Introducing Boris Karloff

Boris Karloff is the newest member of our family.

No, not this guy!


This little guy!!




I know he looks like he's frowning, but he's actually happy to be here. We rescued him from a dirty little cup at walmart. We would have rescued them all... but apparently, if you put more than one beta in a bowl together, they will kill each other. Greaaaaat. So, Boris is the lucky one. I hope he's grateful ;)

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!

Yes everyone... At long long last......


WE HAVE THE INTERNET AT OUR APARTMENT!! FIRST TIME SINCE WE'VE BEEN MARRIED!!!! (That's six months, guys. six flippin' months.)


HOORAY!! Let's celebrate by posting more blog posts? I say yes.

Rabbit Hole and Barn House

Hello all,

I am so happy to say that we no longer live in a rabbit hole! Hooray! ...as much as I adored our first place, I must admit that it was incredibly tiny.

So here's the story (pay close attention, it's a little confusing)-

Our home teacher, Sam S., belongs to an extended family in our ward who own a lot of property in the area. What they don't live in, they rent. I would say at least 1/4 of our ward is probably owned by someone of the S. family. When Sam S. Came to visit us, he saw what a tiny little place we were living in and told us about a house owned by Sam S. sister (we will call her C.S.). C.S. lives far away, and so Sam S. and his wife take care of the house for her. It also so happens that Sam S. and C.S. also have another sister who lives in Nathan's parent's ward. This other sister has known Nathan forever, and recommended to Sam S. that we would be great tenants and would take good care of the place. (which we have already begun doing and are loving it). So, we worked very hard and sold our lease to the Rabbit Hole, and moved into the lovely and spacious basement of C.S. house (aka Barn House, due to the barn-like shape of the roof) - right around the corner from said Rabbit Hole. WE LOVE IT!! IT IS HUGE!! AND ONLY $50 MORE PER MONTH!!! Best thing is, we get to stay within our fabulous ward that we have fallen madly in love with.

There is another member of the S. family, a cute single BYU girl and her cute BYU friend living in the top half of the house, and things are getting along swimmingly. Our responsibilities include taking care of the yard and making minor repairs around the place, should the need arise. I actually mowed the lawn last night and attempted to thwart some of the weeds that are slowly taking over the yard (NOT FOR LONG!). Heh heh heh.

We are also going to paint apartment and repair some serious holes in the walls, and any cost of improvements we make will be taken off the top of our rent/deposit. Sweet huh? I love to paint and I am SO excited! Hooray!

So you say you want to come visit? Please do! We have plenty of room, and even a sofa bed to accommodate! You can make friends with our newest addition, Boris Karloff the Beta.

Well, that is all. I need to go to Vertebrate Zoology now. Hooray for hagfish and lampreys.

Oh p.s. pictures to come :)

New cell number!

Hi friends,

I thought I would just let you know that I got a new cell phone.. it is an awesome one indeed! (See below) However, in order to get this cool cell phone, I had to give up my awesome number. Sad day. So, please update your phone books now: Katy W. Ives 801.836.6246

Thanks!

Sandy Midnight Moon Run 5k

Last night (or really this morning at 12:00 am) we ran the the Sandy Midnight Moon Run 5k. It was so fun! The course was really hilly, but I beat my former fastest time by a whole 7 minutes! Yahooo! This was my first race ever, and it was way better than I thought it would be! Hooray!

Everybody who ran: Nathan's mission buddy Ben Coles, Nate's sis. Rachel, Me, Rachel's sister-in-law Shannon, and Allison.




Nathan & Clint came to support us, which was great :)

July the 4th.. aka Indepedence Day

The forth of July turned out to be a Fabulous, patriotic day!

The day started out with a lovely picnic with Clint & Allison at Nielson's Grove....









...and Clint made a DELICIOUS apple pie! How American!



After a delicious barbecue at the Ives' house, some of us went to the Pleasant Grove City Fireworks, which were FANTASTIC this year... I am telling you.. having a full-time fire department makes a difference on the forth of July. No more lame fireworks!

This is Nate, me, and our nieces Camilla & Peyton, and hovering in the background is our nephew Parker...





Then we met back up with Dad, Clint & Allison for a few driveway fireworks....













Happy Independence Day!

P.s. If you are out there, reading my blog right now, please take a moment to shoot me a comment! I want to know that someone is reading this stuff!

Summer So Far...

Summer has been good to the Ives so far. Here are some of the magical things we have done so far....

Sam & Darla got married....



...and Nathan was the Best Man.




There was a memorial day hike up to Battle Creek Falls....
Pictured L to R Kathy Strode, Allyssa Monson, Josh Monson, Renae Monson, Nathan & Me



...and we visited the cemetery.






Clint & Allison met our niece, baby Lillian Monson...



...and Lily loved Clint :)




I came home one night to find Nathan washing dishes like this, the dear....




We went to the Strawberry Days Rodeo...





...and Allie discovered the beauty of Strawberries & Cream






The old roommates got together because my BFF Mary came home from her mission...



...and some of us took a tour of the conference center on that Sunday afternoon.




I've decided to do the 4th of July in it's own post, so tune in next time for more summertime adventures!