Happy Birthday Dad!

So this past weekend we took a little jaunt up to CEDAR for my Dad's 80th birthday!! So amazing that he is 80! Anyone that meets him can hardly believe that he is that old! He is the hippest, most with it Grandpa around! We love him so much. He is a great Dad and a GREAT grandpa! Matt drove up with my sister from Provo, so it was an extra bonus to have him with us for the weekend! We LOVE seeing him and have a hard time when he leaves! :(
For the party we went to Milts up Cedar Canyon for dinner with 5/7 of my siblings (we missed you Lisa and Jason!!) and their spouses.. it was really nice. Then we went back to Dad's for the cake and ice cream and all the kids met us there. We surprised him with a new grill and my sister made a nice memory book for him from all the grandkids and it was so fun to sit and listen as Dad read them one by one. It was a special treat and a great time!
Saturday half of the gang went home and the other half came down to Vegas to go to the Tony Bennett concert with my Dad. Dave wanted to go and I didn't (tickets were PRICEY and I am not really into Tony)so Dave went with the gang and said it was an AWESOME show! Tony is 83 but I guess he's still got it! ha ha... It was fun to spend time with my Dad. I sure do love him and am grateful for him!

THEN Tuesday was the jogathon at Ellie's school. She did great! She is good little runner!! And just sooo super cute. The bad part is that she was sick while she was running, so when she finished she felt REALLY sick. When she got home from school she went straight to bed and didn't get up til the next morning.. that's when I knew something was OFF~ this girl hates to rest!! She ended up staying home the next day and I took her to the doctor. She has a sinus infection and is doing much better now that the antibiotics have kicked in.

IT's been a good week..busy but good. New Beginnings for YW was last night and ... yeah... whew... I am glad it's over! The BIG events like that always stress me out a bit. It went well and it is SO MUCH FUN having both Lindsey and Katie in YW with me. I am just loving it so much and ENJOYING it because I know it won't last forever! We are looking forward to Ellie's birthday next week and then her baptism that weekend! YIPEE!! Gonna be awesome!

I am running a few days behind... BUT

WHY I LOVE MY VALENTINE:
He is so good to me. He is kind. He works so hard. He laughs at my dumb jokes. He is patient. He has taught me so much. He is smart. He is a great Dad. He is so talented. He listens to me. He loves me. He fixes everything. He loves the gospel. He never complains. He is unselfish. He is the best. I love you Dave. Thank you for being my Valentine! Love, Les

"It's the stuff that dreams are made of
It's the slow and steady fire
It's the stuff that dreams are made of
It's your heart and soul's desire
It's the stuff that dreams are made of

Don't look at yourself in the same old way
Take another picture
Shoot the stars off in your own backyard
Don't look any further
And you will see
It's the stuff that dreams are made of...."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE!!

Katie turned 12 on the 12th!!! Her GOLDEN Birthday! Yea! She was so excited for her birthday this year!! She got to start Young Women's AND get a facebook! Woot! Woot! :) She wanted to go to a movie for her birthday, so I told her she could only invite A FEW friends (pricey) so we went to Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the Lightening Thief. It was AWESOME. I really liked this movie. Katie is in the middle of reading the series of 5 books, she is on the 3rd one. She has really liked them. She said, of course, the movie was not as good as the book and really different, but she still liked it. We then came home for mattress surfing (our good old standby), dinner, cake and ice cream. It was a fun night! To make it even better her birthday was at the start of a 3 day weekend! Yehaw! I worked Sat and Sun while Dave and the girls continued their HARD work on our kitchen renovations (notice the ugly walls in the pictures) and today we are just taking it easy...going to Barnes and Noble (our favorite hangout) and then Lindsey and Ellie are going to the movies, Katie is reading and Dave and I are heading out on a date for our belated Valentines and my early birthday!! LOVING this AWESOME weather outside... ok... this is the time of year that makes living in Vegas WORTH it!!! It's supreme! :)

Twin Day

Today is TWIN DAY at school... look at these two cute girls! I love that they are so close in age (14 months) they are great friends and on occasions like this it is AWESOME to have a sister to do things with! They looked so cute~ matching EVERYTHING, shoes, pants, shirts, jackets, braids and even the rubber bands on their braces! Ha ha! So cute!

side note-- notices the BARREN stripped walls in the background- a work in progress...

I love my kids so much! Yesterday was a VERY VERY VERY bad day at work. Dave and I got home around the same time (8 pm)I came home in some SERIOUS pain and had some SERIOUS fatigue going on. (Not to mention I had been splashed with bloody urine ALL over my arm-- super lovely) BUT the house was clean, dinner was on the table and even a FHE lesson was prepared!! They are so sweet. They definitely turned my frown upside down! How did I get so lucky to have 4 of the BEST kids in the whole wide world? Being a working mom has made me appreciate my children a lot more. First of all- I don't get to be with them as much as I would like, so I enjoy the time we do have together a lot more than ever, second- I am realizing more and more how SHORT my time is with them in my home, having Matt leave was a real wake up call to me to enjoy the time I have with them in my home.. goes by SO FAST!! Third- I am around people at work all the time who complain about how "bad" their kids are, and it makes me so grateful for my kids and mostly for the gospel. Where would we be without it? Honestly, I just love my kids~ I am not meaning to brag, I am just grateful!! Every single one of them really is so good to me... What a blessing. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!!!!!! :)

Sunday Thought and recent events...

I love this thought by Elder Neal A. Maxwell that I came across this morning and just wanted to share:

"Can you and I really expect to glide naively through life, as if to say, ‘Lord, give me experience, but not grief, not sorrow, not pain, not opposition, not betrayal, and certainly not to be forsaken. Keep from me, Lord, all those experiences which made Thee what Thou art! Then let me come and dwell with Thee and fully share Thy joy!’"

This is something so TRUE but so HARD to remember and so hard to get through sometimes. For the past many months I have been wishing to just AVOID my trials and lately I am beginning to UNDERSTAND a little better their purpose and am trying to ACCEPT them and recognize the growth they are bringing in my life rather than being FRUSTRATED with them. I love the way our Heavenly Father lets us struggle and then blesses us to see the REASONS why at a later time. Not saying the struggling is easy, but with the right attitude it ALWAYS is WORTH it.

Ellie and I went to Cedar City Fri and Sat for the baptism of these TWINNERS, Anthony and James by my cute Daddy:

Dave, Lindsey and Katie went to Colorado to get their braces worked on. CHECK OUT THESE TEETH: YEEHAW!! Don't they look awesome?!?! Dave is SOOOO happy to be done with his braces! THANK YOU MARK!!!

That's what's new in our neck of the woods~ Also, I am going private sometime next week~~ thanks for all your email addresses!! :)

GOING PRIVATE

I should have probably done this a LONG time ago... but I am going private soon... if you want an invite please leave your name and email address!! Thanks!! :)