Apr 19 - 25

Monday, April 19 - I went shopping today and found these adorable swimsuits at...wait for it...Walmart! They look like super cute boutique swimsuits and I got them from Walmart!! I also got to have BFF lunch with my favorite gal! We went to Aubergine and it was so nice to finally go to a restaurant again!

Tuesday, April 20 - Alexis has been so sweet and concerned since Grandma Howard passed away. Tonight, the doorbell rang and it was Alexis and Finley stopping by with a plate of cookies. It was fun to see them and visit and so kind of them to be thinking of us during this time.

Wednesday, April 21 - Marisa and I went back over to Meg's house and finished up the organization. I think it turned out nice. She is super organized now and hopefully will be able to find all of the things we put in new places. :) Also, we got our countertops in! Yay!!! the basement is really coming along and feels so close to being done, I can almost taste it! I like how the cupboards and countertops turned out and can't wait to get the finish work done and appliances in so we can call it 100% done!

Thursday, April 22 - I started walking with the girls again in the mornings and I forgot how much I miss the sunrise. I took this picture to commemorate when I started back up again. This afternoon, I went back and got my second Covid vaccination so here's to hoping that I don't get sick from it (my weekend is too busy for any of that!). And finally, Zack went to Oakley Price's party at Airborne and he had a blast! This is the first time since the pandemic started that I have allowed any of the kids to go to Airborne so it was a big treat! 

Friday, April 23 - This morning was a wonderful but somber occasion as we laid Grandma Howard to rest. She is buried with Grandpa Howard and we know that they are having a joyous reunion now in heaven. I got to see my cousins for possibly one of the last times and many family members that I hardly ever get to see. It was a good day, a good service, and a great memorial. This evening, Kendra invited a bunch of her friends over for her birthday. I can't believe my girl is 13! They had fun eating dinner and hanging out until it got dark. Then, the boys came over too and they spent the next two hours playing Fugitive...Simon was the driver. It was a fun party and I'm glad we got to do it!

Saturday, April 24 - Surprise! Guess who is 40!?!?! Jenni threw BJ a big surprise birthday pool party in a friend's backyard. It was amazing, he had no idea! I can't believe we were able to pull it off! He had a good time and it turned out to be a beautiful day and a super fun party!

Sunday, April 25 - Today was beautiful Olivia's baby blessing day. They had the blessing in their home and it was perfect! We are so thankful that we were able to be a part of this special occasion. 

Apr 12 - 18

 

Monday, April 12 - It was a day of nails and fun one-on-one time with ladies that I love. This afternoon, Regina Campbell came over to get her nails done before going on vacation to Florida. I think they turned out really cute! Then, unexpectedly, mom came over this evening and I was able to do her nails too. I really do enjoy the uninterrupted talk time that doing nails provides for me. :)

 

Tuesday, April 13 - We have some really big parties coming up. Both BJ and Amie turn 40 this month. Jenni is throwing BJ a surprise pool party at her neighbor's house and I am making "mud cake" cupcakes so I am using this topper and picture as inspiration. I also made this invitation for Amie's murder mystery party coming up, thrown by Alex and me. It will be a busy but fun month!

Wednesday, April 14 - Ricki has been asking to have her friend Savvy over for so long, we finally made it happen! Savvy is the daughter of one of my friends from high school, Amber Paulos (now Stilson). It was fun to catch up with Amber when she came to pick up Savvy and Ricki loved every minute she was here!

Thursday, April 15 - Happy birthday to Kendra (turning 13) and Grandma Howard. We started the day on a sad note, Grandma Howard passed away this morning at 8:00 am. We are sad that she is gone but we are happy for her that she is out of pain and that she is with Grandpa again. 💗 We went on with our day even though this momentous event happened this morning. Kendra asked if she could get checked out of school and since she is such a great kid and student, I agreed. We went and got a drink and went to visit mom, Jenni, and her family during BJ's lunch. Then, after Simon got his second vaccine, he stopped and got us lunch and we met him at home to eat Chili's for lunch. I think it is super neat that Grandma died on her birthday! However, I told Kendra I was sorry that she died on Kendra's birthday. She had the perfect response! She said, "I'm not sorry. Now I will always think of Grandma on birthday every year." She's such a great girl! I can't believe she is already 13!

Friday, April 16 - Cute Meg texted Marisa and I and asked if we could come over and help her go through her office room and re-organize it. Of course, that is right up mine and Marisa's alley! :) She was embarrassed but it wasn't bad! We warned her that you have to make a mess before you clean it all up and put it away organized. This is just day 1. Look forward to seeing the "after" pictures. 

Saturday, April 17 - Poor Nick, I'm being such a MOM. I just think it is smart to let drivers around you know that the driver is just learning. Maybe they would be a little more patient and kind...I know I would be. So I ordered these magnets to put on Nick's car when we go out driving. I thought he might throw a little fit but he actually agreed that it was a good idea. Phew! I'm still not used to this teaching him to drive thing!

Sunday, April 18 - We hadn't celebrated Nick and Kendra's birthdays with the Howard's yet so we did this Sunday. We would have done it at my house but Simon just put seed down in our backyard so he didn't want everyone out back. Mom agreed to let us have the party there. It was so nice to celebrate the kids and just be together. And of course, they got spoiled! We also caught wind that Kenny and Katie are making plans to move to Florida. :( We need to cherish all of these fun Sundays that we have together!

Apr 5 - 11

 

Monday, April 5 - After moving this piano from Dave & Viv's old house to our West Jordan house to their garage for 2 months and then finally into our current house in Herriman, we have never had it tuned! I finally tracked this piano tuner down and had him come out. It was fairly expensive but it sounds amazing! We also found out that it is American Made (which increases its value) and was made in 1984 (it's my same age)! I'm glad we finally had it done.

Tuesday, April 6 - Finley is on Spring Break this week so she wanted to have a "girl party". They had dinner, watched a movie, did face masks, and painted nails. They had a blast. Such cute cousins! 💗

Wednesday, April 7 - Knotted Fern photo shoot day! I went with Liz to get some pictures of new kids clothes we got in. It was a fun shoot but man are they exhausting! Tonight, I met mom with Ricki so they could go on their Grandma Date. They went to dinner at McDonald's, ate at the park, then went to Allstar Fun Center to play in the arcade. She is such an awesome grandma! 

Thursday, April 8 - While I was at work, I got to log onto a Zoom call with Zack's school. He received the "Key to the Kingdom" today for passing off all of his multiplication and division facts in third grade. We are so proud of him! After work, I met mom at Grandma Howard's rehab facility. We cut her hair so that it wasn't just standing on end and had a nice visit with her. Tonight, I went to a Hawiian-themed bunco night. Wow, today was a really great day!!

Friday, April 9 - Ashley gave Nick a card for a free cookie at Sodalicious so we went and got his cookie and some drinks. :) This afternoon, I went out front to help Simon fix a broken sprinkler pipe. The bad news was that it broke right at a junction. The good news was that there was just enough pipe to be able to fix it. It was a bugger though!

Saturday, April 10 - QUARINTINE IS OVER!!!!!! Well, at least for both of my parents and grandparents so dad took us to "linner" at Las Glorias to celebrate. This was the first time we've been out as a family in a year! We missed the Little Howard's

Sunday, April 11 - It's an Easter repeat! Since the parents were still in quarantine last week, we postponed our Easter celebrations until this week. We had a good time with our traditional egg hunt but followed that up with rides in Grandma's new side-by-side toy. :) It was the perfect Sunday!

Mar 29 - Apr 4

Monday, March 29 - Nick and I had appointments at the DMV to get his car licensed, to get a handicap sticker for Grandma Howard, and for him to take his Learner's Permit test. It was a successful trip...other than he didn't pass his test. :( We have to go back again later this week. He has been wanting to try J-Dawgs (a hot dog place) forever and since we were in Utah County buying Kendra's birthday present after our DMV stop, we went. It was pretty good! Not on my list of faves but I can see why people like it. :)

Tuesday, March 30 - Marisa and I got together to make sugar cookies for Easter. We did personalized cookies with everyone's names on them. Since we'll be with the Pearson's this year, I did one for everyone in the Pearson family. So fun!

Wednesday, March 31 - The kids and I loaded up bright and early to go to the Herriman City "Basket Bash". They had 300 bags of Easter eggs to give out and a couple of dressed up bunnies to look at. We went early (it started at 10:00 and we left the house at 9:40). Luckily, it wasn't too crazy when we went and we were able to get a bag and see everything. Apparently, they ran out of bags at 10:05! So we were super lucky! Tonight, Simon and Nick put the new license plates on Nick's car. He's so excited to get to start driving soon!

Thursday, April 1 - Big day for Nick and I! After the kids and I went to the park for about an hour, we dropped everyone else off at home then Nick and I went back to the DMV for Nick to re-take his written learner's test. He failed again! So I had to pay another $19 and they let him try again that same day. Finally, he passed! Wahoo!!! Looks like Nick will start driving me around now! After that, we went to the Mountain America Expo Center where I got my first Covid shot. It was super quick and easy! They got me through in about 5 minutes. The longest part was waiting the 15 minute period for them to make sure I didn't have an immediate reaction!

Friday, April 2 - This is the last day of Spring Break so we thought we'd better make it count! Mom joined us to play miniature golf with the Olsen's at Mulligan's. We didn't mean to but we were twinning today! :) After golfing, we picked up Subway for lunch then went over to the "zipline" park in South Jordan. The kids had a blast and we were out there for hours! Oops, we all got a little sunburned! :) Hooray for spring!!

Saturday, April 3 - We spent the day today watching General Conference, dying Easter eggs, and putting together cabinets in the basement. :) I actually sat and watched the first session of conference then realized that Easter is tomorrow and I hadn't even thought about the eggs since I'd bought them. Oops! So we quickly dyed them. Mom came and got Zack for their date day between sessions. Tonight, after the second session, Kenny and Katie brought Kam and Kayla over to be babysat. What a fun and fulfilling day!

Sunday, April 4 - Happy Easter! I can't think of a better way to spend Easter than to be able to listen to Conference with my family. It was a wonderful day at home and then we went to the Pearson's for dinner. Alexis and Viv put on a super fun Easter egg scavenger hunt and it just completed the day and weekend! I am so thankful for Him and the opportunity I have to get to be eternally bound to this wonderful crazy family of mine!