Super Bowl Sunday

We had some friends from the ward over to celebrate good food, (usually) good commercials, and football! 

Damaris is from Brazil and had never watched a Super Bowl before, so it was so fun watching it with her and hearing all of her questions! 

Damaris & Matt

Christian & Jaron 

Delicious spinach dip in a Boudin sourdough breadbowl...mmm!

1 package frozen chopped spinach (comes in a little box)

2 packages Knorr leek soup mix

2 cans water chestnuts, drained

2 cups sour cream

2 cups mayonnaise

1 bunch green onions, chopped

Round sourdough bread, with extra bread for dipping

Thaw & drain spinach. In a large bowl, mix spinach with soup mix, water chestnuts, sour cream, mayo, and onions. Chill in fridge for at least 30 min. Hollow out bread bowl, chopping pieces for dipping and eating any ugly ones. Fill bowl with dip and arrange bread around it. 

The chef & the spread

Ada with her friend Maria who is a few months older than her.

 Giving back Maria's necklace (Ada took it back and Maria's momma let us keep it since she liked it so much) :) 

 Ada loves buttons, Maria is so patient with all of her grabbing!

 The 7 layer dip was a hit as always.

16 oz. can refried beans (I used Rosarita's zesty salsa and they were so good!)

Half packet of taco seasoning 

2 avocados

Fresh lemon juice

Garlic powder

8 oz. sour cream

4 1/2 oz. can of olives

2 large tomatoes, diced

1 small onion, chopped

4 oz. can chopped green chiles

1 1/2 c. (6 oz.) shredded cheese

Combine beans and taco seasoning (I've also combined it with the sour cream, either way is yummy.) Spread in bottom of pan. 

Chop avocados, squeeze lemon juice in to prevent browning. Mash and mix with sour cream, layer on top of beans.

Drain olives and sprinkle on top. Follow with tomatoes, onions, chiles, and finish with cheese.

Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy!

The Mathews' Visit!

The weekend of March 21st, we were lucky enough to have the Mathews Family come visit us here in CA! They live in St. George and took a road trip out here. Cortney was Matt's Trainer on the mission, and they are the best of friends. He and Emily have the most adorable little boy, Corbin:

Sandy took on watching Corbin like a little bodyguard...it was the cutest thing! They followed each other around everywhere.

We took them out to Port San Luis for some family pictures.

Aren't they the greatest looking family?!

I think Corbin was watching Matt dance around in this shot...

We had fun looking at the seagulls and sea lions.

We tried our very hardest to talk them into moving out here...even Nana got in on the promotion of beautiful Santa Maria, CA!

This is my favorite picture of the whole trip.

The day after they left, I told Matt, "I miss Corbin." He is such a fun kid and has the best little personality!

Come visit us again soon...we love you guys!

WPPI in Vegas!

My friend, Jasmine, told me about this convention. (Check out her beautiful photography here.) It sounded so cool, and she ever-so-gracefully invited me to go with her! Her adorable girls have made appearances on this blog before...here, here, and here. I'm kind of obsessed with their cuteness.
Back to WPPI...
It was indimidating, informative, inspirational (I ran out of i's...so much for alliteration), exciting, overwhelming, wonderful, and fun.
I realized that I have a lot to learn as a photographer.
I also learned that everybody has to start somewhere! So here I go...starting my beginning of becoming a great photographer.

Click on the collage to see close-ups of some fun we had!
Yes, we stayed at the Hooters hotel. I giggled every time someone asked where we were staying!

Feeling Pretty Crafty!

Last Saturday was 2nd Ward's Super Saturday!
They were kind enough to invite us 3rd Warders for the fun :)

This is what I am most proud of! I LOVE IT!!!
We didn't have any Thanksgiving decor, so I'm glad there is one thing I can hang on the wall now.

This little plate was too cute to pass up.
I can just picture Christmas cookies on it now!

This one is kind of hard to see. It's a 9x13 pan that I etched our last name into the bottom. So neat!
I won't ever lose a pan again! Unless someone else named Miller takes it...

Question: Do you guys think that this vinyl craze is just a phase?? Like will our kids look back on this stuff and go, "Mom! That's so 2008!!! Gross!"

Hiking With Tiana Marie!

On Veteran's Day, Tiana and I went hiking up in SLO.
We hiked up Poly Canyon where there are all of these weird houses built by students in the architecture program.
It was so cool! Who knew all of this crazy stuff was back there?

The arch where you enter.

I thought this one looked like Luke Skywalker's house!

Our little horsey friend Tiana fondly named, "Boots."

Mrs. Parker in the Shell House!

Friends for 21 years!

View of some structures from the top.

Beautiful sunset on our drive home.
I'm so glad we got out and did something together, it was so fun to catch up.
Sometimes I feel like I see her less now than when she lived in Idaho; her and Josh live in Santa Maria now!
We need to make a habit of this :)

Lindsay Is Here!!!

And so is Thomas Bird! He met us at Avila Beach on Friday. Thomas and I met when we were 14 years old at Education Week! 

Look how little we were! Can you tell which two we are?

We kept in touch through the years, then met up when I moved to Provo. He was one of my close friends that kept me sane while living through those awful winters! He's thinking about moving here...

how could you not love this area?! I'm a little bias, but seriously. We're spoiled. 

Lindsay flew in from Utah on Thursday night. She is going to UVU and Interning at KUTV in Salt Lake. She loves it! I'm hoping she comes and works at KCOY next summer!

Lindsay brought the umbrella, of course. I joined her for a picture...then back into the sun :) 

I have to soak up the rays before school and work start on Monday!  

Matt and Sean came up and met us for the Farmer's Market Avila has on Fridays. We had yummy fish tacos and, with a little hinting, my sweet hubby got these gorgeous lilies for me :) We wanted crepes for dessert, but didn't see Sarah & John's stand! :( So we settled for mini doughnuts instead. 

Celebrating All Weekend

Friday morning at 5:45 AM Matt and I went to wait in line for two of these!

Here's my cute nephew Gray (he's so modern at 6 months old) and my father-in-law Marc waiting in line with us. I refuse to have my picture taken that early. 

I absolutely LOVE mine! It took a while to get it activated with Apple's systems being overloaded, but since it's been up and running I haven't put it down. My mom was teasing us on Sunday, Matt and I were completely absorbed in our phones and not even paying attention to each other. "Nice anniversary gifts! You guys are ignoring each other!" Haha  

One of my favorite things about this incredible phone: it is a LIGHT SABER!!!! How much cooler can you get than that?! Yes, I realize that I am a nerd. And yes, I have been Princess Leia for Halloween before. Buns and all.

Diana sent us chocolate-covered strawberries for our anniversary :) YUM! Thanks ma-in-law! 

Matt snuck one before I could even take a picture!

. . . 

On Saturday we went down to Santa Barbara for the French Festival! 

This weirded me out. They put their country's flag on the dumpster! Hmm???

Matt eating a Nutella crepe

Me loving my Nutella and strawberry crepe!

Trying to perfect the Mona Lisa smile...

Gotta love SB and the crazy bums!

Matt getting the guillotine treatment

The Millers & Parkers @ Le Tour Eiffel

Both of our hubbies served their missions in France, so it was fun for them to talk to people in French. While Tiana and I talked to each other. :)

Later that night we babysat the Jesters.

This is their baby boy, I am in love with him!

I want my babies to look like him :)

Matt playing Wii with the boys

Joshy's adorable little face! This picture makes me so happy...such a cutie pie!

Mikayla loved playing with my camera, I have 20 more pictures just like this :) Every time she'd see the picture she'd laugh and go, "It's me!!"

. . . 

Sunday for brunch Matt made us true French toast! Yummy. 

Monday night Nana & Bobba took us out to Olive Garden for dinner, but I forgot to take pictures. They are the perfect example of a wonderful marriage. I hope Matt and I are still as much in love as they are in 50 years! 

Thanks to everyone who made our 2nd Anniversary a great one!