Flashback Friday

I love looking at old pics of my kids. Seeing them day after day you don't notice how things change. Old pictures reminds me of all that is different and how life once was. Here are a few oldies, but goodies...in no particular order!
Here is Lauren when she turned 5, almost 2 years ago! Sheesh.

Lauren at 4:

Lauren at 3, this is her at Jamie's current age (so weird to think of it like that!)

Another shot of Lauren at 3.

Here was Lauren and Jamie's first official picture together. He was one month old at the time and Lauren was three. I will never forget this day, 05/23/07.

This wasn't too long ago...Jamie at 3.

Jamie at 2 years old

Jamie at one year.

Jamie at 6 months.

Here we are at our first family Christmas photo. A yearly tradition.

I just love love love my little family. I love that I have a boy AND a girl. I love that they are close to each other in age, I love that they LOVE each other. I love that I have such a wonderful man by my side to experience it all with me. I hope that time doesn't continue to fly at lightning speed.

Lauren's First Day of First Grade

I am gonna blog out of order here..but I wanted to hurry and blog Lauren's first day of school before some of the other summer activities. First of all, I can't believe she is back in school already...but she is on D track and she goes back 3 weeks later than the rest of the school. Her starting school brought some changes to our routines. Matt is going to work earlier. I am getting up and taking Lauren and her best friend to school. Now since I don't have to pick up Lauren from Kindergarten, I go to work earlier, I drop Jamie off at my parents earlier than usual and get to work earlier. Lauren goes to her friends house after school, Matt picks her up and then goes to get Jamie-who now spends his day alone at my parents house. I get off a little bit earlier and we get a little bit of time together as a family and we all go to bed earlier...including me-the night owl. They are all good changes. I keep telling myself "time to grow up". I guess that is what happens when your kids grow up. Okay, back to the spotlight girl.

I couldn't resist myself. I had to take a picture of my cute Lauren sleeping. The next day she would wake up a First Grader!

Just like all last year, she woke up by her own alarm and got herself 100% ready. Luckily we had enough time for a few pictures. I tried to re-create my pictures from last year. Here she is on the porch again.

This cute dress of hers is actually out of dress code, so, she won't be wearing it to school anymore...oops.

Here she is standing up, in a dancers pose.

She got a new princess backpack to start the new year.

This girl has lost 6 teeth so far...and a few of them are coming back in FINALLY. I thought she might be toothless forever.

For the first day, the whole family was there to support Lauren. Here are the people I love the most...Jamie, Matt, and Lauren.

I actually took PTO for her first day. I wanted to be there to help pick her up on the first day, and to go with our neighbor, April who would be taking Lauren after school until Matt gets off work. I just wanted to be there to help transition Lauren into the new routine. April and I walked to the school, I pushed Jamie in the stroller. On the short walk there, he fell asleep IN the stroller. Who does that? YUP...Matt's son! He slept all the way back and then sat in the stoller sleeping for a while AFTER we got home. Silly boy.

Oreo had enjoyed a day free of Lauren torture. That dumb cat slept on MY side of the bed all day.

Aww..when Lauren got home, she was happy to see her cat. It was a happy reunion.

So, there it is. I officially have a First Grader. She is so big! So far she likes her teacher, Mrs. Lance. She loves eating school lunch, she loves spending time with her best friend, Chrystie. She thinks that the day is long, but it is good. We are all adjusting to the new schedule well, the first week has gone great. I am thankful that there is a little bit of summer weather left. I will share some pics of some summer lovin' soon..stay tuned!

Zoo and friends from 78

As a kid I used to feel like sort of an only child. My siblings were much older and much younger than me. Fortunately I grew up in a neighborhood with like a ton of girls my age, they were like sisters to me. There was Heather who lived across the street for over 20 years, she was 2 years older in school, and whose family was like my second family. Then there was Nicky who lived kitty corner, she lived there until I was 13, and her little brothers were like MY little brothers. We stayed close after she moved to West Velley as well. She introduced me to quite a few boyfriends...3 to be exact! I had some of the best times of my life with her. She came back to my high school for my senior year, it was great to have her back to end my school life with her by my side. After high school she moved to California, I visited her there two years later. She came to my wedding in 1999, and I haven't seen her since!! BUT we stayed close. Through e-mails, phone calls, My Space and Facebook, we stayed in touch and kept up on each other. Like a sister, it is just nice to have someone who knows the people you know, someone who you share so many great memories with. She FINALLY moved back to Utah and we FINALLY got to see each other. After so long not seeing each other, also like a relative, the time didn't matter, we were just like "peas and carrots" again. It was also great to see her daughters in person after seeing so many pictures and hearing so many stories. We met up for lunch and for a trip to the zoo. Good times!

The first thing we saw were these bats, I don't think that I have ever seen a bat in person, and the way they clumped together was sort of sweet and creepy at the same time.

We also got to see baby "Zuri" the elephant. So cute!

Lauren and Nicky's daughter, Katelyn. They are a year apart, and got along really well. They even had the same shirt! LOL. Cute girls! Seeing them together kind of reminds me of Nicky and I when we were that age. I wish I could scan a pic of Nicky and I to prove it to ya!

Here is her oldest daughter, Hailey, and my kiddos on a statue. Nicky's husband is really tall and her kids definitely got that gene from him.

My favorite were the penguins. They were so cute. I could have watched them all day.

Lauren and Jamie kept bugging us all day long to ride the train, so we obliged.

And here is Nicky and I. It is amazing to me that I have known her for almost 33 years, my entire life! I am so lucky to have had grown up with her.

Here is my cute little Lars. Is it just me or is she photogenic?

Here is another shot of Nicky and I. I hope now that she is here we see each other more often.

Okay, I think this is my favorite picture. The four of the kiddos in the boat. Jamie had such a crush on Nicky's two girls. They were so sweet with him too.

Here is my adorable boy on the carousel.

Cute Katelyn on the carousel.

I kept telling Hailey that she should be a model, since she is going to be nearly 6 feet tall I believe. Here she is striking a pose, with the kiddos on the big gorilla.

The actual gorilla was so cute. He was sucking his finger. It reminds me of my two little current and former thumb suckers.

This picture is great! The kids fit perfectly against the monkey family.

It was a great day at the zoo, not too hot and not too cold. We got there sorta late, and after we had been there for a while, the zoo closed, but was still open...so it was great to walk around with virtually no one there. We had snacks and then we headed back to my house to visit for a while. I had a great time going through old pictures and showing them to her daughters. It brought back the good old times of my youth. We had lots of laughs at the expense of our crazy hairstyles from the 80s and 90s.

This trip to the zoo was the middle of July, and we have another playdate this Friday to go to Lagoon. They have season passes and it will be our first trip this year. Lauren can hardly stand the wait. I hope Jamie can keep up, well I guess that I hope that I can keep up as well. Sure do love ya Nicky, can't wait to see ya again!

My 4th of July Post (just in time for the 4th of August)

I feel bad that it has taken me this long to blog this!! I have been an avid journaler since I was about 10 years old and this blog really has become my journal. My real journal's entries have gotten VERY sparse since the kids have been born. So, I wanted to make sure that I gave my 4th of July post its respects. Last year, Matt's brother Greg and his wife Alex invited us to stay in their hotel in Park City. We had a BLAST so we were thrilled when they invited us again this year.

The real 4th of July was on a Saturday. I spent the day shopping for groceries with Alex so that we would be prepared. I also did lots of laundry and started to pack. Matt was at work, so when he got off we drove to Tooele to my Best Friend Beth's house. She has a big shindig every year. It was my first year to attend. We didn't get to stay very long, but I was able to snap one and only one pic. I love this gal sooo much. She is amazing. Such a sweet, giving, dependable friend.

Lauren had not forgotten about Park City and the countdown to our trip began months back. When we were FINALLY on the road Sunday afternoon...she could not contain her excitement! I think this is the biggest smile I've ever seen on her face.

Jamie had to show me his cheeser too. Aw, I love this little boy.

We arrived in Park City and checked out our awesome hotel. We hung out at the suite for a while and then we went for a walk on Main Street. Park City is such a neat town. Here are my kiddos with my niece Isabella. They are all such good friends and they get along so well!

I even got a pic of Matt and I too!

The kiddos didn't think walking was that much fun. Pouty Lauren and my adorable niece Maddie (sorry this pic is the wrong way).

We did a bit of shopping and stopped at Rocky Mountain Chocolates...MY FAVE! While waiting in line, Maddie got out of her stroller and just STARED at this little boy. I think she was in LOVE.

Also while in line, I caught a glimpse out the window and my heart melted. I LOVE my boys!

We had Main Street Pizza for dinner..mmmm. Then we went to see the fireworks. Last year we could just walk from the hotel. This year we were far away, so getting there was sort of an ordeal. BUT we made it just in time. The two girls laughed and played. They are the best of buddies.

Glow sticks and licorice made it a perfect night!

I tried to take a bunch of self-photos...ugh..I didn't like any of them. Matt said enough was enough...so here was the best one. Gotta love a flash on a dark night!

I love that our family are our friends! Greg and Alex and Maddie.

The kids shared a pull out bed, the sight of them in the same bed was so precious. Matt hadn't gotten much sleep from the night before and Alex and I ended up falling asleep in the common area for a few minutes before we moved to our rooms. It was an early night, well for me anyway.

Monday afternoon we headed up to the Alpine Slides and the Roller Coaster. It was a bit crowded so we let the kids jump on the bouncy houses for a while...they had a blast. I love Jamie's jumping tongue and cute Maddie from the side.

One of the coolest parts is riding the chair lift up. My cuties: Lauren and Matt.

Love these girls: Bella and Alex. Greg and Maddie waited for us back at the hotel.

Another self-photo...Me and Jamie.

Here we are on the Alpine Slide. Lauren just HAD to ride with her dad.

Alex and Bella ready to go.

Self-Photo....Me and Jamie...Let's ride!!

After our ride, we had some sandwiches that we had brought. We went swimming. I have no pics...boo. We got showered and dressed again and headed to Squatters. I think that I had the awesomest salad ever...Grilled Tillapia. YUMMO! After dinner we headed back to the hotel, got the kiddos in bed. Then Alex, Matt, and I played Canasta (a card game like rummy). Then Matt and I watched "The Fourth Kind" in our room. It was way freaky and it sort of gave me nightmares. We got up early on Tuesday and packed to go home. There was this tree outside of our room, I am not sure if you can see it, but it has tons of shoes hanging from it. Not quite sure why...

Here was our attempt to get a picture of all 4 of the kiddos. Poor Maddie...she must have not liked sitting next to Jamie.

Seriously, I am in LOVE with this cute little girl and her adorable cheek dimple!

Cousins AND twinners.

It was so great to get away. It was our first family double overnighter since Easter 2008. I think we all had a great time!! It was so refreshing!! I went back to work on Tuesday, a great vacation with NO PTO used. Double great! I hope that we get invited to go back next year. Thanks Greg and Alex for having us, we love you guys! We love the 4th of July. For some reason, the 4th of July always reminds me of the first summer that Matt and I met....15 years ago. 15 years and my heart still does fireworks for him like the fireworks in the sky...okay that sounds super cheesy, but it is true.