the magical kingdom!

Stephen celebrated his 26th birthday on Sunday with a trip to Disneyland!!!! Actually, the trip just happened to coincide with his birthday, but i keep telling him that was his present. Here are the top 10 things that made Disneyland especially awesome this year:

1. More/Older nieces and nephews to take on rides. (they are so cute and fun, this was really the best part.)
2. Seeing Stephen's cousin Johnny and his wife Jen and their 4 cute kids.
3. Sharing a hotel suite with more cute nieces and a nephew.
4. Having the entire Stewart family (except Penelope and Jack) in Disneyland together.
5. Going to a "Princess Lunch" with nieces where we met Ariel, Aruroa, Snow White, and Cinderella!!!
6. Bacon wrapped asparagus.
7. Lots of Churros
8. Halloween decorations
9. Buying nightmare before Christmas souvenirs
10. Spending 3 whole days with Stephen.

Disneyland is really the happiest place on earth. Stephen and I were so sad to leave, but we really had a great time. Thanks Stewart Family!

Here are some Pictures.

Stephen and Daniel were best buds our first day. They went on almost all the rides together.
Not sure what David is doing in this picture.
Justin and Traci in the car with the sweetest paint job.
Dave bought ponchos for everyone so they didn't get soaked on the rapids ride.
Little Jon Jon driving the car. Look at those beautiful curly locks.

We went on the grizzly bear rapids like 10 times.
I asked olivia to smile for the camera and she stuffed this wrapper in her mouth and smiled. ha ha.

We'll miss you Disneyland...

Family Foto Fun

While we were at the ranch the Stewarts decided to take some family pictures.

Here is just one of the many family pictures

After taking the group shot, each family took their turn getting their pictures taken. Stephen and I decided we wanted some photos as well, even though we are just a family of two.

Crow Creek Ranch

Stephen's family goes to the Stewart family ranch in Crow Creek, Wyoming every year. This year we went over Labor Day weekend. The Ranch is like your typical Wyoming Ranch (or at least what picture a typical ranch being.) There are cows, horses and two dogs to keep them in line. The ranch is in a pretty rural area surrounded by pine and aspen trees. It is really beautiful.

When we go to the ranch we try to help out wherever we can. Last year we spent half the day raking up grass clippings around where the houses are and filling up a big hole where a pipe had been replaced. This year we got up early one morning and helped repair a 50 year old fence that was in disrepair due to snow, falling trees, and cattle. Although it was hard work (i really didn't do any of it, i mostly just kept the kids that came along from getting hit by swinging hammers and wood), it was really fun to see the fruits of our labors. Stephen's Uncle Brent who runs the ranch said that he had never seen the fence look so good.

The day we helped repair the fence also happened to be Stephen's Uncle Brent's birthday. (We didn't know it at the time.) Even though it was his birthday he was a good host and took us all on a horseback ride later in the afternoon. We spent the rest of our trip relaxing, going on a four-wheeler ride, playing games, and watching our cute nieces and nephews.

Here are some pictures.

Here I am on top of the Plateau looking over the Ranch.

Stephen is filling up the gas tank on the four-wheeler using these old-school-looking gas tanks
Every time Stephen goes to the ranch he finds a hat in his grandparent's house that he wears the whole trip. He chose the red one this time.
Here I am with Uncle Brent on our horse ride.

end of summer fun

the past two and a half months have been really draining on me. since i started working at wells fargo full-time while keeping my part-time job at pottery barn kids i have had no time for rest and relaxation. i was pretty sad thinking that summer was almost over and i will be working full-time the rest of my life. so we decided it was time to take a mini-vacation.

stephen's grandparents have a cabin in bear lake that he hasn't been to since before his mission. (about seven years.) i'll be honest, i was kind of scared to go after hearing stories of an indoor hot-tub, dead animals found around the house, and strange scents. but for me, any vacation is a good vacation. and all the hype about the cabin turned out to be over-exaggerated.

we spent most of our trip outdoors. we went on a couple of hikes, went swimming, and laid out on the beach. at night time we sat on the deck and saw millions of stars, way more than i have seen anywhere else. although we weren't too far from home, it was just the break i needed.

here are some pictures.
here is the view of the lake from the deck of the cabin.


here we are on the deck. i am trying to get stephen to throw away this Schmit house shirt, i hate it!
beautiful bloomington lake. the water was so clear, so fresh.

stephen walking past some wild flowers. they were soooo beautiful and colorful.
"take a picture of me with the wild flowers!"

summer veggies

Today i picked our first cucumber of the season!
We are excited for the many tomatoes, peppers, squashes, and green beans to come.

le cruset

I got my first Le Cruset piece about 2 weeks ago and I love it! I just wish i didn't have such a tiny stove and oven.


I made this yummy braised rosemary pork roast from The Silver Spoon (which Stephen gave me as a "prize" for getting a new job)

The Rest of our Trip

So i realized it was taking me forever to blog in detail about our trip which was a little over a month ago at this point. So I will instead just touch on the things we did briefly. We spent the remaining 13 days of our trip as follows, 1 and 1/2 more days in Kyoto, 2 and 1/2 days in Tokyo, 8 days in Singapore and 1 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Things we did in Kyoto:

Went to more Shinto ShrinesSaw some Geishas at the train station.
Went and saw some Buddhist temples.
Sat under a cool Aqueduct in the rain.
Walked around the city.
Took a little hike onto the side of a mountain and saw a beautiful view of Kyoto.


Shopped in this alleyway that lead all the way up the mountain.
Went to this shinto shrine that had tori gates lined up really close together to form a pathway up and around a mountain. The hike would have taken about 2 hrs so we just did a small portion of it.

Things we did in Tokyo:
Visited the Museum of Western Art designed by Le Corbusier in Ueno park.
Went to see the Senso Ji temple which was right by the hotel we stayed in.
Went to the busiest crossing in the world. Shibuya? Something like that.
Went to the Imperial palace and gardens.
Had lunch in Toyo Ito's concert hall.
Got good views of Tokyo from the Tokyo Government Building.
Went to the national Sumo wrestling tournament.
Visited and purchased something from every Paul Smith store in Tokyo.
Saw the Dior building designed by SANAA
TOD's building designed by Toyo Ito
Prada building designed by Herzog and De Meuron

Things we did in Singapore

Went to the National Orchid Garden
Got a fish pedicure.
Went to a Chinese Temple
Went to McRichie Reservoir, a place I went a lot as a child.
Had a Tea Ceremony to celebrate our wedding with my Family.
Rode Segways.
Took a boat cruise up the Singapore River
Went to the Jurong Bird Park
Visited the Esplanade Theater.

Walked around downtown near the financial district.

It was such a great trip. I was really happy to finally introduce Stephen to the rest of my family, and I am very happy the Stewarts got to meet them as well. I love my family in Singapore, they are so wonderful. And I look forward to visiting more often in the future.