My Friend Angie

I have a couple of friends that  I met during my time working at Macey's grocery store after high school.   Julie and Angela are sisters and are both very easygoing and fun to be around.  I even went one time with Julie and her husband, Randy, bungee jumping, they cheered me on and didn't get annoyed when it took me several minutes to finally jump.  I had the privilege of attending Angie's beautiful wedding on a cold, snowy winter day.   She looked stunning walking down the aisle in a white gown with rose buds embroidered on her dress.  Julie's baby boy had been wheeled down the aisle right before her, in a wagon, which was adorable.

I lost touch with my friends, after they both moved out of state to start their new lives in Iowa.  Facebook brought us together again, and I've loved being up to date with their lives and laughing and talking with them as if years haven't passed us by.  I got to share the joy of them both announcing they were pregnant within months of each other, both with their fourth babies.  A few months later Angie found out she wasn't just having baby number 4, but number 5 as well.  She and Jared were shocked, but thrilled at the thought of having twins.  They chose to wait to find out the sex of both babies until birth.  On March 26th, after a complicated birth they had 2 beautiful baby boys, Judah and Lincoln.  Everything seemed to be going well, we all laughed along with Angie about the joys of being a mother to 5 young children.  She joked on Facebook one day that she made it early, for once, to get the "Twinkies" to Target for pictures, only to find that she had gone to the wrong Target.  But she loaded all the kids back up and made it to get the twins 3 month pictures taken.  3 days later I couldn't stop tears from rolling down my cheeks as I read Julie's status update, informing all of us that Lincoln passed away early the morning of July 2nd.  What should have been a fun and carefree 4th of July weekend was now a heartbreaking and somber time for this sweet family.  The good thing, I told Will through my tears, is that Ang was able to get the twins pictures just a couple days before.  I haven't stopped thinking of Angela and Jared, along with their kids and the rest of their immediate families.  Not only did Jared and Ang lose a son, a brother, a nephew and a grandson were also lost.  I've said a lot of prayers for them, and hoped that peace would surround them.  This family never ceases to amaze me...They are so strong and know that they will see baby Lincoln again, they know that God has a plan for each of us, and although we may not understand why things happen, we have to trust that there is a better reason behind it.  After a long day on Saturday, I finally laid down in bed, ready to get to sleep, deciding to check my facebook as Will dozed off.  I first noticed that Julie had posted a sweet post about her sister and it made me cry.  A few minutes later I realized that Angela had also posted a blog post and as I read, I laughed at the sweet memories and sobbed at the story that few of us will ever have to live.  I am so impressed with the way Angie wrote out such personal words and her testimony that Lincoln is in a better place.  Now I know that if I'm ever having a bad day, I can remember that my trials don't seem so bad compared to some that others have to go through.  Go read Julie's and Angela's blogs (on my friends list)...You will be able to share in these sweet sisters joys and sorrows.  They both make me want to be a better person.  I love them both, very dearly.

"Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep" -Romans 12:15

Birthday Pups

Today is Mia and Bosley's 5th birthday!! I tried to get a good picture this morning, I had them all cute and excited (like serious bum wagging and lip smacking) when I was excitedly telling them that today was their birthday, but since Jezzie thinks that all attention should be on her, she didn't help matters, and I never got a picture of them holding still, or smiling. They seem to get that worried look on their face when I'm getting annoyed that "I can't get a good picture of them!" (Total whiny voice inserted here.) Jezzie had her 2 year birthday on the 4th, but since it was the 4th, I forgot until the next day. Hope none of our kids end up being born on a holiday, cuz not only will everyone else forget about it, so will their mom. We wanted to have a dog birthday party, but too much sugar chaos makes for an ornery Bosley, so we told them "not this year." These pups are seriously the light of my life! I know that sounds ultra cheesy, but it's the truth! Last night I was wrestling with all of them on the bed (Will kept saying, "it's quiet time", the dogs and I didn't care) and they were making me laugh so hard! They have that ability to make me so mad one minute, to wanting to just hug them and give them kisses over and over, the next. I love all my pups so much!

Don't mind all the junk on the table, try to focus on the cute dogs.

Braided Jezzie's ears, adorable, right?

Mia and Jez checking out something out the front window.

Jezzie napping on Will, can we say precious?

Still alive and kickin'

Will and I have spent the last few months, just living life.  Will had a busy few weeks at the beginning of winter, getting a couple ski lifts up and running, with his new company.  He's really been enjoying his job and looks forward to going most days.  How would it be, huh?  :)  He's been able to help design the lifts and that's been really cool to see the progress he's made.  He's making things way easier than other lifts are designed and it is cool to be a part of something so big.   I've been getting into sports more, lately, and got to join my family at a couple of BYU football games.

We spent Thanksgiving here with my family and one of my mom's sisters (and family) and her parents.  We did it at her house and my siblings and I all decided to do an ugly sweater theme for the day.  We ate lots of good food and just enjoyed each other's company throughout the evening.  I spent the night at my mom's house to get up early and do Black Friday shopping with Kylie and Mary.  We woke up at 3:30 to be at Target by 4.  We stood outside in the cold for about a half hour before getting inside.  Ky and I weren't able to find some of the things we'd wanted to get, but Mary was able to find most of the items she was hunting for.  I hadn't been Black Friday shopping in years and was shocked at how crazy it is.  I'm not sure if it's worth it to wake up early just to fight crowds and stand in line to pay for an hour.  But I had a good time with Kylie and Mary.  We went and got breakfast at Denny's (Classy, I know) and then headed home for a quick nap.  All the sisters and my mom took Mary's kids, Elsie and Colt, to see Tangled.  It was such a cute movie, and it really made it better seeing the kids laugh and get into the movie the way they did.  After the movie I met up with my friend, Adrienne for dinner.  We had a great dinner at Mimi's and then sat in my car afterwards, talking for another couple of hours.  She is such a great friend, and I am lucky to have her in my life.

Christmas was pretty uneventful.  It was very relaxing and the time was spent with family.  Will's dad and step mom spent the holiday in Denver, awaiting Kathy's son and daughter in laws twins to be born, so we did Christmas with them the week before Christmas.  They gave me a Kitchen Aid, that I was so happy to get!  I'll admit I'm not much of a cook, but have lots of plans of things to make using my new Kitchen Aid.  I made cookies a couple of weeks ago, and it made it so much nicer and quicker than stirring the dough by hand. 



In January, my whole family headed to Cozumel, Mexico.  There was 18 of us there in 2 condos.  We had a really good time.  We spent time at the beach, shopping, laying by the pool, and just talking and laughing.  We got to go to the other side of the island to some fun beaches this time, which I hadn't ever done before.  Will got to go scuba diving several times with my dad and brothers, where they got to swim with turtles a couple of times.  That was pretty exciting for all of them.  We were so glad that my dad and brothers got certified before the trip, it made it that much more fun for Will and they all couldn't stop raving about how much fun it was.  Will and I found a large wooden Aztec Calendar that we want to make into a table one day...but for now it's hung on the wall.  That was an adventure in itself, getting it packed up and shipped back to us.

Since then, we've just been living day to day life.  We've been enjoying seeing such a good season for the BYU Basketball team.  Watching Jimmer Fredette play has been so exciting.  Can't wait to see how they fare, now that they're in the Sweet 16.  My dad coaches the Murray High boys soccer team and the season just started, I'm excited to go to some games and to see how well they do this year.  We've had some Daffodils pop up in the last week, and are getting excited for Spring weather to arrive.  We love taking the dogs to the park and BBQing on the patio.