Hello Again

Well, another six months has gone by. Wowsers! It has been a crazy six months. Let me try and sum it up for you:

 

In January, Mom and I started rehearsals for My Fair Lady at Terrace Playhouse. It was such a great experience. This was my very first time on stage and I was nervous about it, but my good friend, Char, was an awesome director and I met so many great people. It was awesome hanging out with my mom so much too.

We celebrated Lauren's 14th birthday. This girl is crazy, goofy, and fantastic all rolled into one pretty daughter.

Also, in January, we took a quick road trip to Newport Beach. It was a nice, relaxing weekend. We spent most of our time playing games and watching movies in the condo, walking on the beach, and lounging by the pool. We did spend half a day at Magic Mountain, but there was absolutely NO DISNEYLAND on this trip (can you believe it?)!

February brought us Ethan's eighth birthday and a quick trip up to Logan. My babies keep getting bigger and bigger and I can't stop it! Oh we'll, I guess I'll embrace it.

At the end of Feb, My Fair Lady finally opened! What a ride! I honestly loved every minute of it! Ryan and the kids were so supportive of me and were thrilled to see a lifelong dream of mine come true.

Here are just a few amazing people who came out to see me in my gigantic hat:

March meant Ethan's baptism!! It was a great day filled with all of the people I love!

Also in March, Katie started working at Bowmans, the local grocery store. She loves it! Isn't she cute?!?!

And, she became a mom....for a weekend!

Ryan and I slipped away to Scottsdale for a weekend. It rained and was so cold the whole time! Oh well, at least we were together.

April brought us to Lauren's 14th birthday trip to Chicago!! It was so freakin' cold but we had a blast! This kid is cooky and so fun to be around (when she's not hormonal!).

April also meant that we celebrated more birthdays. My Katie turned 16!!!!! Holy Moly! She is such a beautiful girl, inside and out!! I honestly couldn't ask for a better kid!! So, she's now driving everywhere and went on her first date!! It's such an exciting time for her and its fun to see her grow up.

In May, Ryan, Denise, and I went to Boston. None of us had ever been there and we loved it!! We went to the temple, Lexington and Concord, John Adams' birthplace, and downtown Boston. What a great city!! Definitely a new favorite place! And, I HAD to take a picture of the best lobster roll I have EVER eaten!! When we went to Boston, my mom flew out to Georgia to see the Gittins and took the boys with her!! It was a fun trip for them and they played with the cousins nonstop!

 

In May, I turned a year older and spent the day with my family. We enjoyed a tea party with Geneal and Tenille, then dinner with the other birthday girls, Mom and Denise. The older I get, the more I realize how blessed I am!!

The end of May brought the end of school. Katie is now a Junior, Lauren a freshman, and Braiden and Ethan are 5th and 3rd graders. Wow!

So, that brings us to the present.

 

SUMMER!! Glorious Summer!!

 

We have a busy one planned (surprised?).

 

We've got girls camp in two weeks (I'm going as a leader). It will be up beautiful Logan Canyon and I know we will have a blast!

 

Jessica and the whole Gittins Gang is hanging out for a few weeks and Jason is coming into town as well so we'll all be together again!!! This makes me so happy!!

 

In July, the girls are going on Pioneer Trek. I'm sad I'm not going with them this time. It is an amazing experience! Then, Katie and her friends are going to the One Direction concert!! She has been planning on this for over a year now!

 

Right after the concert, we are going on a little family trip.

 

Just a tiny one.

 

To a place called ENGLAND!!

 

We are going with Blair and Geneal and will be gone for two weeks! I'm over the moon excited about it! We will spend four days in London, go to the Harry Potter movie studios, then head over to Bath, up to Stratford-Upon-Avon, Oxford, Liverpool, York, and spend a final four days in Scotland!! I cannot wait for this amazing, once in a lifetime trip with my family!

Well, that gets me caught up!! I was so far behind on this blogging thing, which made me feel guilty, which made me get farther behind. I've decided to let go of the guilt and blog about the present. If the posts are few and far between, it just means I'm busy with my family. I'll just pick up where I am and try not to worry about it. If anyone still reads this blog, know that I love you and your support.

 

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A Quick Look at Spring

One of my goals now that my kids are back in school is to get caught up with my blog.  So, even though it's September, Spring has Sprung here at Sweet Joys!

In March,

--We watched Ry go off to a trial and work really hard.  We didn't really see him after our trip to Orlando except on Sundays (thank goodness for Sundays!)

--We took my dad to a Jazz game. We had great seats and watched them win in overtime!!

--Lauren graduated from the DARE program (anti-drug campaign at school). Her essay was one of three chosen to be read during the graduation.  Good job, Lauren!

--Played for nearly a week with MomNancy who came up for her birthday.  We always have a great time (and eat a lot of great food) when we are together!

--Enjoyed a visit from Grandpa Joe and Uncle Randy from South Dakota

--My wonderful friend Stephanie moved back to Utah!!!  I can't wait to frequently hang out over lunch!

In April,

--I went with Braiden's cub scout troop to the bowling alley.  So fun to hang out with these cute boys!

--I took a cake decorating class with my mom.  We had a great time and it was a nice get away while Ryan was gone with the trial. This was my first attempt at gum paste flowers...needs work, but not too bad and I really enjoyed it (which is what really counts)

--We went to the zoo with the Bodily family for Spring Break

--We enjoyed a spontaneous weekend up in Park City with Ryan and the kids. It was a great break and much needed "Dad time"

--Attended a mini Burrell Family Reunion (aka Filmy Uni)

--Ry and Katie celebrated their shared birthday at the Spaghetti Factory (of course)

--Soccer season started and we were constantly rained/snowed out

--Katie had fun friends party where they watched movies and played games

--We enjoyed a sugar rush at our annual Easter Egg Hunt (held this year at the lovely Tingey home due to a mini tornado hitting Grandma Geneal's house!)

--We had a wonderful Easter dinner at Grandma Janis' house

--Ryan's trial FINALLY ended!!! We rejoiced BIG TIME when he could finally spend some time at home!!

--Our beloved Expedition broke down and we wouldn't see it again until the end of June!! So sad!

--Ethan made his FIRST EVER soccer goal!!

As you can see, our Spring was filled with joys and trials (of all kinds), but we were reminded that family is truly the most important thing in life!

Winter: An Overview

Yep, it's another "overview" post.  I know you are thrilled because it's kind of like watching our family live on fast forward!  I am determined to get caught up, so here's a run down of the beginning of 2011.

In January,

--We turned our living room into an office.  At first, I wasn't sure if this was going to be a good idea, but I. LOVE. IT!!  Because it's in the front of the house, it always stays clean (and what I mean by that is, when someone is coming over, I quickly put everything away!) and organized!  I love the furniture we picked out as well.  This started a snowball effect of change in our house, as you will see.

--Because the office stuff was now out of the upstairs guest bedroom, we moved the guest bed into Ethan's small room and purchased the boys bunk beds so they could share a room.  They absolutely love their new furniture and sharing a room (most days).  I am going to finish decorating their room soon and complete the sports theme

--Because we put the boys together and the office on the main level, it opened up an entire bedroom upstairs.  Of course, there was only one logical thing to do with it....give Jen a craft room!!  It is still in chaos because I haven't found the right furniture for it, but I love having my own space to put all of my junk stuff.  It is going to have a black, white, and red theme and I can't wait to decorate it and craft my heart out!

--I finished physical therapy for my shoulder!  Yahoo!!  Another milestone and I'm doing great!

--Braiden participated in his first pinewood derby race in Cub Scouts.  He didn't win, but we all had a lot of fun and I want to give a shout out to my dad for helping Braiden with his car.  Ryan was so busy getting ready for trial, so Grandpa stepped in and helped. 

--Lauren celebrated her 12th birthday!  She gets more beautiful everyday.  I know, I am going to need a lot of rope to tie her up when she turns sixteen and keep her tied up until she's thirty...

--Our new niece, Haisley Mae Gittins was born!!

--I visited the Gittins Gang in Milwaukee and had a great time

--We celebrated Cora's second birthday with a Princess party!

--I got new kitchen appliances and I love them!  Kitchen Aid.  Stainless Steel.  Convection ovens.  Enough said.

In February,

--We had a fun Super Bowl party with the extended family

--We celebrated Ethan's sixth birthday a few days early

--We made sucker lips and mustaches for Ethan's Valentine's Day class party

--Went on an amazing family vacation to Orlando with Grandpa Dennis, Grandma Janis, Uncle Jason, and Aunts Denise and Kaylee.  We had the time of our lives!

--We went to Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, Wild Animal Kingdom, Kennedy Space Center, Universal Studios (including the new Harry Potter park), visited the Orlando Temple, and watched the Shuttle Discovery launch into space!!

Well, that's it for now.  Orlando trip and more overview posts coming, but getting the kids ready for school is taking up a lot of time. I'm trying to enjoy having them all here and then I'll ship them all off to school (and enjoy that too!) Love you all!!