The Sherwoods

back to school

on friday i picked matt up from the airport, ran some errands, picked garrett up from work and then we headed off to idaho to take matt back to school. it was a tight fit, but we made it work.

this was a much welcomed and needed trip.

it was so nice to have a break from real life and be back in rexburg again!

though i dont forget how much i love that little town and the people there,

it always surprises me how lovely it is to visit and be back.

i am so glad we are only 3 1/2 hours away.

while we were there we were able to make it to olivia's birthday party, have slumber parties with two of my favorite people around, move matt into his new apartment, play disc golf, take sal swimming at the warm slough, see friends play music, and get a friend for sal!

meet jay gatsby, the newest member of our family!

he had just been neutered 30 minutes before we picked him up so its been an interesting 24 hours making sure he's not active, doesnt eat and is still happy.

him and sal are slowly warming up to each other.

but i can tell they are going to be the best of friends.

(at least they better be. we got jay to keep sal company while we are gone during the day.)

jay likes to get lost in sals hair.

when we go to idaho sal knows he can be free there.

he runs and runs and runs.

when we were playing disc golf sal chased a little girl, a boy on a bike, tried to join some skaters on the half pipe, found two pieces of pizza in the grass and devoured them and tried to go swimming in the duck pond.

to say the least, he was a hand full this weekend.

its good to have so many good friends so close and to now have matt close as well!

family dessert night

we now live 15 minutes away from one of my aunts.

weve started going to their house on sunday nights

every other sunday we have dinner and the others we just do dessert because the kids dont get back from their dads until 7.

this week we made lemon sprinkle sandies

and they were sooooo good and pretty!

friends, fairs, and james taylor.

i love saturdays.
ours always seem to be jammed packed but in a relaxing kind of way.
our friend skyler came down to salt lake and is staying the weekend with us.
we woke up, had breakfast, and while the boys were playing super nintendo i did our routine saturday morning estate sale shopping.
i made off with a cool map of salt lake and a fancy rug.

the avenues has a street fair every year (and how it started is kind of a cool story.)
we headed up there and i had a hard time paying attention to the actual fair because i love just looking at the houses.
i even ran into a rose bush and had to pull 3 thorns out of my knee because i was so distracted by one of the houses.

there were so many vendors and yard sales on the side. it was a good time.

we went to stake out a parking space for the james taylor and motab concert early so went to the lion house to get some dessert and waste time.

i was able to see some of my previous colleagues and it warmed my heart.

it was raining so we went to the visitors center and hung out until the doors opened at the conference center.

james taylor was SO GOOD.

it was so cool to see him live after always hearing him growing up.

and then to hear him with the utah symphony and the mormon tabernacle choir was amazing.

i cant even describe how cool it was.

and for it to be in the big ol conference center with such good sound.

woof.

he did two shows in the conference center and they were both pretty much full. (the conference center holds 21,000 people.)

it was a lottery system to get free tickets and out of 5 people in my family that tried, jess got tickets. (of course)

and i am so glad she did and gave them to us.

(that glowing body is james taylor. no pictures were allowed and there was an usher sitting right behind me so i had to sneak this.)

the end of the world and candy corn.

today has been weird.
there was some kind of crazy wind storm that blew in toons of salt from the salt flats.
one minute you could see the mountains and down town, the next they were gone.
it really freaked me out.

and then we went to see world ward z...
ahh geez.
my life has been changed/ruined by that movie.
it was good, but i hated it.
it was so intense.
too intense.
i didnt realize until we were walking out that i had been clenching my teeth the whole time.
so now my jaw hurts.

garrett got a job.
we went out to celebrate tonight.
like the rest of us, he does not want to grow up and commit to a 40 hour a week job.
so as you can see, he was not overly joyed.
(but he is. mixed feelings ya know?)
he got to pick out of the whole state of utah where we ate.
and he picked taco bell...
his reasoning was that since we are starting a strict GF diet on monday, he will never be able eat taco bell again.

if you know me then you know i looooove holiday candy.
peeps, jelly beans, candy canes, conversation hearts, and yeessss candy corn.
i was listening to NPR on my way to work the other day and they mentioned starburst candy corn.
apparently that night i told garrett all about them in my sleep.
so naturally we had to go search them out.
and ohh baby, they are delicious.

How Cuute.

Can we talk about how cute little James Bridger is?

Jared and Jessica did good.

This is my first time being an aunt (on my side of the family)

and i am so excited!

Thankfully my mom lives right next door so i get lots of cute pictures of this lil guy.

Ensign Peak

On this fine labor day we originally had planned a 7 mile hike in the canyon to a beautiful lake. But then there were thunder storms in the canyon.

So we opted for a 1 mile hike up Ensign Peak.

When I lived in SLC before, our singles ward used to do this very easy and short hike for FHE whenever someone forgot to plan something. (which was at least twice a month during the summer)

Though it was no 7 mile hike to a lake, it was nice to just be hiking around out side before it gets too cold.

After the hike we let Sal run wild in a soccer filed at a church building.

He loved it so much.

We used to take him to the dog park regularly but he had an indecent where he was trampled on by other dogs and now he's scared doesn't run around when we go.

He was so happy to be so free!

Here is proof.

Look how big his smile is!

Happy Labor day.

oh, hi.

I thought once we got internet I would be better at updating this little blog. (for my mothers sake if not for anything else.)

I've just been so busy with work, trying to keep my house put together, and having fun with my little family.

But I am now recommitting myself.

Here are some highlights for the past few weeks:

When we got internet, one of the first things we did, besides purchase car insurance, was re-watch the first half of season 5 of Breaking Bad.

This is Garrett sitting on our free couch with a bowl of home made fries and 3 kinds of BBQ sauce.

That's what dinner looks like at our house sometimes...

We happen to live in what I consider a really good location. We are right behind State Street, but still in a neighborhood which means we have at least 50 different places to eat with in walking distance as well as vintage shops, and at least 15 tattoo parlors. There is a place called The New Golden Dragon, about half a block away from us. I am pretty sure this place is our new favorite Chinese food restaurant.

They give you SO much food for so little money, its in a big reception hall type room with lots of big beautiful chandeliers, high ceilings, and it's just about as good as Ying Yangs. (Garrett promises that he was in fact happy on this date.)

Here are our most recent Sunday morning photos.

We live in an inner city ward. This means that we don't have a ton of members, 6 service missionaries, lots of non-traditional families, and people from all walks of life.

When we moved in the Bishop, who is a cute little Hispanic man, said we were a God sent.

On Friday night we met with a member of the bishopric and got callings.

Garrett is the first councilor in the young men program and a ward missionary.

I am first councilor in the young women.

It is going to be a really great calling but really hard.

Most of the kids in the ward come from broken or mixed families and are looking for someone to look up to. And there is on average of 2 people that actually come in each the ym and yw...

but we are so excited to be in a ward that needs us!

And how can I make a post and not talk about this fluffy guy!?

Sal is almost 6 months old and is getting so big and smart.

Lately hes favorite thing to do is crawl/slide under the bed on the hard wood floors and jump in the shower with us any chance he can get. That dog loves water.

He is such a cuddle bug, especially in the mornings and always wants to be part of the gang.

I sure love this little family and the new adventures we are having together.