a baby shower

On Thursday night, a few family friends, my sisters/mom & my dear friend Anya threw me a baby shower. They really went over the top with wonderful food, adorable decorations & great company. There are so many families that have lived in Las Vegas as long as we have (22 years) and we are all pretty much still within a 15 mile radius of each other. It was great to see not only so many family friends but a few of my dear friends that I don't get to see very often.

I'm always amazed at how creative, talented & generous people are. They gave us so many wonderful things that we're so appreciative of. So many ladies made the cutest blankets, burp cloths, etc. Everyone was so generous and thoughtful. I even had a surprise gift all the way from New York! Thanks Laurel! You never cease to amaze me.

Here are a few pictures of the evening. Anya always has so many great ideas for decorations!

clothesline ~ baby and toddler pictures of Wes and I

diaper cake & baby carriage cookies

I have to post about one gift that was specifically for Wes. It is a basket that Sam put together. She managed to find a few things for the little guy that will truly make him Wes' son. An Atlanta braves onesie, hat and socks, a Georgia bulldogs Tshirt, hat and socks, a cowboy hat and boots (I didn't know I married a cowboy at heart until a few years ago!), a few shirts that Sam swears that Wes owns (they are pretty darn close), and a pirates shirt for Wes' love of Pirates of the Caribbean. Wes loved the basket & can't wait to dress him. Thanks Sam!

Thanks to all of you for your friendship and generosity during this exciting time for Wes and I. We're looking forward to this next phase of our life to begin!

26

Yes, today is my 26th birthday. It was not only a great day, but it's been a great week. On Monday, Wes bought me my new camera ~ the Canon Powershot. I haven't used it yet but I'm really excited to. On Tuesday late afternoon, I got my hair highlighted and cut ~ it was much needed. This morning, I started the day off with a manicure before work & then had a good day at the office. My dad took me to lunch & then we met the rest of my family for dinner at Lucille's. It's been 3 hours since dinner and I'm still stuffed. :) We're doing cake and icecream for both my birthday and Sam's birthday on Sunday at my parent's house since Tripp and Kyle couldn't be with us tonight to celebrate.

I want to say thank you to everyone for all of the cards, gifts, phone calls & emails today. You all really made the day special!

Also, happy birthday to Katie Monson! Hope you had a great day, too!

Me and my adorable neice, Abbie at dinner.

Baby Griffeth

His face....can you see it? :)

His foot in his mouth or his eye.

His spine.

My good friend Anya's mom works at the hospital where I'm delivering this little guy. She does ultrasounds a few mornings a week so she fit me in this morning. She also works in labor and delivery so I'm hoping she'll get to be my nurse for part of the time. It was nice because Wes got to be there, too. He hasn't seen him since he was like 12 weeks or something like that.

First of all, can I just say that he is HUGE! The last ultrasound I had was about 13 weeks ago and boy has he grown. It was so cool to be able to see everything so clearly. It looked like he was either jamming his foot in to his mouth or his eye. We couldn't tell. :) While it wasn't a 3D ultrasound, we got a pretty good shot of his face. He's got cheeks, that's for sure. And, it was nice to hear again that it is in fact....a boy & that he's healthy. Everything is measuring on schedule & he's looking good.

Seeing him in there so big made it even more real that we're about to be parents. Thanks to Lori for squeezing us in this morning to be able to see him!

Spoiled with Laurel

I've been pretty lucky. My BYU roommate & dear friend Laurel has been to Vegas twice in the last few months....which means I got to spend time with both Laurel & Trisha Lee this week. I don't have any pictures to prove it, but we had a great time! Once again, we missed you Laurel Walker!

On Thursday night Trisha cooked us dinner and we enjoyed some tasty frozen yogurt from Golden Spoon for dessert. It was fun to see Trisha's little girl, Macie. She's getting so big! On Friday night we brought the boys with us for dinner at Cafe Rio (yes, we now have 2 Cafe Rio's in the LV Valley!). Josh Blade (a friend from BYU) was also in town with Laurel so it was great to see him, too. It was a little BYU reunion in Vegas!

Thanks for coming in to town, Laurel. It was great to see you & Trisha & thanks for all of the wonderful gifts for our little guy. As always, you were way too generous!

Anyone love their camera?

I love my Canon Digital Rebel camera. However, it's rather large & not always the most convenient thing to haul around. I love taking pictures & so I'm looking in to getting a small digital camera that I can pretty much have with me at all times to capture those moments that you "just wish you had on camera."

I am trying to find a camera that will also do short videos. Does anyone have a small digital camera that they love? How about one that has a short delay between hitting the button and actually taking the picture?

I guess another question is....does anyone have a camera they don't like? I'll avoid that one. :)

A Little bit of History

I have always had a fascination with World War II. Maybe it's because my grandma and grandpa served our country during the war and that is how they met ~ in England. But beyond knowing that they were a part of it, the entire war fascinates me. I've read endless books about Hitler and the Nazis & what occured in Europe but I've hardly read anything on the war in the Pacific.

That is, until I recently finished reading Flags of our Fathers. What an amazing book. I had heard about the battle of Iwo Jima but I didn't know any of the details. The picture here is the famous picture of the flag raisers on Iwo Jima. The book is written by the son of one of the flagraisers who survived the war and went on to live a lengthy life. The father only spoke of the war once or twice to his family so his son spent years and years after his death doing research on the heroes of Iwo Jima & wrote about it.

Some information about Iwo Jima that I didn't realize:
The Enemy - Japan
1. The Japanese didn't fight above ground. They fought the battle entirely from beneath the ground. They dug 1,500 rooms into the rock. These were connected with 16 miles of tunnels. 21,000 defenders of Japanese soil, buried in the volcanic rock of Iwo Jima, anxiously awaited the American invaders.
2. Japanese strategy called for "no Japanese survivors." They planned not to survive.
3. Japanese strategy was for each soldier to kill 10 Americans before they themselves are killed.

The United States
1). No other island received a preliminary pounding as Iwo Jima. However, our ferocious bombardment had little effect since our enemy was all underground. Little did our marines know, but the Japanese were hardly touched by our pre-invasion efforts. They were in for quite a surprise when they landed on that island.
2). The US sent more Marines to Iwo than to any other battle, 110,000 Marines in 880 Ships. The convoy of 880 US Ships sailed from Hawaii to Iwo in 40 days.
3). The Marines rarely saw an alive Japanese soldier. The Japanese could see the Marines perfectly.
4). Easy Company is the company in which the flag raisers came from. They climbed Mount Suribachi and put the American Flag in Japanese soil. While this photo became famous in America during the war, the background behind the photo is fascinating.
5). More US Marines earned the Medal of Honor on Iwo Jima than in any other battle in US History. In 36 days of fighting there were 25,851 US casualties (1 in 3 were killed or wounded).

So, here's your history lesson of the day. :) I thouroughly enjoyed this book and if you're in to history, I definitely recommend it. The quote at the beginning of the book goes like this:

"The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know." - Harry Truman

There are so many events in history that I would love to read more about. Flags of our Fathers reminded me of how much I enjoy reading and learning about history. This book also gave me a new found respect for our Marines. I can't even begin to comprehend how they do what they do.

Hodge Podge of Posts

We're back from our Utah vacation. Wes came back on Wednesday night and I flew in late Friday night. I had the option of driving home with either my parents or Ali/Tripp on Saturday but sitting is rather uncomfortable for me these days so I opted to fly home on Friday night instead. It was a nice week with my family but as always, it's nice to be home.


I'll post pictures of our week in Utah once I get them off my camera and my sister's cameras, but for now, here's a hodge podge of posts...



HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM!
My little sister, Sam, turned 24 on Saturday. She was in Utah with her friends so I'm sure she had a great day. Sam is one of my favorite people & I thouroughly enjoy her friendship. Growing up, no one ever thought we'd ever be great friends, let alone friends at all, but she has definitely become one of my dearest friends. We have a great time together. She's funny, creative, talented & very generous. Hope you had a great day, Sam!



IKEA
I love this place. Some find it overwhelming, but I love all of the ideas I get! Prior to this week, I had only been in Ikea once in Phoenix but they recently opened one in Draper, Utah so I got to go there while we were in Utah (I was there 3 times, actually!). I managed to have quite a bit of self-control. There are a few rooms in our house that I would like to work on/re-do so I'll have to go back in the fall or winter with some measurements before I buy anything else. Wes & I did manage to find a dresser for the nursery which I'm thrilled about. I just hope it fits and that it looks OK! I would love for one to open in Vegas.


CANKLES
On Friday afternoon I could feel my ankles and feet starting to swell. And boy, were they HUGE by the time I made it to the sweltering desert of Las Vegas. I went from no swelling to huge feet in a matter of hours. It's better today but I still have cankles! Yikes!


THE NURSERY
I have the crib. I have a dresser/changing table. And our chair came in this week so now I'm officially ready to put the nursery together! I know many of you have adorable nurseries so if you don't mind sending me pictures of you're great ideas, I'd love it! I don't have a theme or anything....just lots of stuff that I like and I'm hoping that somehow it all comes together. :)


SLEEP IN AND EAT OUT
There are two things that most people tell us to do before August. 1). Sleep in 2). Go out to dinner. I guess these are two things that don't happen as often once the little guy comes! So, we've been taking their advice. I slept in yesterday morning until about 8:30 and still didn't feel like getting up so I laid in bed and read my book! I have to say that it was wonderful. Since I wasn't planning on coming home until Sunday, I didn't have to be anywhere on Saturday morning so it was a nice relaxing morning at home before we ran endless errands all afternoon.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY
And last but not least, Happy Fathers Day! I am blessed with a wonderful, goofy, talented and extremely generous dad who I am so thankful for. I lucked out with a wonderful father-in-law, as well. He is such a great example for Wes and I.
Happy Fathers Day also to my "soon-to-be-a-dad" husband, Weston! Can't wait to see you with your little guy. Thanks for everything you do for me. Love you, babe.

We think it's over

Wes was our next victim but luckily his wasn't as violent as the rest of ours. I don't think he felt well all day but it wasn't until the late afternoon that he actually said something. That's when it got worse & he just went to bed. But, he felt much better by the next afternoon which was nice.

We had a fun day yesterday with all of us almost up to par and today was great as well. I'll post pictures and details when we get back but I'm happy to report that it appears that the flu bug that made it through almost our entire family has died.

Wes had to leave tonight to go back to work tomorrow. We'll miss you Weston!

Who's Next?

Hopefully, no one.

The Marz reunion went really well ~ we were glad all of our preparations paid off! I will write more about that later but I had to post our current situation, first. My immediate family is spending the rest of the week in Utah at my parent's house in Draper. As of last night, we weren't sure how long we'd last.

It all started on Saturday when Ali started feeling REALLY sick in the morning at the family reunion. After a quick trip to the ER b/c she was so dehydrated from losing so many fluids (and we wanted to make sure the baby was OK), she returned still very sick but she was a trooper. By about 10pm that night, the bug was passed along to Tripp and he puked all night. I felt so bad for these two....being that sick and camping at a big event that you're in charge of? Not fun.

Sunday night, after we made it to the Draper house, Kyle (my 9 year old nephew) started feeling really sick. It wasn't long until he puked.

We thought it was maybe just going to stay with the Thompsons but Wes and I had a wake-up up call this morning with Sam. She was the next victim. About an hour later, it became my turn. This bug that is being passed around is absolutely awful. It's not just your typical "I'm sick". It literally takes over your body and until it leaves you're just miserable. My main problem is that I can't get comfortable. I've been in bed all day & my little guy has not stopped moving around which makes me even more nauseous. I can't wait until my turn is over & I really hope it stops with me. I really hope that little 18-month Abbie doesn't get it. That could be the saddest thing, ever!

I do have to tell one funny story. I got myself up this morning to be a part of a conference call we needed to have with a client. About half-way through, all I could hear is Sam puking in the background. I hope the client didn't hear that. :)

Marz Family Reunion

We're off to Utah tonight for the Marz Family Reunion. My dad has a lot of siblings who in turn have a lot of kids and grandkids so we get quite a turnout! We get together every two years and it rotates every year as to what family is in charge. This year is our year.

We have over 85 people coming to a little place in Heber, Utah....and that's with two entire families not being able to join us! I've never seen this place we're going to but supposedly it's right by a river and surrounded by mountains. We'll see if that's what it looks like when we get there. The reunion starts on Friday night and ends on Sunday late morning. It's somewhat challenging planning one of these things from hundreds of miles away so hopefully everything turns out OK! We're excited to see our aunts, uncles & cousins who we don't see nearly as often as we'd like to.

I, for one, am looking forward to cooler temperatures.....

Is honesty a foreign concept?

Last week I exchanged a onesie at Old Navy for a pair of shorts for our little guy. I was on the phone during the transaction so I wasn't paying that much attention to what was going on. The guy checking me out accidently put the onesie that I returned in the bag with the pair of shorts & I walked out the door. I didn't realize it until I got home and looked in the bag that the onesie was given back to me after I returned it.

Well, naturally, a few days later, I went back to Old Navy to give them the onesie that was technically theirs. You should have seen the astonished look on the girls face when I told her these accidently ended up in my bag & I was bringing them back. She was literally shocked that someone would be that honest. I obviously didn't think it was a big deal...I was just giving something back that wasn't mine.

It was kind of a sad day for me to be reminded that honesty is that rare in this crazy world we live in.

Our Beginning.....Finally in a Book

Ever since I can remember, I've written in a journal. I found one from the 5th grade a few months ago and I have journals and journals of my life since then. I always enjoy going back to read about my life and the events that have taken place. Because journals tend to be a little more personal....I also enjoy scrapbooking....even if I'm really far behind right now! My goal is to be as caught up as I'm ever going to be before the little guy arrives so I can focus on his life.

My first goal is finally complete (it only took me 4 years)! While I have a great wedding album that our photographer designed and assembled of our wedding, I wanted more of a scrapbook to go along with it that included bridal showers, a party for Wes, a girls weekend and the actual wedding day. I had programs & other items that needed a home as well so I finally finished Wedding Book #2 a few weeks ago. Here are a few of the pages:

The second book I finished a few weeks ago was how Wes & I met and our dating lives. It takes us through our initial meeting.....dating....to graduation...to our engagement....the wedding....the honeymoon....and ends with us buying our first home in Utah. Thank goodness I have such a detailed journal of the beginning of our life together....it made doing this book 4 years later pretty easy. It was so fun to read through and remember all of the good times that dating brings. I'm so glad I finally have it all in a book!

I have way too much to do to spend a lot of time on each page which explains why some of these are so plain! I'm excited to be caught up so I can put more time in to my pages from now on. I have half a room in my house dedicated to crafts and scrapbooking which makes it easy to see what I have & I have easy access to all of my supplies. I'm hoping to be able to dedicate more time to scrapbooking in the next year or so. We'll see!