Murder Mystery Dinner

Jon and I really wanted to host a Murder Mystery dinner, so after a month of planning, Saturday night August 10 we finally did one.  We invited 3 other couples from our ward to join us for this night of murder and intrigue.  It took place in 1969 so everybody had fun dressing up for the occasion.  We invited Samantha and Kody, Ryan and Stacy, and a new couple we wanted to get to know, Shayla and Bjorn.  Kody ended up being sick and wasn't able to come, so his nephew Justin ended up coming to take his place.  He had a great time.  We had a delicious dinner that was served in courses.  We had an appetizer that I made for the first time.  I made a spinich artichoke dip.  It was really good.  For dinner we had Cheesy Potato Casserole with a salad.  And then we had brownies for dessert.  It was delicious.  Enjoy the few pictures I managed to take.

Can you guess who the killer was?

Thanks to all those who came.  We had such a great time.  We couldn't have done it without you.

Look who's 30!!!!

Right after I came home from my Portland trip, I had to get ready for Jon's Birthday.  Because his birthday was on a Tuesday this year, and he was turning 30, a big milestone, I wanted to throw him a surprise birthday party.  So on Saturday July 20, I did just that.  Jon's family from Moses Lake came down to spend a little time with us.  I also invited several people from the ward that we have become friends with. Jon sure was surprised.  I thought there were several times that he figured out what was going on, but he never did.  Here are some pictures of our day.

Thanks to everyone who came.  It meant a lot to us.

On July 23rd, Jon's actual birthday, he didn't have to work.  So we went to Bob's for dinner to celebrate him turning 30.  He loves eating there, and we had a good time.

Happy Birthday Jon!  I was so excited to be able to celebrate this day with you.  I love you.  I look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with you.

Fun in Portland

I had the opportunity to go to a class for work in Portland.  I chose Portland, because my sister Emily lives there, and I thought it would be fun to be able to spend a little time with her.  I had gotten to see her on several occasions, but it was for my brother's wedding and also a family reunion.  But we didn't really get a lot of time to hang out and visit.  Jon wasn't able to go with me, so I invited my sister Lisa to go with me.  While I was in class, Lisa was able to have some time to relax.

We got to the Hotel on Tuesday night, and so we went to Emily's house for Dinner.  We had such a great time visiting and seeing the family.  Jeremiah kicked Emily out that night, and we walked around Fred Meyer talking and laughing.  We had such a great time.

We had a pretty nice hotel room.  We had 2 queen beds in our room, so we each got our own bed.  That was actually pretty nice.  Here are a few pictures..

The view from our hotel room

Wednesday night, Lisa and I went to one of my new favorite restaurants, Famous Daves.  It is sooo good, and we had one really close to our hotel.  Here is a picture of us as we were waiting for our table.

I am always so amazed at the amount of food they give us.  I ordered BBQ Chicken, and they practically gave me the WHOLE chicken!!!!  I couldn't believe it.

Lisa ordered ribs for her dinner.  I hadn't ever had ribs before, so she gave me one to try.  It was so delicious.  She took this picture of me trying it for the first time.  I think I liked it, don't you?  :)

Emily joined us after dinner, as we walked around IKEA, which was another first for me, and then we went back to the hotel for a swim.  We had so much fun.  We just talked and laughed and laughed and laughed.  Thank you Lisa and Emily for such a great time, and Thanks Lisa for coming with me it made for a really enjoyable time. 

Making Raspberry Jam

My mom has a great raspberry patch and she had a lot of raspberries that needed to be picked.  So for Family Home Evening one night, Jon and I decided we would make some raspberry jam.  This was a first for Jon, and he really enjoyed it.  Of course, he loved the finished product as well and had to taste it several times.  :)

We ended up with about 24 jars of jam.  Thanks mom for the raspberries!!!

Wedding

My brother Darin, got married on July 6, 2013 to Christy Mair in the Portland Temple.  The weather was beautiful and they both looked beautiful.  It seemed like forever waiting for them to come out of the temple.  There were 3 other brides that came out before Darin and Christy.

Makaela

Everyone waiting for Darin and Christy

Here they are!!!

Pinning on the Boutonniere

After the wedding we went down the street to the Oswego Grill for dinner.  It was fun to catch up with everyone.  Brian was even able to fly out for the wedding.  Dinner was so delicious.  I would recommend this restaurant to anyone.

On Saturday July 13, 2013 Darin and Christy had their open house at my parents house in Grandview.  It was decorated so beautifully.  Lisa had some great ideas on how to decorate.  It all turned out so good.  It was fun to see family and catch up. There were several people who hadn't met Jon so he got to meet a lot of people as well.

Darin loved the Cookie Bar we had at the reunion, so we did it again for the Open House.  It was really good, and we had TONS of cookies.

The valets waiting for people to arrive.

After the open house, we watched Darin and Christy open their gifts.  Lori decided since they were opening all these gifts, Makaela should get to open something too, so she bought her a gift as well.  She bought her Merida and her Horse from the movie Brave.  Makaela was so excited she could hardly contain herself.

I made Darin and Christy a table runner.  It turned out really pretty and they loved it.

Congratulations Darin and Christy.  It was so great to celebrate your special day.  Welcome to the family Christy and Makaela!!!