Jill turns 13 - Whoa!!

Yes it's true!! We officially have a teenager in our house now. Jill turned 13 yesterday and what a party it was. It all began when Melanie and her kids (our neighbors/friends) came over to sing to Jill and give her a gift. The gift sent Jill into flip out mode; it was the Jonas Brother's new CD. Needless to say, the rest of the party was filled with the sounds of the Jonas Brothers. Yea!

Jill had invited a few friends over and they went on a "bigger or better" scavenger hunt. I was amazed at the stuff they got. They started out with a tiny goldfish, which they traded for a sucker, which they traded for a pack of gum, which they traded for a box of brownie mix, which they traded for a poster board (I know, how random), which they traded for a box of mac n' cheese, which they traded for a bag of chips, which they traded for an over sized zucchini, which they traded for another box of brownie mix, which they traded for a box of Capri suns, which they traded for a 2 liter bottle of Sprite, which they traded for two pieces of cake, which they traded for an empty bottle of exercise powder (whatever, it was bigger), which they traded for a television. Seriously, a television. They didn't actually physically trade anything, so they ended up with all the above mentioned stuff (I can't remember the exact order, but it was a lot of stuff). I couldn't believe it. I don't think I would've given a whole box of Capri suns to some strange girls that knocked on my door and asked me if I had anything bigger or better than a .... Oh well, they had fun!

Jill is amazing and beautiful! She has a fun personality and a great sense of humor. She is a good friend and a great daughter and I can't believe she is 13. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital as a newborn.

We love you Jill!!

Lizzy, Jill, Alyssa, Shaelee, Erika, Tamsyn

We definitely did not have a shortage of junk food.

What's a birthday party without Scotcheroos?! Delicious!!

Fun circle of friends

Jill has really great friends. She received a lot of nice gifts. Among them were several bottles of nail polish which sent the girls to nail polish heaven. The smell was lovely.

The party ended with some pizza and a spontaneous round of doorbell ditching. I guess that is still fun even when you're 13.

I've been tagged

Okay, so my sister Amy tagged me ages ago.

Sorry, I'm kind of slow!!

Here goes, I've never done this before:

3 Joys

My husband

My children

Planning for our cruise in March

3 Fears

Losing my husband

Losing one of my children

Not being able to go on the cruise in March

3 Goals

To be a good wife and mother

To finally get all my recipes typed and in a binder

To save enough money for our cruise through substitute teaching

3 Regrets

Not finishing college

Being too shy at times

Quiting the violin

3 Current Obsessions

Saving money for the cruise

Blogging

Saving money for the cruise

5 Facts about me

I am afraid of the dark and bad guys

I love to stay up late and hate to get up early

I love to do dishes, laundry, and vacuum,

but I very much dislike and hate to dust

I love, love, love surprises

I can't wait for our cruise in March (as if you couldn't already tell)

So, there you have it. ME in a nutshell; whether you wanted me in a nutshell or not!!

THINGS THAT MAKE ME SMILE :):):):)

Going on dates with Zaron

Laughing with my four cute kids

Fridays

Friday night slumber parties with Zaron and the kids

Watching re-runs of Brady Bunch, Emergency, Adam-12, Chips, and Greatest American Hero

Friday night homemade pizza

Watching a good football game

Inn-N-Out

Cafe Rio salad

Diet Coke

Reading a good mystery

Disneyland

Magic Mountain

Roller Coasters

Going to Amusement Parks with family and friends

Scary movies

Romantic movies

Popcorn

Milky Way candy bars

Donuts

Camping

Homemade waffles

Little House on the Prairie

Perry Mason

Quiet time to myself

Unexpected flowers from my husband for no reason

Watching Kevin play football and not get killed
Smiles
My kid's fun personalities

Driving home from Costco with a weeks worth of food, and having stayed within the budget

Monk

Psych

Hallmark Channel mystery movies

The Amazing Race

The Mole

80's music

California

Spring

Watching the snow fall through a picture window while wrapped in a blanket, reading a book, and drinking hot chocolate

Playing the piano

Yanni

Josh Groban

Barry Manilow

The Carpenters

Pride and Prejudice (the old one)

Anne of Green Gables and Avonlea

Michigan thunderstorms

Spontaneity

Good friends

Laughing

And the list could go on and on and on..................................

GO BLUE!!!!!

On Saturday, we went to the BYU football home opener game against Northern Iowa. We had a great time!! BYU killed Northern Iowa; poor little guys. I kind of felt bad for their 25 fans who had traveled so far. Actually, I didn't feel bad at all. I'm glad we won. Who wants to pay $100 to watch their team lose, I certainly didn't; I don't care how good the nachos and hot dogs are.

Who's that random guy in the background?

Did I say we all had a great time? Well, most of us did. Megan was only happy if she was eating or drinking something. I have to say in her defense, it was a tad bit hot during the game; about 100 degrees to be exact.
Jill loved to "rise and shout" after each of our touchdowns!

Way to go Cougs!!!