Nick's Out of Town

Nick had to go out of town this last week for some training in Ohio and I was pretty upset when he left on Sunday. I hate when he leaves me, I guess I am not much of a loner. I figured that I would spend most of the week hangin out with Austin here at the house- I hate to make Nick feel bad but I had so much fun. I spent the whole week away from home hanging out with friends and family. My sister-in-law is in town with her four kids and my best friend Sara came home this week, so they kept me pretty busy. I spent many days at the pool with the kids and found out that Austin loves the water! I have this floaty for him and he just leans back with his arms propped up on each side wearing hat and sunglasses- not even a whine for over an hour, it was pretty entertaining! When we weren't swimming we would hang out with Ruthie and the kids, where Austin stayed amused with his cousins. We even stayed the night at Clark's house one night so Ruthie, Teresa, Lisa and I could have a girls movie night after we put Austin down- I loved chatting with Ruthie late into the night!

I think one of my favorite days was when Sally and I decided to run some errands together with ALL the kids- there were defiantly moments of "what were we thinking". Just imagine- in her Armada we had Kate and Peyton in booster seats in the way back of the car with Austin and Brooklyn's car seats in the bucket seats, plus strollers. Mine didn't fit into the back with her double stroller so we had to squeeze it on the floor between the two car seats, which had to be moved for Kate and Peyton to get out of the car. It was even better when it randomly started pouring as we walked out of Target and had to load all the kids and babies into the car as fast as possible- let's just say no one stayed dry. It turned out to be really fun though and her kids are so adorable, constantly saying the cutest things.

The last highlight of the week was spending time with Sara. I hadn't seen her since Christmas, so we had so much to catch up on. She hadn't even met Austin yet! We went out to dinner together and she spent the night with Austin and I at the house. From the time I picked her up at 6pm to when I dropped her off late the next afternoon we were just talking away. She is one of those friends that know you so well there isn't anything you can't share and no matter how long you go without speaking, nothing is different. I wish she could stay here longer cause I miss spending time with her!

Just a cute picture of Austin getting tangled in his blanket during tummy time.

Father's Day

So this is a bit late for a Father's Day post, but I have been wanting to do one all week! I was pretty bad this year cause I sent my dad a card in the mail that didn't even get to him on time and all the gifts Nick got he bought himself. But I am so very grateful for the Dads in my life- my Dad and now Nick! I grew up with the greatest Dad there is, who fondly referred to me as his Hugmuffin till this day. My dad has this dominant personality that often leads people to believe he is a bit hardcore and hard to talk to, but he is the biggest softy I have ever met who sends me really corny text messages and calls me often to say he loves me. He always makes me feel really important, I couldn't ask for a better Dad. Then there is Nick, who is such a good father and surprises me everyday. He is always so willing to do anything to help me out when he comes home from work that involves Austin. He always gives him his nightly bath and I love to listen to them "talk" to each other. I love that he will argue with me over who gets to pick Austin up from a nap because he loves how Austin cuddles. And most of all I love that when Austin falls asleep Nick can't help but give him a few extra goodnight kisses with an 'I love you'. He is so great. Here is the card he got. It spells out Happy Father's Day with golf greens- I thought it was cute!

So for Father's Day I gave Nick some golf stuff- you can't go wrong. We had found a bunch of nice golf shirts at Marshall's and Nick got like 4, so I said that 2 of them would be for Father's Day. Well I had also planned to buy him a magazine subscription and possibly something else until he came home from work that week with a rather interesting comment. "Julie, I accidentally won a putter on ebay today." Well, it just so happened to be the putter he really, really wanted and been talking about for months and he somehow accidentally won it on ebay. I wasn't really sure how this could be labelled an accident- you bid on it with the intention to win the auction, which he did. And he just looked so upset and heartbroken about it- NOT. I sarcastically answered that it was probably best to cancel his ebay account because I would hate for ebay to accidentally win him another golf club that we would pay for. Honestly, I really didn't care cause Nick really never buys anything for himself and he is so strict with money that I figure if he thinks we can afford it, we can. I like for him to have things that he loves. So when the putter arrived I tortured Nick and refused to let him open it until Father's Day (which was all of 1 day away) but on Saturday night at midnight he convinced me to let him open his presents. You can only guess we went to bed late that night cause I had to sit in the living room watching him practice with the new putter.

Here he is with the new shirts and putter that has a little bow tied around it.

Life is Precious

Tonight as I was hosting our first family dinner at the new house I got some really bad news. Forrest had called me multiple times and I didn't answer right away- as soon as I talked to him I could immediately tell that something was very wrong. One of my closest friends and family members Julie had gotten in a car wreck while driving from her home in Boise to Provo. It was raining and her car hydroplaned and rolled over three times across the highway- the car was completely smashed in and totalled. Luckily she was wearing her seat belt and able to walk away from the accident with some cuts and bruises. The paramedics checked her thoroughly and found nothing wrong but kept reminding her how lucky she was for wearing her seat belt- I guess one of the paramedics had been on a scene where a boy rolled his car three times without his seat belt and is now paralyzed. It brings me to tears to just think about Julie being hurt or seriously injured- I just don't know what I would do without her. She is one of the strongest people I have ever met, holding true to herself and always putting others first. I love her so much. It just puts such a reality check on life; you never know if it could be your time or someone close to you. I love my family so much and need to remember to enjoy every moment I spend with them.