Ashton's 1st Birthday

Melissa had a birthday for Ashton to celebrate is 1st Birthday! Ashton is such a good baby. He just chills out and takes everything in. Melissa is a fabulous mom and is so cute with Ashton. The party was a lot of fun. Melissa made homemade soup and served it in bread bowls. My favorite was the potato soup.

Singing "Happy Birthday to Ashton!"How cute is Ashton??? Adorable and messy!Mark was such a good dad helping Ashton open all of his presents. Ashton was so cute during the whole party. I just love that little guy and I can't believe he is one!

Utah vrs BYU

Steve and Jaime went to the big game. Since the rest of us are also Utah fans, we had our own party. Ethan reminds me sooo much of Steve, he knows the plays and was totally into the game. The kids were so adorable and we had so much fun together.

Ethan with his game face on!

Cheering for the Utes!!!!!!Yeah Utah won!!! Look for Steve and Jaime, they are out there on the field! The final score was Utah 48 BYU 24!

Digital Scrapbooking

I mentioned digital scrapbooking in one of my last entries. Becky was a little disappointed that I didn't post my pages. Here is the thing...I'm still learning so I'm not confident about my pages yet. But here are my first 3 pages.

Happy Birthday Becky!!

I went to Houston to celebrate Becky's birthday. To celebrate we went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. What is a birthday without a big piece of chocolate cake? After dinner we went to the movie Madagascar 2

What a cute family!
Cater, Becky, Ed, and Callie Cat

Not only is Becky adorable, stylish, compassionate, sassy, fun, creative, an incredible mom and wife but she is also a fabulous sister and friend. Thank you for all the memories..."It's only a silly old rock", laughing until we wet our pants, Sister's Trips, scrapbooking, long chats, the hunt for the best chocolate cake, and the list goes on and on. I'm glad I got to spend your birthday with you and look forward to many more memories over the years!
I LOVE YOU!

Madonna Concert

One of the things Becky wanted to do for her birthday weekend was go to a Madonna Concert. When she called me and asked me if I wanted to come up for her birthday, I had a plane ticket booked right away!

I have been a Madonna fan since her debut in the 80's. I have ALWAYS wanted to see her live. I was beyond excited to see her in concert, especially with Becky. We went to the concert with Becky's friends Beth and Mel. They are awesome and made my Madonna experience even that more perfect!

I know I am a dork but I was so excited to see her, I got a little teary before she even came out.

Mel, Me, Becky, and Beth!
Beth waited an hour 1/2 in line to get me a Madonna sweatshirt so I wouldn't miss Madonna's grand entrance. How nice is that????Madonna was incredible. We all joked that she was like a Mexican Jumping Bean. She had nonstop energy, was in better shape than a 20 year old, and has a voice that is timeless. My Madonna experience was one I will always remember.

Hanging Out!

Cater LOVES to read. He averaged a book a day while I was there. He is sooo adorable. I would find him all snuggled up on the couch with a book. I loved hearing about what he was reading. He is also quite the artist. I also got to go to Cater's basketball practice. It was fun to watch him play. He is good both defensively and offensively.

Callie is crazy about stuffed animal. She took a stuffed animal with her where ever we went.

Callie and Cookie. I can't believe that Cookie likes her house. Callie sure takes good care of Cookie. Callie spent time looking for a German Shepard puppy on the Internet, she is hopeful that is what she will get for Christmas.

Becky taught me how to digital scrapbook. We spent sooo much time at the computer. It was relaxing and fun. She is a great teacher, hopefully I can make her proud. Becky took me to the Nutcracker Market. It is like a expo of cute little boutique stores. We were in heaven. We also did a little Christmas shopping.

Pizza Party

Becky and Ed went on a date night so the kids and I decided to have a pizza party. We had a good time eating pizza, watching "Kung Fu Panda" and being silly. Cater and Callie totally crack me up.

Yum Pizza!!!

Callie all snuggled with "Furball and Joy!"

The Houston Zoo

Since it was my last day in Houston, Becky took the kids out of school and we headed to the Zoo. It was great to have one last afternoon with Cater and Callie. We were dreading saying goodbye so this adventure made the day a little easier.

Becky, Cater, and Callie by this lizard monster creature. It is huge!
Callie loved the big cats! This leopard was poising for us!

Callie liked this snake best in the reptile house.

Cater and I were much more into the lizards!

We had a good time walking around the Houston Zoo watching the animals. We all loved watch the monkey area the most. Becky thought it would be great to give the monkeys a little sugar treat so she threw them little balls of cotton candy. They were lovin it. Well I decided to get into the action and when I threw the cotton candy my purse flew off my arm and landed down at the base of the monkey area. Becky was a great sister and climbed down (off the board walk) and got it for me. One of the monkeys was a little fascinated by her being so close and followed along the side of her even after she got back on the board walk. Now that was a RICKI maneuver.
After the Zoo, it was time for me to leave. Callie started crying on the way to the airport which got me all worked up as well. Cater tried to talk me into purposely missing my plane. Knowing that I will see them again in February made it a tiny bit better to leave. Thanks for a great week. I miss and love you!!!

Happy Birthday Andrea!

Andrea and I went to the Asian Star to celebrate her birthday. Andrea is a great friend. She is creative, organized, and a lot of fun to be around. To tell you what a good friend she is, she was brave enough to organize my entire storage closet which believe me wasn't a pretty situation. Andrea I hope you had a "fab" birthday, thank you for your friendship!

Sunday Dinner

Home Sweet Home!

Michael and Ashli bought a new house in Spanish Fork. Even after moving all weekend, they invited us all over for Sunday dinner. Ashli made a delicious roast dinner.

Gracie and Ethan helping me garnish the peanut butter pie!
Nice big modern kitchen!
Family Room.
Family in the family room...hee hee
Elsa playing hanging out in the loft
Gracie and Ethan playing in the loft

Your house is soooo cute Michael and Ashli...congratulations!

Happy Birthday Melissa

Melissa and I met in our Master's program. We clicked right away and became close friends. We spent a lot of time together studying, doing projects, and giving each other pep talks throughout the program. One of my favorite memories of school...Melissa, Teresa, and I studying for our Psychopharmacology class at my pool. We made tons of flash cards and would hang out at the pool all day quizzing each other. We knew how to make studying fun :) She is a talented person and I know will make a fabulous therapist. Melissa is one of the most positive, optimistic, fun people I know. Melissa I am grateful for your friendship. Thanks for being one of my best friends!

To celebrate Melissa's birthday we went to lunch. One unique thing about Melissa is that she can't stand any type of vegetables. So we went to a steak house!

After lunch we of course went shopping. Ashton was so good. He especially liked looking at the jewelry. He is so good natured and a great shopper!

Happy birthday, Birthday Girl! I love you tons!

Last Day of Work

I have worked 9 years for the Foster Care Citizen Review Board (FCCRB). Our agency was eliminated after a special legislative session was held and The Department of Human Services had significant budget cuts to make. Since our agency was small it was easy to cut. November 6th was my last day. It was hard to clean out my office and say good bye. I will say it has been a rewarding experience to advocate for the children in foster care. I will continue to advocate for children just in another capacity. Thank you family and friends for your support during this transitional period.I wonder who will be in my office next? It still seems like I will be going to work on Monday

Wow, it took me several days to clean out my office. It was sad to close the door and move on!

Flowers from my board members! Working with over 80 volunteers throughout the State of Utah was one of the highlights of my job. I will miss them! Below is a board members for one of my Salt Lake City Boards. I had 7 Salt Lake City Boards, a Moab Board, and a Tooele Board.

While it is sad to say goodbye, I am looking forward to advocating for children as a therapist. Most of you know I am an intern therapist at Intermountain Specialized Abuse Treatment Center (ISAT). Most of my clients are children and adolescents who have experienced some sort of trauma. I have a passion for working with this population and look forward to what opportunities the future will bring!