Another Marathon

As previously mentioned Brad & Heather came into town with their two girls a couple weeks ago. We were able to see them their first night here (and see cute baby Maggie for the first time), but then we didn't see them again for another week till we watched the U game together. A couple nights later we got together again and had dinner. Both of those times I totally spaced to bring my camera. I don't know if it's the forgetful pregnant gene that is constantly plaguing me or if it's a sign of what's to come ... we'll have a million pictures of Emily and our poor boy will be lucky to have a couple of pictures to show his posterity. Hopefully it's my pregnant mind and not that I'm getting burned out with taking pictures. I did happen to remember it when we went to the zoo with the Holbrooks on the 23rd though. So this post isn't completely devoid of pictures (and if you haven't noticed, I got better as the week went on).

Jeff's work had their 5th anniversary last week. To celebrate they had a big open house where family and past patients were able to attend. They provided dinner - an amazing spread of prime rib, chicken, veggies, rice, and potatoes. And of course the desserts were amazing too. There must have been at least 5 different kinds of cake, a dozen different finger desserts, and of course, a chocolate fountain. Since half of Jeff's family also work at Aspen Ridge they were there to enjoy it all with us. Emily and Ella also got one last time to play. And boy did they have fun...

After eating we ended up going into the therapy gym where the girls had a blast. Emily LOVES visiting her dad at work and she was more than willing to show Ella all the things she likes to do.

After playing with the balloons they soon discovered how much fun the tables were.

These girls just laughed and laughed that night. I can't wait till Brad & Heather are out here again and can stay for two whole months! The girls are going to love it.

After the open house we went up to my parents' house. My dad has been out of town for the past 5 1/2 weeks and had just gotten home the night before. Emily was so excited to see Gpa Newman again. She kept giving him hugs and following him around the house. It was so cute. We are all SO glad to have him back home. We missed you dad!!!

For our birthdays this year Jeff's parents treated us to an overnight retreat at Aspen Grove. The mountains were gorgeous! I couldn't get over all the bright colors. It was just beautiful. The retreat was focused on marriage and Scott Anderson from the Sandy Institute taught several lectures. It was amazing! He was so hilarious and kept your attention so well and could really bring the spirit into the room. It was one of those things that I just didn't want to have end. Thank you mom & dad for taking Emily overnight so we could enjoy a night away!

We raced home from Aspen Grove to get ready for the U vs Louisville game. We'd forgotten how much fun it is to be AT the game instead of just watching it. It'd been a long time. Of course having the Utes win made it even more fun. Emily was really good the whole time. A big thanks to Dave for bringing his binoculars - they entertained Emily for a lot of the time. She also learned how to shell peanuts and that kept her attention for a while. Towards the end she really got into it and was screaming and yelling "GO UTES!"

Thanks for the great weekend Dave & Arline!

After having such a busy week last week, it was nice to not have anything going on this week. Of course that doesn't mean I didn't do anything. I've spent the majority of my time cleaning out and re-organizing all of our closets and cupboards. Emily was a big helper ... some of the time. Here she is cleaning her kitchen while I worked on the linen closet.
We decided to brave the crowds and go to Tracy Aviary today. Emily was thrilled to see all of her cousins and play with them again. It'd been about a month since they'd all been together and they were all so excited to see each other. Emily loved watching the pelicans and was ok with the eagles and flamingos, but mostly she just wanted to be with Jackson & Sara.

Gma let them choose one ride to go on at the park. We were all a little surprised when they chose the airplanes over the carousel. But they loved it.

After the ride we went over to the playground to play for a bit and have lunch.

PS Sorry for the marathon post. I know my last several posts have been this way. When I have free time and can check peoples blogs it always bugs me when they're not updated for several weeks. And here I am, doing just that. So to those of you that are like me, I'm sorry. I completely admit I am a hypocrite. Hopefully things are calming down now and I can do better at blogging. But let's be realistic, I still have a 5 page to do list before this kids arrives and christmas shopping and the primary program trump blogging.