Bon Jovi

This week my sisters and I went to see Bon Jovi in concert in SLC. Which has been a huge dream of mine and Josh's. A couple of months ago we noticed that he was coming to Salt Lake. Woohoo!! So I called my sisters to see if they wanted to come with Josh and I along with their husbands (or boyfriend) whatever the case may be:) They were all in! (All except my sister Teri in New Mexico. It's a bit far to travel for a concert.) A few weeks before the concert Josh found out he had to be out-of-town for work the entire week of the concert. We were so bummed! If anyone was looking forward to it the most, it was Josh. But after I sulked about it for a day or two Josh told me "the show must go on" and to call a friend to take his ticket. So I did. I called my good friend Amie. If there's anyone I can rock it out with--it's her!  We had a blast! It was THE best concert!  We knew from the beginning we were gonna be in nose-bleed seats, we got the cheapest tickets there were. But usually there just isn't a bad seat in the Energy Solutions Arena. Well, that's what we THOUGHT! We had hands-down the worst seats in the house. Directly BEHIND the stage! Ya, shocking they even sell those seats. I was pretty bummed about it in the beginning. But once he came out on stage...and Richie Sambora started strummin' on his guitar...you totally forgot about the seats. I've decided there's just nothing quite like seeing a band or singer or whatever, that you have loved forever singing a song that you love, LIVE. Nothing like it. It was his Greatest Hits Tour so he literally sung all of his greatest hits. You name it--he sung it. LOVED IT!! I promised Josh the next time Bon Jovi comes to town--we're all over it. TOGETHER THIS TIME!

It's My Life

                                                   Livin' on a Prayer

                                                 I'll Be There For You

Valentine's Day 2011

Okay, I know I'm slow to getting these pictures up, but whatever--they're up. Our family had a really great Valentine's Day this year. It was busy--but good. First, I helped with Katelyn's class party and did a chocolate fountain for the class. A real hit for sure! (Sorry no pictures). But I had so much left over chocolate we decided to do one at home with the fam...

We also did a "Love Box". I originally wanted to start this on February 1st, but couldn't get it all togther, so we actually started it a week before Valentine's Day. The idea is every night you write on a little cut-out heart a reason why you especially loved someone in your family that day. Then the idea was to read them all on Valentine's Day, but that didn't happen either (we had a bit of a crazy night that night with Katelyn sick in the urgent care) so we did it later. But it was a fun activity and new tradition.

I have been wanting to make these suckers that I found on one of my most favorite blogs for a long time. In order to make these you have to prepare for it at Christmas time and stock up on mini-candy canes. I actually made some with my Achievement Day girls and with MY girls. They turned out really cute!

Then on Valentine's morning I put together little love baskets for my kids and had them ready for them that morning, all placed by their bar stools where they eat breakfast. Complete with little love notes. Nothing fancy. Just little dollar store stuff. They loved them....

We completed the morning with pink, heart shaped pancakes....

But one of my favorite parts of the day was a card Emma made for me and Josh. It was a heart made with 2 pieces, each piece representing me and Josh. (Notice Josh's side is in blue and says BYU.) Pretty funny, clever and sweet.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's great how some parents spend Valentine's night as a whole family having a nice meal or out to dinner. But I prefer to do the fun "kids stuff" in the morning and during the day. As long as I know I've done something special and out of the ordinary for them that day, I don't feel guilty going out with just me and Josh that night. In fact, that's the EXACT reason we had Mason induced on February 13th because I just knew that if I didn't, he would come on Valentine's Day and then Josh and I would NEVER have a Valentine's Day to ourselves again. A decision I'll never regret.

Mason's 7th Birthday

My Mason had a great 7th birthday! He first celebrated with 2 of his cousins Madison and McKinley who all have birthdays all within a week of each other. This is the second time we've done this and it's a great way to get them all done in one big party! We celebrated at Leo's with pizza and LOTS of cake. And I mean LOTS of cake.....

Because all 3 birthday kids names started with an "M" I decided to make a big giant "M" cake. With M&M's on it of course! I made it out of bread pans and then just cut and pieced it together with cupcakes coming out the side that spelled their names. It was fun.

The following week Mason had a friend party. I told him he had to keep it small because he wanted to go see the movie Megamind. (Plus we had just had a big family party.) So he had 3 friends over. They made their own pizzas, had some cake and went to the movies. Easy peasy. Low key.

Overall, he had a great time with friends and family. He is now just ONE birthday way from turning the big EIGHT! Wow, how did we get here so fast??