What Did Robert Bring Me Home Today?

Am I entirely unromantic in admitting that knowing that he got it for free was even better than having paid money for it!?

Answer: a fork

Question: What random object did Robert pull out of his pocket after arriving home today? Ouch.

More on Our Trip to Utah

If you haven't picked up on it, we took a trip to Utah in November for Robert's baby sister's wedding. We made it short so Robert wouldn't have to take too much time off of work, and so we would have the weekend back home to recover from traveling with 5 kids on 3 different airplanes. It was weird to think that we had moved from Utah almost 9 months previously. Wasn't it just yesterday? or at least last month... Anyways we had 3 people on the must see list (I promise I wanted to see more, but with wedding festivities we had only 1 day left to see friends): Janeece (my massage therapist who is gifted beyond words in her field), the VerHoefs (Sarah is also a great massage therapist, coincidentally), and Samantha (my best friend) & her family.

About a month before we went I called Janeece to schedule an early Christmas present for me in the form of an hour and a half massage. It was wonderful. After that we went to Samantha's and hung out with them for a while and had lunch (from Steak Out which we really miss in Houston). Samantha and her husband lived next door to us in Provo for a while. I remember the first time we met I asked her husband to borrow their drop spreader for weed n' feed. We invited them over for a barbecue sometime shortly thereafter, and became fast friends. Samantha and I are kindred spirits. People would always ask if we're sisters when we would go anywhere together. We got pregnant at the same time twice in a row. Her daughter and Isa have been best friends from the womb, and were born exactly a month apart, then her son and Horatio were born about 2 months apart. We've always had fun with them. So here are some cute pictures. We didn't really do much I guess. We ate lunch, the kids played inside (with toys and watching TV since we haven't had TV in a couple of years now) and
outside (with bikes and just running around in the cold) while Samantha and I talked. Samantha's kids have way too many toys, so the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves, while I immensely enjoyed just hanging out with my best friend from Utah. We'd planned to go over to the VerHoef's for dinner, but ended up going to the Pizza Factory with them, so nobody would have to cook. It was OK, but our waitress copped a 'tude pretty soon after we got there, so that made things a lot less nice in the customer service area. After dinner we went over to their house and the kids and men hung out for a while , while Sarah and I popped over to the church for a Relief Society cookie exchange so I could say Hi to some of the women from our last ward. It was nice to be able to see a few more people than I had planned. We only stayed for a bit more once Sarah and I got home (it was a school night for those kids who weren't homeschooled nor on vacation), but it was fun. After that we actually went back to Samantha's (her hubby had just gotten home when we were leaving for dinner) and were able to play games until much too late on a night before we had to get up early for our flight back home. The younger boys fell asleep, while the girls played to their hearts' content, and Angel and Oliver joined the adults for board games. It was so fun. Samantha is the number 1 thing/person I miss about Provo. I'm trying to convince her to move to Houston, but I think she'd go to California 1st. I can dream. Sadly I got zero pictures from Dinner and games, but I am confident Heavenly Father will have wonderful albums full of countless pictures for me to look at later. You'll have to wait until you die to see them if you really want to.


I love Samantha, and she loves me.

p.s. Samantha has a blog, too. Go over to it and tell her to post more! Please!

Another Picturesque Post also entitled Isa's 5th Birthday Party and 3rd Princess Tea Party

This pic is Isa on the phone with "Jasmine" the day of her birthday. It's a service from Disney called "Disney's Enchanted Calls" that sends a recorded greeting for a variety of reasons; it's pretty cheap, but the call is less than a minute and it's one sided(I got it free, otherwise I probably wouldn't have bothered). She seemed to like it. I'll put up a pic of Horatio getting his (from Mickey, no Lightening McQueen was available), he kept talking over the recording! It was hilarious.








Here she is in the dress Robert & I gave her for her BDay. She picked it out at -You guessed it!- Costco.












Here is my amazing husband at about 2 am, right after I finished the cake Friday night before the Princess Tea Party. He's making "breakfast" for me and the kids, which he does every night before he goes to bed or at a ridiculously early time of the morning before he goes to work. Isn't he wonderful for staying up with me. We watched "Speed Racer" as a distraction while I worked.








Here's Isa by the table all set up for Princesses and their Queen Mothers for a birthday Tea. We used all of our china and crystal glasses.









Isa by her special chair w/ a big bow and tulle draped over the chair.











We served Apples juice, Sprite (both in tea pots), Egg Salad sandwiches (cut into triangles, of course), carrots & celery w/ dip, grapes, cheddar & colby jack cheese cubes, and Club crackers. I got to use this cool buffet server I got at (say it with me) Costco.

Here is everyone seated at the table. Two families from our ward and one that lived with us in Provo (in our duplex) and lives in Houston now, too! Aren't they all so cute dressed up?!

Here's the front of the Barbie doll cake Isa requested. I used my Pampered Chef batter bowl (Yep, I sold Pampered Chef at one time; I would never pay full price for their stuff, even if I could afford it), and added another cake round on the bottom. I wrapped up her hair to start, and wrapped her body and legs in plastic wrap and just shoved her in there. The body I covered in a thin layer of icing, then homemade marshmallow fondant, then some more icing (for the pink part and the swirly flowers). I had some Chocolate covered marshmallows left over from a Chocolate Cooking Club, so I used those for the candles instead of sticking them in my hard-worked-for cake.


Here's the back. If you look really closely you can see where I ripped the fondant, but it looked really good anyways. I added the long white "train" b/c I was too lazy to press out the seam at the back.













And here's Isa's reaction.


I like to keep the cakes I make for the kids a secret until it's time to sing to them. So I stay up way too late the night before, then cover it with a box or something, have all the guests come in and sit down, then lead the birthday kid in with eyes closed. It's more fun that way. They pick what they want, they just don't get to see it until the singing part of the party. BTW, daddy is taking the pic here. My sweet Computer Engineer Husband has yet to figure out how to use a digital camera.





Blowing out the candles (My Love taking pics again).

Cute girls.
We spoiled Isa and gave her another dress (this one)(Do you really have to ask where we bought it?) at her Bday party. The dress EJ is wearing is from a sweet lady at church who swears Elisabeth-Jane was meant to be hers. EJ definitely has a special bond with her. I am positive they were very good friends in their Premortal life.


I'll do more pics from our trip to Utah next post. The Birthday Princess Tea Party was actually after the trip. I didn't even touch on our visit with Samantha and her family while we were there! You're all in suspense now, huh?

This Post is Worth Thousands Upon Thousands of Words OR Pictures of the Past Monthish in Which I Have Been Sick and Neglectful of Blogging

On the flight to Utah; the airlines finally wised up and gave the kids cups with lids and straws!







(Below) Our 2 rows in the plane; I hated that Robert & I couldn't sit on the same row, b/c we had to have an adult on each row with the kids. Btw, the kids all loved the plane rides, except on 1 flight Isa's ears wouldn't pop and she was very upset. :(



It snowed a bit on the day of the wedding... Isn't Marissa Hot!?












Cute newlyweds... just out of the temple.






(Below) We also said "See you later" to Robert's parents on this trip as they were leaving for their 1 1/2 year mission to Brazil in November/December. Katie collected pictures from all of us and made a calendar for them.





All the Lewis kids: Robert (#2), Laura (#3), Rachel (#5), Katie (#1), and David (#4).







Cute girls. Blushing bride and the little Princess...






















Post some more later, all that formatting has tired me out... (that and a bunch of 9 year olds...)

I Want to Post, Really I Do!

But I have to
bake Oliver's birthday cake for his party tomorrow,
clear the kitchen table,
clean up and rearrange the living room,
start truffle-making,
cool and trim Oliver's birthday cake,
go to the store for more cake mix when I run out because Oliver's wants 5 layers,
pick up AAA batteries for my mouse (I hate this stupid touch pad!),
pick up goodies for the goodie bags (why did I start this? B/c everyone should feel special at a birthday party!),
put together goodie bags quickly and efficiently while allowing Oliver to help,
vacuum the living room again,
put away laundry,
put away dishes,
cut up truffles,
make Visiting Teaching calls since it is already the 12th!,
stop reaching for my mouse which doesn't work,
drink more water,
read with the sifties,
get dinner ready,
plan the actual party,
get a hold of more than 1 of the Moms of the boys invited,
and still get some sleep!

We shall see.

btw, these are not the droids you're looking for...

I Think I'll Post Something Tomorrow

"Now YOU are waiting..." (This is a shout out to Signing Time)