Another Day Out With Thomas

Ever since our first Day Out With Thomas last year, Kaden hasn't stopped asking to "go take a long drive in the white car and see Thomas."  

So go we did!  :D

Ready to go!

A long, long drive...but the scenery wasn't too bad.  ;)

On Thomas!  Kaden LOVES getting his picture taken.

So happy to be on the "twain."

"Mom, there's COWS!!"

He is SO wrapped around her little finger.

Ari was enjoying the ride.

With Sir Topham Hatt-Kaden and Lexi didn't like him anymore this year than last year.

Time for temporary tattoos!  Ari gave the guy this look the whole time.  It was hilarious.  :)

Kaden went to his "happy  place" and pretended the girl wasn't there.  haha

Ari got James on her face!

The kids couldn't WAIT to go mini-golfing this year.  Last year they couldn't have cared less.

"Hi!  Don't forget about me!"

Posing by Thomas.  Kaden's being shy, Lexi's fixing her hair, and Ari's just plain happy.  Yup, those are my kids.  :D

At least I'M looking at the camera.

After a long, fun day, we headed home.

The Wedding Planner

One of my two younger sisters called me in March and said she and her b/f were going to get married, but since they didn't have much money they would get married in a courthouse.  And what do you think was the first thing that came out of my big mouth?

"Like HECK you're getting married in a COURTHOUSE!  Not on my watch!  I'll plan your whole wedding and we'll get a budget from mom and dad.  I CAN DO IT!"

Yep.  I heard this quote once:

"Stress: when your gut screams, "NO!" but your mouth says, "I'd love to!"

Anyway, I planned my sister's wedding and it went off as smoothly as possible for an overcast day.  It was April 2nd, but I was waiting to post about it until we got the pictures back from the photographer.  I was a little busy the day of the wedding and didn't have time to take any pictures of my own.  So, bragging time, here we go!

I went dress shopping (along with my mom and another sister) with Jacquelyn and HOURS later, she decided on the first dress she tried on.  Bonus: it was $100 cheaper than the clearance tag said!  WOO!

I won't go in to all the details, but, trust me, it took a lot to get from the day she tried dresses on to the day before the wedding.  OHMYHECK there was a lot to do.  I wasn't even that stressed with my own wedding.  Anyway, Shane took the day before the wedding off so I could go decorate at my mom's house (the wedding & reception were in her backyard).  I made Jacquelyn come help.  She's gotta do something, right?  ;)

Mom's backyard before

I wanted a grand "after" pic of the backyard, but the wind ruined everything the day of the wedding, so I was frantically running around an hour before the wedding, trying to put the yard back together.  It was CRAZY, but it all worked out.

Jacquelyn and her bridesmaids getting ready.  P.S. I told them to be there at 3:00, but apparently I didn't specify to already be ready when they got there.  That was stressful.

Ready to go!

Gary waiting.  We decorated that arch and had to stake it to the ground (without damaging it) so it wouldn't fall over in the wind.  Good times.

Taliyah and McKayla were the flowergirl and ring bearer.  SO CUTE!  Suzanna made the basket and pillow from scratch....a week before she had her baby.  Super mom, that's for sure.

My mom's bishop married Gary and Jacquelyn.  He was SO great!

They danced down the aisle after the ceremony and this is one of Gary's brothers.  As much as I love this picture because it's hilarious, I included it so you could see the background.  I made an aisle with shepards hooks, tulle, and twinkle lights.  See it?  It looked really pretty.

Here comes the......groom?  hahahaha

Do you have any idea how hard it is working with high maintenance bridesmaids??  "But I can't wear strapless!"  "But I don't want to wear just a skirt!"  And then the week before the wedding, Jacquelyn decided to ADD another bridesmaid.  Oh the fun.  Natalie was the maid of honor, so she got a cute jacket with her dress.

This is all of us sisters with our one and only brother.  I love this picture.  :D

This was one of the bridesmaids' bouquets.  I was trying to show off the tables and centerpieces, but this is the best you get.

Ok, so I wanted something really special for the centerpieces and this is what I came up with...

 Each table had a vase/bowl thingy on it with a different phrase from their song "All My Life" by K.C. and JoJo.  There were also some decorative hearts I threw on to fill space and add some cuteness.  I stuck a couple of tea lights in them so that there would be a pretty glow.  I also got disposable cameras for each table and I haven't seen how those pics turned out yet, but I bet we got some funny ones.  :)

FOOD!  My mom insisted on making 200 rolls because it would be cheaper than buying them.  Holy hannah that took FOREVER.

 OH!  And after the ceremony, but before the reception, I was yelling orders at people to move things around.  Like the chairs and the lights.  I wanted the reception area to glow with the twinkle lights, too.  :D

I frosted over 100 of these bad boys.  :)

I love the look she's giving him here.

The cake and topper!

For the record, Gary took it like a man when Jacquelyn smashed the cake in his face.  :)  There are pics of that, but I felt I was already posting a ton.

The sign-in table.  I found a frame and painted it hot pink to go with her colors, then printed off one of their engagement pics to go in it.

So pretty....

Everyone who came to the ceremony.

The wedding planner!  hahaha

Honestly, I'm pretty shocked that Kristy (the photographer) didn't get any pics of me running around barking orders at people.  Maybe she did but she deleted them.  ;)

About an hour into the reception, we got rained out and moved the party inside my mom's house.  It was a fun night and I'm never planning a wedding again!  :D

Better to learn now

My little brother is getting married in July.  He is 17.  Yep, I'm serious.  He will be 18 this week and he and his fiance are graduating from high school next week.   

Idiots

Anyway, last night we were all at my mom's house for dinner and my brother was giving some excuse about how "busy" he is.  I asked what he was SO busy with (after he graduates from high school).  He said he had to plan the wedding.  BAHAHAHAHA  I told him I wasn't buying that at all.  I said something to the effect of "yeah, right.  Like you're actually planning the wedding.  HAHAHA!  This is HER day, not yours."  He was all defensive and said that he has, in fact, been consulted for his opinions and some of his ideas have been used.  HAHAHA  I told him that he is being consulted because Angela is nice, but in the end, it doesn't matter WHAT he says because she will do what she wants.  She is really good, though, to only be 17 and already knows that you make an idea seem like it's your husband's, even though you would go with it no matter what.  

Woman: "Honey, do you like the blue towel or the light green towel?" 

(We're getting the light green one either way.)

Man: "Hmmm....well, I really like the light green one."

Woman: "You have such good taste hon, and such good ideas!  What a smart husband I have."

See?  Then the man feels manly and needed and the woman always gets her way.  mwahahahaha

Oh, and the funniest part of the whole conversation was that Angela was just sitting there laughing the whole time-not once protesting what I was saying.  

Cause she knows I'm right.  ;)

P.S. For the record, I don't ALWAYS get what I want.  We don't own a pony, after all.

Happy birthday!!

Happy birthday to my man!

He is 28 years old today!  I like to round it up when we're in front of people and say he's 30.  hahahahahaha  

He doesn't find it as funny as I do.  ;)

Happy birthday handsome!

Race for the Cure!

The Susan G. Komen annual Race for the Cure (a 5k) for breast cancer was May 7th.  Somehow I am just now blogging about it.  slacker

A couple of years ago, my friend Kelly and I went and volunteered for the Race.  This year, though, I wanted to run jog it!  Helps that I'm NOT pregnant.  ;)  It was my very first race of any kind and my whole goal was to finish.  I did!  :D

Kelly is a great running partner and will keep telling you that you're doing great, no matter just how slow you're going.  She's super fast, but also super patient.  ;)

At the beginning of the race.

Notice how I'm still smiling?  It's because we just started.

The amazing Kelly!

There were about 18,000 people there.  It was INSANE!  Just this huge mass of people every direction you looked.  SO great that so many people come out to support the cause, but SO sad at the same time that breast cancer has affected so many people in this world.

Just after we passed the 2nd mile marker, I heard someone come up next to me and a deep voice say, "How're you doing?"  I was annoyed that I couldn't breathe and was coughing up a lung (exercised induced asthma), so at first I thought about ignoring the guy.  I glanced over, though, and saw my dad!  He had somehow found Kelly and I in the massive crowd and came to support me!  He's a competitive runner, so the distance was barely a warm-up for him. He gave me my exercise induced asthma, so he understood what I was going through with trying to breathe.

Me and my dad.

At the finish line!  Yes, my face is crazy red.  It means I was working hard.  ;)

It was a really fun day and I'm really glad Kelly went with me!  I was coughing so hard at the end that I could taste blood, and the day after (on Sunday) I couldn't talk at all because every breath in and out hurt like heck.  I have an appointment this Friday with my dad's doctor who helped him with his asthma.  :D  Yay!  Maybe I'll be able to do a 5k again someday and not stop to breathe!  Woo!

People always have such fun costumes and names for their teams.  On the way back to the car, we spotted these guys:

Yep, that's a BOOB he's carrying!

Happy Mother's Day!

I want to tell all of you girls who read my blog 

Happy Mother's Day!! 

My mom has given me an amazing example to look up to and I'm so very thankful for her.  She has been there through every step of my life and I can always count on her.  It took me having my own kids to realize that my mom really does know everything and I feel lost if we don't talk on the phone at least a few times a week. 

My kids (and Shane) are the greatest blessings in my life and, even though I feel less than adequate a lot of the time, I'm so thankful that Heavenly Father gave me the opportunity to raise his children in the Gospel.

I hope all of you moms (and future moms) have a fabulous Mother's Day!

7 months!

My baby is 7 months old today!  

WOW!  That went really, really fast!

Since I was a total slacker last month and didn't post Ari's 6 month stats, I will share them now.  :) 

(A month ago...)

Height: 25 inches (35%)

Weight: 15.9 lbs. (50%)

Head: 50%

She is doing great and growing so fast!

She is a rolling machine these days, too.  She can't crawl yet, but that doesn't stop her from getting around at all.  AND everything goes straight into her mouth, so we have to be really careful what is on the floor now.  I will put her down on one side of the room and if I leave for a couple of minutes, when I come back she has rolled all the way to the other side of the room where the bag of Easter candy is.  hahaha  Good thing she doesn't have teeth to chew through the plastic!  

(Like Lexi.  Yes, if we tell Lexi she can't have candy, she will gnaw through the plastic (or paper) wrapper to get to it without our help.  Stinker.)

My big girl!!