Utah Trip

At the end of April I decided to head up to Utah with the kids to see my family. So, on my birthday I packed the kids in the car and off we went! On my way out of Vegas I met Kim at Aliante park. She is always so great at celebrating my birthday. She spoiled me with presents and lunch and we ate and let the kids play while we caught up on life. Thanks Kim!! After the kids had eaten and used up some of their energy we started our drive. My plan worked perfectly - Jackson was asleep within minutes! We got to my parents house that night and had fun catching up.

Thursday was pretty crazy. I met Jane at Thanksgiving Point. She gave me my birthday gift, which I LOVED! It was thirty songs for thirty years. She burned a CD of all the songs she had picked, and she had typed up a little explanation of each one and what part of me or my life it represented. We both cried as I read it! Then we took them to feed the animals at the farm.

and went on a hay ride

After that we went to Jane's house in SLC so the younger kids could nap. Then in the late afternoon we took the kids to the zoo! They were in heaven with the animals and the carousel

and the train ride

happy boy!

I left the zoo and headed back down to Provo. I got a sitter for the kids, picked up Isaac, and we went to my dad's choir concert. They performed Brahms's "German Requiem."

Friday I went back up to SLC to Jane's house. we had a sitter for the younger kids, so Jane and I took Brooke and Lexi to Nordstrom Rack for some shopping and got a few cute things! Love that place! That night Jane and I went to a yummy dinner at Market Street Grill and then met Whitney at the theater to see Duplicity. It was such a fun night out.

Saturday was rainy and cold, so we took the kids to McDonald's so they could play on the indoor playground.

That afternoon I went back to Provo to hang out with Kel and Jess and see the houses my parents were considering buying. That night a bunch of the family hung out and my parents ordered Bombay House for dinner- my favorite! Around 11pm I headed back up to SLC!

Sunday morning I dropped my kids off at Kaira's house and went to Abby's blessing. She is so darling!! And it was so fun to get to meet Warner, my new nephew, too, on the trip.
After the blessing we went to Jord & Taryn's house for brunch.

Love these amazing women in my family!

Then we all went back down to Provo to have a delicious dinner and celebrate my birthday! It was such a busy few days, but it was so fun to see my family and catch up, especially Jess and Kel, who I don't get to see much anymore now that we're all spread out across the country.

Jane made these yummy coconut cupcakes!

Jackson Dancing

I can't figure out how to rotate this the right way, but I thought this was so cute. Jackson will just climb up on the counter and go turn on the iPod. If he doesn't like the song that's playing, he'll move to the next one until he has the right dancing music!

April

April was such a fun month! Here's a quick review:

The first week of April my best friend from growing up, Kaira, came into town to see LOVE. I told here I would watch her duaghter, Maya, while she and her mom went to see the show. I took Lexi with me down to the condo they were staying in, and I had so much fun with these two cute girls who were instant friends - just like their moms! After I fed the girls dinner we went swimming and had a blast. When Kaira and Codi got back it was so much fun to catch up a bit. Codi was my second mom growing up. I think there were weeks that I spent more time at their house than at my own.

The first weekend in April we went to Ally's baptism. Ally is a sweet girl in our ward and we have done some fun things with her family. I was honored that they asked me to give the talk on baptism that day.

We got passes to the Lied Children's Museum. The kids love it, while I stress the whole time trying just to keep track of them! we met Catherine, Cooper, and Brennan there one day and then went again with friends in our ward. Lexi dressed up and had me dance with her on stage!

silly kids
Ward Easter breakfast and hunt

That afternoon we went to Sadie's baptism and then went to her grandparent's house for a really fun party

Nicole made an amazing feast, as always! We ate and talked and hung out and the kids swam in the pool and hot tub

Then the kids found these darling baskets that Nicole made

Nicole does everything over the top. She's AMAZING! These baskets were better than the ones we gave our kids! We had such a great day hanging out with the Luths and getting to know some of their family and friends.

Lexi had her first dentist appointment. She did awesome, but she had four cavities! I honestly didn't even know kids that young could get cavities! We have since implemented a strict brushing and flossing routine at night and only give the kids water in their sippies at night. Two visits later we still don't have her dental work completed. Next visit she's getting the sedation and nitris combo that will hopefully do the trick to get the other fillings taken care of!

I also celebrated my birthday in April - the big 3-0! Jeff took me out to a nice dinner at Texas de Brazil where we ate ourselves sick! Then we walked around the shops at Town Square before we headed to the Strip to see LOVE. Thanks to all of you who made my birthday so great! The night before my birthday I was thinking a bit about my twenties, and I have had ten AMAZING years! From college in Hawaii to travelling the world, working at PwC, awesome callings, getting married, becoming a mom, accomplishing some major goals, spiritual experiences, making great friends... wow! As I thought about all of the blessings in my life I felt so overwhelmed and grateful, and I hope the next ten years of my life are just as good.