Summer in Sandpoint - Personal Post Part 3

Finally, the last post from our Summer 2014 travels.
Truthfully, I wrote this post first about a month ago... but my OCD made me post in chronological order.

To see the other posts from our summer, check these out:
PART 1: IDAHO
PART 2: CALGARY

This summer my husband and I were able to take some time to head back West and see our families.  We spent a couple weeks in Idaho with my in-laws that were wonderfully relaxing and stress free, then we came back to Iowa and moved into our new place, then headed to Alberta to spend time with my folks (yes - it was a busy month and a half for us!).  We spent the first week in Calgary and then spent the second week in Sandpoint, Idaho where we have vacationed every summer since I was little.

Let me start this post off by saying I am in no ways an iMovie pro! I've literally made 2 movies in my entire life and this is the first one I've ever shared.

I'm SO happy I put this video together of our trip... because just a couple weeks later, our wonderful boat was stolen, so this was our last summer cruising around in this boat.  We've had some fun memories with it, but things are things, so there will be more memories made in the future with whichever boat we get to replace this!

Sandpoint 2014 from Kandice Stewart on Vimeo.


We spent every day on the water from morning until sunset. Our last night in Sandpoint, we wake surfed well after the sun had gone down and pulled out a spotlight so we could still see the water. We had a blast tubing. My little brother was accident prone - from skateboarding wipeouts leaving his shoulder and hip scraped up, tubing wipeouts that split his nose open, and then slicing his fingers on the blade of the wake surf - I'm shocked we didn't take him to the hospital.

All in all, it was a fun week with family on a gorgeous lake.

And now for just a few pictures from our trip...

Summer in Calgary - Personal Post Part 2

I'm a little behind on blogging about our summer... but here is part 2 of 3.

To read about our time in Idaho (Part 1) look HERE.

Time with my family was spent in Calgary, Alberta (below) and Sandpoint, Idaho (Part 3, coming soon) where my family has been vacationing since I was young.

During our time in Calgary I of course had to go to all my favorite eats (Vietnamese, Sushi, Chinese, Poutine, etc), eat all my favorite candy/junk food (sour soothers, big turks, cheezies, etc) *yes.. i love to eat*, and spend some mommy-daughter time getting Pedi's... but more than that - I got to spend time with my family and finally meet my newest niece and nephews.

My two older brothers and my sister all welcomed new babies in May and June, and blessed them all in our Church the Sunday we got to Calgary.  Let me just say - if 3 squishy chubby babies doesn't make you melt, there is something wrong with you!

Here are a few photos from our trip! :)

All family who came to the baby blessings...

We failed to get a family picture of just us Palmers, 

but these are my older sibs and their spouses, newest babies, and my parents.

I was in heaven snuggling these tiny little bodies! 

#palmertriplets

(sorry for the over-exposure)

Evidence we were there too!

This sweet little lady is my fiery Irish grandma. She's hilarious!

As if being with family (and new babies) isn't enough fun on its own, we also timed the trip perfectly and were able to get there in time for the Calgary Stampede.  In the 4+ years Brady and I have been married, we've never made it up to the Stampede (which is one of my favorite things to do in the summer!).  My dad's business has an annual Stampede BBQ on the first day of the Stampede that they've done every year for... a long time.  30+ years?  So we got to spend our 4th of July serving burgers and raffling off prizes in our western gear (except that Brady was sure to show his American Pride celebrating Independence Day in Canada... don't worry - I paid tribute to the holiday as well!). 

We didn't spend as much time at the Stampede as I would have liked to, but we ate greasy food, deep fried oreos, saw the chuckwagon races, and went to the Grand Stand Show. 

... and maybe did a tiny bit of gambling.

Time with family and time in Calgary just never seems long enough.

Stay tuned for the third and last post from our summer with family.

The next post highlights our trip to Sandpoint, and includes a movie I made.. so no judging!

Summer in Idaho - Personal Post

This summer Brady and I took advantage of his summer break to go home and visit our families.  We spent the first half of June in Shelley, Idaho with his family where we got to relax and finally enjoy some quality time together (because time together is few and far between during medical school), as well as see family we hadn't seen in almost a year.

It was absolutely glorious to sleep in, lay in the sunshine, and not have a care in the world - however the best part of those two weeks was enjoying our time with his wonderful family and all of our sweet nieces and nephews.  We even got some fabulous family photos taken by my friend Andrea.  :)

Evening at the Park - Des Moines Family Photographer

Last weekend we went to the park with some friends and played with all their little munchkins.  As the sun was setting the light was absolutely gorgeous, so I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to photograph this little gal.  Sweet little Mila is such a doll and has the cutest smile! :)  See for yourself!

 

The 10 Marriage Commandments

A friend of mine posted a great article about the 10 Commandments of Marriage on her personal blog "The Daily Debut" (original article found at www.deseretnews.com), and I thought I'd put together a similar post sharing these 10 Commandments because I think they are so important in maintaining a healthy marriage!

The 10 Commandments of Marriage

1. Thou shalt show respect. Every individual deserves respect. In a marriage, it is never appropriate to demean your spouse, and physical violence is never ever acceptable in any relationship. If your marriage is disintegrating into squabbling and fighting, remember that sometimes it's better to be happy than to be right.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Thou shalt be affectionate. The quickest way to pep up a marriage is to throw in a little love. Just being in close physical proximity to your spouse can take your relationship from meh to marvelous. Hold hands, kiss your spouse goodbye and hold on a little longer when you hug.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Thou shalt communicate. Your spouse has a lot of wonderful qualities, but he or she has never been and will never be a mind reader. Chances are, your spouse wants to give you the world, but you'll have to tell him or her what you need. Own your feelings and be honest about emotions.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Thou shalt forgive. Ruth Bell Graham famously said, "A good marriage is the union between two good forgivers." We all make mistakes. Yet sometimes those mistakes hurt the person we love the most — our spouse. Be generous and forgiving when your spouse makes a mistake and your spouse will be more quick to forgive your indiscretions.
   
   
   
5. Thou shalt be kind. We have a mantra in our house: kind words, soft answers. Think back to how you spoke to your spouse when you were still dating and aim to keep that kind communication throughout your entire marriage.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Thou shalt be appreciative. Make a conscious choice to let go of little annoyances and devote more mental energy to thinking about all the things you love about your spouse. Your spouse does a lot for you; let them know that you are appreciative.
   
   
   
7. Thou shalt be loyal. Adultery is the quickest way to kill a marriage. Protect your marriage by avoiding the slippery slope towards infidelity. In our world of constant contact through cell phones and social media, keep all your interactions innocent. If you're not sure if your behavior is appropriate imagine how you would feel if your spouse was engaging in the same behavior.
   
   
   
8. Thou shalt find balance. Cultivate friendships and hobbies that complement but are not dependent upon your marriage. At the same time, spend quality time with your spouse every day. You'll be a better spouse if you are a well-rounded person.
   
   
   
   
   
9. Thou shalt be honest. It's never OK to lie to your spouse, even if the lie seems inconsequential at the time. No good ever came from lying.
   
   
   
10. Thou shalt make decisions together. Avoid major marital drama by coming up with a game plan for life as a couple. All major decisions, including jobs, homes, children, and how to spend money, need to be agreed upon by both parties. In an equal marriage, both spouses should feel that their opinion is valuable and carries weight.
    
    
    

And now for one of my favorite Marriage quotes of ALL time:

"Marriage is a gift from God to us; 

the quality of our marriages is a gift from us to Him."

- Elder L. Whitney Clayton

I'm grateful for my own sweetie who is an absolute Rockstar when it comes to these commandments - and who is so patient with me when I fall short and could use a little work!  But that's what it's all about - W.O.R.K.!  May we all try a little harder to be the best spouse we can be in order to better strengthen our marriages!

Happy Blogging! :)