Doppelganger

I have a brother-in-law named Kaly.

He's a pretty distinctive-looking guy. Josh and I can always pick him out of a crowd at Autzen.

When we were in Vegas, we saw a guy who looks just like him. Almost. It resulted in this picture:

Yes, I posed on purpose just to get a picture of this guy. Josh and I are no strangers to the stealth picture-taking.

Side-by-side:

This is the kind of stuff Josh and I do on vacation. Totes.

Viva Las Vegas

To celebrate our birthdays, anniversary, and for a much-needed break, the ShepAlders went to Vegas over 4th of July weekend! 

It was pretty much a weekend of food, sun (it got up to 111 degrees!), shopping, and walking.

And lions (this one can be seen at the MGM Grand)

We also went to see some shows, like O and Viva Elvis

We went to buffets at Mandalay Bay (where we stayed), MGM Grand (where we stayed the last time we were in Vegas), and Aria (where we saw Viva Elvis). 

We came back later and bought some souvenirs and took some pictures

When I was having a spa day, Josh went out on an adventure of his own to....

You can pretty much guarantee that if he is in proximity to an In n Out Burger, Josh will be there at least once. Me? I prefer a massage and the steam room.

We chose Mandalay Bay:

Because of the pool(s):

Can you spot me in the crowd?

We also sat in the sun a bit but I didn't get even slightly tan.

I did, however, get a lot of reading done

Here are some other things we saw:

 

 Whenever I go to Vegas, I always have fun. But I'm always happy to come home afterward!

When I am 30...

When I am 30 I will be too old to:

Wear brightly colored tights

Wear my hair in braids

Wear my Disneyworld sweatshirt in non-Disney public

Spend all day in bed

Go out in public without makeup:

Wear ironic t-shirts:

But I will be just the right age to:

Listen to NPR (which has become an addiction in the past year)

Go to sleep at 10pm

Wear my glasses without shame (even if I have a "baby prescription")

Have Girls' Nights and not feel bad about leaving Josh behind

BTW, I stole this pic from Paige Miller

Tell stories about what it was like when I was your age:

I'll be 30 in less than a month. Things are going to be different around here!

So, I think you need to be watching this...

Remember when I told you all to watch "So You Think You Can Dance" (affectionately known at my house as "So You Think You Wear Pants")? Well, I was serious. The past few seasons have been so-so, but this season is totes awesome. Like, for serious. The choreography is astounding.

Here is the evidence:

1. My now-favorite couple, Melanie and Marko killing it the first week with this dance where they are statues.



2. Melanie and Marko again in a dance where they are long-time best friends falling in love.



3.. My not-favorite-and-I-think-they'll-be-kicked-off-soon-but-they-did-a-great-job-once couple What's His Name and What's Her Face dancing to a song that will forever remind me of a pregnant Ricki Lake and a greasy Johnny Depp.



4. The women dancing a Black Widow-themed choreography that was both creepy and sexy. (I apologize about the quality-- this is the best version I could find).



5. And I almost forgot this one where Ryan and Ricki are fashion "victims."



I love it! There are tons of other good dances, too, but you will have to discover them for yourselves.

Fly Like a Baby Hawk

We got to meet our new nephew yesterday when we drove up to Great Wolf Lodge to spend time with my sister's family for my niece Alice's 4th birthday.

Alice was born a couple weeks before Josh and I got married. Here we are singing Beatles songs to her when she was a newborn:

Here she is on her birthday:

I guess there is a book about a little girl that eats so many pink cupcakes she turns pink, so Alice was rubbing the pink cupcakes on herself. It was pretty funny.

I made these:

I was trying to experiment with sanding sugar. The original idea (to have tiaras made from silver sanding sugar) didn't work, and I didn't have tons of time, but of course Alice didn't care. She just wanted pink and purple cupcakes, so everything else was a bonus.

Now for pictures of Hawk:

He is such a good baby. He fussed a little when he was hungry/tired and he drooled A LOT, but he has the cutest smile and is super aware of what is going on around him. 

He is a lot skinnier than I thought he would be and has long arms and legs. I think he's going to be tall. He's just the cutest baby in the whole wide world and has these huge eyes that would make you melt. We love him so much already!

Please Give a Warm Welcome to...

... the newest nephew in my family: Hauxhurst "Hawk"!

He's originally from Ethiopia, but my sister and brother-in-law were (finally) able to bring him home on Saturday. They wasted absolutely zero time putting him in a Ducks jersey and preparing him for his inevitable future as a Duck fan.

The other kids in their family are excited to have him home, too, and they have been preparing for over a year for a new sibling. 

My sister says he's very well-behaved, which might be a byproduct of living in an orphanage, but might just mean he'll be mild-mannered and nothing like my other nieces and nephews (ha ha). 

Previous to Hawk coming home to Oregon, we weren't allowed to post pictures of him due to Ethiopian adoption laws, but this has been big news in my family, and something for which we've been waiting excitedly. 

Hawk's full first name (Hauxhurst) is a family name from my mother's side. The Hauxhursts (my great grandparents) adopted all of their children and established the importance of adoption in my family. Another of my sisters also has an adopted child, and we're very lucky to have both her and Hawk in our lives!

We haven't met him in person yet, but Josh says that he "can't wait to squish baby Hawkeritos." You can look forward to those pictures in a couple weeks!

While Josh is Away, the Cats Will Play!

Josh is gone on High Adventure with the scouts, so he wasn't here today when we got a special present in the mail.

 Mr. F helped me unpack it

Josh and I have talked forever about getting a bigger cat tower for the cats (part of my long term goal to build a cattery in the garage), but finally got around to it. It came disassembled and I didn't think it would be terrible to put together. 

Except the instructions looked like this:

Just a picture. And though the parts in the picture are labeled, none of the individual pieces were labeled. So I had to take it apart again a couple times. And I think we're missing a piece, so I didn't finish it.

 Halfway to awesome

I put it by the window because the cats like looking outside, but they hate it so far. It's too high for them, they're too fat, it wobbles a bit. I put Falkor on the top and it took him five minutes to figure out how to get down.

 Mr. F was a little better, but she also didn't like sitting there for too long.

I couldn't get any pictures of Mercury because she jumped down right away. Oh well.... They'd better get used to it because it isn't going anywhere!