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!

The Boy I Was Looking For....

Being pregnant this time around has been a bit of a different feeling for me, and more of a spiritual experience than I remember with the others (not that the other 2 pregnancies weren't amazing, and obviously from heaven, but it's just been different). 

After Jet hit about 9 months he turned into a hard baby and very needy. I was sure that he might be my last (so was Brett)! For a long time we didn't consider wanting another at the moment! I felt like Heavenly Father would definitely let me know if we were supposed to have another one though. It took a while, but I started feeling like it was possible to add another child to our family if that was in "the plan," and shortly after that I felt like we should. Brett seemed to be on board with whatever at that point....Jet was calming down a bit. :) 

One weekend in December Brett was out of town with the boys in his family and as I was playing with Emri and Jet in E's room. All of a sudden I had this feeling I was missing a kid and I scanned the room a couple times and leaned over to look towards the hall for this little boy I was "missing." Then it really couldn't have been more than a split second later and it hit me... "Jami, you only have 2 kids." It was a very bizzare and real feeling that I had though. I truly felt there was someone missing from the room that day. I told Brett about it and he joked, "I'm the boy that was missing!" About 3 weeks later a pregnancy test was positive! And in the back of my mind I couldn't help but think that it was a boy...the boy I was looking for that day in Emri's room. I kind of laughed at myself though, since I was completely wrong in my "assumptions" for both of my kids (thought E was a boy and Jet was a girl). So much for a mother's intuition! 

On March 21 our family of four all went to my OB appointment and found out, sure enough, a little BOY will be joining our family in September! I was not shocked because I feel like I already knew that from the experience I had back in December. Emri (without my telling her what I thought it was) has been saying for weeks that it's a baby brother. So when my doctor told us the news, Emri said "I knew it! I thought it was going to be a baby brother and IT IS!" The doctor also said "there's something to be said about a child, usually under the age of 5, knowing the gender of the sibling on it's way." I believe children's spirits are definitely closer to heaven and remember a lot more about where they recently came from than we think they do.

So this was day of the appointment, 15 weeks along. I do have to say it's fun to go to this new office where they do an ultrasound each visit. So fun to know so early!

 Baby boy was wiggly and the cord was between his legs so the doctor was having a hard time getting a great shot of the "evidence!"

And now for the hard part....a name! Couldn't that have been engrained in my brain as much as the little boy was that day?