Nicole is 7 (going on 16)

Has it really been 7 years? Time flies when you're having fun, I guess. Nicole has been really looking forward to her birthday. She had her jewelry privileges taken away several months ago for lying and being sneaky. We told her she could have it back when she was seven. She may have gone a little overboard with it. She wore my earrings (which she lost), a necklace, 2 bracelets, and she wanted to wear my wedding ring. I obviously didn't let her.

We started off the day with doughnuts and Danimals yogurt drinks for breakfast. Then she went to school (wearing new clothes from Grandma Debbi) and I had lunch with her in the school cafeteria. I brought macaroni and cheese with blueberry GoGurt and fruit punch from Panera Bread. She was in heaven.

After recess, we had brownies in her class with all of her friends.

After school, her BFF, Meagan Paxman came over to play for a little while. For dinner we went to The Old Spaghetti Factory with my parents and grandparents. Again, she had macaroni and cheese. There was a man working for tips going from table to table making balloon animals. The girls each wanted a cat and Tyler wanted a dog. They were all thrilled and it was fun to watch. Finally, we came back to our house for cake and presents. Nicole got a lot of Monster High stuff which thrilled her endlessly. When we tucked her into bed that night, she told us that this was the best day of her entire life.

Mission: Accomplished.

12 Loooooong Years Ago...

... I met my husband. We were forced on our first date and our friends joked that we would probably end up getting married and we would have to name our first child after them. We did, so we did. Lucky for us, they were both named Ben, and so is my husband, so our firstborn child bears the middle name Benjamin.

I will be forever thankful to Ben Cobb and Ben Boruchowitz for making us go out and changing my life forever. Thanks guys.

Benamin, Imaluvu.

(October 2000 - BYU Homecoming)

(July 2012 - Seattle)

I love that we still do the same exact pose. Some things shouldn't be messed with.

My thoughts on Fall

I love fall.

I should edit that statement.

 I love when we have had a really hot August and then September comes and there's still no rain but the nights get cold and I get to wear my boots and I don't have to shave my legs every day. We had a hot August and now September is awesome. It rained once, in the middle of the night, but it is still dry during the day. I don't have to send my kids to school with rain coats or umbrellas. I can leave my windows open all day. I can still do my hair and go out in public without it looking like a drowned rat by the time I get home. It's great! Here's a few things that I absolutely love about the end of summer/beginning of fall. And one that I don't much care for.