To Boise with Carmen and Sarah

Right before Christmas we found out that one of Karen's best friend's husband was not doing well at all.  I met Carol and Ed when Dave and I first got married.  They visited often and I always enjoyed visiting with them at Trevino's.  A few years after Dave and I got married Ed got a heart transplant.  I visited them at the hospital.  A few months after that I received in the mail a little box with a paper weight heart in it as well as a Thank You card for our "support" during this time in their life.  I was touched by their kind words and really I hadn't done much other than visit once or twice.


Ed had to come to Salt Lake often to get check ups and see how his body was reacting to his new heart.  It was always a treat to have them in town.  We would go visit and just chit chat.  Although this was not something out of the ordinary for me to do when Karen was still with us, our visits with Carol and Ed formed a friendship that was natural.


After Karen's passing, Carol and I remained close.  We would talk on the phone and exchange emails.  We cried often on the phone as we reminisced of our dear Karen, but we also caught up on each others life, my kids and Ed's condition.  When Ed passed I knew I would be going to Boise to just "be" there for Carol. 


Sarah (who has also been close to Carol), Carmen and I took the overnight trip to Boise, just a few days after Christmas.  Although the circumstances where sad, we still managed to have a good time.  We laughed and cried and we talked, a lot.  Ten hours in the car provides a lot of talking time :)


On our way to Boise, we stopped to visit one of Sarah's college friends and then we dinned at Cafe Rio, YUMMY! 

 (Sarah, Carmen and I)

 Carmen and Sarah at the cemetery.  It was a rainy day and cold!

After the cemetery we went to the luncheon.  Picture above, Me, Carol, Sarah and Carmen. 

It was a surprise to me that Carol asked me to read a paragraph that Ed had written and share a few thoughts during the service.  Below is what Ed wrote for the 20th Anniversary for the Utah Transplant Program: 

“We continue to be amazed at the number of doctors, nurses, therapists, and other professionals and support staff that are involved in this miraculous transplant process.  We will always be grateful to my donor and the donor’s family for their generous gift that made my transplant possible.  We thank all of you for your expertise, dedication, and compassion.  You truly are a great team and we congratulate you for 20 years of working together to extend my life and the lives all transplant recipients.”

I was honored that Carol would asked me to share some words at Ed's Funeral Service.  You never know how your little actions kindness and friendship impact someone's life.  It was my honor to have known Ed and have the friendship that I have with Carol. 

I am also grateful and reminded of the Plan of Salvation.  I find SO much comfort in it and knowing we WILL see our loved ones again.  I just hope that I can live a life that will allow me (and my family) to be with them again. 

Leah's Christmas GNO and Some Extras

Leah has been doing wonderful in school and as a reward she got to invite a few of her friends for a Christmas Party.  Mylo and Milli also got to invite one friend over, it was a lot of fun!  However, 11 kids in our small apartment is not optimal, but still fun!

They decorated cookies with LOTS of frosting and LOTS of sprinkles...

Otis watched, HOPING for some frosting to decorate his non-frosted cookie :) (is he not SO cute!!!!!)

Leah has made some super cute friends this year and continues to be friends with some from last year.  Im looking forward to having these girls over more often.... roudy but FUN girlies!

HOLY FROSTING!!!!

Then, they watched Santa Claus (1).  It was an entertaining movie, cute too. 

 

This was  fun night... perhaps we will do it again :) 

IKEA Trip (again...)

Its not secret that I LOVE IKEA!  Abuela and I both needed to grab some stuff so we ventured down on a Monday.  Abuela watches the kids on Mondays so I can volunteer at the kids school.  This particular day Neve was playing with Milli down stairs and she was able to tag a long with us. 

It was fun to hang out and shop and the kids were SO good, we might just do it again :)

This little man MELTS MY HEART!!!!!!!!! Look at what a cutie pie he is!!!!!!!! I can't get over it. I kiss those cheeks all.day.long and don't ever get tired of it, he does, however :'(

Cookies to Make the House Warm

This was a while back.  It was a WAY cold day and Mari and I decided to make cookies and warm up our house.  It was, as always, fun!

Below is a bunch of pics :)

Cookie cutting....

Cookie Decorating.... 

and more... 

Cookie Decorating Goof Ball.... 

(although, I do think my bear is quite cute.  She even has a "pearl" necklace!)

Rockwell was sharing grains of rice with Otis :) 

I haven't made sugar cookies since that day.  They are SO much work!!! But it sure was fun. :)

Thanksgiving Day

This year we did something we have never done before, we spent T-day with friends. These friends are not just any friends, they are like family to me, and therefore to us :)

We had a fantastic time with them.  It was delicious, fun, adventurous and at one point disappointing...

 I love Maricela and her family. I am grateful to have her in my life 

(almost daily really, except for Wednesday and Sunday, LOL! Wednesday 'cause H is off of work and Sunday cause its nap time or one of us is at church.  

I never could have imagined that running would give me one of the best gifts life has to offer, friendships)

 

 Dinner was SUPER yummy.  The turkey was perfect, the gravy was good, the sides were all yummy.  The only disappointment, and I am only writing it down so we can look back at this an laugh in years to come, was the rolls.  We attempted to make beautiful fresh rolls and it the midst of trying to speed things up we put the rolls to rise in a "warm" oven with plastic ON TOP OF IT and after 15mins of so the dough had baked a third of the way and the plastic had successfully melted over them AND the bowl they were in.  We did have back up roll and they were not good.  Mari made the rolls later that night and they were SUPER yummy. Now we know.  Live and learn :) 

 Not in this picture are Pops and his family :(  I just noticed it.  

The kids were in heaven up at the Young Family Compound.  We hardly saw them :)

 Rockwell and Maricela 

 The kids LOVED hot tubbing in the snow 

 Theresa and "papita" (aka Amaya) I love this woman.  She will give you the shirt off her back if you needed it.  She is also a great cook and a hilarious lady!  On a side note, this picture does not do this baby any justice.  She is GORGEOUS... FOR REAL!

A sweet moment caught on camera.  These two are too cute to watch.  

It was a fantastic time.  On the way home that night Dave and I talked about what a great time it had been and how blessed we are to have the Youngs as our friends.  Great times, that is for sure! 

Educational Saturday

Me, Ameli (Om) and Crissy

Two weeks ago, Crissy gave me a call and said she would be in town for just ONE day.  She lives in Las Vegas, so clearly we dont get to hang out all the time.  She had some very important "business" to take care of at IKEA.  I quickly jumped on board for the adventure.  

Ameli, who is extemly busy, was able to surprise Crissy, when we picked her up at the airport.  We hung out at IKEA and chit chatted like the good ol days.  

We have been friends for a VERY long time now.  We met in the married student ward, way back in 2002.  We have been able to stay in touch through our moves and increased family responsibility.  Life is good when you have friends like these girls.  

Crissy is one of the very smartest people I know. She has incredible amounts of knowledge and she shares it with the not so totally smart (ie. Om and I).  On this particular, fabulous Saturday, Crissy's TOTALLY AWESOME parents met up with us at IKEA and we had lunch together.  Crissy's mom is one amazing woman, I can see the apple does not fall far from the tree.  I had known that for a long time.  However, I had not had the plessure of getting to know Ben, Crissy's dad very well in the past.  OH MY GOODNESS, no wonder Crissy is as wonderful as she is!!! Her parents are fun, caring, funny, passionate and extremely knowledgeable in any subject.  Crissy has had some amazing examples.  

This particular lunch was so educational.  We learned so much from the Crandall's!  I guess, I never realized how much a friendship can so fully bless my life.  I love these girls (Alyssa, should have been there too, to make this a complete weekend, but San Diego is kinda far)! I feel so incredibly blessed to "count" them amongst some of my dearest and closest friends.  LIFE IS GOOD!!!!! 

Spring Break: The Drive Home + a FUN stop

We took our time getting home.  We had to clean the house and wash towels and sheets in the morning, so there was no way we were going to leave earlier than noon.  We had a couple of places we still wanted to go, like Trader Joe's  :)  We didn't really hit the freeway until 1:30ish. 

I was concerned about the traffic on the way to Las Vegas, but it was no problem at all.  Otis and Milli fell asleep and that made the trip a little easier.   Milli's head kept on "falling" down so Abuela made a head "strap" for her....

 

The trip was pretty uneventful, with the exception of ALMOST loosing my phone in a gas station bathroom.  When we stopped to get gas and a few treats, Milli had just woken up and ONLY wanted her favorite person in the whole world, me :).  She would not let go of me so I had to do my business with her hanging on to me like a baby monkey holds on to her momma.  I carefully, placed my phone on top of the toilet paper holder thingy.  Then, apparently left it there.  

We had probably driven about 30-40 mins when I realized my phone was GONE!  I had LEFT IT!!!  AAAAAHHHH!!!!  I wanted to cry, but I didn't.  We quickly called the phone.  No answer.  Called the gas station to see if someone had turned in the phone or if it was still there on top of the TP thingy, wishful thinking, yes, but I could dream right?  Well, no such luck.  There was nothing.  DANG IT!!!! 

We called my phone again and this time someone answered AND they said they were bringing me the phone.  Really?  Wow!  Aren't you so nice?!?!?  Anyway, they said they were traveling north on i-15 and that we could meet up.  So after getting our car description form each other, we decided to pull over on the side of the freeway.  Two minutes later, literally, the phone was back in my hands!!!!!  

YAY!  SO glad, that the people who had grabbed were right behind us and that they decided to be honest and return it to me.  That would have sucked!!!!!!  

If I hadn't gotten my phone back we wouldn't of had such a FABULOUS night with our friends the Manwarrings.  Crissy and Jason were in the married-student ward with us.  I LOVE Crissy.  She is one of the smartest people I know and by far one of my kindest friends!  

The kids loved playing with their little man Alex.  Milli and him REALLY hit it off  ;) ;)

Crissy, my mom, Leah and I had an impromptu Miche Bag Party!  SO FUNNNN!!!!!  We chit chatted and had yummy Chinese/Thia/Japanese food.  It was yummy! 

After a super fun night we headed to our hotel and the kids played in the tub and we attempted to sleep for the long drive back to Bountiful.  When we got home our house was a cool 48degrees!  IT WAS FREEEEEEZING!  It took 4hrs+ to get to a regular temp.  But, there is nothing like sleeping in our big ol' bed. 

The trip was SO much fun!  We had a fantastic time.  We created some fun memories and really enjoyed ourselves.  The kids all slept in the same bed and the night became one of my favorite times of the day.  We would talk about the day (as usual) and then read a book that Leah had brought from school.  We would discuss tomorrow activities and then lots and lots of laughing! 

Me (whispering): Milli, want to go to the zoo tomorrow?

Milli (loudly): Whach you said?

Me (whispering and slightly giggling): want to go to the zoo tomorrow?

Milli (louder): Whach you saaaaiiid?!

Me (whispering and laughing):  Want. to. go. to. the. zoo. tomorrow?

Milli (VERY loud):  WHACH YOUUUUU SAAAAIIIIDDDD?  SAY IT LOUD-DER!

all of us:  LAUGHING OUT LOUD.  cause she was SO cute! 

Now we constantly say, "whach you said? whach you said? SAY IT LOUD-DER!!!"

GREAT TIMES!!!!!

Spring Break: San Diego Zoo

It was a beautiful day to go to the zoo.  Dave stayed home, since he had TONS of work.  So Abuela, the kids and I all headed to the zoo and met Alyssa and her cuties there.  The zoo is only two miles from the house, but we still managed to be late :)

We spent almost the whole day there.  We saw a lot of the zoo, but not all.  That place is huge!  The animals seemed to be very active and that is always fun for everyone.

Good times were had and fun memories made.  Alyssa's kids are darling and were quick to make friends with my kids.  Thats always nice, right?  Leah was a little too mature to hang with the boys, but she was very fond of Alyssa (who wouldn't be?!?! She is smart, beautiful, fun.....!)

We went to the Petting Zoo area and that was fun for the kids.  I thought they would have been more timid getting close to the animals, but they were very friendly with them and they had a fun time in there.

Right before the petting are, Alyssa and I were talking about our two and three year olds and their potty training and how it was going.  I told Alyssa that Milli was really good about not having accidents and that poop was usually something we had to push her to do (no pun intended).  Right AFTER the petting are there is a little park where we let the kids play.  Well, Milli had a HUUUUGE poop accident, HUGE!  Seriously, I should just bite my tongue.  I didn't have change of unders for her so she had to wear a diapers, she was not happy about that. But I was not happy about what she had done.... i guess she was just having to much fun to stop and go potty... Good time? maybe not.  Good memories... I can laugh about it now :)

Abuela and Otis.  Not sure how I would be able to have had as much fun with the other kids if Abuela hadn't come.  She is SO helpful, always.  Plus it helps that the kids like her so much.  I really enjoyed my time with my mom.  She is an amazing woman and I have much to learn from her.

Milli gave me a pretty flower for my hair.... I love her!!!!  I had done her hair in french braid, since that is what she wanted.  One side stayed in the other did not.  Her hair is one of the toughest things I have to deal with daily.

SO fun to see Alyssa!!!!  She recently moved to San Diego from Utah, so it was fun to get together.  It was a GREAT day!

I let Leah take the camera towards the end of the day and this is my favorite picture she took.  She told Mylo what to do and she had a vision for it... I think it turned out pretty good!  She is a creative child, I love that about her.

The zoo wasn't all pleasant, however.  We lost Milli's shoe, she scraped her knee pretty bad, she followed someone else and we panicked for what seemed to be an eternity!  Of course the poop accident was not pleasant, in the least... I guess next time I should Milli at home... or maybe not!  :)

Goodbye!!! :(

 

I said Goodbye to Alyssa a week or so ago.  She is moving to San Diego.  I am happy for her and not so happy for us.  San Diego is lucky to have The Chadwick's as part of their state.  She is VERY talented and the most creative when it comes to feeding her three little cuties.  We have been friends since we were in the newly married ward.  Although we didn't get to see each other all the time, when we did it was always lots of fun.  We had some good laughs together.  She is beautiful outside but even more so inside!  

SEE YOU SOON LYS!!!!

ps. I hate this picture of myself.  Why? I will keep it to myself....

Good-Bye!!!!

Its is hard to believe that a year ago this very week Ashley and I opened our Shabby Band Design Business together.  Today I said Good-Bye to one of my dearest friends.  A few years ago when I first saw her, with her spikey hair, I thought she was a visiting home from college.  I would never had realized that this spikey-haired girl was going to be my "partner" or better yet such an amazing friend.  Through our business, which we loved together, we became great friends.  We spent many late night finishing 400+ Shabbies laughing, crying and supporting each other through our parents divorce.  Turns out we had a lot more in common than we ever thought. I will miss her terribly but I know this is not the last time!  We have shed tears, laughs, girls camp, runs, and dinners (thx shabby bands) together.  We have partied like "teenage girls" and I cherish the memories we have made.  We have had a great group of ladies in our ward and there will now be a huge part missing from it (I mean that figuratively, not literally :)).  It has been a blast having Ashley as part of my life. 

London is lucky to have them!  It has been a privileged and a blessing to have known the Talbot family. 

BON VOYAGE! 

See you soon!!!!! 

Otis + Friends

Rockwell, Otis and Marissa

How cute are they?!?!?  

A Lesson Learned...

After yesterdays less-than-good-day-post, I have learned a few lessons that have comforted me. 

First, I am not alone in my feelings.  That is so comforting!!! Clearly being a mom is the hardest thing EVER and I CAN do it. 

Second, trying at times is all that I need to be doing.  And trust me I AM trying.  I don't always succeed, but there are days that I feel like I have conquered that day and my kids were happy and kind and loving to each other and I was patient with them.  Life would be PREFECT if that was my every day :) However, yesterday was bad, so therefore, today will be good :)

Third, I really need to try harder to have good music and things that make me happy and feel good around me.  Satan is the one who wants me to feel like a no-good-mom, when truth is God loves me and perhaps IS pleased with my efforts.

Fourth, I have AMAZING friends and family who care for my well being. 

I know that days like yesterday will come, but I also know that they will GO!  I am trying to tell myself to not let the little things get to me.  I am rededicating myself to being a more patient mom and even a more loving mom :)

Thank you for your comments and encouraging words and your understanding.  I hope that as mothers/friends we can help each other on our low days.  Thank you for being there for me!

Fun with the Stailey's

I love Facebook and Blogging for this reason.... I get to see and re-connect with old friends.  Blogging allows us to catch up and get see what we have been up to in years!  This was the case with Tammy and her cute little family.

Tammy found me a few years ago and we have stayed in touch since.  However, it took us years to finally get together.  It was worth the wait.  

Tammy had her first cutie pie, Jack, 2 1/2 weeks after I had Otis.  It was cute to see them interact together.  Jack is smiley and sweet and a cutie pie!

Such a fun age!!!!

I got to meet Brett, Tammy's husband as well and he was kind enough to document our lunch date.  He took this cute picture of Milli, who was being very shy.  Every time they would talk to her she would just look down.  Thx Brett!  

 

The Stailey's are moving to Florida this week and I am grateful we were able to get together and have our little monkeys meet up.  Perhaps they will meet years down the road with their own families, as did Tammy and I.  :)

Tomi's Visit: Park City and Family

This adventure is a must when Tomi is in town. We had a GREAT and LOOOOONG day up there. Tiffany watched Mylo for me (THANK YOUUUU!), so we were able to leave early in the morning. It was SO nice not to have to worry about him and to just enjoy ourselves up there.

Maricela met us up there as well. Tomi loves her and they clicked instantly, maybe cause they are both latinas? I don't know. Anyway, it was fun. We had a lot of laughs!

Milli was being a monkey ALL day! I think she is a very strong little girl and she has an amazing grip.

We had to leave by 3pm so I could make it back in time to meet the kids at home after school... BUT thanks to Dave working at home we were able to stay until 5pm. It was SO nice. We really had a great time. Then we got home and ran out the door to my aunt and uncle's house for dinner.
The plan was to have dinner and then go to zumba... Well, we were having SO much fun that we skipped zumba all together and chit chatted to our hearts content! We love Mike and Mary!!!!

It was very fun to hang out with Dallin & Amy and Allie & Jeff. They are all super nice and we had a great time. Dallin and Mike tried to feed Otis some carrots (just pretend) to bug me... It was fun!

this was a very busy day.