September BYU Football!

Once a year, we try to get together to experience the glory of the BYU Football. Everyone who can make it work shows up.  This year Dad, Toren, Audrey, Austin, Brent, Harper and myself were able to attend.  There are a few common expectations when we attend.

First, I ALWAYS go and get a scalp treatment at the Paul Mitchell School.  A two hour head massage and hair treatment for $6.00!?!?!  Who can pass that up.  The boys kept the kids so Audrey and I could truly relax.

Second, we have pre-game lunch at Tucanos Brazilian Buffet. It is delicious but if you have it to frequently it is not a good.  

Third, we hit up the book store. I love getting new BYU gear!  Don't you love my cute shirt?!

Fourth, new this year is the BYU walk.  This is where the team walks from the bus to the locker room. This allows them to get pumped up.  It was pretty fun.

Finally, the game!  I wasn't suppose to go but then I really wanted to.  My Aunt Pattie and Cousin Jenny said they would take Harper.  I am SO grateful for such amazing family.  We went to the game and that is when a 3 hour long thunder storm started.  We sat under the bleachers and waited it out.  Of course we got soaked in the process.

The bleachers cleared out a little bit but true fans stayed around, and it was so worth it. 

The game was against Texas.  We were suppose to lose... bad, but they played terribly and we played probably better than we had all year.  It was such an enjoyable and memorable game!

I really love being able to make these fun family memories!  I hope it is a tradition that we can keep up for many many years to come!

Fun in Utah

When we went to Utah with Brent's family, Brent and I got to take some time to enjoy Harper all by ourselves!

Harper LOVED Culver's. Burgers cooked in lard!?!?  She screamed "yes, please!!!"

Then we went to one of the giant sporting good stores which had fun picture ops set up! 

Harper loved 4 wheeling.

And making friends with a big Grizzly.

Dad didn't think it was super safe for Harper to be that close so he had to rescue her!

She climbed a tree with a cougar near by.

Brent and I played a few rounds of Dance Dance Revolution.  It was fun but I have NO coordination.  I was never meant to be a dancer.  I honestly think I ended up with a negative score. 

We hit up Temple Square and got to enjoy some of the visitor center. Harper was in awe of the beautiful room.

And finally she got to enjoy the beauty of the Salt Lake Temple.  She loves her cousin Tyler. This is a gorgeous picture, especially since it was taken with a point and shoot camera.

I love being able to wander around and goof off with my fun little family!  I am super excited for all the adventures to come!

Trip to Utah

Who loves Utah? Well, not technically this girl.  Don't get me wrong.  It is growing on me (especially since I no longer have to deal with the people or the snow) since compared to Vegas it is green and mountainous! But I did love my college experience at BYU and it is one I would want for my family!  

Currently, this girl!  Tyler is a sophmore this year and still unsure of where she wants to go to college...

 You better believe Brent and I had an opinion or two.

So we took off to Utah for a few days meeting Brent's Mom, Christi and Tyler there.  It was an easy persuasion considering we now have Harper as a bargaining chip!

We checked out Temple Square, Temple and other fun things in Salt Lake then headed to Provo to hit Bridal Veil Falls.  Christi was amazing to take some family pictures for us!

Harper is changing so fast!  She is already so different from these pictures. Had I realized we were going to get such cute pictures I would have not been so decked out in BYU gear!

Harper just had to try the leaves.  Good thing mom and dad were ready to stop her!

After some time at the falls we hit the book store and then the BYU vs BSU football game. It was cold, and you could tell Tyler was torn.  She ended up not cheering for anyone... the entire game.  I am not sure if we succeeded or failed, I guess time will only tell!

The great thing about Friday night football games is that we had all Saturday to drive home and worked our way through Bryce Canyon... Get excited for that post!

Halloween Party 2013

When we moved to Vegas we made some really good friends, The Gunns.  We settled in and now we are pretty much family.  Sarah Gunn and I agreed that we should be more outgoing and thus the idea of an Annual Gunn and Huntley Halloween Party was born.  Last year it was a zombie apocalypse party and this year it was all about Super Heroes. 

We always hand deliver the invites and told everyone to come in their original superhero costume.The first hour is for the entire family.  We have crafts, face painting, games and pizza.  

Harper was the perfect little dragon!

Toren and Audrey let us borrow Iron Man, I mean Austin, for the parrty.

After the first hour the kids head over to the Gunns house and the real party begins.  This year I was the Super hero ref.  My super power? The ability to referee issues between super villains and super heros. We seperated the guest into two groups villians and heros.  The first game was a jousting game.  The Heros came out victorious.

The second game was a trivia game, Heros won again.  The third game was to test agility, the villians made a come back.  And the final game was progressive charades. The villians tied it up!

Well there can't be a tie.  As the ref I came up with the tie Breaker (really, we didn't have the idea of a tie planned) that every great villian and super hero has an orgin story and so each team would have to tell me one of their teams origin story. 

The Heros (above) went first. It was a tragic tale of how the super hero born on a small island west of Canada... It was epic!

Then it was the Villains turn.  I can't even explain... Essentially they won because they embarrassed me way to much!  The Villains ended up being victorious!

It was an amazing party!  We all had a great time.  It is going to be difficult to top it next year.  Sarah are you ready for the challenge?

Labor Day at Oceanside

You know how you have these traditions that are so old you don't even remember where they came from?  Well Labor Day in Oceanside is kinda like that, except I know where it started and I LOVE it.  Last year we went to Oceanside with our friends Erin and James (plus their daughter Jadie).  It was a blast.  We hung out on the beach and did nothing the entire weekend. When they offered it again this year, we couldn't resist!

The friends!

Another reason we needed to get go was to get this little one some beach time!  Her mom is a fish so she has to have a lot of exposure to the water!  To bad she was in hibernation mode.  

One reason we like going out with Erin and James so much is they have the same money sensibilities that we do... meaning they are cheap! One night we splurged and went to Ruby's, which is a restaurant at the end of the Oceanside pier.  The food was pretty good!

It is kinda a long walk from the beach out to ruby's but Brent always manages to get some great pictures!  This is one of my favorites.

In front of Ruby's was this gentleman.  He was AWESOME!  He made balloon animals for kids.  It was seriously an art form.  He listed off about 40 things he could make and when he was making it he would talk to the kids and tell them their balloon animals back story.  It was so cute.  I would love to have a talent like that!

Jadie and her butterfly.  Erin, James, Brent and I thought it was adorable.  Until she started playing with it at five in the morning.  The squeaking was a lot less cute at that hour.

Most of our day was spent on the beach.  I would look for sand crabs. I am not sure why finding them is so much fun, but I find it really relaxing. I thought about collecting them in a bucket but if I were a sand crab I wouldn't want to be in a bucket, so I would catch them and then free them. I know they probably don't like being caught at all but I need my fun, so they can deal.

Jadie and James setting up Ladder Ball.

On Saturday Brent and James were pretty concerned with watching the BYU vs Virginia game, which was rained out. I hit the beach for some boogie boarding.  It was fun because several families had their phones out waiting for the rain delay to end as well.

Why do we only get pictures of the back of Erin's head?

Brent likes to skim board.  I do  not have the balance for it.  He got pretty good towards the end!

Oh Harper!  Although she slept the majority of the time she also pooped at the most inconvenient times!

Brent boarding.

Isn't she gorgeous!  I love Jadie and I have several little nephews I would hook her up with in a few (13?) years.

On the last day, Brent and I woke Harper up to take her in the ocean.  Brent wanted to sit her all the way down, until a wave came and almost soaked her all the way through. 

Then it was a stand up moment.  She looks SO SO SO small here.  Especially not as big as she is now.

Going to the beach is a really fun tradition and one I hope continues on for years and years to come!  Next year we should get to take another little one along with us as well! 

The Swimming Pool!

My doctor said Harper should be about 6 months old before going swimming... well she didn't know Harper is part fish!  Just short of 12 weeks Harper Anne Huntley entered the swimming pool for the first time! 

 She is getting very close to entering and has a pensive look on her face, as many part-fish humans do when entering the water for the first time!

 My boss from work found a 3 month old swimsuit when I had been looking for one for months! Since swimming is one of my favorite things, it only felt right that I have a swimsuit for her!

 I think Daddy went a little to deep a little to quickly!

 Handing her back over to Mom!

 Audrey and Austin joined us, but Austin sometimes chose to participate in the action another way!

 Water Tummy Time

 Straight legs and pointed toes make for some good kicks!

 Her tounge is OUT OF CONTROL!  It is always out of her mouth and I LOVE IT!  

 Attempting to get some cute family pics!

I am really glad we were able to get her in the water.  It was starting to storm but still really warm.  The wind calmed down for the hour that we were there and overall Harper seemed to really enjoy the whole experience.  She was so worn out by all her hard work that she slept for almost 4 hours after getting home.

Now I just hope she sleeps through the night!