Tiny Dancer

Hiley had her first dance recital on Saturday and it was so fun! I absolutely loved watching her! She loves, loves tap and the jazz part of it. I think she might be just a tad A.D.D for ballet! ;-) During that number, she got distracted by the back drop and didn't dance for a minute. So funny. Typical Hiley!
She loves to put make-up on and get her hair curled!
She had quite the audience there too
with her mom, dad, brother, two aunts and grandma and grandpa there!

Dad said next year, we are trying soccer! ;-)
Anyway, we are so proud of her and think she did a great job!!

Lately....

This year for Benson's 5th birthday we went all out
with a Batman Themed party!
This kid is C.R.A.Z.Y about superheros right now and
thought this would be the perfect way to celebrate!
With all his buddies there,
we decorated gift bags,
had PB&J's, purple kool-aid and
bat poop... (aka cocoa puffs!)
We played pin the bat on batman, "bat, bat, joker"
(instead of duck, duck, goose!) and they hit the pinata!
The kids had a blast and I was exhausted
so you know that means all was a success!
The kid got spoiled and also loved having G&G Meier in town to help celebrate!
(P.S. This party was in September sooo I'm just a little behind in posting this!)


In October, I took a much needed road trip to Vegas with 4 of my FAVORITE girlies! First stop? The DI! Love the thrift stores right now! We had so much fun shopping, eating, laughing, and shopping, oh and eating! The highlight?? Mmmm, wouldn't YOU like to know?
Haven't you heard the saying?
What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!!!!
**I just quickly have to say that I absolutely love these girls. I know that they have not been in my life for very long but I cannot imagine it without them now. Girlfriends are so important to me and I am so lucky to be able to call them that. They have made me a better person and make me want to try just a little harder to be more like them. They each bring such awesome and amazing qualities to the table

and like I said before I am so blessed to know them
and I don't know what I would do without them!**

Thanks ladies... for everything!

So my dear sweet awesomely talented friend Brooke over at
All Things Thrifty has pretty much given everyone I know the bug...
the decorating bug.
(Wait until you see what we have in the works
RIGHT NOW, ahhhh! I can't wait!!)

Anyway, so I must admit I sorta liked to decorate but
never really LOVED it.... so this project was my very first and I am.in.love!!

I bought this bad boy about a month ago at the DI.
I had NO clue what to do with it. All I know is I wanted it. Want to know why?
Because it cost me EIGHT DOLLARS!
That's right! $8 big ones!
And it was sooooo cute!
So I brought her home!
(and hid it in my neighbors garage so that Ben wouldn't see it.
I knew he wouldn't see the vision like I did. Haha.
I didn't have a vision, lets be honest.)
I just thought she was soooo cute! Anyway, after I gave her some
serious LOVE...
stripping of the paint, sanding, priming and spray painting
she is gorgeous!
I love it! She now sits in my living room as my coffee table.
It's perfect because we have ZERO extra room but
because its not very wide, it works perfectly!
Thanks Brooke for giving me the bug....
I now have approx. 5 projects in the works right now!!! Yikes!

Pardon me...

So, I have been so torn with the idea of posting another blog entry, one which will push my sweet grandma down on my page. It's been hard deciding what to write about too but that picture that pops up every time I log on really tugs at my heart.... Seriously, though you can bounce whenever you want. My post today is LAME! :-/

Anyway, I've been sort of numb lately. Not sure why... A lot of things I suppose. It's so weird what death does. I came home and immediately started looking for anything with my grandmas handwriting on it. Recipes, notes, birthday cards. Why now? I should have been cherishing these items a long time ago. How about the blanket she made us when we got married? Now I don't want to use it. I want to save it in a box and never get it out. (She would be so mad at me if I did. I can actually hear her saying "If you don't use it, who will?!" :-)) I miss her so much.

With all this though it has made me think. It has made me think about how we spend our whole lives trying to obtain all these material things. Working to make ends meet. Trying to get what everyone else has... but what do we take with us when we go?
A whole lot of nothing.

As sad as this has been for me, it has opened my eyes (and my heart). I am so so grateful for the gospel and how much comfort it has brought me. I needed a blessing due to a "task" I was asked to fulfill. How grateful I am to have a husband who holds the priesthood and who was able to help me feel peace and comfort at a time I didn't think was possible. How awesome it has been to know that she is whole again and is reunited with those that have gone on before her. How awesome it is that I KNOW that I will one day be united with her.

OK, I'm done. However, my sweet friend Jamie had this little poem on her blog. She lost her brother and had this for him. I loved it. :-) I'll leave you with it now....

"Wish Heaven had a phone so I could hear your voice again. I thought of you today, but that is nothing new. I thought about you yesterday, and days before that too. I think of you in silence, I often speak your name. All I have are memories and a picture in a frame. Your memory is a keepsake, from which I'll never part...God has you in his arms. I have you in my heart."

Gram

Mary Frances Bradshaw

How do you say good-bye to someone you love with your whole entire heart? Someone who has been a part of your life since the day you were born. How do you let go of someone so dear to you that it physically hurts when you think about it? Then how do you go on with life when the slightest thought of them brings instant tears? How do you keep it together for everyone around you when all you want to do is crawl into a hole and never come out? How do you explain to your children why you are so "sad"? And then how do you explain to them where "white" grandma is?

I've never done this before. I'm not very good at it so I'll just say this... You don't say good-bye, you say "I'll see you soon". You don't ever really let go either. You deal with the pain for awhile and then carry their memories with you, forever. You go on with life, tears and all, because you have to. Because you do have children and because you know that that is EXACTLY what they would have wanted you to do. You keep it together for all the "outsiders" but for those few who are dear to your heart, you let them help you. You let them pick you up off the floor and out of that hole because that is why they are in your life. And one day, they will need you to do the same for them. You tell your children exactly why you are sad because they do actually understand what is going on. You let them know that even though you are so sad, its OK because you're happy too. No more suffering, no more heartache, no more pain. And then you tell them that "white" grandma went back to live with her Heavenly Father. That she is whole again and that one day we'll get to see her!

Words cannot express the love that I have for this woman.
She is a rock. She is a wife, a mother, a grandma, a great-grandma, a friend, a saint. She was positive and wise. She was hilarious and charming. She was mean. ;-) She was honest. She loved with her whole heart. She was talented and generous. She was caring and she was thoughtful.
She IS everything I would like to be.
Gram, I love you so much and will miss you more than anything.
Until now and then, til I see you again, I'll be missing you, Love Me

I officially feel old. How do I have a 5 year old? It's crazy!
No more toddler. Just this sweet, sweet "boy".
He's a little kid. I don't know how I feel about it. :-/

Let me tell you a few things about this "kid"...

- Oh man, do I love him!
- He HATES to be in trouble and really is such a good boy!
- He loves his sister, Hiley!
- He would eat pizza all day, everyday if I let him!
- He's kind. For example: "Hi, mom. How was your sleep?"
- He LOVES to play with his friends. And again would play ALL day and night if allowed!
- His favorite treats are oreos and well, anything sweet really!
- He does not like dogs.
- He loves his grandmas (and grandpas!) but mostly grandmas! ;-)
- He is totally into super heros right now!

Well, like I said above, I just love him so much. He's just a cool, laid-back kid.
He's had his share of melt-downs but they are few and far between and I am so grateful for that.
I am even more grateful that he is mine.
I love you Benson Boy.
I hope you had a good birthday!

Summa Time...

These are out of order date wise but you get the idea... :-)

...Slacker...

Sometimes, I feel as though I need a major event to take place in order to blog. Then on top of that, I find myself being envious of all these other cute blogs that just post about whatever... nothing too important to everyone else but just to them, personally. I need to do better with that. Ya know, with not being so concerned with what everyone else wants to hear about! I do wish though that I was a little "wittier", a bit more funny with my ramblings and what-not! Like my friend Chanel, for example. She is HilArIoUs!! (I'd link her but she's private!) I love to read what she has to say and hear about her cute, sweet family and LAUGH!! But seriously, I need to stop with the comparison game and just be better at posting because I mainly do this for my mother. ;-)

Here's what we've been up to:
(in no particular order! :) )

Happy Birthday Hiley!

Wow, where to begin with this little girl?
Just looking at these pictures makes me exhausted! ;-)
And her too!
Can you see all the ones where she has fallen asleep?
She is one busy little bee!
I can't believe she turns three today!
Where does the time go?

Some things that we LoVe about {Miss Thang}...

*She loves her big brother.
The two of them crack me up! They are the best of friends.

*She can hang with the boys!
We are surrounded by about 7 little boys and she has no trouble keeping up!

*She loves to EAT!
She sorta reminds me of Brad Pitt in Ocean's 11...
Eating in every scene??

*She loves music and loves to sing!
In fact, we got her a CD player for her birthday.
I know a little silly considering she's only 3 but she won't leave mine alone!!!

*She is a girly-girl when she wants to be!
Loves to have her hair done and nails painted but isn't afraid to get a little dirty either!

*She's a great helper!
She loves to help load and unload the dishwasher and put away her big girl pants!

*She LOVES all of the neighboring moms...
ie. Suzanne, Leslie and Cari! She always wants to show them a new outfit
or some freshly painted toes! ;-)
...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Hiley!
...
It's amazing how many different emotions you can make me feel in one day!
You are so beautiful and I'm so glad you are mine!
Thanks for coming into my world three years ago!
We love you turkey!

Day Two: Catalina Island

Catalina Island was gorgeous!
It is such a quaint little town!
We had a great time looking in all the little shops, eating fish and chips on the pier
and putting our toes in the sand and water!
That night we went to the country show and the comedian that they had.
Both were so awesome!

Lets Cruise...

Don't worry that I've been home for almost a month and
am just now getting around to posting pictures from my cruise!

Just be warned there are a ton of them!
Here it goes:
My mom, Lindsey and Lauren headed down to St. George on Saturday, March 13th so that we could head south to Long Beach on the 15th. Lets just say we had a lot of fun on our drive down!
We had so much stuff between the four of us
that I didn't think we were going to get the trunk closed!!
We stayed over in Vegas on Sunday and then headed the rest of the way on Monday morning!
We were so excited to finally be here and going on this long awaited cruise!
We've had this planned since last August so it was TIME!
Monday afternoon we checked out our ship, had dinner in the dining room
and then went to the show they had that night!
The highlight of the day:
the emergency meeting they made everyone go to!
That was fun! ;-)
Oh and becoming instant friends with the guy at the 24 hour pizza parlor!

Happy Birthday Babe!

Happy Birthday to the sweetest man I know!

I am so glad you came into the world 32 years ago.

No one can make me laugh like you can.

You make my life complete, better!

Thanks for all you do...

For being a husband and a daddy. A hard worker and a peacemaker.

A priesthood holder and a friend.

For putting your family first.

For trying so hard to make us happy.

You're such a great example and I look up to you more than you know.

...I'm so lucky to have a "HaRd 10"!! ;-)...

I LoVe you!

HaPpY bIrThDay!!!

Weekend Get-a-Way

I just love weekend get-a-ways! Especially when they are spent with my main guy!

Ben and I had such a great "kid-less" weekend!
Thursday we were able to meet
my mom in Fillmore so she could take the kids up north for a few days!
A HUGE shout-out to her for all her help! Thank you mom and Auntie Lou!!
Anyway... Friday I spent pretty much ALL day shopping...
(well looking is more like it.)

It's so weird doing that without kids! Really weird.
Friday night though we went to Cafe Rio for dinner and then
to Colbie Caillat's concert and let me just say it was freakin' awesome!!

This is the third time I have seen her in concert and I seriously just love it!
There is just something about her music that I love!
So after the concert, we were walking
towards our car and noticed her tour buses...
long story, short we waited outside them for about half an hour until she came out!!

I got her autograph and a picture.
I know, I am SUCH a dork! It was so fun though!
Saturday after work ,we headed down to Vegas
where we met up with Ben's brother and SIL.

We had a delicious dinner at Maggiono's and then caught Avatar in 3D.

Thanks Spencer and Heidi for letting us spend the night! :)

Sunday we did some shopping, ate out some more and saw Valentine's Day.

Sunday night we stayed out at Green Valley Ranch.

Monday however, we had to head back to the real world!
I had to work and Ben picked up the kids!

I was actually so ready to get them back!
I really missed their little faces!
Well, until our next mini-vacation...

I love you Babe! Thanks so much for that much needed down time! :) xoxo

Here are a few pictures so you know that I'm not making anything up!! ;)

Smiley Face

(Sorry about that awful glare!)

The other morning Benson spilled some of his cheerios on the table and got a little creative.

He called me over and said

"Look mom, its happy! It's a smiley face!"

So minor but it made my whole day! :)

Just a few pictures of the kids outside while we were in Montana. It was so cold, your snot would freeze. Seriously! It was so sad because they would fall into the snow to make snow angels and the snow was so hard and frozen, it was like landing on the side walk! They only lasted about 10 minutes but had fun anyway! :)

Such a slacker...

Don't mind that it is now February, almost Valentine's Day actually and I am just now getting around to posting Christmas. I wouldn't even bother if I wasn't planning on turning this into a book.... someday! Regardless, I should jot down some of my thoughts from that holiday anyway. We had a great time. We always do when we go to Montana. Something about that place on the hill makes me smile and sorta warms my heart, even though it was in the negatives most of the time we were there! :) My grandma, who has recently had part of her leg amputated due to diabetes, managed to have so many cookies and treats that it made Candy Land look amateur. (All of which she made and baked by herself!) She's amazing and I love her.

The kids had a blast this year. They both finally understood what was going on and totally enjoyed all the attention and presents. Benson's highlight was the sa-weet Transformer bumblebee scooter that Santa (ie Black Grandma) got for him. He also became the reigning Whack-a-mole champion! Hiley loved her soft new pink blanket and baby carrier as well as the Tinker Bell hair stuff. Ben and I decided to get new cell phones for Christmas so I got my iPhone a little later and we are still looking for one that Ben just has to have!

It was so fun spending time with my Uncle John and Aunt Jeanette who were visiting from Alaska! We also hung out with Kamery and Hayden, Kenzi, Cory and Kim. Lindsey and Zach were able to join us for a few days too and that was fun hanging out with them!

All I can say is that I ate wayyyyy too much this year but had a blast none the less. I was sad to leave. I always am. I just always feel so grateful to have such an amazing family and I always, always worry that it might just be the last time I get to see them. My grandparents are getting up there. They are both in pretty good shape, it just worries me. I'm a freak I know and I just need to take in and love the time I have with them. I can't wait to get back to the house on the hill. Hopefully, in March! :)

Family Pictures

Just wanted to post some of our family pictures we had taken for our Christmas card this year. If you like what you see, go here and get in touch with my very sweet and talented friend Tiffany!