Happy Birthday to ME!!

For my birthday this year Cole thought it would be fun to go some where neither of us has gone. He did a great job of keeping it a secret, which if you know him is extremely hard to do. All I knew was that I had to be dressed and ready to go at 4:30 so that we could make our 6:30 reservation. I knew that we would be going with Christine and Sean, since Sean and I share a birthday. It was so much fun because Sean had no idea where we were going either. He was just given a map and told to drive. The map took us to Scottsdale so I knew we were definitely out of our element and we ended up in the Scottsdale Quarter. Which has to be the richest part of town in the valley! We made our way through all the fancy shops and arrived just in time at our destination....iPic Theaters!

This place had to be the fanciest movie theater that I've ever been too. It makes Harkins seem like a hole in the wall. I felt so out of place. The theater seats only about 50 people and everyone sits in recliners. Since Cole and my sister had made reservations we got VIP seating which meant bigger recliners and they would serve us dinner during the movie. We even got FREE popcorn during the previews. This place rocks! It makes going to the movies a whole new experience. I don't think I'll ever want to go to any other theater besides this one! The only down side is that is can be pretty pricey, but for a special occasion it's definitely worth it.

We saw The Hunger Games, which I'm sure most of you know was an awesome movie, and afterwards took a drive through Oldtown Scottsdale. We finished the night by stopping for ice cream at the Sugar Bowl. I had so much fun. I loved my night out on the town. I love being able to share my birthday with Sean since that guarantee's that I'll probably get to spend my birthday with one of my best friends, my sister. I can't wait to see what the two of them will think up for next year! HINT HINT :)

Do The 'CLAP' 'CLAP' Potty Dance

That's right .....our little Lynden is doing the potty dance now! I can't tell you how excited I am! I knew she was getting there over 6 months ago when she decided to start going and sitting on the toilet by herself. Plus I haven't had to change a dirty stinky diaper since then. So after a week of persistence and patience she is completely potty trained. She's had no accidents in a week and can now tell me when she needs to go instead of me having to just take her every couple of hours. She is officially my youngest to catch on so quickly. She's not even 2 1/2 yet, but I can happily say Good Bye to diapers! This is such a good feeling!

M.I.A.

I would like to extend my deepest apologies for not posting in such a long time. But I'm happy to report that we are all still alive and well. I'm sad to say that time has gotten the better of us and our crazy schedules. Alot has taken place between now and my last post and I'm seeing now that there is NO way I'll have time to bring you up to date completely. So here's just a brief overview of events.....

• Addison turned 6
• Lynden turned 2
• Vacation to see friends
• Awards assembly for Addison...who is turning out to be just as smart as we thought she would be
• Halloween
• 8 year Anniversary
• Thanksgiving
• Awards assembly #2
• Christmas
• Job change
• Dunes Trip
• New Years
• Lots more working
• Valentines Day
• Awards assembly #3...that's right we're now hoping for a clean sweep of all four
• Spring break

Man that seems like a lot in just 6 months. No wonder I feel like I've had no time to rest! Throw church callings into the mix and it seems that my time is all used up. Time to catch my breathe and go on vacation! Now only if it were that easy. I'll try to post more often and add pictures as I go, but for now a quick update will have to do.

Addison's First Day of Kindergarten

All I can say is....."What took this day SO long?!"

I know I should be sad to see her go, but if any of you know Addison then you know she's been ready for this day to come for over a year now. She is a smarty pants and I probably should have gotten her tested to start school last year since she'll be one of the oldest in her class, but I figured she needed that extra time to mature. She made us a count down calendar 2 weeks before school started and made sure she marked it off every morning when she got out of bed. Needless to say there were no tears from anyone that morning when she walked through the gate all by herself. Cole was lucky enough to get the day off work so he could be there with us. He couldn't believe that she didn't even look back once to make sure we were still there watching her. She is so independent. Sometimes it's a little much, but in this case it was perfect!

She loves going to school everyday and hates the weekends since she doesn't get to see her friends from school. She is attending Jack Barnes Elementary which is in another neighborhood than ours, so none of the kids from school even go to church with us. This has been an adjustment for her, but she loves seeing the Hall kids and Mrs. Butler a friend of ours from church.

She was so disappointed the first 2 weeks that there was no homework! What?! What kind of kid looks forward to homework? Addison....that's who! She is so excited everyday to come home and do her homework before starting anything else. I'm sure this will wear off shortly, but I'm definitely going to try and encourage it for as long as it will last.

Happy 3rd Birthday Lincoln!

Ok, so I know that these pictures are 2 months late now, but I figure it better late than never. I've been having problems with my computer not letting me upload my pictures. I finally got it fixed so that means it's time for a massive update to the blog.

Lincoln turned 3 years old the weekend of 4th of July. Due to almost everyone being out of town for the holiday we decided to have his party the following weekend. Nothing big just a few friends and cousins. Of course the battery on my camera died in the middle of the party so I only got a few pictures of the festivities.

All his lout!

I know I'm a cheater by just doing cupcakes, but it makes it SO much easier with all the kids. Plus I always seems to have less cake leftover, that we all know just gets thrown out anyways! :)

A boy and his truck

Lincoln goes no where without his trucks! This was one of the only pictures taken at father and sons this year. Cole said every time he couldn't find Lincoln he would just go down to the creek and there he was with his trusty dump truck. Needless to say he fell into that creek and got soaking wet 3 times in one day, but that never stopped him from wanting to go back to throwing rocks in the water. Cole was in charge of cooking dinner for the ward, so Lincoln had lots of exploring time on his own. He is definitely a wanderer making his own trail where ever his little feet take him!

Final Count Down

It's official I quit my job!! And the count down has begun.....6 days left! YEAH

I actually quit back in May, but agreed to stay on and help train the new hire until the end of July. My hours have been cut way back for the last 2 months and it has been awesome! I only work from 2 - 6 Mon thru Thurs. The kids love having me home and I love being there with them. It has taken some getting used to since we were all so used to getting up and have to rush out the door to day care and work, so now our morning our much nicer. We have all had our ups and downs with the change, but I think this is all for the better.

Also, my last week of work is Addison's first week of Kindergarten so the timing couldn't have been better. I'm so glad that I'm the one that gets to take her to school everyday and pick her up to ask how her day was and help her with her homework. (No offense Amy I know you would have been WONDERFUL at doing this for me, but I just felt like I should be doing it since I'm her mom.) Being home more with the kids has really made me see how much I have missed by having to work outside of the home for the past 6 years. I am so grateful that my friend Amy and my husband gave me the final push to stop working. I couldn't have done it without all their support.

To tell the truth....I've been looking forward to these last weeks since I gave my notice in May. Time has just not gone by fast enough. I will miss my job and of course my boss. He has to be the BEST person to work for. It's hard to leave a place that you've been at for so long, but I know that this decision is the best for me and my family. I look forward to all the time and adventures that I get to spend with them every minute of everyday.

So here's to the future and all the fun and excitement that it might bring!