Day at Lagoon

Ever since Ryan and I met, he's always talked about the theme park "Lagoon." Since we were going to be in Utah for his family reunion, we decided to stay an extra day so we could spend my b-day at the theme park.

We started the day off with lunch at a great Mexican food restaurant called "Javier's" where we got the most amazing dessert nachos. After stuffing ourselves even more with cake, we headed off to Lagoon where rode away the day on the park's roller coasters. After an afternoon at the park, we jetted off to the airport just in time to make our flight back home. Thank you to all of the McFarlane's for making my b-day so great!

Some of Ryan's siblings and cousins that joined us for our Lagoon adventure.

The boys were braver than the rest of us and decided to do the "Human Catapult." Right before they flung them into the air, we watched Ryan on the video camera saying, "I immediately regret this decision." ;-)

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England Family Reunion '09

We spent the majority of the reunion at Ryan's cousin Kara's house just swimming, eating, and spending time with family. I say it all the time and I'll say it again...Ryan has an awesome family. We loved getting to spend time with them!

As always, Ryan's nephew and niece wore us out with their never-ending energy. (Hats off to the parents out there who chase their kids around all day long. Twenty minutes of repetitive activities pretty much did us in.)

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Pioneer Days Rodeo

This last weekend we attended Ryan's family reunion up in Utah. When we got up there on Friday night we went to the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo with Ryan's family. It was fun getting to watch the bull riding and getting to do some good "people watching." Ryan's nephew and niece especially loved watching the horses and calves.

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The Send-Off Party

This past weekend we had a send-off party for my little brother Hunter. I still can't believe that he leaves for the mission in only 2 more weeks. Although I didn't remember to whip out my camera until later in the evening, I was still able to get a few pictures of some family and friends that stopped by.

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Finally Done!

It's been a long time coming but we FINALLY finished all of the major painting in our new house (at least for now). The master bathroom has been a thorn in our side for quite some time so we're glad to finally have it done. I think it's safe to say that we're ready to take a break from home projects for a while.

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Stay Classy San Diego

For the 4th of July weekend, our friends James and Tiffany invited us to go with them on a trip to San Diego. They were invited to celebrate the holiday on a yacht with some friends and we were more than happy to tag along.

When we arrived at the yacht party, we were surprised to find 6 yachts pulled up next to each other with tons of blow-up toys out in front. The coolest toy was a huge 20 ft. iceberg you could slide down. Although the water was a little chilly, it was a total blast!

One of my favorite parts of the trip was getting to paddleboard. I've been wanting to try it for the longest time and absolutely loved it!

On Saturday we found a cool farmers market in downtown San Diego.

We finished off the trip with a ride around Coronado Island.

Thanks again James and Tiffany, we had a ton of fun!

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The Call

My little brother Hunter got his mission call yesterday to the Boston Massachusetts Mission (Spanish speaking). We were a little surprised to hear that he goes into the MTC on August 5th since we had a family vacation planned to start on August 6th. Although we're sad he'll miss the trip, we're excited for his mission call and know he'll have an awesome 2 years. Congrats Hunter!

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Dad's Day

For Father's Day we offered to host Sunday dinner at our place this week. We had a fun time bbqing and spending time with family. I've been wanting to try out these cute Jello watermelon slices for a while now so I was super excited to finally try them out. If only fruit always tasted like Jello!


Since my little brother Hunter will be getting his mission call this week, we held a "Mission Draft" where we all selected the mission we think he'll get called to. The draft consisted of us all passing around a sheet until all 350 missions had been selected. We're expecting the call to come on Thursday or Friday so it will be exciting to see where he'll spend the next two years (and who won the draft). It was definitely a fun way to celebrate Father's day. Happy Father's Day dad McFarlane & Poulsen - we're so thankful for all you do!

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Summer Grillin'

As a housewarming gift, Ryan's parents were nice enough to give us a brand new grill. In an effort to "break it in," we had some friends over for a summer bbq and homemade ice cream. Thanks again Dan and Mary - we love it!

Ryan had a fun time getting to play with baby Aubry

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Kitchen

The last couple weeks we've spent our evenings painting the remaining rooms of the house. It's been A LOT of work but it's been fun seeing it all come together. Maybe one day we'll actually get it all done - yeah, right! ;-)

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All Grown Up

A couple of weeks ago, Ryan and I were able to attend my little brother's high school graduation. It was rainy and humid, but it was fun getting to see him celebrate the end of his high school years.

Although I didn't get a chance to take any pictures, I was able bum a picture off my mom. I still can't believe that my little brother is all grown up!

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Home At Last...

It's been a long process, but after over a year of searching and 2 months of dealing with closing chaos, we FINALLY moved into our new home this last week. Although the home was built in 2006 and is in near perfect condition, we still have a long list of projects for the house. The project at the top of our list was a weird entertainment niche in the living room. Ever since we first saw the home, we disliked the niche and decided we wanted to take it out. Since we were going to be re-carpeting, we figured it would be best to take it out right away before we moved in our furniture.

After many long hours and the help of A LOT of family, we finally finished our renovation project. Luckily, Ryan was able to do the demolition and drywalling work himself which made the project much more affordable. And now, after a week of chaos and many late nights, we have finally finished the living room!

Before

Mid-Project (2 days ago)

After

Luckily, we've had plenty of help with all our projects. With the help of our demolition team, furniture movers, cleaners, lighting guy, and drywallers (otherwise known as our families), we've been able to get quite a few of the projects done pretty quickly. This last weekend, Ryan's parents even came down to help us get settled. Although I'm pretty sure our families consider us slave drivers after this last week, we're extremely appreciative of all the hard work and long hours they put in.

In addition to our living room project, we've also been painting and re-vamping the other rooms in the house. Yesterday, we also finished our master bedroom. As we finish more rooms we'll be sure to post more pics of the house. Stay tuned...

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Ryan's Little Buddy

Yesterday, Ryan and I found a baby bird that had fallen out of the tree in front of our apartment. After seeing the bird several time throughout the day, we began feeling bad and decided that we needed to do something to help. Luckily, our friends Tiffany and James had found a bird about a month ago and had the address of a couple who takes care of baby birds.

Watching the bird huddled in the corner, we decided that the least we could do was to take the bird to the shelter. So we ventured out with a box and began our adventure of trying to catch the bird and bring it into our apartment for the night. When we got it into the apartment, Ryan did his best to make the bird feel at home. Now I've always thought of myself as a pretty compassionate person, but when it comes to birds, I have to say that Ryan is MUCH more compassionate than I am.

Once we got the bird inside, Ryan crumpled up some toilet paper for a bed and even smushed up some fruit for it to eat. When we closed the door to the room it was in, Ryan thought the room seemed too dark so he put his laptop in the room so the bird wouldn't get scared. It was so cute watching Ryan going back into the room throughout the night to check on the bird.

When we woke up in the morning, Ryan was so excited to see that the bird had actually eaten his fruit concoction. On his way to work, Ryan dropped the bird off at the shelter and said goodbye to his little friend. Although it was a short-lived adventure, it was SO entertaining to watch Ryan with his "little buddy." I can't help but think that if Ryan was that compassionate with a bird, there's no doubt he's gonna be an awesome dad one day.

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