Family: Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em

Family is super duper important to me and always has been.

Being raised in the LDS faith and having such an awesome family

has given me a love for family that is unconditional and eternal.

Yes, families can sometimes be crazy, overwhelming, and hard work,

but they are so worth it!

When my family was able to be together for Christmas, we had family 

pictures taken all together for the first time in 2 years!

What a great bunch of people! I love them. :)

My older brother and his gorgeous wife and daughter

were able to join us as well! Oh how I love my little niece!

My parents kind of enjoy being grandparents...if you can't tell. Haha!

Seriously, they look SO happy!

Our sweet Chinese sister was able to take pictures with us too!

Oh and how could all us siblings get together without being silly

and sitting on Tessa? (apparently it's tradition?)

Finally, our little McGlothin family got some pictures together.

Can I just say it is really, really difficult to get an 18-month-old 

to cooperate for pictures?

The entire time we were taking pictures, all she wanted to do

was press "muttons" (buttons) on the elevator!

Anyways...here are some pictures of my adorable little family!

I love this :)

Oh, and did I mention our little family is growing? ;)

Here comes baby #2!!!

We love that little peanut already. <3

By the way, all of these pictures were taken by this dear friend of mine...

I've known her forever it seems and it had been so long since we

had seen each other! So, I was so happy to have her take our pictures.

July 4th Festivities!

This post has been almost a month in the making...

Not really, though. I've just been super busy with school, work, and family life
to get to writing this post.

Even though it is coming a bit late, I had to write this post because it involves
Kaiya and she is too darn cute to not write about! :)

Please note the adorable 4th of july bow in her hair.
I was SO excited that she finally had enough hair to put a clip in! :D
And even less than a month later her hair has gotten even longer and thicker.
Yay hair!

So, a neat thing about the bow is that I wore it when I was little!
My mom found it and gave it to me so my little girls could wear it. :)
How sweet is that?

"Don't mind me. I'm just hanging out."

I love these two!

Mesmerized by the fireworks.
(And stayed up until 10:30 PM to watch them! Crazy girl.)

Happy (late) 4th of July! :)

~Do you have any special 4th of July traditions? Feel free to share!

Easter 2013...better later than never!

I know it has been almost a month since Easter,
but I need to catch up on all the fun things
we have been up to!
It's been a while since I've blogged,
thanks to finals (ugh!).
Thank goodness those are over.

Anyways...

We had such a wonderful Easter this year!

I remember being pregnant with Kaiya last year
and thinking to myself, "Next Easter, I will have a baby!"

The thought was so unreal.
Yet, here she is.
More perfect and beautiful than I could have ever imagined.

We started our Easter morning with some delicious
Apple Cinnamon Muffins and Greek yogurt.

We also gave Kaiya an Easter basket filled with some goodies:
*cute headbands
*a new dress
*a cute, stuffed lamb
*an egg coloring kit
*and DARK CHOCOLATE
(Ghirardelli, of course...that was more for Joshua and I than for her haha)

Aren't they both SO adorable?!

We also all wore matching outfits for Church!

Then we ended our wonderful Easter with a
nice dinner with my brother-in-law and new sister-in-law!

Recipe here: Crockpot Italian Chicken

C

This meal is SOOOO good.
Probably not the healthiest, but SO delicious!
Plus, it is extremely easy to make.

Essentially, I threw chicken breast, cream cheese,
 a can of cream of chicken soup, and a packet of Zesty Italian Dressing mix
into the crockpot, cooked it for 4-5 hours and it was done and ready to eat!

It was the perfect Easter dinner.

V-Day Perfection

Last Thursday, Joshua and I celebrated our

3rd Valentine's Day together!

It's hard to believe that it has been that long since our

first V-Day together.

I remember our first Valentine's Day like it was yesterday.

Joshua and I had been dating for about 3 weeks 

and I was SO excited to share Valentine's Day with him!

I remember being anxious ALL day.

We had all these plans for a picnic 

on the overlook looking down on Provo valley.

How romantic, right?!

Unfortunately, we had a miscommunication between Joshua

and his sister about who was going to have the car and when

...so...

We were carless...on Valentine's Day!

So, we made the best of it, and went to...*drumroll, please*

Wendy's! 

So, maybe it wasn't as romantic as a picnic overlooking the valley

but I was there with an amazing guy who 

was trying his best to make the most of an unfortunate situation.

(he still makes the most of every situation)

Eventually, we did get the car 

and we did drive to the overlook.

We sat and talked and talked and talked.

We talked about everything.

And it was then that I knew he wanted to marry me. :)

He didn't say it directly, but I knew.

(kind of a scary thought at first for me,

 but I warmed up to the idea quickly)

This year, our Valentine's was much different

than our first Valentine's Day together.

1. We are now married.

2. We have a baby.

3. We don't have the stamina to stay up as late!

(That's what having a baby does to you :) )

 

 

 To celebrate Valentine's Day, we got some special BYU treats:

 BYU brownies (famous for being super fudgey and delicious) and

BYU Creamery ice cream (famous for super creamy, addictive ice cream)

Joshua made me heart-shaped Banana Nutella French Toast.

He has an amazing French Toast recipe! To die for!

Yummy!

The picture doesn't even do it justice...whatsoever...

This French Toast doesn't even need syrup.

It's that good!

And after eating French Toast in heart shapes,

Joshua is not sure he can go back to plain, bread-shaped 

French Toast! Haha! What a cutie.

The pa'an here is to DIE for!

Speaking of my cutie...

Here he is when we went to Banana Leaf for our "real"

Valentine's Day dinner on Friday night.

He had to work on Thursday night.

This restaurant was one I had been dying to go to

for awhile, so he chose to go here!

What a sweetheart.

And the food was AMAZING!

Provo friends, this is a must-go-to restaurant!

Just look at that plate!

Hope you all had a wonderful V-Day!

Love, 

JaM

Where have you been?!...

This is probably what you have been wondering for the last month, right? Probably thought my family had disappeared mysteriously or that I had given up on blogging...no way! We are alive and well.

We just happened to get super busy with finals in December and then traveling to AZ for Christmas and New Years. Speaking of Christmas, we had an amazing Christmas with Joshua's family. Seriously,  we have been so blessed to have such a wonderful family. I love my in-laws as if they were the family I was born and raised in, and they have been so loving and have treated me like their own daughter from day 1.

Christmas was very special this year. This year, all of Joshua's siblings were together for Christmas for the first time in several years (Joshua served a 2-year mission for our Church, and then his brother, Jake served a 2-year mission as well). It was also Kaiya's first Christmas! I can't believe I was pregnant with her last Christmas, just dreaming about what it would be like to have her in my life. Having her here this Christmas was so special--even though she had no idea what was going on or how spoiled she was (Grandma and Grandpa McG got her this exersaucer that she adores)! Christmas was really just a special day, and it was so fun to see the excitement everyone had with the "toys" they received.

Joshua got Legos for Christmas! Such a kid at heart.

Kaiya and mommy on Christmas Day 2012

For New Years we didn't do too much. On New Year's Eve, Joshua, Haley (Joshua's sister), and I had a dance party with Zumba and Just Dance 4 on the Wii (we danced for 2 hours...or at least I did!). Joshua and I then enjoyed a nice glass of Welch's sparkling grape juice as we watched the ball drop in New York and made a toast to a new and happy year. It was a very simple celebration, but it definitely gave Joshua and I something to look forward to: a new year full of unexpected twists, excitements, and goals to improve ourselves.

With a New Year comes New Year's Resolutions. Joshua and I have several resolutions in what we believe are important areas of life: financial, educational, physical, spiritual, social, and mental/emotional. We were so excited to sit down and write these together! Okay, so maybe I was a little bit more excited than Joshua...but we still had fun!

Here are some of our goals!

• Financial: 

1. 10% to tithing, 20% to savings, and 70% to budget (thanks to Shawni Pothier of 71 Toes for the idea!)
2. check our budget on Sundays
3. save and organize receipts
4. budget for organization supplies (our apartment is slightly unorganized--and that might be an understatement)

• Educational:

1. Check grades weekly as a couple
2. Write down homework assignments on a calendar at beginning of week so we keep track of what is due and when
3. Look at grad school requirements for Joshua and start working to fulfill them

• Physical

1. Exercise daily
2. Increase veggie intake (it's harder to do than I thought!)
3. Sweets in moderation (also difficult...)
4. Increase water intake
5. I'm working for a 6-pack (should probably start working on that!)

• Spiritual

1. Attend temple every other Saturday
2. Nightly family prayer
3. Personal and couple scripture study and prayer

•  Social

1. Girls' night once a month
2. Call parents more often

• Mental

1. Learni to sew (Mikaila)
2. Learn guitar (Joshua)
3. Stay positive--avoid complaining
4. Write in journal/blog often
5. Read The Hobbit as a couple

So far we've been pretty good at the financial, educational, and spiritual goals, but the other areas could use some work! 

What are some resolutions you made this year? 

Love, 

JaM

Happy National Cookie Day!

In the words of my husband, 

"I like cookie day."

I mean really, what's not to love about a day devoted to cookies?!

So, I did the best thing there is to do on National Cookie Day...

and made these delicious goodies! Seriously, there is nothing better than lighting
my favorite Holiday Wreath Yankee candle, turning on some Christmas music, and baking cookies. 

Hope you got to eat some yummy cookies today!

Love,

JaM