Memorial Day Weekend 2010

Well, we had a fun weekend. The weekend started off with a party at Ben's school. My boss let people off early, so I was able to leave at 2:30 and go spend time with him while he ate goodies and played in the water with his classmates. It was lots of fun, he was pretty clingy and didn't want to let me out of his site (heartbreaking)- but he got a little wet. Mostly because all the bigger kids than him were hogging the little water things (I don't know what they're called) and took at the water balloons before he could. But we left and then I brought him home and sprayed him down with the hose. That was a lot more fun to be honest! Also Friday was Ashley's birthday and so to celebrate we went to dinner with her and some of our other friends at On the Border. Of course it was delicious and we all enjoyed it, but the best part of the night was going to her house to see her open up her surprise present that Jacob got a bunch of us all together to go in on. A new camera! A nice one too! She was so happy and excited and it was fun to see her reaction. I sure love that chick. She is a great BFF.

Saturday we woke up bright and early to prepare for our first family/friend camp-out! This was the first time Ben had ever camped, and first time I'd ever camped with Ryan OR Ben, AND the first time we have ever taken Ally (our dog) anywhere besides Nana's house or the groomer/vet! We were bound and determined to go this time, because EVERY SINGLE TIME we plan a camping trip, it RAINS. The weather reports didn't seem to promising either, but we'd already paid for our campsites and we weren't going to let it stop us. So we got all of our stuff together (TOO much stuff) and met up at the Terry's and headed to Carter's Lake in North Georgia for a two night camping trip. Our friend Martha chose the sites, we had two, and it was awesome! It was so good to be back in the nature again, I've missed it so. We set up our tent, we cooked burgers and hot dogs on the grills at the campsites and Martha and I made DELICIOUS tinfoil dinners. Ally and Bowser met each other and pretty much stayed out of each others way- mostly because Bowser is still a puppy and wants to play and Ally is a crotchety old woman who doesn't like to play with strangers. SO after being overly frustrated with my adorable 2 year old- we FINALLY got him to go to sleep at around 10pm- Ryan had to lay in the tent with him until he fell asleep. We all gathered round the old lantern and talked, all while being attacked by NASTY Palmetto bugs. Eck, those things are nasty. There were millions of "biders" as Ben calls them, mostly just weird looking Daddy Long Legs... but they were EVERYWHERE. We went to bed, and of course slept like poop. The ground is not comfortable anymore. Time to purchase an air mattress or two! Plus Ben was a floppy little fish the whole night and I kept having to put him back on his pillow for fear of kicking him in the face or something! We had a good breakfast the next morning, and then basically chilled out the rest of the day. The Terry's had to leave early, so it was us, the Burke's and Geoff. We went to the "beach" at the lake and saw the most WT I've ever seen in one place in my life. Wow. Ben had lots of fun in the water though, he wasn't scared at all. He had his little floaties on and sunglasses and he had a good ol' time. After we got back we started preparing and making dinner, Dutch Oven Chicken (thank you Tiffany Reed) and clouds started gathering and it started to pour. The chicken had started to boil believe it or not, and we thought while sitting in our tent that the rain was going to put out the fire and ruin the chance for our chicken to survive. But after not too long, the rain stopped the fire reignited itself and we were back in business. We made our sides and dished up and.... the rain started threatening again. So we ate quickly covered everything up again and got in the tent just as it started to pour again, this time with lightning and thunder. This scared Ally, and Ally being scared concerned Ben. While in the tent he grabbed my cheeks and intently looked at me as if to REALLY get my attention and said "Mama, Mama... go home". NOW, we would've stayed and just gone to bed... but the darn P.O.C. tent we (I) had started to LEAK. UGH... Geoff's did too. The Burke's tent wasn't though. We made the decision (at about 7pm) to pack up and head home, the weather reports weren't promising and we just didn't want to drown in our sleep in a tent! Ryan and Geoff were the best, and got everything in the car in the pouring rain while me, Ben and Ally hung out in our empty tent and watched Sesame Street podcasts and sang songs together. Well, me and Ben anyway- Ally can't sing very well! As soon as we got in the car, Ben fell asleep and we got home safely and went straight to bed. We were POOPED. Yesterday was spent basically vegging out. The house was/is in shambles but yesterday, there was NO desire to even touch it. It'll be clean by the end of the week though... I hope! We all took naps... I believe though, that mine was the most glorious of all of them. Holy Moly (is that how you even spell it?) that bed was comfortable. The pillows were great, the sheet was perfect the wind from the fan... all worked in harmony to woo me in to a beautiful MUCH needed rest. I do have to say that Ben won for the amount of time slept out of the 3 of us. He slept for a whopping three hours, but he obviously needed it. Anyway, we had a really fun time- plan to do it again. Ben was a natural which makes his momma proud. Ally did great, better than I expected. And Ryan loved it too. We plan to purchase a new BIGGER tent (especially now because when setting it up to dry it out the poles all broke... ), some air mattresses and pack less next time and just go when we want. I really have missed my outdoorsy side... we got along really well, and when we were together- I felt a lot less stressed. SO, we plan on getting together more often. :) Believe it or not, I didn't take any pictures with my camera- just my phone, so this is what we get. Oh well.

Another Thoughts Blog!

-every time I eat Famous Amos cookies, I think of my dad. Always have, always will. I guess specifically because he loves the Sandies from them and also I remember getting them out of the vending machine at the City Hall in Flagstaff where he worked and thought it was the greatest snack on earth. Those and Tato Skins when they were still around. Mmmmm.

- I was just reading People online and they were talking about Gavin Rosendale and Gwen Stefani's kid turning 4 and have a bunch of pictures of him and were critiquing his attire and how he's sooooo fashionable. Come on! He's FOUR! His parents or their nanny's put him in that. Good gosh people. Stop trying to make LITTLE kids grownups already!

-There are so many things going on with the earth lately it's really starting to trip me out a little bit. Close to home, the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf and how it's affecting the coastal regions and the wildlife there. One of our most favorite vacation spots in Destin, FL and it could even affect the beaches there! I was struck by something a news reporter said today, that it's almost IMPOSSIBLE (a strong word in my opinion) to get rid of the oil that has spread. So heartbreaking. Also the Volcano in Iceland we heard so much about but then all the hub-bub quickly died down, but is STILL possibly active and could erupt again. I read about frogs blanketing a highway in Greece and slowing traffic! So weird! Article HERE. Just a lot of crazy stuff going on... maybe stuff like this has always happened, we're just more of a

-One thing I've noticed here in Atlanta, is the reaction I get when I tell people (mostly coworkers) I'm going camping or even LOVE to camp. They act surprised, like they didn't think people still did that. And the question I get asked over and over again is "Like camping camping? In a tent or a cabin?" and when I say a tent... they always come back with "you're tougher than I am" or "no way, not me. I need a hotel." The cabin comment gets me though... camping is NOT sleeping in a cabin, unless it's bare-boned and then maybe I'll give you that. Camping is sleeping on the ground, in a tent or under the stars- in my humble opinion.

-I get REALLY tired of lazy people at work. Period.

-I really miss my family. I miss Shauna a lot. I get lots of little reminders of her that I'm so grateful for, but it's hard still. It was her birthday 2 weeks ago yesterday. She would've been 44. But ever since she died (I still hate saying that... wierd I know), I really feel so much yearning for my family. And they're so far away from me. I'm so grateful for my own little family though.

-I love it when Ben randomly busts out in songs that I didn't even know he knew. It's the greatest. Or when he randomly says "hi Mommy", because anyone that knows me knows that I have a habit of feeling the need to just say "hi" to whoever is nearest to me to just break up the silence.

Free Scentsy Product!

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Cute Benny

Ben is saying lots of sentences now. Let's see if we can remember some of them."I don't want it."
"I see you Mommy."
"Here you go."
"Get down Ally."
"Open the door."
"Hi Ally-bear"
"Thank you Mommy (or Daddy)"
"Where did it/he go?"
"I want my sandals"
"Get the mail"
"Mommy, watch this!"
Me: "where's daddy?" Ben "back there" pointing to the back bedroom.


He sings 3 songs a lot now too; Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (with emphasis on the ends of the different lines and especially loves singing it with his Daddy), Happy Birthday (to Ben, sometimes mommy or daddy), and ABC song. And I just discovered today he knows the "No More Monkey's Jumping On the Bed" rhyme too.
He's a little handful of course, he's two and a little boy through and through- but we love him oh so much. I know I say that all the time, but for reals... he makes me so happy. He's got such a great sense of humor. He already knows how to pick on his mama, he loves his doggy, and his daddy, he loves to be outside,He loves to read books (and some times tears them up...ugh...) and he's very sensitive. If he does something wrong to someone else and he's told to say sorry- he has to cry too because he feels so bad. He loves his family, and our friend family. When we drive around curves or corners he'll say "Whooooaaaaa!" with me! He loves his little tent we bought him. He loves to take our throw pillows in there, of which are apparently his because he always says "mine" to them.
I'm so tired right now, that's all I remember and I'll probably need to add to things as we go along. I just can't remember everything and I surely can't forever- so here's my future memory saver!

SLACKER!!!!

I realize I've been a complete bum about writing lately. It seems like I just can't keep up. I'd like to say there's not much going on, but it's quite the opposite. We've taken on a lot of "projects" and have a lot of things to attend to, places to go... that kind of thing.
So with that being said- I hope to cover some of the goings on that I've missed blogging about, but I plan to do them in individual blog posts. I might back date them as well. Here we go!

Look WHO's Expecting!

Ashley, Jaclyn Schaer and I did a Owl-themed baby shower for our lovely friend Hillary this weekend. I hosted it at the house and took care of most of the food, because let's face it- I'm not good at games or other real creative things like that. I got the pictures and food, but that's about it for me. We had a wonderful turn out and we were so happy to be able to do it for Hillary, because we kind of like her a little and are SUPER excited to see this little guy she and Mark are bringing in to the world. She lets me hold and feel her tummy a lot, kind of not by choice! I just love feeling that little person moving around in there and trying to figure out what he's doing and I enjoy talking to him too. It reminds me of one of the only parts of pregnancy I liked! Here are some photos of the joyous occasion. (Although I'm bummed because we didn't get ANY of me, Hillary, Jaclyn and Ashley together!)

Can I get a Woot-woot for Post #400??!!!!

I need to catch up a little bit. We have been so busy lately and will continue to be for a few more weeks. I guess it's good... just sometimes overwhelming when my house gets neglected and dust accumulates and the bathroom fairy has quit because he just can't get through the grime.And things stop putting themselves away, like laundry and mail that needs to be filed... ugh... okay enough of that silly talk.

The weekend after we got back from Utah, we had already planned to go back to the cabin with our buds. It was welcomed and we were excited about it. Nothing out of the ordinary. We just left after work Friday and came home Sunday afternoon. We got out a lot more this time because the weather was really nice. We went down to the "Hooch" a lot and in the field and on Saturday night after grilling out on the deck, had a campfire and made S'Mores. That was Ben's official first campfire, believe it or not. He was very cautious and did great. Mommy (that's me) wasn't feeling so hot pretty much the whole trip so I didn't last too long down there. But it was SO fun and I love doing stuff like that and miss doing it as often as I used to.
The next weekend we enjoyed Easter with Ryan's family. The kids hunted for Eggs filled with candy and $$$$ and Ben won the Grand Prize of $5! It's already in his piggy bank!

The Smith's

Happy Anniversary (March 24th)

Because of everything that happened, we didn't get home from UT until the morning of our anniversary and probably would've forgotten all about it except for the fact that my parents gave us a card before we left that Monday after the funeral. This year we decided to forfeit celebration but I still wanted to mention, HAPPY 3rd ANNIVERSARY! Three years ago on March 24th, my sweetheart and I were married.

In a separate post I wanted to note some of the things we go to do, and kind of talk about the trip out and the driving and stuff. The good parts of being able to go see the family.
Driving out was pretty rough, I'll admit it. I mean, the whole purpose of getting there wasn't exactly the greatest one in the world. But the first night we stayed in a pretty ghetto Motel 6 in
West Memphis, AR that stunk and was just kind of scary. Ryan wanted to keep going but both Ben and I were pretty worn out. Ben was sleeping mostly in the car, but was still restless and needed a stretch. After a short 4 hour rest, we got back up and headed out on the road. Arkansas . Oklahoma. During our drive that day we luckily found the most wonderful rest stop in TX... some where in Texas, not sure where. Somewhere in the desert near Amarillo. It had a wonderful playground for Ben, which was seriously a God-sent because he REALLY REALLY needed to get out and PLAY. Not just walk, but play.
We made it to the border of New Mexico and decided to see if we could snooze off our sleepiness at the Welcome Center for an hour or so. We did, and it wasn't enough. We managed to make it to Santa Rosa, NM that night and stayed in another Motel 6 there. This one wasn't as bad thank goodness. The next day we traveled more of course, this time we were bound and determined to make it to UT... we had to, it was Friday by then. Poor Ben was just about done with us and being cooped up in his seat. So we tried to do a lot to entertain him. We had a screaming contest...

We watched Sesame Street on Ryan's iPhone, made a mess with apple sauce, slept some, sang, read books, played with toys, ate whatever we could find... got out when we could. Like in the middle of the desert of Eastern Arizona at the Geronimo tourist shop near the petrified forest. We got to make a stop in my hometown of Flagstaff for a quick bite to eat and pretty much after that it was TERRIBLE. The last 4 hours were SO hard for all of us. Ben was done, and Ryan and I had pretty much gone loony at this point! We tried to laugh a lot, but Ryan kept repeating in all seriousness "I'm so driving home alone and we're finding a way to pay for you and Ben to fly back home"! Ha! Yeah right! We finally made it to St. George that night around 6pm. We visited with cousins and family and saw my parents and talked a little.

After the funeral we spent some time with Andrea Green and Ryan A. and my family again. We went to the park with the kids. Greg unfortunately couldn't make it to the cemetery that afternoon because he had to go to the ER and so we watched their girls. Here are some pictures of the day.
The kids playing at the park.
This is the view from where Shauna is buried. So pretty and peaceful.Ben with his cousin.

And here are all the grandkids on my side of the family.

Sunday was my mom's 73rd birthday. So we spent some time with her, went to the grave again, and had dinner at John and Clau's house. Here is my beautiful sis and the horses next to Shauna's grave. It's kind of ironic, my oldest brother Brian passed away when he was a baby and the buried him on my dad's birthday, they buried Shauna the day before my mom's.
Monday we headed home. Only this time, because of the generosity of my parents and Andrea we were able to purchase ourselves and mostly Ben a PORTABLE DVD PLAYER. Holy Hannah that made SUCH a difference on the way home! There were moments of boredom still. Like the moment Ben decided to give himself a spit bath. It was pretty nasty, but really funny too. That kid, has got a personality. Let's count how many times he says "Momma!" to me while I'm looking at him! HA! On the way home, we stopped again in NM for one night, then drove until we got home... so.... another 23 HOURS AFTER THAT. OH MY GOSH. We left Monday morning and pulled in to our driveway at 6:30am Wednesday morning. We slept for a bit and then Ryan had to go to work at around 11am that day. Poor guy. That was SO extremely exhausting... and quite frankly we'd completely forgotten about the state of Mississippi... stupid Mississippi adding another 2-3 hours on our drive... But we were safe. Ben slept ALL night long and we made it home. And came home to a beautifully clean home thanks to our lovely friend Ashley, it was truly a blessing!
Let's not forget the bathroom stall in a bathroom in NM almost literally falling apart and almost falling on me. The maintenance guy standing there looking as me and another patron HELD IT UP and him saying "where'da bolts go?" after waiting as patiently as I could in like 30seconds I said "Uh... I need to go! Can one of you please take this from me???" HELLO??? It was pretty funny though. How about Ben randomly throwing up in Arkansas on the way home, eck... strawberry yogurt too. How about the green Hot Fudge Sundae at the McDonald's in Shamrock, TX. How about the HUGE rock that hit the windshield while I was driving and only nicking it thank goodness. A big shout out to Red Box DVD rentals- WOOT! Before we left, we went with my dad to go get a rock from the mountain across the road from my parents house and then drove it across the country. It's in the front yard sitting next to the "Ben Tree"! We call it the "Shauna Rock". I am SO glad we got to go. It was a HARD, LONG drive but so worth it. The Lord truly watched over us on so many levels and I am so grateful for that, my family, and my husband who was so supportive and loving during that tough time.

So, I've been struggling a little with the topic of this post. I wasn't sure how I wanted to write it or handle it really. In full detail or just some memories, so maybe I'll do a little of both. And well, it's still hard to talk about it so I kind of dread replaying it. Basically, words can't really describe how I feel or what I remember, but I guess this will have to do.

Two weeks ago, March 17th to be exact, I had to run to the post office during my lunch break so I took off. I went to lunch a little later than usual and at a kind of weird time. I had eaten while I was working before I left, kind of made sure that I was done with most of the stuff in my inboxes... I left at 12:50 and even noted that it was a strange time. On the way called Ryan and then as I was arriving and pulling in to a parking spot my mom clicked through on the other line. I hung up with Ryan and answered her call. She told me the most devastating news I've ever heard in my life up to this point, my oldest sister Shauna who had been staying with them, had passed away that morning. I don't think I've ever cried so hard in my life. She asked me to call my other sister Delinda to tell her... news she didn't want to ever have to hear either. The next two hours were the hardest thing ever. I sat in the parking lot of that shopping center sobbing and almost hyperventilating, watching the rain come down, most of the time in complete denial. I prayed and cried and prayed and called my family and Ryan... cried... for 2 hours, until I could get control of myself enough to drive home. Obviously work was okay with this. In fact, they were very kind and offered to come get me and take me home. But I made it. Ryan got home as fast as he could but in the meantime, because even bereavement tickets to fly there were outrageously expensive- we decided to leave for St. George in the car that night...over 2,000 miles away. I got the oil changed, picked Ben up from daycare, we packed and left at 7pm on Wednesday night. The drive was hard, and long and the anticipation was heavy. We even got pulled over once in Texas, but the cop let us go because we told him we were trying to get to UT for my sister's funeral. We were grateful for great rest areas, Ryan's Sesame Street podcasts and the WalMart in Page, AZ that carried us through the next few hours. Over all Ben was really good for us, it was definitely hard on him. But I kept a picture of Shauna and Ben on my phone that helped me stay focused and motivated to get there. We arrived in St. George Friday evening. The funeral was the next day. The reason why I mentioned the first part about my lunch and all that was because there seemed to be a lot of little but important "miracles" during those few days. I felt like I was blessed to have eaten already, because if I hadn't the shock might've been too much to bare on an empty stomach. I feel like the timing of the call from my mom and me already parked was a blessing because I don't think I could've continued to drive. And, most of my work was completed so there wasn't anything pressing I had to leave behind for my coworker who covers for me to do. We felt the warmth of the prayers said on our behalf as we drove that VERY LONG distance in such a short time. Ryan was my ROCK. He kept me calm, he loved me, he let me cry, he took good care of Ben when my mind couldn't handle another thing, he insisted that we ALL go to UT and not just me because he wanted to be with me because he knew I needed him and that my family needed OUR family to be there. He took care of my parents, he helped where he could... he played with the kids and kept them all happy. He lightened the situation up when appropriate and kept me from getting too "down". He was amazing and I love him so much for that. I feel like the level of our relationship was brought to a whole other level during that time. I am so grateful for him.

Saturday morning was the viewing, then the funeral and then the graveside dedication... keep in mind I've only been to ONE other funeral for my grandma. So... this whole death thing is VERY difficult for me still. Seeing her there was... awful, I guess. Not where I'd want to see any of my family. I said my goodbye's to her. Touched her hair, told her "I love you Nah-nah" and cried a lot. We had a neat family moment where we all stood around her casket. Watching them close it I think brought some closure for me, and I think everyone else. I have never seen my brothers and sister and parents cry so much and so hard. But we got to do it together.
The bishop of my parents ward conducted everything. Delinda did the Eulogy for Shauna, and it was just right. My brother Greg was still pretty ill, so couldn't get up with us to speak about Shauna when John, Delinda and I talked about some of our favorite memories of her. Her partner Randi gave us some things to speak about too, some of the favorite things about her. Like when they'd walk home from the store or somewhere, if she found a dead bird she'd take it home and bury it in their yard and give it it's last rights! She loved animals and all living things. Anyway... I don't want to ramble on too much. But the day was beautiful and everything turned out great. The biggest miracle of all was that the funeral was completely paid for by many different donors and other funds that randomly would pop up... we were all so concerned because none of us had the money to pay for a $7,000 funeral. But the Lord provided and everything went according to plan. At the graveside dedication, my dad dedicated the grave and while he and all of the pall bearers stood there, a white horse from the neighboring farm came and stood almost like he was listening to what was going on. We all thought it was a special moment, Shauna loved animals and it just felt right that he was there. I will forever think of Shauna now when I see a white horse.

We enjoyed the time with my family. All the grand-kids were together which was neat. And we got to see parts of the country that were pretty cool AND pretty boring too. We were lucky we even got to go to UT because we were thinking we might not be able to this year. We got to see my BFF Andrea and her boyfriend Ryan, they came down especially to see us and pay their condolences. I just love her to pieces and am so grateful for our friendship. I got to see a few of my cousins who came that I haven't seen in years and probably wouldn't get to see for a while more; Melanie, Jillean and her family, Mark and his family, Lynette, and Uncle Doug & Aunt Karen, and Aunt Mary and Uncle Dave.

There were so many wonderful things that happened while we were there for that short time. But I don't know if I can remember all of them. I do feel like this tragedy has brought us all closer together. It's also made me even more aware of how important family is to me and how often I take my loved ones for granted. I will miss Shauna SO much. There are moments when I forget she's gone... and then I remember and it's hard. I will miss her saying to me "hi my little one". She always called me that. She was a wonderful woman with a big heart. She took such good care of people, especially those who didn't fit in or maybe had special disabilities. She in the last few years took such good care of parents, and I know they will miss her companionship and help so much. They already miss her daily phone calls to check up on them. Yes, Shauna had a lot of problems throughout life... but I will miss my big sister and only hope and imagine she is SO much happier in heaven and is at peace with herself and truly knows now just how much we all love her and miss her.

Some things I wanted to note for journal purposes, Shauna was the first of the Collier cousins to pass away (in adulthood). And also, unfortunately, our cousin Geoffrey Taylor in South Africa passed away the same day as Shauna due to complications of Leukemia. Our hearts and prayers go to our family there, and we only hope that Geoff and Shauna have been able to meet each other in the life hereafter!

It's the 31st Anniversary of my birth.

Wow. It feels like we've been in a whirlwind the last few weeks. I can barely remember what went on the past 2 weekends. We'll skip last Friday because lets face it, I really don't remember that. Last Saturday Ryan went and played Ultimate Frisbee and me and Ben went on a play-date with his buds from the old daycare. We met at a park, it was quite chilly... but that didn't stop them from having a good time. We had a little bit of lunch and a small cupcake and they were off!
Sunday we celebrated Ben's birthday with our friends & Nana and Poppy and we had fun. Me, Ashley and Ryan made Elmo cupcakes for Ben since he loves him so much. We didn't ask for gifts so he just played with the two other little girls that came and pigged out on a cupcake and then was wired for a couple more hours that night! I guess that's from not having treats very often!Monday & Tuesday were both spent with a very good friends of mine, Heath Charter and his wife Emily and their 3 little ones. They needed to get away from the chill in Virginia and decided to come to GA and it was SOOOOOOOO fun to see them! I don't think we've seen each since they got married, which I guess was right around 6-7 year ago. We even lost touch for a little while, and just about a year ago were able to find each other through Facebook and reacquaint ourselves with them. Me and Ben took a half day from work and school Monday and went to the zoo with the Charters (weather was PERFECT!), this was Ben's first time back to the zoo since we went last February when he wasn't quite a year- so the concept of animals as living things now is totally different to him. He knows the names of a lot of the animals, so to actually see one in person in real life was I think a strange event for him. The elephants scared the crap out of him, including the teeny...tiny... statue of one I wanted to take a picture of him by did. BUT he still talked a lot about it after we left them! He saw the Pandas, the Komodo Dragon, lots of snakes and turtles, an Orangutan, kangaroos, sheep (at the petting zoo that he wouldn't DARE get near) and played a lot on the playground. He went down the twisty slide A LOT!!That night we got Ryan and met up with them at their hotel pool and Ryan and Ben went swimming (Indoor pool). Ben had a blast. He was even brave enough to jump off the side to daddy! He kept calling it a bath! Tuesday they came for dinner and we did a little shopping (!) and then they were off. It was so fun to spend time with them and we hope we can do it soon. Hopefully we can make a trip up their way soon!I feel like we had other stuff going on the rest of the week... just us being busy I guess and then this weekend (last night) we dropped Ben off and Nana & Poppy's for the night (the whole night!) and went to the Vortex for burgers with the Terry's, the Burkes, Geoff, Brandy, Clint and Jake. (Somehow I'm missing Jacob in this collage...) Afterward some of us went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D. It was SOOOO good... but I've always had a secret love for that story and movie. I've always loved it... so I really enjoyed this one too. I hope they make another. Or... maybe not. Hmmm, something to think about. Anyway we got home pretty late went to sleep and slept in this morning and then went and got Ben. Then my dear lovely Ashley made me (and the rest of us) dinner and a birthday cake and everything was SO delicious! I am very grateful to her for that. This week she and I are going to see John Mayer in concert, scored free tickets from work again! YIPPEE! Hopefully things will settle down a bit, but March always tends to be a little maniacal.
Both my mom and my brother Greg had surgery this past Friday. Both seem to be doing fine. My brother Greg especially is adjusting to the change, I'll have to get permission first before I write a post about it- but I really want to, because it's been quite an upset for our family. My cousin in South Africa is quite ill, Ryan's sister Kelly is also having surgery this next week... we just feel very weighed down with stress and worry about our loved ones and their health. We have been praying fervently and appreciate any additional prayers on their behalf.
We are still in the midst of getting Ben's social security theft all figured out... haven't really heard much from ANYONE, I guess that's what happens. I had a Scentsy party at Ashley's house yesterday and did REALLY well thank goodness. (Another thing to add to the list of what we've been up to...) Anyway, I'd better get to bed. It's now WAY past my bedtime, stupid Daylight Savings... but Spring is just around the corner. Trees are starting to bloom and the earth is coming to life again! YAY!