Beth's Birthday Celebrations

The day before Beth's birthday we had a party with Ryan's side of the family. It was a very low-key cake and ice cream event. Everyone loved the cake, and it actually didn't taste too bad either, hooray for that! Beth got her big birthday gifts from us at this party, a booster seat for the car (hooray for being able to buckle herself in!!!) and her new bike. Its still a titch big for her, but we figure since she won't really get a chance to ride it until Spring, bigger is better. She seems really excited about it. And of course she got other good loot from family and friends.


On Beth's actual birthday we took two of her neighborhood friends and went to Jungle Jim's. (Please don't be offended if your kid was not invited, Beth wanted to invite the world, mom is the one who restricted the number, I just wasn't up for a huge party this year!) We didn't do the whole party thing, just two friends and then some lunch, it was tons of fun! We had the place mostly to ourselves and the girls loved all the rides. We had very little drama, for which I was very grateful!


Overall it was a pretty laid back birthday for her, but it seemed just right this year. I'm still having a hard time swallowing the fact that she's 4 already...and apparently she thinks she's all grown up now and has to argue about everything I say, but oh well, such is life with a 4 going 14 year-old in the house!

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

More Belly

I'm 20 weeks! Actually a little more than that, so that means I'm a little more than half way there, woohoo!! (Good thing, can you say getting huge already??) All is still going well. I still suffer from my headaches, and I get the round ligament pain pretty bad this time around, so I can't be as active as I should be sometimes, but overall I am in a good place right now. The baby is wiggling around a lot more, which is my absolute favorite part of pregnancy, so I love that. I spend some time every day just sitting down and enjoying the feel of her moving around, its so fun. She is starting to get strong enough that other people could feel it, but she never ever kicks when Ryan or the kids is trying to feel her. She's stubborn already! But I'm sure it won't be long before they will feel her. I have a follow-up unltrasound next week cause they couldn't see everything they needed to at the first one, I'm excited to see her again.

Ryan cracked himself up with this close-up, so I thought I would post it for him. :)

Birthday Cake!

My little girl is turning 4. I can hardly believe. Seriously, if I think too hard it freaks me out a little. But, of course I am excited for all the festivites. I'm sure I'll have posts about that to come, but I just had to post some pictures of the cake I made for the family party tonight. She requested Barbie, and since barbie cakes were a specialty of my mom that we all loved, I decided I better learn the skill. Its far from perfect, and I cheated a little by getting a barbie with a plastic bodice so I didn't have to decorate the top of the dress. But, all in all, I think it turned out well for my first barbie cake.

Park City

I know this is a little overdue, but i've been preoccupied.

A couple weeks ago Ryan and I had a little two night get away to Park City. It was really fun! We've never left the kids for more than one night, so it was a little weird, but we had a great time. And, if you don't like crowds, October is the time to go! We were basically alone the whole time!

The first afternoon we got there, we had to make a stop at the outlets. Ryan is NOT a shopper, so it was a quick trip, and I only managed to buy one baby outfit. Miracle, I know. Then we went to a movie. Smack in the middle of nap time, felt so weird to be out doing something during the afternoon! Then we checked into our little hotel and changed for dinner. We found a quaint little chinese restaurant, and we were completely ALONE the entire time we ate. A little weird, but it was quiet. Then we rented a movie and bought junk food and enjoyed a night in.

The next morning, we decided to head down to historic main street. It turns out Park City doesn't wake up until 11, so all the stores were closed, but we found a really pretty little walking path and went on a walk.

Someone please tell me they know the story behind this tree? We stood at the base of it for a long time trying to figure out why so many people who throw so many shoes into the tree. Some of them looked new! There were even ski boots. It was crazy.

Had to pose by this moose for the kids.

We then drove up to one of the resorts to see if we could get a ski lift up to enjoy the scenery, but we were there just the wrong time of year and nothing was running, so we took a scenic drive instead. It was BEAUTIFUL! Here is a sample of some of the views we found.



Then, that afternoon we found the Winter Olympics park and museum. I could have spent all day there. I loved rewatching some of the events and learning more about all of the winter sports. So cool. I definitely want to go back when we have more time and do the whole tour.

That is the bobsled track behind me.


Afterwards, we had to attend a time share dealy, that was the reason we got the free trip, but after turning down all the great stuff they offered us, we got a $100 gift card and went directly to our favorite Steak house to blow all of it! We went a couple of years ago to this restaurant and fell in love, but it is definitely not in our normal price range. So we took advantage of the free money and had a great fancy dinner on them. But we literally spent $96 on dinner for two. And that was with 1 side dish we shared and a dessert we shared. But it was really yummy!

After another night of movie rentals and junk food, we headed home the next morning. The kids did great while we were gone, and my parents had a new appreciation for young parenthood! :) Thanks again mom and dad for watching the kids! It was a much needed get away for both of us. Now, if we can figure out how to do it again before we've waited another 5 years...

Its a.........

GIRL!!!!

Everything looks good so far. We got a great look at her, and she appears to be a thumb sucker already! :) I'm so excited to meet our sweet little girl. Now, to get Ryan to help me pick a name!

Lots to look forward to...

The whole next week is going to be so much fun. I can't wait. This week is going by so slowly! I am the worst at being patient! Here's the run down on exciting events.

Friday- My sister Debbie is flying in from Boston, MA. I don't get to see her very often and I LOVE hanging out with her. She's even staying at my house. I'm so excited.

Satruday- My brother David is flying in from LA. I rarely get to see him either, and he's hilarious! Can't wait. And of course, its general conference, always an uplifting weekend, and I always have to make a few yummy things to eat while we watch (most likely while I sit on the couch in my favorite flannel jammies).

Monday- My brother Daren, who lives in New Mexico, is having a wedding dinner to celebrate him new marriage and my whole family is going to be there. All my siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles (all of them that can get there anyway). So excited.

Tuesday- My ultrasound! I finally get to see that everything is well with the baby and will hopefully find out what we are having. I'm so impatient this time, I am going absolutely crazy waiting to know! Ryan is about to go crazy with me asking him about names. We have a deal you see, that he doesn't have to talk about it until we know, but for some reason I am really anxious this time! Its stressing me out that I don't know what he likes. He usually ends up hating all the names I come up with, and I have to start over, so I guess that's probably why I want him to at least give me a few he likes!

Wednesday/Thursday/Friday- Ryan and I head off, sans children, to Park City for a 3 day 2 night get away. Nothing fancy, nothing exotic, but it is the longest we have left our children, ever. We've done one night a few times, but never two. Thanks to my parents who are going to stay with them here at our house so they can have their own beds. And thanks to the friends and neighbors who are going to have them over to play so my parents can get a break. Beth is a little annoyed that we are going to "a park city" without her to play on the slides. Haha, kids are funny.

Anyway, as you can see the next week is fun filled! Let the countdown begin!