Sushi and Gratitude

One of the first things that attracted me to Brian was his ability to make and keep a lot of great friends. This continues to be one of my favorite things about our life...we have such wonderful friends. As I was sharing some sushi at girls night tonight it struck me what a rare and unique opportunity we have to live so close to so many of our favorite people. We are so blessed! And I love that those friendships are already turning into friendships for my boys. Here are some pics from this week when we had our friends over to play:

Ben and Hallie struck this pose all on their own, completely unprompted. It was so adorable and they were so enthralled with the show they stayed there while I grabbed my camera, fixed the flash and snapped a pic. They look so grown up!

Jeffey and Hendrix in their homemade "bathtub". I can only imagine one day when they are both sixteen and the bucket is a car!

Here's to many more playdates, group dates and girls nights!

(PS How did we leave Kona Grill without a single pic??????)

Baseball and Hot Dogs...Happy Fourth

I don't think it gets much more American than going to a Baseball game, eating hotdogs and watching fireworks with family. We had a wonderful time in Brian's work suite at the Dbacks game with Uncle Justin, Aunt Cletty and Grandma eating all the great food and watching the game from some great seats. The fireworks were amazing and set to music which made me cry of course. What a perfect night. I love this country!
The boys with Grandma after they got to play at the new play place.

Watching the hot dog races on the big screen. I think this was the most involved they were all night. (the boys loved their matching shirts with flags made of baseballs and bats that daddy picked up for them after I called every Children's Place in the valley looking for the right sizes)

Lukey is my little "mama's boy", we may have to say good bye to all his curls soon though so he still looks like a boy!

Calling All Food Network Junkies

I love the Food Network. It is my default channel if there is nothing else on...or if there is anything on. So you can only imagine my excitement when our friends called and invited us to Joe's Farm Grill, recently featured on Diner's, Drive-Ins and Dives with Guy Fieri. I of course ordered what he tried and it was fantasitc! Then to add to our evening, as we were leaving "Joe" showed up. He also owns Joe's BBQ also and him and his wife were so nice and told us the story of the restaurant, that used to be his house when he was little. The food was great, the company fun and such a neat experience. Check out the link below for a portion of the episode that will air again tomorrow and twice more next week.

The gang. (Caught at a weird camera angle that makes us all look like we ate an entire cow!)


The food network nerds and Joe himself.

Thanks Erin for asking for the pic and everyone for such a fun date night. Check out the diner as soon as you can, we can't wait to go back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq8kS3ja8uQ

Love at First Sight

I'm freeeeeeeee! After wearing some sort of corrective lenses for the past 23 years I now have 20/20 vision and its supposed to get even better. Those of you who have lived with me can attest to the comedy that ensues as I try to find anything, including my glasses, after I take out my contacts. A certain incident with a lamp and a chair comes to mind that Courtney, Crystal, Kimi and Jaimie will remember! With severe myopia (near sightedness) Lasik was not an option and instead I had a realitively new procedure called ICL surgery which implanted permanent contacts behind the irises of my eyes that are supposed to outlive me. (comforting thought) The process has been a little more involved than I had originally anticipated and I am currently struggling with dry eyes until they adjust, but I am looking forward to the next few months as they fully heal. I can't even describe my excitement as I threw away my last contact today before surgery. What a blessing to live in a time of such medical advancements.

American Idol 2008

What a fun girls night. Matt's dad got us great seats and I enjoyed the show so much. Micheal Johns was hands down my favorite, but they all sounded so great live. It was great night!

Waiting for the action to start...I know its nerdy but we were sooooo excited!

Happy Canada Day!

I get the best of both worlds. I am Canadian and American. This time of year I miss home and this video clip gave me chills. Happy Canada Day to my family and friends, can't wait for the 4th!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meLpuF9UMvk

A Few of My Favorite Things

Yesterday I was driving with my sister asking her what her record is for washing the same load of laundry. You know when you leave it in the washer so long that it requires a second, third and or even a fourth washing with extra detergent and fabric softner. I honestly don't know how many times the same load of towels got washed this week! Finally they made it to the dryer to tumble for 2-3hrs dry, thats efficiency for you. Anyways this has been a tough week needless to say, tough to be me and tougher to live with me.
I could probably vent for pages, but instead I am going to take some inspiration from my amazing sister in law and list some things that I am grateful for in the last six years, and some of my favorite memories:

• That Kim T scooched over in sacrament meeting to let me sit by Brian


• "Every Rose has its Thorn" serenade


• That Matt planned the cruise that made it all happen for us


• That Kimi made our reception gorgeous and so fun


• Our first apartment, meeting Jake and Tiff, swirls


• All of our friends


• All of our family


• Road Trips, Yellowstone, Dave and Kims wedding in Cali, San Diego, San Fran, Canada


• Pearl Jam concert


• Cancun (minus losing Bri in the airport)


• Finding out we were pregnant in Sedona on 1st anniversary


• Watching conference with Ben on the bed


• Being shocked and excited to find out we were pregnant with Jeff


• That Jeffey is here, healthly ( albiet a little crazy), and makes us laugh


• That aunt Tammi believes in Jeff


• Our Washington trip, the good and the really bad moments!


• Wondering what we were going to do when we found out we were pregnant with Luke


• Wondering what we would ever do without our baby Lukey


• Having three little hands that reach for mine when I am walking in a parking lot


• Watching the WWF match that insues every Sunday after church (video to come)


• Learning about cars, weapon sounds, Ninja Turtles, Super Heros, Sports


• Jeffey being Potty-trained!!!!!


• Going to really expensive restaurants and resorts with Brian's jobs


• Having a husband that suggests that we go to the temple for our annivesary


• Filling my van with my boys, having them all strapped in and singing silly songs


• Having Lukey spill his fishy crackers on the pew on Sunday and Brian leaning over as we are picking up the disaster and wishing me a Happy Anniversary.

Thank you Brian for taking all this on with me, for better or worse, for time and all eternity. I love you.