The BIG 34!

Mike's going to tease me that I'm doing a post about my own birthday! I turned 34 on Monday. I really had a fun birthday. It actually started on Saturday. Mike and I went to dinner at this cool, little restaurant downtown, Faustina's. We had bread that we dipped in balsamic vinegar and olive oil infused with basil, then some delicious salads, mine had shredded chicken, gorgonzola cheese, dried blueberries, toasted almonds, apples, other yummy stuff with a pomegranate dressing on top. Then I had the special for the night, which was lobster risotto. (I love food, can you tell?) Everything was so good. It was such a nice setting, quiet and very romantic actually. Then Mike and I went to the Jazz game and watched them lose to the Cavs with cocky Lebron James dominating the boards all night. I can't count how many times he dunked it. That was fun, though. Thanks to my parents for babysitting!

Dylan saw the picture below and asked if that was Taylor... I do kind of look like a boy, more like Dylan I think. I like these pictures because they prove that I used to be a real blonde!Sunday, we went to Mike's parents house to celebrate all the Jan and Feb birthdays in the familly. We had a nice dinner, then this yummy cake. They had it decorated to match the tablecloth. The cake was from a bakery in Midway and it actually cost $50. We were joking all night, saying was it really worth the cost...but it was very good. The pictures below were taken by Gretchen. She brings the new digital camera she got for Christmas everywhere. And she's turning into a good little photographer.

Then on my big day I woke up and opened some nice presents from Mike and the kids. Then the kids and I took Mike to the airport for his trip to Nashville. That night we went to my parent's house. We had a great dinner with food from the Phillipines. We lived there when I was about 8 years old, while my Dad was stationed at Clark AFB. My mom made all the food that our housegirl (a kind of live-in maid/nanny that we had while we lived there) taught her how to make. It was all very good. Then we had cheesecake, which is a big favorite of mine! Mike surprised me with a note under my pillow that I found as I was going to bed that night. He felt bad that he had to go out of town on my birthday. That was a fun surprise to find that, what a sweet guy, huh?

I got so many nice cards and presents from friends and family. I feel so blessed and grateful to have all of you in my life! Thank you everyone for making my birthday so nice!

Weekend in St. George

Last weekend, we had a great time escaping the smog and freezing temps of Salt Lake. Mike and my brother-in-law ran in a 5K down there, and my sister ran the half marathon. I unfortunately don't have any pics of them. I was back at the condo babysitting. But, after the races, we fit in some sightseeing around St. George.

I am 28 weeks pregnant, now. I feel the baby kicking a lot, as well as other aches and pains. I have two months to go. We'll probably schedule the c-section for April 2.

Family picture in front of the red rocks at the Tuacahn ampitheatre. There are no shows this time of year, but we just looked around.

Just a little above the city of St. George there is this cool place. You can kind of hike around and climb on the red rocks. It was such a beautiful day. The kids loved climbing around, especially Taylor. In one part, there was this little, narrow canyon. At one point it was so narrow, even Mike couldn't get through. And of course with my big belly, there was no fitting through. Gretchen, Taylor, and their cousin Addie ended up climbing up and through the area all by themselves. Gretchen said her heart was beating really fast. I was proud that they did it, and grateful no one fell or got hurt.

Fun at the park

The kids enjoyed playing at the park while we were enjoying the warm sun of St. George.

New Year, new look

I changed the look of my blog! Not sure I love it, but at least I "took down the Christmas decorations". I also changed the music! I go back and forth about how I feel about music on my blog. I get sick of it so fast, but I guess I'll leave it for now.

I'm excited for the year ahead. I've made my resolutions, although I need to get them down in writing. Being organized and being happy are among them! In just a couple of months we'll have a new baby with us. That will be fun and challenging, I'm sure.

Christmas day

Christmas Eve

We had a quiet Christmas Eve at home. Mike's parents came and ate dinner with us. After dinner, we had a little program. Gretchen played a couple of Christmas songs on the keyboard for us. Then Taylor sang a song from school about December. Dylan recited the poem he learned in preschool, Five Little Bells. Then all three kids sang together, a song they learned at church. Everyone shared Christmas memories. Then we turned on the Nativity DVD. We watched that and then everyone wrote down a gift they would like to give Jesus for the upcoming year.
After that we had some treats while we watched Mr. Krueger's Christmas. Then the kids had to get to bed, so that Santa could come!