Our first pet....

Over the weekend the kids really wanted to go to pet smart. This is something that they always ask to do so we went. We checked out all pet smart had to offer. We saw fish, birds, rats and hamsters, snakes, turtles, frogs. It was like going to the zoo. They were so entertained for an hour. After we left they were all about getting a pet. 

We decided that we would let them get a fish. Nothing crazy just a betta in a bowl. First we had to have a  few talks about taking care of it and about the dreadful day of when it dies. Today was the big day!! We headed to the store and got our fish! It was a big ordeal at the store because no one could agree on a color so I just picked the prettiest one. We got our bowl some pretty rocks, food and a pink tree and we were off to bring home our new addition.

Meet "Shark Bait ooo, haha"!! We got him all set up and they kids are loving him. It's just the kind of low key pet that we need! Now let's just hope he doesn't fly out of the bowl and die!

The dirty 30....

Well the big three oh came whether I wanted it to or not. I've been dreading turning thirty for as long as I can remember. I remember my dad turning thirty when I was little and thinking oh man he's so old and now here I am. At least I don't look as old as I think 30 use to look so I have that going for me! 

A few days before my birthday my sister in law surprised me by dropping off this fab 30 emergency kit! She knows me so well! It had everything I would need to face the big day! Chocolate, coke, make up and more!!! It definitely lifted my spirits! If I am going to turn 30 at least I can look good doing it right?!!

When the actual big day came these guys couldn't wait to give me my present! I had been hearing about it for weeks and how it was going to be the best present of all time! I have to say getting a brand new iPad air totally made my day! I'm so excited about it and the kids are even more excited!

Richard and the kids made the day extra special we went out to lunch went shopping, trey even scored a basket for me at his basketball game and had a wonderful dinner!

We finished the night off with the amazing temptation cupcakes! Richard and the kids picked out all my favorites! It was a really great day!

I thought my birthday fun was over but there was one more surprise in store for me! My neighbor one of my bestest friends invited me out to lunch for my birthday! So I met her at Fredricos with Harper On Tuesday after I dropped jack off at the bus for school. I thought she was crazy because she wanted to go find a seat before we got our food. We walked to the back because she said it would be quieter back there and.....

Surprise!!!! All my favorite neighbor friends were there! They really surprised me with balloons, cake the whole deal!!! I really do live in the best little neighborhood! They all knew how much I have been dreading this and they just made it so special! 

There was enough candles on this cake to start a small fire but hey at least it look like I'm glowing! Here is to a great year but I will still continue to say I'm 29...ish ;)

Home free....

Today is a special day! After a little more than eight years in this house we made our final payment! We are so excited to be mortgage free! We have been looking forward to this day for so long and it feels so amazing that it is finally here! There is really I other feeling like knowing that your home is all yours! Here is to being debt free!!!!!

New appliances...

So the time finally came for us to buy new appliances. We just aren't cool enough anymore to have our old ugly off white, duck taped together ones anymore. We have been looking forward to this day for so very long!

We decided to hit up hooker appliance so we could get more for our money and let me tell you it is the place to go! Not only because the stores name is hooker but also because we saved a ton of money! We took this little diva with us! I think she forgot we were in cache valley because the jersey girl was totally coming out in her that day! I'm pretty certain by the time we left they were ready to get us out the door! So we picked what we could with our tiny space and were on our way!

The day of the appliance arrival couldn't get here fast enough! We were all excited!!! The whole process went fairly fast and before we knew it we had a brand new stainless Steele kitchen!!!

This kid was most excited about this!!! We hadn't planned on getting a fridge with a water line but after how much we saved we decided hey why not make our kids dreams come true!! This came with its own set of problems including a small flood in our basement but thanks to the most wonderful plumber on the planet it was all fixed and we are happier and more hydrated that ever!

Here is my beautiful dishwasher! It's a beauty and my favorite thing about it is it tells you when your dishes are clean so there is no more of "are these dishes clean or dirty?" Business.

The kids love the oven. We were a little nervous about it since the nobs are on the front. You never know when Harper is going to start the house on fire. So far she hasn't even touched them. The only thing she cares about is the light and being able to watch the food cook! She can sit like this and watch her food cook all night! We feels so classy in our new and improved kitchen I still can't believe how pretty it is when I look in there!

35

Richard turned 35 a few weeks ago but since I strongly dislike blogging I have forgot to blog about it. 

He had a great day! I think I hit it out of the park with his gifts this year! We got him all kinds of electronics every mans dream!

He requested temptation cupcakes for his cake. I can't blame him they were delicious!

We went to dinner at the Hu Hot, hooked up all his presents and made a wish! Here's to being almost 40!!!

Ice skating...

Last night was finally opening night of the ice rink! For the last couple of weeks everytime we would drive past it the kids would ask if it was ready yet! So last night when we saw it was open we decided to go drive by. That turned into let's go walk around on the ice which turned into hey let's go rent some skates! 

A nice little skater was kind enough to offer take our picture after she saw that the whole family was in there except for me! Pretty adorable if you ask me! We skated around, some of us fell more than others (richard) and we had a grand time! So grand that the kids couldn't wait to go again!

Well renting skates is expensive so luckily we found a box in Grandma princesses garage with all of our sizes! Lucky, lucky!

The boys wanted to hit the ice...literally today so we let them do just that!

Jack is doing pretty good...he's really good at jumping around to get where he wants to go! Actually skating not so much! But he has fun and that is all that matters!

Harper loves to skate around on her boots! She also loves laying on the ice! She says, "look at me I'm a ice princess!"  She really is just the cutest girl ever!

Trey is picking up the skating really good! He skates all over and falls a lot to but you'd never know it because he bounces right back up! Here's to more family ice skating adventures!!!!!

Cheers to a new year!!!!

We have been looking forward to this day for so long!!!! We have been ready to say goodbye to 2013 for at least 6 months. This year has been rough for us to put it mildly! 

We were all excited to ring in a new year and hopefully some good luck! The kids loved popping the mormon bubbly in the fancy glasses! Harper loved it the most. She kept saying, "can I have s'more please??!!" 

We all hung out watching movies snacking and watching the firework show the neighbors were putting on from our back patio!

At about 11:20 some little people were starting to have a hard time keeping their eyes open! 

10 minutes later the first and only party pooper was out like a light. We kept trying to talk to him to keep him awake but it was not happening! I was proud of jack though because he is not a night owl so I was pretty impressed he made it to 11:30!

When midnight struck we kissed 2013 goodbye!!!! Happy new year!!!!