Oh Utah! I love you and I miss you and I'm so happy I get to come spend a few weeks with you! Tenners is such a good little travel buddy.  She watched a movie, we stopped at Panera Bread (my fave!) took a nap and before we knew it we were at my parents house in St. George.  I was in no rush to hop in the car again the next morning, so we went for a walk around the trails in Coral Canyon. As you can see, Tenley still has her obsession with rocks.  She loaded up the "stro stro" with as many "beebee wocks" as she could fit. She cracks me up!

Only a few minutes into our walk and T was sound asleep.  I quickly felt the effects of elevation change, the added weight of all the rocks and my stuffy head cold that I cannot seem to get rid of. I thought I might die! Ok a little dramatic, but I for reals thought I might pass out. And now I'm more than a little worried about the races that I am supposed to run with my family in just a few short days.

While I was putting all our things back in the car Tenley decided she was going to drive us the rest of the way.

Only 15 minutes into the drive and she was asleep again and she slept all the way to Payson! I thought maybe I just might pee my pants after 4 hours of non-stop driving, but there was no way I was going to wake up that sleeping angel. And 4 hours, after having a baby and drinking a 32 oz diet coke is basically FOREVER. That's love. Don't you forget that little T-Bird!

We made it to my parents house in Midway just in time to see this beautiful sunset as we unloaded my car. Feels so good to be back in my hometown for a few weeks!

Pool Party

We had a little pool party with some of the people from Dave's office.  We had lots of yummy food, and lots of fun.  Little Birdy is such a water babe so I spent most of the evening right here on these steps with her.  I love that she loves the water!

I just can't get enough of her little tutu swimsuit poking out from her floaties!

my sunshine

I had Janessa take some pictures of us while we were in Fresno and I love what she got! Tenley did not want to cooperate! She just wanted to play with all the kids at the park and I'm seriously impressed Janessa even got the few pictures that she did.

Brace Face

I have officially reverted back to my middle school self and I went and got myself braces....again. What was I thinking!? Do they make me look younger?! Ha! It has been 15 years or so since I've had braces, but I don't remember them hurting so bad! Perhaps I'm just a bigger baby now.  I had the option of getting Invisalign, but my sister didn't have good results with hers and I've talked to several people who have had similar bad experiences. So for the next 12-18 months I'd better get used to this brace face.

Fresno Weekend

I packed up a few things and went for a little road trip up to Fresno over the weekend to visit Janessa and her cute family. Tenley and I had such a fun weekend and I'm already wanting to go back! The night we arrived, we went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and while we were waiting for our table Tenley and Penelope quickly became best friends.

We wandered over to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory to pick up a little snack for after dinner. The girls were in sweet treat heaven. 

After we put the girls to bed, Janessa and I ate our caramel apples and stayed up way past out bed times talking and laughing. Oh how I miss living close to my bestie!

The next morning Tyson took Penelope and Tenley on a bike ride while we went to the gym.  Janessa totally kicked my butt with her workout and I will be sore for days I'm sure. Hurts so good. 

We put the girls down for their naps and Tyson was so nice to stay home with them while Janess and I went to grab some lunch and made a quick little stop at our favorite.....LuluLemon. I absolutely love love love being a mom, but I have not had much of a break since we have moved to California. Mostly it's my own fault for being really paranoid about leaving Tenley with someone I don't know.  It felt so refreshing to go and have a day out without worrying about anybody but myself. That sounds kind of selfish, but I do feel like I came back from our little outing feeling like a new woman! I think when I get back home I'm going to focus on finding a babysitter.  The weekend went by way too fast and the next thing I knew I was packing up my car and making the 5 hour drive back to Riverside. 

Mother's Day

"The greatest job that any mother will ever do will be in nurturing, teaching, lifting, encouraging and rearing her children in righteousness and truth. None other can adequately take her place."

---Gordon B. Hinckley

I feel so blessed that I get to be Tenley's momma. I am so grateful for Dave who has made it a priority for me to stay home with Tenley.  There is nothing I would rather be doing right now than raising our little daughter.  She teaches me so much and I thank my Heavenly Father every day for this opportunity I've been given.

Green-thumbing

Happy Earth Day! Ok so I'm not really a granola tree hugger, but I have been wanting to put this blue pot to you use for a really long time (like 4 years...whoa I'm such a slacker).  I went to Home Depot and got myself the most hardy perennial I could find.  Ha! Look at me sounding like I know what I'm talking about.  The truth is that I had to have the difference of annual and perennial explained to me like 5 times and when asked which direction my front porch faced, the only thing I could say was, "it faces away from the freeway, so maybe south?" I was never a good girl scout. Anyway, we got our supplies and got to work!

That's a new face! She was having so much fun helping me. However, I may never even get to see if I can keep the plant alive longer than a week because little miss T just wants to pick all the flowers and give them to me.