WOW, it's been a long time

Like I said, WOW it's been a long time. I have to admit we have been busy but I have also been lazy. We put the kids on an earlier schedule (8am-8pm) to give Brandon and I more time together at night. Unfortunately this extra husband time is great for our relationship, bad for my blogging. Instead of staying up late to check emails, facebook, and blog I have been hanging with Brandon. So here is the update on what else we have been doing.
First we celebrated Jackson's birthday with a few friends from our mother

's groups at our house. Now when I say a few friends I mean around 20 kids + mom's in our new house. IT WAS A BLAST. I haven't really had the opportunity to host in my own place and I realized that I love hosting. I love preparing, having everyone over, and the cleaning up isn't that bad either. Jackson had a great time. Usually he is by my side for most of our playdates but at his party I barely even saw him. He was too busy showing the kids the house and all his toys. It was a pirate theme complete with gold coins, a crocodile cake, and a treasure hunt. All the kids were so cute enjoying the treasure hunt while they found the pirate clues and then wearing their eye patches and pretending to be pirates after they found their party bags. Jackson even wore his pirate hat for most of the party and when I asked what a pirate says he would respond, "Arhh". He is such a funny kid.
I was so busy hosting that I forgot to take pictures. Thankfully my friend Adrianna was there taking pictures with her new camera. Thanks for capturing this special day Adrianna.

We also celebrated Brandon's sister's wedding this past weekend. She married a wonderful man Filipe that she met in Provo. He is from Brazil but he is fluent in English, as well as many other languages. His mom and dad came all the way from Brazil to attend the wedding and they do not speak English. However, Filipe, his sisters, and Caitlin's sister Brianna all speak Portuguese so we had plenty of interpreters around. They are such a wonderful family. So loving and sweet. Filipe is the nicest guy I have ever met. He always gives compliments to everyone and wants to be helpful. He adores Caitlin and I couldn't be happier that she found someone who will take care of her and treat her the way she deserves to be treated. We spent the whole week with our family that came for the wedding including sisters, brothers, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. It was really fun to see everyone and enjoy this blessed event.

They were married in the Mesa Temple and it was such a wonderful and spiritual ceremony. I brought back a flood of memories from my wedding which was 4 years ago next month. In the ceremony the sealer told Filipe and Caitlin that today would be the day that they would love each other the least in their lives and that brought tears to my eyes because I just thought to myself that is so true. I love Brandon so much more today than I did 4 years ago when we looked at each other and were married for time and all eternity. It is such a blessing to be sealed to Brandon, Jackson, and Lizzy and to know that they will be there with me in heaven.All the brides maids made their own dresses. I am really proud that mine turned out so well. I would have liked to have met my weight goal but unfortunately I didn't. However, sometimes I think that when you dress to fit your body it doesn't matter what your weight is, you can still feel confident, and I did. Caitlin looked so beautiful in her custom made dress. So happy and glowing.

We are enjoying our house, taking our time to make it our home. Brandon is almost finished putting hardware on the kitchen cabinets, we hung some curtains, almost all the furniture has arrived, and I am having a lot of fun decorating my own place. We still need to do a lot of work to the outside though. I just really want to get some grass. We are going to try to revive the grass that is buried under the weeds but if that doesn't work it is onto plan b. We are also trying to decide what kind of trees and other plants to put outside. I don't know much about landscaping so I am learning a lot. I have a bunch of pots that Brandon's mom gave me that I need to plant flowers in but I don't really know how to do that either. It is all a learning process. I think I need to get some gardening tips from my inspiration, Martha Stewart lol.

I am also trying to spend more time appreciating the kiddos. I feel like I don't do enough with them. We do stuff, like go to the store or playgroups, but when we are home I let them entertain themselves. I feel like I need to get things done like cleaning, laundry, school work, etc. We need a balance. So I am going to try to interact with them more every day. Color with them, read more often, puzzles, bubbles, walks, crafts. If anyone has good ideas like me know. I feel like Lizzy is growing up so fast and I am missing out on her babyhood. These are the times when my kids want to be with me and I need to take advantage of that time. Here are some random pictures of us hanging out having fun.