Happy Birthday to....me!

That's right, I am now 26 years old-I know, ancient. I was a very lucky girl and got to celebrate three days in a row! On Monday, Justin's family came down to celebrate with angel food cake. Yum! Then my mom and dad came down on Tuesday night and we went to dinner at Applebee's. More yum! Then on Wednesday (my actual birthday), Justin made sure it included some of my favorite things:First of all, Justin surprised me by taking the day off! This was the best surprise ever!!! He had told me last week that the week was really busy with everyone in various trainings and that there would be no way that he could take a day off. So that morning when the alarm was going off and I was just about ready to get up and start the day, he rolls over and says "Guess what? I have the day off." For all of you stay-at-home moms you can understand how excited I was. He had even arranged to have his mom watch Molly so we could have the afternoon for just us.

Second, he took me to lunch. We went to The Cheesecake Factory. Yum!

Third, he bought me shoes and then took me shopping and let me pick out a couple more things.

Fourth, he let me pick the movie. Since I'm a fan of musicals, I've really been wanting to watch "Hairspray," something I normally would not pick if Justin is planning on watching it with me (he's not a big fan of musicals). But since it was my birthday, I got to choose. I thought it was really good!

Last, he went to the store and bought all my favorite movie treats so we could pig-out. He got ice cream (thin mint, yum), cookies, sour patch kids, red vines, and dots. Don't worry, we didn't eat it all in one movie!

All in all, it was a great birthday. Thanks everyone (especially Justin) for making it so great!

Funny faces

We're not sure where Molly picked up her new "silly face." One morning last week when I went to get her out of bed, she just started making this face and now all we have to say is "Molly make your silly face" and she pulls on her ears and sticks out her tongue. Then we laugh and she is so proud of herself and just sits there and grins. It's pretty cute. We have asked everyone that she has been around and no one has taught it to her. We figured she must have seen it somewhere, maybe on TV or something...

We love the Brown's!!!

So we were lucky to have Rachelle, Lizzy and Andrew visiting for a week. We had fun spending time with them and hope that the flight home went okay!

Say cheese!

Lizzy and Tiana off to the races!
Molly had fun getting thrown onto the couch.

Someone had the idea (I think it was Brett) to have someone stand on the coffee table and fall backwards into everyone else's arms.

This is Lizzy preparing herself to fall!
Good catch Grandpa!
We needed everyone's help on this one!
Grandpa made a pathway out of the blocks that the kids played on for a long time!
Yum, yum!This picture is a little blurry but it's cute with all the girls in their matching dresses from Grandma!

We hated to see you guys go and can't wait until your back in June!

Some thoughts

Since this is acting somewhat as my journal, you all have to bear with me as I write some thoughts that have been going through my head the last few days. We are now part of the Mt. Timpanogas temple district and we were finally able to make it last weekend. I can never put my thoughts into words that great so I'll just say that I am so grateful to have a temple so close. I know I take it for granted way too much. I was really excited to go last week, more excited than usual, and once I was there I knew why. I just felt so at peace, and not that I have too many things to worry about, but I felt again that I am Heavenly Father's daughter and that He loves me and that all things will work out in time. Justin and I spent some time after talking about things and it was really special.

I've also been thinking about a talk I read last weekend, called "Mothers Who Know" by Julie Beck. She gave it last conference but I didn't really remember it. It was the subject of our Relief Society lesson so I decided to read it before (and I'm really glad I did since I was in nursery during Relief Society). I love the message she gave and I recommend to everyone that they pull out their Ensign and read it again! She talks about the eternal influence of motherhood and what I really got out of it is that it is so important as mothers to create an environment for spiritual growth in our homes. And it made me think, am I doing that and how can I do it better? I want to but sometimes I get caught up in all the other things that seem to crowd into my life of lesser importance that I lose sight of that goal. I love this quote "Nurturing mothers are knowledgeable, but all the education women attain will avail them nothing if they do not have the skill to make a home that creates a climate for spiritual growth." She also says that "the value women place on motherhood in this life and the attributes of motherhood they attain here will rise with them in the Resurrection."

Sorry for blabbing but I wanted to share some of my thoughts. I also want to thank my mom and Justin's mom. I have two great examples of how to create a spiritual environment and I feel so blessed.

Tagged!

This is fun! I got "tagged" so now I get to answer some questions about myself...Here goes!

1. Where was I ten years ago?
Ten years ago I was only a few days away from turning sweet sixteen which also meant dating and driving! My first date was in March and we went bowling, out to dinner at Galaxy, and then we played hide-and-go-seek on Weber State's campus. I think I got my license the same weekend. I was also very busy with all of my extra-curricular activities. I played soccer for Fremont High School which is in the fall so I probably had indoor soccer games every week. I was dancing on Jazz Plus 2 nights a week. I also had violin and piano lessons. I was a sophomore at Fremont High School and I loved being busy!

2. Things on my "To-Do" list today:
I don't exactly have a "to-do" list but here is an idea of a typical day for me. I wake up with Justin and while he gets ready for work, I pack him a lunch and make him breakfast. Then I send him on his way. Then I get myself and Molly some breakfast and clean up the kitchen. Then I get Molly dressed and her hair done and then I get ready. Then I'll make the bed and pick-up anything around the house that needs to be. After that, Molly and I will watch TV, read books, and play with toys. Then Molly takes a nap around noon and I get some time to myself. During this time I try to read my scriptures. I also have my chores-dusting, cleaning the bathroom, etc. that are too hard to do with Molly underfoot. Then I will balance my checkbook, blog, read, make dinner or whatever until she wakes up. When Molly wakes up, I'll get her some lunch and then we'll either play or run errands until Justin gets home. Then we have dinner, I clean up and it's relax for the rest of the night. Some things that I need to get taken care of in the next day or two: get a new drivers license (mine expires next week), get some kid-proofing gear for drawers and cabinets, get the check engine light checked on the car (yes, I just got it checked on Tuesday but it's back on). That's my day in a nutshell, sounds pretty boring huh?

3. Things I would if I became a billionaire:
First, I would buy a house. That is the biggest goal we have in our lives right now. Second, I would buy Justin a new car. He is such a good sport to drive a PURPLE car around everywhere. That's all I really need. I would share with our families, of course, and then invest the rest. Oh also, I would set aside a good chunk so that we could travel all over the world which is another one of our dreams.

4. Three of my bad habits:
First, when I ask a question, I don't pay attention to the answer a lot of the times! I am always trying to do something else at the same time that I don't pay attention to the answer. Second, putting of things I need to do to read. Third, I get too caught up in being clean sometimes that I ignore Molly or Justin. Sorry guys...

5. Places I have lived:
Plain City
Logan
Lindon

6. Jobs I've had:
Baby-sitting
Umpire for tee-ball
Substitute Janitor for an elementary school
Dixon Pies
Secretary at Marriott Construction
Ice cream scooper at Aggie Ice Cream
Weber County Fair helper
After School Club leader
Teller/loan officer
Wife
Mom
(The last two are my favorite!)

7. Things people don't know about me:
I love getting new clothes (who doesn't)
I'd rather read than anything else sometimes and sometimes have been known to read at red lights
I was a cheerleader in junior high (this surprises some people)
My life is not too exciting so I don't really have any secrets...sorry!


Well, that's it. I tag Camille and Rachelle!

Fun on President's Day

Since Monday was a holiday, we decided to take advantage of it...so we went snowshoeing. It was a beautiful, sunny day. Here are some of the highlights...

Someone had the idea to cut up this big hill instead of using the trail. Apparently it saved us tons of time (whose idea was that anyways?)

























The whole gang: Brett, Justin, Gene, Heidi, Eric (minus me of course!)






































Eric and Heidi just goofin around.



















Brett taking a breather.

























Justin packed his ski's so that he could ski down. This is a picture of one of his many crashes.



















It was such a beautiful, clear day. The view was amazing...




















Going down is definitely better than going up! The powder was so thick- I slid down most of this hill on my rear end!
























Brett getting some air...Sweet!

Ouch!!!

As I've mentioned before, Molly is our little climber. I don't quite know what to do about it either because she seriously climbs on everything she sees. She has almost figured out how to climb in her crib (not out, thankfully). She doesn't normally get hurt but last week she did. She was playing with her toy piano and instead of just playing the keys and dancing to the songs (which she normally does), she decided to climb on it. I had my back turned, doing dishes, and Justin was watching TV or something. Anyways, we only had our backs turned for a split second when she climbs on the piano and then falls forward and lands on her head on the tile. She had the biggest bump that I have ever seen! I felt awful. Here is what it looks like...






























It is now in the green/yellow stage and healing nicely but I felt awful that night!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I made this slideshow of some of my favorite pictures of me and Justin. We've been married for just over 4 years and they have been great years! I love you so much Justin. I know I don't tell you enough but thank you, thank you for all you do for me and Molly! You have made so many sacrifices for our family (especially so that I can stay home with Molly) and I really appreciate it more than you know!

Okay, so now I can tell all of you a little about my wonderful husband...

What is his name? Justin Ray Goodrich

How long have you been married? 4 years and 2 months

How long did you date? 3 years, two of which he was on his mission which is probably not considered dating...

How old is he? He’ll be 26 on March 14th

Who eats more? That’s a toss-up, but I’ll have to say Justin

Who said I love you first? Justin (he wrote it in a note when we were studying at the library on Nov 16, 00)

Who is taller? Justin (good thing, since I’m only 5’3)

Who sings better? Definitely him (in fact, I’m only just starting to feel comfortable singing around him)

Who is smarter? Probably Justin, although I’d like to think it’s closer to a tie...

Whose temper is worse? Justin probably loses his temper faster, but I stay mad longer

Who does the laundry? Me

Who does the dishes? Me

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Justin

Who pays the bills? Me

Who cooks dinner? Me (unless it’s in the summer and Justin will grill a lot, which he loves and so do I!)

Who drives when you are together? Justin always does! No matter what, no questions asked.

Who is more stubborn? Probably me

Whose parents do you see the most? If I answered this question six months ago, I would say mine because they were a lot closer. Now it’s probably a tie.

Who proposed? Justin...on July 25, 2003

Who has more friends? Well, it seems like we have the same friends now but I would say him just because he goes to work and interacts with more people. I haven’t met too many people here yet so maybe that will change...

Who has more siblings? He has 4 and I have 3, so he does!

Who wears the pants in the family? I would say we both do and certain times. Neither one of us is more dominant than the other.

(As a sidenote, the songs were voted the top 10 love songs of all time...)

Playing pretend

Lately Molly has started to act out things she sees me do or someone else doing. For example, two days ago she was playing in her room (she likes to go in there and close the door). When I peeked in on her I found her playing "mommy". She had taken a baby blanket and laid it on the floor and then laid her baby on the blanket. Then she went and got the baby powder, went back to her baby, turned the powder upside down and shook it on her baby. Then she got a diaper and laid it over the baby.













Another time this happened was last week with Tiana. The girls found my spices and starting playing with them. Well, they ended up sitting at Molly's table, making dinner for each other. This was Tiana's idea, obviously, since Molly can't say "Let's make dinner" but since then, Molly gets the spices out everyday and sits at her table like she did with Tiana. I can only assume that she is "making dinner."










I guess kids are a lot smarter than we think and they watch what we are doing! Molly is learning something new almost everyday and it is so fun to be able to watch her comprehend something or learn something new.

Superbowl Sunday

My family gets together one Sunday each month for dinner, FHE, and a game. Justin and I really appreciate this given the fact that it's about the only time we get down to Plain City lately. We postponed January's get-together for the first Sunday in February which happened to also be the Superbowl (what a coincidence!). Really it's not much of a coincidence since we get together every Superbowl. We almost thought we weren't going to make it because of all the snow but we decided to go anyways. (Justin went for the food and I went because I hadn't been to Plain City since before we moved). As always, we had tons of fun. Here are some of the highlights...



Who needs utensils? Or a plate for that matter?





Ben really enjoyed the bubbles. The rest of us really enjoyed watching him blow bubbles for the whole second half! I think there was more bubbles on
his shirt than he actually made!







While Ben was enjoying the bubbles, Molly was enjoying the Chex Mix. I think she had a mouthful every time I looked at her!










Dancing with Grandpa during half-time.










Both Molly and Chloe enjoyed watching Ben blowing bubbles too!









Molly took a break to color a picture (until she fell off the table, oops!).








Chloe thought Uncle Justin was pretty funny!







After a long day, Molly is ready to relax.