The Man I Love

Sometimes, as a woman, I just need to be sad.To be frustrated and mad and sulk and feel hurt.Also, because I am a woman, I need to take my frustrations out on somebody. Somebody who loves me...unconditionally. Someone who will understand that I am lashing out only because I'm irrational and illogical.And because he loves me unconditionally, I know that he will still be standing there with open arms when the storm passes.The man I love plays this part, and he plays it really well.He has learned that I don't need solutions to my problems. I just need him to listen. He has also learned that I don't enjoy the sly chuckle that says "you're being ridiculous". Although that is EXACTLY what he is thinking. While I'm sulking, he let's me know he loves me and then he naturally and easily takes over the role of both mother and father. He makes dinner, cleans the dishes and takes care of the kiddos so that I can be left alone to pull myself out of the depths of despair I get myself into.While he does all of these things to please me and make me happy, I act as if I am not amused by the things that he does. But he knows. He knows that when he takes over and lets me be by myself, I am able to make it through the day. He knows that I am happy that he is by my side. That he is my best friend. That I can count on him all the time because he is my rock and my everything. And in case he doesn't know, I wrote him this letter so that he will know that I am and always will be forever grateful to be HIS wife and best friend and HIS everything. And while we may not grieve or stress or hurt in the same way, we still feel the same amount of worry as the other. Because we share the same LOVE. And that is just one of the many blessings in my life given to me by the man I love.

Happy Happy Birthday Chaddy!!

Today is your birthday, hip hip horray!!
I don't know exactly what all to say.
You got presents from the kids and kisses from me.
Isn't it a blast turning thirty three.
With one day down in your thirty third year,
the kids and I wish you continued good cheer.
You're one year older and wiser too.
I just want to say happy birthday...and I love you!!

I love you Honey. I hope that you have a great day. You are an amazing husband and father and you deserve all the happiness in the world. Have a great birthday...tonight, we party.

Jazz vs. Celtics (chad's christmas present from me)

For Christmas I got Chad two tickets to the Jazz vs. Celtics game. Naturally he invited me on a date to attend the game with him. We first hit up In and Out Burger and it was delicious. Next we went to the game. We weren't anticipating much since they had just traded D-Will and Shaq was on the injured list so he didn't come. BUMMER. But we had so many other players to watch. It was a great game. The Jazz played awesome. But to no avail. They lost in a very close game. It was so nice to just be out together, no kids. Thanks for inviting me Honey. I had a great time.

On our way to the game.
The highlight of my night. This is were they were taping their show. Thurl Bailey,Alema Harrington and Ron "Booner" Boone. We even got on tv.


Sittin in our seats ready for the action to begin.

What an Awesome Birthday!! Great Friends, Great Food, Great Fun!!

I seriously had the BEST birthday. I wish every year, my birthday could be like the one I just had. First it started off by my GREAT friend, Eden, flying in from Boise to come and "play" with me in Salt Lake for a few days. I picked her up on Friday the 4th from the airport. We had a list of things we wanted to do. Starting with Kneaders!! I LOVE Kneaders. If you haven't gone...GO!!! It was so good. I wanted to go back for every other meal. Next we went shopping. Once we started shopping there was no stopping us. We shopped everywhere only stopping for great food.We ate yummy sandwiches, lots of cookies, got car sick on the way to some great french toast, sampled a really big piece of some really good fudge, we high stepped our way to some"ok" mexican, ate A LOT of meat and pretty much ate wherever, whenever and whatever we wanted. We drove all over for the best shopping. We were let down at the Gateway, raised our spirits at Ross, Found my new favorite store at Fashion Place, and fell in LOVE with Gardner Village. We also found time to relax and get a pedicure. We had a lot of laughs...wait that's an understatement. Tons of laughs. We made some great memories. Started some inside jokes, "SWITCH" and just had a blast catching up and spending time together. Thank you Eden for all that you did to make my special birthday a blast. It's your turn next. Also, I need to say a BIG THANK YOU to my awesome husband Chad, who for my birthday this year, gave me a three day two night shopping spree with no limitations. You are the best Honey and I love you so much. Also, Eden, I think that we started yet another tradition. What do you say? I know it'll have to be after the little one gets here but we can do this again right?Next time, VEGAS!!

I still can't believe that this is the only picture I got. I guess we were having way too much fun shopping and eating. Thanks again. I had so much fun. SWITCH!!

The day of my actual birthday, I got to sleep in. I woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs. My kiddos and hubby made me a birthday breakfast and it was so yummy. Next, we got ready and I ATTEMPTED to go to Riley's soccer game but had a detour. Came home and settled the sickies in for the rest of the day. Chad's mom came over at 4:30 to watch the kids so that chad and I could go meet some friends and get the party started. We left hoping that the kids would be ok and that the puking had stopped. It hadn't, but we knew they would be in good hands. Sorry Kathy. We really appreciate you and all you do for us. Back to the party. We met up with our awesome friends Tom and Allison Steed and Lea and Jake Shepherd st Pizza Factory. We enjoyed some good food and great company. After almost two hours of chit chat and getting stuffed, we headed over to the fun center for some more fun. We went bowling and couldn't stop after one game. We tried for a second game and learned our lesson that we should've stopped after the first game because the second wouldn't get any better. Except for Allison who stayed very consistent with her scores in both games. We were going to race on the big blow up toy but found out it was only for ten years old and younger. Dang just missed it by 20 years. Yikes! Then we were going to jump on the trampoline but there were too many kids on there and we also got a call from Kathy telling us that our boy was throwing up still. So we went over to Iceberg and had a LARGE milkshake. We all listened to Lea repeat lines from the movie,Blades of Glory, and CRACKED UP!! It was an awesome night. Thanks so much to my friends for coming out and having fun with us. We had a blast and we are looking forward to the next time. We will jump on that trampoline. And Please please always remember...I am and will always be the youngest.

This is fuzzy but it's Chad and I on the way to Pizza Factory to meet the crew.

Chad and I at the fun center getting ready to bowl

The three hot mamas...I gotta say that I LOVE this picture. I had so much fun with these two.

All of us enjoying our ice cream. Thanks again you guys. I had so much fun. Thanks for celebrating my birthday with me.

Dear Thirty...(you're not very nice)

I got a bone to pick with you Thirty. I know I said "Bring it on" to you, but I didn't mean to bring on a years worth of throw up and pack it into three days. Did I mention that these three days happened to be the first three days of my 30th year? Well that was not very nice at all. I had to deal with two little kiddos puking in my car on the way to Riley's soccer game by myself ON MY BIRTHDAY!! Not only did they throw up 4 times in the car, but there was traffic EVERYWHERE! Which made what is normally a 15 minute drive an HOUR long. Luckily I was well equipped with bags and a big cup, so my car was not damaged by this event. The happy go lucky feeling I had fled the scene like a bandit though.But Thirty, if you think that you were able to bring my happy day to an abrupt halt, you are wrong. SO WRONG!! I ended up having a GREAT day!! But you didn't stop there did you? You are very persistent aren't you Thirty? After a great night of fun, food and friends, I woke up to yet more throw up by Trev, Pait and even...ME!! You are a very dirty player Thirty.VERY DIRTY!! But It's only just begun and I plan on coming back with avengence.So my advice to you is...watch your back Thirty cause I'm coming and you owe me three days!!Three throw up free, disenfectant free, energy filled, fun filled, GREAT DAYS!!

Sincerely,
Ali

The Big Three-Oh...Three Decades...Over the Hill...Or As I Like To Call It The Dirty Thirty

Yes that's right. Today I turn the dirty thirty. I can't believe that I am actually that old. I still remember when I thought thirty was so old...now I'm thirty!! This is how my thought process went with me turning thirty. At first..."at first I was afraid, I was petrified"...ok, ok back to the story. I was really in a funk about turning 30. It's just so old. A good third of my life is gone. GONE!! What'd I do with that part of my life? Did I make it worth it? Did I become the person I wanted to be by the mistakes I made? Did I make too many mistakes? Did I make enough good memories? Could I have done anything different to change my past? All of these questions flooded my head at the thought of turning 30. I was freaking out. I kept thinking, "Have I done enough so far to make my life worth while?" Luckily the answers to my questions came a few days later. I was playing with my kids and Chad and I had a moment to pause and look at the five of them around me. At that small moment in time I was able to see the blessings in my life. I felt the love so strong in the room. I have been blessed with the BEST husband. I truly believe that Chad and I are a match made in Heaven. Everything just seems to work out for us and I am so blessed to have a guy who is willing and able to do anything and everything he can to make his family happy. {I love you Chad...from here to eternity}.I have also been blessed with four BEAUTIFUL and healthy kiddos. My kids are the cutest and smartest kiddos in the world. Sure they can be stinkers sometimes, but they're kids. That's how they are supposed to be. I figure it's my payback for what I put my parents through. Which brings me back to my previous questions."What'd I do with that part of my life?" I went to school. I played basketball in college and soccer and softball and track and volleyball growing up. I found the perfect man for me and married him for time and all eternity in the temple which was a goal of mine. I became a mother and had four kids who bless me everyday and remind me everyday to be happy and live life to the fullest because you don't get another shot."Did I become the person I wanted to?" If you would've asked me when I was little what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would've answered, " A mom!!" I knew I wanted to be a mom. I remember going to my mom and telling her I was worried that the second coming would come before I would be able to have kids. Luckily I was blessed to bring these sweet spirits into the world. I think that the person I have become is the person I wanted to be. I also think that the image of myself is ever changing. Always wanting to improve. Hopefully I will have many more years to sculpt myself and become the the wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend I want to be. "Have I made too many mistakes?" Yes, I have. But I believe that it is only a mistake if you fail to learn a lesson from it. I have been blessed to gain knowledge from every single one of my mistakes. I know that the knowledge I have gained from them will help me be a better mother and wife and friend. If we don't make mistakes, that means that we didn't set ourselves up to fail and in turn, that we didn't set ourselves up to succeed. So did I make the last 30 years of my life worth it? I say YES! I have made it worth it. I have learned, loved, laughed, and made so many great memories. I was able to change my perspective about turning thirty. I was viewing it as a third of my life gone, lost, the end. When in fact the best part of my life is just beginning. Raising my children and making new memories with them. Watching them succeed and knowing that I raised them right. Increasing love and strength in my marriage and knowing that Chad and I are sealed for eternity. So you know what I say to 30? "Bring it on." Bring on the laughs, the memories good and bad {hopefully more good then bad}. Bring on the battle of getting older and trying to fit everything in while I still can. I am so going to win that game. One of my favorite songs is a country song called 'Life's a Dance' by John Michael Montgomery. "Life's a dance you learn as you go. Sometimes you lead sometimes you follow. Don't worry bout what you don't know. Life's a dance you learn as you go." So with that in mind, here's to turning thirty. Let's dance!

Happy 30th Birthday Ali!! (March 12)

Happy 30th B-day Ali! Even though this is a big milestone and you have been dreading it, maybe these Happy Birthday songs from your favorite musicians will help you get through (hopefully by 40 you will be over Bieber Fever).
Here's to 30 more years of fun, excitement, ups and downs, laughing and crying, and best of all: being with each other. We love you!

From Chad and the Kids

Trevor the Tank's Gonna Get Three Big Spanks!!

My baby boy is three! I can't believe it. It really doesn't seem possible that he is three today. Trevor has been such a great addition to our family. He has ALWAYS been ALL boy. He is a typical brother to his sisters. He knows exactly how to push their buttons and he loves it. I on the other hand don't like the fact that all of that has begun already. I just think of all the years I have ahead of me of breaking up fights between brother and sister. But the good far outweighs the bad. I always wanted a son and I am so thankful that we were blessed with Trevor.

Trev,
We just want you to know that you are a great little boy and we hope that you continue to grow and develop those talents that you have been blessed with. You are such an athletic and physical boy but you have the ability to be tender as well. We can't wait for the day when you will learn how to channel your energy into great things. We know that you will be a great young man. Keep learning and growing. Love your sisters, they will be your best friends. We love you Trevor. You have made us so happy and we know that you will do great things in your life. Happy birthday Moose!

Love mom and Dad

Two days old, just afer coming home from the hospital. Trev was so beat up looking for a good month after he was born. We knew he'd be a tough boy from the get go.

First birthday...Our little prince

Second birthday...his personality really started blooming here.

Our little stud muffin. Man I love this kid.