Last of January Cookies and Ditches!

I came home from my trip and woke up the next day with a bit of a sore throat and runny nose.  Not too bad but I definitely took it a bit easy.  We had some fun things this last couple weeks of January!

Abby got her braces off after about 2 years!  We got massive Crumbl cookies to celebrate after her retainer appointment.  She doesn't like to show off her new smile yet, but it's so cute.  She has to wear her retainer for 6 weeks all the time, then just at night.  She has a full bottom permanent retainer and a small one on the top.  She calls it her dentures!  

First cookie walk of the year!  Spencer/Temple/Ingram streets hosted!  I love them so much!  I wish the neighborhood could feel like that every evening- people outside walking, riding bikes and visiting in driveways- plus yummy cookies!  Yay for nice weather and cookie walks being back!

We FINALLY got a fiber internet line to the house!  Matt wanted it done right so he dug the trench and put conduit pipes to the house. The boys were good helpers!  Yay for reliable fast internet- Cox was terrible for so long!

Abby and I love Miles with crazy hair and his super cute sweater!

I flipped the switch and did my tomato basil soup and fig and apple grilled cheese sandwiches for salad swap!  I was a bit nervous I'd get kicked out, but it was a hit!  Having delicious lunch 3 days a week has been such a highlight this school year!

Olive & Ivy Surprise 40th Birthday Friend Dinner

It's hard to express how much my dear friends mean to me.  Nine of them threw me the sweetest surprise friend dinner the week before my big 40th birthday.  One of the best birthdays I've ever had!  I don't think I've had something that felt like a birthday party since I turned 19 or 20 in college.

This girl here Angie Papa is the best.  She is so great at making you feel special even though she is in such a busy stage of life herself.  She texted me and asked me if I'd be available for dinner before my birthday then didn't tell me anything else except, "dress fancy" and "come hungry."

She even had me come over in the afternoon and did my hair and make-up- better than I've had it done for my wedding I'm sure.

 I was worried the new Ivy City Co dress I bought for Christmas would be too fancy but Angie convinced me to go for it.

Waiting for my ride...

Abby thought I looked so cute waiting so she took some pictures!

Reading an Emma M Lion book for sure- my current obsession.

They went all out!  Birthday crown & sash- they took a whole photo shoot of me!  Ha!  A little awkward but so sweet.  As an adult/mom no one does this to you anymore! 

Emily Grover drove and they decorated the car!  Sunny Hyatt and Kelli Millett came too!!  These four ladies are seriously the first three friends I think of when I need something.  I loved when we all lived in the same neighborhood but luckily they're all still pretty close in Mesa so I still get to see them pretty often!

Sparkling cider in our "limo"!

I didn't know where we were going- It was a cute restaurant I've done for lunch a few times with my friend Cortney several years ago in Downtown Scottsdale called Olive and Ivy.  When we walked in with my balloons in tow there was a whole table of sweet friends waiting for me!  I really thought it was just the four of us.

Erin Engler, me, Mica McKee- love them both in my neighborhood/ward currently.  Such great friends who help mother my kids.  Lots of memories doing yoga, joy school/summer book club and chatting while we declutter.

Angie Papa (the instigator), me, Emily Grover (the get-away driver)
We are all so different but we just work. Mostly because when you find ladies as fun and kind and thoughtful as these two you hang on to them with both hands for the rest of your life!

If you're my friend for any length of time you will also be Marti's friend.  Little sisters are the best!  So glad she could meet us after work and join the party!

Angie is a pro at all the details- including the birthday rocket!

We figured out Kelli Millett had been my friend the longest after Marti.  We met fall of 2005 when we were both living in our apartments in Evergreen Ward, then I followed her to Three Fountains ward where she was the best visiting teacher, friend, and mom in the stage before me to ask advice.  I love doing book club, lunch, hikes- really anything with Kelli.  She suggested we do her family tradition where everyone shares a favorite memory.  It was so so sweet to hear what everyone remembered about me.

I'm so grateful my friends put this together for me!

Emily brought her daughter Emma's instax camera.  We had so much fun seeing how bad we were at taking photos.

L to R Emily Grover, Angie Papa, Kisha Gardner, Kelli Millett, me, Marti, Sunny Hyatt, and Breanne Johnson (Erin Engler and Mica McKee left before the picture).  It was so fun to see all these friends that helped me so much through the young mom phase.  I love each of them.  They shared the sweetest memories with me, I wrote them all down in my journal.  It felt like getting to go to your own funeral.  They made me sound way better than I am- bless them and their rose-colored glasses!

Earlier in the day I complimented Angie's orange picture so of course she got me one!  I felt so loved and spoiled.  It was seriously the best birthday of my adult life and  I hadn't even done my sisters trip yet!

These are the picture/text Angie sent to everyone!  Hahaha!  I guess this is payback for getting them to dress up and do a Downton Abbey photoshoot before the movie!  I especially love the book title I'm holding!

Guess who's turning 40??
This hot babe
Ladies! You're invited to a surprise dinner to celebrate Erin Whitmer 
When: This Thursday Jan 9th, 6:00 pm
Where: Olive and Ivy
Let's show our girl some love. Let me know if you can make it so I can plan for the reservation 

Wedding Recovery

I'm gradually recovering from the two months of wedding planning craziness!  I let myself have a couple lazy days where I did a few things but mostly watched some shows and took a nap- it was the best!

One of my favorite parts of having more time at this stage of life is when a friend says, "I'm in a bind, can you watch my cute baby?" I can say yes!  It's so much easier to enjoy the baby stage when you only have them part-time!

Charlotte is my kid always up for picture- and always trying to win a Taylor Swift concert ticket, talk me into letting her get instagram early and drive somewhere with her friends.

This shot cracks me up!  Our new brother-in-law Spencer had a birthday!  We got to have them over for the yummy pazookie that Marti made him, and his nice aunt and cousin came too.

Olly is in the front seat with me but I got to feed & drive this car of cuties to the homecoming game!  It was a lot of fun- the parking lot was crazy though!  They got covered in colored chalk.

My flowers blooming always makes me happy!  I planted a bunch more, proud of these ones making it through the last of the heat (we hope!).

The Friday and Saturday after the wedding had beautiful 70-degree breezy weather.  I was jealous the wedding day was so hot.  I'm glad it wasn't so windy though.

Matt and I went on a week-night date to this new restaurant Mensho Ramen- Japanese food in Riverview.  The first time Matt went they had a super long line but we had no line this time. You could tell it was authentic because so many people in there were Japanese- I love that they yell out a greeting when you enter and leave.  It was a little bit of an adventure for me but pretty good- Matt loves it.  There is a softboiled egg in there and several types of meat- beef, duck, chicken.

As crazy as wedding week was it was so fun to have all of my siblings in town!  It made me sad to throw away the cups at the end of the week.  Matt was nice to make a big yummy pot of chili on Thursday night, get pizzas on Friday night and make a bunch of french toast on Saturday morning so I could focus on wedding stuff and still feed whatever family was available. Alyn & three of her kids stayed with us one night when they got to town and Cody's family stayed with us for two nights for the wedding. Getting to see my siblings and their families is my favorite thing- so glad they could all come!  As always I should have taken more pictures of the people but I was too busy hosting and enjoying it I guess!

Sweet 16 Charlotte!

Charlotte is 16!!  It is so hard to believe!  This is a big one! Here is how her birthday went down-

It was on a Wednesday so she wanted to stay home but we told her she couldn't handle a short day of school and some classes singing to her.  She wanted hashbrowns & eggs for breakfast and to not get up earlier to open presents so we did them in the afternoon.

After school she went with Matt to get her licence.  I took her last week to the Institute for Driver's Safety test on Thursday ( I did let her miss 7th hour seminary to go to that early).  She was so exicted to be officially licenced!

She really wanted a trip to see Taylor Swift of course or another pair on fancy adidas but instead she got a record player (she's been collecting Taylor Swift albums for awhile- now she can finally play them).  She also got 3 new shirts/bodysuit (who knew those would ever come back), a vanity mirror to do her makeup, and Target gift card and money from both grandparents.  Her friend Kendra gave her a car!  A matchbox car that is, and Adri gave her a nothing bundt cake.

Her good friend Harper also came by the night before and heart attacked our door with fun memories and inside jokes.  What a sweet friend!

We did nothing bundt cakelets for the day off since she's getting a big ice cream cake for her party.

The day after her birthday she did her first solo trip to drop something off at Elise Millet's a mile or two away.  I might have tracked her phone to see where she was but I was proud of myself letting her go alone already.