3 Showers, 2 Brides, 1 Day

That's right; this weekend I hosted not one, not two, but three bridal showers. Technically, the first shower was combined with our sister and cousin. Since they are two of seven Tanner first cousins getting married this summer (from seven different families in seven different temples), we combined their celebrations to make it easier for Tanner aunts and cousins to attend. Practically every weekend has been filled with wedding festivities, so it was much more convenient for all who attended to add one less wedding event to their schedules.

I tweaked the invitations a little to give each bride her own look, but I didn't completely redesign each one considering we only had about two weeks notice for this event.

Tricia and Taryn, the beautiful brides-to-be, were so wonderful to be willing to share bridal shower time.

We ate some delicious food (thankfully not prepared by me for showers #1 & 2).

And enjoyed many Tanners coming and going from the festivities.

Mom got a little teary-eyed throughout the event because she thought about all of the bridal showers for nieces that she had gone to in her life. She remembered always thinking about when it would be her daughter's turn, and this was finally the day of Tricia's shower!

Tricia wanted to have a separate shower for her friends, which I was happy to host since my house was already cleaned and in "shower mode." Due to a lack of weekends and time before Tricia's big day, it worked out perfectly to schedule the showers back-to-back.

 

We had about an hour window to clear away showers #1 & 2 and set up for shower #3.

I kind of love planning parties.

I ordered the cupcakes from The Sweet Tooth Fairy to avoid frosting disasters that have occurred in my home for celebrations in the past. The strawberry shortcake cupcakes were to die for! The fun paper straws came from Fort & Field.

I also have to give credit to my brother who put together an AMAZING interview video of Tricia and Jacob that we viewed at all of the showers. Maybe it's just because I love Tricia and Jacob, but the video gives me chills every time I watch it. My brother has some serious skills. You should watch their story on their wedding blog if you want to laugh, have mushy feelings flood in towards your significant other, and envy those that have a Jorden Nash (my bro) in their lives.

I had so much fun planning for this event. I wanted it to be really special because I just love Tricia. I didn't have any sisters growing up, but I feel so lucky to have married into such a wonderful sisterhood. I am so excited that Tricia is getting married soon!

Dada's a Troy

I love capturing sweet moments like these. Our boys sure love and relish the time with their dad.

We have been trying to teach Blake to distinguish between boys and girls. When we go through the list of people for him to identify as a boy or a girl, he states:

"Blake's a boy. Nash is a boy. Mama's a girl. Dada's a Troy."

Boating Action

We feel so lucky that we have been able to go boating so much this summer. None of us grew up boating, so we aren't very excelled in our waterskiing, wakeboarding, and wakesurfing skills. We are glad for Tricia's fiancé, a California surfer, who has been able to show us a thing or two.

Blake now measures his time in terms of how many more naps he has to take before we go on the boat again. He loves the boat to say the least. I took him on the tube with me for the first time this weekend. He squealed in delight, even though I wouldn't allow us to be pulled more than 5 mph.

Wakesurfing is always a hit.

I probably should have been paying attention to my board more instead of waving at my son on the boat.

This is why: notice everyone on the boat going about their business, with me completely biting it in the background. I inhaled some serious lake water.

Aunt Tricia taught Blake how to make Pringles into a duck beak.

I tried to teach Blake how to do the peace sign. It was tricky for him.

The lake was up to a whopping 72 degrees, which is about the highest it ever gets. We took advantage of the warmth and dove in sans bodysuits. We even let Blake go swimming. He jumped off the boat ledge about 50 times and had the time of his life.

Carnival

Every summer our neighborhood organizes a free breakfast and carnival. It isn't as big as our annual city celebration, but it is still fun to attend. Blake especially loved it this year. He was really sick last year which made it slightly miserable and now that he is older he enjoyed it more as well. It made me really excited for the Disneyland trip we're planning with our best friends in a couple of months, because if Blake was this elated with a few bounce houses and a swing, I can hardly imagine the excitement he will have in the big league of amusement parks.

We went through the bouncy obstacle course and down the gigantic bounce house slide. Three times.

I had to assist in helping Blake up the climbing wall portion, hence the adult in the child play area.

Adult, Schmadult. I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy it too.

Meet Brooklyn. One of Blake's eleven girlfriends at church. Seriously, every week when we come home from church, we ask him who he saw at church and who he played with in nursery, and he lists: Abi, Sammy, Rachel, Bria, Ada, Jenna, Lucy, Anna, Morgan, Brooklyn, and Addison. Do any of those names sound like boy's names? He is already working it as a ladies man, no question.

Sweet Brooklyn waited in line with him and patiently followed him around from station to station. She held his hand through several swing rides. Blake certainly didn't mind. In fact, he told us later that evening; "I like Brook-a-lyn."

Blake thought he had died and gone to heaven. Every single time the swing circled around, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Hi!!!" to me as he waved his trademark sideways wave.

Little Nash just waited it out, completely content with sucking the life out of his toy monkey's limbs.

Can't you just sense the enthusiam here? Balloons? Check. Toy won from the fishing game? Check. Waiting and waiting in the heat while resting against the wire fence? Check.

What could possibly make the carnival better than a first taste of cotton candy?

Back to Back Dates

Sometimes I miss Troy. We live in the same house, sleep in the same bed, sit at the same table for dinner, and raise the same sons. But sometimes, when things get really crazy, it's like we're strangers passing each other in the hallway.

We were fortunate enough to boost things up a little bit and go on not one, but two dates this weekend. We were also happy to have finally found some great teenage girls in our neighborhood to watch our boys so that we could have one-on-one time together.

Our plan on Friday night was to go to a work party downtown and then head straight to the temple. We got all dressed up, went to Troy's work party, and left just in time, only to arrive at the parking ramp to find out that temple was closed for cleaning for two weeks. I couldn't believe that I forgot to check on that. It didn't even cross my mind that it might be closed for annual cleaning and I usually always check on that when we go to various temples.

Troy came up with the next best idea when he sensed my disappointment (that often overwhelms me when things don't go as planned). He suggested that we go mini-golfing. Since we were already paying a sitter we had to do something. So, we found a nearby course and golfed in our Sunday best. At least I wore flats that night.

Not only were we all dressed up, but I think that we were the only people not in junior high at the course. We felt pretty awesome.

Troy decided that he wants to teach me how to "real" golf so that we can go together and he won't feel guilty about leaving me at home while he is out recreating.

We went out for ice cream afterwards. Yes, we're cheesy.

On Saturday night, Troy volunteered to usher at a concert at Deer Valley. It's not a bad trade-off because by volunteering he earned one extra vacation day. And how hard is it to tell people to where to lay their blankets? The outdoor concert featured Ben Folds and the Utah Symphony. Troy found out during the week that he could get an extra ticket for me since he was a volunteer. The concert was in a gorgeous setting in the mountains, just as the sun was setting.

We have a special place in our hearts for Ben Folds since he is the artist of "our song." We danced to "The Luckiest" at our wedding and it brought back memories when Ben played it as his encore.

As much as I adore our boys, Troy is my Number One. My sweetheart. My best friend. And when I'm a shriveled up little old lady, I want to remember this: he was my first priority. He's the one I'd rather be with than anyone else in the world. I love you babe.

Recipe for Grocery Shopping

Follow these 30 simple steps for successful grocery shopping with a toddler and a baby.

Ingredients:
1 determined toddler
1 awake baby
1 hour of time
1 grocery list
1 sippy cup with ice cold water
2 pairs of shoes
1 car cart
1 blue balloon
1 chicken hat
42 unwashed grapes
1 or 2 chocolate indulgences
1 heaping tablespoon of patience
1 credit card
1 package of Smarties

Instructions:
1. Fill a sippy cup with ice cold water for the toddler. Make sure diapers are dry. Put on shoes. Grab grocery list and purse. Buckle the toddler and the baby into their carseats.

2. Drive 7 minutes to your favorite grocery store even though there are 4 closer grocery stores. Decide that the customer satisfaction is worth the extra distance, even if the stores that shall remain nameless are closer.

3. Count with the toddler how many LDS church buildings you pass on your drive. Forget all about the road construction on your way and take the detour through a neighborhood. Count eight church buildings in total.

4. Pull into the parking lot and contemplate parking in the vacant "Expectant Mother" spot even though you are not expecting. Think, 'Lugging around this beast of a carseat is way heavier than a baby in a tummy.' Allow your conscience to get the better of you and choose a more distant parking spot.

5. Unlatch the baby's carseat and unbuckle the toddler. Swing purse over shoulder. Walk into the store with the carseat resting on your left forearm and your toddler holding your right hand.

6. Thoroughly disinfect the "car" shopping cart with provided wipes before inserting children.

7. Dissuade the toddler from the 25 cent candy machines. Insert the toddler into the "driver" seat and balance the baby's carseat sideways on the shopping cart.

8. Stop at guest services and obtain a free blue balloon. Watch the toddler's face light up when the clerk asks him if he would like a chicken hat too.

9. Wish you hadn't left your good camera at home as you try to capture the moment with your grainy point-and-shoot. Also wish you hadn't let the toddler pick out his own clothing today now that you are capturing this experience. Think, 'oh well.'

10. Maneuver the huge shopping cart with squeaking wheels to the produce section. Obey the toddler's request to have "purple grapes." Allow the toddler to snack on the grapes throughout the store. Think, 'well, the cart was disinfected from top to bottom, but the dirt on the grapes?' Decide that you don't care.

11. Check off items on the grocery list one by one as you place them in the cart. Allow the toddler to scribble on your list.

12. Return to the baking aisle three times because you forgot the olive oil, then the Crisco, then the chocolate chips.
13. Accidentally bump into another shopping cart as you make a wide left turn into the frozen foods section.
14. Pause to speak in a dramatic high pitched voice to the baby. Admire his huge gummy smiles. Ignore the toddler who is begging to go the check out lane for candy.

15. Compare brands of cleaning supplies while calmly reasoning with the toddler. Mentally prepare for next week's deep cleaning projects.

16. Finish checking off every item on your list and sneak one or two chocolate indulgences into your cart when the toddler is distracted.

17. Proceed to the checkout lane. Cringe when the toddler shouts out, "I NEEEEEEEED Smarties." Redirect him to rephrase his sentence. Approve when the toddler asks the clerk, "May I have some Smarties please?" Remind him to say "thank you" as he rips open the package he has come to expect.

18. Choose plastic bagging when given the choice between paper or plastic. Think once again about investing in the reusable bags. Decide against it due to lack of time.

19. Present credit card to clerk. Become annoyed when the bagger moves to another aisle leaving you to tuck all of the bags under the baby's carseat into your cart. Feel a little perturbed that no one offers to help you to your car because that is one of the main reasons you drive a little further to come to this grocery store.

20. Walk out to your car in the sweltering heat. Forget to pick up the bag of ice that you paid for. Really wish you had just parked in the "Expectant Mother" spot since it is still vacant. Head back into the store, obtain a small bag of ice from the freezer, and return to the car. Think about getting your ice maker (that has been broken for two years) repaired since you always forget to pick up ice.

21. Debate which child to take out of the blazing sun and put into the scorching car first. Choose the baby since the sun is in his eyes. Buckle in the toddler and help him get the last two Smarties out of the package that he has been devouring.

22. Leave the car doors open as you quickly unload the grocery bags into the trunk. Send the empty car cart flying across the parking lot with perfect aim into the cart corral. Crank up the air conditioning and remember to take a different route home to avoid the construction.

23. Worry that the baby may be drifting to sleep which means that he might not take a good nap at home. Crack open his window to allow the fresh air to keep him awake.

24. Watch the blue balloon fly out the cracked open window. Regret not thinking that action through when the toddlers wells up with tears. Arrive at home to discover that the baby has fallen asleep anyway.

25. Become impatient when the OCD toddler points out that you forgot to roll the window up. Insert keys back into the ignition, press the button that automatically rolls up the window, and unload both children from the car.

26. Decide not to argue when the toddler insists on walking up the front stairway and ringing the doorbell instead of coming in with us through the garage. Pray that the noise of the doorbell won't wake the baby up.

27. Carefully transfer the baby to his crib. Watch him instantly stick his thumb in his mouth and tiptoe out of his room. Become disrupted by the toddler who insists that you "sing a song!" Try to explain that the ritual is unnecessary when the baby is already asleep.

28. Bring the bags of groceries from the trunk into the kitchen. Quickly sort through the bags to find the items that need to be refrigerated. Incorporate multi-tasking to make lunch for the toddler who is also pressing into naptime. Hear the baby stirring upstairs due to an unsucessful transferring endeavor.

29. Pause and indulge in your favorite summer beverage, gearing up for the inevitable stalling tactics that the toddler will finagle to avoid naptime.

30. Remember the days when grocery shopping was as simple as quickly going in and out of the store. Feel joy that you are not alone in this endeavor anymore, even if it adds 28 more steps to the process.