An Arizona Thanksgiving

We headed down on Sunday, stayed the night in St. George to break it up, and ended up in Mesa late Monday afternoon. The drive down left us a little frazzled. Gavin kicked up his feet and had some Doritos. That seemed to help - for a bit. Eighteen month olds are not meant to be strapped in a car for 11 hours.

My grandpa's funeral on Tuesday was probably one of the best services I've been too. I'm glad we could be there for that.

We stayed at Lynsey and Matt's and the boys played and played.





Wednesday night before Thanksgiving we headed up to the desert to have dinner, roast marshmallows, and have a story from Grandma. Gavin was content on Brian's shoulders for most of the time. He was interested in the fire and in all of the cousins. I haven't ever done that with my family - it really was fun.
Noah, Cade, Ben, and Ashley.


Rachelle - the 7 1/2 month broken foot woman. She's still smiling!


Gavin was mesmerized by Elmo. I've already found him a little Elmo doll for Christmas.
The weather was delightful. 75-80 degrees! We headed to the park more than once and as always, Gavin loved that too.
Thanksgiving was at my aunt Trudy's house. Brian is still getting used to eating Thanksgiving outside. I guess I've never thought about it.

Gavin LOVED Thanksgiving. He was so quiet and just ate and ate - everything but the turkey he put over there on the side of the table.

My parents, uncle, sis-in-law and some nieces and nephews.

Gavin played at the park next door and wanted to be around the big kids. He didn't know what to do with them, so mostly he ran around - just happy to be free.
The last day we were there five of the girls, my mom, and the coordinating children went to Freestone park. We rode the train and played on the horses and then headed to the park again. It was fun to be with my sisters. We caused a little bit of a commotion with that many kids, but that's just normal for us, I guess.


We're glad that we were able to go down to see my family. It's a long drive, but always worth it. It's important to me that Gavin is not a stranger to his Arizona cousins. We'll probably head down again with the new baby this summer.

The blue kind

It's a BOY! We were so excited to see that this little guy looks healthy and okay in there. Brian and I were thinking it was a girl, so we were surprised to hear it was a boy. Not disappointed by any means - just wrong. I can't feel this baby as much as I did Gavin. They said that was due to the placenta being in the front. I thought that less movement paired with my totally irrational behavior the first trimester meant estrogen. But no.

We are so excited to have two little boys and know that Gavin will be a great big brother. See you in April, buddy.

Weekend Get-a-way

I came home on Friday to these roses and a brochure mapping out our next 24 hours. I knew we were going somewhere for the night - just didn't know where we were going or what we were doing. Brian always has the best surprises - I don't plan on ever being able to live up to the things he does for me. It doesn't mean I won't try, it just means that I've accepted that he's way more creative than I am.

We ate at Ruth's Diner up Emigration Canyon in Salt Lake. Guy Fieri from Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives did one of his shows there. We love Guy. The food was super tasty. We've been wanting to go there for a long time.
Our next stop was Color Me Mine. This is a place where you buy an unfinished piece of ceramics and paint it there. They will fire it for us and we'll pick our pieces up next week. We were super proud of Brian's giant man mug (with polka dots) and my "You are special today" plate. There wasn't much visiting during painting time. Of course we would stop and ask each other questions about how and when to apply which color - because one needs opinions when they're creating! Turns out we both get pretty intense and focused during art time. I'm sure both of these pieces will be in the family for years to come. Our great grandchildren will cherish our work, I'm sure.
We needed a treat and stopped at Baskin Robbins. Neither of us can remember the last time we were there.

We pulled up to Little America and wheeled and dealed for a $15 upgrade. I'm sure the clerk thought we were super cheap, but this is what I've learned: It doesn't hurt to ask. We've never been denied yet.

Our room had a nice little sitting room and Brian brought a projector (that ended up not working) to show me a little slide show he had put together of us. Then we watched Shanghai Noon. Our classic first date movie. Very nostalgic.
The morning brought a serious buffet for breakfast at the hotel. When you pay $16.50 a plate, you feel like you've got to fill up. We weren't hungry for hours.

We stopped at Gateway because I wanted to get some little girl clothes at the Gymboree sale. Not sure if we're having a girl, but I didn't want to miss the sale if we do. It's all returnable. I asked.

The Joseph Smith Restoration video at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building was awesome. We thought it was new. Well, that was 3 or 4 years ago. Glad we made it. :)

We were going to watch an organ concert at the tabernacle, but apparently they don't have the 2:00 show in the winter. Bummer. Some other time.

We headed back home to pick up our little guy. We had such a great time. It was nice to be away, but be close enough to home to get back in 45 minutes. A good reminder that we need some "us" time sometimes.

Thanks to Brian for planning every part and for loving me enough to take me with him.

Halloween '09

There's something about taking my kid trick or treating that makes me feel like an official mom.  This is the first time I've ever done it.  I remember going as a kid so well.  It was SO FUN to walk around with Gavin and have him look around with such wonder.  After awhile I think his mind changed from, "What the heck is going on here?" to "People are just giving me candy?  Awesome!!"  He figured it out pretty fast and ate three suckers before we were done.  
This little bear is turning into a real animal.  He's got attitude, spunk, and surely has his own personality coming through.  We love him to pieces.  Brian and I were just talking about how it's weird how much we can love our little guy but at the same time how relieved we are when 7:30 comes around each night.  Isn't that the strangest thing?  

We just remembered that it's daylight savings tomorrow.  Brian went in and got him out of bed so he wouldn't be going to be at 6:15.  Oops.  He's thinking he's hot stuff to be hanging out with us late at night when it's dark outside.  

Six Years

October 11 is our "pretend" anniversary.  This is what we were doing 6 years ago on our supposed-to-be wedding day.  Brian getting treatments for his Leukemia - diagnosed three weeks before our wedding.  
I just found these pictures this last week.  They remind me of how far we've come - how much Brian has gone through.  He is my hero.  He's been through countless treatments and surgeries and has said very little about it.  I complain about how tired I am every day of my life.  Not him.  He's got better things to do. 

Brian is a friend to everyone.  I don't know ANYONE that doesn't like him.  And what's not to like?  I am just so grateful - especially today - that he is here with me.  Back then we didn't know how things would turn out.  I remember one time in his hospital room that he talked about us getting married.  For a few days, right at the beginning, he was worried about me feeling obligated to marry him.  I can understand where he was coming from, but after several of those comments I told him to stop saying it.  I remember saying, "Five days, five years, or fifty.  It's worth it."  And I meant it.  And here we are...six years later.  
He is so good to me and wants me to be so happy.  He is more patient than most people I know and forgives so many of my weird quarks and weaknesses.  

I love the life that we've created together.  We're a good team.  And it turns out that we make cute babies.  To have babies at all - another miracle.  

I love Brian more today than I did back then and look forward to another six years...times a bajillion.  

Getting There

We've been working on updating our bedroom for awhile now.  I had a little extra money to get some new furniture  and bedding and make this room look more like an HGTV lookalike.

Here are a few before shots:

BORING!  

And the after shots:
Fun and hip!
We still need a few things - bigger lamps for the nightstands and some accessories, but that will come in time.  Little by little!  I actually repainted the blue wall just last night to a lighter, more icy shade.  It's similar to the throw and the big pillows.  It is JUST what I was thinking of when I dreamed up this whole vision.  So this isn't it exactly.  When it's all the way done, I'll have to take new pictures.  And then I'll even show you the new dresser when it has been cleared off of all tools and giant TVs that don't belong.

For now, it's a little improvement, don't you think?  

Gavin has something to say...

Yes, it's true.  We are so, so excited.  April 8, 2010.