Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my sweet mom's birthday. I don't know a lady on this planet who is more giving and selfless. Throughout my life I have watched her serve our little family, extended family, and any one else she comes in contact with. I know they don't come better than my mom.

P.S. - The above picture was taken in Disneyland. Every once in a while my dad will become obsessed with certain movies. For a while it was the Lord of the Rings then it was Pirates of the Caribbean (I think he saw it in the theater 5 times or something like that). Anyways, so we had to take a picture of my dad's two favorite people (at the time) Mom and Captain Jack Sparrow.

In Disneyland 2006. Dad sent all the girls for UEA weekend. (My hair looks so cute because I was the only one apparently who got wet on Splash Mountain.....typical.)

It was definitely awesome to grow up singing (mostly learning from...) with my mom and sisters. She has such an amazing voice. We used to sing and harmonize around the house, especially on Sunday afternoons after church while helping get Sunday dinner ready. Someone would just start singing or humming and before you knew it everybody was tuning in trying out new harmonies and stuff. I miss it!
(Mom, Me & Whit singing at Steve & Jordie's wedding breakfast.)

This picture was taken during spring break in 2007 . I remember my mom calling me at work on a Tuesday and asking if I would like to leave the next day with her and Emma and head up to Montana. My parents had decided they would be moving there, but had to decide between a couple houses/areas. My mom was taking Emma up to check out the schools in both areas. It was a fun trip and I had a great time with Emma and my mom.

She is such an amazing example to all of us and we love her so much. She is such an amazing friend to me. I call her all the time and I'm sure drive her crazy (especially when I'm trying to bake something and have to call her three or four different times in a 30 minute period).

This picture was taken Thanksgiving weekend 2008....pretty much right after Jordie delivered Deacon and right before Whit had Hallie.

Plus now we get to see her as a grandma.....she is an awesome grandma as well.

Happy Birthday Mom. You're the best, love you!

Remember when.....

So the week Austin and I got home from our honeymoon my brother-in-law Steve decided to go sky diving with his dad and brother while his brother was home from serving in the army. Some of my family had decided to go and watch and since Austin was golfing with Jarrett that afternoon I decided to join them. As long as I can remember my cute mom has always said she'd like to go sky diving which is weird and super our of character for her. As we were all hanging out waiting for Steve, Allan and Brian I told my mom if she wanted to go I would go with her....really not expecting her to say yes. The picture below explains her answer.

We had to hurry and get ready since it was getting late. They wanted to hurry and get us up in time before the sun went down. Not really thinking too much about it I asked my little sister Kelsee to call Austin and tell him I was going sky diving with my mom and Steve's mom. Austin was beating Jarrett until he received the phone call from Kelsee on the ninth tee box, Jarrett won. He finished up golfing and made it out to the airport in time.....but I could tell he wasn't too happy. Apparently going sky diving a week and a half into your marriage should be something you talk about and not send a message through the new sister-in-law. I guess it was the first big decision we really faced.....and we definitely didn't talk about it before hand. However I have made sure to talk to him about all other major decisions since.

plane ride was actually longer than I expected. I can't believe how high we were.

Getting ready to exit the plane. Mom is in the background behind me. Steve's mom went right before me.

Back flipping out of the plane.

These had to be added because they were so flattering.

This picture was cool because we were coming down through the clouds and you can see the valley in the background.

Here's a picture of the sun setting and the Airport where Austin cheerfully awaited our arrival.

Landing back at the Airport.

Glad to be back on the ground......I think Austin felt the same way.

Such a fun experience and I was way glad I did it with my mom.....but I don't think I'd ever do it again.

Olympics

My family has always loved the Olympics. Austin and I are super excited to watch them this year. We went over to Ken and Mari's house last night to watch the opening ceremonies. I am so excited to watch them. I think they're super motivating and inspirational.

Discovery Gateway Childrens Museum

From August 2009 to December 2009 I worked at the Discovery Gateway Childrens Museum.

It was so much fun. I had a lot of fun visitors as well. Grandma and Grandpa Tanner bought some family passes and came down to visit several times. This day she brought down some of the Tanner kids while Mari took Megan down to BYU. It was fun, they played at the museum and then Grandma took us all to lunch.

Left to right (Shaw, Maddie, Jake, Me)

Grandma Tanner also took this picture another day they came down. They brought Sheralin, Rowan, and Austin (little cousin) down with them. You can see Austin sitting in the bottom right hand corner working on his puppet we made that day.

(Me & Grandpa)
They rode the train down to Salt Lake, so I was able to ride home with them.

During my last week working there Jordie and Deacon came down to have lunch with me and play at the museum for a little bit. The pictures are kind of bad because I took them with my phone.

For the Halloween Spooktacular event we made haunted gingerbread houses. This was the sample I made.

Both these costumes were pretty cool. I had to take them to show Austin. The iron man costume was all super lit up and everything.....it looked just like the one in the show.

This costume was made from scratch....everything except from the helmet.

This was my classroom.....the Curiosity Shop.

Austin could never come visit me at work without stopping to play or try something out. Without fail he always found something new he didn't know was there.
My desk before I was ready to leave.....and trying to get everything organized.
My desk after I had cleaned out the drawers and boxed all my stuff.

It was such a fun place to work and I worked with such great people. The staff there is awesome. I really learned so much and had a really great experience there.

The Greatest Show on Earth......

Through working at the children's museum I was able to get a deal on circus tickets. We called up some friends to see if anyone would be interested in going to the circus with us. Matt & Jen Jenkins and Lared and Laurie Lattin met us at the Gateway for dinner and the circus.

Riding a bike across a high wire....no big deal.

Would it really be a circus if no one was shot out of a cannon?

With all the bad luck I was having with my camera that night I was impressed and excited to get this shot of the girl just as she was leaving the cannon.

As if one girl being shot out of a cannon wasn't enough now there are two girls about to be shot out of a double barrel cannon.

Right before they blew both girls out of the cannon.

It was actually more fun than I expected. Thanks Jen, Matt, Jared & Laurie for going with us. I wish I had a picture of everyone.....oh well, next time.