A Bit of Summer Lovin

 My summer was pretty amazing! My nanny job ended in May, with Kasey being busy with classes and I not having a job I was feeling very anxious about how the summer would go. When classes ended for Kasey we were able to take the long drive home to Utah. When we got there and after we had been there for a couple of weeks it was a pretty easy decision to know that I was going to stay all summer (Sorry Kase I did miss you lots though). Here is how my summer went:

 Lots of fourwheeler rides and camping

 of course dirty faces

 not the best picture, but it shows how Quinn bossed us around all summer and of course a lot of time in pjs

 tons of fun at grandmas

 what is a summer without half your time spent at the swimming pool

 running through sprinklers

 multiple times to the zoo

 my two year anniversary

 

 Aladdin at Tuacahn (my first time there)

 most of my time was spent with super cute kids

 and of course Quinn bites through her lip while I am watching her

 cousin sleep overs at grandmas

 miss Londyn was so excited Kasey came back

 horse riding

 Lots of fun with the gorilla suit

 My mom and dad left this waiting for me in my bed

 more of Quinn bossing us all around (notice the empty chair)

 more swimming

 This summer I also got to watch this little monkey two days a week, I loved every minute of it!



And what better way to end the summer than to get a new hair cut and color (the first time I have ever colored my hair). I was so sad to leave all my family, but it was really nice to see Kasey and head back to Iowa.

A Night To Remember

Last Monday Kasey and I were invited to a banquet to receive his senior athlete "I" ring. To be honest looking back I don't know what we were thinking. For one thing it was a banquet to honor all the athletes that were seniors and going to graduate. If that was not enough to clue us in on the dress apparel maybe the fact that it was at the Marriott and it was 35 dollars a plate should have helped. Well long story short it was a black tie event and Kasey and I showed up in jeans. I was so embarrassed! The worst part is that we came right before they opened the doors, so everyone was in the lobby as we turned the corner. I wanted to hide.  We did not have time to go home to changed so I sat through a 3 hour program feeling so dumb. I actually thought it was funny when I was finally sitting down. As soon as it was over I wanted to run out of there.

 hmmm.... who is out of place here?

 Here is a picture of all the senior athletes that were invited.

 Kasey and one of his teammates

And of course Kasey with all the loot we scored from the banquet We were getting our 35 dollars worth.

Horrible Timing

Poor Kasey is learning fast that with me timing is everything. I think we all know baseball season can kinda drag for me. I am trying really hard to love it while it lasts. I think I really will miss it once it is over ( isn't that how everything goes). Well back to the horrible timing. Kasey had just gotten back from a trip to Nebraska, and I was feeling picked on because I had to spend Easter alone ( good thing i have a great friend that takes care of me ). Well kasey had First told me that we might not move back to Utah in December. Which okay fine I had keep that a possibility. But then he dropped the bom that it could happen we would never move back to Utah. I had never even let that enter my mind. Well long story short after a long call to my mom, crying to kasey, and sleeping on it I think I can handle the news. I know this will all be worth it and I am ready to go the distance. I just may need some hand holding and a couple nice long trips home. It just happened to be the worst timing! Today I feel much better about it and feel like our sacrifices will be worth it. Wish me luck.

P.S I hope everyone had a great Easter

Baseball Pictures

Hawkeye Stats:
                Home: 5-2
                Away: 1-4
                Big Ten: 3-3

Kasey is the bom.com!

Check out Iowa baseball gets hitting and pitching in victory - The Daily Iowan

 

If you check out the slide show of the pictures there is a really good one of Kasey bating. It will be the second picture in the slide show.

Much Needed Visitors

I was so excited that my family was able to come out for 5 days and visit me. My mother, mother-in-law, Kasey's grandma, and grandpa all took the long drive to come watch Kasey play in the season opening games.

 It was so nice having family there during the games, and the weather was beautiful. I even got a really awesome farmers tan. You can not tell in the picture (dang Kasey and his tan skin) but I did get some sun and felt good about it until I saw this picture.

 The Hawkeyes played Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Giving us Thursday to go to Nauvoo.

 I was so lucky in the fact that Kasey's Grandma and Gramdpa served a mission in Nauvoo. They served when the temple was first opened about ten years ago.  

 It was so fun having them there to tell us all about the buildings and the history. It was like we had our own tour guides for the whole day.

 While serving in Nauvoo they were temple workers. Kasey's grandpa was actually the one to seal us in Manti when we got married. It was a really cool experience.

It was my Moms first time in Nauvoo. It was also my first time touring Nauvoo. Normally we just go to the temple and head back. I loved being able to do this with my family. I Had so much fun while they were here and was so sad to see them go. Poor Kasey did not get to go to Nauvoo with us and was really busy the whole time they were here. I hope they can come back again and Kasey will be able to go. I will miss them so much and cant wait until they come again.



Ferber Method

Little Calvin has me wrapped around his little fat finger. He melts my heart, Kasey probably gets so sick of me always talking about what he did that day but Icant help it he's my little chunk ( I found out his weight is in the 95%).I always knew it would not be easy to let little Calvin cry it out. Today is day one and i could hardly stand it. There were at least two times I had to honestly keep myself from going to get him. Thirty minutes has never felt so long, the poor little guy broke my heart. I know this is for his better health I just hope there are not to many more days of this. After he finally feel asleep I just sat by his crib for a good fifteen minutes to make sure he was okay. It may have been harder on me than him. I am excited for him to be able to get the sleep he needs. As of right now he was in the habit of sleeping 15 minutes and then wanting to be up for a hour. We will see how this goes.

Kasey the Great

A little bit ago Kasey and I went to the Iowa vs Penn State basketball game. During half time, Kasey received a medal for lettering in his sport as well as getting a 3.5 GPA. He is also one of the very few that is getting a minor with his major. I am so proud of him, he works so hard. I think there is two main reasons why he works so hard, 1) he has wanted to do this since he was little and 2) He knows I have his first couple paychecks spent in my head. May I also brag and say that there were only about 25-30 students out of all the student athletes, and 3 other baseball players that got this honor. Go Kasey!

My Valentine

 Now this is why I miss my family so much, look how sweet they are. My mom and my little cousin Remie put a Valentine package together for me. The top picture is what my mom sent me. She knows me all too well, she sent all my favorite treats. Gushers, m&m's, life saver gummies, a really cute new shirt, a cute valentines decoration, and a sweet card. Of course she had to send Kasey his favorite cookies, Snicker Doodles. (he always hides them from me, because he knows they are his) 

My mom said that Remie worked really hard putting this together, I almost cried when I saw it. She painted some beautiful pictures as you can see (she said there is more where that comes from). She also sent me a teddy bear, a cheer scrunchy (black and green thing), a bag of pretzels, fat free newtons, apple sauce and fruit snacks. Oh how could I forget a beautiful new purple belt. She also sent the cutest little note. It says: Dear JoEll, I love you so much. When you come here for summer break can we have a sleep over? Love Remie Claire Worthen. When I called to tell her thank you she told me that the paintings had to go on the wall by Kasey's bed. How sweet is my family, Kasey and I are so lucky! We have such great parents on both sides that do so much for us.

Sorry if the grammer and spelling is not up to par. I think Kasey has too much going on to edit every post. Hope you know what I am trying to say :).

Meet Calvin

Here is the sweet little boy I spend most of my time with. He is very easy baby and very quick to smile. It lights up my day when I walk in the door and he smiles ear to ear for me. I have been watching him for about 2 weeks and will continue to watch him until may. It will be a very sad day when I am done watching him. (sorry for some reason the picture is upside down) 

Your Not Fooling Me

I just have to shake my head and laugh. I am sorry but our neighbors are the worst at parking. I mean come on all of these pictures are in one parking lot, but then again maybe I am the dumb one. They have a pretty good situation.

 If there is no parking spots just park on the side walk, you cant get any closer than that right.

 You have the option of either taking just enough of two spots that no one else can fit. 

Or you can park right in the middle. They have the right idea I will never be doored again. My neighbors are fooling us all, they may look like they cant park but they know the true way to get the best parking. Oh the things I have learned out here in Iowa.

An Itchy Situation

For the past few weeks I have not been feeling so well. It turns out I had a sinus infection so I naturally took some antibiotics. Well to make a long story short I found out I am allergic to sulfur (sulfate) type medicine, which is in some antibiotics. and my whole body looked a lot like this.

Gross I know, to make matters worse I had to get a steroid shot (that hurt so bad)! Lets hope this goes away soon, I am watching Calvin tomorrow and don't want to be itching everywhere.



Home Sweet Home

 Warning picture overload, we headed back to Utah for 3 weeks and had a lot of fun. So instead of telling you every little story I will just let you see the pictures they are more fun anyway.

 Every year it is a tradition to go to Lava Hot Springs with the Carling family. I look forward to doing this every year we have a lot of fun.

The little kids thought swimming outside was so cool, there favorite was to watch ice melt in the hot water.

 Kasey and I had plenty of sleep overs with our nieces and nephews. Kasey decided to build a fort for the kids.

 Here are the little kids watching TV while Kasey (who was very serious about this fort business) planned and build the fort. (Notice Kasey in the back working hard on his fort)

 The little kids had a lot of fun when it was built. But you had to be very careful. Kasey was not about to let kids ruin his fort, he worked so hard on.

All 8 of us slept under the fort. Well except a couple ended up in grandma and grandpas bed.

I think one of my favorite parts about going home is seeing all my cute nieces and nephews. I think they are probably some of the cutest little kids I know. It almost makes me want to have a baby. (almost is the key word)

 Alyssa is so smart she got a microscope for Christmas and was showing me how one works, I am hopeless in that department.

 Of course while in Utah you have to go to Cabelas. Quinn loved the fish, she thinks everything barks like a dog. She was barking for hours.

 I could not get enough of her, she is so snuggley I loved it. I think Quinn got an overdose in treats while we were there. Kasey and I would bribe her with treats, she ended up really liking us. Her mom not so much, Sorry Deb.

 While Kasey was at the Jazz game with his brother, some how miss Remie (the little girl in the gray). Got us to all dress up in her moms old prom and wedding dresses. We even had to be announced before we could walk out. How she gets us to do these things I don't know.

Remie and I did each others make up, I thought we looked good!

Since there was no snow on New Years Eve we went Ice skating.

 Little Tori was like Jello when we first got out there, there were a couple times she almost took me down with her.

 We finally got the hang of it after a couple laps.

 Kale thought he was pretty awesome, that he could ice skate with the helper.

 Easton loved it. He was so cute!

Out of the 8 kids, here are the 3 that made it to midnight to bang on pots and pans. Little 2 year old Aniston could have out lasted all of us.

 

We had a lot of fun when we went home, I will miss everyone so much. Cant wait until I can see them again.