Ta-Da!

*Note: I'm not sure why the pictures on this post are so tiny, but they should be click-able if you want to see the bigger size. *

I got crafty! I've been wanting to put our last name up somewhere in some kind of cutesy format. After hearing my Mom talk about her decorating plans for her living room, I came up with this:

Isn't it adorable? I fell in love with the "Family" piece as soon as I saw it. And it was on sale! I came up with the "Emmons" part all by myself. That's blue scrapboook paper as a background, with a slight pattern to it. Don't you just love it? Well, don't tell me if you don't, cause I do! =] It's going up over our living room window. As soon as I get the right size nails, I'll post a pic of it!

Also, here are some fun pics from our family visits:

Emmons' Visit!

Grand Teton National Park with the Emmons family! It was better than Yellowstone. We didn't see any animals there except elk without antlers. What's that about?

Zach, Spencer, and Dad Emmons. Reading about... geography, I think. I tell you, they're a bunch of smarties.

Sun going down behind Grand Teton. We decided it would be a great place to see the sunrise, with the light against the mountains instead of behind them.

Garner's Visit!

My Mom took us to the Playmill Theatre in West Yellowstone

Here she is fighting the crowds. Hail the conquering hero! We were barely able to reserve seats online before it sold out!

After the show, "The Foreigner." It was HILARIOUS. We highly recommend it.

Picnic lunch at Park St. Park. Jillian saw the merry-go-round and asked, "What's that?" We were shocked. So the Sarah and Steph schooled her with their awesome merry-go-round abilities.

After a visit to the Cocoa Bean, Mom and I thought, "We can do that." This is a picture of our beautiful, homemade chocolate mint frappe. Ohhh yeah. The strawberry one was even better, but that pic is on Mom's camera.

We girls pampered outselves with some mud masques. Jillian didn't quite enjoy the tingling feeling like the rest of us did. She kept saying, "It's getting hard on my face! It feels too tight!" We explained that was actually what it SHOULD be doing, nothing was going wrong. =]

Stephanie and Sarah were very impressed with Rexburg's large dandelion-esque Wishers.

Now that everyone's gone, Zach and I feel like empty nesters. lol. There's lots more, but it's month-end, and I'm headed to an 11-hour shift in a little while. So, time to gear up! Love you all!

-Stacy

P.S. The frappe recipe for anyone who's interested:

Chocolate Frappe

1 envelope hot cocoa mix (we like the mint cocoa)

3 tsp hot water

1/2 c. milk

1 c. crushed ice

Make a paste out of the hot water and cocoa mix. Blend the rest together until liquified. Serve in a fudge-drizzed cup and top with whipped cream. Yum!

Fruit Frappe

3/4 c. fresh fruit, chopped (my favorite is peach)

2 T sugar

1/3 c. milk

1 cup crushed ice

Blend together. SOO delicious if you mix in some whipped cream at the end. My favorite is peach frappes.

Summer in limbo...

So, Zach let me drag him to a 1920's mystery dinner last month right before my birthday. It was a blast, and I finally got the picture they took of us there.

Turns out, I was the murderer, even though everyone suspected Zach! ha ha ha.

Well, anyway, here's an update on life so far.

• My grandmother died a week ago, and I'm having a little bit of trouble getting that to sink in. Luckily I was able to go down to the funeral and be with my family, which really helped. I really didn't want to leave home, because it was her house. It's strange, because that's the hardest part for the rest of my family, living with her memories. I think it's because I feel so far away from her memory while I'm in Rexburg.

• Our house is looking more and more like a real home! Thanks to my sister and brother-in-law, we have an actual bed with a box spring, headboard and everything! They also gave us a loveseat and counter-height chairs. I set up our black bookshelf in the hallway, and it makes the living room seem more cozy. Also, we found our mail keys, so I get to sift through junk mail addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Emmons. =]

• Zach has been amazing, getting up and working all day, even though he's still short on sleep from our 16 hr drive on Thursday. He's been taking a lot of time to be sweet to me, and take care of me emotionally. I am really blessed to have such a husband.

• Next week Zach's parents and little brother are coming to visit! They'll be here for a week, and the day they leave, my parents and little sisters are coming! So we'll have about 2 full weeks of family, which we're really looking forward to.

• I got to spend my product check at work today, and used it almost entirely on girly stuff. I got a $30 moisturizer, $15 mud masque, $15 concealer, and some pamper-worthy foot scrub. All for freeeeee! I'm planning on throwing a girls party for me and my mother-in-law, then again for my mom and sisters.

• I made Chocolate chip cookie bars for the first time in a while, and they were a huge hit with Zach. I splurged and used Guitard chocolate chips and white flour. Sooooo delicious.

Well, a truly epic thunderstorm is starting up, splattering me with rain through the screen. Zach and I were thinking about going to the caves with some friends, but maybe we'll have a quiet night at home watching the lightning. Hope you all have a great weekend!