Happy 6th Birthday, Becca

We invite all our readers to join with us tomorrow in celebrating our sweet niece Rebecca Toone's birthday.

(Lily, Amanda, Becca, Cassidy, & I twirling)

We plan on celebrating by reading and wearing the color yellow (two of Becca's favorite things).

Although she lived only a short time, she had an incredible effect on anyone that came in contact with her. My brother, Blake, used to love to go to voice lessons at Jordan's parents' house when "the little girl with the glasses" was there. It was impossible to be in the same room with her without smiling.

I feel so blessed that I married into the Toone family in enough time to spend at least one birthday with her and we will continue to celebrate every year until we see her again.

We love you Becca!

Documentation of the Trip

Welcome to the documentation of the Toone's summer vacation. It's kind of long (sorry about that) so don't feel bad if you don't make it to the end.

Here we go...
(yes, I am aware that my sunglasses look like Elton John's, but I like them)

just before boarding the ship

what's a trip without Diet Coke???
(Linds and I probably had a few too many of these)

Jord and I took the shade...

...while Lindsay and Ryan soaked up the sun.

(my cute boy)

our cabin
(which turned out to be a lot nicer and larger than we thought)

Jordan's first sushi experience

Our first towel animal.

Catalina Island
We spent a lot of time shopping (bless Jordan and Ryan's hearts).

We decided to take a glass bottom boat ride and saw a lot of really neat fish.

Our ship

Formal Night
(we were some of the best looking folks there)

We decided to treat ourselves to some VIRGIN daiquiris
(I think the bartender thought we were crazy when we specified NO alcohol)

Ensenada
We took a bus tour out to the blow hole and flea market where we did some great shopping. Linds and I got cute Mexican dresses and fake Prada and Coach purses (of course), Jordan got a nice wallet, and Ryan got a sweet poncho. We also had some Pina Coladas in pineapples that were to die for (however, we drank them before we could get pictures).

Playing Poker

We bought some Jelly Belly's on the ship along with some playing cards from the Casino and started playing poker one night. We ended up playing for hours that night and every night for the rest of the trip.
(This was one of my favorite things and probably where we had the most laughs the entire week.)

Our day at sea was spent laying out, playing cards, and eating ice cream.

Our last night at dinner we finally took some pictures of our table.

Once we got to St. George we swam and decided to do a little bit of laundry.
(can you believe we had this many swimsuits for 4 people).

Such a wonderful way to end the summer.
I hope we can do it again someday.

Barclay Pioneer Day Barbecue

good food

a whole lot of swimming

4th of July Weekend

So...

I LOVE the 4th of July and this year was no different. We were able to do everything we had planned on and a few things we hadn't which summed up to one of the best 4th's ever!
We began on Friday by swimming at my parents house during the time that all the neighbors decided to light their fireworks. With the new legal fireworks added to the mix it made for a great show!
Saturday we began the day at Carl's Jr. for breakfast (a Toone tradition)


and then it was off to the Centerville parade. It was especially fun to see Jordan's brother, Logan, and his kids riding a school bus in the parade for the 100th anniversary of Davis School District, but sadly I didn't whip my camera out fast enough to catch a picture.
We hung out with my dad's side of the family while they swam and pretty much relaxed during the afternoon while I baked cupcakes for Sunday.

That night we headed up to the park for dinner and Cassidy's birthday celebration before the Oakley rodeo. (cute Connor)
This was my 3rd time going to the rodeo with Jordan's family and it was a very good rodeo year. We particularly loved the bull riding and it of course ended with a fantastic fireworks show.

(the group)

(Jord & I)


(Brenda looking mighty fine in McKinley's hat)

Sunday was a "triumphant" day for Connor. We attended his blessing at Nathan & Brenda's ward. Afterward we had a fantastic luncheon at Jordan's parents' house. It was for this luncheon that I discovered my love of Strawberry Lemonade cupcakes. Delightful!

Benson treated us with his rendition of the "Baby Monkey Riding on a Pig" song many times that afternoon and I have pretty much been singing it since (bless Kara's heart). It was so fun to spend time with family!
Monday we took a trip to the shooting range with Jordan's parents and Preston to shoot his dad's rifles. This was my first time shooting something besides a squirt gun and I had a great time. We went to Dee's Family Restaurant afterward for lunch, and then Jordan watched me swim laps that afternoon.
My family came home from St. George on Monday night so we were able to end our 4th by going to dinner with them before we headed for home.

It was a great holiday and I can't wait til next year!

A Pictureless Update

These past few weeks have been big ones for us. My little sister married her sweetheart last Wednesday (pictures to come) so we spent the last week up in Centerville getting ready for the wedding. We were lucky that Heavenly Father blessed us with good weather because both the wedding dinner and the reception were in the Davies' backyard. It really was a perfect day (despite the ankle sprain that happened at the reception). The day after the wedding, we took a little getaway with my parents and Blake to St. George for the weekend. The boys spent the mornings golfing while the girls shopped and we spent the afternoons swimming and lounging around. Thanks to mom & dad for the amazing weekend and to Blake for letting us tease him so much.

St. George Trip

Last weekend we took a short trip, just the two of us, down to St. George to escape the cold weather up here. We began by taking a small detour up to Ogden to see our new nephew, Connor Nathan Toone.

We then left the hospital and drove straight down there making it before midnight (which is what we were hoping).
Saturday we got to sleep in, eat at Mongolian BBQ (if you haven't been there, it's amazing), and go hiking in the turtle preserve by our house.

We spent a lot of time cruising around in LaFonda (below) and had a great night of Olive Garden and Harry Potter 7!

Sunday we went to church, made dinner, relaxed a bunch and then made the drive home.
It was a fantastic trip!