St. George ~ Day 2

After breakfast we headed over to Snow Canyon to play at the fabulous Sand Dunes. We had so much fun digging, rolling and running all over the place.

"It's like a giant beach!" an excited Avery exclaimed.

After the sun hid behind the clouds for good, it got a little chilly so we left the Dunes and found a picnic area in Snow Canyon to eat our lunch. As luck would have it, it started to sprinkle. That's okay though, we enjoyed our picnic lunch in the comfort of our nice warm van. :)

In between waves of sprinkling we roamed around on a few of the big red rocks and saw some beautiful views from the tippy top.

Later in the afternoon when the sun came back out, we explored more big red rocks in St. George.

After a delicious dinner we went and walked around the St. George Temple and visited the Visitor's Center. I love how bright white the Temple is, so pretty!

Another great day in St. George!

Our trip to St. George ~ Day 1

We had lots and lots of fun on our trip to St. George! The weather wasn't quite as nice as we had hoped the first day or two but it turned out being just right in the end. We had a great time!

Even though it rained, and in some places was snowing, the drive down went pretty well. We left in the evening in hopes the kids would sleep most of the way. Soon after a late dinner stop at Wendy's in Nephi, all 3 kids drifted off to dreamland for the rest of the way. Wahoo, our plan worked!

Armed with their blanket and stuffed animal, Avery's v-smile and Quinn's leapster computer, a snack bag, and a drink, the kids were set for the long ride. Plus they watched The Princess and the Frog on the way too.

Lucky kids, what a way to travel!

~~~ Day 1 in St. George ~~~

This day was kind of a gloomy rainy day so we did lots of fun things indoors. It started with some fun times at the condo.

"Where's the baby?"

"There he is!"

Tryin' on Daddy's glasses.

You look so smart Hayzen!

They ended up putting this puzzle together at least 10 times before our trip was over! What fun!

For lunch we went to this yummy place called Brick Oven and ate the BEST southwestern chicken pizza. It had a creamy roasted pepper sauce with chicken, three cheeses, olives, cilantro and fresh pico de gallo on top. Oh it was delicious!

After lunch we did a little shopping at the outlets, did a little shopping at the grocery store to fill the condo kitchen with food, and then we went to the movie theater to see How To Train Your Dragon. It was a really cute movie and the kids loved it. When we were walking out Quinney said to me, "Mama, I seel {feel} wike I want to sight {fight} a dwagon." :) I love my boy!

HAPPINESS

Teeny tiny happiness.




Love this time of year!

Joys of Summertime

Last Saturday felt like Summer!

{That is until the sun went down and we were reminded that it still is, in fact, Springtime.}

We worked in the yard all day and got some much needed Spring cleaning done. All the new weeds and all the old remnants of last years perennials are all cleared out of our flower beds and now all you can see is new life re-appearing. Little green sprigs shooting up from the dirt everywhere. I love it!

After a long day of work we rewarded ourselves with a good ole Slurpee from the Sev.

For dinner we roasted hot dogs and yummy gooey smores on our new fire-pit. Yum-O!

Ummmm, yes please!

Can't wait to do this all. summer. long!

White Liar

Remember this shirt and how I was saying that it was a 'one time wear only' shirt?

Well, Avery got to wear it again. Wahoo!

She got to celebrate her 'pretend birthday' last week at school since her 'real birthday' isn't until summertime.

Speaking of 'pretend birthdays' and 'real birthdays', this little lady seemed to have been having a little case of amnesia that day and got the two mixed up!

I didn't know this until the next day when one of her little friends came over with a birthday gift for her. Then I asked her, "did you tell everyone it was your real birthday?"

I suppose you can guess what her answer was.....

Oh yes, and come to find out, in talking to this little friends Mom, there was a whole party planned at Chucky Cheeses that night too with invitations she just forgot to pass out..... Are you kidding me Avery???

It's maybe a little funny to me now, but last Wednesday I was mortified! And all to get a stinkin' present! What is this world {and my daughter} coming too? ha ha!

Needless to say, Avery returned the gift and apologized for her little out right lie!

I guess the good news for me is, she already chose to celebrate her 'real birthday' in April so when July comes around we won't have to. Hope you enjoyed your Spring birthday this year.

Yes, punishment is fun isn't it Avery! :)

My 30th birthday. Oh, AND MY CAKE!!!

I had a GREAT 30th birthday! My celebration started on Friday with a night out on the town with some great friends. We went to dinner at a yummy pizzeria and then to a comedy club @ Trolley Square. The comedian: "I got braces when I was 29 because I didn't want to get made fun of as a kid....." Needless to say, he "had to quit substituting at the Junior High"! ha ha! Aww, good times!

The next day my family came down and surprised me with a jolly good BBQ @ my house. Wahoo! Good thing because then we had plenty of people to enjoy my A-MAZE-ING birthday cake with us!

More on my A-MAZE-ING cake later, it deserves it's own section of this post!

Then on Monday, my actual birthday, Justin and the kids took me out for an oh-so-delicious birthday dinner @ Texas Roadhouse. {A place that I didn't want them to know it was my birthday because I didn't want to sit on that saddle! haha! Ten times more embarrassing than just having them come and sing 'happy birthday' to you at your table!} So we zipped our lips about my birthday and had a fun time! Of course I ate way too much, as I always do when we go out, but seriously, how can I not eat like 400 of those warm rolls with that scrumptious buttery cinnamon butter??? Just tell me. :)

The best birthday cake EVER, coupled with delicious food {multiple times} and the company of great family and friends makes for the perfect 30th birthday! Thanks everyone for helping make my birthday special! :)

Okay, now about MY CAKE!

Here it is, the crowning jewel of my birthday!


Isn't it the cutest thing?! My friend Brooke made it. She's been taking a cake decorating class and is so very talented.


I decided for my 30th birthday that I wanted a two tiered cake. I'm not sure why exactly, it's just something that came to my mind when I was thinking about my upcoming, very important, highly anticipated 30th birthday, and I liked the idea.


I gave Justin the particulars: two tiered, white cake with butter cream frosting. He then was going to talk to Brooke and get the cake ordered and it would be a surprise for me. Well, he claims that when I started saying things like: "but I don't want it to look like a wedding cake", "I want spring-y colors but I don't want it to look like an Easter cake", "I don't want it too fancy, maybe just one big hot pink bow on top", he got all over-whelmed and was afraid he wouldn't deliver the perfect cake. I'm I picky or what? :) Bless his little heart.


So, he sent Brooke my way so I could pick out my perfect cake. And I must say, it turned out to be an absolutely perfect "Holly cake"!!! So perfect in fact, I didn't want to cut the pretty thing. :)


So here's to me and my thirty years!


And yes, it tasted just as good and smooth and moist and soft and yummy as it looked! Delicious!