Ivy in her blessing dress. What a perfect angel!

Kira was very soft with her. Do you think she's ready for a siblet?

We also stopped by Nauvoo on our way. We loved it. There is such a special feeling there. Kira loved the statues. She kept wanting them to pick her up. She smiled and talked to them.

The tulips in the gardens were so gorgeous!!!! I tried to get Kira to sit on the bench. She wasn't havin' any of it.

Kira was obsessed with this little wooden sheep. It was just her size. Then she started trying to eat the wool. Yes, she is still obsessed with hair. Whoever met a kid that loves to eat hair?

Okay, I just thought they looked so adorable! Melt my heart.

Mike was showing Kira how to smell the flowers. Well, she thought he kissed them. So she ended up kissing all the tulips.

We also caught a tour at Carthage. It was so great to go again. It is also such a special place.

Vegas Vacation

2009-04-28T06:26:00.001-07:00

About a month ago, I was able to go visit my parents and most of my sibs in Vegas. As many of you know, my mom has had some serious health problems so I wanted to go and make a surprise visit. Only one of my sisters knew about it so she could come and pick me up from the airport. It was so much fun to surprise everyone with the visit. Of course, whenever I visit famliy fun times are had so here's a few pics.

Here's my brother Brett. He is a sushi addict. The boy knows more about good and bad sushi than anyone I know. He literally craves sushi. So of course, we had to go out for sushi. I have to admit, he picked out some good stuff. I don't even like cooked fish, but I thought the sushi was pretty good.

Kira loved being the center of attention and being spoiled by all her aunts, uncles, cousins, and abuelos.

Here we are at the sushi place.

Kira also loved playing with Giada's hamster. Kira is an animal lover. What am I going to do? I know she is going to be that kid that wants to bring home every animal possible. Is it bad if I say no to ALL animals?

The trip wouldn't be complete without having fun as a trio of sisters.

So while I was growing up in Vegas, we would always sit out on the lawn on Sunday afternoons and talk, play, relax, whatever. It was so much fun to do it again with all the fam. My mom was even able to come out and enjoy the outdoors with us.

And of course, Kira loved playing with new and improved toys!

Grandpa and Kira hanging out on the lawn. Oh the Vegas sun rays!

Better Late, Than Never...

2009-04-18T10:52:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I'm about a week late posting Easter. Kira went on her first Easter egg hunt at this Baptist church by our house. I was curious as to whether she would know what to do. She picked right up on it though and had a little collection of eggs in her Kroger bag when it was all done.

Her findings. So many eggs, only two hands.

She knew just what to do.

Is she stinkin' cute or what?

This is Kira and one of her best buds Parker.

The glory is in the hunt!

Happy Birthday Mikey!!!

2009-04-11T13:06:00.003-07:00

Look at my hot hubbie!

Mike's birthday cake this year. Ghetto fabulous!

Mikey is officially 28!!! Happy Birthday! Okay, so these are the reasons I know Mike is getting older in random order.

1. He likes to listen to Talk Radio.
2. He is addicted to looking at websites that show him how to invest money. (Maybe I should tell him we don't have any.)
3. He knows every single song on the soft rock station at the dental school.
4. I have to repeat things to him about 3 or more times before he hears/understands me.
5. Less hair is on the head, more hair is on the body. Those scouts brought in the troops!
6. He watches Fox News now. (Well, maybe that's cause this is the first year we actually have cable. I'll give him that one. Plus, I watch it too, but heck, I'm almost 30!)
7. He is extra sassy. (Okay, I admit, I like a little sassiness in life.)
8. He is graduating from dental school. So he is really mature now!

9. People can officially call him "Doctor Courtright." ( in 4 weeks)

I love the boy more each day!!! He is a great husband and daddy. Mikey is really loving and super spunky. I always love to be with him and am so grateful to have him in my life.

We met Mike at the dental school to have lunch for his birthday!

I took him to the Louisville Slugger Museum so we could check it out before we leave Kentucky.

Then I threw Mike a surprise birthday party. Here's a pic from it. I have never thrown a surprise party, and I was super nervous about getting Mike there on time. Plus, I was hoping he hadn't figured it out. But it all worked out according to plan...

Here's the game we played asking questions about Mike. Everyone was particularly interested in the body category. Hey, I can't help if Mike knows how to work it.

Happy 28th Birthday Mikey!

Florida

2009-03-23T04:58:00.000-07:00

Our spring break trip to Florida - good weather, good friends, good pools, good food, good game nights, good times!

Here's Kira puckerin' up and lookin' like a little island princess while waiting for me to get ready to go to the pool.

Mike and Kira going into the kiddy pool.

Enjoying the Florida sun.

Kim, Kira, and Krista catchin' some hot Florida rays.

Mike and I are floating down the lazy river. Yep, that's right, the resort had a lazy river. The place had like a million pools. Okay, maybe not a million, but it had a lot of them.

Daddy and Kira cuddlin'.

So we took Kira to Sea World because she loves animals. Her favorite thing at Sea World happened to be a squirrel. We could have stayed in Kentucky and looked out our back window for this action. The squirrel was eating teddy grahams out of Mike's hand, and it sniffed Kira's foot, so I guess we payed money for a tame rodent.

Here we are at the Stingray encounter. Kira obviously doesn't know what to think about it.

Here we are at the Clyde and Seymour show at Sea World. Kira looks so sweet. It was naptime.

Daddy and Kira playing in the fountains.

Our resort

Getting a game on with the Christensen's and our homemade Margaritas.

Kira got her first experience mini golfing at Congo Golf in Florida. Probably the coolest mini golf I've ever been to. It has little rivers that take your ball into the water and then shoot it out by the hole. You can't get that action in Kentucky, eh?

Excited!!!

2009-03-08T15:06:00.000-07:00

Exciting things!

1. Kira has officially started walking. She's been taking steps here and there for a while, but she is now walking 10 and more steps all over the place. Here's a short clip of one of her first jaunts around the apartment. She looks so adorable walking, and we couldn't be more excited for her.

2. Okay, so I first saw these at Wal-Mart for $12, and I was like, "What the...no way am I paying $12 for these especially when she'll grow out of them in like 4 months." But of course I started thinking about them and how cute they would look on her with her outfits. Anywho, I heard about this consignment sale, so I went to look for them, hoping on the off chance that they would be there for cheap. And lo and behold, to my delight they were there in Kira's size for $3 lookin' practically new. Yeah baby! You know I got them. I call them Pink Splendor!

3. So I've also been wanting to buy Kira a little chair for her to sit in, but I've held off trying to find a sale. At that same consignment sale, I found this for $3. I admit, I find great satisfaction in getting a great bargain!

Kira loves the chair. This is her lounging in it on a Sunday morning. Isn't she looking taller?

4. And yes, now I will blog about corn bread. Okay people, I love corn bread. Love, love, love it. I've been looking for a delicious sweet corn bread recipe, and I finally found one. It was an exciting day. Yes, I enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Food is one of those pleasures. Check my recipe blog for the recipe.

5. Lastly, I am super excited about going to Florida for spring break. My happy place is on a beach, soaking in the rays, with a fruit smoothie, shaded by an umbrella, taking an occasional dip in the ocean. I can also intermix the beach for a pool and be just as happy. So I'm super excited to go to Florida to remember what warm feels like!

6. Okay, so Mike wanted me to make sure I mention him in my exciting blog page. Actually, he wanted me to mention his body, but I will spare you all. So I'll sum it in a nutshell. With Mike, life is always exciting, fun, and enjoyable!

The Big Bad Wolf

2009-02-20T20:12:00.000-08:00

One of Mike's elective classes this year is zoo dentistry. He finally got his chance to go work on one of the animals at the zoo. He was hoping to pull the tooth of tiger or do a root canal on a lion. The animal he ended up working on was a maned wolf. The maned wolf is an endangered species supposedly so it was still a worthy speciman to work on. The big bad wolf just got a teeth cleaning. I guess he's been brushing and flossing like he should. The best part about Mike's experience though is that while Mike was cleaning the wolf's teeth, he swears the wolf winked at him. I don't know if I'd be working in the mouth of a wolf who's winking at you. I'm sure the big bad wolf winked at the three little pigs too. Anywho, that's the story and Mike's stickin' to it.

Ward Variety Show

2009-02-09T16:22:00.000-08:00

After watching a You Tube video, we were inspired to put together a synchronized swimming act for the ward variety show. The swimmers are: the Evan's, the Steele's, and the Courtright's. Maybe you'll see us featured in the Olympics 2012, if you're lucky, that is. Check us out.

Special Thanks list: We'd personally like to thank Andy Harp and Chelsea Meyer for their commentary. A huge thank you to Megan Wyatt for being our camera woman. We couldn't have done it without the Rich's holding our water up. Thanks for making us the synchronized swimmers we are today people!

Sweet thang!

2009-02-04T08:27:00.001-08:00

Let me just tell you that I love waking up to this sweet face every morning!!! She's such a doll, and she's my little buddy I get to hang out with every day! Life couldn't be sweeter!

Getting nostalgic!

2009-02-02T12:32:00.000-08:00

During this past week and through the ice storm, I've been thinking about how great it has been to live in Kentucky. Yes, I have been getting a bit nostalgic! All I want to do lately is hang out with Mike, Kira, and our friends. I just want to play. So chances are if you ask us to do anything, we're up for it. Plus, I am getting stinkin' antsy with this winter weather. Everyone knows I am no fan of winter, but this winter has seemed especially long. Anyway, I was just thinking of all the wonderful friends we have made here and how much fun we've had! We've loved it!!! We only have 3 months until graduation. And yes, I am hoping the time goes slowly so we can enjoy every last minutes of it!

Let's take a stroll down memory lane, shall we?

Kira was born here and is proof that we really did live in Kentucky.

Groovin' with the ladies at Belle on the Ball, or is it Ball on the Belle?

All the ladies after seeing Twilight. I apologize if I ruined the movie for anyone by laughing through a few parts. I really did like the movie.

The night we saw "Wicked".

Watching the intramural football games and even a ghetto fight this year! You'll always be the intramural champs in my book!

Just hanging out with the gals!

The annual Maxfield Halloween party!

So these are just a few pics that I posted. So many memories!!!! We love being in Kentucky with all our buds!

1 and Rearin' to Go!!!

2009-01-14T13:16:00.001-08:00

Can you believe it? Our little munchkin has already turned 1!!! We had a couple of birthday parties for her. One with my family in Vegas, and one with Mike's family in Boise.

This is her birthday cake and party in Vegas. The height of the cake was a little intimidating to her. She wouldn't dig into it until we cut her off a smaller piece.

Here's us at her party in Boise.

Kira and her rubber ducky cake

She had no trouble digging in this time.

What can I say? She enjoyed her party immensely.

The aftermath of Kira.

**********

So here are a few stats, facts, and opinions about our 1 year old. She is 10% in height (go figure), 50% in weight, and 90% in head size. How do ya like them numbers? She is really delightful and is always ready to give you a smile. She only has two teeth, and one is significantly longer than the other since it came in two months before the other one. We call it her steak tooth. She is a definite socialite and constantly tries to get the attention of everyone around her. She has totally straight hair, and she has lots of it. She loves to be crazy!

She is very loving. She loves to cuddle up with blankets, us, and her baby doll. She will even give you a "beso" (kiss in Spanish) if she is in the mood. As a one year old, she definitely has her own opinions of what she will do and when she will do it, like giving kisses.

She loves books. She especially loves interactive books. Although she turns the pages so fast, that I usually can't read the whole page, and she does not care to go back to that page.

Kira adores animals. Especially dogs. Mike's sister was dogsitting for a friend, and she brought the dog over when she visited us. Kira chased that dog all over the place. One night I heard her going, "Mmmmmm...," like she does when she eats dinner. I looked down. Lo and behold, she is eating dog food and obviously enjoying it.

She is adventurous and loves to have fun. This is her in Mexico with one of her cousins, Giada.

She is very curious. Don't worry, she's not reaching for a log down there or I wouldn't have the picture. She loves the toilet and the toilet paper.

She doesn't know how much she likes the ocean yet. The sand was okay. But the huge ocean waves, kinda freaked her out.

She loves going outside and looking out windows. This was her daily routine on the cruise boat.

She loves food just like her folks. She not picky and eats pretty much everything. Which is quite a feat when you only have two teeth. The steak tooth is quite an effective tool though.

She is intelligent. She is a smart little cookie. 90%! Need I say more?

*******

We love having Kira in our home. She is the light of our lives, and she brings so much happiness to us. We are so blessed to have her as part of our family!

Goodbye Kentucky, Hello.......

2008-12-03T13:51:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Mike!!! We found out today he got accepted to orthodontic school. Alas, we also found out that we will be moving at the end of the year to a new location. Where, you might ask? Well, it was quite surprising to us and if you look on our voting poll only one person picked we would go there. We will be moving back out west to Portland, Oregon. Mike's going to OHSU. We are super excited! It is actually my dad's alma mater. I was even more excited when I heard that the beach is only an hour away. I know the water is frigid, but I'll take what I can get. So that's the news here!

Tag, y'all are it!

2008-11-17T06:14:00.000-08:00

I was tagged by my friend Jamie and have never actually done a tag so here goes.

RULES
1) Post rules on your blog
2) Answer the six "8" items
3) Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving them a comment

8 Favorite TV Shows
1. The Office
2. Heroes
3. 24
4. My Own Worst Enemy ( I hate to admit we are into the Christian Slater show, but we are.)
5. So You Think You Can Dance
6. According to Jim
7. Seinfeld
8. X-Man and He-Man (a couple favs from the Old School – Me and my bro watched them together)

8 Things I did Yesterday
1. go to church
2. play the violin
3. play the piano
4. play the organ
5. go to Brandenburg, Kentucky
6. play games with friends
7. heat up leftovers for dinner (love those days)
8. do Kira’s hair all spiky with mousse

8 Things I look forward to
1. Our Mexican Riviera Cruise with family in December
2. Finding out where we will be for the next two years
3. Thanksgiving dinner
4. Seeing Kira smile and laugh everyday
5. paying off our student loans
6. spring, then summer (I hate winter and the cold.)
7. seeing our families again
8. Mike getting home from school everyday

8 Favorite Restaurants
1.Cheesecake Factory2
. Cheddar’s
3. Olive Garden
4. P.F. Chang’s
5. Famous Dave’s
6. Melting Pot
7. The Marakesh (in Vegas)
8. Texas Roadhouse

8 Things on my wish list
1. to pay off loans quickly
2. a house
3. to go to Chile and Brazil with Mike
4. vacations to anywhere (I do prefer beaches. J )
5. to take our parents on a cruise one day
6. a hot, hunky, perfect husband for my sister Tiffy
7. more charity in the world
8. more time in the day

8 People to tag
anyone who wants to do this tag

Sweet Virginia

2008-11-09T18:53:00.001-08:00

Road trip to Virginia

As many of you know, Mike has been interviewing at orthodontic schools for the past month. He interviewed at VCU in Richmond, Virginia on October 30-31. Since he had a fall break from school after that, we decided to make a family trip of it!

We had a great time! We got our hotel for a smokin' deal off Priceline in downtown Richmond. While Mikey interviewed, I toured around the city. One of the days, I went to tour the Confederate White House where Jefferson Davis lived during the Civil War. I say I went to tour it, but Kira got us kicked off the tour. If you know Kira, you know she is a socialite. She was so busy trying to get everyone's attention on the tour and blabbing on and on that they kindly escorted us both out! Can you believe she's getting us into trouble already? (They did end up giving me a private tour. Gotta love the southern hospitality!)

Mike and I were able to go to Washington D.C. for two of the days! It was awesome. Mike had never been, and I hadn't been since I was 14. We were able to visit the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the White House, the Capitol, the Spy Museum, and the National Air and Space Museum. We had a great time! We both love our country and have tons of national pride. It was great to be in D.C. with all our American history.

This is the staircase that was made famous from the movie "Gone with the Wind." Rhett Butler was once on these steps.

Here's Kira attempting to climb up the steps. (Sorry to hog the camera with my large buttocks!)

Here we are at the Lincoln Memorial!

The U.S. Capitol

The gorgeous fountains at the World War II Memorial

World War II Memorial and Lincoln Memorial
Kira was loving hanging off these bars. But where is she trying to break into?
Take a closer look.

Do you see it back there? Yep, it's the ...

White House! Kira for president!

Here's the Jefferson Memorial. It's a little far away from the other monuments but so worth going to.

The Washington Monument at dusk.

Here's the infrared Courtright's at the National Air and Space Museum. We were laughing our heads off checking out our infrared selves.

Flintstones...meet the Flintstones...

2008-10-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

So I love Halloween! I love dressing up! I love coming up with costume ideas! I love making the costumes! I love sweet treats! I love carving pumpkins! I love eating anything pumpkin flavored! I love Halloween parties! I luv, luv, luv it!

Every year, I only spend $20 or less on the costumes. This year I went over by 50 cents because I bought those stretchy pants for Kira, but I've already used them for real outfits for her. Come on, you can always use a good pair of stretchy pants.

Our costume this year was inspired by Kira of course because of her straight, stick up hair. She was a perfect Pebbles Flintstone. So here's the costumes for 2008.

Pebbles Flintstones - Kira Courtright

Fred and Pebbles Flintstone - Mike and Kira Courtright

Kira didn't know quite what to think about Daddy's hair.

Wilma and Pebbles - Kira and me

Here we are, straight out of Bedrock!

The Hairstyles of the Young and Playful!

2008-10-06T19:44:00.000-07:00

These are the hot summer looks from Kira Courtright from 2008. Check them out. You may find a look you want for next summer...

Hairstyle: The Let It All Go

Used When: You want to feel relaxed and free. It gives you that crazy girl next door look.

Hairstyle: One Little Piggy

Used When: You want a pick me up. It good for going out with friends and for casual to semi formal appearances in public places.

Hairstyle: The Topper

Used When: You have a horrible hair day so you put a lid on it. The great thing is nobody knows because you still look so stinkin' good in your hat. Sometimes you just need to cover it up!

Hairstyle: The Clark Kent

Used When: Well...not many people can pull it off. Use it only if you are Clark Kent.

Hairstyle: The Spikes

Used When: You are feeling adventurous and when you want to rock out! Yeah baby!

Hairstyle: The Glam

Used When: You need to feel sophisticated and ladylike. Wraps in the hair add to the effect of the mature woman.

Hairstyle: Decorated Dueling Piggies

Used When: You are feeling fun and frisky. They give you that cutesy, All-American look.

Hairstyle: The Simple

Used When: You are in a hurry. Just get up and go. It's so easy girls!

Hairstyle: The Rocker

Used When: You just have to get CRAZY! The facial expressions must always accompany the hairstyle!

Hairstyle: Dueling Piggies (Not to be confused with Decorated Dueling Piggies. See above)

Used When: You want to be casual and comfortable with friends and family.

Those are them, the hairstyles of the young and playful for summer 2008. A special thanks to Kira Courtright for modeling our hairstyles. Stay Posted for next summer's incredible hairstyles...

Rollin' down the River!!!

2008-09-23T17:44:00.000-07:00

So Last Saturday, Mike and I went to the Ball on the Belle. It's a river boat cruise where you get all fancied up to ride the Belle of Louisville up and down the Ohio River. The dental school puts it on. Did I mention there is a DJ and dancing? Well I tell you what, it was one of the funnest nights we have had in months!!! We danced until my feet were literally sore! It was awesome dancing and hanging out with all friends. Let me just tell you, we've got some friends who can groove! Check them all out in the pictures. Plus, the night was gorgeous, so when we needed a breather we could go sit out on the deck and chat! Good times, good times. Even Sherstine and I stepping in lots of beer on the floor when we took off our shoes couldn't lessen the fun of the evening. Can you find the picture of Mike being a pole? That is his version of pole dancing. : ) We always joke about it so I had to post the pic.

Check out Sherstine's post to see more pics.

Jamie S. - I'm sad you missed the scandalousness of it all! : )

I have the Power!!!

2008-09-17T10:11:00.001-07:00

That picture is what our life has been like for the past two days! We had a power outage due to the aftermath of hurricane Ike! That is actually a picture taken in our apartment. The thing that was really hard was the fact that we couldn't make food on the stove or in the microwave. But then again, we had no refrigerator or freezer to keep food in. It was crazy and really made us reevaluate our emergency preparedness. Thankfully the power came back after about 54 hours rather than the 10-14 days they are quoting it will take to get the whole city up and running. I never knew I could scream and sing so loud for joy upon driving into Silver Springs and seeing the lights on. But I did and had no shame!

This experience also made me so appreciative and thankful for such wonderful friends here in Kentucky. We are so truly blessed! We had so many people feed us and offer to feed us for the whole week. Friends brought us ice, gave us freezer room to store food, played games with us by candlelight, and checked up on us. People offered to let us stay with them even. So thank you to all of our wonderful friends here for all the help, assistance, and fun we had while having no power! We love ya!

Food, food, food!

2008-09-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all! I'm a guest chef on the Tasty Sensations blog this week. Check it out to get a few of my recipes. This blog is great for cooking ideas and has some great recipes if you ever need them. I also started my own recipe blog. So check that out too! http://kimmykitchen.blogspot.com

Let the Good Times Roll!

2008-09-04T16:07:00.000-07:00

(Here are the pics from the Pot Luck)

So Labor Day weekend was a fabulous weekend full of good times. Good times were had with our good friends in good ol' Kentucky! On Friday night, the senior dental student wives got together for a much needed GNO, Girls Night Out. It took me all day Saturday to recoop from staying out so late, but it was so worth it. Then, on Monday, we had a Labor Day Pot Luck gathering. Thanks to everyone who brought such delicious food. Here's some pics to capture the moments.

Here's us gals at the Indian restaurant. The food was scrum diddly ump chous. Thanks Heidi for picking out the best food for our meal!

Then we had to get all glam by doing toenails and facials. Sherstine's skinny face :) I love it!

Krista, Heather, and Summer finishing up their toes.

The end result! Look at those hot toes. Sherstine was the toenail designer. She does a beautimous job. Don't ya think?

Heidi, Sherstine, and I with our lovely facial masks on. I have to say that my face was smooth and rosy as a babies behind on Saturday!

The Joy of Sisters!

2008-08-27T12:38:00.001-07:00

Here's me and my sis, Tiffany! She came out with my niece, Giada, to visit, and we had the best time touring around good old Kentucky! I love these two gals so much. They are some of the best sis' a girl could ask for.

Here's Giada and Kira at the Stephen Foster Musical! Loved the show! Giada watched Kira pretty much the whole week. She dressed her everyday, changed her diapers, put her to sleep, the works!

Tiffy is squeezing through Fat Man's Misery at Mammoth Cave. For her, it's not too much of squeeze though. : )

Mikey and Giada in Mammoth Cave.

Having a picnic outside Mammoth Cave. A stray deer was actually walking around trying to bum food off all the folks eating their lunch. Only in Kentucky!

Giads and Tif panning for precious gems at Squire Boone Cavern in Indiana.

We are inside Squire Boone Caverns here.

We dipped our own candles there too. It was sweet! We were like little pioneer women.

What am I doing here, you ask? Only eating a Deep Fried Cookie Dough Origi-nal at the Kentucky State Fair! De-licious!!! Loved it!

Here we are at the fair checking out the winning horses. While at the fair, I noticed a stroller beside Kira's stoller. I looked in and what did I see? Dogs! A woman had a stoller and was using it for her dogs. I kid you not!

We also went to the zoo. As you can see, Kira loved it! She liked the baby elephant.

Tif loved it too. Especially after being groomed by the Lorakeet!

Of course we had to stop and see Mikey one day too. Check him out, lookin' all hot in his cubey, wearin' them blue scrubs! Rrarrrr!

Kira's just checkin' things out from the stroller.

We had to check out some Derby Hats at the mall. You know I love 'em!

All in all, we had a fabulous week! We traveled to lots of sights, played lots of games, and watched lots of movies. Giada even introduced me to the world of High School Musical while she was here. Thanks for coming to visit girls! We loved it!

Back in Business!

2008-08-12T05:54:00.000-07:00

This is 7 month old Kira!

Well howdy there, y'all! We're back in our little Kentucky home. We had a knee spankin' good time traveling out west. It was so great to see our families and introduce Kira to most our family members for the first time. Kira is definitely a people person and loved all the attention she could get from grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. While out west we were able to: see Mt. Rushmore, fish, golf, jet ski, wakeboard, whitewater raft, play on the lake, hike, swim like crazy, and spend time with the fam and friends. It was a great summer! Tragedies on the trip were limited to my hair turning green and me contracting pink eye. What can I say? I looked dead sexy with green hair, flaming red eyes, and such. (Speaking of red eyes, I just finished Breaking Dawn. Loved it!!! Actually I dreamed I was a vampire for two nights while reading it.) It was suggested that I wash my hair with ketchup to get some of the green out. So I smelled like a nice hamburger for a couple days, but hey, it helped a lot. Anywho, I can't believe that it's Mike's senior year of dental school. The time has flown by! Graduation is only 9 months away. Oh mylanta! We're excited to see everyone again and super excited to be back in Kentucky! Check out some pics from our trip below!

(I need technical support: Okay people, my blog is messed up. Whenever I look at it on other people's computers it is off center, but on my it looks fine. Is it off center for you? Let me know if it is so I can try to fix the problem. Thanks!)

Mt. Rushmore! It was awesome!

Kira plush seat on the long trip out west!

Barney Family Reunion

Great grandma and Kira! Kira always smiled at her. She must have loved her white hair.

Island Park, Idaho at the Barney Family Reunion.

My sissy Tiffy, Kira, and me. Look how sweet Kira looks!

4 generations of my family!

Kira trying foods!

Mike and his catch of the day, an 8 1/2 pound rainbow trout!

The treasure hunt with all the kids!

Sherstine and I holding on for dear life!

Mikey, Jake (Sherstine's bro), Wayne

Courtright Family Reunion

Grandma and Grandpa Courtright and Kira

Our Little Family

Mike and Kira on the Courtright family hike.

Courtright Family Hike

Punk Rocker Kira! Kira was dressed up by her cousins!

Randomness

2008-06-16T20:02:00.001-07:00

Okay, so this post has no rhyme nor reason. It's just plain random.

Exhibit #1 - That would be me and Kira. Look closely at my lips. See all the white stuff. Yes, that would be puke. Kira spit up on me and in my mouth. What a tasty treat!

Exhibit #2 - That would be Kira looking oh so uncomfortable while sleeping. She has starting sleeping like this a lot.

Exhibit #3- That would be our little Pebbles doing her pencil smile. Her smile goes in a straight line.

Exhibit #4 - That would be the little lady again in her birthday glory. She just looked so darn cute in her towel hoodie! I couldn't resist.

No Longer a Newborn!

2008-06-02T14:36:00.001-07:00

So I've just been amazed at how fast Kira is growing and developing. It just seems like during the last couple of weeks she has become this little lady. She's almost 5 months old. She laughs so much and is so much fun to be around. She is my little buddy. So I compiled this random list of 10 reasons why we know that Kira is no longer a newborn.

10. She is getting so heavy I about tip over when I am holding her in her carseat. She is at least 17 lbs. and counting. (I had these bruises all over my legs which I realized are from the carseat whacking my legs.)

9. Kira is a very proud girl about how high she can hold up her head while laying on her stomach. She holds it up really high until her neck muscles give out, and she faceplants.

8. Her hair is growing and has gotten so fuzzy. It sticks straight out just like her daddy's hair.

7. She is trying to grab anything and everything in her path. Usually my hair is in the path and gets pulled out. (I am loosing hair by the masses anyway so she's just helping it fall out.)

6. She is starting to sit up on her own.

5. When I unstrap her in the stroller, she tries to wiggle her way out of it. (I wonder what she thinks she would do if she got out on her own.)

4. When you turn your back, she is picking up the pacifier and putting it in her own mouth.

3. She stops whining when you say, "Want some milk?"

2. She is gnawing on everything like a ravenous little coyote.

1. She loves her exersaucer. I turned around one day and saw her giving the dino a frenchie! I know she is no longer a newborn.

There's that green dino!

Sweet Carolina!!!

2008-05-11T18:54:00.000-07:00

This is where we stayed.

Mike, Kira, and I took a trip to South Carolina last week. I want to tell you I LOVE South Carolina. Sweet Carolina!!! We had a blast. Mike's aunt and uncle are renovating a historic/plantation home there which they let us stay in. (It wasn't haunted, thankfully.) We spent most of our time in historic Charleston. The houses were amazing and the weather was perfect. Here's where we went:

Fort Sumter (where the Civil War began)
The Battery (a park with artillery from the Civil War)
Middleton Plantation (Middleton was a signer of the Declaration of Independence)
Isle of Palms - the Beach
U.S.S. Yorktown (an air craft carrier from WWII)
Clagmore Submarine (a sub from WWII)
Biltmore Mansion (or should I say castle) in North Carolina
Cumberland Falls outside of Corbin, Kentucky

Mike's aunt and uncle's home was built in 1890.

I think Kira enjoyed the trip as much as we did!

Mike and Kira on the boat to Fort Sumter.

Kira's livin' it up!

Outside of Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter

Mike frolicking at the battery.

View of the ocean from the battery

Beautiful Grounds at Middleton Plantation

Little Kira with the flooded rice fields in the background

Butterfly ponds at the Middleton Plantation

The plantation was so green!

The thinking man

Yep, I milked my first cow!

Our sweet baby girl was the best traveler.

Kira loved my beach chair. She hogged it the whole time.

The Isle of Palms had warm water and sweet sand.

The U.S.S. Yorktown

They said that 10,000 chocolate chip cookies fed the crew of 3,500 for one day. This is the recipe to make 10,000 cookies. Insane!

This Clagmore sub had such tight living quarters. I never could have lived on it. I barely fit through it taking the tour.

These are the cots on the U.S.S. Yorktown. There are 4 cots in each vertical row. Once again, I just couldn't have done it!

There was a dental area on the air craft carrier. There were 4 operatories, x-ray room, and a dental lab.

Mike loved looking at the planes. His dream when he was little was to be a jet pilot. That dream was shattered when he realized he was color blind. I think I prefer the color blind dentist to the risk taking jet pilot.

This is the Biltmore mansion. It is the biggest home I have ever seen. It measures 4 acres inside the house. The tour took us 4 hours!

One of the green areas at the Biltmore.

The grounds of the Biltmore Castle!

Check out the view!!

Some of the gardens at the Biltmore.

Cumberland Falls - One of only two waterfalls in the world with a moonbow.

Cumberland Falls

Time to Talk Derby

2008-05-03T14:57:00.000-07:00

Hoping we have picked the winning horses!

So our neighbors, friends, and gamers, the Shep-dawgs had a last hurrah, the Derby Party. We had a great time watching the Derby and trying to pick the winning horses. My niece and sister also watched the Derby on TV in Vegas. Sadly enough, my 8-year-old niece's winning horse pick was Eight Belles. She was so happy that Eight Belles got second. Then she asked her mom what euthanized meant. When she found out that Eight Belles was laid out to pasture, she burst into tears. My sister called to tell me about it, and I could hear my niece wailing in the background. It was so sad. That filly ran her heart out!

Mikey and I

Me, Janelle, Chelsea, Heather, and Tessa

Jamie and the Xan Man

Senioritis

2008-04-29T14:45:00.000-07:00

Mike is officially a senior in dental school. Can you believe it? A senior! I can hardly believe how fast the time has flown. It doesn't seem like we've already been here for 3 years. We have absolutely loved being here in Kentucky. These pictures are at Mike's dental clinic dinner. It was their celebration of going from junior clinic to the senior clinic. It was a lot of fun to see friends and eat yummy food at Texas Roadhouse.

Derby Daze!

2008-04-27T12:33:00.000-07:00

So I've always dreamed of going to the Kentucky Derby, wearing a Derby Hat and getting dressed all fancy. But the Derby is so expensive to get tickets where we can actually sit (rather than be flashed by nudists in the infield), that it probably won't ever happen. But a girl can still dream... Anyway, I did the next best thing I could think of. Our ward had a derby party with a derby hat competition, so I decided it was now or never. I must make a derby hat. So I tried to let the creative juices flow, but just could never find time. So I threw it together before the party. Guess what? I won first place. Well, I should tell you that no other adult made a hat, so I competed against young women and primary children. Hey, that's still a victory in my book. : ) So I wore my derby hat with pride. Now I'm wondering, what the heck am I going to do with this big old hat now. Anybody want a homemade derby hat?

The pink derby hat in all it's glory.

The hat is ginormous!

Next year, it will be matching hats for the girls!

Our Little Diva!

2008-04-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

This is our little Diva in fur! She just looked so adorable sitting on the couch! I wish I could have some of her clothes in my size. I was so excited that I could get a bow to clip in her hair! Guess what she is fixated on while I am taking these pictures? Why Baby Einstein, of course! She loves those videos!

The Big 2-7!

2008-04-15T07:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Mikey! It was Mike's birthday on April 9th. He is now 27 years old. Mike is getting so old and mature. He even has a mature face he likes to make. I wish I had a picture of it, but if you see him, ask him to do the mature face for you. Mike loves ribs so we went to Mark's Feed Store so he could go hog wild on the ribbies. Since I'm already 28, Mike has to deal with the fact that even though he's 27, I'm still a little older and wiser. : ) Mike is such a wonderful husband and father. It was so fun to celebrate with him!

This is Mikey 6 years ago when we dated at BYU. What a hottie!

This is Mikey and our baby chubster on his birthday!

Mike and his tooth cake.

The tooth cake!

The 27 year old!

These are the homemade kisses I made for him. (Thanks for the idea from your blog Heidi and Bakerella.)

A Little Laughter Warms the Soul

2008-03-31T19:16:00.000-07:00

Mike really got Kira laughing the other day, and I caught it on video. Every time she laughs or gets excited she gets the hiccups. So you can hear the hiccups with the laughter. It's so fun hearing her laugh and seeing her smile!

Tornado!

2008-03-20T08:18:00.000-07:00

This is our hotel in Atlanta. If you look at the top, you can see all the windows that blew out.

We were hit by a tornado! So, here's the scoop. Mike, Kira, and I went down to a dental convention in Atlanta, Georgia this past weekend. On Friday night, we walked to dinner with the Mortensen's. While we were eating, it started raining and the wind was blowing like crazy. So we waited out the storm and walked back to our hotel. As we are walking back, we can hear all these sirens, and then we see all this debris. When we get to the hotel, we find out our hotel was hit by a tornado. Inside the hotel, we saw some guys with their legs cut up. So we go up to our rooms, only to be evacuated to the ballroom which is on floor 7. Well, we were staying on floor 43 and the elevators were closed. So guess what? We walked down 36 flights of stairs. Talk about burning calves! At least we were going down! We eventually made it back to our room and thankfully the window of our room was in tact. The next day we went out to the Aquarium, and when we got back to the hotel, there were also tornado warnings again. So we had to wait again in a holding room before being able to go to our room. The convention ended up being cancelled because of the tornadic events. All in all, it was quite the exciting weekend.

A closer view of our hotel and the blown out windows.

Sherstine and I among the wreckage.

Debris on the ground.

Mike and Kira waiting as we find out what is going on.

Here we are waiting to go up to our room.

The Baby Blessing

2008-03-09T14:06:00.001-07:00

Mike gave Kira her name and blessing at church on March 2, 2008. It was such a wonderful day. Besides the beautiful blessing, it was also so great to have the support of family and friends there with us. My mom made her beautiful blessing dress which I love. (Just so you know, I do not have the talent of creating hand made beautiful things like my mother.) : )

We had so much fun with family in Kentucky when they came out to visit. With my family, we went to Bardstown and ate at the Talbot Tavern. They have finger lickin' good food. Supposedly it is haunted too. We toured "My Old Kentucky Home,"checked out the old jail, and walked through historic Bardstown.

This is my fam at the Talbot Tavern.

Both families checked out the Kentucky Derby Museum and Churchill Downs. That was lots of fun.

With Mike's folks, we went to Locust Grove and learned a little somethin' about the history of George Rogers Clark and Louisville. Wouldn't it be nice if this was our real home?

The week was great. Lots of family, friends, food, and fun. Just what we like! And of course, it was wonderful to bless Kira and to have the special day to remember.

Kira and the Boys

2008-02-19T09:20:00.000-08:00

We have realized that Kira is a little socialite. She really likes going out and about. Kira enjoys seeing and hearing new things. As you can see, she is very alert and ready to go out on the town!

Of course Kira's favorite boy is her daddy. Everyone things she looks just like Mike. What do you think?

Here's Kira and her buddy Owen. Kira loves Owen! How can you tell? Check the next pictures.

Oh yeah baby, she loves Owen!

Here's her most recent buddy Gavin who's not even two weeks old. They're so cute!

At the end of the day, she's all tuckered out!

Playing Dress Up

2008-02-11T19:24:00.001-08:00

Kira wore her first dress to church on Sunday. Mike even dressed her up for me while I got ready. The dress and accessories weren't a perfect fit. The headband and tights were way too big! But she looked so stinkin' cute. That 0-3 month stuff is definitely more toward the 3 than the 0. It was fun having her all dressed up. She didn't even soil herself! Good girl!

The Little Princess

Kira's little ballet shoes and saggy tights!

Our Little Angel!

2008-02-06T15:54:00.000-08:00

We are officially presenting little Kira to the blog world. Here's our little lady. She was born on January 4, 2008. She weighed 7 lbs. and measured 19 inches. This gal loves to eat, but she already dislikes her naps. She'd rather stay up with mom. Kira is now 1 month old, and we went to the pediatrician for her check up. Wouldn't you know, she is only in the 25th percentile when it comes to height. Hmmmm.... Kira is such a great baby! We even got her smiling last week. It has been so fun becoming parents! Here's some pics of our gorgeous gal.

More Pics!

2008-02-06T15:39:00.001-08:00

Our Little Family!

Smiles!

Her Crazy Hair!

She's already got daddy tied around her little finger.

Kira and me