Jul 16 - 22

Monday, July 16 - Happy birthday to the love of my life! His birthday really worked in our favor today! We started out by getting early boarding on our flight to California with an upgrade to the emergency row which provides more leg room (normally a $100 upgrade fee per ticket!). Then, when we got here, he asked the car rental company if they could upgrade us to a "fast car" and thanks to his bday, we got a Dodge Charger! (And man is it fast!) Today was day 1 of the leadership session of Scentsy Family Reunion so I was in meetings all day. Once they ended around 5:30 though, Simon and I went out to the beach to enjoy the sea air and watch the sun go down. Hooray for California!!!!

Tuesday, July 17 - One of my favorite parts of being involved with Scentsy is the new relationships I am able to build. Amity Cox has been on my team for about 7 years and this is the second time that she and I have been able to hang out at reunion. She is seriously so fun to be around and makes these events extra fun just by being with her! Because it's leadership only, Scentsy provided us with a very yummy luncheon so I was spoiled! It was a good day 2 and the final day of the leadership event. Starting tomorrow, it will be all consultants from all around the world. So exciting!

Wednesday, July 18 - Nichole Ferland, my Super Star Director's Super Star Director, took us to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory today! I can't even imagine how much money they spent taking us to such a nice place but it was really enjoyable to visit with other ladies on our team and get to know them. Tonight, we ventured out to Newport Beach and Balboa. The weather here is beautiful and I could listen to the waves crash on the shore every day and never tire of the sound.

Thursday, July 19 - I was so privileged to get to take my own team out to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen! These wonderful ladies keep me going in my business, even when it gets hard. I am so thankful I was able to meet each one of them! They are all an inspiration to me! Tonight after my sessions, Simon and I went to Corona Del Mar to watch the sun set. It actually gets a little chilly once the sun goes down but it is so beautiful here! I wish we had palm trees in Utah! :)

Friday, July 20 - We have been Facetiming the kids each day but I missed them particularly this day. It was so much fun being in Disneyland with Simon and my team but I kept thinking about how much fun my kids would be having if they were with us! It was amazing getting to go into Disneyland two hours before the park opened and ride rides without waiting in line! What a fun day...even though I ended up with 28,000 steps!

Saturday, July 21 - I can't believe that this convention is already coming to an end! I have enjoyed my time with my Scentsy family and feel renewed and rejuvenated to go home and keep my business going strong. My biggest take-away for the whole week is the need I feel to connect with my team regularly. I am missing that in my business and know that if I focus more on them, the return will be great! Watch out world, I'm back!

Sunday, July 22 - Now that Scentsy Family Reunion is over, it's time to RELAX! Simon and I took a ferry out to Catalina Island. It is so amazingly beautiful out here!!!! I feel like we're on a cruise at a super desirable port! (Actually, ships do come out here but only usually on the 5 day cruises which is why we have never been here before.) We walked around and found a quaint little Mexican restaurant to eat at. While we were watching the waves eating ice cream from a little sea front shop, my mom sent this picture of dad and Ricki at church today. I love how candid and cute it is. Ricki is smiling because she rolled dad's tie up to his chin. How cute are they?

Jul 9 - 15

Monday, July 9 - Happy birthday sweet Zacky!!! We had his favorite dinner for his big day - cinnamon rolls and eggs. :) I can't believe this is happening but Nick left this morning for a week long scout camp! That sounds like a week too long for me without my boy! (And it was!)

Tuesday, July 10 - It's annual "Dress Like a Cow" day at Chick-Fil-A. Naturally, my kids and I went and got some lunch earlier and then later, we took Anna and Chase and went for dinner. Instead of having a late night with a few friends for his birthday, Zack wanted to go see Incredibles 2 with just Anna and Chase. It was a cute movie! Ricki and Kendra lucked out and got to go too! :) 

Wednesday, July 11 - Simon got the opportunity to go with his team to the new Mountain America corporate office in Sandy. It looks like an amazing building but unfortunately, Simon's department will not be moving. At least for now. Tonight for young men/young women's combined, we did a giant slip n' slide over at the park. I kept thinking that I should be careful but alas, they finally talked me into going down the slide. Of course, right after I went, a huge group decided to come down too and someone's knee went right into my tailbone! I should have followed my instincts and not gone down! Haha, oh well! It was fun!! :) 

Thursday, July 12 - Cute Kendra came up with the idea to have a water day with some of her friends. It started out as just one or two other girls but quickly expanded to a few boys too. They had a good time together - even with little brother tagging along. Tonight, I got to go out with Candace and Mel at Texas Roadhouse. It was so good to catch up! A lot has been going between Candace dating someone and Melanie selling her house and buying a new one. Glad we got the chance to catch up!

Friday, July 13 - Kendra has been going to theater camp twice a week for the past month and a half. The production of Cinderella finally happened tonight and it was so cute! They did a good job and I was proud of Kendra for being in it! Good job my little thespian! 

Saturday, July 14 - What would the summer be without a garage sale? Right?!?!? We did a garage sale at Jenni's house and then we went to Las Glorias and spent pretty much as much as I made on dinner with the fam. It was all worth it though! Any excuse to hang out with my faves! 

Sunday, July 15 - I know this picture is super nasty but we've had a mouse roaming around for a few days and leaving his special surprises for us to find everywhere! I have been totally freaking out so Simon set a ton of traps and finally caught the little critter! Sorry you had to die Stuart but it was time!

Jul 2 - 8

Monday, July 2 - After work, we all went to Simon's indoor soccer game then straight over to the rodeo. Our whole family was able to attend so it was really fun being there together. July is my favorite month of the year because of all of our fun family traditions that we do together. 

Tuesday, July 3 - Well, the pink ball that Ricki specifically asked Viv for for her birthday lasted from Sunday to Tuesday. Grrr! However, the big kids got a kick out of using it as a wig! I have funny slow motion video of them shaking their heads and all of those little spiky things swaying. Silly kiddos!

Wednesday, July 4 - It's Independence Day! We did our annual tradition of going to the Sandy City parade, concert, and fireworks with my family. This is one of my very favorite things!! They always put on such a nice firework show and we enjoy the music and entertainment up until then. We also now have enough candy to last us until Christmas from all of the parades we've been to! 

Thursday, July 5 - Happy birthday mom!!!! The day started great! All of us girls were able to meet mom and dad at Kneader's in South Jordan for a birthday lunch. Have I mentioned how much I love having a 12-year-old that can just stay home with kids when we go do things like this?? Anyway, our day went on and I got a call from Jenni's friend Meg at around 9:30. She was very calm but said that Jenni was at her house and having a seizure on her bedroom floor. Crap! I told her to call 911. So Jenni went for another ambulance ride to the hospital tonight. Luckily, they do know what happened. She hadn't taken her anti-seizure medication for 2 nights. It's scary though to know that she will have seizures if she ever stops taking her meds. Poor girl! I went and sat with her kids while she was at the hospital so I got home around 2 am. I am just glad she's okay!

Friday, July 6 - We were finally able to go out with the Child's tonight! We had been trying to plan a date night for ages and it finally happened. We went to a Mexican restaurant in Lehi called Mexiquense Grill which was super yummy then went over to a frozen yogurt shop in Draper. What a fun night with fun friends!

Saturday, July 7 - Simon is working hard on the basement! The electrical is pretty much done! Now, he is working on installing things like the bathroom vent and fan. Moving right along!

Sunday, July 8 - Cute Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Jim had everyone over for mom's birthday. She asked me to do the cake and I decided I had to do something since mom just got braces on! :) She seriously fell to the ground laughing when she saw her cake! Haha! It was fun!!

Jun 25 - Jul 1

Monday, June 25 - I was getting tired of having warranty information in a bunch of different places so I finally came up with this system for organizing them. Hopefully it helps!

Tuesday, June 26 - We take the kids to Cowabunga Bay once a summer and today was the day! Simon took the day off and the McCullough's met us there. It was so much fun! We left around 1:00 to have lunch at Las Glorias then we stayed and closed down the place! I love these fun memories that we are able to make with the kids!

Wednesday, June 27 - We were babysitting Finley today so we took her to the movie with us. It was perfect because the show we saw was "My Little Pony". She was so good through the entire thing! We love our summer movies and we love our Finn time! We also took Halle and Brielle because it was "My Little Pony" and because our friends, the Lattin's, couldn't make it today so we used their tickets. So fun...but I don't think I want 7 kids! Haha! :) 

Thursday, June 28 - The top picture is our adventures at Thanksgiving Point. We designated Thursdays for Thanksgiving Point each week. We chose the Dinosaur Museum today. 

The bottom one is a bitter/sweet picture. This is our last Pack Meeting with Nick. Yes, he turned 12 in March but they didn't have his Arrow of Light ready at that time so he got his AOL tonight. So proud of this boy and all that he accomplishes!

Friday, June 29 - These silly boys finished their service at the DI. They will now all be able to get their Citizenship in the Community merit badge at the next Court of Honor. Zacky is done with baseball for the season. One of the cute moms on his team ordered baseballs with the boys' names and jersey number on them. His name accidentally got spelled Zach so we found a font that was close and changed the "h" to a "k". I think it is a pretty close match.

Saturday, June 30 - The Pearson's and the Nyholm's had a piano recital! :) We are Jen Smith's only students currently so it was just our two families at the recital. Afterward, we went to dinner at Olive Garden with the Nyholm's. All four students did a really great job on their recital pieces!

Sunday, July 1 - We celebrated with the Howard side last Sunday and the Pearson side today. These adorable kiddos got spoiled rotten for their birthdays. We are so thankful for both of them and the role that they play in our family. Love these kids!