Wednesday, July 8, 2009

happy birthday natalie!


I better take a moment to wish my big sister (I mean older sister) a happy birthday. Time gets away from me on this day because I am so busy trying to plan our own family party because I decided to have a baby on the same day as your birthday! you are very important to me and I want you to feel remembered and appreciated. When I think about it, there isnt anything I dont like about you. you have so many admirable qualities. I have always felt that way. I remember growing up i wanted to be able to do things that you did someday but you took the cake in the artistic area. you were amazing at art and piano and singing. you always had solos at school and you had a lot of friends-what could be better?
now that we are grown and both have four kids, I find myself still observing you as I try to solve problems or think of simple ideas for birthday parties, cakes or halloween costumes. you are so creative. Someday your kids will realize just how gifted you are with your creativity.
I know you have heard this a lot but the thing I admire about you the most is that you have your own style. Im always still figuring out who I am and what I like and when I get those surveys on my favorite movies tv and books....I dont really know my style. youre that girl that knows what she likes and I am envious of that. sometimes I see something and say that so looks like natalie! it could be a brightly colored room or an outfit that when you first see it you wouldnt put it together but when you put it on it looks like it was made to go together! I like that you have your own opinions without making others feel like there opinion doesnt matter. Ive noticed that you are really good at letting your children make their own decisions. I still am a little controlling in that area and I always am impressed with you. I love your confidence and that you arent afraid to get up in front of people and show them your talents. you are very gifted natalie. I love how calm you are all the time and how you seem to handle trials well. I know times are tough for a lot of people and I love getting pointers from you on how to save money. you can always come up with inexpensive ways to still have a great time on a budget. I love that you dont seem to ever age. you're just as cool as I remeber you being way back when! I wonder if your kids feel that way.
if I were there with you I would start the day by going to the spa and getting the full treatment and then we would go to the cheesecake factory and pig out followed by some shopping to pick out a very cute outfit to wear to the concert we would go to that night. the other thing I admire about you-even after all that fun you wouldnt be tired-you could pull an all nighter and Id be asleep in the car on the way home from the concert like a toddler in their carseat. how do you do it? I guess thats why for all these reasons I think your so special and you deserve to have a special day.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATALIE I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Cohen's blessing day







today was the blessing. Chris gave him a wonderful blessing and he looked so cute in his blessing attire. For a smiley baby, I cant seem to get a picture of him smiling!
my parents came up for the big event, but since it was a holiday week most of our other local family members couldnt come. the daniels came and we had a fun family filled weekend . we spent the rest of the day watching home movies and seeing how much weve changed in the last 6 years. I hope you had a happy fourth of july!

holiday weekend










we were lucky enough to see chris's brother brian and his family this weekend. we went to lunch at the mayan. I was camera happy this weekend and everyone was probably annoyed with me! its fun to get pictures to see how much the kids change over the years.
my parents are in town for the weekend and we have had so much fun already. we went to the living planet aquarium on friday it was a full day of fun and great memories were made. my kids adore their grandparents!

rainy days and rainbows


such a beautiful sight. this is the third time there has been a huge rainbow this month so I had to get a picture! they said on the news that there were only four days in june that it didnt rain.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

results are in...

Cohen's results came back....NEGATIVE!!!!!.... Im so excited. A huge weight is lifted off my shoulders. thanks for your thoughts and prayers everyone!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

first trip to the dentist




man, kids have it good these days. a trip to the dentist was like a day at the spa. tey have great toys computers and video games in the waiting room and then when you get your teeth cleaned, they let you pick a movie and they put headphones on you so you can watch a movie on the ceiling! no more boring posters. they get a goodie bag and to top it off-at the end they get to pick a toy from the toy basket. to a kid, that is the royal treatment. the best part- no one had any cavities. hopefully they never will. I ve made it 26 years without any:) ciera was hard to photograph. she doesnt allow antone to touch her and once she heard the tools she freaked out and this was her face she was trying to find the quickest way out of there.

thanksgiving point fun!






sadly, this was our first time to the dinosaur museum. They have some fun things for the kids to do. they dug for fossils and played in the sand. we drew pictures of dinosaurs and the whole trip only took an hour. we tried to get a picture of the kids in front of the shark and ciera started to fall backwards into the sharks cage. she fell and was so scared all while chris was laughing at her! poor girl was traumatized. we had so much fun!