Better Than I Deserve

Thursday, January 9, 2014

2014: page seven

Perfect stay-at-home-in-matching-pajama-bottoms-and-make-funny-faces-at-the-camera kind of a day.

I adore these moments!

Today, I turned another year older! While I can't believe that I (yes ME!) am 30 something years old, I don't really feel old. A number is just a number. I am happy to be alive, experiencing this life that God has given to me!

Birthday Girl!

I treated myself to a massage, while Grandma took care of Briella.

Ryan came home with beautiful flowers and a steak, which he cooked to perfection.

Briella was extra good for momma today.

All in all a splendid birthday day!

2014: page five

Sunday Sunday

Ryan couldn't/didn't want to wait to give me my present so that I could start using it on my birthday. :)

Yes, that is a speaker. An amazing Wi-Fi speaker that actually sounds superb AND I can use it with my computer or phone or iPad. Woohoo! It even came with free set up from the gift-giver. :) Now I can listen to music ALL DAY!

Thanks, Ryan!

2014: page four

Birthday Party!

Has anyone ever had a Hot Dog Bar for their birthday party? Well, I have! It was yummy! My amazing hubby really went all out planning, shopping, cooking, etc. I mean, he even had a full page grocery list, printed out the hot dog bar choices (see pic below), and cooked lots and lots of food. On top of all of that he made a from-scratch chocolate cake and frosting! (One of us also learned the difference between regular sugar and confectioners sugar. Let's just say that the frosting was delicious with a little sugary crunch. :)) He was one busy man this day (and I didn't even mention that he also mopped the floors)!

My family drove out from Salt Lake for the party and most of Ryan's family came over. I am so thankful for all of them!

The hot dog bar was a huge success with everyone making their hot dog of choice (or 2 or 3...), eating cake, and enjoying each other's company. Oh and I had a San Francisco Dog and a Detroit Coney Dog minus the onions. :)

Such a wonderful day feeling loved and celebrated and spending it with the people I love the most!

Hot Dog Bar Menu

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

2014: page three

Just a lazy Friday, hanging out at home with my sweet girl. She is such and joy and so much fun to play and interact with.

Having her hair done is not something she usually likes, though, and so most of the time I can only get one ponytail in just to keep her hair out of her eyes and call it good. Today when I asked her if I could put a ponytail in her hair she said no. So, being the brilliant, quick thinker that I am (ha!), I asked her if I could give her monkey hair. And do you know what...it worked! She was excited about it! In fact, we got 3 ponytails, er, I mean monkey tails in her hair! Still had to work quickly, so they are a little ragged, but they're in there. Ha ha ha! Too funny! Motherhood is quite the ride!

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

2014: page two

I enjoy random. Today was random.

Ryan had his last appointment for the final step of his tooth implant, which meant a trip to Helper, UT. Of course, B and I tagged along. Turned out to be a lovely, sunny day for a drive through Indian Canyon - bright blue skies, green evergreens, and clear roads. Better than staying at home on another winter day trying to entertain an almost 2 year old who gets bored of playing inside with momma all day. :)

Historic Downtown Helper, UT

First stop was lunch at Balance Rock Eatery & Pub in historic downtown Helper (which also happens to be where my Grandma grew up! not in the restaurant...just the area... ha ha ha!), which used to be a dance hall when it first opened. Such a fun atmosphere and yummy food!

I didn't take pictures, so photos from yelp will have to do. :) Can you picture it as a dance hall? How fun it must have been!

Ryan then walked down the street to his appointment while B and I finished our lunch. After we finished, we headed out to stroll around town. Really, there were not many stores to go in to and the one store they had was full of antiques and such. Definitely was not going to go in there with B. :) However, the day was BEAUTIFUL! The weather, even though Helper is only about 1.5 hours away, was quite a bit warmer and the temperature was around 40 degrees. It felt absolutely wonderful compared to the 20 or so degrees at home. B and I walked around for a good 45 minutes. Seeing the fire trucks in the fire station was a highlight for B.

Then, we came upon Happiness Within, a cute, local coffee shop. The barista inside was very helpful with a coffee novice such as I am. Considering I usually order a Mocha Frappuccino at Starbucks and have no clue otherwise how to order a coffee, she gave me a few suggestions for iced coffee beverages and I settled on a white chocolate irish cream iced coffee with 3 shots of espresso. And since I am a coffee light weight, extra white chocolate and irish cream. :) Perfecto! Yummy! And all the while she was making it, she chatted with B and me. Highly recommend this place if you ever find yourself in Helper, UT!

Sitting in the truck watching Dora on the iPad finished off our time waiting for Ryan to finish. Then the three of us stopped at Kmart for a bit to walk around before heading home.

All in all a fun, random day as a family.

2014: page one

A pretty casual start to 2014.

Ryan and I got in bed just before midnight and kissed each other as the clock struck twelve, said "Happy New Year" to each other and then went to sleep. Life certainly changes when you are all grown up with a kid. :)

We "slept in" until 8:15, which is when B woke up. Kind of hung around the house for a bit and then headed to Vernal for some shopping and returning of a few items. Ryan hit Lowes while B and I spent a couple of hours at Walmart, mostly grocery shopping. Turns out that the morning of January 1st is a prime time to got to Walmart - hardly anyone there at 10:00 AM. We'll have to remember that for the future...

The rest of the day consisted of hanging out together at home as a family.

Welcome 2014!

Monday, January 6, 2014

2014: My Life As A Book

I saw the following picture on Facebook on New Year's Eve and it really resonated with me.

Every day is a new page - a fresh, different page from all the rest, yet all connected in what is my life.

My book is just waiting to be written and experienced and shared.

Let's get started!

Friday, October 11, 2013

Just The Two Of Us

A night in Steamboat Springs.

Broncos Monday Night Football Game.

Rockies vs. Red Sox Game.

But most importantly time away with my beloved hubby JUST THE TWO OF US!

We needed it and we definitely enjoyed it! Well, how could we not? :)

A little Denver get-away for our 4th anniversary, where we enjoyed:

Well, all of the above, but also...

Sleeping in.

Freedom to just go and be.

Giant We're-not-in-Utah-anymore liquor store.

Hot tub.

Fantastic food.

Visit with a dear friend.

Just chillin' together on the 16th Street Mall.

Walk to the ballpark.

I could go on and on. It was just wonderful!

Thursday, September 26, 2013

17 and 18 Months Old!

Since I never got around to writing a 17 month post, I'll just combine 17 and 18 months together, which would be July 13-September 12 (especially considering B is almost 19 months old. Sigh).

Anyway...

Sweet Briella, you are now 18 months old and enjoying life! Ever since you started walking it is like the world opened up to you! You are even more independent than you were before and you love exploring. It seems like you're confidence has shot up since you started walking, as well. Oh, and your defiance. Ha! Watching you go from being wobbly on your feet to walking backwards and spinning in circles was such a joy to watch. And now, you are running at a pretty good speed. Great at times and not so great at others. :)

At your 18 month appointment, you weighed 22 lbs. 3 oz and were 31 inches tall, which is about the 20-25th percentile.

You are still a very sweet girl. I love that you still like to snuggle with Momma all throughout the day and that you will take breaks from playing just to give me hugs and kisses!

If you want one of us to do something or to come with you, you will walk over to us, grab our hand and pull as if to get us off the couch or wherever we happen to be, so that we will follow you. You'll even add in a little grunt as you are trying to "lift" us. Ha ha!

Favorites

Pretend play and playing with babies are both favorite activities for you. You have lots of babies, but definitely have your favorite, the one that you always need to know where she is. :)
Reading is still a favorite activity, too, which makes Momma and Daddy glad.
Oh, and outside! You would be content to play outside ALL day if you could, whether it's hot or cold. If you are wanting to go outside, you will bring us our shoes, then your shoes and go to the door and grab the doorknob trying to get out.

Firsts

Baseball game! Grandpa Keith and Grandma Karla invited us to go to a Bees game with them and Uncle John, Aunt Stacey and Jensen. We almost made it to the end of the game, but since you usually are in bed by around 8:00, we didn't quite make it. You were quite a trooper lasting until around 9:30 before we had to leave. We still had tons of fun!
Football game! Ok, so it was just a high school game, but it still counts. :) Cousin Ashton was playing and you took watching quite seriously! Once Daddy told you to watch and pointed at the field and you saw the action, it was all over. You made sure everyone was watching, if you looked over and saw that someone wasn't watching, you would yell, "watch" and point your finger at the field. Ha ha! What a blast to watch you! This worked out well for us because you were content sitting there almost the entire game. :) And you learned to say, "Ashton."

Pictures (Lots and Lots of Pictures!)