Long time, no post!

(My excuse is that we've been having too much fun...)

*Ellie spent the night with us on her birthday eve... ...so I got to tell her about the day she was born when she woke up the next morning - and then doll her up! She's the cutest 5-year old girl I know!

*Noah got to play with some goats...

...and take some quad rides when we met Conley's family.

Oh yeah did I mention who Conley was? Ha ha how could I forget to introduce him to my blogger friends? I'll admit that he's the reason I haven't "had time" to update my blog!

*We attended Ellie's birthday party where a bunch of girls (and Noah) got to rotate through 5 stations of hair, make up, nails, crafts, and decorating cupcakes. It was fun and I was in charge of the "craft" table. It was a fun day! The party was a red-carpet event with all these princesses... ...so Noah was needed as security! "STAY BEHIND THIS LINE LADIES!"

(At the hair station Noah got some blue gel put in his hair.)

Look how cute all these girls (and officer Noah) were!

*This past weekend we took a little trip to Pinetop. This is what was going on in the backseat...

...and this in the front. It was such a fun weekend to have nowhere to be and just hang out.

We just played baseball...

...met some of Conley's friends...

...and golfed (well actually all I did was watch and shiver... I was freezing)! Even Noah met a new (girl)friend! She's so cute!

My box full of items to destroy is finally out of my house, thanks to the professional fire-builder.

Taking a nap was AWESOME!! I would have felt like I wasted so much time doing that at home! Obviously Noah & Conley enjoyed a nap too!

So that's just some of the highlights from the month of March. It's been fun!

California Girls Trip!

Last weekend we took a trip to Newport Beach with most of the girls in the Riggs family. From the second we leave home and start the road trip, we have so much fun. I swear, the car ride is one of the funnest parts of it all. We played some i-pod "name that tune"...

... and danced...

... "If You Wanna Be My Lover" was playing when I took this picture ... you know the part 'slam your body down and WIND IT ALL AROUND' - Suzanne is demonstrating the move that goes with that part of the song.

We headed out Thursday afternoon, got to Alma's house late that night, and lounged around for a little bit Friday morning. My sisters & I took a little jog (I wish AZ had the same weather as California - it was so nice) - then after jogging we countered the exercise when we ended up at the donut shop somehow. But "all we got was 1 donut hole and split it". That's what Auburn told my mom anyway. Ha ha. Next was pedicures, lunch at Mario's, and shopping at Huntington. (Such a typical day for us when we get to go to Newport.)

Friday night everyone ate out together at El Torito (mmm). Just like every time before, someone told the waiters it was my Grandma's birthday (her b-day is really in December). She was caught off-guard, like always!

She's so cute and such a good sport about it!

This picture doesn't include everyone that was on the trip but dang it, we never took a picture with everyone!

After dinner we headed over to Balboa to get some frozen yogurt. It was my first time to try Tutti Frutti and it was really good! I have to say I'm not obsessed with it like Suzanne is - but it was definately worth the trip. That night we went back to the house and played "Loaded Questions" with everyone... good times! Then after that some of us played the i-pod "name that tune" game again - it was a late night!

Saturday morning we went to the Orange County Swap Meet. As you can tell, trips like this are all about the food. At the swap meet we enjoyed churros, ice cream, cinnamon rolls, carnitas, and lemonade. FYI we spent most of the day there... that's how we fit in all the food items that we couldn't leave without.

Saturday night we went to California Pizza Kitchen.

We missed the girls that had to leave early and aren't in these pictures!

And Sunday we headed home after getting a picture with my Grandma! She was so happy to have us all together last weekend. The night we got there she was beaming, SO excited when we got to the house. I loved seeing her so happy!

I live for weekends like this, seriously! When Christmas was over this was my next big thing to look forward to. Now what? I had so much fun being with my family... I owe a BIG thanks to a few people:

*My MOM for the trip - it was a Christmas gift she gave to my sisters and I.

*Lance for watching Noah when I was gone. I knew he was having so much fun and "partying" all weekend, which allowed me to have fun and not worry about him being sad and wanting me.

*Aunt Alma for allowing us to stay at her house. It's perfect and so fun to be in the same house with everyone.

'Til next time!

Kids say the funniest things!

*Last night we read “Just in case you ever wonder” by Max Lucado for FHE and had a little talk about Heaven. Afterward Noah said “Mom when we go to heaven I want to sit by you.” I just got tears in my eyes typing that. It was so sweet!

*On Saturday I found a scorpion on the wall in our house and my on-call exterminator wasn’t home (Scott, you’re busted!). I called Suzanne to see if she would come over and get it. She refused, but put me on speaker so her and my mom could give me some moral support. (My mom is the best and was serious about coming over to get it for me even though she’s probably just as scared as me.) Anyway as I’m on the phone with them I said “I wish I could think of another guy to call to come and get this”. (I was meaning someone in my neighborhood.) So anyway I did get the scorpion finally but my point is that about 45 minutes later, we were in the car and Noah said “Mom, you wish you could call that guy you went on a date with to come and get the scorpion, hah?”

*Speaking of going on dates - a few weeks ago we were shopping at Old Navy and I picked up this pair of shoes. For some reason Noah said “Mom, you want to get those shoes so you can go on a date with Jason?” (He’s talking about The Bachelor Jason.)

*Noah got new primary teachers a few weeks ago and I couldn’t remember what their names were. This past Sunday as we were getting ready for church I asked Noah if he remembered their names. He said, “Mom, it’s a woman and a man”. I was cracking up - since when does he use the word WOMAN?

*About a month ago I was getting ready for bed really late and was putting some pajamas on Noah. I tried to do it as he was sleeping but he woke up and stayed wide awake until I went to bed. I said “We’re saying really short prayers tonight” and Noah said back, “Mom, just pray for the missionaries”. When I was done with my prayer, Noah said his and the ONLY thing he prayed for was “Please bless that my mom will get married soon.” Desperado! (both of us)

*A few weeks ago I got mad at Noah and threatened him with who knows what… he started crying and saying “Mom, I care about you!”

I love my Noah boy. He makes every day happy for me!

Last weekend

With President’s Day being this past Monday, I had the day off. I LOVE short work weeks (until pay day comes of course). It was a fun day… my mom, my sisters, and all the kids in our family met up at Auburn’s house with our bikes. (My license plate doesn't match the rest because my old matching one had to be replaced with one that said Noah... but I'm hoping to get a new matching plate for my bike soon.)

From there we rode over to Discovery Park, and had some fun…

Props to everyone who was brave enough to go down these hills, including all the kids except Roxy. Auburn told me that Noah even went down the “whoop-de-woos” on Jaxen’s bike a few weeks ago - it’s funny that my 4 year old is a lot braver than me! I went down a few times but was braking for most of the time - it might have something to do with a crash on my bike from my childhood (going down the cement hill in Harmony Park for all my old neighbors that know what I’m talking about)!

Anyway it was a perfect day outside for a bike ride. Too bad both me and Auburn’s cheap bikes had to be rescued by Bryan - good thing we were all ready to take turns going for a jog. It’s just a matter of time before Suzanne’s tires pop too - we all got our bikes for about $70 at Sam’s Club a few years ago - and we’ve been told a few times that “you get what you pay for”. Sad, but true.

The bike ride / jog was nice, the park was fun, lunch at Long John Silvers / Taco Bell was yummy, the weather was perfect, and the company was even better than all that! My family is the best!

I’m excited for ANOTHER short work week coming up real soon… cuz we’re going going back back to CALI and I can’t wait!

Brad turns 20 today!

I kind of quit doing birthday shout outs on my blog but I had to for Brad's 20th birthday. Not because he ever sees my blog - but because I am so proud of what he's doing and wanted to share these cute pictures...

This is a couple that Brad has been teaching the gospel to in Brazil. Their names are Fabio and Samara, and Brad has said that they are like his best friends, and obviously they LOVE him too - they named their cat "Sherwood" after him.

Brad baptized Fabio and Samara either last night or he will be tonight I think... but first they had to get married. So this is them on their wedding day. Brad helped it all happen as you can see. He was there to sign the documents and I'm sure he helped pay for it like missionaries usually do in missions like where Brad is serving.

Brad seems to be really happy right now. He's been through some tough times on his mission and I'm sure there will be more, but the letter he sent a few days ago made me think that he is so happy and loving it. I am so proud of him and the decision he made to serve a mission. He has such a strong testimony and loves the Lord. I love that he is setting a great example for Noah but it scares me how quickly kids grow up. I still remember details about the day Brad was born and when he was a baby. Remembering things that happened 20 years ago makes me feel really old. Before I know it, Noah will be Brad's age and hopefully serving a mission who knows where!! Oh boy that thought scares me - but if Noah turns out like Brad I won't have much to worry about!