Hilari's birthday week was fun for us all. Here are some pics to prove it! Happy Birthday, Hil!
Hilari's family gathering around the cake! 
Girls' Night/Birthday Party at Pei Wei
Outside of Barnes and Nobles--a little post-dinner window shopping
Happy 30th Birthday to Hil! I'm sure Hil will post all the juicy details of her party-filled week, so I'll let you read her blog for all that. But I have to admit, it's nice to no longer be the only girl in our group over 30. It's weird, but even though I'm 3 years older than most of the girls in the group (and substantially older than some of the others!), I've always just considered myself the same age as all of them (even the 26-year olds.) Could that be because I have younger children than most of them, or because I got married later than most of them? I don't know. Maybe it's because I still find myself learning from all of them so much that it's hard to consider myself older than them. I know...it's simply my eternal youth that makes my age seem so insubstantial. =) Yeah, right. If only that were the case!
Well, whatever it is, I love my age, my friends, and my life in general. As I sit here writing this with my sweet Sarah on my lap, who is alternately giving me kisses and force-feeding me bites of her Cheerios, and Aaron in the background excitedly playing with his trains, I can't help but be struck by how special my life is. I have two amazingly sweet children, I have a husband and marriage that defy most fairytales, and I have a circle of friends that is truly an extension of my family, and I have an extended family on both sides that is truly a circle of friends. I have always had more than enough--without having too much to appreciate what I have. As busy as I get between work, church, family, and life, I love everything I do. And I have the Gospel in my life and in my home, which not only has contibuted to all the above mentioned blessings, but also helps me keep an eternal perspective whenever life does seem a little overwhelming. I feel very blessed and very grateful. Sorry if I seem to have rambled or if I seem at all braggy in this post, but my heart feels very full today. It really is good to be me. =)
What a fun weekend! Not only was it Conference weekend, always a favorite in our home (bonus: I don't have to do anything for Primary!), but we started by celebrating the arrival of Cary's newest little one (her fourth), James David Brown. We got to enjoy Jennifer's visit, as well, as she spent the week being Cary's personal angel and helping her take care of anything and everything during her final week before James' arrival. We visited Cary in the hospital Friday night, and, of course, she looked completely radiant, unlike myself after childbirth where I resemble something out of a Stephen King novel for quite some time. Oh, well. That is why she has 4 children and I only have 2--I can only endure so much pain and humiliation. (I guess it helps that her children literally slide right out of her without even pushing. Way to go, James.)
Conference was, as always, a delight, and we loved being able to sustain Pres. Monson during the Solemn Assembly. I was priviliged to actually be in the Tabernacle for the Solemn Assembly when Pres. Hinckley was sustained, which was an amazing and spiritual experience, but I have to admit that the Spirit was undiminished by the fact that I could only participate via my television this time.
Today we also enjoyed our 12th Semi-Annual Intercession Conference BBQ, (yes, that's an official title), a twice-yearly tradition that Jon and I began the first conference of our marriage back in October of 2002. The "Bring Your Own Meat and Any Side Dish to Share" open invitation ensures that there is plenty of good eats to go around. Some years we've had as many as 30+ people attending. This year we enjoyed the company of the Roses, Howards, Harmons, and Trevor and Chelsey Howard--with kids, our total was 25! (We missed the Browns, Dunns, and Lees, who would have made our total 42!)
I'm posting some pics of all our fun adventures this week--hope you enjoy!
Here's our Vegas pics, as promised. Jen's in town right now to help Cary get ready for the new baby, which should be joining our family any minute! Cary's at the hospital as I write this, so hopefully we'll here some good news real soon! Updates to come!
Cool Aaron out for a cruise on his bike.
Before the moms could turn around, all the 3 & 4 year-olds had jumped into the car-strollers at the mall. Aaron's leading the pack as they pretend to race "Lightning McQueen" style.
Sarah, ever a girlie-girl, couldn't help but play "Beauty Shop" with a none-too-thrilled Aaron.
Well, it’s been a busy and fun couple of weeks—no wonder I haven’t had time to update my blog. That, and my camera broke, and what’s a good blog without pictures, right?
March is always such a fun month here in Arizona. Not only is the weather perfect (hint, hint, for anyone wanting to plan an Arizona getaway), but Jon also gets a two-week Spring Break! Yeah for year-round teaching! Crystal surprised us during Jon’s first week off with an impromptu visit. Unfortunately, she immediately became so homesick that she only ended up staying 36 hours. Oh well, we enjoyed her while she was here.
During Jon’s second week off, we headed to Vegas to spend a fun-filled 5 days with the Huffman family. Sarah and Aaron loved playing with their cousin Eli. David Huffman immediately began showing signs of an allergic reaction to Vegas (a malady Jon has often exhibited whenever within Vegas city limits), and spent much of his time seeking the comfort of his bed. (I heard he made a full and immediate recovery upon arriving back in California.) Jon’s Vegas allergies were slightly lessened this time around due to the only insightful decision Vegas has ever made—to ban cigarette smoking except directly in the casinos. Since we tend to avoid the casinos like the plague they are, this greatly increased our ability to avoid excessive smoke inhalation, as well. Now if we can only get them to ban the blatant pornography, but I guess one good decision from Vegas is all we can expect this decade. Needless to say, as we all are not fans of the Strip, we spent most of our time enjoying off-strip amusements, such as the Ethel M. chocolate factory (don’t get suckered into buying grossly overpriced M&M’s, however!), a fun Old West Ghost Town with a petting zoo, our resort’s pool and amenities, not to mention plenty of downtime playing games of Hand and Foot. (The poor guys never stood a chance against me and Jen.) We even ran into an old friend of Jon, Dan Wyatt, who works is the sales center of our resort. How crazy! It was fun to hang out with him during our brief excursion to the Strip before heading out of town. Again, my camera was broken, but pictures will be forthcoming as I managed to convince Jen to be my personal photographer throughout the week. (Poor thing probably ended up with more pictures of my family than hers!)
We ended Jon’s two weeks off with a great Easter, highlighted by our Primary Easter activity with a huge Easter Egg Hunt (which of course my primary presidency and I were in charge of, so it had to be great, right?), and a delicious dinner with our “second” family, the Roses and Howards. The Lee family joined us and it was a perfect Easter and a perfect way to end Jon’s break. Now, it’s all back to the grindstone for us. (I’m actually typing this on my break at work!) We hope you all had a great and memorable Easter, and we’ll post some pictures of our adventures soon!
Every month, all our guys get together and have their big "Game Night"--a night where they link up their computers and spend the evening more or less vying for shoot-em-up supremacy while filling themselves on all the junk food and caffeine their wives try to ban the rest of the month. They've been holding these monthly bonding rituals since our early days back in Las Campanas (in Tustin, CA), where some nights would attract as many as 30-40 guys who often played until the sun was coming up. While their numbers don't usually rank anywhere that high these days (I think they average 5-12), and while most are home and in bed between 1-2 am, it's still fun for them to get together, computers in tow, and enjoy a night of just being one of the guys. We wives fully support this event, especially this month when it meant we got to go out and enjoy a real Girl's Night Out.
Most of the time, "Game Night" for the girls ends up being all the girls hanging out at someone's house--with all our kids. While this can be fun, 15+ children running around has a greater likelihood of producing further gray hairs and migraines than producing fun and enjoyable moments of mommy escapism. So, this month, we planned ahead, got our babysitters, and headed out for a night of decadent food and conversation. (Yes, both the food and the conversation were decadent!)
We headed first to Pei Wei for dinner (an offshoot of PF Chang's for those who aren't blessed to be familiar with this yummy establishment) and ate and talked till we noticed the restaurant had gone from standing room only to a few lingering parties. Realizing we had spent way more time at dinner than we had estimated, we were forced to forgo our plans of wandering the cute shops around us and decided to go straight to our next plan--Dessert!! (There's always time for dessert, right?) A Party Platter Pizookie at BJ's seemed to pique everyone's interest (and saliva glands), so we headed there to fill in any available space left in our stomachs with a pizza-size cookie and 9 scoops of ice cream--mmmmm.... I think all that sugar (and just fun company) had its effect on us because we were not exactly the quiet and unassuming group we usually are. (Yeah, right. I know that whatever you were drinking just came out your nose as you read that line and thought about me, Rebekah, and Hilari attempting to be quiet and unassuming.) Okay, so maybe raucous and obsene are slightly better adjectives, but people definitely knew we were there. Despite scaring away a few waiters and almost putting Cary into labor with all our laughing, we had the greatest time and I'm sure we're all looking forward to the boys enjoying their "Game Night" next month so that we can escape for another Girl's Night Out. Do you think we should call and warn the waiters?
Another year, another blog. I really wish I could get the hang of keeping up to date with this. 2007 just passed too quickly. Hmmm...maybe this will have to be one of my New Year's Resolutions. Anyway, here's the quick update on what we're up to now:
Heather--I've been busy substitute teaching, serving as Primary president to almost 200 kids (not including the 4 nurseries), and enjoying being a mom to Aaron and Sarah. I love where we live (although if you ask me in August, I might not be so appreciative), I have amazing friends around me (most of whom we brought with us from CA), and I really enjoy all the busy things I've been doing, although it does seem a little overwhelming at times. During the fall, I did a long-term substitute teaching position for a very rambunctious 5th grade class. While it was a really good experience and I really loved a lot of my kids, it was also very stressful, or as my husband liked to put it, "I didn't even recognize my wife! She was like a different woman! I wanted my real wife back!" Needless to say, I don't think Jon (nor my friends, who never saw me) will ever want me to do a long-term sub position again. But now I'm back to regular daily subbing, having fun, and enjoying having a little more time for family, friends, and all the things I never had time to do while working full time!
Jon--Jon, too, has been busy. He teaches a 6/5 schedule of Spanish 2 at Basha high school (which means while normal teachers teach 5 classes, Jon teaches 6 classes), he is over half-way through his Masters program, and he was recently called to be an Assistant Scout Leader in our ward. (Okay, so I think this Scout calling may be more of a trial for me, because it takes Jon away for a full weekend every month for campouts.) While not busy working or studying, Jon has gotten himself addicted to an online game that all his friends play called World of Warcraft. (For those who know WOW, he and his friends are the "More Cowbell" guild.) Even my 3-year old likes watching Daddy play, although Aaron simply calls it "Daddy's Movie". =)
Aaron--Aaron is a big 3-year old now. Actually, I should say, Aaron is a TALL 3-year old now. Aaron is a long, thin bean pole who towers over most of his friends, even those who are much older than him. (Sorry Matthew!) Aaron started both Sunbeams in Primary and preschool this last week. He is going to a special preschool for his speech delay and we're hoping that this really helps Aaron with his language abilities. Aaron loves school so far and we can't wait to see (and hear) how he progresses. Aaron loves watching movies and Playhouse Disney, playing with trains and cars, being outside, going down slides and on swings at the park, running (man, this kid is fast!), and playing with/torturing his younger sister. He is very energetic and is hard to keep still, but he is also the sweetest boy ever and loves to cuddle and hug. This last summer we potty trained Aaron, and my superstar was fully potty-trained in exactly 1 week. (Anyone who has ever potty-trained a toddler knows why I have to blush with pride about that!)
Sarah--Despite having an older brother, Sarah is all girl. She loves shoes, phones, babies, having her hair done, and watching Mommy put on makeup. It's really fun to watch! While Sarah has always been super-easy from Day 1, it's easy to tell that she is going to have much more attitude than her big brother. Her favorite word is already "No", but she says it in such a cute way that Jon and I can't help but simply laugh at her. (Of course, this just usually makes her more stubborn.) Sarah loves playing with Aaron and wants to be a big kid just like him. While this is great in some ways (she's very independent and can do things that Aaron never would have even tried at her age), it can also be very challenging (mainly because she is very independent and does things that Aaron never would have tried at her age.) But when she isn't busy being almost 2, Sarah is one of the cutest, most adorable, most fun little girls anywhere. Wow, we love our kids!
