Favorite Things party

My friend Emily planned a favorite things party for all of our med school friends who will be graduating in just a couple weeks.  Several moved last weekend so we had to hurry and squeeze in one last party before everyone heads out for residency.  We got together at 9 pm on a monday night because it was literally the only time we could all get together.    The night was wonderful and I laughed until I cried, I couldn't have asked for a better night!

Emily planned a great party with yummy food.  And then we all brought  5 of our favorite thing and then went home with 5 little gifts, we picked names to decide who got what.  I wanted one of everything, but was really happy with what I got. 

Our favorite things were:

- Real simple magazine

- washi tape

- a cake decorating tip

- bag balm

- nail polish (x2)

- St. Ives apricot scrub

- homemade salad dressing bottle

- scrapbooking paper

- hair flower

It was fun to have one last Hurrah! I love these girls more then I can express.  They have helped me, inspired me, taught me, loved me and provided enough laughs to last me a lifetime.  I just wish we could all be together to get through residency at least we have texting, facebook, instagram, and blogs to keep us connected. 

crazy times

So the last couple of weeks have been crazy.  I feel like I'm constantly on the move with tons of things to get done.  This past weekend was crazy, I don't think I stopped to take a breather until Saturday night around 11 pm.  So here are some things we have been up to.

1.  We decided to have a multi family garage sale with our friends.  It took me several weeks to go through all my stuff and pull things out for the sale.  We held it on Saturday the 14th and it was super cold and rainy.  We sold a bunch of stuff but we still had more so we packed it all back into Rachele's garage and did the sale again last Saturday.  We sold a bunch more and made just over $300 between the two days.  I was happy with the money because I was sending most of the stuff to the DI anyway.  I also have spent a bunch of time selling stuff on ebay and craigslist.  All this selling business is so time consuming.

2.  We have been packing and getting our house ready to move.  It's nice to get stuff packed but I still think I'm in denial about moving, it just doesn't seem real.  I have also spent a bunch of time trying to get stuff to our lender and realtor.  It's during these times it would be really nice if we had a fax machine. 

3.  On Saturday our family ran in the Stake Family 5k.  We borrowed a double jogging stroller and a single one to haul all our kids.  It was so hot, like record breaking April weather and the race didn't start until 8:45.  But it was fun running with Paul and the kids.  The strollers were a beast to push and running solo is much easier but it was fun taking them for a ride.  And then we enjoyed a yummy pancake breakfast and headed back to our yard sale. 

4. Leila has been busy with preschool, dance, playdates and birthday parties.  She had 3 birthday parties just this past week.  I also took her to see Cinderella at the Henderson pavilion.  My friend Robyn got tickets for us and my other friends with little girls.  It was a fun girls night out.  Leila really liked the play but fell asleep for the last 15 minutes, it was late and she had a really busy day. 

 Leila, Abby, Reagan, and Brynlee

5. We hosted a Cinco Di Mayo party at our house.  Marci planned the whole thing but needed a house big enough to fit everyone.  It was still squishy in our house, I think there were 26 adults and and 25 kids there.  I wish I would have taken pictures but I didn't even pull out my camera.  Marci set up a photo booth so at least I have that picture.  This was our last party with all of our friends from med school, some are moving away this weekend, sad:( So we had one last Hurrah! Again still in denial that we are moving.

6.  Paul is finishing his last rotation of med school this week! I am so proud of him and his hard work.  I never thought this day would come and now that I look back it flew by.  What an experience this has been, it's been hard, like really really hard but I would never want to take it back.  I have grown and gained so much independence and I have met lifelong friends that have taught me so many things.  This journey really has been a blessing! 7.  We went swimming for the first time this year on Monday.  My kids are going to miss having such easy access to swimming pools, they are both little fish. 

And my kids are exhausted after swimming, Leila crashed out in like 2 seconds after we got home.

8.  On Monday night we went to the 51's baseball game.  It was Touro night so we took advantage of the free tickets.  Greydon was obsessed with Cosmo the mascot, he was looking for him the entire time.

That is about all I can think of right now so I'll finish with some cute pictures of Asher!

Birthday weekend

At the beginning of March we had a weekend of birthday celebrations.  On Friday night we met Rachele and Jordan at the MGM to see the show KA for Jordan's birthday. Saturday morning we went to the park to celebrate Anderson's birthday and then Saturday night we went back to the park to have a BBQ for Jordan's birthday.  It was such a fun weekend!

 I'm so glad we were able to go see another show before leaving Las Vegas and I really liked this show.

 Melanie planned a very cute Cars party for Anderson.  I have such talented friends!

It looks like Leila has joined the Larson family, she loves Abby and Eliza and would probably be in heaven having them for sisters.

 Robyn decorated the cupcakes, she is amazing and to see more of her amazing cakes go to Patty Cakes Bakery

 Melanie had so many cute treats and look at the adorable treat bags, such a cute party!

 These three were the only kids born when we first moved to Henderson and now there are 21 kids in our little group of friends.  Talk about multiple and replenish the earth!

 And then here we are celebrating Jordan's birthday at Trail Canyon park



Hiking

Back in March we went to Red Rocks to hike and have a picnic lunch with our friends.  The hike was more of a walk but it was perfect for the kids.  We actually didn't finish the hike because kids started getting hungry and tired.  It was a great day, yummy food and wonderful company!

 At one point Greydon ducked under the ropes and scrambled up a huge boulder.  Paul had to chase him down, Grey is a quick little climber.

 When we tried to get a family picture Leila refused and Greydon was trying to run away

Marci, me, Rachele, Erica, Melynda and Claudia

Easter 2012

We celebrated Easter a week early since me and Paul were going to be in Iowa the morning of Easter.  I told the kids that I talked to the Easter bunny and he didn't mind coming a week early.  They were very excited to search for their Easter baskets and Easter eggs that morning.

 Greydon found Asher's basket and Leila's before he finally found his in the pantry

They both got new books some arts and crafts stuff and the Muppets movie in their Easter basket

 Cute Asher has no idea whats going on but does love smiling at the camera

Later that afternoon in between sessions of conference we dyed Easter eggs.  Leila loves doing this and could spend hours decorating her eggs.  Later that week Paul and I enjoyed yummy egg salad sandwiches. 

This year I had a total mom fail.  I have no cute pictures of my kids in new Sunday Easter clothes.  I've decided that I can only do so much and some things like matching Easter clothes just don't matter.  Yes they are very cute and I love getting new things for them but this year it just wasn't going to happen.  For one thing I have a hard time finding something that Leila will actually wear.  I did find a dress for her that she loves but she wouldn't wear it on Easter. I then couldn't find ties that matched Leila's dress and really didn't have the time to search around. It was really hard for me to let something like this slip but in the end I learned that it really didn't matter and we had a great Easter and my kids will never remember that  they went without new Easter clothes for Easter 2012 (well until they read this entry). And don't worry I'm not judging you if you did have your kids in new clothes because I think it looks absolutely adorable and next year I'm hoping to actually accomplish the task.