730 days ago.......

today was the last time I heard my mom tell me with her sweet eyes closed, laying in her hospital bed, how much she loved me for the last time. Oh what I'd give to hear her voice just one more time, to have a conversation with her.....anything. For those of you who read my blog and have lost someone as close to you as I was to my mom know exactly how I feel. I wouldn't wish this pain upon anyone. It is like you have a permanent hole in your heart, a piece of you is missing. My best friend in the whole world is in heaven and heaven is so lucky to have her there. The only thing that keeps me sane and going on without her on this earth with me is knowing she is pain free and that I will see her again. I can't wait for that day when I can hold her in my arms again. For those of you who are lucky enough to have your mom a phone call away or just living down the street, consider yourself blessed beyond belief!! Don't take one minute for granted. Daughters are just not meant to be without their mothers. Life is so short, you never know when a loved one is going to be called up to heaven. Don't waste another minute.......be sure and always tell your loved ones how much you love them and live like it is your last day on earth. Losing my mom has taught me so much. Time is so precious and you can never get it back, so please use it wisely. I wish I could say that it gets easier with time, that is the saying right??....Well, so far for me it has only gotten harder. I still get teared up and cry often with just merely mentioning my mom....so I am still grieving and probably always will be. Even though I still cry talking about her, it feels so good to talk about her and remember all the wonderful memories I have of her. It makes me feel like she is right there with me. She is such an inspiration and example to me. She is my best friend in the world.........I LOVE YOU MOM!!!!

Dawson graduated!!!

My cute Dawson graduated from preschool today!! I can't believe he is going to kindergarten in August. He is growing up way too fast. I can't tell you how much I enjoy my little "D." He is the best and so much fun. I am going to miss him so much when he is in school all day for kindergarten. I am so glad he loves school and loves to learn. I love you Dawson!!!

His teacher Miss Carrie sprinkling graduation dust on him!!!

Me, Dawson and Layla.

His entire preschool class shouting "Hurray!!!"

Special Day!!

My sweet boy was baptized last weekend!! It was such a great experience. I can't believe I am honestly old enough to have a son half way to driving and dating!!! If the next 8 years go as fast as the last 8....well then I am in trouble. I feel like I was in high school and college yesterday.....but really it was 10-12 yrs ago!

So in the past 10 years, this is the family Ry and I have created together. This is our precious little family.

Loving this beautiful spring weather!!!

My sweet dad flew in just to be here for Chandler's special weekend. Oh I love my dad.....he just adores his grand kids:)

Here is Chandler and his great-grandma Gigi. They have such a special bond!!

Chandler and his friends from school came to his party at "Pump it Up." They all had such a great time. Chandler and Dawson are already planning to have their next birthday parties here:)

All of his friends and cousins!!!

Birthday chair for the birthday boy, they get to sit in to open presents!!!

The birthday present he asked for........a bike that can switch gears!! He loves his new mountain bike and oh how we all love him. Chandler has been such a blessing in our lives. From the moment he was born he has been a complete joy. He is always so happy, obedient, dependable, responsible and easy going . He is the best!!! I love you Chandler and am so glad you are my son!!!

The 3 Reasons.......

above are why I live and breathe every single day. They are the 3 greatest blessings in my life. These 3 precious faces above bring me more joy than I could have ever dreamed or hoped for. They are my 3 perfect little angels straight from heaven above. I love them more than anything in this entire world!

There is no greater blessing than being a mom......I wouldn't trade it for the world!

The love of my life!

Busy, Busy......

Busy is the word for the month of February. My sister and her baby flew to AZ to see me this past month. It was so much fun to have them stay for 5 days......wasn't long enough though!!! Here we are at the zoo holding our baby girls. It was such a fun week......hurry back Nat!








Here is a picture of Layla at a friends b-day party.
All the girls got their own tutu's and pictures taken. It was so much fun. She loved her tutu and still wears it all the time. She is ALL girl:)

Here is a picture of my silly boys. I was upstairs and heard my boys laughing and I walked in Layla's room and this is what I found. They had taken every single flower and bow of Layla's and stuck it in each others hair. They thought it was so funny....it was pretty hilarious!! They are so much fun. I love these 2 boys!!

My babe had his birthday over the weekend and we took him to his favorite restaurant "Fajitas!" I of course brought a chocolate chocolate chip cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes with few candles for dessert. It was fun. Sure love ya honey!!!

Then there is my 21 month old princess. Oh how I love and enjoy this girl. I told her to show me her teeth and this was it.

*She loves her bath time

*She is very stubborn

*She loves loves loves to read books

*She knows where many of her body parts
are like nose, eyes, teeth, mouth, ears, fingers,

toes, tongue, legs, arms, belly button etc.

*She hates nothing more than her diaper changed

*She loves her brothers

*She loves having airplane rides from me and dad

*She loves to hum with me when I rock her

*When she hears music she nods her head and

dances

*She talks non-stop. She says many words such as

mommy, daddy, Dawson, juice, bye, binks, poops,

grandpa, owie, no and many others.

*She is very adventurous and curious

Her hair is getting so long and has some curl too it. I love it.....it is so pretty. She gets compliments all the time on the color of it. So many people have asked if I have highlighted it that color........uh the answer is NO!!! It is her natural of course:)

Pretty blue eyes. She gets them from her daddy!!!

She is all girl and LOVES putting on her high heels and jewelry. She is hilarious and so much fun. I love my 3 kiddos and wouldn't trade them for the world. I am so lucky to be their mom.

Well I had my birthday and this was my party........above is my sista-in-law Chantelle. We went to lunch at White Chocolate Grill in Scottsdale and yes it was as good as it sounds. Then we all went to the movie "Valentine's Day" which is where the picture above was taken (at the theatre).

Below is my other sista-in-law Nanette. We are pretty much together all the time!

Obviously above is the stunning couple of me and my babe-a-lious on my birthday. He took the day off and joined all the girls for lunch, movie, and shopping. Oh how I love this man!!!

Below is a picture of one of my favorite people in the world. Grandma Gigi. She is the BEST!!! She buys lunch for everyone on their birthday including the entire party. I love Gigi so much!!!

And last but not least is my birthday present from my husband and kids. I love this bike....it is such a smooth and comfortable ride!!! Thanks babe and kiddos. Hopefully it will help get and keep me in shape. Love it!!!!!!!!

2010.........

I have decided is my year! By "my year" I mean it is my year to take care of myself and put me first. For those of you who don't know.......I turn freakin' 30 this year and I want to look better and be in the best shape of my life! I hear 30's are better than 20's and I think if I get where I want to physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally then for sure 30's are going to rock!!! I am so motivated..........so here I go and here's to 30's!!!!!

I've never seen.......

anything like this in my life so I had to take some pictures. This was taken today right outside of my church. You could see these people from the parking lot. They are trying to stop the Phoenix Temple from being built.....and it is actually going to be built on the other side of my church. It will be so nice to be seriously 2 minutes away from the temple. Right now we drive to the Mesa Temple which is about 35-40 minutes away. It will be so fun to go to church every Sunday and see the Phoenix Temple right next to our church building. Some people in this area are really raising a stink about it. They think it will be so bright and lit up all the time, loud, lots of traffic.....etc. ect. So they are out waving people down trying to get them to sign this petition to stop the temple from being built. It has already passed the city but if they can get a certain amount of signatures.....and I am talking thousands.....then it can get appealed. They have another week to do so. This is only a mile from my home. Pray for our temple to be built and to soften the hearts of these people petitioning it. It won't harm them in anyway. It will only beautify and bless our city.