Cheaper and more fun than therapy...

18 years ago this fall (I'm so old) I drove out to BYU with my mom and dad to start my freshman year of college. I arrived at Stover Hall in Helaman Halls and knew NO ONE! Needless to say, I was a bit nervous. But it took a total of about 2 days to find friends that I somehow instantly knew would be my BFFs. Kjirsten was my roommate and I will never forget her walking into our dorm room for the first time, and we just hugged and there was no question that we were paired together for a reason. And it didn't take long for us to find more amazing friends -- Kelly and Kari from Georgia, Liz and Becky from Utah, and Lindsay and Amy from Chicago. After our fantastic freshman year, we all moved into 2 apartments across the street at "The Riv", which was our beloved home for another 1-3 years.

Here are the 8 of us in our full, early-90s glory! Ok - my hair was large, but I swear the wind made my awesome spiral-permed hair look even bigger than it truly was. That's at least the story I'm telling myself...



This past weekend was the first time we have been able to get together with MOST of us since we started to go our separate ways after our sophomore year. We missed you, Kari and Linds! And although much time has passed and we have had so many significant life experiences, it was like we were just as close as we were back in our Provo days. I love these girls. They knew me before I was Drew's wife or Scott, Charlotte and Trevor's mommy (not that those are bad things...). I'm sure you can imagine our weekend was filled with talking, laughing, shopping, a little sleeping, more taking and laughing, eating, sightseeing, followed by a lot more talking.

So much has happened to us all over the years... Between the 8 of us, our experiences include marriage, 27 kids, careers, divorce, autism, illness, lay-offs, and even the death of a child. As much as we laughed during our days together, I mostly just was in awe of my amazing sisters and how strong they each are. And I would add that they all look fabulous! I came home with new ideas and a renewed motivation to be a better wife, mother, sister, and friend.

I can't wait to do it again next year! Right, girls???

And I must add a big thanks to Drew for being Super Dad while I was away... The kids clearly had a fabulous weekend and didn't miss me much. I think this was a WIN-WiIN-WIN!

Apt. 10: Kjirsten, Kelly and Stace

Kj, Amy and Kelly

Crashing a wedding at Pebble Beach

Super cool matching Target PJs

Go Giants!

Scott is playing T-Ball this year and he LOVES it! To be honest, I think Scott and I are both enjoying this more than soccer. Drew is having a bit of a hard time with the fact that his first son is playing for the Giants, but he did cheer for the Black and Orange, even when we played the Dodgers. Scott has had a few games so far, and has done really well! In his first inning on the field, he played the pitcher position and picked up lots of balls and did a good job throwing to first base. And it has been really fun to see how much these little boys are improving in just a few weeks! Although my favorite thing is to watch a ground ball and see about 5 tiny boys sprinting to the ball...

GO GIANTS!

Cute craft ideas?

I am totally out of my comfort zone... I am the Relief Society activities co-chair and we are planning a big activity where women can pick from any of 10 or so crafts or projects to do on a Saturday. I don't have to tell you all that crafting is NOT my thing... Do any of you have any fabulous ideas for cute, relatively simple and inexpensive crafts or projects that you have done? If so, PLEASE share them with me! Our planning meeting is Wednesday, so anything you can pass along to me before then would be GREATLY appreciated!

Pink and Purple Princess Party

The party week continued and Charlotte had her first friend birthday party on Friday! It was a long week for her, waiting for the main event. And since she doesn't quite get the meaning of "tomorrow" or the days of the week, saying the party was on Friday meant absolutely nothing to her. But the big day FINALLY arrived!

Charlotte's 3 friends, Heidi, Courtney and Claire all arrived and were greeted with the most awesome pink/purple reversible sparkly tutus you have ever seen! Thanks, Grandma! Then the girls did a little project where they each painted a wooden frame, then decorated them with princess stickers. We have done this little craft a few times and it is cheap, adorable and super easy - even for little kids. So each girl went home with a cute frame, and when we send out thank you notes, I'll include the picture of the girls together to put in it. Aren't I creative? It doesn't happen often, so I have to make a big deal about when it does...

Can you tell Charlotte is a little excited to be 4 years old now?





(Melanie, sorry Charlotte saved her weirdest smile for this picture. She really does love the princess jewel fishing game!)

My 4-year-old Princess

Yes, it was Easter Sunday, but today was also Charlotte's birthday! She was very excited this morning that she could now say she is 4 YEARS OLD! Since we were lucky to have 13168 Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Michael here this weekend, we had her family party tonight. Of course it was all princess...

Everyone choose their favorite princess to eat on the cake. Charlotte chose Princess and the Frog (she never uses the real name). The only ones left over were Mulan, Belle and Cinderella. It is probably a good thing I didn't use this cake for her friend party this week because I could easily see 3 and 4-year-old girl tantrums over not getting the right princess.




And here she is with her exciting gifts! Now that I am done with this post I will go take her helmet off...