hello, thirty.

 

It’s official – I’ve entered my 30’s & I’m kind of excited about it.  The 30’s look pretty fun.  But I’m not going to lie – my 20’s have been pretty awesome.   Here’s a re-cap of life for ME in the 20’s [not in any particular order.]

• College at BYU -a fabulous four years.
• Married Wes and then enjoyed four years with just US.
• Coached 1 season of high school volleyball with my HS volleyball coach. 
• Got to experience two miracle pregnancies & two births.  Amazing experiences both times.
• Began to appreciate all things cowboy – including rodeos, PBR & cowboy boots.
• Started my first “real job” at an ad agency in Salt Lake.  I still miss that place.  It was the best.
• Traveled ALOT including a Study Abroad in London & visits to England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Italy, Germany, Hawaii x 4, New York x 3, Disneyland, beach houses, the cabin, Phoenix, lake trips, Salt Lake, etc.
• Traveled to see Wes’ family in Georgia, Alabama, New Mexico, Texas & Idaho.
• Made it to two tennis Grand Slam tournaments: Wimbledon & US Open.
• Owned 3 houses.
• Enjoyed being a mama.
• Visited friends & family all over the country – it’s been fun staying in touch with such wonderful people.
• Church callings: 7 years in Young Womens and 1 in primary!
• Started a little vinyl company with Sam & my mom that we ended up shutting down. :)
• Worked at Marz & Company with my dad [still do].  It’s been a pretty neat experience to work with/for him.  Quality time with my dad I’ll always cherish.
• Enjoyed the happy times and am grateful for the trials and struggles.
• and met some pretty amazing people along the way.

30’s: you have a lot to live up to!

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I try to keep an updated journal about ME and my life but lately my other roles and duties have made my journal-keeping non-existent.  So while this is cheesy – maybe my boys will someday want to read all about their mom when she was THIRTY.

So, here we go: [I just noticed Wes added a few!]

. I could eat a taco every day of my life.

. I love bookstores. I could spend hours and hours there just roaming around.

. I’m a stay-at-home working mom. It’s a challenge right now but I still enjoy working most-of-the-time.

. I’m attempting to keep my yard alive and pretty. A garden is next on the horizon.

. I love to decorate. Maybe one day I’ll have the time to actually do it.

. I’m obsessed with the color blue.

. Icecream is a staple.

. I love to travel around visiting places & people.

. I put others ahead of my own needs. [that’s nice, Wes]

. I love to read…I could read all day long and still want to read more.

. I love a good challenge.

. Fountain drinks are a must.

. I love to organize & be organized.  I wish it happened more often.

. I am easily distracted.

. One of my favorite things is still to plop on a raft in the pool and relax.

. I don’t cook very often.  Maybe in my 30’s?

. I love the three boys in my life & feel soooo lucky they are mine. 

. I somehow get to live within 5 minutes of BOTH of my sisters.  I know it won’t last forever but I’m grateful it’s happening at all.

. I wish we could see Wes’ family more often.  Because they’re pretty awesome, too.

. I’ve got eczema and it’s not fun.

. I love going to dinner and a movie.

THANK YOU for all of the birthday wishes and lots of celebrations.  It was fun!  

St George getaway with Ryan & Leslie

 

Wes & I were able to escape this weekend without the kiddos [thanks mom & dad] to meet Ryan & Leslie in St. George.   It was a nice, relaxing & inexpensive get-away.  Ryan has a good family friend who has a beautiful home there and they let us crash there for the weekend.  It was the perfect vacation home by a golf course and access to the pool!   Plus, a weekend with the Andrus’ is always fun.

Here’s a little of what the weekend consisted of:

. Ryan & Wes played 45 holes of golf.

. Leslie & I did some shopping.

. We ate.  Luckily we all love Pizza Factory so we ate there twice.  Wes needed a round 2 after a not-so-good Calzone the first go-around.  They had me pick the restaurant one night for my “birthday dinner” and we ended up at Outback which tasted really good when I ATE it but not so good when I threw it all up at 1am that morning.  It was NOT a pleasant few hours – that’s for sure!

. Speaking of being sick, poor Leslie is 17 weeks pregnant and had been doing alright with pregnancy sickness but got hit with a good dose of it on Saturday.  ALL day long.  She was a total trooper but did not feel well at all.  We felt so bad for her!

. We did sealings at the St. George Temple.  Sam & I were sealed to our parents at that temple when I was 7 and I’ve always wanted to go back.  It was neat being in the sealing room.

. We spent some time by the pool, relaxing.

. We played Hearts & Rook.

. Leslie treated us to the Sweet Tooth Fairy Bakery [I’ve never had it before] for my birthday and it was delicious!  The cake bites are fabulous and I loved the VaNIElla cupcake.

. Lots of laughter and fun with two people we wish still lived in Vegas.  But we get to see them pretty often which is fun!  Thanks Ryan & Leslie for a great weekend.

And thanks Mom and Dad for taking our crazy kiddos!

nate hearts summer

He’s loving everything about summer.  Two things that stand out this week are:

1 – The POOL.  He is my little fish.  He’s had 2 group swim lessons and they’ve been great.  Today the teacher taught him how to dive off the side!  Nate wanted to show Wes everything he learned today so we swam for about 20 minutes tonight before bedtime. Nate was throwing his dive sticks to the bottom of the pool in the shallow end and diving off the step to get them.  He can pretty much swim on his own and he can go a really long time before he comes up for a breath!

2 – Nate loves that school is out because it means TRAVIS is home all day!  Now when he asks if he can go see if Travis can play I don’t have to reply with “Travis is still at school.  Sorry.”  They’ve been playing a lot lately.

 

I love Travis’ little knock on my door . . . I always know it’s him.  They love having each other 2 doors down.  Aimee says that Travis always wanted a little brother – I think he’s found a little bro and a friend in Nate!  Nate loves him!

thanks to mimi’s party planning - i started early celebrating the big 30.

I’m in my last week in my 20’s.  Next Monday – June 27 – I turn the big 3-0. 

To celebrate turning 30 – my dear friend Mimi planned an entire weekend of FUN without me knowing it.  She showed up on my doorstep on Friday morning around 9:00am and stayed until Saturday night.  She was perfectly happy coming with me to swim lessons on Friday & doing my typical routine [which I must say, was fabulous with her by my side!] Then my mom surprised me and had a babysitter come over at 3pm so we could leave before Wes got home from work!

Mimi and I headed straight to Fashion Show mall to enjoy a little Nordstrom and some window shopping.  It was wonderful!  Then we headed to a restaurant where she surprised me, yet again, with some of my favorite friends and sister to have dinner with!  Trisha picked the restaurant – Firefly – and it was delicious.  It’s a Tapas restaurant which I typically wouldn’t have chosen myself and I loved it.  Such a fun atmosphere, delicious food & great company.  I thought the night ended there but we all made our way to Town Square for a little shopping and then a movie.  All things I hardly ever get to do which made it perfect. 

 

[not pictured: Sam.  She met us at Town Square for some shopping and a movie after a 12 hour shift as a nurse!  Thanks Sam for hanging out with us on YOUR birthday weekend.  Glad we could celebrate together!]

My parents were at their cabin so Mimi and I made ourselves at home at their house on Friday night.  We slept until 9:40am on Saturday!  It was fabulous.  After a quick run to the store and Einsteins for sandwiches, we had lunch ready by 11:30am and then in to the pool we went.  Trisha, Alex, Kiley & Sam were able to join us for pool time on Saturday afternoon.  All of us plopped down on a raft and were perfectly content until we had to get out.  There is no such thing as too much time floating on a raft – in my opinion!

Then came the dreaded hour that I had to take Mimi back to the airport.  It was a fabulous weekend with some of my favorite people. 

Hello 30’s.  You’re looking pretty good already.

[BIG thanks to Mimi for planning this whole thing – my friends/sisters for coming to play – and for all of the wonderful dads who watched their kids on Fathers Day weekend so the girls could celebrate.  I’m a pretty lucky girl!]

Griffeth Family Reunion: Lake Wedowee

A week at the lake with these wonderful people who happen to be my in-laws is the BEST.  I love that everyone goes to great lengths to be here to enjoy one entire week together every summer.  It was FUN.  This year we had 10 adults and 11 kids [8 of which are 3 and under!]. 

We spent a lot of time on the lake and at the pool, playing games, eating delicious food, laughing & having a great time.  I love watching the cousins who pretty much are only ALL together once a year just jump right back in and have a blast together. 

 

THE LAKE

The boat and jetskis are always a blast.  Lots of laughter happens out on the lake.

They have a variety of tubes which are always a hit.

NATE wasn’t scared of anything except for the tube.  I told him I wanted him to just try it one time with me and then he never had to go again if he didn’t like it.  This was ride one.  He was scared at first but about halfway through he ride he said it was fun.  But then didn’t want to go again.

A day or two later he was ready to try again.  He jumped on with me and while we were riding he said I could let go of his hands and he was ready to ride alone just like the big boys [Trey & Spence].  He even started standing up like Trey!  When asked what his favorite thing at the lake was – he said the tube.

RYAN just wanted action.  He wasn’t a happy camper sitting on the boat in a life jacket.  He wanted to be on the jetski or on the tube!

Wes got up on a wakeboard!

They got out the blow-up jet skis for the kids to drive around by the dock on the lake. 

Olivia’s stopped working and she drifted to the edge of the lake . . . luckily Grant saved her!

The kids love to jump off the side of the boat and just swim in the lake.

 

THE POOL

Wes’ parents have a lake house in a great community.  There’s a clubhouse and a fabulous pool that overlook the lake.  We took the kids swimming almost every afternoon after naps!  Ryan was a crazy man at the pool.  For the majority of the week, he just wanted to run around all over the pool deck and explore.  Finally on the last day sand toys kept him in the water for a bit!

 

GO CART & GOLF CART RIDES

Thanks to Jeff & Alisha, we have the go cart and golf cart to haul us around and for the kids to go on rides.  Ryan and Nate LOVED the go cart.  We sometimes piled quite a few people in the golf cart – Nate fell out once and so did Olivia but both were tough and jumped right back on!

 

COUSIN FUN

    

These three little boys had a total blast together all week.  We rarely heard from them – they just played and played.  Last year Spence didn’t really have any interest in tagging along with Nate and Trey but this year he jumped right in and the three of them had a great time.  It will be fun when Trey/Spence are old enough to jump on a plane and come visit their cousin out West.

 

This week wouldn’t have been possible without these two!  Thanks Robert & Doreen for another fabulous week at the lake.  We love you guys!

   

Let the summer getaways and fun begin!