April Whirwind

Where does all the time go? It seems like I never have enough time to do all the things I want to do...like be a more consistent blogger....oh well. I do my best, and while I may slack at blogging, there are other areas of my life that I do not slack so much in.

So, life since my last post, and since our trip to Utah in March, hasn't been super exciting, but it has been quite busy. Sam has continued with his life-guarding job 2 EARLY mornings each week, and continues to work on his thesis project, all while doing really well in school. He just finished up his finals the first week of May. It is SOOOO nice to have him done with classes for now and not having to do homework all the time. Sam and I also played with the Black Hills Symphony Orchestra for their final season performance of Holst's Planets. And Sam has been pretty busy with his calling as Scout Master as well. Needless to say, my husband has been a busy fella! And he hasn't slacked on his fatherly duties either. He's a pretty amazing guy!

Meanwhile, these 2 little girls have been keeping my hands pretty full.....but full of joy! They are so much fun to hang out with all day....most of the time:) Life is a whirlwind of diaper changing, wiping runny noses, cleaning up throw-up, drying tears, lots of hugs and kisses, trying to keep the house relatively clean, feeding Samantha every 2-3 hours, feeding and cleaning up after LucyMae, sleepless nights, teaching 11 violin/viola students each week, working with the Young Women, teaching Suzuki group classes with the Black Hills Suzuki School, rehearsals and concerts with the Black Hills Symphony, gigs, playgroup activities, figuring out what to have for dinner AGAIN, etc., etc.

BUT, I like this whole MOM thing! Sure, I have my moments where I reminisce about the days of being child-free and independent...but then LucyMae gives me a big hug, or Samantha lets me snuggle with her for hours, and I remember how much I can and should and do enjoy this moment of life that I am in RIGHT NOW! I mean, just look at these adorable little girls....

Here, we were enjoying our ward's pinewood derby night....LucyMae LOVED watching the cars go by. I love seeing the things that entertain and interest her.
Samantha has been growing like a WEED! I love my little chunky-monkey! She is still such a happy, pleasant, easy-going baby.
Mid-April LucyMae, Samantha and I left Sam in Rapid City for a week and headed to Utah. We actually got to FLY...which is definitely the way to travel with these 2. Even though I had to do it by myself, it was 1 1/2 hours as opposed to the 11 hour drive. We survived just great on the flight, and arrived without any tears or mishaps. My friend Ashleigh Wood picked us up at the airport, and she has a baby too....so this is what the back seat of her Subaru looked like! Aren't Subaru's the best? Sadly I did NOT get a picture with Ashleigh...but THANKS AGAIN FOR PICKING US UP ASH!
I got to spend a couple days in SLC hanging out with my family. We actually stayed at my sister, Serenity's house. And I am just realizing that I don't have any pictures with her....sorry! She was so busy with school, she wasn't with us at the park when I had the camera out! She was a very gracious host, and her roommates were kind enough to put up with me and my kids too. We just tried to spend as much time as possible with Rennie, Howie, and Papa as we could!

I still can't get over how much this girl LOVES dogs....ANY dog! She has NO fear (which is a little scary for me at times....when she runs over to a dog to pet it before I can get to it and make sure it is a friendly dog...)
Howie...saving LucyMae from the river while talking on the phone...what an uncle!
Now...the real purpose of this trip to Utah was for me! I, along with all my high school girlfriends, am turning 30 this year. I have the most amazing group of girlfriends from high school. We have remained close throughout the years and distance. So, we planned a get away! Although it would have been fun to do something bigger, like California or NY or something, we all opted for something a little more affordable, and headed to St. George for 4 days! It was a BLAST!!! I left LucyMae with Sam's family in Orem and headed out! Out of 10 girls, 9 were able to make it! Pretty amazing eh? And out of the 9, 4 of us had nursing babies with us, so it made for a fun good time (FGT!!!) We talked, walked, talked some more, ate lots of yummy, healthy and not-so-healthy food, talked, sat in the sun, went shopping at the outlets, got some Golden Spoon, talked, played games, talked, slept (a little), got massages and pedicures, and talked some more. It was so good to catch up with these lovely ladies that I am blessed to call my friends!
Here is Samantha with Will Denzer....they are betrothed:) Don't you think they'll make a cute couple someday?
See? Already holding hands!
Just lounging around...we did a lot of that...how do you think we did so much talking and catching up?
Will and his mommy, Andrea
Golden Spoon ladies?
Shopping with these ladies is never a dull moment! We sure did have fun back in high school!
We went for walks and runs...I had such a fabulous time getting out on some trails while we were there....I miss those days where I could just take off for a run on a random trail, just to see where it went (a little harder to do with a double-jogging-stroller!)
Look at all these beautiful babies! It was fun to have them along, and to have so many extra hands to help hold them...and watch them while we took turns getting massages and pedicures. I LOVE Samantha's face in this picture too...that's just how she smiles! She's a happy girl!

And below is our farewell photo shoot....it gives you a little idea of how much fun we can have together, how weird we can be, and how awesome we are! I seriously LOVE these girls. I am so grateful for them, and I am so glad I was able to go on this trip! Thanks to Sam's wonderful family who gave LucyMae the time of her life while I was gone!
reenactment of a picture we found in the plethora of pictures that people brought down for us to reminisce about...don't really know why we did this back in the day....but whatever! FGT always!
When I got back to Orem to pick LucyMae up it was interesting to see that LucyMae was way more excited to see Samantha than she was me. I'm glad these sisters love each other and are going to be close! LucyMae was seriously SO happy to see Samantha. Watch the videos below.

Thanks to my dad, I had a car to drive around while I was there. So, on my way to my mom's house from Orem I got to stop off and see one of my dear friends from Bulgaria! She was just 15, I think, when I arrived in my first area, and she and her family sure made me feel welcome. Love this beautiful young woman....except she is like 23 now!
Then we got to spend the next day and a half with my mom and her husband, Don, and Howie, at their house. LucyMae had a great time playing on the first violin that I started on when I was 4 years old. I can't wait to do music lessons (violin or cello?) with this beautiful little girl. And thanks for the great pictures mom!
My camera battery was dying, so my mom took all the pictures when we went to the new aquarium in Sandy. And as a result, she is not in any of them....I WILL take a picture with you and my kids next time we are there ok mom? LucyMae loved the penguins especially. She still talks about them.

A little more park time with Grandma, while I exchanged the size 8 pajamas I accidentally got for LucyMae while I was in St. George.

And before we had to fly home we got to enjoy a yummy dinner at Cowboy Grub with some of my old friends and roommates! Thanks for meeting us ladies! Cowboy Grub sports a great room for kids to play in...LucyMae is a natural cowgirl!

And we caught Howie's orchestra concert. Not only is this guy tall and handsome, but he rocks at the cello! Any lady would/should swoon over him....someday....but he's still 15 for now.
LucyMae was elated about holding her first real cello....HER SIZE!!...almost! Wouldn't she make a cute Suzuki cellist? We had a hard time convincing her that it wasn't ACTUALLY her cello, and that she had to give it back to the little girl who let us borrow it for a picture.
We pretty much wore this little beauty out with all our traveling, eating-out, concert-going, and fun.
But isn't she a happy girl in the morning? This is just before we left for the airport to come home. LucyMae LOVED being on an airplane. She still talks about it ALL the time, and says with as much enthusiasm as an almost-2-year-old is capable of, "Airplane...up in du sKy!" She pretty much shouts it and jumps every time. She also likes to tell people about the cows, clouds, mountains, water, and other things we saw from the airplane.So, that pretty much constitutes the happenings of our lives in April and the rest of March. We are now enjoying the almost Springy weather here in South Dakota (I don't know if snow really qualifies as Springy weather). We are loving having Sam around a little bit more, now that he is done with school for the summer. And we are getting excited to take some fun trips this summer!

Happy Spring to you all. Enjoy the funny videos below.