Utah trip week 2

Week 2 was more about spending time with friends and seeing Milan's side of the family. I was able to get some shopping in and lunch dates with friends while the kids spent time with grandpa and grandma. The kids love spending time with them. Grandma is always teaching them something new, like playing the piano or crocheting. Carson really eats it up.

I got to spend an entire day with my sister, and for those of you who know my sister, know that this happens very rarely. She usually has so many things going on and is hardly ever home that even when I did live 5 minutes away from her I never saw her. So to actually spend an entire day with her was so amazing and so much fun. I wish we could do it all the time. I really miss my sister. This is a picture(from last summer) of me and my two sisters, Alesha(on the left) is a year older than me, and Annie (on the right) is 20 years younger than me(Yes, I am old enough to be her mother)
I am amazed at how lucky I am to have so many wonderful people in my life. It's hard to feel like I am on vacation when I am constantly running from place to place, but to be able to see these wonderful people in my life, it's well worth it. My cousin Brooke drove all way up from Vegas to see me, it was good to catch up on life and see her, but what a sacrifice to come just to spend a few hours with me.

Its always hard going back to Utah for visits. Part of me feels like I'm home again and I love being there and part of me feels like I don't belong anymore. Its always a mix of emotions and it really makes it hard to go visit. It also seems like no matter how long I am there, I never have enough time to see everyone I want to see or to do everything I want to do, so I am really sorry to those of you that we didn't get a chance to see or visit with. We really do have the best intentions in mind.


I had to say goodbye to my family this week and it's always hard to say goodbye to them. I only get to see them 2 times a year and its really hard because we are close. My dad has had some health problems this year and it's been hard not being close by to be there for him. The one thing that has helped me through those tough times is something he told me. Give service to someone who needs it, do it as if you were doing it for me. That has been some of the best advice he has ever given me. It has helped me grow is so many ways and has given me peace of mind when I couldn't be there with him.

The best part of this week, was Milan coming to be with us. He flew in Saturday morning and then we headed up to Park City for the rest of our vacation. Which is to come in week 3.......

Utah Trip week 1

To avoid a very long post I'm going to do this in parts. This post will be about our first week in Utah.

We spent our first week with Grandpa Craig and Grandma Lydia. Grandma Lydia always has fun things planned for the kids. She likes to do "Boot Camp" with all the grand kids. They all come the night before it starts and they sleep on cots in the basement and then she blows her whistle early in the morning to get them going. They have breakfast, do chores (grandma really benefits from this one), learning time, games, activities, and of coarse lots of fun. It's usually 2 days long, which is plenty.

The first day was Mexican Fiesta day, they learned Spanish words, ate Mexican food, played Mexican games, did Mexicans dances, you get the picture.

The second day was Circus day, they played games, practiced for their circus and then performed for my moms neighbors kids, and then my brother did a magic show for them. My kids could have done boot camp all week long.

My mom planned a little birthday party for Payton, since she wouldn't be able to celebrate her real birthday with her next month. Payton loved it, especially the cupcake.

Other than the two days of boot camp, my moms house is pretty quiet and relaxing. They don't have TV reception and I don't usually get cell phone reception so it makes it a great place to get away from all the hustle and bustle of everyday life. It helps that my mom loves to help with the kids and play with them so I can have a break.

At the end of the week, we of coarse had to fit in some friend time. Carson and Ethan love to see Colton and Kassidee every time we go to Utah and were anxious to spend as much time as they could together. They are so cute, every time they see each other its as if no time has passed and they just pick up where they left off.

After seeing friends, the Evans family got together for some fun at Pirate Island. Ethan loves pirates so this was heaven for him. They have games to play, a gift shop, and of coarse food. The waiters were dressed as pirates.

Friends of ours invited us to go to the Riverton fireworks and they were awesome. We don't really do things like that very often because its such a pain to drag the kids and then fight the crowds, but it was alot of fun.

That was alot longer than I thought it was going to be(it was even the condensed version), imagine if I had done the whole trip in one post, you'd be reading this for a while.

Stay tuned for week 2.....

Grandpa and Annie come to town

I was so excited to have my Dad and my little sister Annie come visit us in Texas. The flew in to help me drive back to Utah to visit for a few weeks. We had so much fun, but the best part was the expressions on my kids faces when they got here. They had no idea they were coming. I had Ethan with me when I picked them up at the airport and he was watching out the window and saw them walk by and turned to me and said, "that was weird". (meaning I think I just saw someone who looks like Annie and grandpa). Then they opened the back of the car and put their stuff in the back. He was was so confused, but so excited. Carson was at camp so when he got home and knocked at the door, I let Annie open it and he stood there just staring at her. Payton just stared at them for about 5 minutes not sure who these people were and why they were in the car with her, she has since warmed up to them.

I loved being able to show them around Dallas, I got to show my dad southfork (it was my moms favorite show back in the day) and take pictures to bring back to her. Here are some of the hightlights from our daytrips around town. Here are some random pictures of our sightseeing adventures to the wax museum, South Fork Ranch, the Holocaust Museum, and Dealy Plaza.






























Driving to Utah wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was worried that Payton would cry the whole time or the boys would argue, but they were all really good. 3 days of being in the car, we are glad to be out of the car and visiting with family and friends.

Ethan's doctor visit

For about 2 months Ethan has been complaining about feeling sick all the time and you know he's really sick when he would rather lay on the couch than play with friends. I took him into the doctor and we tried several things before he finally referred us to a pediatric gastroenterologist. We tried several other things with him before deciding to do a COLONOSCOPY and an ENDOSCOPY to look for possible causes. So after a very clean colon, a few biopsies, and lots of money later, we finally got the results back, he has REFLUX. Simply treated with over the counter Prilosec. How frustrating!!! (at least we have answers and its not life threatening)

Prisoner Payton

Payton has learned to climb out of her crib. We had a babysitter over about 2 weeks ago and she called me saying Payton was crying and she couldn't get her to go to bed. So I of course said just put her in her crib and let her cry it out. Well she had tried 5 times already and each time she climbed right out. We got home that night and I thought for sure she would be exhausted enough to just fall asleep, wrong! It was almost midnight and we had to sit next to her crib until she finally fell asleep. Needless to say it was a very long weekend. First thing Monday morning I ordered a crib tent which a friend of mine was telling me about. It has been a lifesaver. We can actually sleep now. Before the tent, Payton would wander around the house in the middle of the night looking for us and crying, but once she found us, she wanted to stay up and play till about 5am. This doesn't work when I have to get up at 6:30 to get boys ready for school, not to mention I am not a morning person and I get really grumpy with little sleep. We are so happy to have our crib tent and sleep much better at night knowing she can't escape her little prison.

13 Years

Today Milan and I celebrate our 13th Anniversary. It seems like the years just fly by and here we are 13 years and 3 kids later. So much has happened in the 13 years we have been married. We have laughed together and cried together, we have been through tough times and good times, we have lived in 3 different places, traveled to fun places, we have lost loved one and gained new family members, had friends come and go, but we have always had each other. We have learned so much from each other and gained so much from each other. No matter what, he is always there for me and I love him for it. This is us on our wedding day and the other picture is us now. My how we have changed in 13 years. I Love You Mi!

Mothers Day

I love Mothers Day, just for the fact that I get to celebrate being the mother of 3 wonderful children. Motherhood is one of the hardest and greatest jobs ever, but I couldn't imagine not being a mother. I am so blessed to be their mother.

I couldn't have been a good mother without the influence of my own Mom. She is the kind of mom that makes me try harder to be a better mother. I'm sure most of us can say that about our mothers and we all feel biased about our own mothers, but I have the BEST mother! My mom is amazing, she has always been there for me and seen me at my worst and at my best. She has shared in my accomplishments and been there to lift me when I failed. She has shared in my joys and also in my sorrows. My mom loves me no matter what, even when I was a rotten teenager, thats true unconditional love. She is the BEST. Mom I love you and hope your Mothers Day was as amazing as you!

My husband also has a wonderful mother, I am so grateful that she raised such a wonderful man. He is amazing. He grew up with a temper, but you would never know it because he is so patient and kind and I know that its because of his loving mother. She taught him how to be a better person and to be kind to others. Thanks Holly and happy Mothers Day!

To all you mothers who are reading this, you are amazing and your children are so lucky to have you as their mother. Thank you for also being examples to me. I know I have asked for advice over the years from many of you and that is what is so great about women. We are always helping each other become the women we are meant to be. I love you all. Happy Mothers Day!