The Wedding Planner

Wow, can I just say that I had the longest weekend that I can remember? First of all my brother-in-law Aaron got married about a week ago. He asked me when he first got engaged if I would plan his reception... Of course I told him I would love to (I love being able to be creative). The reception was on Saturday, which happened to be my birthday (exciting day, I know) So Saturday I woke up at about nine and drove the half hour to my brother-in-law's house in Lehi, where all of the receptions goodies were being stored. We got to work right away cutting up all of the food. Then off to the church to set it all up. Holy cow, there was so much work to do. Lights to be hung, table settings to be put together, the works. Luckily I had my hard-working hubby there to help with all of the big stuff.. he was a trooper!!Being seven months prego I know I couldn't have done it without him. Once all the setting up was done, we went back to my brother-in-law's to eat the fastest dinner ever and get dressed to get to the church. Last minute details were thrown together and food was brought out. Then the rest of the night wasspent greeting family and friends. Of course the Jazz game was on that night and was being recorded (isn't Tivo the greatest thing ever?) So after everyone had left and was all cleaned up around 10:30 we headed back to my bro-in-law's to let all the bro's watch the Jazz game together. We ended up staying the night there because they were blessing their baby, Jace, the next morning at 9:00 since the majority of the brothers were in town.. Thank you Justin and Stacy by the way for hosting all of us at your house that night! You two are great!! After the blessing that morning we had food and visited for a while then headed to Orem for Darren's cousin's farewell. We went back to their house for lunch and visited there. Finally we headed home.. Luckily Brinley fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep to put her in bed so Darren and I could take a well deserved nap. I don't think I have ever been so tired.. I will post some of the pictures of how well the reception turned out when I get them all uploaded, but I will say that I am very pleased with the outcome.

Sandbox

Well a couple of days ago Darren says to me, "Ash will you look up the price of sand? I wanna build Brinley a sandbox" I said I would, but in the back of my mind am thinking "yeah right". You see, although my wonderful husband has great intentions, I had a feeling he had no idea what he was doing. But yesterday, after doing yardwork, he made his way to the hardware store to pick up the wood for the sandbox. Still a little skeptical I watched him get to work... and it turned out, well perfect. I was very impressed and proud of my hubby and his woodworking skills which I thought didn't exist. Brinley went to bed for her nap and woke up with this great new toy. At first she didn't know what to think and didn't really like the feel of it, but after a few minutes she dug right in. I couldn't get her out without a tantrum.. Thanks daddy. I am so glad I have such a great husband who loves to make our family happy, even though his wife doesn't always have the confidence in him that she should. Love you babe!! Working Hard Shoveling Sand
Look how great it is!!

Our Rockstar

So on Sunday we were at Grandma Nelly's house for our nephew, Jack's, blessing. Well her cousin Nicholas has a wii and a High School Musical karioki game and Brinley saw all of the other cousins singing into the microphone and dancing.. Well as soon as all of the kids were out playing somewhere else and the coast was clear, she decided it was her turn. I guess we have a superstar in the making here... So cute!

The Zoo

What a perfect day to go to the zoo.. It was about 80 degrees with slight wind. Perfect. Brinley wanted to wear her sunglasses the whole time. It was so fun to go this year since Brinley knew what all of the animals were. She especially loved the monkey's and the elephants. She didn't want to leave to go see any other animals.. She would have stayed and looked at either animal all day without seeing anything else.

She also liked the giraffes. She was hilarious making all of the sounds the animals made. We will be going as much as possible before this baby comes.

Reflection of Christ

There was a 'Reflections of Christ' photography exhibit recently on display at the Mesa Temple Visitors Center in conjunction with the Easter Pageant produced by the LDS Church. The photographer was given permission to photograph Pageant cast members for the exhibit. The photographer worked with a few other individuals to put together a 5 minute slide show which includes every image from the exhibit set to the hymn 'Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.'

These are some amazing pictures... please take the time to watch it and reflect on how blessed we are. I am so grateful for my Savior and to know of the Plan of Salvation and that I will be with my family after this life.

To see the video just click the following link http://mabrystudios.typepad.com/reflections_of_christ/2008/03/reflections-sli.html

Happy Birthday Darren!!

Wow, is my husband old... He turned 35 on the 2nd. The only time we ever think about our age difference is on our birthdays! I think that may be because he certainly doesn't act his age, which is how I like it.. Well, I didn't necessarily throw him a suprise party, I just invited our family over and he didn't know what was going on when everyone started showing up. It was really fun, we had dinner and of course cake and ice cream.. Then some fun presents. Brinley thought all the presents were for her and helped daddy open all of them and after each one would exclaim," wow" with an excited gasp.. She cracks me up. The green and orange things on her hands are for washing the car and she thought they were gloves.. whatever makes her smile! Happy birthday babe!

Brinley helping with the presents
The most colorful gloves I think I have ever seen, along with the cheesy smile!!

D arren's brother Justin, my sister Courtney and of course the birthday boy!
Blowing out all the candles... all 35. You should have seen the smoke after they had been blown out, I'm suprised the smoke detector didn't go off.

Our little family

I barely ever get pictures of all of us together.. It is either one or the other. So I thought I would get one of all of us.. Don't mind my double chin (It comes with pregnancy). I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband and daughter! I can't wait for our new addition!