January Happenings 2012

January was nice and busy and, as usual, I am way behind on my blogging. Sigh! Scott had a week off between Christmas and New Years and it was HEAVEN!!! We did all kinds of fun things, including lots of baseball. The weather was unusually warm and dry so it worked out perfect. This girl has got quite the arm!On the 3rd Suzie and I went to dinner at Thaifoon to celebrate our 31st Birthdays. The food was amazing and we sat and talked for hours. Are we really getting that old Suz?!

The food was SO good, in fact, that we had to take Dad, Mom and Nana there a few nights later. We all loved it! I'm so happy they live here.

In January we decided it was time to conquer a few house projects that we'd been putting off for a while. We put projects on hold the past year because there was a high possibility of us moving, so we didn't want to put any more money into anything. However, we decided we want to stay so it was time to dip into our "home improvement" account. This wall was plain jane and always bothered me so i decided to dress it up. Before:

After: (i like it much better now)

We enjoy having Suzie over for dinner and I personally love the quality time she spends with my girls. I adore her! The girls love when she reads them stories. She's going to make such an amazing Mommy one day!

Kaleigh had her 4th grade Utah Program. She was so excited!

She had a huge speaking part and did SOOO good! She completely nailed it and did so with so much confidence. I was quite proud. I love that girl!

Shayla has a couple buddies that seem to be over all the time. This particular night they talked me into a sleepover. They were adorable but wouldn't go to sleep. Sigh!

Breakfast time!

Suzie, Scott and I went to dinner and to see Brian Regan on the 19th. We had so much fun! I love my best friends!!!They are the best.

Brian is ridiculously funny!

I hate hate hate the tile and carpet that were in my upstairs. They were here when we moved in and i never liked it and couldn't wait to change it out. It was ripped out and we had laminate put in. We also tore out all the baseboards and put higher profile ones in. I love the new look SO much! We should have done it sooner. Entry way before:

And after:

Upstairs hallway before:

And after:

Living room before:

And after:

Another view before:

And after:

On the 21st we went to The Zac Brown Band concert. We are huge fans and were really excited!

It was AMAZING! I love him. I cried almost the whole time. When I wasn't crying, I was choking up. It really made me miss Mike.

Peyton had been playing with my wedding ring one morning while I was getting ready for a baby shower. I took it away and it disappeared after that. It was missing for 3 days and it made me sick. We searched EVERYWHERE. I prayed about it into day 2 and kept getting a overwhelming impression to search the kitchen trash that had been taken out. I ignored it cause I'm a germaphobe and didn't feel like dumpster diving. Finally, the night before the trash was going to be dumped, I couldn't ignore the feeling anymore. I pulled the bag out of the dumpster, put on some gloves and dug through disgusting garbage. EW! Guess what though? As I got to the bottom...there was my beautiful wedding ring!!! I burst into tears immediately.

I couldn't believe it. I must have accidentally thrown it away that morning with my banana peel. It was still inside it. I am soooo thankful that Heavenly Father heard, and answered, my prayer. I thankful that I listened as well.

Scott went to Canada for a week for business and while he was there the girls and I found these awesome hats!

As soon as he got back it was time to get cracking on another project. We had to move everything out of the back bedrooms so we could get new carpet. My house was a disastrous maze and it drove me nuts!

The end result was worth it though. I love the look, feeling and SMELL of new carpet!

We also started work on our front bathroom. That project was quite a pain. We added all new fixtures. Scott did a beautiful job on the wainscoting.

I was in charge of sanding and staining the sink.

The sink before:

And after:

View before:

And after:

Wall before:

And after:

We love how it turned out and want to do a similar look on our bathroom. We enjoy doing home improvements but are looking forward to doing none for a while. :)

Dear Mikey,

I went to the Zac Brown concert last night! It was amazing! They performed many of the songs I know you loved including Chicken Fried. I bawled the whole time. I cried through most of the concert actually. I thought going to the concert was a great idea since I love them so much but today I'm not so sure that was a great idea. It made me miss you terribly. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss you. Not one day. I've become a rock star at hiding my pain over your death. However, that concert made it impossible to hide. My heart hurts. I couldn't help but want to call you and send you videos throughout the concert because I knew you would appreciate it as much as me. I can't though. You're not here. You'll never be, either. I didn't realize how connected we are to our siblings until you died. Why? Cause when you died apparently a part of me did as well. I would give anything to have you back. I would give anything to have been able to talk to you that night on May 10th and tell you that whatever it was that was hurting to the point of taking your own life....would pass. Everything would have been OK. I can't imagine how horrible you must have felt that night. It haunts me. It makes me sick. I wish something or someone could have stopped you from making that horrible decision. You are missing so much. I could go on forever on all the things that you've missed since you left. Most importantly though, your son. He'll never really know you. Only stories. That's such a shame. I can't wait to see you again some day. I have so many questions to ask you. Most importantly, I need a big hug from you. Until then, I will just miss you. I will continue to wonder what you would have looked like now. Continue to wonder where you would be in life. Continue to miss your letters when you were in training. Continue to miss your frequent phone calls. I will continue to miss my brother. I love you. I always have and I always will!

Love,

Shelly

December Happenings, 2011 Part 1

December was awesome as usual! Plenty busy as well. Here are the highlights...
The girls' annual "help Dad with the Christmas lights" picture. I'm still not sure why they like to go up on the roof. It scares the crap out of me personally.
We watched "Elf " one night and the next morning we woke up to paper hearts and snowflakes EVERYWHERE. The girls even wrote sweet notes like this on most of them. They are so cute!

For a couple days Dexter wouldn't leave the Christmas trees side. We couldn't figure out why until we discovered these gifts the girls had wrapped and hid under other gifts. 3 were marked for Dexter and 1 was for Harry and Lloyd.

We peeked inside and this is what Scott and I found. Hilarious!

Here's poor Dexter before we took his toys out of the boxes. Lol!

On the 8th Suzie and I made our Annual visit to The Nutcracker. I love our tradition! First we ate at Cafe Rio, of coarse.

Pork tamales, my favorite! Yum!!!

It was such a fun night! I love having a best friend. Well, Scott is my best friend too, but you can't understand the importance of a best girlfriend unless you have one I guess. :) I love her.

Santa usually brings the girls Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve. This year, however, we needed them early so we contacted him. On the 15th we went to the Polar Express with family so the girls got them that day when they came home from school. They looked quite adorable.

Us at the Polar Express in Heber!

Danny, Megan and Nana ♥

Dad, Peyton, Gabe, Mom and Kaleigh ♥

Sarah and Kyle ♥ Side note: They announced to the family on the 4th that they are EXPECTING a baby on June 29th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't be more excited, I promise. How awesome!!!

Axton, Shayla, Scott and I ♥

The train ride was so stinking fun. It was our 2nd time and everyone else's 1st, which made it more fun. The girls couldn't wait to see Santa and get their bell. Here's Santa and Shayla~

Santa and Peyton ~

And Santa and Kaleigh ~

The girls and Axton even got to hang out with the Conductor!

Here's my sweet parents whom I love and adore. Watching Dad and Mom enjoy every second of the experience was just as good as watching my kids enjoy it. We are all so lucky to have them!

Nana, Mom, Me, Sarah, Danny and Dad in the train station. ♥

The girls with Grandpa and Grandma! ♥

After the train we headed to Provo for some amazing Texas BBQ. It was the best night! It made Scott and I really feel like we don't ever want to move away. We've got it perfect.

The next day Shayla brought home her loot of things she made us from school. She couldn't wait till Xmas and wanted us to open it that night. What a sweetie!

There was all kinds of awesomeness in that bag! Our favorite was a carpet with her hand and feet print on it with a beautiful poem on the back. (that made me cry)

On the 17th we went to our Ward dinner and then did our annual Thanksgiving Pointe trip. It was freezing! Here's the girls with the reindeer's...

We went to our favorite ice-cream shop. This year we decided to try the fries. :)

And then we got our banana split. Delicious!

On the 19th Suzie picked the girls up after school and took them to see "Arthur Christmas". They were so excited! She rocks and the girls are so lucky to have her!

On the 23rd we had our traditional "Christmas Story" movie night and dinner. This year Suzie joined us. It was wonderful.

I love my bestie!!!

The next morning was Christmas Eve and since the girls had been good all month long, they got to open their Elf presents. :)

Then we let them open a couple of their gifts from Grandpa and Grandma Biehn. They got these adorable outfits and wanted to wear them right away. Then we headed to the movies to see "The Chipmunks~Ship Wrecked".

After the movie we headed to Famous Dave's for dinner, Dad, Mom and Nana met us there. The food was delicious and the company was even better!

Then we headed to Temple Square for hot cocoa and Christmas light-looking. I love this picture!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! The girls were so happy to find their Santa sack.

We were quite good at saving money last year so Santa was really good to them! They got lots of great stuff.

The girls made Scott this beautiful scrapbook of their favorite memories with Daddy in 2011. He loved it and even shed a tear!

Scott's loot....

Mine...

Kaleigh's...

Shayla's...

And Peyton's...

Here's Scott teaching Peyton how to use her new Leap Pad. That thing is so rad!

And the girls couldn't wait to try out their new Wii game! How about them glasses? They call them their "shizzam" glasses. Funny! After that we got ready and headed to church. Sacrament was so beautiful and I was really glad that Christmas fell on Sunday this year. After all, what better way to spend Christmas than worshipping Christ, right?!