That Time When I Turned 30

In the midst of all of my health drama... a looming birthday was on the horizon. 

Thirty.

It alone made me feel sick.

And, feeling sick all the time was making me feel more like I was 90.  

An appointment with Candace led me to a spur of the moment decision to chop my hair.

TAKE THAT 30!!!

It felt so good...and was just the change that I needed.

A couple of days before my birthday... Brett and I got ready to head to a Rimrock party at Thanksgiving Point.  On our way, Brett had to stop at the church to get some stuff for a Court of Honor the next day, and as we entered the church... I got quite the SURPRISE!

Brett...along with some help from our families... had put together a surprise party for me that completely caught me off guard!

Friends and family all gathered to celebrate me... and it was sweet, and totally perfect.

My mom and Annie definitely put their decorative touch on the occasion, and Brett had done an outstanding job at putting together a delicious ice cream bar.

No one has ever done anything so thoughtful for me...and I will indeed never forget it.

Some of my party guests....

(man I love them all!)

The party itself was not the only surprise of the night...

Brett had the surprise of all surprises in store for me as they had me sit in front of everyone to open a series of cards.

One from my parents offering:

"2 days and 2 nights of babysitting"

One from my sisters offering:

"2 days and 2 nights of babysitting"

One from Brett's parents offering:

"2 days and 2 nights of babysitting"

One from Tiffany offering:

"2 days and 2 nights of babysitting"

What in the world? EIGHT days and nights of babysitting?????

The last card was from Brett...

A TRIP TO HAWAII!!!!!

I couldn't believe it!

First, how did he keep this party under wraps so well...AND plan a dream vacay without me even having the slightest clue?

I was floored.

Best birthday of my life.

(Just wait until you see my Hawaii post...coming soon)

The even better part, was that I still had more celebrating to do.  

The next day, I had a fabulous time shopping for my trip with my mom and sisters, and then a day later, was treated to a phenomenal dinner at my parents with the fam. 

Turning 30, was a bit of a punch to the gut for me, but man oh man... the people in my life sure eased the pain.  They're what it is ALL about for me... and they have all done so much for me the past few weeks.  I have never felt more support and more loved... and I don't care if I'm 80, as long as I have these people around me!

Sledding with the Pre-Schoolers!

January brought quite the date for Jack and I.

 

Bear Hollow had their sledding field trip, and while I was a bit skeptical about 60+ pre-schoolers on a mountain with sleds, I threw on some thermals and we were off!

 

Turns out, I couldn't have been happier about going!

 

It was one of my most fun days as Jack's mama.

 

We headed up to Mutual Dell, and got to bring Beck along as our field trip buddy.

We had an absolute BLAST!  The hills were perfect, weather was ideal, and the kids were absolutely darling.  And, although I devote a fair amount of my attention everyday to Jack...I rarely get to just hang with him.  We giggled our little faces off, and it's a day I will never forget!

 

Somebody was a bit excited.

 

 

Field Trippin' Buddies

 

(Jack really wanted to pose with his sled as if it were his snowboard.)

 

 

I couldn't help but think as Jack and I were ripping it up on the sledding hill just how lucky I am not only to be his mom, but to be able to be home with my boys and available to be a part of such awesome days as this. For that... I have this little boy's daddy to thank.

 

 

And, I truly couldn't be more grateful!

 

*And, thank you to my only remaining blog reader and trusted babysitter, Annie, for watching Tuck-man so this outing was possible.

 

 

 



New Years

We took a little departure from our time spent in Alpine for New Years, and had the Wankier clan over to our place for New Year's Eve.

It was pretty spontaneous, and everyone brought grub and games.

It was really fun just hanging out... Grandpa Curt especially enjoyed the festivities, and went home to bed before 10:00 pm. Poor, tired dad.

The rest of us partied hardy all the way until midnight!

Cousin dog-pile.

The sparklers were a real hit thanks to Annie.

My sweetheart laid it on pretty thick at the stroke of midnight.

Hubba hubba.

Here's hoping for another awesome year in 2014!

Sledding

Over the holidays, we were lucky enough to have Brett home for EIGHT days straight!

Man, it was a highlight!

We loved having him home and enjoyed movies, lots of playing, and even more time spent with him up in Alpine.

It was great to see so many of Brett's siblings and their kids this year.

Brandon recently returned from serving in Afghanistan, so it was particularly special to have him home to celebrate Christmas.

One of our days over the holidays was spent sledding with Brandon, DeEtte, Grayson, Laurel, Tiffany, Mya, Ethan, Bjornn, and Liam at my parents' house.

Basically, I have decided that little kids (6 and under) are useless in the snow...but, seeing Tucker in snow gear made it more than worth it!

He LOVED the snow and HATED his gloves.

Jack had fun, but was frustrated by his lack of being able to move in his gear.

Grandma Jones kept him warm by the fire when he wasn't busy sledding.

My reason for living this day:

Tiffany was so helpful with my wee ones...as usual.

Later, we spent more time up in Alpine.. and I was able to get some great action shots of my boys with Grayson.  It is so fun to see them getting older and interacting with each other.

Christmas 2013

After many preparations, much celebrating, and a whole lot of anticipation...

CHRISTMAS CAME!!!!

It was probably my best Christmas ever...

and mostly because my boys were at such fun ages.

We spent Christmas Eve in Alpine, and it was so fun to have Brandon and DeEtte in town with Grayson as well as Tiffany and her kids.

When we got home, Jack got cookies, milk, and carrots ready for Santa and his reindeer.

He was particular down to the exact spot we set them on the table.

I had some darling matching jammies for my boys to wear on Christmas Eve, but Grandma Jones gifted them some others at her house that night...so, they are wearing those in all these pics.  The boys absolutely love them...

My camera just doesn't.

Just wait until you see Tucker's next to Jack's.

Not the bset combo.  Haha!

Bedtime! (coffin in background)

Bedtime stories....soooo excited!

The boys slept great...and we had to wake them up around 7:30 to get the show on the road!

I was bursting with excitement by 5:30, but all anyone else wanted to do was sleep!

It was so cute when we woke Jack up...

He ran out to see the carrots, cookies, and milk eaten, and there was a sign at the bottom of the stairs from Santa telling the boys to go upstairs!

He busted into Tucker's room to wake him up and poor Tuck was so confused.

We've got some great video footage of that whole scene.

Once the boys made it upstairs, they immediately saw that Santa decorated the room with a sign and Christmas lights everywhere.

It didn't take long for them to spot their presents and start tearing them apart!

Jack got all of his (rare) wishes, and much more.

Tucker was just happy to finally have something that wasn't a reject toy from Jack.

Their loot...

Jack:

Zurg with RC Racer Car and Gun

Ninja Turtle Legos

Lego Zurg

Lego set

Books

Ninja Turtle Inflatable Tent+Balls

Angry Birds Game

Buzz Lightyear

Zurg Talking Mask

Planes DVD

Tucker:

Kitchen

Buzz and Zurg Action Figures

Play Food

Books

V-Tech Car Track

Monsters University Action Figures

Monsters University DVD

Sweet little kidlets did pretty darn good!

Brett and I exchanged gifts while the boys played and we were spoiled with snow pants, watches, clothes, boots, gift cards, makeup, games, etc, etc!

We quickly got our bearings and pried our boys away from their toys to head up to my parents for more celebrating!

We enjoyed more present opening and a fantastic brunch.

My boys were so fun and well behaved I could hardly believe it.

Tucker took a wonderful nap and Jack had the time of his life playing with his cousins.

It was a really relaxing way to spend the majority of Christmas, and I couldn't have asked for better people to spend it with.

All I want for Christmas is to be around all of these people every year.

We geared up for round 2 up in Alpine, and made the trip up for dinner and to act out the nativity.  We were all pretty tired, but the traditions in Alpine every Christmas are some of our favorite things about the holiday.

Brett was the scariest wise man I had ever seen.

My boys in their Christmas jammies....

The perfect picture to wrap up this Christmas post.  

These boys are my everything, and made my holiday one of the best I can recall.

How did I get so lucky?