Resort Getaway

Mike and I won a gift card to stay at the Royal Palms Resort and Spa in Phoenix at my work's Christmas party last year and we finally decided to use it! We went the weekend of September 29th & 30th. Can you say CHA-CHING?! The minimum fee is over $300/night! That of course doesn't include eating out and all of the other amenities they offer. There's valet parking for everyone and the maids undress your bed and bring you ice and water after 6pm each night.  

The view was amazing and we absolutely loved our room. Mike was in heaven! I knew what to expect because I booked the room, but he was was totally surprised at how nice it was. We took pictures because we know we won't stay at another place like this in a very very long time...or ever. 

We used our Pei Wei gift card for dinner so everything was FREE! It's too bad we couldn't stay more than one night. All in all it was fun to hang out, just the two of us, and relax. I love spending time with him :)

Utah Cabin Bliss

My family stayed at a family friend's cabin in Heber, Utah September 20th - 24th as one last hoorah before Connor leaves on his mission. Thank you Pettit's! No work, ate tons of food, cooler weather, family time, and I got to see my husband for 4 days in a row which NEVER happens...ever.

Family Room

Michael and I's suite and bathroom

With 11 of us flying standby, it took 3 flights to get there and Mike and I were the last ones to arrive. It was almost midnight by the time we landed and my Dad pulls up in an 11 passenger white van that spells out "WE'RE MORMON!!" Haha, hilarious! It worked and it was cheaper to get one big van than to rent multiple cars.

And then we played "September" by Earth, Wind, & Fire at midnight for Connor's 19th birthday. It starts out:

Do you remember the 21st night of September?
Love was changing the mind of pretenders
While chasing the clouds away

That was tons of fun singing to him and I'm glad my mom thought to do that. We stopped at the grocery store before heading to the Pettit's cabin and found out once we arrived that Kelly's bag was left at the airport. It was NOT funny at the time, but I laughed my head off the next morning knowing my Dad and Cameron had to drive back to the SLC airport, about 3 hours round trip, to get her bag. A trip is never fun without any mishaps, right?! :) 

 

 

 

 

 

 The 2012 HGTV Home we didn't win

We watched movies, played pool, ping pong, foosball, pinball, Battle of the Sexes, Catch Phrase, UNO, and Guesstures and of course we watched the ASU game on a laptop for as long as the Internet connection would allow us to.

 

 Highest Score - 137,960

 

Guesstures Champions!

Our Devils beat Utah!

 FEAR THE FORK

We decided to take family pictures since Connor will be gone for 2 years. Family pictures with a tripod, an 8 month pregnant lady, and a 20 month old = FUN TIMES! We took TONS of shots and the first picture we took turned out the best. Go figure. I honestly love every single one of these guys no matter how many times we argue and make up! I'm so grateful for the family I have and thank Heavenly Father often for the parents and siblings I was given.

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mom cooked for us (Thanks, Mom!) and her meals were delicious. Cameron even made breakfast for us one morning. And we ate out a few times as well.

 

 

 

I got stung by a bee and cried like a baby. It hurt way more than I thought it would. My arm swelled and it was super red around the sting so I called my doctor just to be safe and they told me to go to Urgent Care, which I didn't do. Haha! #afraidofbeesnow

 - Connor and I on his 19th Birthday - 

I don't want to go into a lot of detail, but my heart is heavy and I want my brother to know how much I'm going to miss him. It kills me that he won't meet my daughter for the first time until she's 2 years old. He reports to the MTC October 31st and I'm due November 13th. Totally not the end of the world, but it's still sad and I try really hard not to cry about it. I'm going to miss his sense of humor - Last night at my parents he jokingly made fun of my Mom and we all laughed, even my Mom, and I will miss that...You see, he's the only brother I have. I've sent friends and cousins on missions, but sending one of your siblings on a mission is different. There is more of an emotional attachment. As happy and proud of him as I am, I wish he didn't have to leave until after my baby was born. However, he has decided to serve the Lord for 2 years and that is worth waiting to meet my daughter if he can bring those who are searching for truth closer to the Savior. A mission is a sacrifice and I wish I would have served one. I love you, Connor! Be prepared for LOTS of pictures!!

"I have a family here on earth. They are so good to me..."

~ xoxo ~

28 & 29

August is the month of birthdays for this family and I can tell you I'm the smaller number of the two! :) Both of our birthdays were fun filled days of things we each wanted to do. Our birthdays are three days apart (Mike - Aug 25th / Lindsay - Aug 28th) which is kind of fun but not for the bank account #nobabiesborninaugust

Mike's Birthday - He worked in the morning and then we went to Outback for dinner and saw "The Bourne Legacy", his choice. He got basketball shorts and socks, a ball cap washer, and a movie bucket with popcorn and M&M's from his lovely wife. My parents gave him a nice pair of jeans (he has two pairs now!) and his family gave him a hat, a book, socks, basketball shoes, Pei Wei gift card, and a Google Nexus (Scott is now his "favorite" brother). S.P.O.I.L.E.D.

This is the only picture we took on his birthday and I wish we would have taken more, but here he is eating a Bloomin Onion which he was very proud of considering how much he hates onions.

Mike's

Lindsay's



Lindsay's Birthday - I took the day off so I could spend it with Mike who already had the day off. Sea World and a new bed set was our birthday gift but he insisted on giving me something to open and gave me a handheld back massager, a "maternity" ASU shirt, and the sweetest birthday card ever with money in it!! I started to cry when I saw the money. We have been very strict with our finances, budgeting for a baby and all, and some pay periods have been harder than others. At Southwest, employees will put money on their shift if they need someone to work for them and Mike picked up additional shifts that had money on them of which he saved and gave to me for my spending. I immediately thought of bills I could pay, but he told me I could only have the money if I spent it on anything BUT bills so I got my hair colored after 5 months of ugly roots! He will never know how much that meant to me.  

We ate breakfast at Joe's Farm Grill and of course my meal was free! The food was delicious and Mike rearranged my bacon for me :) I went to lunch with my girlfriends and then Mike and I ate at Costa Vida for dinner. 

 

~ What 18 years of friendship looks like ~

I've known Debra Jo and Jenny since we were 10 years old (5th grade). It's crazy how long we've known each other and that we're still friends after all these years! Debra Jo has been married for 8 years and has 3 boys: Tyson (5), Emmett (3), and Miles (5 months). Jenny has been married for 5 years and has a boy and a girl: Hudson (2) and Eliot (11 months). I've only been married for about a year and a half and am having my first baby next month. Although we've been at different stages of our lives for the last several years, we've always managed to get together year round, especially on our birthdays. They took me to Pei Wei for lunch and I had so much fun! LOVE YOU GIRLS!!!

PS My husband is the BIG 3-0 next year!