Summer 2013: Highlights

The Summer flew by so quickly and we had such a great time down in Vegas. Here's what we've been up to:

•  Had a fun time visiting James & Jillian in Provo on our way down to Vegas before they moved far far away.
• Took a Meservy Family trip in May to Newport Beach. What a blast. Great weather, bike rides, poetry night, dolphins at the beach, and DISNEYLAND!

Joe, Ned, & Josh swimming with dolphins.

• Spent lots of fun times with this little girl:

•  Had my first minor league baseball experience. Go 51's! The best part about baseball? Eating lots of $1 priced foods, of course!

• Found a cool dog that followed me home. His name is Sherman and we fed him lots of orange chicken. Then when we found his owner we found out he is on an extremely restricted diet. Whoops! 

• Mom & Barbara came for a visit in late June. It was so fun to see and spend time with both of them.
• Had a wonderful British themed baby shower in Vegas with Sarah. They spoiled us!
• We walked in the 4th of July Parade with the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers and placed 3rd in the walking divisions!
• After the parade there was a great party with tons of music. Joe, Ned, and Harry performed "Taking Care of Business:"

• Went to the Vegas Zoo. It was small, but so much fun!

Barbary ape eating otter pops. It was so hot we wanted one! The ape on the right wasn't family so he couldn't be with the other apes. No wonder he looks so grumpy.

Me & the Chinese Alligator

So hot out the cougar voluntarily takes a bath.

Fossa!

Joe & goat at the petting zoo.

Thumbs up otter.

• I took a fabulous 2 week trip to Houston to see the family. They treated me to Sea World, Wicked, a great baby shower (super spoiled again!), and lots of fun. Emma even showed me how to make a baby mobile for the nursery!

Wicked!

The Baby Shower - wish I had pictures from the other ones!

Watermelon Hedgehog

Owl Carrot Cake

• As fun as it was to be with my family it was great to get back to Joe in Vegas. Soon after my return we celebrated our 2 year anniversary. Joe took me to Spring Mountain Ranch for a beautiful picnic with all my favorite foods. He even took me to a French Bakery to pick out some delicious desserts. It was a wonderful surprise.

• For one date night Joe and I posted the below picture around town with James' phone number on it.

• Joe naturally dominated at family Scrabble games this Summer. One of his best moves, pictured below, shows him using all 7 of his letters on his first move with the word "Dominate."

• Before our move back to Spokane we took a Meservy Family trip to Cedar City to the Shakespeare Festival. We saw Love's Labour's Lost and King John. We had a beautiful picnic before the plays and a really great time overall.
• Joe had a great opportunity to extern this Summer for Judge Lloyd D. George, a federal judge on the United States District Court for the District of Nevada.
• Meanwhile, I grew and grew all Summer long. The first picture is from 24 weeks (6/9/2013) and the latter is from 36 weeks (8/31/2013). I can't believe I'm still getting bigger... we are ready for you baby!

Easter 2013

I can't believe I never posted any pictures of Joe's amazing eggs from Easter this year! He put my simple dyed eggs to shame with two of his egg-cellent creations:

Snoqualmie & Seattle

Wow! Time has really gotten away from me this Summer so now I'm playing catch up. Last March, Joe and I had the wonderful opportunity to spend a weekend away in Seattle. We stopped first in Snoqualmie to see the falls and then went on to Seattle. It was a quick trip, but we had a blast! Here are some pics:

Snoqualmie Falls

The Petrified Log at The Train Museum in Snoqualmie

 Joe versus the train!

Snoqualmie Falls was my favorite parts of the trip. The flowers were all in bloom and it had a great small town feel to it. However, we still hurried on to Seattle. There's only so much you can do in a small town.

 Our first night in Seattle we ate at Crab Pot - Joe was very excited for so much Sea Food!

Most Memorable Moment: After dinner we were waiting at the crosswalk when a disheveled looking man crossed into oncoming traffic. He didn't even flinch as car after car almost hit him - he just kept walking towards us staring straight at Joe. When he got across he kept mumbling to Joe about his "perfect body." Then he stumbled off. He was clearly on something and we couldn't help but laugh about his "perfect body."

 Naturally, we stopped by the Space Needle for a great view of the town.

 Next morning we took a trip to the Ballard Locks. I believe this was Joe's favorite part of the trip.

Hardly any fish in the fish ladder...

 The Bay

After the Locks we browsed around Pike Place. There were gorgeous flowers and delicious desserts everywhere, but I was hoping to see more giant fish for sale. Guess it's not very practical. I love this picture of Joe with the golden pigs.

We stopped at Pike Place Chowder for lunch before we left town. Best clam chowder and sour dough I've ever had! The wait was definitely worth it. No wonder they've won so many awards!

At some point along the way we got lost and just drove around town. There was lots of cool street art and sculptures everywhere!

 To finish up our trip we stopped at the beautiful Seattle Temple before road-tripping it back home.

Washington Holds Some of the Best Parks in America

MANITO PARK (Spokane):
*Duncan Garden
*Gaiser Conservatory and Green House
*Perennial Garden
*Rose Hill - more than 100 species of roses and one of the few dahlia test gardens in America
*Japanese Garden - koi pond, imported Japanese trees, etc
*Lilac Garden

The Japanese Garden at Manito Park

COMSTOCK PARK (Spokane):
*Aquatic Center
*Softball/Baseball Fields
*Tennis Courts
*Basketball
*Horseshoes
*Picnic Tables
*Playground Equipment

DISCOVERY PLAYGROUND (Spokane):
*Splash Pad
*Fossil Maze
*Fossil Find
*Double Slide
*Musical Elements

We had a blast at Discovery Park last May. We only wish our baby boy would be old enough to play around here before we move in the distant future. Why can't all towns have such great parks?

 19 Weeks pregnant here and not much to show for it.

Imagine Dragons Sets Records

Marco Callister, grandmother of rock star Daniel Reynolds

Imagine Dragons:
*American Music Award for Favorite Artist - Alternative Rock (2013)
*Premios 40 Principales Award for Best International Rock Band (2013)
*Echo Award nominee for Best International Rock/Alternative Group (2014)
*Billboard magazine "Top Rock Act of 2013"

*Billboard magazine "Breakthrough Band of 2013"

*Las Vegas Weekly "Best Local Indie Band 2010"
*Most Shazammed Rock Act of 2013

Night Visions debut album by Imagine Dragons:

*#1 Billboard Alternative Album

*#1 Billboard Rock Album
*#2 Billboard 200

*2x Platinum (sales in excess of 2 million albums in the United States)
*Juno Award nominee for International Album of the Year (2014)

*Most streamed album of 2013 on Spotify (U.S.)

*Top 10 album on the Billboard 200 in 2012, 2013, 2014

"Radioactive" single by Imagine Dragons:

*#1 Billboard Alternative Song

*#1 Billboard Rock Song
*#1 Billboard Rock Airplay

*#1 Swedish Song
*#3 Billboard Hot 100

*7x Platinum (sales in excess of 7 million singles in the United States)

*"Biggest Rock Hit of the Year" - Rolling Stone Magazine
*"Biggest Rock Hit of the Summer" - Billboard Magazine
*Billboard magazine "Top Rock Song of 2013"
*Billboard magazine "Top Alternative Song of 2013"
*Grammy Award nominee for Record of the Year
*Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance

*Teen Choice Award - Choice Rock Song

*All-time record for longest ascension to the Billboard Hot 100 Top 5 (42 weeks)

*All-time record for longest reign atop the Billboard Rock Songs (23 weeks)

*All-time record for longest reign atop the Billboard Rock Airplay (24 weeks)
*All-time record for longest running single on the Billboard Hot 100 (87 weeks)
*All-time record for digital sales by a rock song (6 million+)
*Most streamed song of 2013 on Spotify (U.S.)

"It's Time" single by Imagine Dragons:

*#15 Billboard Hot 100

*3x Platinum (sales in excess of 3 million singles in the United States)

*Longest run in the Billboard Alternative Songs Top 10 for 2012 (32 weeks)

"Demons" single by Imagine Dragons:
*#1 Billboard Pop Song

*#6 Billboard Hot 100

*3x Platinum (sales in excess of 3 million singles in the United States)
*iHeartRadio Music Award for Alt Rock Song of the Year (2014)

"On Top of the World" single by Imagine Dragons:
*1x Platinum (sales in excess of 1 million singles in the United States)