So I'm a Little Behind

Neil and Nate have been best friends since high school! So it's so fun when we all get to hang out together. This time we all went on a tour of the conference center, where one of their other good friends' parents serve, the Brodericks.

If you ever want a tour, it's always free and go on a Sunday afternoon, you might be lucky enough to have the Broderick's as your tour guides!

March is also our Anniversary. Coincidentally, the Warner's anniversary is two days away from ours, so we decided to celebrate and get away from the cold with a trip to St. George!

We went swimming at the Aquatic center which was the highlight of the kids' trip. We could have stayed their all day if we would have let them.

The slide and the leap pads were the best part. All of the kids, even our little Carter, went down the big slide by themselves. As long as they had a life jacket, they were free to be alone. I'm not sure how many times they all went down, I lost count!

We celebrated dinner back at the house (we rented) Alyson and I cooked dinner while the boys went out. We sent them on sort of a scavenger hunt to find something that reminded them of the past, present and future our of marriage. The boys were super creative and we had a wonderful night!


A trip to St. George wouldn't be right without stopping at Snow Canyon to play in the super soft sand!



They tried to build a sand castle, it sort of worked...

Our biggest EmmaLee is almost finished with Kindergarten. They held a special VIP night for the kids and their families. They showed off all of their work, we watched a video of all of the kids, popcorn and more and more art projects! I was more than impressed! She has been in a great class and has learned so so much!

EmmaLee and McKay. They have been in the same class for the last two years. They have been such great friends! We are going to miss McKay next year!

One of the many of EmmaLee's art projects. This was the president/America section.

Now off to St. Patricks Day! We were watching our cute nephews and thought it would be fun to make Leprechaun traps. Seriously, these boys and EmmaLee had the best time!! I made green cookies to try to lure the Leprechauns in with the delicious smell. However, the next morning, we found that none of the traps worked, those Leprechauns were too smart! But they did leave a green treat.

City Creek! This is a great addition to Downtown. I wouldn't say that I would shop there regularly. There are some pretty high class stores, but it's fun to walk around and enjoy the atmosphere. We went on the opening weekend where the kids got balloons, paintings, and we even got our faces drawn by a cartoon artist.

Here's EmmaLee's cute face

We played at their indoor playground after eating lunch.

See, I have a million things to catch up on, I've been way behind! Neil's coworker gave him tickets to the University of Utah Gymnastics so EmmaLee and I were lucky enough to go! It was the Pac 12 championships. U of U took 2nd, and it was such a fun girls night out. They boys also had their night out, they got to go to the REAL game the same night.

March is also the month of EmmaLee's birth. I can't believe my little girl is 6! We had two parties for her this year, one with my side of the family and one with Neil's. Our house is too small to combine. Here she is holding cute Carson

Opening presents

Blowing out candles

Let's not forget my three sister-in-laws who are pregnant. We had a baby shower for Amanda at Cafe Rio.. Yum!

The three beautiful sisters!

She got lots of fun stuff and we can't wait for all of these babies to get here!

Back to Em's birthday... this one at the Scott's

She is such a sweetheart. She is a great helper. Always wanting to do what's right. She is learning to read and doing awesome! She reads mostly by herself the scriptures every night and her books that she gets from school. She is a great big sister, almost too great! She is very sensitive to Carter and would do anything for him, even clean his room for him if he's sad and doesn't want to. (This, I'm teaching her she can't do, or he'll never learn!) But that's just her personality. Always wanting the best for her family and friends. She loves to sing and can't wait to start taking piano lessons. She is a huge blessing and we love her so much! Happy 6th Birthday EmmaLee!

Last event, I promise! This is the Easter Egg hunt at the Scott's. After Carter filled his basket he was done. It was funny, he wasn't even interested in getting more.

All of the grandkids

EmmaLee's treasures

And finally the kids on Sunday in their Easter outfits. (EmmaLee's dress was actually a birthday gift from her Aunt, but I thought it was perfect for Easter!) This was the only picture I was able to get that day. We went to Church and remembered the Resurrection and how blessed we are to have that promise in our lives. It was a wonderful reminder and a wonderful day!

30 years!

Thanks to Pinterest, this is the birthday cake I made for Neil for his birthday! I Loved the way it turned out, and it tasted awesome too!

Since Neil was turning 30, yes, I did say 30!! I wanted to do something extra special. For weeks and weeks I teased him, telling him that I was going to throw him a huge party with all of his friends and family with balloons, party hats.. etc. This is something that he wouldn't necessarily love, not because he doesn't love his friends and family, but he hates all of the attention. But I loved teasing him to make him think he was going to be part of an embarrassing celebration! It started off on a Friday, he was at work, so I dropped the kids off at Grandma's. Thanks a ton to Grandma! So when he got home, he was surprised to see the kids weren't home. We then went to Winger's with some great friends! Mindy and I planned a trivia game which involved money, $30 to be exact! (Joel turned 30 also) It really was such a fun night out with everyone! Then I took Neil to Little America. We found out, when showing up that Mitt Romney was there and they and all of his many guests were just leaving their $1000 dinner! Darn, we just missed out on that one!

The breakfast was AmAzInG!! I should have taken a better picture of the food, but I'm telling you, go to Little America to eat if you've never been there. You won't be disappointed. Yum!

This was the view from our room, besides the huge parking lot below, everything else was really fun to look at.

I don't know how to express how much I love this man! I truly can say he is my best friend. We have been through so much together and as times get hard, we've only gotten stronger. I Love Love Love him!

Later that night since I had teased him about this huge party, I told him that I had reserved the church, to get him a little nervous. But really it was just his family there to do what he loves, sports! It's his second love, besides me, right? Yes, this man loves to play sports!

The kids loved running and getting their energy out as well!

Setting up the volleyball net, one of Neil's favorite sports.

And basketball...

Happy birthday to my Love!

It's been on my mind...

So as so of you may know, or not know, in November we had a baby with Anencephaly. Which basically is the absence of a large part of the brain and the skull. Symptoms: Absence of the skull; Absence of the brain (cerebral hemispheres and cerebellum); Facial feature abnormalities; Heart defects. This is in the same family as spina bifida. However with spina bifida you have a chance of survial, with anencephaly you have a zero chance of living. It's basically black and white, there are no chances of survival, no matter what you try to do. The sweet baby is, as sad as it is to say, brain dead.
As hard as this is to swallow, we've had to relive this situation over and over lately (due to insurance issues) and what I know now, I wish I would have known then. When we were told about this situation, we were completely in shock. I mean shock! I didn't know what to say or how to function. I didn't know what questions to ask? I didn't know all of the facts at the time, but at that time, if this makes any sense, I didn't know that that I didn't know all of the facts. We just followed what we were guided to do. With not knowing much about this condition, we trusted our doctors and radiologists. They advised us that we should have a D&C while the baby is still small to avoid risks to the baby and mother. We followed this advise and felt comfortable, although very very saddened that we had to lose our sweet baby! We were emotional, but felt that at no matter what point of delivery, the outcome was the same, no viable baby.
As time has gone on, I have learned a lot about anencephaly. Maybe more than I can handle sometimes. I worry about what people think. I worry and think about the situation every day. I think about this sweet baby who has been blessed now with a great life in Heaven. I know this baby is happy and has forever changed my life. What I've learned from this situation is that first, we can't take life for granted and second, even when in such a hard situation, ask questions and learn as much as you can about the situation you've been presented with. Know every option. (Even if you think you know every option!)

To our baby,
We love you forever!

February Fun!

Daddy Daughter Dance!!

This was such a fun date! EmmaLee's school hosted a valentines date for the girls (princesses) and the Dad's (pops) They had a DJ come from radio Disney, they played tons of games and EmmaLee even won a drawing! (A sweet OGIO backpack!)

Love to see the difference in height. So precious.

On Sunday February 12th, I hosted a February Birthday party for my side of the family, I had the funnest time planning all of the food, games and decorations.

We had lots of people show up for an awesome night! This is my newest great-nephew (Ethan) and his new Grandma (my sister Jean)

The February Birthdays... Jodie, Neil, Jennifer, Laura and Indie!

Hanging out in the kitchen, Justin, Michael, Tyrell and Travis

Me and my niece Val!

Cute Jennifer opening her gifts!

And Cute Indie!

And of course my sweetest husband Neil.. who by the way is 30 this year!! More partying to come... details later.

Since Jodie is 40 this year, I did all of the decorations purple, because if you know Jodie, you know that that's her favorite color.

She got lots of fun stuff, including a purse filled with candy, that was all around 40 years ago. Some of those include, FunDip, Bit O Honey, Pop Rocks, and Big Hunk.... and lots more.


All of the kids kept entertained by playing dress up, we also got a fashion show along with it!

Another great-nephew, adorable Carson!

And finally, for Valentines this year we were given a bunch of old books (but hey, new to us!) and we thought that it would be awesome to set out for the morning for the kids to see. They loved it and were busy all morning reading! I would have gotten more pictures of the day, but my battery was dead. Let's just say we had a wonderful Valentines day and are so grateful for amazing family and friends!