The Cat Lady

On our date night last night, Taylor and I pulled up behind a special car.

Meet Cat Lady's car (we took the privilege to name her):

So first, we saw the decal on her windshield. And we both kind of chuckled.

Then...we saw her license plate...kitty paw frame and all. And then we could NOT stop laughing.

 I tried getting pictures of her car while we were stopped behind her.  But the pictures weren't very clear. So we resorted to stalking her.  We followed her to a store and when she got out and parked, I jumped out and snapped the pictures, while Taylor served as the get-away-driver.

We just couldn't help ourselves.  We had to document this wonderful memory.

Dear life: Even when you throw me a hard week, you know how to make me feel better with something as simple as this. 

Dear Cat Lady: Thanks for being YOU.

Date night was the best.  Thanks to Cat Lady, stalking, and feeling like Michael Weston and Fi for a few minutes. ;)

Loving this weekend already!

Manti

 Over the weekend, Taylor and I were able to go with my family to the Manti Temple.

The drive through the canyons was absolutely beautiful.

But still nothing compared to the beauty of the temple...both inside and out.

It was the 3rd temple built!  Built back in 1888.

We were even lucky enough to be able to go look at the spiral staircase inside.
There are only three staircases like it in the world. And two are inside this temple!
Engineers today can't figure out how the stairs were made (they are very intricate with hardly any support). They were absolutely breath-taking!

Man alive...look at this beautiful building!

We were trying to figure out how tall the doors were, so my dad made Tay go stand next to them ;)

The clouds were amazing! And the whole day was lovely.

We had such a fun time with my family this past week.

I wish I had taken more photos of the gang together...oh well.

Memories will have to suffice. :)

(to learn more about why we have temples, take a look at this video.)

Davis Family

My parents came into town this weekend.

This week will be spent with this wonderful group:

So excited. I love them all.
Aren't they all just beautiful? Love my family.

And...hopefully, we will have a little one join us this week!

Come on out, Baby Wallace! We are all so excited to meet you!

A beautiful love.

Last weekend, I had the wonderful privilege of going to my dear friend's wedding.

The sealing was so beautiful.

And so was the couple.

They were absolutely glowing with love.

It brought back memories of my own wonderful day.

And made me realize (once again) how grateful I am for my eternal marriage.

I get to be with my husband (and future children!) FOREVER! The thought makes me giddy.

So grateful for this knowledge.

Here are some pictures from Chelsey and Taylor's beautiful day:

I absolutely LOVE outdoor receptions (hence the fact that I had a backyard reception).  I think they are so naturally beautiful and romantic.  And this one was no exception:

Best wishes to the beautiful newlyweds!

Love you both!

xoxo

one picture.

I feel as if this one picture sums up our weekend perfectly.

This weekend we had a whole lot of

laundry

swimming

and ice cream.

(and hey! all three are featured in this picture)

I took a break from laundry (which I was folding in my swim suit, since we were about to SWIM) to finish my yummy ice cream.
I think this is why it takes me so long to fold laundry.
I tend to take a lot of breaks in between...like going swimming or eating ice cream.

Oh, and you better believe that we are now addicted to Hell's Kitchen (thank you, Hulu Plus!).

Which inspired me to make:

cookie dough

delicious cake balls

and monte cristo sandwiches

We ate good.

Dear Gordon Ramsay: 

you scare me a little. 

and make me laugh a lot.

Hope you enjoyed your weekend!

Giant Jenga + Some

Taylor and I had such an awesome weekend.  

On Friday, we got to tour the Jerusalem set in Utah, where movies like this are being filmed.  It was built just over a year ago, so very few have seen it (plus, you have to know someone involved to get a tour), so we felt very lucky to have the opportunity! Thank goodness that Papa Gilbert seems to have all of the connections.  I took some awesome pictures, but no pictures are allowed to be posted until the filming is complete.  I figured I should obey the rule. ;)

On Saturday, I came home to find this:

When my diploma came in the mail, Taylor hid it until he could buy some frames to surprise me.  Good thing I didn't even think to wonder why my diploma hadn't come yet.  This put a huge smile on my face for three reasons:

1. I have a DIPLOMA from BYU! It feels awesome.

2. My husband was so proud of me (once again) for accomplishing this, and he told me over and over again. That felt great. :)

3. My sweet husband is always thinking of cute ways to make me happy.

SO much good food was had this weekend.  My favorites consisting of Outback and Red Robin.  We're still trying to plow through the massive amounts of giftcards we received from our wedding.  And we're still so grateful...because we had great excuses to eat at yummy places all weekend long (and for the past eight months)!

The Gilbert sibs at Red Robin.  The picture was for Ms. Kelsey Briggs, because we all miss her.  ...She's pretty much a Gilbert in our minds.

This weekend also consisted of a lot of giant jenga.  How awesome is this?

And, see videos to appreciate the greatness of it all:

hiya=favorite part ;)

And last, but not least...well, actually it probably deserves to be least, here are my faces while waiting for Taylor to finish getting ready for church on Sunday. 

All in all, our weekend was great.

Brothers.

This sight made my heart happy yesterday:

Taylor and his brother, Seth, playing video games at our house.  It makes me so happy to see the two of them finally reunited.  So glad Tay finally has his brother back.  We just love Seth!

It's going to be a hot week (finally!)...I'm ready to sit out by a pool and enjoy summer. :)

Baby Wallace + Weekend

This last weekend was so jam-packed, I hardly got a second to sit down and breathe!  

On Friday night, Tay and I went to a work party for doTERRA.  We got to do fun things like this:

Yep, that's my husband....

And take fun pictures like this:

After the work party, I stayed up all night preparing for sister's baby shower--baking cakes, other goodies, and making decorations.  Marci is the best party-planner--she always has creative and cutesy ideas.  So, I really wanted to make this shower perfect for her.  She's thrown me so many different parties (surprise 16th birthday party, numerous other birthday parties, bridal shower, + more!), so it was my turn to make a great memory for her.  I finally went to sleep at around 3am on Friday night...but I could hardly sleep because my mind was racing with everything I still had to do.  So I was up again three hours later at 6am.  I was pretty pleased with how it all turned out (thank you pinterest, blogs, and other internet sites!).  A big thanks to my dearest sister-in-law, Rachel, who helped plan everything! Here are some pictures of Marci's & Baby Wallace's shower:

Treats table.  Notice...blue candy, blue PRETZELS (so proud of that find), handmade banner, marshmallow rattles, and my favorite: the cake! (Oh, and the cute little baby blocks!)

Close up of edible rattles!

Close up of shirley temples (with floating ducks that decided not to float half-way through the shower)

Food table. Yummy chicken-salad croissants, baby=fruit (look closely), and yummy shirley temples!

Close up of baby fruit! (notice binky!) Thank you, Pinterest, and Rachel for doing it ;) 

Front door.

Some of the guests!

Close up of the cake! (Three layers with blue frosting on the inside!)

Gift table...as seen from the baby blocks.

One of the games we played was a "memory" game.  If you matched the words (all pregnancy related words) then you would get a candy bar that related to the word.  Here are some of the examples:

Preemie= Runts candy

OBGYN= Butterfinger ;)

Daddy= Pop Rocks

Conception = Skor  (score!) candy bar ;)

Contractions = Whoppers

Ultrasound= Look candy bar

etc, etc, etc.

If you would like to see the whole list, let me know!

Here's what the game looked like.

The rest of the weekend consisted of: Parade of Homes with Marci (so fun!), deep-dish Chicago pizza with the Utah sibs+spouses, and of couse, Father's Day!  I was so sad that I couldn't actually talk to my Dad on Father's Day (him and Mama are on an Alaskan cruise as we speak! Lucky ducks...). Regardless, Happy Father's Day to both my wonderful daddy and my amazing Father-in-Law!

A post about Miss Kelsey Briggs

Taylor and I have been looking forward to this week for quite some time!  Why? On Wednesday night, we got to pick up this darling girl (who happens to be our very best friend) from the airport:

Meet Kelsey Briggs. She was flying in from LONDON...she just finished her study abroad there!  And we missed her so very much!  

Kelsey's flight got delayed two hours (poor girl, she was traveling for over 27 hours!), so we didn't pick her up until 1:30 in the morning!  But it was worth every minute of lost sleep. :) I pretty much died of excitement when I saw her in the airport!

We even got to spend all of Thursday with her until her flight back home to Oregon this morning.  I miss her already, and can't wait until she's back in Utah for school, come August.  

Hoorah for wonderful friendships, and beautiful people like Kelsey Briggs.

Highlight of my Friday so far? (spoil alert: mushiness ahead...) Taylor left early this morning to go and play basketball.  I was still asleep when he came home and started to get ready.  When he came back into our bedroom, I asked him if he would come lay with me for a little bit longer.  He cuddled up right next to me, kissed my shoulder, and held me as he told me a story while I drifted back to sleep. Ah, I love this boy. 

I'm looking forward to this weekend: work party tonight, baby shower tomorrow morning, and Parade of Homes tomorrow afternoon!  Great posts are in store!  

No rhyme or reason

This weekend was wonderfully relaxing.  Taylor and I were able to spend a lot of time together cuddling, watching Netflix, eating good food, and being with family.   Last night, we went spent time with Marci and Tom (sister and brother-in-law).  We ate a yummy dinner (thanks, Marce!), played games, and had yummy ice-cream/cookie sandwiches. Yum.

The pictures (and video) associated with this post are a little random.  But, please enjoy nonetheless.

Taylor was craving Mongolian BBQ on Friday.  So we left work an hour early and went to fulfill his cravings.  It was so delish.  I'm already wanting to go back! It was an all-you-can eat again, so once again, I was done after one plate, while Taylor had about five more after that.

Oh hey, remember that picture I promised?  Here is the dress on:

Creepy eyes...but I'm loving this fun zebra dress.

I found this video on Taylor's ipod.  It was the first time I had ever seen it, and it made me giggle a little.  This was actually the same day that we got ENGAGED.   I'm excited to tell that story soon.  With all of its glorious little details.  What do you think? 

Anyways, background on the video: I was smelling some perfumes at Bath&Body Works.  I ran out of room to spray them on my arms, so this is what I resorted to.  Apparently, Taylor thought it was funny enough to video.

This is going to be a busy week for me.  I'm hosting dear sister's baby shower this weekend, so lots of preparing this week! I am excited!

 Enjoy your Monday! 

Memorial Day Weekend!

Oh, how I love holiday weekends!  This particular memorial day weekend was spent with lots of family.  There was a lot of extended family visiting Utah this weekend to welcome Seth home, so the Gilbert's had a full house!  I'm bummed that we're back to the regular grind of things, but excited to relive our fun weekend through this post.  Here we go:

Evenings were spent around a fire-pit on the patio or swimming in the pool.
The weather was a little chilly...but the pool was heated.  Hence the choice between a fire and a pool.

The cousins enjoyed a few games of Ninja (a great game!)

Not surprising, each game usually came down to Seth and Taylor as the final two.

On Monday, the whole crew embarked on a hike along the Great Western Trail (which supposedly leads all of the way to Canada!).  We decided not to go to Canada though, because we had plans in store for the rest of the day. 

 Look at these views!  Utah is such a beautiful state!

On the hike!

My silly husband in his babushka...don't ask.

Showing off the beautiful landscape! 

You better believe there was also a girls shopping trip, lots of good food (even a few batches of yummy chocolate chip cookies...my favorite!!), a trip to the movie theater to see The Avengers (love it!), and of course lots of laughter!  We loved our memorial day weekend!

Oh, and guess what? Exactly one week until Taylor and I get to see Fun in concert! We are can hardly wait!