Our favorite visitor

My mother made her yearly winter jaunt into town and we loved having her here.

She came bearing gifts of cinnamon heart lips, fabric for new skirts, and BYU basketball shirts for the whole family. Who wouldn't love that!

The girls soaked up her love and attention, J and I got a night out, and we all enjoyed being together.

Thanks for coming Mom. You are truly the best!

Champions

These little girls are troopers and braved the dentist without complaint.

It was Ellie's first checkup and the hygienist could not believe how relaxed and helpful she was.




















Lauren, our $2500 dollar cavity girl was, for the second time, cavity free and we breathed a sigh of relief.




















Who wouldn't love the kid dentist...TV's overhead to watch while they're being worked on, pillow pets to rest their feet on, prize bags, gumball machine, and a chance to enter the drawing for a build-a-bear to boot. Sign me up baby!

Dreaded departure

Here is a little story. One spring, 2 years ago, a twin family moved into our ward. They had a Dad, a Mom, and two little girls. She was pregnant with a third girl.

We went to Flagstaff for the 4th of July. While there, we saw this little family at the parade and stopped to say hello. Unlike us, they were totally prepared to watch the parade with camping chairs, water bottles, and otter pops. Immediately, the Dad offered me his chair and they invited us to sit with them. We stayed for the rest of the parade. We chatted. We took some photos. Our girls played. We shared water bottles. We sweat like dogs.

We took care of each other.

And that has been the story for the last 2 years. We've taken care of each other through a lot. Births, nursing school, sickness, preschool, appointments, book club, dinners, birthdays, anniversaries, puppies, community classes, gardening, swimming, camping, soccer, you name it.

We've served in the church together, eaten together, traveled together, and watched each others' kids for countless hours.

And on Saturday this sweet family is moving away.

I can hardly write it without crying my eyes out.

We are all sad. We are all losing a friend. We will all miss our twins.

But we will ALWAYS be so grateful that they are a part of our lives and that we survived the last 2 busy years together.

We love you G's and are your BFFs no matter where you live!

Strep

Valentines day was wonderful! We ate heart pancakes, had a valentine exchange with friends, and sewed skirts. J and I ordered sushi take-out and watched a movie on the home theater.

Unfortunately, the next day STREP throat struck. I left the pharmacy today with three bottles filled with liquid drugs that we'll administer for the next 10 days. I say I love my kids and I show it by taking care of them when they get sick.

One whole hand

Lauren turns "one whole hand" today. I can't believe we have a 5 year old!


She is the one who first made me a mother and I am so grateful for her. She is a sweet, sensitive, caring, obedient, bright, inquisitive, helpful, fun, and sincere girl. I love her so.


She enjoyed a slumber party with her sister and their BFFs who are moving out of state at the end of the month. It was a perfect celebration for her and send off for them. Thanks to their mother's awesome tutorial I made them these darling little shirts.

Stimulate the Economy

I've concocted a new plan. Every month for the rest of the year we are going to try a new local (or regional) restaurant. No national chains allowed. We live by a lot of great eating establishments and have only tried a handful of them. We'll eat out for date night or as a family and then rate the places.

The rating guide goes as follows:
Scale from 1 to 5 with 1 being low/bad and 5 being high/great

Judging criteria:
1- food quality and taste
2- restaurant atmosphere
3- price
4- customer service

The restaurants we'll try out are:
Breadcrafters
Julio G's
Shogun japanese restaurant
Dubliner Irish pub & restaurant
Floyd's kitchen
Barrio cantina & grill
China buffet
Picazzos gourmet pizza
Golden wok
Yasu sushi bistro
Cocos bakery & restaurant

Check back for updates and then if you come for a visit we'll take you to the best places to eat!

Enero

January was a busy month full of F-A-M-I-L-Y.

First, cousin Clara stayed with us for a week.





























































Then we had dinner with my cousin Kylee and aunt Lee.















Next, we went to a tailgate party with Dave and Courtney for the college national championship game in Glendale.





























Then Claire and cousin Lizzie came for 5 days.





























Finally, we took our family to the San Francisco bay area to visit J's brother Christian, his wife Sarah, and their adorable kids.






































































It was a crazy, full, busy, and fantastic month!