The grand and the simple are equally wonderful.

Yesterday was a simple day.  Yet, it was a happy day.  Our good friend (and matchmaker!), Jordan Mckee, joined us for dinner last night.  I tried a new recipe: glazed lemon chicken over pasta.  I wasn't a huge fan, but Taylor gobbled it down and loved it (he even ate my serving!).  I think he was sad that I probably won't make it too often, since I didn't love it myself.  ;)

Our dessert plan for the night was dessert crepes.  BUT, we had a little bit of a crepe debacle.  They just weren't working for us last night.  Taylor was able to successfully make two crepes.  So he ate one of them.  The other one he offered to me...but then, it wasn't really an offer after all.  Instead, it ended up here:

Yep, right in my face.  Thanks, TayRay.

Tay and Jordo enjoyed some computer games together, while "We Bought a Zoo" played in the background.  Taylor and I really enjoyed that movie!  If you haven't seen it yet, I recommend it!  

My night was simple.  And yet, it was wonderfully happy.  Thank goodness for the grand, the simple, and the in between.

The trick is to enjoy life.

One of the many reasons I love Taylor Ray is because he always keeps me laughing.  He knows exactly how to break me into a smile if I'm frustrated, having a bad day, or just in need of some good laughter.

Here's one memory I'll never forget: About a month after we were married, I was preparing a history lesson to teach to a high school class the following day.  I was quickly frustrated with my lack of creative ideas for the lesson.  It was getting late, and the stress of preparing this lesson was becoming overwhelming.  My eyes began to well over with tears as I continued to attempt to conquer this temporary beast.  Against my pleas of refusal, Taylor lifted me off of the couch, grabbed my arms with his hands, and forced me to perform the macarena.  Before I knew it, my tears had turned into tears of laughter.  I could hardly control myself...the scene was so ridiculous!  At the end of a few rounds of macarena and extreme laughing hysterics, I was pumped and ready to tackle the lesson.  Taylor's creative and funny mind allowed my own creative juices to flow to successfully prepare a decent lesson! Thank goodness for this silly boy in time of need :)

Or how about the time he did this?

I turned around to find this face staring at me.  It's safe to say there was milk spewed all over the ground after seeing this face.

Or maybe the times I start to "nag" or "lecture" a bit only to find that I had no idea what I was even annoyed about because Taylor has successfully imitated my sassy attitude--which usually leads to a playful shove escalated into a tickle fight (and there is no debate...Taylor always comes out the winner).  I think I'm starting to catch on to his sneaky ways: "when the wife is peeved, just make her laugh, and you skip out on the lecture altogether!" I'm on to you, Tay Ray...

Or how about last night?  After an intense ultimate frisbee game at mutual, Taylor and I decided to take a quick swim (it felt GREAT, by the way!).  With me on his back, Taylor started to imitate a whale (I have no clue where he gets these ideas).  I could hardly control my laughter! He is such an animated individual--with bizarre ideas to match!  This earned him the nickname Shamu...which quickly evolved to Shamy, for some odd reason.  For the rest of the night, my dear little Shamy had me laughing hysterically.  At one point, I even started to choke on pool water from laughing so hard.  Oh, Shamy. ;)

I am grateful for a husband who makes me laugh, who knows when I need a laugh, and who knows exactly how to make me laugh.  And I am grateful that I will get to laugh with him for eternity.  Click here to learn more about marriages made in heaven.

As Marjorie Hinckley said: “The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache.”   I'm with you, Marjorie.  I prefer to laugh.

And this boy?  He makes me laugh.

No complaints

I was a little spoiled yesterday.  And here's why:

1. After we both got off of work, my wonderful husband cooked a delicious dinner for the two of us.  He declined my offer to help, and so I sat on the couch and watched Netflix, while the yummy aroma of chicken and mashed potatoes tickled my nose. :)  The dinner was YUM.  Thanks, babe!

2. After dinner, Mr. T went to pick up a RedBox movie for us to watch.  We watched the first hour of "We Bought a Zoo," before I got too tired to finish.  But I got to cuddle up to my husband and watch a funny movie on a Tuesday night.  I was a little giddy about that :)

3. The first swim of the summer!  Taylor even taught me how to "correctly" dive off of a diving board. ;)  I felt like a six year old when he cheered at my success of jumping off of a diving board all by myself.  It's a little bit of a long story, but funny all the same. :)  Then the two of us got to lay out by the pool in the late afternoon sun.

Spoiled on a Tuesday?  I'll take it.

Recent purple pedicures with Mama G, warm weather right around the corner, and a heated pool right at my fingertips (or toes in this picture!)...I'm ready for summer!

Crepe night, Date night!

What was on the dinner menu at the Gilbert home last night? Our very favorite...crepes! Believe it or not, we were too full to finish the savory crepes off with dessert crepes. But the dessert crepes are on the menu for Thursday night. Yum!

Monday night=Family night in our home.  We spent the evening together and enjoyed each other's company.

Crepes!

You know you're life is great, when you feel giddy every day.  I feel giddy just being around this boy.  Life is so grand :)  

S'more weekend would sure be nice...

Another Monday, another week!  Even though Mondays are a tad bit discouraging, Tay and I had quite a fun weekend.

On Friday, we went to support Marci's soccer team.  She coaches the cutest (and most talented!) 14 year old girls.  They received second place in the championship!  We were so proud of them!  And it was such a fun game!

On Saturday evening, Tay and I were invited by the marvelous Brody and Jenni to a park up in the canyons where we grilled hot dogs over a campfire with some good friends.  We even ended the night with some delicious s'mores (hence the blog title for today).  Even though we strongly smelled of campfire afterwards, we loved every minute of the evening!

Our lovely drive up the canyon.  Utah is such a beautiful state!

Taylor made a late night trip to Wal-Mart, and brought home Ben & Jerry's for us to share in bed.
Yum! Love this boy!

And, of course...Happy Mother's day to all mothers throughout the world.  Two special shout-outs are needed. One, to my own mother, whom I love with all of my heart.  I couldn't have asked for a better role model, exemplar, and friend.  She is truly an amazing woman, and I strive daily to emulate her many wonderful characteristics.  And now, I am lucky enough to have TWO moms.  Can life get better? I think not.  My mother-in-law is always amazing me with her many talents and skills.  I feel a little (a lot) inadequate next to her.  Her friendly and outgoing charisma is something I always admire.  She is so good to include me in everything and make me feel part of the Gilbert clan. :)  I couldn't have asked for a better mom-in-law.  I love these two women dearly!

Taylor's brother, Seth, was able to call home for Mother's day.
Just eight days until he is home!

I was spoiled this Mother's day.  Even though I'm not a mother.  Taylor surprised me with beautiful flowers when I woke up. I gave him a bit of a quizzical look, and said, "You know...I'm not a mother, right?"  Taylor smiled and said, "But you will be someday; and you're closer now than you ever have been."  Did I get butterflies a little? Mayyybe :)  I have a wonderful husband.  And THEN, my dad-in-law gave me some lovely flowers.  I guess I'm included in this wonderful little holiday now. ;) Happy Mother's day!

Pondering about the Woodland Family...

Last week, my sister and her family moved to Kansas.  We have loved living so close to the Woodland family, and we already miss them dearly!  After lots of cleaning, packing, and tearful goodbyes, they started off on their drive to the mid-west.  Boy, do we miss them!  Especially their littles, Emma and Max.  I will especially miss the times when Emma asked if she could spend the night with Aunt Kelli and Uncle Taylor.  I will miss being a part of their young lives. Thank goodness for Facetime, right?

As I was helping Laurin clean her home before they moved, I was reminded of the many evenings I spent at her home as a young college student.  When I was homesick, in need of a home-cooked meal, had a rough day, or just in need of some sister-time, Laurin was always quick to invite me over (always with a never-ending offer to do my laundry at her home...free laundry!).  I spent many nights playing with E&M, sleeping on the Woodland couch, and feeling once again refreshed to conquer the college life.  While pondering over these memories, I was overwhelmed with her hospitality and love she shared with me, her little sister.  I sure have some of the greatest sisters. :)

Taylor and I had the opportunity to watch  Emma and Max about a week before they moved.  We had so much fun!  We took them to an elementary school play, Willy Wonka, that some children from our ward were in (p.s. everyone did such a magnificent job in the play!).  Emma and Max loved it.  Then we got to play with them before they fell asleep for the night.

Here are some pictures (and a video!) of our fun night:

E&M came up with a fun game with Uncle Tay (see video) :)

(Laurin...I promise we didn't drug Max)

(Listen carefully to Max telling Taylor, "Hit me!")

We miss you, Woodlands!  We pray for your happiness in Kansas! 

xoxo

Life lately...

There was a good three weeks between April and May that I didn't blog.  Whoops :/  Even though Taylor constantly pestered me to blog, I never had the chance to get around to it.  So here's a quick update of what was missed:

Marci and Tom threw an awesome party a couple of weekends ago.  We played a game where each couple was given an egg and we wrapped the eggs with newspaper, tissue paper, tape, etc., in order to try to cushion it from a fall off of the balcony.  The team whose egg stayed intact won!  Mine and Taylor's egg and Ryan and Rachel's egg survived!  The four of us did an egg toss contest to determine a winner.  And the winner was...

Throwing the eggs off of the balcony!

Our baby egg lives!

We win!!!!

The next game was pretty funny too.  One spouse was blindfolded, while the rest of the crew positioned the other spouse into an odd position.  The spouse who was blindfolded had to feel their lover and try to position themselves in the same way.  Here was our attempt:

Not too shabby, right? Fun game!

Taylor and I hosted a dinner for all of the siblings (plus Camden & Etta--good friends to all) a few Sundays ago.  It partly served as a goodbye party for the Woodlands, who moved to Kansas.  Taylor was the cook of the night (and the food was so yummy), and I was in charge of the dessert (thank you, Costco chocolate cake).  ;)  So many laughs and good times around.

Too cute for words.

The Utah sibs

Oh, and we can't forget about my 21st birthday, can we?

I was actually feeling a little under the weather, so we had a last-minute relaxing evening (dinner and games) with the siblings.

It was awesome, special, and perfect! 'Nuff said.

 At the end of the night we facetimed with the rest of the fam in CA.

Hi Mama!

Me and my love on my special day :)

Well, there's a little bit about our life lately.  Now that we're caught up, how about those daily posts again, eh?  ;)