Sisters' Weekend

Last weekend, we did a girl's retreat in UT... It was SO MUCH FUN! Cherry, Mom and I flew out from TX, Dawn flew in from AZ, Lyd and Steph live in UT already, so they were already there. Best thing about it? NO KIDS AT ALL!!!! Friday night, we went to my Grandpa Sanders' cabin in Midway. My mom's sisters and their daughters were all there too... It was a great evening. We all sat around talking and listening to my aunt LeeLee's stories... We even danced a bit (yes, my mom was in charge of that part... we learned the thriller dance!!) We woke up to the best waffles ever. I need that recipie - waffles that were lighter than air - I could have eaten a MILLION of them... but i didnt ;). Dawn and I went running. It was simply beautiful. The mountains are so amazing with all their colors. The weather was perfect - not too hot and not too cold. It was just so pretty. I could have run forever. This was the only pic I got there.... everyone getting ready to leave.

We all went our seperate ways Saturday. Lydia, Julie, Steph and I (the real cool ones) went to the BYU game. It was a lot of fun. So many great memories... Lydia made us all wear blue. It was fun to be back in that stadium again. I wish I would have spent more time walking around campus. I can't believe how long it's been and how old I have gotten... Sad to know I am no longer 19. But anyways... GO COUGARS!!!
We went by Steph and Nate's apartment - oh to be a newlywed again! They are cute and cheesy and I cant help but love them. Then, everyone met up again at Lydia's house for fondue. Cherry and Dawn went shopping with Jen that day. I figure I saved at least $200 by going to the game. They came home with lots of great things from the outlets... Yes, it would be nice to have a cute coach purse, or some cool clothes, but I had a good time at the game, so Joe and I are both happy ;). Lydia's house was fun. Dave and Misty and their kids came by, along w/Jen and Julie. But, at night, we all just vegged out and fell asleep watching a chick flick.
Sunday morning was low-key. We were all enjoying Lydia's struggle to wean her STUBBORN Mckenzie. ;) Then, everyone had to go to church, and Cher, Dawn and I headed up to the airport to return home.

I really feel so lucky to have such a great family! My mom is amazing. Friday night, hanging out with her sisters made me realize how lucky I am to have my mom. Her mom died when she was just 16, (and my mom had 4 younger sisters too). Because of that, my mom had all her babies without a mother there to help her. Her sisters spoke of feeling their mother's presence several times in their lives since her death. I don't know what I would do without my mom. She is the mom who comes and cleans out my cupboards and organizes closets - just because. She plays with her grandkids. She teaches my kids songs and dances (and us too). She is the one who always inspires me to be better, and to do more. She is the voice in my head that tells me I would feel a LOT better if my house was clean (so get up and stop moping around)... In fact, because of her inspiration, one day when I was throwing up and sick sick sick, she told me to get up and clean - that day, I got a call 20mins before a showing - the very showing that sold my house. (I think she helped me clean that day, so thanks again mom). She is so helpful and kind and a great example. She is the world's best mom and the most fun and amazing grandma. I am so grateful that she is here for me. I wish I could have met my Grandma Cherry.

ANYWAYS, YAY for sisters' weekend! I had a great time. It was short, but sweet. Can't wait to see you guys again soon!! LOVE YA!!!

Rainy days

Rainy days are always fun!
Practices were cancelled... so, after school, we went to McDonalds for icecream sundaes.
Michael's was close by, so we raided the craft section. Those $1 crafts are awesome! The kids were in heaven, and I was glad we didn't waste the day in front of the TV.
Looks like we need to go back before IKE comes!

Her is our AWESOME art. Yes, i am the world's best painter! ;)
Aaron is more about speed, so he finished painting 2 ceramic animals, and moved on to this window hanging before anyone else finished one thing. Charity concentrated so hard. Girls and boys are so different in how they do crafts!
Nate was just thrilled to get to participate with his older siblings. He did surprisingly well for a 2yr old.

Last weekend was the beginning of fall sports for our kids. Charity is on the STORM. Their uniforms didn't come in on time, but they still looked so cute! She is pretty fast. I can't figure out if she had more fun doing gymnastics on the sidelines, or playing in the game!!!

Aaron is on the COWBOYS! He played against the blue COWBOYS (yes, there are a lot of cowboy's fans here... what other team would we want to be on?) Aaron tried real hard, and did pretty well. There is so much to learn in football. He is pretty hard on himself. Hopefully this next game (if IKE doesnt get us cancelled) will be a little better.

Ode To College

It might be because an old college chum connected with me on facebook.
It might be because I had to dig through a box of pictures this morning trying to find a baby pic of Aaron so he could take it to school.

Whatever it was, I went for a stroll down memory lane today, and it was a lot of fun.

Before I got married, I was livin it up at BYU.

I had a lot of holes in my ears.


Karla was my best friend. She was a rare find - the perfect girlfriend who didn't require the daily phone call. We knew we were friends, but our friendship was not high maintenance. We were crazy together. We did lots of stupid things together... we got in lots of trouble together. When I think of life at BYU, I think of her. I think of the Aspire. I think of fireworks, toilet seats, running around, dancing, talking, laughing, and crying. She made my college experience one I could look back and smile upon.

I went camping a LOT. The "Mesa Boys" were always up for an adventure, and we could sure find them! We jumped from cliffs, we swam in reservoirs, we sang songs, and did so many fun things together! I can't help smiling just thinking about those fun times. Some adventures didn't happen while camping; some came while running around on and off campus. We did some silly stuff... (but I cant actually put it on the internet).


Was it here that we woke up to a park ranger saying we cant sleep in a picnic area?
We lived on granola bars.
We got free t-shirts ;)

It was such a short chapter in my life, but my college experience made me who I am today. It was then that I decided who I wanted to be, and what I wanted out of life. I am so grateful for the friends I had there, and the experiences we shared.

Somewhere, in the same town, a boy named Joe was having his own experiences. He, of course, was dating all the wrong women - until he met me. I haven't gotten all his stories out of him yet. I think it was because they weren't nearly as exciting as mine. ;)

The Y on the mountain always stared at me (freshman year, I even wrote a song about it). Y were you there? As I graduated, I could finally answer the question.

My apt

This morning (beginning in the wee hours of the middle of the night) as I was awake listening to my upstairs neighbor’s “relaxing” music, I had lots of time for thinking.

Let me first say that living in an apartment after a nice big house is an adjustment. For example, I knew a sound wasn’t coming from my house, but I could still hear it clearly this morning. It was a synthesizer piano playing 5 measures of a melody with a very simple (3-note arpeggio) chord progression as the accompaniment OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN. At first, I thought it was some DVD menu music playing that 30 second song repeating itself in an endless loop. So I had fun trying to think of the cheesy movie my neighbor must have fallen asleep watching… But then, it changed! After about FOREVER of one awesome melody, a new song would start – so that means they played this ON PURPOSE!?!?! Seriously, one of the songs was Aluette. Ok, I know I am/was a piano teacher, but really? Does anyone actually LIKE to hear that melody over and over and over and over and over… or is once all you can take before you want to cover your ears and scream? To be fair, it was played quite soothingly but STILL!!!! AHHHHHLUETTE!!!! Needless to say, I was SO grateful when my air conditioner turned on so I wouldn’t have to hear it anymore. Yes, my air conditioner is loud enough to shake the whole room (but that is a whole different awesome).

But that is not the real purpose of this post.

I have been asked what my apt looks like, so for your viewing pleasure... here is my apt:

We are having lots of fun here in our little apt. I dont really feel very crammed (except when everybody is home for extended periods of time). We have been busy with football and soccer, and with the kids at school, we are honestly hardly home at alL!!! isnt this place AWESOME!

you can see we brought the essentials: tvs, computers, xbox... things that don't matter like toys, pictures, decorations, our real bed (joe and i are sleeping on charity's bed even though i think we exceed the weight limit), etc - those are all in storage...