When you join the Berrey family...

When Ben and I were dating I remember him telling me that he wasn't that fond of golf. My first thoughts were, 'When we get married that is certainly going to change'...and so it has. When you join the Berrey (my maiden name) family, you inevitably learn to love golf. As soon as Ben got his own golf clubs (from my parents, of course) he was immediately hooked to the game. How hooked?...well, while I was in labor with Emma guess what he was watching on TV?...a golf tournament-the British Open. My sister-in-law Elizabeth has also taken up the game. And my neice Shayla asked my parents for her own golf clubs for her 8th birthday. So golf is just a way of life for the Berreys. So it will make sense when I tell you that we took Emma golfing with us when she was just 11 months old. Start em young...Well, actually, when I was ~6 months pregnant Ben and I went golfing...I carried my own clubs and everything.

Here are a few pics of our golf outing with Emma, while we were in Idaho/Utah...and a fun pic of my little family at BYU (you can see the Y way up on the Mountain)...go COUGARS!



My dad is showing Emma a golf ball and golf glove...lessons from Grandpa.

I really like this picture.
Emma loved riding on the golf cart...she loves anything that makes wind blow in her face.
Ya gotta wear a hat when golfing! Emma wasn't a fan of her sunglasses.

Red is my new favorite color!

I am officially a RED JACKET...woohoo. Most of you are probably wondering, what does that mean?...it means that I have 3 active team members and that my business is growing like crazy. Becoming a red jacket is a sign of hard work, happy customers, and a desire to do great things in Mary Kay. As a red jacket I have also been enveloped into a whole new level of sisterhood within MK...Amanda actually smacked my arse at the end of meeting because I was a part of the group...ha. I wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that...I think I laughed. But anyway, here are a few pics documenting my fun night!

Melissa is my team leader and my new director starting Sept 1st...she is holding the box. Melissa has been an awesome friend and mentor to me. I love that she can see my potential and isn't afraid to give me a challenge.

I love opening presents!

I got a new pin that says "Star Recruiter" and all us Reds said the Red Jacket oath or pledge...or whatever, I don't remember any of it.





All the other red jackets gave me gifts...and all the gifts had to be red. I got some fun stuff. In this pic is Amanda (she is the one laughing) and Mel.






A new red wallet...cool!





Gwen is my adopted director. Gwen is one of the nicest people in the world. She is always so happy to see me and she gives the best compliments! She thinks that Red is definitely my color!





Gwen put Ben on the spot by asking him a few questions, but he has some pretty good answers. I am so glad that he and Emma came to support me....rare are the meetings where spouses and kids are invited. But anyway, Ben has been supportive of my business since day 1 and I am so blessed to have a husband who cheers me on and encourages me to accomplish my goals.

Me and my cute family!

Two of my team members were able to come...Jerusha and Ruth. I am so grateful that they were able to come.


Me and my Red Jacket amigas! Amanda, Judy, me, Melissa, and Mel.

1 year pics and Emma vs. Cupcakes

Here are Emma's one year pictures!...And enjoying her birthday cupcakes!


Emma's Grandma McKee made this dress for her. We took these pictures before the cupcake ones! :)


Emma vs. Cupcakes! Emma's strategy was simply "one cupcake at a time"
The cupcakes didn't have a fighting chance! Emma gobbled them right up!
Whatchu lookin at?
Miss E is our joy! She is so sweet and happy and loving! We love that she gives big kisses and hugs! And we love that she still sticks out her tongue sometimes! We love her dark brown eyes and her chubby legs. We love that she squeals when we play our crawling chasing game. We love how she loves to learn and loves to explore. We love that she is our daughter! She is our angel sent from Heavenly Father! We love you, Emma!

Happy Birthday, Emma!

Emma turned 1 on July 19th! This year just flew by! To celebrate Miss E's birthday we had a combined party with our friends, The Noorda's, whose daughter Kennedy is 3 days older than Emma.

Here we are opening Emma's first birthday present ever! Its from Grandma, of course!...a cell phone!...its one of her favorites now!

These are the cakes Emily Noorda made for the little girls. They each got their own!
Here is the big cake that the rest of us shared. Isn't it just beautiful!?!
Emma wasn't a fan of the party hats...
...especially not in this picture either.
Here are the birthday girls right before getting their cakes.
Okay, so this is the cake before and after Emma dug into it. She licked frosting from her fingers a few times and that was about it. She is very dainty and clean I guess.
Ben helped Emma open her gifts...someday she will appreciate the gifts more than the wrapping and packaging.
Emma loves turtles.

Our thanks goes out to our friends who came to her party. We appreciate all of your love and support. It was a great day!

Our Bix Baby Champ!

Emma "ran" in the Bix this year! She was a Diaper Dash champ! Go Baby Go!


READY!!! Here is Emma and Daddy right before the big race!
SET! Here they are lined up on the carpet! (sorry it's a little fuzzy)
GO!!! Emma wasn't sure what to do...she got really sad. Then she spotted me across the carpet and then took off like a rocket!
Great job, Miss E! You can still see a few tears in her eyes! I was so proud that she crawled to me! She was a speed racer!
Emma's first medal!
As tradition (as seen by Nadal after winning Wimbledon), Emma had to bite her medal.

Escape From Iowa...literally, we took our Escape

We drove out of Iowa in our Ford Escape on June 12th, but the inevitable happened...our fun family-filled vacation came to an end, and on July 10th we returned to our home in the corn country known as Iowa. We enjoyed our little escape from the humidity and "everydayness" of our life in Iowa, but at the close of our western adventure we were ready for our usual lives to resume. Here is a picture recap of our Escape from Iowa.

Okay, so this first picture is of a car we saw during one of our stops on the way to Idaho. This poor car has a boo-boo...I hope that bandaid makes it feel better...ha.

We broke the trip to Idaho into 2 days! Thankfully, our friends Nicky and TJ let us stay at their house in Lincoln, Nebraska! They were so fun and nice, and as you can see, Emma enjoyed the attention from Kaylee and Malia!
Our first weekend in Idaho we celebrated Father's Day and Ben's birthday! Check out that cake my mom and I made...and nevermind that it was leaning a bit...it was "scrumtrelescent"
Here is my Dad and Emma. Emma would try to copy everything Grandpa said! And check out the background...that is the view from my parent's deck! I love that view...I miss it!
Here is Emma and her new bestfriend (besides her white teddy). My Mom held Emma for over 2 weeks straight! And Emma was so sad to leave Grandma...she actually cried when we had to leave...sad, but so sweet!
Ben spent most of his time on the golf course! He is getting really good!...one day he and my brother, Mike, and Nephew, Alec, played 33 holes! And Ben and I played with our friends Sterling and Ellen Davis. We played in Poky and in Rexburg...on 2 different occasions (just in case you were wondering).
I enjoyed golfing during the break, too. I didn't get to play nearly as much as Ben because I was a Mary Kay machine during the trip (more on that later), but I loved playing with Ben. He would always give me good encouragement if I had a bad shot. In this picture I actually have my Invisalign in...you can't tell...because its supposed to be invisible...ha. I was way excited to get Invisalign because my bite needs aligning...perfect.
Okay, so I think I did 7 Mary Kay parties during my trip...thats right...tax write off!...did I mention that our trip was 3700 miles? But more importantly, I was finally able to give facials to my family and friends (and a ton of my mom's friends) back home. This picture is of my sister-in-law Elizabeth, my Grandma Berrey, and my Aunt Dawn after our facial party...lookin good girls!!!
We spent the last week of our trip in Provo, Utah. We arrived at midnight and Emma woke up when we got her out of the car. And so of course Ben's mom, Becky, wanted to hold her. I can tell that Emma was still in a sleepy daze because we put the sunglasses on her and she actually kept them on! And check out the mohawk!...we gave her a bath right before leaving Poky.
Here are a few fun pictures of Emma I took in my parent's yard after church. Thanks for the outfit, Emily!

Here Emma is saying goodbye to Uncle Dave (my brother) and Aunt Elizabeth. They only got to stay a few days in Poky...for Dave's 10 year high school reunion.

Lets see...a few other highlights from Poky were BBQing on my parent's deck, seeing Sterling and Ellen so much, seeing old high school friends (Sam and Shauna!), just relaxing, playing the piano, helping my Grandma, and having lunch with my Aunt Dawn.

A few fun highlights from our Utah time were hanging out with Ben's Mom, sister Emily, JR, and Kayla Ray, hanging out with our friends Ryan and Erin (and Sadie) and going to Sadie's baby blessing, going to lunch with my mom and her sisters and my Grandma Eyring (and giving them Mary Kay facials, too), seeing my Little One, Lupita, and her hubby Jason so much.

Sometimes everyone just needs an escape from real-life...and our Escape literally took us far far away for a while. I certainly wouldn't consider Iowa confinement or anything, but we do consider it a "temporary" home.