Birthday Weekend...

36. Not a milestone birthday, but I did have a wonderful one. My actual birthday was on Monday, so it was more like a weekend of celebrating.

Friday started with these. Charley ordered them to be delivered on my birthday, but I guess the place messed up and delivered them early. Either way, they sure were yummy!!

Friday night we were able to go to the Grizzlies Hockey game. We bought these "Pass of all Passes" from Groupon. They are season passes to Raging waters, select Real Salt Lake games, Select Hockey games, Season passes to the Blaze (indoor arena football), Rocky Mountain Raceway passes... and some other fun things. All for $39 a person. It was such a great deal.

Anyway, back to the game. Michelle's family went with us and she had an extra ticket so we were able to bring Tyler. They boys had so much fun. They made a poster for one of the radio DJ's that was there in the luxury suite. They were trying to get an invite! The other side of the poster said "The guy behind me can't see" Which was such a true statement! Who wouldn't invite these cute boys to the suite?? Well, no invite, but they sure had fun trying!

They had this Quick Cash place there doing a "Spin the wheel" promo. You got to spin the wheel and if it landed on "BOX" then you got to choose one of the 8 boxes. 1 of the boxes had a ring in it, the other 7 were empty. Charley spun the wheel and won a marquis diamond ring. Then Nate goes and spins... lands on box, and can you believe he chose the correct box too? He also won a ring. Me, what did I win? Oh-- $5 of my next cash loan. Guess I'm not as lucky! We actually took the rings to the cash store the next day and sold them for cash. Nate is going to use the $30 they gave us for his ring to buy a DS game.

Saturday was the George Strait/Reba concert. I was SO excited for this!!! A friend at work, her mom works for Larry Miller and was able to get us presale tickets-- so in other words we had awesome seats. I have been waiting for this concert for so long. When I found out that they were coming to Salt Lake the weekend of my birthday, I told Charley that was all I wanted for my present. So like a good husband, he took me :)

The concert was awesome!! It was over 4 hours long. With two HUGE stars, how could it not be though. Reba came out first. She was beautiful as always. George closed it out. But as I always say, it's a good thing he sings well, because he's not so entertaining. He doesn't get into it much. We actually left during his encore because it was 11:30 and we were starving. And on the way home, it was a blizzard.

When we got home, our car looked like this:

And yes, that was on April 2nd. What a crazy spring we are having!!

Sunday was conference. Have to admit, it's my favorite Sunday of the year. I love being able to lounge around and watch conference on TV. And, it's always the weekend of my birthday. So, if my birthday is ever on a Sunday, I don't have to get up and get ready! I get to relax all day!

And Monday-- finally after a weekend of celebrating, the day had arrived. I did have to go into work at 6 AM which was not so fun. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a morning person. But when I arrived at work, this is what greeted me:

Going in early does have it's benefits. I did get to leave at noon! I went and met my family (Mom & Dad, Erin & boys, Tyler & Bryan, Michelle & Kelly and Charley) for lunch at Applebees. It was so nice to be off work early, and visit. No rush to be anywhere. After that, I went home to relax. Soon after, a knock at the door-- It was Heather & family bringing me yummy cupcakes:

Aren't the Mickey sprinkles adorable?? And Rocky Road Ice cream. Boy, do they know me, or what?? After they left, I met some friends (Stacey, Denise, Carlos, Christian, Ellie & Janine for dinner at Mandarin. Love that place. But it's kind of pricey and far, so we don't get there often. About once a year on my birthday!! LOL.

So, as you can see, I had a wonderful birthday & weekend. So much packed into it, filled with my wonderful family and great friends. Thank you to everyone who sent me cards, called me, text me, and sent FB messages. You all truly made my day brighter!

Happy 41st!

Pretty sure that Charley will kill me when he sees that I've posted his age here... so maybe if I say a whole bunch of nice things about him, he'll forgive me :) (love ya honey!).

My sweet husband's birthday was yesterday (Feb 22). I feel bad that this is the only picture I got of him the whole day. Well, we didn't really see each other but just for a couple hours. We both had a stressful day!


I did manage to leave work a little early so I could take him out. He was (luckily) able to get his shift covered at the last minute so he had the night free. He chose to go to dinner and a movie! Surprise, surprise! Actually, it was a pretty fun night. We went to Teppanyaki for dinner. We always love that place, but definately can only go there on a special occasion! After that we went and picked Nate up and went and saw the Percy Jackson movie. It was actually pretty good. (Did i really say that??). It was funny because 10 minutes into the movie, I pulled out my phone and said.. "I'm glad I have games & facebook on my phone" But after Charley convinced me to put my phone away, I was actually able to get into the movie and enjoy it. Nate loved it! I think he will read the books now! And to make it even better.. we had a private showing! We were the ONLY ones in the entire theater! Weird?

So onto Charley's "card".

Charley and I kind of have a "fortune cookie" motif going on in our relationship. When we were first dating, I think he was a little more ready for a "relationship" than I was. The first time I went to Idaho with him, we at at a chinese buffet. My fortune cookie said something about "embracing what I had in front of me" we just kind of laughed about it.

So when Charley propsed, he had fortune cookies made, and the fortune read "Sarah will you marry me". I still have the fortune!

So this was mine & Nate's little project. We made this little chinese box and filled it with paper "fortune cookies". Gotta admit, it was pretty fun to make... and Charley loved it!

(So this is where I redeem myself...)

Just wanted to say happy, happy birthday Charley! I have no idea where I would be without you, and I am greatful every day that you have come into my life. You are an amazing husband & father and I am so lucky that you have chosen me as your wife! I know life is stressful right now, but I also know that we have happy times in store for us. Life is better because we have each other...Love you! Hope you had an amazing day and your next 41 years look even brighter.. looking forward to spending them with you!

Celebrating Lauren's Birthday...

So the girls have come to love one of my old time favorite restaurants... Italian Village! We love those pizza benders, and it's affordable to take 3 kids!! So this year for Lauren's birthday we went to Italian Village with Grandpa & Grandma J & Denise's family.

This year for birthdays, Charley is going to take each of the girls on a daddy-daughter "date". So we gave Lauren a playbill to Hale Theater (She loves acting/drama/plays) and told her to choose a play she wanted to see. Then Charley will take her on a day that it's playing that she will be with us. We've always given them gift cards in the past (they love to shop) but we thought this might be a way that C can spend some one on one time with each of them.

These are a couple pictures of Lauren & Michele... they get along so well and have so much in common, it's kinda scary! Denise and I have known each other since I was in high school and have grown to be such good friends. I love that we can get together and our kids can hang out too.

And then one of all the girls... Holly, Maddy, Lauren & Michele...

These pictures are really bad because of the lighting in the restaurant, but I thought they were still so cute! Did I mention that I'm learning to be a mom of teenage GIRLS?

Sweet Sixteen...

Little Lauren turned sweet 16! It's hard to believe how much she has grown in just the short time I have know her. She's in high school, she's getting a learner's permit, she's starting dating, and she's looking for a job! WoW... so much for a young girl to take on, but she's going to achieve it all! She's such a great example to Holly and Nate, and the little time we spend with her, we have a great time together.

A few things about Lauren:

• She very social
• She loves black & purple
• She loves to write & draw
• She loves music & her ipod
• She loves forensic science
• She loves simple foods.. hotdogs, hamburgers

Here's a little tribute to the girl that changed Charley's life when she made him a father! She sure was a cute baby and has turned into such a beautiful young woman.

Baptism...

Happy Birthday Lauren..

We Love You!

Nate's Bowling Party

Nate gets a birthday party every other year. Well, this year is the "every other." So, since we are very low budged right now, and it's Christmas time, we told him he could have a small, inexpensive party.

After calling around to get party prices, Nate chose the bowling party. Nate's actually a pretty good bowler, and Delton Lanes is a pretty nice bowling alley. Their party included 90 minutes of bowling, pizza, drinks, balloons, decorations, and tokens to the arcade.

I made the invitations... and I tell you what. After doing mass quantities of invites, it was a cinch to make 5 bowling invites!! And... it was the first time that I was able to use my "early" christmas present... my gypsy!

Nate chose 5 of his closes friends which included, Eddie, Tyler, Daniel, Christian, and Stockton. They all had a blast, and they are cra-zy boys when they all get together! I actually was really sick (had missed 2 days of work)... I had a huge headache & earache, and I was in the a very loud bowling alley with 6 screaming boys! (After the party I went to instacare, and it turned out I had an ear and sinus infection... no wonder!).

This is Nate anxiously awaiting cake & presents... after the bowling time was up.

Lauren & Holly were able to come to the party, and so were other friends & family members. We were able to reserve 4 extra lanes and any extra guests could bowl for $2.50 a game. Denise & her family came, Michelle & here family came, and Jen and her family came. Grandma & Grandpa J, and Nate's dad also came...

It was a fun time, and Nate had a great time also. Since I was a busy mom running the party and handling crowd control, his dad was able to quite a few more pictures. You can link to them on his facebook page here

Happy 9th!

I'm not old enough to have a 9 year old. Well, ok, I guess i am... since Nate turned 9 yesterday. Everyone says I look young, but when I have Nate with me, it gives away my age! LOL.

Anyway, I just want to tell Nate happy birthday. He's such a blessing in my life, and I'm proud to be his mom! He's such a good kid, and so smart! I'm amazed every day with how fast he's growing up!

Some of his favorite things right now are:

Tv Show: Sponge Bob

Toys: Bakogons, Legos

Color: Yellow

Foods: Lasagna, Pasta

Hobbies: Playing PS2, DS, WII

Pretty much boy stuff. He also loves to read, ask questions, and figure things out on his own.

We surprised him with a trip to Disneyland for his birthday, so here's a pic of him in the famous "Disney Birthday Hat." (You can tell he's not amused!).

Happy Birthday Nate!! Mom loves you!