Almost Caught...

Jason is building 3 homes in a beautiful new development that will eventually be gated. Unfortunately, we have had a TON of break ins during the construction process. I mean thousands of dollars stolen worth of tools and equipment. It is a perfect place to steal. No one lives there yet and it is dark and the Draper cops haven't done much about it. One time we had finger prints that they refused to run. To make a long story short we had a bad break in 10 days ago and we are SICK of it so we have been having someone sleep at the house waiting to catch the person. Jason slept there 5 out of the 10 days but on Friday night, we had Wes (Jason's brother) sleep there for us and the guy came. He is nuts... he came in with the lights on and a car parked in front of the house. He saw Wes and ran his heart out. Unfortunately, he got away by the time Jason got there or the cops. (I made my first 911 call... I was so nervous!) The bad thing is that he got away but the good thing is... nothing was stolen and we KNOW who he is!! Wes saw him face to face. We actually suspected this guy and we were right. Wes is at the police station meeting with the detective right now to do a line up. Can't wait to catch this guy! We need justice. We'll see what happens... I'll keep you posted.

P.S. I did find my camera at Avaree's gymnastics. That was a relief after we've had all this stuff stolen.

Dinner @ Ruth's Chris

It was a night of fine dining with fine company!!

Katherine and Jim Cottrell... Happy Birthday Jim!! Thanks for spoiling us and TREATING us all. It was supposed to be the other way around. Next time, right?

Dave and Jen Evans.

Gotta love fun date nights and I LOVE my live in babysitters!

BUNKO

This is the Bunko group from the neighborhood. We get together once a month, eat dinner, play bunko, and chat with the ladies! It's such a fun excuse to get together. Aimee Hudak hosted this month and she is the hostest with the mostest! She is so talented. She has the nicest house you've ever seen... decorated by herself and she knows how to choose prizes! Do any of you out there have a bunko group?? If not, do you want to get started?? If so, leave a comment and I'll email you details.

Franny...

I just had to do a little tribute to my dear friend, Francine. We have been friends since Jr High and we still keep in touch ALL the time. Our children are close to the same ages so it makes it even easier to keep in touch because we are in the same stage in life. Francine has been EXTREMELY sick with Crohn's Disease, especially over the past few months. I've been worried sick about her and her little family. She is such a fighter and SO positive about everything she has been going through. Her husband, Adam, is such a sweetheart and has taken over the Motherly responsibilities like a pro. I can't even believe it. I just LOVE the Wright family and want them to know that they are in my prayers everyday!

Fran has lost over 30 lbs and she did NOT have 30 lbs to lose. She is tiny!

Can you imagine what it would be like to NOT have the energy or health to take care of your babies... ages 3 and 1?? It kills me. Fran is such a good Mom.

Attempting dinner one night without her... it was crazy but Adam is handling it great!

Fran has been on some medication that is starting to help her and she got some energy back this week. Yipee! She actually threw a pink princess birthday party for her daughter, Aspen. She is already doing too much but aren't they a cute family in pink?

Happy 3rd Birthday Aspen! Thanks for including us in your big day!

Aspen is one of Avaree's BEST buddies. We have had a lot of fun play dates with this girl lately and we love her! (and her sister Bentley of course)

Francine, Melissa, and I

Hope you continue to get better Fran!

Another friend in my prayers lately has been, Stephanie Johnston, she just gave her Mom a kidney a couple of weeks ago. So far so good but not a fun surgery to recover from. I'm so grateful for GOOD HEALTH!

Mr. Delegate

We attended our first caucas meeting last night and Jason was nominated to be a county and state delegate for our precinct. I know he doesn't want me blogging about this but deep down... I think he really is excited. He is a politic junkie and now he is getting his foot in the door.

(that is his tv watching face)

Easter Weekend

On Saturday, we had a full day planned of Easter activities and I lost my camera! The last time I remember having it is at Avaree's gymnastics so I am hoping it is there. My brother, Trevor, let me use his camera for Easter Sunday at least!

Easter Morn

Avaree with her goodies

The Easter Bunny knew what he was doing by giving Weston a basketball hoop!

All dressed up for church

I wanted to get a cute picture of the kids dressed up so bad but Weston was not in the mood.

Avaree was!

These are the pics I ended up with...

We hope everyone had a great Easter!

We are so EGG-CITED for Spring!

Congrats Baylee!

Baylee made the sophomore softball team at Lone Peak Highschool! I'm excited for her... so far she is starting short stop and doing really well. I'm impressed, daily, with her athleticism. I always played sports and made the teams but never was a starter or the STAR!

One sacrifice is... back to the daily rides. We have to drive her from the Jr High to the Highschool everyday for practices and games. Which is a good 20 to 30 minute drive. We did start a car pool at least but I still have to pick her up every night. (P.S. Baylee burned herself with the curling iron... it is NOT what you think, no boyfriends until she is in college!)

Driving a mini van full of girls! Am I really old enough? It seems like just yesterday I was the one playing!

My kids are troopers, always going along for a ride. The dvd player helps. I don't know how Moms these days live without it!

Easter Really?

So Avaree inspired me...
I just realized that Easter is on Sunday! I can't believe it is so early. I decided to pull out some Easter decor but it just doesn't feel right...

not when my front yard still looks like this! How are you supposed to have an Easter Egg hunt?

St. Patty's Day Tree?

The other day I was in the laundry room folding clothes and Avaree came in and said, "I decorated the Christmas tree, come see Mom!" I thought... okay, what is she talking about? So she took me by the hand and showed me her tree. It was hilarious! She took all her underwear and socks out of her drawer and decorated the plant. This girl is a creative one!

Griff's Basketball Season

Griffin's basketball season just came to an end. His team didn't have the best record but they did awesome in the tournament. They had some intense games... and made it to the championship but unfortunately lost by 3. It was too bad because they were winning most of the game. Griffin had a great season. He plays point guard (#10) and is a great ball handler. I have some naturally talented siblings when it comes to sports. It's been fun to watch the games and see them progress!

Poor Lainey

WARNING...This is SAD! I officially have the sweetest, prettiest chocolate lab ever named Lainey. She is almost 5 years old and she has been so sick. We noticed that she had an ear infection earlier this week so I took her into the vet on Wednesday (actually my brother, Brady did because I couldn't) and they ended up keeping her there overnight to do surgery first thing in the morning. She had the WORST ear infection they've ever seen, an ulcer on the cornea of her eye, and a yeast infection on her face. The poor dog! She is miserable and I'm miserable seeing her like this. She has to wear that cone for 2 weeks and I have 5 different medications to give her twice a day. Seriously?? Dogs are like another child. She should fully recover but right now she is in pretty bad shape!

How sad is that?

She really is the best dog with kids! Avaree and Weston pull her tail, hit her, climb on her and she lets them. I try to teach them to be nice and soft but they love to tease her. She wouldn't hurt a fly and that is no lie!

Look at those eyes... she is normally SO pretty!

P.S. It is snowing right now! I am so ready for SPRING!!

Happy Birthday Hillary

It is one of those birthday weeks. Today was my dear friend Hillary's birthday so we met at good ol Cafe Rio for lunch. Always a yummy choice! Hillary and I have been friends since Jr High and oh, how I love that girl! She has always been one of my favorite people to be around. She is laid back, funny, and the kindest girl you'll ever meet. One thing that I LOVE about Hillary is she can do construction work. How cool is that? She has totally spent weeks working with Jason when Jason has needed her. What girl can do that? I really do cherish my friendship with Hillary and I'm so grateful for the person she is. Love you Hill... hope you had a great day! (and get feeling better soon)

Water For Elephants

This was the book we read for book club this month. It wasn't my favorite. I actually wouldn't recommend it. It had a lot of bad language and the story line wasn't that great. Good enough to keep you interested but not GREAT. Hopefully next months will be better! Thanks to Katherine for hosting. All the food was circus themed... popcorn, cotton candy, little corn dogs, circus peanuts, scones. It was really cute... I wish I would've taken a picture.

Happy Birthday Aunt Josie!

Josephine is Jason's beautiful little sis! Jose is one of a kind. She is funny, smart, photogenic, has great style, and is not afraid to say what is on her mind or to be herself. Josie works as a preschool teacher and is great with children! She has a contagious laugh and knows how to bust a move! Josephine took the missionary discussions and got baptized 3 yrs ago. It was a special day for us. Jason was able to baptize her and Baylee, Griffin, and I all spoke at her baptism. We love you Josie and are so proud of you!! (We hope you had a great day and we are jealous that you are relaxing in Hawaii right now.)

Being Better...

I have been thinking a lot the past couple of weeks about raising children, especially teenagers, in this scary world. I think the Lord gives us experiences to humble us and force us to reflect about what is most important in life. I have been humbled recently. I haven't necessarily been doing anything "wrong". I just know I could do things BETTER. I feel so blessed to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. I don't know how I could raise my children without it? The gospel standards are not to be taken lightly. I feel like (for myself) it is SO important to teach the gospel in my home and have spiritual moments with my children as often as I can. It is our responsibility to prepare the children in our homes for the future and for trials they will soon face. It is important. I am learning as I go but I will not be naive to what is out there. I know for myself if I expect my children to live a certain way... I need to live that way. I need to be better at reading my scriptures and attending the temple. It's hard sometimes to fit in but I need to prioritize. (I don't mean to sound preachy... this post is more for me)

On Saturday night, we went to The Old Spaghetti Factory downtown as a family. (one of my favorites) After dinner walked around Temple Square and watched the Joseph Smith movie at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

Me and my kids on the temple grounds. I love Temple Square. It is so beautiful and such a neat place to walk around as a family. Avaree was fascinated by the BIG beautiful white building! She kept telling everyone that Jesus built the temple!

All in all it was a much needed, fun, spiritual night with the people I care most about!

Happy Birthday Azy!

Adreann is one of those friends in my life that was meant to be! We met our sophmore year in highschool and I adored her. I thought she was SO cool and I wanted to know her and be her friend. By the end of highschool she was one of my BEST friends. After highschool we were together non stop. We worked together and moved out together. In fact, I would have never moved out and went away for school if it weren't for Azy. It was our freshman year of college that we met Jason together. (She actually dated Jason first) I'm glad I won him but I would not be where I am today if it wasn't for her. We have a lot of great memories and have been through a lot together. We can go months without talking but I can say that we have been there for eachother for every BIG event that has happened in our lives since we met. I love you Azy!! Whoever wins your heart one day is going to be a lucky man! Happy 28th! (I actually have a lot of funny pictures of the 2 of us but I couldn't get my scanner to work)

NPS

I'm SO excited about some of the deals I just got that I had to share. There is a warehouse in Salt Lake with a ton of crap and random stuff called NPS. They sell everything from food to furniture to clothes to junk. You have to really look to find treasures. My 2 aunts that are designers go there regulary looking for deals and they came across some darling dresses (that were small) so they called me up. I'm so grateful for my personal shoppers!

Real leather bag for 20 bucks

Earnest Sewn jeans (that fit me!) for 30 bucks

BCBG dress for $35

Here is the price tag!

I actually got a handful of dresses because they were ALL 70% off the sale price and I got some shoes. It was a good shopping spree for me! Baylee scored too.

Snowboarding 101

My friend Alison's boys were taking a snowboarding lesson on Monday (because the kids didn't have school) and she talked me into doing one with her. I've always wanted to learn but it is such a process because you need all the gear, it's expensive, and I need a babysitter but I decided to do it and I'm so glad I did!

It was such a beautiful day. My nose got sunburned.

Alison on the lift

Alison snowboarding (I'm actually in the background)

There I am (with my funny blue gloves, they are actually Baylee's. I don't even own a pair)

We spent a lot of time on our bottoms

I am so SORE. I haven't been able to move for the last 3 days.

Us with our private instructor, Eric. All the instructors gave us a hard time for living in Utah most our lives and never snowboarding. (Alison used to ski but I haven't even done that... okay, once) But it was about time I learned!

It was a lot of fun. I'm still not good but at least I can say I've done it and I can make it down the kiddie hill! I am paying for it now though because my body is killing me!! It was a work out. Hopefully I can go again soon to practice what I learned. We'll see.