Baby Tayden

I think most everyone who reads this blog already knows, but my sister Ashlie & her husband Danny are expecting their first baby. Tayden Jayce Van Vorous is due November 24, and we are very excited! I got to do my first ever maternity "shoot" the other day, with Ashlie as a willing (and Danny as a somewhat unwilling) model. It was a lot of fun, and I think for having no studio or lighting and only a generic, basic photo editing program they turned out ok. :)

Our First Year

Well, I can hardly believe it, but we celebrated our 1 year anniversary on Sunday! It has been a wonderful, crazy, fun year! We have both changed jobs, sold a house, bought a house, bought and sold half a dozen cars, had one major car accident, made some great new friends and spent a lot of time with our awesome families!! We've definitely grown in many ways, not the least of which is closer to each other.

To celebrate on Sunday, we stayed at a hotel in Boise, and took a picnic dinner of sushi and wine to the Shakespeare Festival. It was a really great night, and then the next day, I got a massage, which he had set up for me! This Saturday we are going to a BSU game (part of my present to him.)

I am so thankful for the man God brought into my life, and amazed every day at the blessings He has given us. I am looking forward to spending this next year (and many more to come!) with my husband and my best friend.

Twin Falls County Fair

I have so many pictures I want to post... finally! I decided to start with these because they're fun. :)

We went to the Twin Falls County Fair a couple of weekends ago with Danny & Ashlie & Grandpa & Grandma. It was so much fun! My favorite part of the fair is the food... and we had LOTS of it!!! Corn dogs, mini donuts (mmmmmmmmm, I am drooling just thinking about those), cotton candy, chocolate-covered strawberry kabobs, fries, elephant ears, hot chocolate, more mini donuts.... I probably gained 15 pounds that night. But so worth it! :) At least it's only once a year, right?

We got cowboy (or cowgirl) hats (except Robert and Grandma, who borrowed them for the picture below). Grandpa got an airbrushed tattoo. He said it only hurt a little. We looked at the animals, of course, and the photo exhibits and the model RVs. Danny played a couple of games, and won a little stuffed dog (I think that's what it was!). I can't wait until next year so we can go again - we decided to make it a tradition!

*Thanks to my sweet sister Ashlie for these pics! I've been slack about taking my camera anywhere. Most (or maybe all) of the pictures I'll be posting are from her.

Staff Picnic

Our church, the Rock, just added a couple of new employees, so we had a staff meeting/picnic on Sunday to spend some time together. Dusty & Chandra & their 2 kids just moved here from Montana to be the youth leaders. They are awesome (and their kids are adorable!). And, of course, I started as the office administrator this week. I love it so far!! My Uncle Cliff is the pastor, my cousin Jake is the Children's Pastor and my brother-in-law JJ is the worship leader. Yes, it's a lot of family, but I really feel blessed that so much of my family is involved in ministry (my parents are at their church, and with my Dad's job too!). We all work well as a team too. :) These are just a few pictures from Sunday... it was a lot of fun!

Baseball Game

Last week we went to $1 night at our local AAA baseball field (the Boise Hawks). We went with our small group, but my family was just one section over. You know how crazy we all are for baseball! Here are a couple of pics from the night. It was a pretty exciting game... one of the outfielders was even knocked unconscious in a collision with his teammate! And the Hawks even won (I've never been to a game they won before!).