New Niece, Old Friend, Great Week!

This past week was a lot of fun for me!

It started on Wednesday when I was up early for work.  I was really tired so I started work with a bit of a grumpy attitude towards my job, my coworkers, and life in general (Nothing bad was happening in my life.  I was just way too tired).  I usually keep my phone on silent in my pocket and this time, I felt it vibrate.  At first I thought maybe it was Peter, but when I pulled it out and looked (When my manager left me alone and wasn't looking), I realized it was my brother, Michael who was letting me and my siblings know that they were having their baby girl!  My attitude quickly went from annoyed to excited and anticipating when she was coming.

I knew she finally came when I started getting pictures from my brother as well as my parents and my sister.  I didn't think I could love someone after just seeing a picture of them but, I tell you what, the minute I saw her beautiful face, I fell head over heels for her.  

Meet Lucy Grey Visser :)

I love all of my nieces and nephews and have loved holding them and getting to see their personalities as they get older (I still need to meet Naomi.  She just needs to stop growing until Peter and I can see her.  So Drew and Jessie, get on that okay?).  But seeing the first niece on my side of the family was really surreal for me.  I couldn't help but think "This baby shares a bit of the Visser DNA!" (Kind of a weird thought to have, I get that, but a thought nonetheless).  I can't tell you how excited I am to hold her and to tell her how incredibly lucky she is to have awesome aunts like me, Emily, and Cassie.

So, while my head was in Lucy-mode, one of my best and oldest friends, Heidi, called me and told me she was going to be in town to see her family for the weekend, so obviously we had to get together.  She was in Blackfoot so we met in the middle in Idaho Falls.  We first had lunch at Red Robin and when we finally couldn't eat anymore, we went to the mall for a bit and then to Sarah's Candy Cottage for something sweet.  The lady that helped us was a bit eccentric but the chocolate was really good.  

I was talking to Heidi about how sometimes when we went to the pet store, we are able to hold some of the animals.  So, Peter took us to Petco to see if that was possible this weekend.  Sure enough, an animal adoption agency was there with a bunch of cats and, finally, PUPPIES!  I forgot about every animal as well as every person in that building and went straight for those cute little fur-balls.

I took some pictures of some cats as well, because some of them were really pretty.  But then I went straight for the dogs again.

His reaction when he heard the click from my phone camera.

 Peter and Heidi were having fun with the cats (they both love cats...) and saw that I snuck away to play with the dogs again.

I was trying to see how easy it would be to sneak that pup into the truck without Peter noticing.

Then I realized that he was watching me.  So it wouldn't be likely.

I finally had to say goodbye to my new friends and after a bit of more shopping, I had to say goodbye to my old friend as well.

But not without a few pictures!  It takes a while for us to take a decent photo together.

 I sure do miss hanging out with her as much as when I did when we were in high school.  Sometimes we'll be in the same town and, because of schedules, we miss each other.  So it was wonderful to be able to see her and have some fun with her.  Peter and I are moving away from here soon and it'll be even harder for us to see her, but that just means we'll have to make a better effort to see each other.  

I am really excited for what the next few weeks have in store for us.  I'll finally get to meet Lucy, I'll be able to hang out with my family again, and Peter will be flying to Davenport, Iowa for a second interview with Nestle Purina!

 I have a feeling October is going to be a fun month for us.  

Rain storms, Rainbows, and the Emergence of Fall

(I'm sorry this post is a few days late.  I forgot to do it Sunday and got busy on Monday.)

The weather was kind to me this past week.

It all started with a rainstorm.  

I love rain.  I'm pretty sure that I have mentioned this before, and Peter carries a so-so attitude about it (Like many normal people), but I daresay I'll take rain over sun any day.  I mentioned this to most of the Barnes family and received many interesting looks.  I guess I shouldn't tell people that love sunny weather that I find that second best...  

I saw some clouds rolling in on Thursday and immediately got excited.  I got to baking some rolls ( I love the smell of baked goods when it rains) and I waited until there was a pause in the storm so I could step out and take some pictures of the pretty rainbow and sunset that showed up briefly before it rained again.

While, they are nowhere near professional photos (Just taken from my phone), I'm satisfied with how they turned out.

Another exciting occurrence that Mother Nature showed us this week I happened to discover when I was driving home from work one day.  FALL IS FINALLY HERE!  Fall is by far my most favorite season and seeing it show up early for me made up for the fact that I had spent most of my day working at McDonald's.  I can't wait to take more pictures of this festive season!

Peter and I have some fun things planned for our last few months here before our new adventure (wherever that may be) and I can't wait to have this season be a part of those fun future memories.

Fun with Friends and Mesa Falls!

Peter started his last semester of college today.  I was really excited for him.  This was his very last semester of papers, studying, group work, and tests (at least until Grad school rolls around)! He wasn't too thrilled about it.  In fact, this past weekend, it was a strict rule that we weren't allowed to mention school at all this weekend.  So, instead of wallowing in pre-semester jitters, we decided to get together with our dear friends, Kylie and Chad, and their adorable little girl, Brynn, and have a fun weekend starting with Mesa Falls.  

Kylie and I have been wanting to go to Mesa Falls ever since we roomed together 4-5 years ago, but for one reason or another, we haven't gone.  And with Fall around the corner, (SO excited for Fall!) we thought this would be the best opportunity to see the leaves change and feel the crisp air as well as see some beautiful scenery.  The closer we got to Mesa Falls, the prettier the drive was.

Being closer to Rexburg...

...and being closer to Mesa Falls.

When we finally got there, I was doing nothing but taking picture after picture after picture.  The waterfall was amazing and the walk there was beautiful!  I'm a huge fan of this place.

We finally met up with Chad, Kylie, and Brynn.  I was excited to see them and me and Kylie were glad that we could finally see Mesa Falls together, except this time with our little families.

I had to show everyone that Fall is finally coming!  I'm so excited!

After Mesa Falls, we went to Chad's family property to enjoy Mother Nature some more only with a bit of food added to it.  I loved watching Brynn while Kylie helped with food and Peter loved trying to build a fire 'the old fashioned way' with Chad.  

He liked bonding with Brynn as well.

This was a river right behind their house.  Very pretty!

We had Chad and Kylie stayed the night with us and it was fun hanging out with them just like before me and Peter got married.  The next day was Kylie's birthday.  So I asked her what she wanted and she said she just wanted to go pick apples at this local apple orchard.  So that's what we did.

(I didn't take many pictures of that event.  But I got some cool ones of the apples.)

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and Peter and Brynn continued to bond some more.

This weekend was a great way to end our spring break and start fall semester.  We missed them and loved having them over. We are excited to see them come Halloween!