No, this is not a joke..

...I really am blogging today! So, here we go! When I put off blogging, it makes it that much harder to get motivated to do it again. But, I would feel ungrateful for not sharing what an amazing month this has been!!

California!! What a wonderful vacation! We were looking forward to the wedding of my little sister to Nate, but first we had some playing to do! On the way down, we stayed at our good friends, Jared and Angi's. Angi and I met at BYU and became great friends. We were married one year apart and hung out together as couples the rest of the time Jeff and I were at BYU. We have had 2 kids each, a boy and a girl each, and they are 4 months and 6 months apart. Babies #3 are due 3 days apart! She doesn't know what she is having yet, but I am hoping the trend continues with another boy for both of us! We had a wonderful time at the park where we played and rode a train.


Next, we stayed with my sister Crystal. We LOVE spending time with her. We especially love being at the beach. The kids had fun playing in the sand, Dallin chased the unsuspecting seagulls, and I just enjoyed relaxing. It was a blast.



Disneyland!! What can I say? Disneyland truly is magical. Emily and I spent most of the time together and Dallin loved being able to go on the "big" rides with Dad. He thought it was cool that Mommy and Emily couldn't go. I didn't think that was so cool, but I tried to be a good sport about. Emily and I had fun looking for princesses. Grandma Nise and Aunt Brenda went with us. We also went to California Adventure for the first time, and my brother Erik and cousin Justin joined us. What a crazy 2 days. We also were lucky enough to meet up with some of our good friends, Carrie, Leah, and Jonas from Oregon. The kids were so excited to see them.









Mountains- I love spending time with my family. So, in between Disneyland, CA Adventure and the wedding, we just played at my parents house. We walked to the park with Grandpa John and my sister Heather and her kids. Dallin and Emily loved playing with their cousins.

Wedding- Beautiful, as expected. I feel really grateful that Shelly found such a good guy to spend forever with. They are a great couple and I know they will be very happy. I enjoyed getting to know Nate's parents and siblings. Even though we didn't get home from the reception until 11pm, we dropped Dallin off for a sleepover with cousins. They had had so much fun at the reception that they didn't want it to end!




Drive home- We stopped by my AUnt Marlynn's which is always fun. We all went swimming and just spent more time as a family. I can't wait until our next trip!!

We had such a good time just being together as a family. The kids really learned to rely on one another and Jeff and I just enjoyed not having the normal craziness of life. I love being with family.

Whew!! You would think it couldn't get any better, but...

Surprise!! While I was gone, one of my best friends did a mini makeover for me. She finished painting my playroom! She had helped me design it, so she knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do. I think she also knew that it would probably never get done if she didn't step in. She added the movie film reel, and put in the pictures of the Cars characters, Dallin's favorite. She is a professional organizer so she also reorganized it and it works so much better! She wrote a note to my kids telling them that it was Lightning McQueen who stopped by. She didn't know it, but we had seen LIghtning at CA Adventure, so Dallin said, "Mom, did Lightning McQueen do this for every kid at CA Adventure?" It was so cute!! I cried because it was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. I know it was a ton of work and I am trying to figure out a way to repay her. If you think of anything let me know!!


I also came home to my brand new floors!! After 6 years of hating carpet in the eating area, we finally sucked it up and paid for someone to replace them with laminate flooring. What a wonderful thing to come home to. I am glad Suzie suggested to go with the darker color because it is beautiful. I LOVE sweeping and mopping now!! I am sure the newness will wear off, but I promised Jeff I will never complain about those chores. It has been awesome!

So, this week was Spring Break and we really just took it easy. We went to the park with Suzie and her kiddos, we swam at the YMCA, and then Thursday we went with a big group to a museum.


It was such a fun week. I am now refreshed and ready to get back to the old routine. We had a very productive weekend, starting with a fun night at Suzie's. Isn't she tired of me yet? I moved the crib into Dallin's room and organized all the baby clothes. I feel ready now, but I still have 7 weeks to go! I just wanted to take advantage of energy while I had it.

I enjoyed listening to Conference and feel ready to make good choices and use my time wisely. I just had a last minute invite to a girls night at the beach, so my goal is to keep getting things done so I can "earn" a break. Hold me to it, okay?! Alright, if you made it through all of that, I am impressed. I just needed to write things for my own remembrance!!