Emily Emily Emily

Today is August 22. It's my sisters birthday. Emily. She's amazing. The way she juggles everything in her life is just incredible. She has 4 beautiful kids, including twins that she had in February. She works/teaches piano lessons a ton and is always so so busy. But she does it all with grace.

Emily is #4 and I'm #5, so naturally we hung out a bunch while growing up. High School was fantastic, because she let me bum around with her and her friends every once in a while, who I obviously thought were the coolest people I knew. We also got to play volleyball together, and those were the best times. I loved having all that extra time after school with her.

I look up to Emily so much. She paved the way in life, and has been such a great example. Married an incredible husband, Aaron, who rocked at her birthday date last night. (Ask her about it... it was awesome.) Has worked hard with every job she's had. Is so talented... you should hear her play the piano. Mesmerizing. And she's so much fun.

I love that we're still close, even though I'm still living in Utah. We talk on the phone just as much, if not more than I talk to my mom. And that's saying a LOT. Anyway, I just love her to pieces.

Have a fabulous Birthday, Em. I love you.

Happy Birthday Mama!

Yesterday was my mom's b-day. She's a phenomenal lady! It's incredible to think of all the things she does and is. She takes care of everyone in my family; my siblings, my grandparents, and even some of my aunts and uncles ;)

She's so selfless and concerned about others before herself. She serves everyone she knows and is going going going all the time to help others.

She's fun and hip and totally with it! She's the best dress, funnest, coolest mom! I feel so blessed she's my mom! She's influenced my life in so many ways and I'm grateful for her example, friendship and love.

Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you!

Feliz Cumpleanos... to me!

26 feels weird. Closer to 30 than to 20. Definitely feels weird. We celebrated my birthday over 2 weekends. We went down to SLC to to do some shopping. After getting back from Africa, Yellowstone and Colorado, we decided we needed to upgrade our camera situation. So, what better excuse to us on a Bday and Fathers day than to buy a new sweet Camera. I'd done a bunch of research online to find the best prices/packages and found that Costco had the best deal for what we were looking for, but we're so glad we actually went down to Costco, because they had an incredible packaged deal that even beat their own website's.

We got the Canon Rebel T1i with 2 lenses, cords and a great camera bag! Yes, please! thank you! After getting that killer deal, we got C some new running shoes that now let him feel like he runs on clouds! Gracias to the girls at Salt Lake Running in Draper who were closing in 5 minutes and stayed open to service us! (Collin pulled the "We-drove-all-the-way-down-from-Logan-to-come-to-your-store" Card... they bought it!) Once he was tested on the treadmill , being videotaped to see how he runs and then outfitted in some new asics, we went to dinner with the Denneys and Sanders at PeiWei! It was a great time. Always fun to go hang out with them. The next day, Sunday, we took a walk through Logan golf course and took our new sweet camera!!! Great shots, but only a few!! Love that thing.

Then, this last wknd (actual Bday wknd), we went down to SLC again for dinner with Carly & Spencer Williams at Rodizio Grill. I'd never been (only to Tucanos.. pretty much the same if you ask me), so it was nice to have a fancy dinner. Afterwards we went to see their new place that their renovating. It's looking pretty awesome. I'm excited to see the finished product. (I'm dumb and didn't take any pics with friends, but we got tons of pics in/of Logan!! I'm so blessed to have such great friends and family! Thanks for all the bday love, everyone! :)

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

This day, 82 years ago, my wonderful grandmother came into this world. She really is an incredible woman. Everyone I know calls her Grandma Shirley. There are little children who are not even closely related who call her Grandma Shirley. She's seriously unbelieveable. She remember everyones birthdays and makes everyone feel so special. She has influenced so many people, and probably more people than I can even imagine. Here are a few words to describe her.

Teacher. Compassionate. Funny. Christ-like. Honest. Spiritual. Virtuous. Hard-working. Comforting. Interested. Genuine. Loving. Example. Kind. Understanding. Fabulous. Amazing. Devoted. In-tune. Friend. Involved. Fashionable.