Newport Vacation: Jared's Birthday

For Jared's birthday we decided to take a small trip. I was having a hard time trying to figure out where to go and came across The Newport Coast Villas. These are amazing two bedroom mini apartments across from Crystal Cove. Why did we want a second room when it was just the two of us?? Well, we asked our good friends Mike, Katie and their 2 year-old son Cayden to join us for one of the nights.



 

 Our living room, kitchen and on the left is the second bedroom.

 Our bedroom :)

 

On Jared's actual birthday we decided to head over to Balboa and rent some kayaks. We had so much fun paddling around Balboa Island looking at all of the homes and the gorgeous boats. While we were paddling there was a fish that jumped out of the water right in front of me. We loved every minute of it and next time I think we are going to try the paddle boarding. After the kayaking we walked around the Balboa Fun Zone and got some ice cream. For some reason whenever we go on vacation we find a local candy store and buy a ton of candy. I don't know why but that is slowly becoming a family tradition. We then went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. I found us a nice little steak restaurant in Corona del Mar and we had a nice dinner together to celebrate Jared's birthday.

 

The next day Mike, Katie and Cayden came to the hotel. We spent the day riding a group bike around Balboa and then spending time at the hotel pool. The pool was a great way to cool off after a super hot day. We got ready for dinner and had a yummy dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Ruby's. After dinner we walked around the beach that Jared and I took our engagement pictures at. It is this little secluded beach in Laguna. Unfortunately, it was really dark by the time we got there and the tide was really high, so we didn't stay too long. Our night ended with more laughs, games and having a great time with friends.

 Jared and Cayden hanging out on the couch.

 All of us on the bike about to ride around Balboa.

 Happy Birthday to the best husband in the world!

This trip was so much fun and we are hoping to make it an annual trip with the Byers Family. Thanks for coming and spending the weekend with us and celebrating Jared's birthday.

Blue Baby Girl Blanket

A friend in my ward had an adorable baby girl, so of course I had to make a baby blanket. I was getting tired of using pink (I know, weird coming from me) but, I thought that baby Quin would like a blue blanket. 

Dana Point Vacation

Jared has been working so hard the past few weeks making some major updates to his main app. So we decided to take a much needed vacation. We have a lot of things coming up this month, so we only really had a few days to take a vacation. We found a really nice hotel in Dana Point called The St. Regis Monarch Resort. It was gorgeous! The hotel had a beautiful pool and its own little beach. On our second day at the resort we took the little tram to the beach. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't that great so we didn't stay too long but it was still a really nice beach. Later that night after dinner we found the secluded beach in Laguna Beach where we took our engagement pictures. It was such an amazing few days. I can't wait for another mini vacation.

Our beautiful room.

Lovely bathroom with a deep bathtub :)

Baby Girl Bright Blanket

I am so happy to say that I have started making baby blankets again! It's been a long time since I made a baby blanket. Things have been just so crazy with us moving from Nona's house and into an apartment. I was invited to our friend Stacy's baby shower and I thought this would be great time to make a blanket. I went to my favorite fabric store in Anaheim and immediately found this adorable watermelon pink and bright green fabric. I am so happy with the finished product!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was great! My parents had a big BBQ at their house. We had my family and Jared's family there. It was great for us to have everyone there so we didnt have to family-hop from house to house. For Mother's Day my mom asked for a picture of all of us kids. Below is one of the pictures we took for her.



Happy Mother's Day to all the women in our lives!!!

Happy Birthday Stitch!!

Our little monster turned 1 years old on April 5th. We love him so much and couldn't imagine our life without him. He is so much fun and has such a cute little personality.

For his birthday we decided to take him to the beach. He had a lot of fun running around and meeting new dogs. Unfortunatly, we had a small incident while at the beach. Jared had Stitch on his leash walking him around and these two big dogs started walking all over our stuff. We didn't care because I am sure they were just smelling the puppy treats that we had in our bag. One of the dogs came up to Stitch and they started sniffing each other. Then out of nowhere this dog attacked Stitch and pinned him down with his mounth twice! We were so mad! Jared got mad at his owner and told the guy to put his dog on a leash. The guys chewed Jared out and said that Stitch was the aggressive one and that it was our fault by having him on a leash because he can't protect himself. I was really confused about that. I thought it was a good thing to have the dog on a leash and Stitch is nothing but sweet and playful. About 1 minute after the guys chewed Jared out his dog attacked another small dog, but this time it chased the puppy down the beach and I think actually bit the dog. It was horrible. Some guy pushed the mean dog away and totally cussed the owner out. After this Stitch was a little scared for a little bit but after a while he was himself again.

Other than this incident, our beach trip was a lot of fun. Our good friend Katie and her little boy Cayden came to the beach with us. We all had a lot of fun!! Stitch loved Cayden! He loved following him around the beach and seeing all the things he was doing. Again, Stitch did not like the ocean. Maybe another time, but honestly I don't think he will ever like the ocean.

New Chapter

March 31st was my last day working at Taylor-Dunn Corporation (my families company). I am so grateful for everything I have learned and the great experiences that I have gotten while working for my family. The reason I quit working is because Jared's business is going so well, he needs some administrative help, and my grandparents need some administrative help. Jared and I have been talking about purchasing a home this year and starting a family, so I want to get some life things in order before we start these large things in life.

I am so excited to start this next chapter in our lives. Also, it is so great to be spending my day with my husband at home and not having to get up super early anymore. Its been great!

Happy Birthday Chloe!

My baby sister turned 12 years old on March 31st. I can't believe that she is already 12 years old. For her birthday she wanted to see The Hunger Games movie with some friends and have a Hunger Games themed party. I made these really cute invitations. All the girls had these really cute Hunger Games t-shirts. Below are pictures from her party, along with the invitation that I made.

Anniversary Trip

For our 4th anniversary, Jared and I spent a long weekend in San Diego. We stayed at a beautiful hotel in the marina. We spent our weekend at Sea World, visiting the San Diego temple, going to the movies, having yummy dinners and taking an amazing hot air balloon ride.

Anniversary - Surprise

For our anniversary Jared gave me a big surprise... he took me on a private hot air balloon ride! It was so amazing!!! I have never done something like this before and it was so much fun. When we were driving to meet up with our group I still didn't know what we were doing. We met our group in a grocery store parking lot so when we arrived I was really confused. Then he FINALLY told me what we were doing. I was so excited!!! He was going to do this to propose to me but decided to take me to the beach instead. Actually, it was a good thing he didn't propose because Jared is a little afraid of heights. Our pilot was great and landed us in the correct spot. When we landed our basket tipped over so that was a little scary, but still a great time. Below are some pictures from our adventure.

Waiting for our balloon.

Beautiful view of San Diego

Another beautiful view.

Anniversary - Sea World

As part of our anniversary weekend, we spent one of our days at Sea World. I love Sea World! It has been so long since I had been there. We got to see so many things from penguins to whales to sea turtles. I can't wait to go back again!!

Cute Penguins!
Shamu!!

Gorgeous Sea Turtles!

What you lookin' at??

Rays... I really don't like those things.

Quick Update: End of 2011

I have been so bad at blogging lately. It just seems like the past few months have been so crazy and I haven't really taken any pictures over the holidays. I thought I would sit and update on the past few months up to Valentine's Day and our Anniversary.

November:
-I turned 25 this past November. I used to be really excited about my birthdays but this was the first year that I was dreading my birthday. I know 25 isn't old but I just wasn't excited that day. For my birthday dinners we went to Hibatchi. I love this restaurant so that made things better.

-Right after my birthday we had Thanksgiving. The holidays are always a busy time for us because we split the family time up since we all live very close to each other. We spent some time with both families and had a great time. I love the holidays and spending time with family. I am very grateful that we live so close so we can see our families often.

December:
This is always a busy month for everyone. Thankfully I wasn't making large blankets for everyone this year. However for Christmas I made my little sister a really cute pencil skirt. She loves it! This was Stitch's first Christmas and I think he really enjoyed all the attention and gifts that he got (puppy treats and toys). He is such a spoiled dog but we love him. He did very well with the Christmas tree, although he kept peeing under the tree. I think he was confused about having a tree inside the house. Hopefully next Christmas he will be a little better.

-We got tickets to see Wicked at the Pantages theater. My little sister has never see the show and so she was able to come with us and bring a friend. This was my 3rd time seeing the play and I love it more every time I see it. It was a lot of fun to spend time with my sister, Grandma and Aunt Amanda in LA.

We had a Rummler Family Christmas party before Christmas. Jared's Aunts and Uncles came over to his parents house. We had a yummy dinner and did a white elephant exchange. Jared's brother Sean also recieved his mission call and opened it in front of everyone. He is going to the Sapporo, Japan mission and he is leaving this April. We are all so excited for him to serve this wonderful mission in Japan.

-Christmas was a lot of fun and crazy as usual. Also having it land on a Sunday didnt help out the craziness either. We went the the Rummler's house in the morning and watched the little kids open their presents, then we went to Sacrament with them. After Sacrament we stopped by Nona's house to exchange gifts and wish her a Merry Christmas. We then raced home to change and head over to my parents house for gifts. I was so happy to have my little brother home for Christmas. We exchanged gifts and opened our stockings, then headed over to my grandparents house for more gifts, food and family. It was and always is a busy crazy day but we love it and we love seeing everyone.

Hopefully I will start being better at pictures and posting.