Some New Adventures!

Dave's last day as a UTA Trax operator was this past Saturday. He really enjoyed operating the train and we loved riding the train, especially while he was "driving," so I think we're all going to miss it a little bit. BUT this is a good thing, he got a promotion!!! He's now a Rail Operations Supervisor! Me and the kids are actually going to Disney Junior Live on Tour on Saturday and we're definitely going to ride the train there, we're not sure what daddy's schedule looks like for Saturday yet, but that would be cool if we could see him. Sometimes when there's big events there will be a supervisor out on the platform getting people onto the train, slim chance that that's where Dave will be that day but that would be fun to see him! :)

I'll be starting a new job tomorrow, too. A friend of mine was looking for a full-time sitter for her 18-month old son and I want to do something where I'm able to stay home full-time with the kids so the timing was perfect. We had her family over for lunch today so Collin could meet us and get warmed up to us a little bit. He'll be over here first thing in the morning tomorrow. I'm excited! I put in my two weeks at Chick-fil-A on Friday so I haven't quit there yet but not too much longer and I won't work there anymore.

Dawson starts soccer on 14th and Ashlynn will be starting dance on the 11th, I believe. She'll be able to take evening classes so that works out perfectly for what we need right now.

This is sort of random but last week we took the kids to their dentist checkup... Ashlynn did AWESOME. She did everything the dentist asked her to do, she let him look in her mouth and clean her teeth. I was so proud of her. Then there was Dawson. They wanted to take x-rays of his teeth but he wouldn't let them. He wouldn't them last time, either. And there is no reasoning with this kid when he's in one of his moods. I don't know why he gets like this at the dentist and even at the doctors but it is so frustrating! So then they tried to clean his teeth and he literally kicked and SCREAMED!!! It was so embarrassing. The dentist asked if there was anything that I was concerned about and I told him about a spot on one of his lower cuspids (totally had to look up the name of that tooth) so the dentist looked and it was a tiny cavity. Thankfully it was really, really small so the doctor didn't have to numb him or do anything specially to fill it. He was actually able to fix it in less than 5 minutes. I was out in the waiting room with Ashlynn and Dave was back there with him while they fixed it so I don't know exactly how the dentist actually did it but I could hear Dawson screaming from the waiting area. Not because he was in pain or anything, just because he has issues with doctors and dentists for some reason. I so hope he outgrows that SOON!

Stay tuned for more of our adventures! I know I've slacked on our blog this year but I am determined to finish the year strong! I know we'll be up to a lot of fun stuff so I'll have plenty to write about.

Mama Turns the Big 3-0!

That's right, kids, Mama is now in her 30's. I don't really have to tell you that, though, because you are well aware. In fact anytime we go to the store, while we're waiting in the checkout line, Dawson will strike up a conversation with either the person in front of us or behind us. Every. Single. Time. And the conversation goes like this. Every. Single. Time.

Dawson: Hi, my name is Dawson, I'm four years old. And this is my baby sister, Ashlynn, she's two.
Random Person: Oh hi.
Dawson: And this is my mom. Her name is Jamie but I call her Mama because she's my mom. And she's 30. How old are you? (this has been going on for awhile, he used to say 29 until I had my birthday)
Random Person: *laughing* I don't usually tell people how old I am but...

The conversation lasts until we leave the line. And did I mention it happens every single time we go to the store? Yep, it does! And most of the time Ashlynn gets jealous that Dawson is getting all the attention from the random stranger so she'll start dancing or something and she'll keep saying "look at me! look at me!" to the random stranger. Yeah, my kids are not shy, AT ALL.

Anyway, it doesn't bother me that Dawson tells everyone and their dog how old I am because getting older doesn't bother me. The only super awkward part is when he asks them how old they are. I try to remind him often that it's not polite to ask adults how old they are but he's curious, loves numbers, and wants to know!

Anyway, we had some friends and family over to celebrate my birthday. It was a potluck and we had some yummy stuff!!! 7 layer dip, bbq ribs, runzas (my fave!), and chili verde burritos and chips. And of course cake, but everyone got so full with all the yummy food that after they sang happy birthday to me we didn't even eat cake!

Here are some pics from that night.

Dave made me a "dirty" thirty cake

The food!

Some decorations. I am so bummed I didn't get any of the outside decorations! My mom, dad, and Arika came by in the middle of the night and decorated the front yard. I always open the blinds first thing in the morning so I saw it right away! I loved it! And then I came down into the family room and Dave had decorated before he left for work.

We played pin the kiss on the frog...
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And musical chairs! Yep, I know how to party!! It was a blast. (please excuse our ugly grass!!! It's still not perfect but it already looks much better. We neglected it the weekend before my birthday so it looked terrible)

The kids turn, they wanted Nana to play

We roasted some s'mores and also had a game of Big Brother going on. (Travis and my dad Donnie were both evicted from the house that night. *lol*)

The day before my birthday I was thinking about how blessed I am. Like, seriously. When I was a teen (and even in my early 20's) I made some pretty stupid choices and I feel very lucky and so blessed that my life turned out the way it did. It could have been very different. I am truly, truly blessed. I know our life isn't perfect but to me it feels like it is. I try not to take anything for granted (even getting older) because I wouldn't change a thing. I'm surrounded by the best family and friends that mean the world to me. I seriously love you guys!!!

Random Pictures of the Sky

These are just some random pictures that I've taken. I love looking at the sky, mountains, and just everything mother nature has to offer. I'm always pointing out different things that I want the kids to see and I'm happy that my love and fascination for this stuff is rubbing off on them. Just the other day Ashlynn was sitting with Dave in the family room and she looked out the sliding door and said something like "look at those beautiful pink clouds!" The sun was setting and she was right, the clouds were beautiful and pink!

These pictures are from when we lived in the apartments but very similar to what Ashlynn pointed out the other day. 

These were also from when we lived in the apartments. It was raining like crazy and when it let up a bit I went outside to look for a rainbow. To my surprise we actually found three rainbows in different parts of the sky and the clouds were absolutely FASCINATING! I couldn't stop looking at them and taking pictures, I have never seen anything like this before. None of these pics have been edited at all, some look blurry but they are not, that is what the clouds looked like.

And lastly these were from a couple of weeks ago. There was a big fire on the other side of the mountain that is just West of us. It turned the sun and moon red.

I have tons of other pics but they are on my phone. These are just ones that I grabbed the camera for.

Today is catch up day on the blog, can you tell? :)

Girls Night Out with Taylor Swift!

In June me, my mom, Hailee, Arika, and Brandee all went to see Taylor Swift! It was so much fun. Hailee has been a fan of Taylor since she was like two, maybe even younger. So when we heard she was coming to Salt Lake we knew we had to get tickets. We all love Taylor but Hailee's definitely her biggest fan!

Our seats were not the best but we found out that the concert sold out during the presale which we didn't even know about! They just happened to open up one more section so we were lucky to even get tickets at all. We did have front row... of our nosebleed section. :P