just because

zack got me some flowers. . .

just because:)

i sure got lucky when i married that guy!

holiday pt.2

our 4th of July celebrations were a blast! it has been a long-standing tradition that we celebrate Independence Day at my grandparents house in st. george. we always have lots of yummy food and a fireworks show by the cousins. this year was no different, except we had some bigger fireworks that my brother brought down from Provo. and lest you be worried, my grandparents had checked with the fire department to make sure we were allowed to do fireworks this year.

the evening started off just as it was getting dark. my grandma noted that her neighbors across the street had left their garage cracked, which was ironic because a few years ago, during our fireworks show, a firework escaped underneath the crack in their garage. luckily it had burnt out just as it went under and no damage was done! this was an especially fun show with all of the bigger fireworks we had gotten, as a lot of the cousins are older now i.e. more responsible. . . i'll let you be the judge of that though.

our independence day cupcakes! decorated by grandma with help from some of the cousins

sparklers are perhaps one of the funnest things about fireworks, in my opinion

 

we were having lots of fun, until one of brandon's aerial fireworks tipped over. i was priming my camera for some fun shots of the big ones, when i couldn't find them in the sky. i moved the camera down and saw that the firework had tipped over and instead of going up, it was shooting out. a couple people got hit and there were a few other burns, but luckily it was nothing serious. the main thing we were worried about was the shot that escaped under the neighbors' garage and exploded inside it! it didn't look like there was any damage. . . and nothing was on fire, so we decided to call it a night a little bit early this time. and just as we were cleaning up we got a visit from the fire department. . . apparently aerial fireworks are not allowed in washington county, but no harm no foul right?! i guess you could say our night sure ended with a bang!

holiday pt.1

the first week of July we were able to take a trip back to the good ol' state of Utah. it was much needed as this summer has been filled with lots of work (as in 6 days a week) and besides a 2-day summer leadership program for me there have been no breaks since the end of April. one thing that we noticed afterward is that we are both so excited for the end of summer. there will still be work (at new jobs) and school, but it will definitely be nice to be in our own apartment, not sharing it with the office, and to have all of our stuff. not that we are lacking any basic necessities here, but it is not how we would live normally. currently, our mattress does not have a frame, because somehow we ended up with one for a twin and someone else made our queen fit their twin. . . go figure? also, since we move to Denver we do not have a microwave, but only for one more month! and then there is our "kitchen table" it has been a card table this whole summer and seems to always have pile of paperwork, pens, and who knows what on it.

but don't let any of that fool you, we are having a really fun summer and even with all the work, we spend almost all of the hours not working or sleeping with each other. we have developed a love together for a few new shows including community, monk, and arrested development. we are particularly dreading finishing the last season and a half of arrested development! this show is seriously hilarious, i don't understand how it is only three seasons long. . . if anyone knows please feel free to enlighten me! also, we have gotten to see a few movies this summer. normally i finish working anywhere from nine, on a great night, till sometimes 11, so midnight showings are pretty great for us! i can't speak for Z, but I am so stoked for the dark knight rises tomorrow night:)

well excuse all my babbling, but here are the pics from the first couple days in St. George. we drove all through the night Monday night, so we were pretty tired Tuesday, but somehow managed to make through the entire day without any naps. . . it must have been the excitement of seeing so much family! of course we had at least one trip to the pasta factory while we were there, it wouldn't have been a Mendoza family reunion without one!

of course it wouldn't be vacation for Z unless he got to golf! unfortunately he forgot his clubs, but there were plenty of clubs to be shared, thanks Dad!

another thing that we always do is go to the pool! it is so fun to go in summer, because the outdoor pool is open too, so we have many options if we get too hot our there are too many people. the first day we went to the pool it was just the cousins, and it was seriously a blast between marco polo, colored eggs, and all of our other shenanigans!

a toy was forgotten, but my little brother Cole being ever so brave, sacrificed his dryness when it appeared that we would not be able to retrieve it.

the next day we went, my mom and her brother Mark and his wife Jill came with us and we played "keep the ball out of the water" and we basically took up the whole pool. . . sorry to everyone else that was there that day, but i hope you enjoyed watching! Then we went inside again and did some races and tried to see who could make a bigger splash, yes we are all so mature.

Hank lounging in the sun

we tried to see how big of a splash we could get together, except for Z who loves the spotlight

and for anyone that cares, don't worry, i will be posting the rest of the pics soon!

photos from our past week

my attempt at breakfast for dinner

we went to the temple then Target and found this little gem while waiting for our frappuccinos

 i started out the night before our move thinking this isn't that bad...so many hours later and i am dreading moving again in august.

moving again, to denver till august

this is called precision packing

after settling in in denver, Z and i took a walk this morning to the shops by where we live, it was quite a fun little date.

pawn shop finds! we hope they work, because we are pretty excited to own every hp movie

my birthday

yesterday was my 21st birthday. i was pretty excited regardless of the fact that i had already spent all of my birthday money. lo and behold, i wake up to my husband singing happy birthday with a bunch of goodies for me. and then to top off the night, we got off early from work and headed to Tucanos for and all-you-can-eat birthday dinner. i sure felt like the most special girl the whole day and it was all thanks to my wonderful husband! i am so grateful that i got so lucky with someone who cares about me so much and is so thoughtful!

ignore my non-makeup face, i had literally just woken up

the prettiest carnation

he made sure the biggest flower was pink, he knows me so well

my gorgeous bouquet

dinner

watch out, affectionate picture coming up next

love you so much babe, you are the best!

last night

Z and i caught up on some Community

while sharing some of the best ice cream there is

i sure do love nights like this

st. george

a few months ago we got to go to st. george and visit the fam! as you can probably tell, these trips happen pretty often, as st. george is only a few hours away from provo. since we are in colorado for the summer we will only get to go once, but let me tell you i am excited! we all sure know how to have some fun.

Grandpa was pumped for the day

Cole wasn't sitting on anything, he's just that tall

you go Hank

Allie and i, so excited

everyone is ready, except for Cole without a helmet

so much fun!

dont mind the grumpy squint, Z was really excited too

sistah's! this actually caused quite a stir (hence grumpy Cole), because last time my mom was on a quad she flipped it and broke her collar bone. don't worry, she came out whole this time.