St. George...Family Style

Two weekends in a row to St. George can't be beat...especially with the amazing weather we had! This time Brett and his brother Jared had a dental seminar to attend, so we decided to make it a family outing. We were excited to have some cousins to join us as well!

The second we got to the house the kids were begging at the window for the pool...sadly we had to wait till morning. Will and Emri/Jet in his "doddohs."

 The kids all kept Momma Max busy...and even the grandkids that aren't actually hers were calling her "Grandma" all weekend. 

 Mom and I didn't bring a hat, so we found this SWEET camo hat to share! haha! And don't mind me just relaxing....they don't call it a "Shamu Deck" for nothing!

Jet, Emri and Brooks soakin' up some rays!

 Me, Mindy, and Ingrid...my awesome sisters-in-law. It's so fun that Mindy lives in St. George so we always have people to party with when we go.

 I mixed some pina coladas for the ladies after the kids had gone inside for lunch/naps. 

 We enjoyed 2 days of swimming...so dad could get in on the action too. I love Jet's "jump" into the pool!

 Papa was also there....thank goodness for Grandma and Papa, there's no way I would have had enough energy for these kids by myself!

As you can see Emri is quite the little daredevil! She loved being thrown into the pool by uncle Marty, and jumping from the hot tub on whatever floatation device she could find. Jet was just happy to be alive...they are both little fish! I love the pic of Charlie as well, as long as he's got some kind of car in his hand he's happy :)

Probably one of the highlights of the trip was seeing Papa jump into the coy pond to clean the algae off the rocks (apparently something wasn't working quite right). GROSS! Don't worry, we didn't let him get back in the pool after that!

Mindy and Marty have found some cool places since living there. They took us to a place they call "Glitter Gulch." I'm pretty sure we crossed the stateline into Arizona to get there. It's literally out in the middle of nowhere, and you drive right up to it. The ground just sparkles in the sun....sadly I didn't capture that sparkle with my camera, but the ground is COVERED with gypsum.

 We didn't last long...the temp was probably 85, but walking down into the "gulch" and having the sun POUND us as it reflected off the walls felt more like 115 down there!

 Emri and aunt Mindy exploring...

 There was a whole wall of this, really pretty!

We ate some lunch in the car and headed to SWIG for a little treat to cool us off. 

Jet thought dumping his treat down the front of himself would be the most effective way to cool off...

 The boy on our way back to the house for a swim... apparently it had been a long day?!

Great Gpa/Gma Brklacich, and Brenda/Danny were also in town for the weekend so they came by for a BBQ one night. 

We had a wonderful weekend.... now, when shall we return?! Soon, I hope!

Girls Weekend Getaway

I still can't believe this actually happened! After several months of planning around several schedules, I pulled off a whole weekend away with some of my best friends from high school!! Here we are headed to St. George! Jami, Angi, Jaime, and Jami (yes, there are really that many  "Jaimie's")!

 We did some eating, laughing, shopping, eating, relaxing, eating, swimming, reminiscing, eating, lounging poolside, more laughing..... aaaaand, probably more eating! Seriously. Katie flew in from Cali to meet us and Heather conveniently lives in St. George. Whitney (Jami's sis) also lives in St.G and joined us occasionally in between studying for finals. 

Here we all are at the "Swig," getting sugar cookies and "dirty" Dr. Pepper.

Heather, Jami, Whitney, Jami

Jaime, Katie, and Angi

 One day we spent lounging by the pool and Jami whipped us up some pina coladas. So tasty!

 This is the LIFE!

 A swim-up bar....so convenient! Too bad there were no cabana boys to serve us!

 Jami still thinks she has mad skills....she kind of does! Although, after this particular stunt I'm pretty sure her shins were on fire! haha!

 Squishy in the back seat!

What a fun weekend....lots of memories made and relaxing had! This is super cheesy, but I really am so grateful I was blessed with such AMAZING friends in high school. And am so glad we are just as tight today as we were 12+ years ago! Thanks to all of our hubbies, some grandmas, and aunts that helped care for the kiddos while we were away, and to my Papa for letting us crash at the pad. It was amazing! 

Half Way To Baby!

I'm finding pregnancy flies right on by when there's 2 other kiddos at home to chase and cart around. I'm really enjoying being pregnant, other than feeling exhausted all the time. I had very little sickness in the beginning (some nights of heartburn, and the blah feeling) but nothing to really complain about. And I'm very thankful for that! I guess since I don't really get "morning sickness," I'm blessed with lovely "skin issues" instead. Remember that lovely incident, when I was pregnant with Emri? After 4 months of some diagnose perioral dermatitis (red, flaky skin) issues on my face, it is finally clearing up! THANK GOODNESS! The baby is moving more and more. Brett even felt him last night. Dr appointments are going well and he's measuring right on. Here are the last few "weekly" shots. I realize I should probably wear the same shirt each time to notice more progression, but who has time to think about what to wear?! If it fits, I throw it on (which is seeming to get trickier lately. Time to bust out some maternity clothes)!

17 weeks

 18 weeks

 19 weeks

 Ultrasound from my last visit...still alien looking; and I think he likes having both hands on his face :)

 And here we are this week, half way there... 20 weeks!! Now we're on the downhill!

Birthday Boy Brett!

I doubt that I will ever be able to top last years birthday surprise....so anything following that will definitely seem pretty chill! But, that's perfect because it's pretty much his personality....mellow, low-maintenance and chill. I love it! :) So Brett's bday this year was just that: Chill (including the winter temps and snow)--what the, April?!

Friday we kicked off his upcoming birthday week with a date night to the movies. I picked an action one for him. GI Joe. It was meh for me (other than some eye candy)! Brett thought it was a typical GI Joe movie...a fun action packed movie to see on the big screen.

Sunday we had dinner in Morgan and celebrated Anderton April Birthdays...just Mac and Brett. Usually there's too many to count! 

Brett's parents must have heard our thoughts days before, because we had seen these tent/shades at Sam's Club and were saying how great it would be to have one in the Summer, especially at Bear Lake....and wallah, he got one for his birthday!

 Birthday Boy gets breakfast in bed! Brett had to get up and get ready for work before the kids were awake, so we made him climb back in bed to eat once they were up. 

 It probably wasn't his most relaxed birthday breakfast ever with these little munchkins climbing all over  him and asking for bites, but they were just too excited to leave him alone!

Once daddy was home from work we let him open presents...mostly because Jet had already torn into them all :) Don't mind the Christmas wrapping... I obviously didn't have any birthday paper. BUT... IT DID SNOW that morning, so I think the snowmen are quite fitting for the "SPRING" occasion! 

Brett has been mentioning for quite a while about how much fun a Go-Pro would be. Thanks to his brother Ryan's help and research (because when it comes to gadgets like this I'm clueless), I was able to get one and actually surprise him with it! Nice face.

I should have photographed dinner....it may be a birthday tradition for this guy. Grilled Flank steak (in aunt Kim's amazing marinade), baked sweet potatoes, rosemary bread in dipping oil/balsamic vinegar, and grilled asparagus. So, SO good! Brett said he didn't want a cake this year.... well that made things a heck of a lot easier for me :) So the kiddos and I went to the Sweet Tooth Fairy bake shop and each picked out a cupcake we thought looked good. It was perfect!

 We had such a fun time celebrating and recognizing the man that never wants much attention, but is always focused on everyone else! Happy 31st Birthday babe! We love you so much!

Eggs, and Candy, and Bunnies....OH MY!

We had a great Easter weekend packed with family galore! Saturday morning we colored our eggs...

 This goofball didn't want any help with the egg retrieval, so most of them ended up dropping on the table then rolling to the floor! haha!

Saturday afternoon we went to Morgan for the much anticipated hunt at Gma/Gpa's house. Picture about 26 kids behind that glass door...ages 16 down to less than 2 years chompin at the bit to get outside and find the goods! Jet being one of the youngest was able to sneak out first and get a head start... (love all the mom's w/ cameras reflecting in the window)!

 Emri RAN everywhere she went! 

 We filled our baskets, dumped them and reloaded!

 Gma is very fair...and all the goods get dumped, separated, and evenly distributed...and everyone is happy!

 Here's all the kiddos....I think this is everyone (except Brystun)! IT IS SOOOO NICE to have decent weather to be outside in. You can only imagine the kind of commotion this group of excited kids can cause INDOORS! Winters are long! haha!

Our babies in their Easter church duds. So cute! We enjoyed our time at church, focusing on our Savior and his resurrection. We are so thankful for that gift! When we got home and I asked Emri what the most important part of Easter was, The bunny, Jesus, or candy...she answered "bunny" then quickly said, "no, Jesus is most important." She is learning :)

The Easter Bunny left the kids some eggs outside that they hunted after church. Emri looked high and low....

Sunday afternoon we went to SLC to see Momma Max and Papa....and all the crew there. And, yet again....hunted for more eggs and treats.

I don't remember the Easter Bunny leaving us juice boxes, gogurts, fruitsnacks and cookies as a child??? Spoiled grandkids!

I love that Keeley hurried and shoved 4 chocolate eggs in her mouth before anyone could catch her!

Ayden and Keeley got a real bun-bun last week, so the kids were loving seeing a real bunny on Easter! 

 Jet couldn't get enough!

We had a wonderful weekend...and I'm still stuffed full of good food! This was part of my contribution to Sunday dinner...fruit pizza. Too pretty not to take a picture! I could have eaten the whole thing by myself!