Happy Birthday to Me!

I started my year out with my birthday...turning 34. I'm not exactly sure why but 34 seems really old. It hit me harder than 33 and because of that, it has motivated me to get my mind in a place to make changes to feel young and active. To be more engaged in the right things. It won't happen overnight but that will be my focus this year. 

I had several birthday celebrations. On my actual birthday, Ricky took me out to lunch at Grimaldi's. I had to work that day but I scooted out a bit early to get a much needed pedicure. That evening we had a lovely family dinner at The Melting Pot. It is one of my favorite restaurants and it was nice to share a fondue, fun and fancy evening with the boy. They did so well. No close calls with the hot pots and they tried everything. I really enjoy providing new experiences and hopefully lasting memories for them. 

My sweet friend Lisa treated me to a delicious Mexican lunch on Friday. She also gave me some ceramic measuring cups that are unique and I'm excited to use. I always enjoy a good visit with one of my wonderful friends. I am blessed to have found such good, sweet, kind and enjoyable women to have as friends in my life. 

On Saturday, Ricky and I went to see the musical If/Then, staring Idina Menzel, at ASU Gammage  I was really looking forward to seeing the show but unfortunately was a bit disappointed. The story was hard to follow, the songs weren't that catchy and the speaking parts were hard to understand. We ended the night on a good night with dinner at In-N-Out.  

Next weekend my girl friends are taking me out for the day for a birthday adventure, so more to come on that. I do feel loved and spoiled by Ricky and my boys, in addition to my friends and extended family. Here's to making 34 feel like a wonderful age.

This was my delicious birthday toffee cheesecake from Grimaldi's. 

Fancy handsome boys at dinner. 

Mom and Logan

Family selfie was a bit blurry and awkward but it was the only family picture we got that night.

Lincoln really impresses me when he actually tries to be on his best behavior.  He used his manners, was kind to Logan, was engaging with us and the server and had a very pleasant evening. 

Logan tried a cooked mushroom for the first time. He was also very excited to try all of the sauces they had. He doesn't even really like cheese but he tried all the vegetables and bread in the cheese fondue. 

Daddy was happy and full by the end of the evening. 

Birthday strawberries to take home. 

Since we had dessert with dinner we didn't do cake or ice cream at home so the boys surprised me by making a lego cake slice. It was thoughtful and super cute. 

My friend Courtney from Lompoc posted this picture on my Facebook wall from my 5th grade basketball season as a throwback birthday surprise. I haven't seen this picture in many years so I got a good laugh from it. I can't believe she still has it after all these years. 

Poster in front of ASU Gamma theater. 

Here's to a Fantastic 2016

I'm expecting 2016 to be a better year than we had in 2015. We have been in our home almost a year, our front yard is in. Our back yard is coming along. I've gotten more settled in with my job managing the recruiters for Financial Solutions Advisors and although I am now in an office, I am at least settled without that hanging over my head.  The boys are halfway through the school year and both are doing well. Most of last year I wasn't playing tennis because of my ankle injury and just didn't make it a priority when I was cleared to play. I've joined a 4.0 women's team and excited to play again. It gives me a way to see my friends, get exercise, and get stress relief through competitive play.

We started the first couple weeks of January with lots of fun activities, including another trip to the movies to see Star Wars, a Lincoln/Daddy date night and a Logan/Mommy date. Logan also was asked to give a talk a church and I played the lotto for the second time in my life. So far so good.

 Lincoln and Ricky went to the Coyotes NHL hockey game. It was the first time to a hockey game for Lincoln and he loved it.  He texted me the picture of him eating nachos and told Ricky he was in "nacho heaven!"  I love that they get to bond and have time together. 

 Logan and Mommy had a great date night of our own. We had dinner at Pei Wei, ran a few errands including selling his little Buzz Lightyear toddler scooter, got him a new art kit and played some games at Peter Piper Pizza. 

 Super cute and studly in his church attire. All ready to give his talk. 

The largest jackpot his Powerball history happened last week.  It was a 1.5 billion dollar prize.  I have only ever played once before but who wants to miss the opportunity for that kind of money. So, I played $10 and won back $7 by matching 3 out of the 6 numbers. Not a bad risk in my opinion but it's not something I will be playing weekly. 

Happy New Year!

What a year 2015 was.  As I reflect back, there were a lot of changes, good times, struggles, trials, and memories made. I feel like overall, it seemed to be a tough year for many of our friends and family. If I were to recap, some of the major events that stick out to me are:

• the move to our new house in Litchfield Park
• Phillips reunion in Aspen Grove
• Logan starting kindergarten
• losing my friend Sandy Siegel from complications with ALS
• Lincoln getting baptized 
• our fun CA trip
• Logan's first year playing soccer
• we sold our white Ford F150 truck
• the boys learning to swim
• being part of the start up company Products Matter
• Logan's ER visit
• Rick's parents left of their mission to Amman, Jordan
• I returned to work in an office

Needless to say, I am excited to look ahead and hope for wonderful things in 2016. I am very blessed with a wonderful family and awesome friends. It was an easy going celebration on new year's eve at the house.  The boys are starting to understand why we celebrate.  We ate tons of yummy food, lit sparklers, played games, visited and watched the Rockin' NYE shows with the ball drop. Everyone was gone by 10:30 and then we headed for bed.  It's nice to have a home to share and entertain in.
Cheers to a fantastic year ahead!

 Bam Bam and her mom

 Sadie, Logan, Lincoln and Dylan

 Lisa, Me and Bam

 It was a freezing cold night. Nobody wanted to be outside for too long.

Off to bed for this tired little guy. 

Merry Christmas!

The boys got to open a present on Christmas Eve, which was conveniently their Elfie themed pjs. Lincoln realized it was Elfie's last night with us and I found him crying and talking to Elfie, asking him to stay. Ricky talked with Lincoln about it and agreed that we would text Santa to see if Elfie could stay with us on Christmas Day to watch him open presents. It seemed to appease Lincoln when Santa texted back yes, that Elfie could stay. 

Christmas morning was almost perfect. The boys slept in until about 7:30 am. It took us about a hour and a half to get through opening presents and the boys didn't fight once. They were genuinely happy for each other and for the toys they got. One of my favorite things as a mom is watching the joy and excitement from my kids on Christmas morning. It's wonderful. The reason I say it wasn't perfect is because poor Logan, who rarely is sick, had tummy pains all morning. We had to take a few breaks to let him rest, he thought he was going to throw up and several potty breaks. Thankfully by mid morning the pains had let up a bit and he was able to enjoy the day. 

I am so thankful for the blessings I have in my life, including my precious family, a beautiful home to live and celebrate in, for this country we live in, and most importantly for the Christ child that was born, lived, atoned for my sins and died that I might live with my family again. 

 I was made a very special present by given. He drew the art on the wrapping paper and made me a beautiful "hand" painted Christmas tree. I love it!  I will cherish it always...especially as those hands get much much bigger in the years to come.

 Christmas Eve dinner at Olive Garden. I took this picture because Logan gave Daddy a kiss, unsolicited, which is a rare occasion. 

 Their Christmas Eve present.

 They quickly changed into their pajamas. 

 Our homemade cookies for Santa.

 Ellie left the boys one last note reminding them to be good through this next year. To show love and be good helpers. 

 Lincoln read the note to Logan on Christmas morning before they opened presents. 

 Logan really wanted a scooter like brothers. Thankfully he barely made the nice list!

 Logan got a massive Lego train set. 

 Lincoln got a new iPad and some new beat headphones.

Daddy got tickets to see Adele in concert.

Happy Birthday, Ricky!

Yes, Ricky is another year older and wiser.  We had a very low key birthday celebration for him.  The morning started off with Darth Vader waffles and bacon that Logan helped me make. We opened presents and then he and I got to go on date night to dinner at Firebirds and a movie. We had been trying to catch up on the Hunger Games series over the holiday break because Mocking Jay part two was still in theaters so we decided to catch that while it was out. Ricky got a CD, Blu-Ray and some books.  All the things that he loves. Happy birthday love!

Holiday Activities

This was the first year in a while where I felt ready for Christmas early in the month. After being in the rental house last year, and not having a single decoration up, it was wonderful to have all our decorations up along with our beautiful tree. It was also the first time as a family that we've ever hung Christmas lights outside. It was quite a project to get them up but fun to finally have them up and come home to a decorated home each night.

I tried to ensure that we had lots of fun Christmas activities for the month. Elfie had been visiting us for the month, we made our annual Goodies for friends and neighbors, we watched Christmas movies and read Christmas books. We also kept our annual gingerbread decorating fun. We spent one day in the east valley eating dinner at a new place we tried called, Organ Stop Pizza and then we went on to see the Christmas lights and decorations at the Mesa temple. On Christmas Eve we made Santa some chocolate chip cookies and milk. 

We stopped in to visit with Santa so the boys could tell him what they wanted. It was the first time that we didn't have any wait at all. It made it so much more enjoyable. The boys told him they wanted some toys that they had never previously mentioned to us. Lincoln asked for the Eye of Cthulhu and a Terraria skull. Santa, and Mommy, used Amazon for about 90% of the Christmas gifts that came to our house...and thankfully they have two day shipping.

 Organ Stop Pizza

 Mesa Temple lights

 We made and delivered our annual Christmas candy to friends and neighbors. I made about 150 items.

 We went looking at Christmas lights one night in conjunction with delivering the candy. We sang carols in the car for most of the ride.

The train outside of Santa's workshop that we visited.