... that we always have time for family?

We are always grateful for visitors, but we love to spend time with family that lives in town too! We went over to Mom and Dad's house in Sandy to have dinner with Grandpa, and Jas has decided that he is her new BFF.

Then I bribed Cait to come up to our house with beef and broccoli and a twice chocolate torte for her birthday!

I ran out of chocolate syrup, but she loved it anyway. 

We also added a new member to our family!

Just kidding, we only babysat while the Merrells went out of town. We DO NOT need more animals in our house. But she was a sweetheart and total cuddle bug!

... that Mom and Dad came out AGAIN????

Third time's a charm! This time they were coming for Cait's graduation, Dad's birthday, and of course a few missionary weddings. Matt and I kept our food game up with trips to Spitz, Sodalicious, and Schmidt's for treats on Friday, all before heading down to Provo for Cait's graduation

#yum

The ceremony wasn't as long as I was afraid it would be, and although I had hoped that Jas would sleep more, we were all very entertained sitting next to Grampus.

We also had Matt as entertainment, who valiantly clapped for every graduate in the ceremony who "got less cheers than I did at my graduation... which is almost everyone." So sweet, and yet so rude.

So proud of you Cait!

We continued the celebration with Thai food for everyone, including Na Na and the Skousens, who I feel like are just another set of parents to me and all the Blicks. They are seriously so great! Then that night we had some more quality time with Mom and Dad, during which I introduced Dad to the world of Snapchat

One of the greater moments in my life.

The rest of the weekend was dedicated to Dad's birthday! We had a party for him on Saturday in American Fork

With a little shopping spree at the Outlets afterward for the girls! We went to grab some last minute birthday gifts for Dad while he went to spend Sunday at a stake conference in Vernal with my Uncle John. We picked him up in Heber after church, then I made a big batch of stir fried tofu for dinner! I was a little nervous feeding everyone tofu; Matt just taught me the ways of great tofu in the last few years, and it was not something that us Blick kids ever ate at home. But everyone gobbled it up and didn't leave any leftovers! On Monday we celebrated again with dinner at Olive Garden and dessert at my work, because it was close by.



I asked Dad what he wanted for dessert and he said a peach cobbler of course! So I said I would make him one... then ran out of time and made Mom make it for me. Sorry Mom! It was delicious!!!

We definitely loved spending so much time with Mom and Dad this month! I was sad to see them go home cause it may be a while before they can muster up the energy to come back out again after so many trips lately! Love you Mom and Dad!!!!!!!

... that Jas was 13 months!

Keeping this monthly count going because this is my blog and I do what I want.

I love this little girl so much!!! She loves her mommy

And of course her daddy

She loves to be extremely fasionable

And extremely naughty, i.e. poking herself in the eye to keep from falling asleep at naptime



And throwing tantrums when I won't let her play with the toilet.

But most of the time she is pretty cute. Matt found a cute baby photo contest online, and we entered this picture in it for kicks

We didn't win the contest, but we did end up winning a small gift card to a cute local baby shop in Utah County, so I was pretty stoked! I knew she just had to be a winner!!!

Jas had a couple of exciting firsts this month: her first haircut

Jas' hair is so beautiful and it is getting so long! I try to take really good care of it, but she has this balding patch on the back of her head where the hair just gets rubbed off and doesn't grow back in as well. So it's really thin right at the back, and long and scraggly above, below, and all around it, which makes it look even worse. So I decided to fix it! I was super confident that I could just blend in the long pieces right around her bald spot, and curly hair is so forgiving, so I wasn't that nervous until I took the first snip...



I was so sad throwing her beautiful curls in the garbage!!! But don't worry, I def saved one perfect little curl for her future scrapbook. I am my mother's daughter.

The cut turned out fine! I did have to fix it a little more a few days later, but I am so glad I did it because her hair looks so much better than it did!

Jas also took her first ride in the bike trailer that I bought for Daddy last year! Matt finally bought her a helmet so we went on a little family bike ride!

I CAN'T EVEN

Yes, I rode a bike.
Yes, I took pictures while riding said bike one-handed.
Yes, it was a miracle that I didn't drop my phone or hurt myself.
Yes, Jas in a bike helmet is the best thing in the world.

Love my big girl!!!!!!!!!

... that mom and dad came again?

Two days after we got home, mom and dad came out to Utah again! It was just a quick weekend trip for Uncle Scott's 70th birthday party, but we made the most of it! Mom wanted German pancakes for breakfast, but Matt was off doing service, so I made them myself for the first time.

Krissy: making Mom's dreams come true since 1984.

Then Mom and Dad were nice enough to babysit for us for a little bit so that we could finally go down to IKEA and get a new dresser!

We inherited our old dresser from Tracy and it was definitely time for an upgrade. Plus, Trent needed a new dresser, and I was more than happy to donate ours! I had been drooling over the dresser that matches our bed for years, and Matt finally gave in! After IKEA, we all headed up to Clinton for Uncle Scott's birthday dinner with the Blicks, which was so much fun. Even if we didn't get the memo that no kids were invited... oh well, Jas had a great time! Matt and I had to skip out a tiny bit early to make it down to Lisa's birthday party, which was also great. Then we took Mom and Dad back to the airport Sunday morning! Short and sweet, and not too sad, since we knew we'd be seeing them again in a few weeks anyway!

... that it was our last day?

I wanted to do something fun on Tuesday, but I think we were all kind of tired and Kell had had her fill of entertaining, so we just hung out and took it easy. I did manage to convince the Rexs to come over and get their treats... it wasn't hard.

I could barely keep those kids away from this box for a second! And I also made them all take their chances with my box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans too! Poor Cutter... got a vomit one hahahahaha!

Fin and Bubbas were a little scared, but I'm pretty sure they both got good ones

We finished off the night tidying up Kell's house a little bit in between episodes of the Great British Bake Off and then it was off to the airport super early the next morning. Jas slept the whole flight again because she is a perfect angel.

Matt: Hey, I'm helping you hold her, look:

Thanks dearest, you're the best.

Please note:

-Blanket too small ✔

-Pants too small ✔

-Socks too small ✔

-Everything too small because my baby is HUGE ✔

#momindenial

Until next time, California!!!

... that I can't stop, won't stop!

I asked Matt to stay an extra two days in California because I love my family Harry Potter World so much!!!!!

It's like coming home. I was seriously just as excited as the first time we came (although we didn't drink quite as much butter beer this time hahaha). We did venture outside of Hogsmead a little more and I even won front of the line passes for the Transformers ride because I am awesome.

We spent a little extra time on City Walk too. We grabbed some lunch from Pink's, topped off with an awesome nutella and banana crepe

And also grabbed some treats to take home to everyone

So fun! I am so glad we got the year passes! Hoping we can squeeze one more trip in before the end of the year!!! Thanks for babysitting, mom!