Five FABULOUS days with JJ's nieces and nephews ;)

JJ's adorable sister, Andrea, hired me on as a nanny for five days while her and her husband went out of town. . . .Sydney, Simon, Carmen, Asher, and I sure had a blast.

Friday:
We had dinner, and watched an adorable movie; The Lorax. I would definitely recommend it, it's really cute :)

After dinner, we pretty much went to sleep, I got there around 5:00 Friday night--so, it was a short day.

Saturday:

This was a fun day! We went to the aquarium. We decided this last minute, due to all the smoke and fires in the Boise area, we all agreed that an activity inside would be more fun..but before we went to the Aquarium, we dug into my "Mary Poppins" bag, as I like to call it. I taught preschool at BYU-I, for one of my classes, and made a ton of stuff for my final--it finally went to use with these little guys. I didn't really get many pictures of the things I brought, but just a couple of the kids playing before we went to see some amazing under-sea creatures!

Carmen told me she was cold.

next thing I know, she's in the kitchen wearing this ;)

& then to the Aquarium;

Notice how Carmen is wearing a whole new outfit & her hair is down?

this girl likes to change her attire about three times a day--

She wears dresses because "she's a princess" ;)

Car's reaction to a huge Iguana, HAHA! Priceless!

"Syd! Poisonous frogs!!!"

Sydney is so brave!!!

\

After the Aquarium, we made a quick visit to Blimpie for dinner. I laughed out loud at Simon and Carmen's sandwich choices;

white bread with pepperoni. nothing more.

..

Before bed, the kids decided to have some fun with my camera. . . and my hat ;) ha ha!

Belle's dress.
pahaha; Sydney & Carmen

About to pull out all the clothes!

HE IS SO CUTE!!!!

"Wear it backwards like a gangster!"

Now he's getting in WITH the clothes
oh my my my 

He loves sucking on his fingers!

Sunday:

Church was at 11. Sydney and Simon guided me to the building. We got there ten minutes early, with everything in tow. & then I went to take Carmen out of her car seat. . . . .

no shoes.

So, I got Syd settled in with a family, and Asher, Simon, Carmen, and I swiftly made it back to the house. Even with going at the speed limit, we were back at the building at 11:02. Impressive? I think yes.

Sacrament meeting went smoothly, with just a few bumps. Baby Asher is a mover and a shaker. Sunday school was spent with little Asher & I in the hallway; he was entertained by shutting the chapel doors while people were in there having choir practice--I had to grab him a couple times; all he would do is laugh--ha! We made it to Relief Society, and it was a great lesson. Asher fell asleep in my arms toward the end, so he  wasn't as squirmy :)

Today was also JJ's 10 month mark, so after dinner...we celebrated.

Sydney read to baby Asher..:)

I'm not sure when this picture was taken;

I'm confused because Asher isn't in his pajamas but Sydney is??? oh well

The Tickle Monster Book

Syd's "Monster Face" ;)

Monday:

Today was the first day of school. Sydney: Third grade. Simon: First grade. They were so excited ;)

I want those pants that Sydney is wearing, oh and the scarf. TOTES ADORB!

Carmen and I hung out while the kids had a half-day of school.

Asher loves climbing things, it scared the heck out of me!

I would say, "No Asher." And he would just start laughing. With his huge brown eyes and dimples, I couldn't resist laughing back--HE IS THE CUTEST BABY EVER!

I stayed until Wednesday night until around 11:45 PM.

It was such a fantastic five days. Loved it. Very few flaws; such as me getting sick on Monday and Asher getting sick on Wednesday. :( But other than that, I have no complaints. Sydney and Carmen came and slept with me for a couple nights--I loved it, it reminded me of my little sleepovers with my nieces. 

I'm so thankful that I got to spend time with them. I really got to know them a lot better--they are the smartest, most well-behaved kids I have ever babysat. for reals. and I'm not just saying that because I'm in love with their uncle.

Speaking of J, tomorrow is the first game of the season for BSU football. Ah, this time of the year reminds me so much of my missionary. We are huge Boise State fans. You may be a little confused, by my "Utes" hat in some of these pictures. JJ was on the scout team at U of U two years ago, and I went to a couple of the games. I bought a Utes shirt and hat--and I wear them both often, the hat is UnderArmor--of course I'm going to wear it people!! ;) And besides, who knows..maybe I will have to convert to being a Ute in a couple years. I will always be a Bronco at heart, however. Oh, and I'm not allowed to wear any black and red within 20 yards of my house or I will be shunned by my entire family. 

Missin' my sidekick for all the games. See you next season though, J! I'll cheer extra loud for you ;)

#7--Go to the Western Idaho Fair COMPLETED 8/22/12

As you readers know, I constructed a 24 month bucket list.
If any of y'all need a "refresher" as to what that consists of, here you go;
http://gennylgustin.blogspot.com/search?q=24+month+bucket+list

Tonight I completed another goal. Goal #7. "Go to the Western Idaho Fair"...

I went to the Chris Young concert with my friend Hailey, and we bought tickets to ride the ride "Zipper".

It was a fun-filled night full of awkward moments, inside jokes, fair lemonade, and laughter at the Western Idaho Fair. 

I put this particular thing on my bucket list because, well, the fair (this time last year) was where JJ and I had a very special date--and it's where I realized I had fallen in love with him<3

I look so different, huh?
no more blonde hair!!

on the ferris wheel
(see the "zipper"??)

He is my sweetie

"Our little Florence the froggy"

Butterfly exhibit

Handsome cowboy<3

T-Swift :)

As soon as I realized the fair was in town, I knew that this would be the perfect time (obviously) to cross off another bucket list goal. It also happened that one of my favorite country singers was performing. It was a 2-in-1. A few days ago..I was deleting a bunch of stuff that I didn't use or want on my computer and I stumbled across a word doc. titled, "journal entries of the best memories"..I couldn't click on it fast enough...I forgot that I had written down my thoughts after some of J and I's dates (this was before I had my blog)..it was fun to recap the adventures of that night at the fair; it made me smile/tear-up/laugh all in the same entry. But most importantly, it brought comfort to my heart.

9/5/11 

I am kicking myself for not deciding to journal earlier but I have recently felt the urge to just write down my thoughts and feelings. I am so in love that even I am in shock. Never in my life have I felt so sure of something. I am only nineteen years old but there is something about this...it just feels right.. This last month has been the craziest, most life changing experience of my life. About a year ago I met an amazing person named Jared Jordan Hyde, even then I thought that I loved him. I could talk to him about everything and he never judged me, he was one of the most unique and greatest people I had ever met. Things didn’t work out sadly, and I ended up with my heartbroken, I was devastated but it was poor timing for both of us, we stopped talking for awhile but then after a few months we came back into contact with one another—not much talking, but enough that some of our feelings were still there. All this time I had been religiously writing my high school boyfriend while he was serving in Guatemala on a mission. Well, about a month ago my life changed drastically. J.j. came back into my life. This time I braced myself, protected my heart, and put my best “game face” on. Our first date went okay; obviously I still liked him but did I like him enough to let him back into my heart? Could I handle the fact that he was leaving on a mission in October? Was it going to be worth it? That night we rented a movie with our friends and as we were standing next to the movies, Jaje planted a kiss right on my lips—unexpectedly..I couldn’t catch my breath but I wasn’t even close to letting him know that—I wanted him to work hard to win me back. J.j Hyde is no newbie to a good challenge and he was willing to get ahold of my heart once again because I think that deep down in his heart, he knew that I loved him. We became inseperateble after that first night and as the time went on I became to realize that I did love him. I remember the exact moment when I knew that I really did truly love him. We went to the Western Idaho Fair on a date and Jaje literally spent 40 dollars trying to win me a stupid stuffed animal. We ended up with the smallest little frog and banana that you ever did see, but I loved it. I loved the way he made me laugh and the way he held me so close. A carnie even told JJ that he would trade him straight across for a bigger stuffed animal if he could make a little ball land in this big tub..but I looked at my little frog and said, "I wouldn't trade florence for any of those big stuffed animals. I love my little frog!" And I grabbed him and we walked away from the carnie. He kissed me on the forehead and said that I was "the cutest thing in the world. The biggest sweetheart he had ever met." Shortly after that happened, I wanted to go wash my hands in the bathroom..when I came out, he had his back towards me and he was holding little Florence and "Bubba" the banana..I got a huge smile on my face and wrapped my arms around him from behind. The carnie next to us said, "well that was about the cutest thing I have seen all night!!" haha it was kind of creepy, but we laughed about it. The exact moment I knew I loved him, and this sounds so ridiculous but he paid money to play this basketball game. And there was this scary looking carnie woman that just looked like she just got done making a fresh batch of meth—no lie ha ha! Anyway, he paid for like three shots and then she turned her back to talk to some other people and Jaje just kept hucking up these ridiculous shots. I was laughing so hard I could barely even breathe! Jaje is so cute like that, he can make you laugh over the smallest things. Anyway, I  just caught myself looking at him in a way I had never looked at anyone else, it was almost an out of body experience; like I was looking in on this experience and suddenly I saw myself as a little seven year old girl. When I was little I was obsessed with barbies, not so much the barbies themselves but making up my fantasy life, decorating the doll house, and deciding which car to drive—I would spend hours doing this. All my life all I wanted was a tall, dark, handsome, athletic, smart, funny, husband—Jared Jordan Hyde is that times 700,000…he is the most well rounded man I have ever met and I could not be any more in love. I have heard of the cliché “perfect match” but let me just say, HE IS MY PERFECT MATCH. I am so happy.  Okay, so now let me fill you in on that missionary. Well, I decided on my own, that he wasn’t the one anymore. You see my dad gave me a father’s blessing before I started spring semester at BYU-I and after the blessing he told me that I would find my husband before Sterling got home. Well, you can only imagine how I felt after he told me that. I was sick to my stomach and I pretty much ignored it—but as usual, my dad was right on. I “Dear John-ed” my missionary and honestly, I am so happy- it was almost as if a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Jaje is 16 times more the man than Sterling ever could be, not that he is a bad person..its just that I know that Jaje is the one for me and I was never sure of that with Sterling. 

Tonight was an amazing night that brought back SO MANY memories, and made me even more excited for these next fourteen months until J gets home...

Time; don't you dare slow down. Thank you.