Wedding Bells

Howard and Emily Thruston

My bro and his girl of 1 1/2 years got married a few weeks ago. March 17th to be exact. So I took this photo for them of Gram wearing his lucky Saint Paddy's Day jams. 

They got married- Say what?! Gram says.

Haha. She is a beautiful, sweet and loving girl. We are so excited to have a new sister/auntie!! They are living in Provo right now just working and finishing school. In a few years when they are done, they plan on moving home to Arizona!!! Then, maybe start a family?? Hope so! She loves kids and babies and he's the oldest child so he's practically a pro. It's so nice having an other sibling who's married that I can relate to. So happy for them both. 

Hanna's in Town

Cousins

Hanna (my husband's sister) is finally in town!! I am SO glad to see them! They are the real life of the party. With five kids and one on the way, there's never a dull moment. We've just been cooking, baking, playing and visiting. We celebrated Truman and Caelin's birthday, too. I made them cupcakes and a cake along with our teriyaki chicken dinner. Truman thought his "dirt cake" with gummy worms was too unusual to eat. Haha.

[This is Gram watching Addie entertain him late one night]

{Truman eating cupcakes with me}

(Our little Birthday party for the kiddos)

[Uncle Trevor taking pictures of him and Gram]

{The dirt cake had more worms but the kiddos ate them right away}

(Truman and Pepper were playing with Gram in his Jumperoo. Penelope disappeared in time for the pic)

[This little smile is the reason I wanted to have a kiddo!]

Thursday is Hanna's birthday but we are having a "kids' day." Maybe the Zoo or the park and getting some frozen yogurt. Then at night we are having a surprise birthday party for her, Jim (bro-in-law) and Shanda (cousin). Then the next day is "Spa Day" to pamper the girls for their b-day. 

I love having our whole family here. In just a few weeks Dax will be home from his mission. Then it will really be the whole family. 

23

My Birthday

Getting older is not always something to look forward to. My special day, however, is. I was completely spoiled this year. Being a full-time mom now is a lot of work. It's hard to find a straight uninterrupted hour for just time to yourself. So I enjoyed a very selfish ME day.

I woke up early to enjoy my day as long as possible. I colored my hair, showered and got ready... for four hours. It was awesome. I got to have big, crazy, curly hair and wear a ton of make-up. My dream. I put on my pink dress and little wedges and we were off to Scottsdale mall. Any time I want to do real shopping, I go here. 

Gav had saved some extra money for my special day so that I could pick up some sweet things. First Urban Outfitters, then Nordstrom, lunch, Dillards, Sephora and FINALLY Steve Madden. I say finally because I have been wanting these shoes since practically Christmas. (The hard part about having a March birthday is you have 2 months of wanting something you didn't get for Christmas. Life is rough, I know.) So I got my leopard loafers I had been fantasizing about every night on my iPhone. I also got a shirt from Dillards and a shirt from Nordstrom. Best day ever. I say this because if you have ever shopped with me you know this: I never. buy. anything. Which is great for my husband but bad for my wardrobe. I always look for the greatest deal for the perfect item that I love and obsess about before I buy it. So obviously I rarely walk away with a bag in my hand. Not today. 

My sisters and mom came to meet us at the mall. Only I believe they got slightly distracted by all the stores and forgot they were there to meet up with us. Haha. Who can blame five girls? But we did get to visit with them for a bit as we were leaving. Luckily, my sis Honore, always thinks about taking pictures so we were able to snap these.

After we got home from the mall we got to go to Ben Whipple's house. He was having all the friends over for games and pizza. To my surprise Josh and his wife Elba got me an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Score! Such a fun time hanging with our fellow "Fatheads."

The next day I woke up in the greatest mood. Taught my Sunbeam kids at church, then came home to Ashley making my favorite dinner. Oh, and "Zebra Popcorn." De-lish. Tami got me a gift card to Nordstrom! (Later I would purchase the cutest baby TOMS for Gram.) Then off to my parents house for cake. 

(Pics from thruston cam)

Seriously, I'm so blessed to have the perfect husband, sweetest baby, loving family and hilarious friends.

Best. Birthday. Ever.