HAPPY

Once again I have a lot of pictures to post and a whole month to catch up on.  We celebrated a lot of HAPPY birthdays and had a HAPPY easter!

We got invited to our neighbor friend's birthday party at a trampoline place.  SO FUN!  We are definitely going back.  HAPPY Birthday Landon!

We also went to a cousin's birthday party.  We love that we live closer to Danny's sister so Memphis and Kayzee can play with their cousins.  HAPPY Birthday May Lynn!

Kayzee and I so desperately needed our hair cut!  Kayzee's was almost down to her waist and I was getting sick of combing snarls out everyday.  Mine was getting too thick and long again giving me headaches every day.  My cousin cut our hair and did a fabulous job as always.  Kayzee was so mad that we didn't cut her hair as short as mine but I just couldn't part with all her beautiful hair.  HAPPY results anyways.

Before...

 During...

 After...

Then a NOT SO HAPPY week occurred.  And yes, it lasted a week!  Memphis woke up with a fever on a saturday morning.  He didn't really complain about anything hurting he just wanted to lay in bed all day.  Not like him at all.  That night at 9pm I just had this feeling that I needed to take him to get looked at.  I didn't want to pay for the ER and the only instacare open was 40 min away.  But I am so glad we went.  STREP!  Sunday morning I woke up with a sore throat and fever.  NOOOO!  I went to the instacare and found out I had strep too:(  Memphis and I quarantined ourselves to my bedroom and Kayzee and Daddy hung out and slept downstairs.  Memphis and I watched a lot of movies and had a lot of popsicles. We also made sure we took our antibiotics so we could get better.  We stayed home from school on Monday.  Kayzee did so well entertaining herself all day in her room.  Memphis rested well and was feeling better by that night but I was so exhausted from taking care of the kids Monday while Danny was at work.  So glad Danny and Kayzee never got it!  Tuesday I took the kids to school and went home and slept all day.  Wednesday morning I woke up and decided to try and go to work.  It was awful!  I didn't have the gym so I had to go outside and it was freezing and so windy the kids couldn't play anything so we went inside and played inside games all day.  The school play was in the afternoon so I just sat and watched that.  When I got home I crashed.  I was up all night with a fever and my joints hurt so bad I couldn't walk.  I had been on antibiotics for more than 3 days so I should have been better.  It was so late, I couldn't drive myself and we couldn't leave sleeping kids so I called an emergency doctors line and the doctor said the antibiotic they started me on obviously wasn't working (not a good thing) so they called in a different antibiotic to try.  That one worked!  I stayed home Thursday from work to rest up and made it back to work on Friday.  Danny took Memphis camping so Kayzee and I were lazy all weekend so I could rest up and get feeling better!

Danny and Memphis went camping by Price with Danny's friend and on the way there Danny's jeep died just before the Canyon.  Danny called me and told me what tools to bring and I drove and saved them!  So glad Danny is a mechanic and can fix our cars.  We didn't have to pay for a tow and it didn't take him very long to fix it and get it running again.  Off they went camping and Kayzee and I enjoyed a girl's weekend.  Memphis got to try 4 wheeling by himself and took off on a jump a little too fast and got all banged up but he had so much fun.  I am glad they were safe and had fun.  Kayzee and I went to Swig so we could swing! And we also took a lot of naps together! HAPPY smiles all around.

Running makes me HAPPY!  I forgot how much I like running.  Before I got married I ran all the time.  I also ran in a lot of 5ks and 10ks and a few 1/2 marathons.  Once I got pregnant for the first time I just stopped running.  Starting my fitness journey back in January one of my fitness coaches/friends suggested a 5k.  I decided I was going to sign up for a race in May and that would give me time to start training.  Feels so good! I run at night after the kids are in bed.  I love the cool weather and no people around.  Just me and my music.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WEEK!
I had such a great Birthday week.  Thanks to everyone who sent gifts and to all who helped me celebrate.

Sunday-We went and played at the park all day.
Monday-My wonderful specialty team took me out to lunch at Zupas.  YUM!

Tuesday-We had a family game night and played the wii.  I BEAT DANNY at bowling.  I had to take a picture because I never beat him.  I can actually beat him at everything else so winning at bowling was even more awesome!  That 3rd person is Memphis and Kayzee playing together.

Wednesday-We went out for ice cream.
Thursday April 2 MY BIRTHDAY!-My wonderful neighbor and friend Amy celebrated with me.  I took the day off work and took the kids to school so Amy and I could go out and get pedicures and then we went and tried a new restaurant for lunch.  Blue Lemon-soooo good!  That night Danny and the kids cleaned the house bought me a balloon and made me a yummy cake.

Friday-Every year I like to go to Brick Oven Pizza and this year our neighbor friends went with us.  So fun to celebrate my birthday with my little family and friends.  The food was so good!  The kids also got some balloons.

Danny messed up trimming his awesome long beard so he just shaved it all off.  We like to tease him...baby face!

 Waiting for our friends and a table...

Saturday-We had a party with Danny's family.  More about that below!

HAPPY EASTER!
Friday after going out to dinner we drove to Danny's sister's house in Ogden to spend the night and then we drove to Brigham City on Saturday to celebrate Easter and Conference with Danny's grandparents and lots of Danny's family.  We had a little birthday celebration for everyone who had birthdays around this time so that was fun.  We had a picnic, colored eggs, and had an easter egg hunt and piñata.  We drove back home that night and part of Danny's family came to spend the night at our house.  On Sunday we had a yummy ham and potato dinner and some birthday cake and ice cream.  We all had fun hiding each other's easter baskets and trying to find them.  Happy Easter everyone!

I did Kayzee's hair while we watched Conference.

Now we all have this whole week off of school for SPRING BREAK and my mom is coming to play with us.  So excited to see her!

LOVE

Time is flying by!  We have been so busy and we have done so much since January when I posted last.

JANUARY 30---Memphis turned 6!!!  He is getting so grown up.  Guess who has the same birthday as him?!?!?  His kindergarten teacher!  Memphis wanted to get her a rose (completely his idea) and then he took cupcakes to share with his class.  Memphis loves his teacher and has been enjoying school.

We went to his parent teacher conference and he is doing so well!  He can read and write (his handwriting is beautiful!)  He is so smart at Math.  Memphis also made a card for his teacher and told her that he loves her.  He is so sweet.  His favorite thing at school is computers.  I thought he would say PE with mommy ;) but he loves computers!

That night Memphis chose Chuck e Cheese and my cousin's son came with us.  It was fun!  After we got some pizza and went and spent the evening at my cousin's house.  What a great day!

On Sunday we had friends over for a Super Bowl party and we also had cake and ice cream so that Memphis could blow out his candles!

Memphis didn't have to go to the dr. for his well-check-up this year.  He is all done and caught up on his shots till Jr. High!!!  YAY!

Memphis got a lot of money this year (from grandparents, and great-grandparents, and an auntie) so we took Memphis to a big toy store and he chose a present.  He LOVES it!  It is a building kit that has a marble track and musical pieces that the marble hits as it travels along the track.  He spends hours every day building new ways for the marble to travel.  So cool!  THANKS EVERYONE!

Memphis' kindergarten class celebrated the 100th day of school.  After school that day he said he was all done with school and didn't have to go any more.  SORRY buddy but you have a lot more school ahead of you!

Memphis drew a picture of his daddy!

Danny and I got a babysitter and took advantage of the beautiful weather we were having one day in February.  It was 68 degrees---crazy warm for February in Utah!!!  We went golfing.  I was doing another round of 21 day fix so I wanted to get some exercise.  We decided to walk.  We walked 3 1/2 miles doing 9 holes!  After we went to dinner to a steakhouse and I found something healthy on the menu!

The next day the weather was beautiful again so we spent the day at the park.

The schools celebrated Valentines Day on Friday the 13th.  Memphis and Kayzee had fun at their school parties.  I even got surprised with a bunch of Valentine's from my students.  After school Danny's sister Emily who is currently attending Snow College drove up to stay with Memphis and Kayzee for the weekend.  So nice of her!  The kids had fun!

The reason Emily came to stay with the kids for the weekend was because Danny and I planned a weekend get away!  Saturday we were going to be golfing all day so Danny said I could pick everywhere we ate and he went clothes shopping with me!  He let me get new clothes (since I lost weight) and he said he enjoyed spending that time with me seeing me model my new clothes!  I don't think he would do it again though;)  After shopping we drove down to Cedar City.  On the way we stopped to get some Dairy Queen and then finally made it to Danny's brother's house.  We spent the weekend at his brother's house with his wife and also Danny's parents and one of his sisters came too.

Saturday we drove down to Mesquite, NV to go golfing at the CasaBlanca Golf Course.  Beautiful 85 degree weather!  Danny's brother's wife had some connections and we got to golf for free!  That night we went out to eat at Chili's and then Danny and I headed home.  Quick trip but it was so nice!

One day it got really quiet in our house and we couldn't find Kayzee.  Finally found her buried under big pillows fast asleep!

This last weekend was a date-filled weekend!

Friday after school Memphis and Daddy went on a daddy-son date to McDonald's and Bowling.
Kayzee and I went on a Mommy-daughter date to get frozen yogurt and we did our nails.

Friday night our ward offered free babysitting and had a dinner, dessert, trivia night for the adults.

Saturday afternoon Memphis and I went on a Mommy-son date to Pizza Pie Cafe because Memphis had a free buffet.
Daddy and Kayzee stayed home and played board games and barbies (best dad ever!)

Saturday night we had a family date shopping and playing games!
We got our tax-return and we also sold Danny's 4-wheeler!!!  (Sad day but we needed the money)  We used most of the money to pay off debt but we also went shopping and spoiled ourselves a little!
Danny bought a new playstation, Memphis got a new game, Kayzee got a ken doll, and I got a fitbit!

Love my fitbit!  Excited for it to help me reach my weight loss goals!  I also found out that I won the fitness challenge in the challenge group I was apart of for my first round of 21 day fix!  My hard work paid off in many ways!  YAY for free shakeology!

I finished round 2 of 21 day fix and lost 2 pounds.  Didn't do as well as round 1 because Valentines day fell in the middle but I didn't gain any!  I also love my fit bit and it helped me lose those 2 pounds.  Now I am excited to feel healthy and fit again with round 3!  Seriously love how I feel when I eat healthy and do the awesome workouts.  I planned my first week and prepped my food so I am ready to rock this round!

Funny---Kayzee picked out the ken doll to go with her princess barbies and on the way home from the store Kayzee kept saying she loved her ken doll.  Memphis got confused and thought she was saying kindle.  He got so mad and said, "That's not a kindle.  It doesn't have any games on it!"

Funnier---I decided to listen to Memphis saying his prayers last night (just curious because he doesn't usually let us).  Here is what he said, "Please bless that our house can be painted purple with pink windows but that the inside can stay the same.  And please bless that when I get out a toy to play with it can clean up all by itself."  Kids are the best!

Funniest---(Memphis after singing along with his good night song) "Wow I sang that song so good and I sang every word.  Maybe I shouldn't go to the fire station and be a fire fighter after all like I thought I should be when I grow up.  Instead I should be in a rock concert and sing that song with a strobe light behind me.  It would be so awesome.  And then I would be older and my teeth would get loose from singing so much they would fall out and the tooth fairy would bring me lots of dollar bills.  Or books!!!  I think I would rather have books!

New Year New Me!

We had a wonderful start to the new year.  We celebrated with Danny's family up in Brigham City.  We stayed at his grandparents house and his parents came along with some of his brothers and sisters and their families.  It was a full house but it was a lot of fun.  Family is the best!

We helped one of his sisters move in to her new house in Odgen with her little family.  It's nice being closer to them so our kids can play.  Cousins are fun!  Then we spent New Year's Eve playing lots of games.  The next day a bunch went over to the church to play basketball and I took the kids sledding.  What is up with this Utah winter?  We have had hardly any snow.  Sledding was still fun though!

Kayzee loves her Elsa Anna Dress...thanks grandma Thorpe!

 Me and my hilarious sister in laws!  Love you Mary and Emily!

 Sledding!

 We loved pushing each other down the hill

 I love my kids.  We have so much fun together!

 I bought these for New Years and forgot them.  So as soon as we got home we had to try them out:)

I have two callings now.  I am back to playing the piano in relief society.  I was not too excited about that one because I just finished playing for the relief society for the last THREE YEARS!!!!!  They released me for a year and then called me back to it.  When I asked them why I was doing the same calling again they said they didn't remember me playing before.  REALLY?  Oh well, it's easy cause I can play anything so I just have to show up.  No work involved.

My other calling is Activity Days with the 8 year old girls.  I usually don't like callings with kids because I teach kids all week but this calling I LOVE!  It is a little more work;) but it is FUN!  The girls are so great!  Here is one of our activities we did.  January is a new year so we talked about different goals they could set like spiritual, personal, physical, family etc.  We also talked about setting attainable goals and always setting new ones to keep growing.  We then made these cute frames with paper behind the glass so they could write their goals and then erase them with a dry erase marker to set new goals.  They turned out so cute.  My partner did most of this creative process.  She is fabulous!

Speaking of setting new goals...

I have been thinking a lot about my health and trying to take better care of myself.  For those of you who know me well and have been reading my blog for awhile, you know I have tried many different weight loss programs and diets and none seem to hook me and keep me motivated.  Well no longer.  I finally found a program that taught me better eating habits and included workouts.  I saw results from Day 1 and that was another reason I was hooked.  Another teacher I work with did the program and she looks amazing!  I talked to her about it a lot and finally bought it for Christmas.  Best present ever!  It's called 21 day fix.  

I don't have a lot of time to go into details but it's basically portion control but they help guide you with the food groups and what to put in the containers.  It takes a lot of preplanning meals but I loved it.  I am a very picky eater but this was doable.  It also included 7 workouts.  I LOVE the workouts.  They are killer but amazing!  

I get a free coach by buying the program and she told me to take before and after pictures.  I am going to post them here but it is really hard for me.  I have never really shared my exact weight with people before but I am gaining the confidence to just be proud of myself and I really do feel so good! And I am definitely sticking with this program till I lose the 100 lbs I need to lose!  

Here is me back in Jan of 2012.  I was at my heaviest.  I just had two kids close together and a very stressful life.  I EAT MY STRESS.   

Then I got sick and couldn't eat food without being up all night sick so I lost 50 lbs.  I maintained that 50 lbs lost for a year and figured out my health problems and knew it was time to lose another 50 lbs. 

Here I am Day 1 (Jan 3, 2015) of the 21 day fix program.

And here I am 21 days later...I lost a total of 11 lbs and 6 inches!!!  I actually lost 9 lbs the first 9 days.  That is the fast results I was talking about...I maintained my weight the 2nd week and then doing two workouts a day for a week I lost another 2 lbs.  AWESOME! 

I have seriously been so much happier every day.  Also before I started the program my IBS-D symptoms would flare up at least once a week.  Since I started the program more than 21 days ago, I have not been sick at all!!!  Eating healthy and taking care of myself is what my body needed!  

I can do exercises I have never been able to do before (like push-ups!)  I have muscles I never knew I had.  And the reasoning behind the program is that it takes 21 days to form a habit.  It's so true for me.  Now that I have completed 1 round of the program I am going to take a week off and then do it again.  I was planning this week out and I automatically planned healthy meals and figured out what workouts I wanted to do.  I actually want to workout and I don't go to bed without doing one!  Eating healthy feels so good and it has helped me fight cravings.  I have not had carbonated drinks since Jan 1 and I have not craved them either!  I have made desserts during this program because we went to different dinner parties but I literally had enough self control I only had one bite every time!  On Sunday to celebrate my success I made a dessert Danny has been craving.  I decided to eat a whole piece and it made me feel sick.  I will stick to one bite from now on.  That seems to satisfy my craving of chocolate.  And I have not craved or wanted fast food at all!  It sounds so disgusting.  Healthy habits are the best!

Danny has been a huge support through all this.  He does the workouts with me when he is not too tired:) and he is always giving positive compliments to help me get through.  He eats the healthy meals with me too!  

My kids have been my biggest supporters.  Memphis likes to remind me to get my workout in:)  One night I was not in the mood to workout.  Memphis grabbed my weights and said, "Come on Mom, let's do this!"  My kids work out with me at their own cute little levels and they are trying new healthy foods.  We are going to be one healthy family!

My kids are awesome!

Thank you to all of you who have encouraged me and helped me through.  Your compliments are the best thing!  I have the worst self-esteem but I have the best family and friends and your words stick in my head to help me through each day.  Here's to a healthier new year!  Life is great:)