Recent Happenings

I feel the need to catch up on life.  This will probably be long and rambling, so I don't know if anyone will make it through to the end, but here it goes...

My blog has been completely neglected, as well as many other things around here lately.  I was doing so well on catching up but life has gotten crazy as it sometimes does.  We have had some very life changing events in the past couple months related to Darren's work.  Things I never imagined having to deal with.  It is a long story, and one that I don't really want to post on the world wide web, but we are now in the process of purchasing the practice as Darren's business partner has passed away.  There was a lot leading up to that, but I won't go into it.  It is a very sad situation and I feel terrible for those involved.  Especially his family. It caused a lot of stress on our family and left us with a lot of questions and pretty hurt as well. I think over the course of a couple weeks, I felt just about every emotion.  I felt sad for the situation and his family, excited for us and the possiblity of having our own practice, stressed over what was going to happen and overwhelmed with everything going on and at times, I felt so alone.  It also threw our schedule into total chaos.  Things at the office changed from one day to the next, so Darren's 6 hour schedule suddenly became a 12 or 13 hour schedule in order to cover all the patients.  It was a big change!  Things are starting to settle back down and he is going to 8 or 9 hour days now.  It is still a lot different to not have him around as much and to change a lot of the way we do things.  For instance, I used to do all my volunteering at the school on his mornings off and now I'm having to scramble to find people to help with my kids and things like that.  I realize most dads work that many hours, but we just are not used to it yet and the kids are having a hard time with it.  (And I am, too)  We are excited for the opportunity though.  I think in the long run, this will be a really great thing for us.  It is just very sad that it happened the way that it did.

It is also tax season.  I hate that.  I do the books for Darren's office, but I don't keep up on it very well during the year so I end up with lots of work to get things finished up for the CPA.  I just got the file emailed today.  I feel so much better!  It means that I don't have as much time for blogging or anything else. 

I also have a new calling.  I am the Stake Women's Sports Specialist.  Or something like that.  I am not sure what the official title is.  I really like it.  It just means that I have to be at the church once a week at night to run things, even when I have other stuff to do.  It has cut into my blog time, too.  But I am having fun with it and it is a pretty perfect calling for me, although I don't really feel like I know what I am doing yet. 

And, winter is turning into spring!  Well...it started to and then it snowed...  I hate that part of Utah spring!  We seem to get MUCH busier in the Spring and it has already started.  Rylee has started figure skating.  She really likes it.  At least she did the 2nd time she went.  The first time was pretty rough.  Hopefully, it keeps getting better.  Avery is taking dance and has a recital this week.  I'm excited to see if she will actually perform on the big stage.  She is pretty excited about it though.  She has 2 rehersals and 2 performances this week!  BUSY!  And soccer starts up for Logan next week. 

It is also birthday season at our house.  Rylee lost her first tooth and turned SIX the last week of March.  She had a Hello Kitty Extravaganza party and spent the day shopping at the mall.  We even had our pictures taken in one of those photo booths and she picked out best friend necklaces for us.  I felt like I was back in Jr. High.  When she picked them, I asked who she planned to give it to and she said, "you, of course."  I wanted to bawl my eyes out!  Of course I bought it after that.  I hope that she will want to wear best friend necklaces with me when she is 16.  But chances are, she won't.  So I'm enjoying it now!  She loved her day at the mall and shopping and having her nails done - She is such a girly-girl!  And she LOVES her birthday party and loves helping me plan and has such high expectations for them!  Her Hello Kitty party was great and she loved all the decorations and everything. 

After her birthday, it was Easter, which was so fun but lots of traveling to family events and super busy.  We had a really great time though and the kids looked so cute in their outfits.  The following week was Spring Break and we took a quick trip to St George.  We had a great time enjoying the warm weather and hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa Webber's brand new home down there and spent some time hiking and hanging out with Brian and Val and their family.  It was a good trip and we were able to see some friends, too.  And have some delicious sugar cookies and Dirty Diet Coke from Swig's.  That was a highlight for sure. 

We came home from our fun Spring Break, and I turned 32 yesterday.  I think.  I kept telling people I was turning 33 and I had to be corrected.  I don't think it matters once you are 30.  Everything just kind of blends together.  I had a fabulous day and was spoiled by my family.  I love them.  The kids were so excited for my day and it made my heart feel good.  And my phone buzzed all day with Facebook notifications and texts and it just put a smile on my face.  It feels good to be remembered sometimes.  I guess Facebook is good for that.  Darren treated me to breakfast in bed from Kneeder's (Chunky French Toast...YUMMM!!!) and then surprised me and got a babysitter and took me to lunch at Paradise Bakery.  I went in to Rylee's class to volunteer and her cute class sang to me.  It was so sweet!  Darren took the kids out shopping for me and we had dinner at Cafe Sabor and then had cake.  The kids got me some lotion and lip gloss and sunglasses and Darren got me a bike and a bike trailer/jogging stroller!  I am excited to try it out.  Except that it SNOWED yesterday!  All that warm St George weather and then...snow!  No fun!  I love birthdays.  I love my kids' birthdays and mine.  There is just something so great about having a day for you.  It makes you realize how blessed you are.  And I am so blessed.  Really.  I have everything I need and I have the greatest family.  I love them. 

I felt like this rambling post needed a picture.  So, now you can see how blessed I am.  And, how cute my kids looked in their Easter outfits. 

Up next...  Darren and I are taking a trip with no kids.  I am a bit nervous, but also excited!  We haven't done that for a LONG time.  I'm just worried about leaving my Bronson.  I hope it will be OK.  I stress over that stuff so much!  And then when we get back, Bronson will turn ONE!  My baby!!!  I am freaking out a little over that, too.  Time goes much too quickly! 

Spring Break

April 2 - 8 - We didn't have the most exciting Spring Break at our house this year.  It was mostly spent doing last minute projects to be ready for the baby and some cleaning that I wanted to finish up.  My poor kids complained all week that Spring Break was just for cleaning, so we finally got away for a little fun.   After Darren got done with work on Thursday, we headed down to Salt Lake.  The kids got a sleepover at Grandma Pat's while Darren and I enjoyed a night away.  They had a lot of fun!  Haley and Mason slept over too and they loved that!  Logan was SO excited because he and Mason are such good little buddies. And Haley braided Rylee's hair so she thought that was great! Grandma and Grandpa also took them to go and see a movie about whales that made Logan cry (He is really into animal conservation right now...)  They had a great time and we met back up with them on Friday afternoon for lunch at Texas Roadhouse. 

While the kids were away at Grandma's house, Darren and I had a fabulous weekend taking a little break and celebrating my birthday a little early.  For Christmas, my parents gave us a stay at the Alaskan Inn in Ogden and it expired in May so we needed to use it before the baby came, so it was great timing.  We FINALLY got to go and see Hunger Games!!!  YEAH!!! It was FABULOUS!  And we ate a yummy dinner at the Timbermine (Deep fried mushrooms were divine!) and enjoyed a lovely night away.  Sadly, this is the only pic we took!  We got up to a yummy breakfast in bed and then went to check out the new City Creek Center and do a little shopping.  We made a couple purchases at H&M (for the girls - I'm prego and shopping for myself isn't too fun...) It was a really neat shopping center and fun to just walk around a little.  Not too much though because my feet were SO swollen by the time we were done.  Then we met up for lunch and picked up the kids. 

After lunch with Darren's parents, we met our friends, the Bladens, at Kangaroo Zoo.  The kids had a blast!  We didn't tell the kids before, just in case it didn't work out, so it was a fun surprise for them and made Spring Break a little less boring!  Avery thought she was really big and got stuck at the top of the big slide a few times.  Luckily, Carter would just grab her and bring her down on her lap and she loved it!  I hate those places but the kids sure had a lot of fun and slept great that night after all their running and bouncing.

Avery

Logan and Carter being crazy boys! 

Savanna and Rylee - They are SO red!  They must have been having fun!

The boys again

Logan

Avery - She thought she was just as big as everyone else!  The kids played for about an hour and a half and then it was off to my parent's house for a birthday dinner with all my family.  My mom made my favorite - Shredded pork tacos!  Yummy!  The kids colored some Easter eggs and we headed home late that night. 

Saturday, the Easter bunny visited (that will be another post...) and then we did some chores and in the afternoon we took the kids to see The Lorax.  It was a really cute show! 

That night, we went out for dinner.  Since it was still my birthday "weekend", I picked!  We went to Callaway's.  SO yummy!!!  The girls and Mommy

The boys

  

Sunday was my actual birthday (Easter).  For part of my birthday present, I requested a picture with the kids.  The hate that!  They looked so cute in their Easter outfits!  

After church, I opened my gifts.  I got a cute new pair of sweats and some shoes.  The kids also each picked out something - Some sunglasses, and some jewelery and candy.  Then, Logan and Rylee gave me a double foot massage.  Pure Heaven!  Too bad it only lasted about 2 minutes...  

Darren spoiled me all day - I didn't have to do a thing!  He made me a gourmet dinner.  Steak, mushrooms, salad...the works!  And then....this cake!  WOW!  It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!  I have the BEST hubby!!! 

Growing...

Last night, Avery slept in her big girl bed for the first time. I went in to check on her and she looked SO big! I almost burst into tears. My baby is growing up! I guess that is good since another baby will be joining our family in just a couple of weeks, but I still couldn't help tearing up a little at the thought of how big she is now. Can't they just stay little???

And, speaking of growing... I have also grown another year older and wiser, too. At least I hope. I had a fabulous birthday. Or more of a birthday week. (Isn't that what birthdays should be???) I have the BEST hubby who completely understands how a birthday should be celebrated and treated me to an amazing couple of days. He is the BEST!

For Christmas, Darren and I got a stay at a Bed and Breakfast. We have been trying to find a time to use it, but it had to be a weekday, so it was a little tricky with kids' schedules and finding someone to watch them. So, we ended up going for Spring Break because the kids were out of school and Darren's mom was able to watch them. The kids had a blast and we had a nice, relaxing time together. Since it happened to fall a few days before my birthday, it turned into a bit of my birthday weekend celebration. We had a great time - We FINALLY saw Hunger Games, which was fabulous! We ate at a delicious restaurant (The Timbermine) and had some amazing deep fried mushrooms, and got an uninterrupted night's sleep! The next morning, Darren volunteered to go shopping with me so we checked out City Creek and it was really neat. Lots of cool stores and such a fun atmosphere! It was totally packed and I can't walk for long now so we didn't stay too long but it was fun to check out. Then, we met Darren's parents for my birthday lunch and picked up the kids (who had lots of fun sleeping over with cousins and going to a movie called The Whale which made Logan cry because he is such an animal conservationist right now...) and then we met some friends for a little bit at Kangaroo Zoo. Then, my family had a little get together and had my favorite homemade dinner (Shredded Pork Burritos) and dyed some eggs. Whew! And it continues...

Saturday, we did our Easter thing in the morning and then Darren took the kids out shopping for me. Then, we went to the Lorax and dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Callaway's. Yummy Italian food!

Today was fabulous! I slept in and Darren made me amazing crepes with Nutella and bananas and fruit. Then, we went to Stake Conference (not my favorite part of the day - It is SO long with little kids!) and when we came home, I relaxed while the kids played. Rylee and Logan even both gave me a foot massage. They were so cute! Darren made lunch. He was sure to tell the kids that I wasn't supposed to do any work today. When I was opening my ranch dressing at lunch time, Logan said, "Mom! Let me do that! You shouldn't do any work on your birthday!" We also opened presents - The kids picked out everything themselves - A bracelet from Logan, a bracelet and lip gloss from Rylee and some cute giraffe sunglasses from Avery who has been telling me about them since yesterday. I also got some fun new shoes and cute sweats to wear after the baby is born. I bought a couple other little things out shopping, too. Then, we played for awhile and some friends stopped by to visit, which was a fun surprise. Darren made a gourmet dinner - salad, steak, mushrooms, asparagus and some YUMMY potatoes and we finished off with an amazing 2 layer chocolate cake with mousse in the middle. It was to DIE for!!! Seriously, whose hubby can do all of that? He planned the menu, did all the shopping and the cooking and cleaning up. What else does a woman want for her birthday? It was perfect! I am so lucky to have such a great hubby and kids who made me feel so loved and special today. It didn't even bother me to be older!

Baby Aliya Fundraiser

Dec 10 - Back at the end of October, my good friend had a sweet little baby who was born with lots of complications. She came really early and was less than 3 lbs and had the cord wrapped around her neck 3 times when she was born! She had to be transferred to McKay right after birth, and then ended up at Primary Children's Hospital because she was having problems with her kidneys and eyes. They learned she had a very rare syndrome called Wolf Hirschhorn Syndrome, which causes all sorts of different problems and will be something they have to deal with for her whole life. (You can read more about sweet baby Aliya here . You can even donate to her family!)

My friend, Tarasha, has been so amazing through all of this and the best mommy to baby Aliya. All of us really wanted to help, but didn't really know how. We made a big poster telling her how much we all loved her while she was in the hospital and then gathered supplies and put together cute bags for her girls of fun things to do while they were traveling back and forth between here and Primary's. But, we still wanted to do something a lot bigger. We knew they were going to have a lot of medical expenses, so my friend, Emily, headed up a big fundraiser and a bunch of us got involved helping. We didn't really know how much help it would be, but we figured anything would help. It turned out to be an amazing success! We held a craft boutique, silent auction and bake sale. So many businesses and people in the community donated. It was amazing!

I was on the committee over the craft boutique. I had no idea what I was in for! I think we thought at first we could just gather donations from crafty people, but that wasn't the case. We ended up making a lot of what we sold ourselves and having to get donations so that we could make things, and it turned into a lot more hours than I ever anticipated. As the fundraiser got closer, I was at my friend Barbi's house more than I was home! I would get kids off to school and such and then take Avery (and Rylee on non-school days) over to Barbi's and we would work on stuff until the kids were getting home from school. Then I would go home and do dinner and family stuff and go back after the kids were in bed and stay until midnight or later. Darren was very helpful and never complained about how much I was gone. I really appreciated that! It was a lot of fun getting together and making crafts, but just started to be a lot! But, when I saw it come together, it was SO worth it!

The day of we had a ton of people come through and we were able to sell almost everything we had. We made over $10,000 for their family and it felt great to help someone so deserving. It also felt pretty nice to be done! I loved doing it and would do it again in a heartbeat though!
This is the main committee of ladies who helped with the fundraiser. They are all in my ward (or were until it got split :( ) They are so amazing and I loved working with them! Back Row: Me, Natalie, Julie, Emily, Barbi, Karen, Jen and Jenn
Front: Jen, Karen, Mandy and AmeliaThe set-up - All the tables in the middle section and along the back wall were the craft boutique. The far side was the bake sale and a family in our ward also made cotton candy all day and sold it. The wall where I am taking it from was all stuff for the silent auction. This was all the stuff that was for the silent auction. We had some awesome stuff including a trip to Hawaii!!!
At the front was a little table where the family sat and had pictures of Aliya. It was really cute!
This was all the baby stuff that we had and some of the MANY bows.This was our jewelry table. A couple more views of all the stuff...
When the sale started, the place was packed!
Some more stuff... We made all the magnet boards and also the glass blocks. We made them banks that said "I hope they call me on a mission" with a cute little missionary on them and a tie tied around them. They were our biggest seller!!! This banner was so cute! I think we all wanted to buy it! We made a TON of different little blocks like this with different sayings. I had never mod podged before, but I am pretty much a pro now!!! Some snowmen we made... I wish I would have documented every project we did! It was pretty amazing! We had some countdown books that counted down to Christmas and some cute quiet books for church that were about the articles of faith and the proclamation on the family. We also made some countdown blocks that were really popular, too. We made some cute recipe card magnet boards and some small magnet boards to hold a photo or two. We did some conversation jars and lots of cute subway art. We also did a million different mod podge projects! We had a lot of wood donated so we had to use it somehow! We had so much stuff and then there was a lot of projects that were donated as well. These candy cane bath salts were super cute. We didn't make these ones, but I thought they were a great idea!
Some of the yummy bake sale stuff!
These were the girls I worked with. Emily, me and Barbi headed up the craft boutique. They did a lot more than I did! They were amazing and I had a great time working with and learning from them. I was so glad I had them!!!

Viva Las Vegas!!!

October 9 - 16 - Darren and I took a much needed getaway in Las Vegas for a week in October. Every year, there is an ADA convention in a different location and they offer lots of CE credits that Darren needs for his license renewal. They also have fun things to do and the whole trip is a write-off so it is a good way to take a little vacation. We went in 2008 to San Antonio and loved it, but haven't been able to go since due to new babies and nursing babies and other things. So, we were excited to go again this year! But, then we scheduled Darren's knee surgery and thought we might need to cancel. However, after having him down and me being sick, I REALLY needed a break, so we decided to still go. Poor Darren had to cruise around everywhere on crutches, but he was a good sport and it was a great break for me! I got to get lots of sleep, some shopping, read a book and lay by the pool and it was just what I needed! Darren and I also got lots of time together and ate at some of our favorite places, saw some movies and some really good friends that we miss! It was great!

We left on Sunday, October 9th. Darren's mom was great to come and watch our kids for almost the whole week. She stayed until Thursday. It was so nice to not have to worry about them and they had a great time with Grandma. One funny story from when she was here, was the 2nd night she stayed, Rylee was saying her prayers and said, "Please bless Grandma to be nicer to me." I guess she had been bugging Avery all day and Grandma had to get after her a little. She will do that quite often to us, too, and it makes you feel so guilty! My sister, Heather was nice enough to come and stay Thursday night and all of Friday. It is so nice to have family close to help us out!

Anyway - The drive down was not my favorite. So long and I got really car sick since I was already nauseous all the time anyway. Luckily, we made it with no puking and got checked into our hotel pretty late on Sunday night. We stayed at the South Point. It was great! It is pretty nice and has its own movie theater and a great pool and it was $45 bucks a night!!! Can't beat that! It was also close to where we needed to be for classes and not right on the strip. It was just about perfect!
Monday morning (Oct 10th) we had to get up bright and early to get to the morning speaker at the Convention Center. We were a little late (no surprise!) and so we missed the entertainment, which was Terry Fator, (the ventriloquist from America's Got Talent) and I was kind of bummed about that, but we were able to hear Condoleeza Rice speak. (That is what that picture above is of. It is awful but it was the best I could do...) She was AMAZING!!! I loved listening to her! I wish she would run for Pres! She really knows her stuff. After the morning speaker, Darren had a day full of classes. I was off to meet my good friend and old room mate, Mindy, for lunch. I only got to the door and realized Darren had the car keys so I had to go back and find his class and him and get them. In my wanderings, I ran into some Elvis impersonators. What would a trip to Vegas be without some Elvis sightings??? (If you look closely, you will also see that I found a GIANT brownie! I didn't get breakfast that morning...)

Lunch with Mindy was great! It had been way too long and it was so fun to catch up! We went to a cute little cafe. It was great, but I guess it wasn't the greatest idea. Afterwards, my plan was to hit the outlet mall for a few hours but I got SO sick when I got there, that I ended up back at the hotel. Later that night, I made it to the outlets closer to our hotel for an hour or 2 and found some great deals at Carter's. Then I picked up Darren. Since I wasn't feeling too great, we just got dinner at our hotel (it was gross!) and then went and saw the movie Dream House with Daniel Craig. It was AWESOME!!! We both really liked it!

Tuesday (Oct 12), Darren had no classes. Or maybe he just had one... I can't remember, but we had a lot more free time, so we hit the pool!!!
That night we hit one of the restaurants that we have been wanting to go back to for a long time - Roy's! When we were in Dental School, Darren's mentor took us there. He told us to bring our kids and we had no idea what kind of restaurant it was until we got there. Then we wished we hadn't! Logan was 2 and Rylee was barely 1 and they made a mess when they ate and there was some poor server who was assigned to constantly clean up their mess the whole time. I was so embarrassed! Anyway - we have always wanted to go back. I ordered steak and it came out totally burnt. They felt really bad and went to great lengths to fix everything for us. I got my meal for free and they brought us a free appetizer while I was waiting for a new plate and both our desserts were also free! We ate at this really nice restaurant for less than $40! Pretty good deal!
The whole reason I wanted to go back to Roy's was this baby.... Chocolate Lava cake! The other food wasn't my favorite but THIS baby did NOT disappoint!!! Pure deliciousness!!!
Wednesday (Oct 12th) Darren had more classes so I spent the morning shopping at the outlets (my FAV Vegas activity!!!) and found some great deals! I had an afternoon class (I was WAY late for it!) and then that night, we went to dinner at Mesa Grill in Cesar's palace. It came highly recommended by several friends and it is a Bobby Flay restaurant, and that is one of Darren's food heroes. I think we both agreed it was the BEST place we have EVER eaten!!! It was AMAZING!!! I had the veal and it was SOOOO good!!! We had some delicious corn and shrimp tamale appetizers that were delicious, too. It was pricey but totally worth the splurge! Outside Caesar's Palace - After dinner, we caught a movie. We saw Contagion. We both didn't like it. It was really long and boring!
Thursday Oct 13 - Darren decided to skip his only class and we had a great morning sleeping in and hanging by the pool. Then, we decided we REALLY needed some coconut onion rings, so we went to Bahama Breeze. Seriously, these things are worth the drive alone!!! They are AMAZING!!!
After lunch, we went to pick up our tickets for the show we were going to that night at the Mirage. We also realized we needed something to take home to the kids, so we did a little shopping and bought them some stuffed animals. We got Avery a cute little monkey, Rylee a Hello Kitty and Logan an Alvin. The girls LOVED theirs. Logan asked if he could have something else.... I guess you can't please them all!
That night we had dinner at BJ's with some of our very favorite people. The White's and the Wennerlind's! (I guess we have an exclusive "W" last name club....) Here are the girls - Jen, me and Karmann - I love these ladies!!!
And the boys - Ryan, Darren and Sandy
We really wanted to see a show while we were in Vegas. We had never really been to one since we were too poor for that in dental school. We had such a hard time deciding, but after a lot of advice, we saw LOVE. It is the Beatles tribute Cirque du Soleil show. It was AMAZING!!! We had a great time!!! The picture we had someone take of us going in didn't really turn out... So... we tried one of ourselves! The phone booth at the Love theater
Oct 14 - Before we left on Friday morning, we spent one last morning at the pool! I do miss this part of Las Vegas. The pool was fabulous and I was able to read a book during my time poolside. I read Matched. It is a lot like Hunger Games, only far less violent! I LOVED it! I couldn't stop! Then I found out I had to wait a MONTH for book 2 and I was bummed!
Getting ready to leave the hotel - I missed the kids a lot, but I really enjoyed some down time and some quality time with the hubby! It was just what we needed at a crazy time! Thanks Pat and Heather for watching the kiddos and thanks D for dealing with crutches all around Vegas so I could get a little rest!

Beach Geezers...I Mean Boys!

June 30 - Every summer, there is a car show near our home and as part of it, they do a concert. It is always an oldies band. The first year we moved here, it was 3 Dog Night and last year it was America. This year, it was the BEACH BOYS! I was so excited! However, as it got closer, it looked like we probably wouldn't be able to go. Logan had tball and we had some other things going on. We bought my dad some tickets for his birthday because he is one of the biggest Beach Boy fans of all time, and Darren's parents bought tickets, too. They ended up with an extra pair, so at the last minute, we went to the concert and it was SO GREAT! We had to go a little late and I was so bummed when we were trying to get in that they were singing "Surfing Safari" and we missed it! The Beach Boys have SO many good songs and I have so many good memories of the Beach Boys growing up. The only thing I really remember listening to when I was little is the Beach Boys and Elvis! And...for being so OLD (the 2 original Beach Boy members that still tour are 69 and 70 years old!!!) they were great! We had so much fun!!!
Darren and IThe parents - We all went together and had lots of fun! There was some Beach Boys mega fan that was sitting close to us. She was about 18 and dancing the entire time and SO excited about the show. Darren's dad went down and danced with her and I think it freaked her out! After the concert, she asked for a picture with him and the people in front of us were asking each other who he was because I think they thought he must be famous. It was pretty funny!
The Beach Boys
My favorite part of the whole concert was watching my dad! He was SO happy and having so much fun. I tried to get a good picture of him, but this was the best I did. I loved seeing him so excited about something! It was a great night!!!