Dear Friends

As soon as Jacob was out of school this afternoon we headed to Heather's visit with my dear, long lost friend, Becky Norcross, her husband and brand new baby Noah. Heather was taking his newborn pictures so they were going to be there awhile.

It was so good to see Becky (who hasn't aged a day since I saw her almost 20 years ago-- seriously, how does she get so lucky?!) and catch up on where life has taken her. Seeing her reminded me of so many fun times we shared when we were in high school. Meme joined us at Heather's also, too bad we couldn't get Val, Toni, & Brooke there too... now, that would've been good times!

Becky, Meme, Val, Brooke, & Toni- Chilito Fan Club

Becky, Val, Toni, me, & Brooke-- Girls Camp'92

Toni, Chrissie, Brooke, Amanda, me, & Val-- Village People, Halloween '92

Brooke, Becky, Chrissy, Megan, me, Meme, Val, Toni (& Jimmy Doddridge) -- New Years Eve '93 (the night before I left for Ricks College)
(I wish I'd taken a picture of us together today! dang!!)

Once Becky left it was just about dinnertime so I headed towards home, called John who was on his way home from work, and had him meet me at In-N-Out. The Keil's decided to join us too. Good times with good friends!

It's been a good day with dear friends.
Friends we'll have forever...

Georgie's Birthday

Georgia had a perfect princess birthday! She started the morning with opening a few gifts.

She was very excited to try on her new skirt.

All morning she kept asking if it was time to go get Norah yet. At 11:30 I finally said it was and we hopped in the car to go get her. Instead of having a big party, Georgie wanted to spend a princess day with Norah only and so that's just what we did.

Princess Georgia & Princess Norah had lunch at Panda Express

and then spent some time getting manicures AND pedicures.

Both girls chose pink for their fingers and purple for their toes.
Sparkley pink and sparkley purple.

Then it was home for more princess play. While they played I got the house ready for a family party and John, home from working all morning, crashed while watching Alice.

Finally it was party time!
The kids played and the adults visited. We had Little Caesar's pizza, at Georgie's request.

We played pin the crown on the princess,

we had a princess pinata.

We had yummy strawberry cake made by Grandma Cheri.

And we opened presents. There was a lot of Lalaloopsy going on for that girl. And she loved every bit of it!

Georgia said it was a 'PERFECT PRINCESS PARTY!'
Thanks to everyone who made her day so perfectly special and perfectly princess.

Happy 4th Birthday Georgie Girl!

Happy 4th Birthday Georgie Girl!

Georgia Ann
4 years old
{45lbs, 41 1/2 inches}

Our sweet, independent, mothering, obnoxious, hilarious, strong willed, cuddly, loud, dear Georgie Girl is 4 years old today. It's hard to believe it was only 4 years ago that I waited and waited and waited for this sweet girl to arrive. 12 days late and then coming in a mad rush is exactly her personality and not a thing about her has changed since the day she was born. Sure, she's learned a lot of new things and now can express herself in a way so very fitting for Georgie, but her personality, her need to be heard, her strong will, her determination, and her love to be loved has not changed one little bit. That girl was born her. She knows who she is and what she wants and she isn't afraid to go after it. It's a quality I hope she never loses (although it does cause us to butt heads quite often and I'm sure will continue to through the years...).

Georgia is one of a kind. She's special and unique. She's absolutely perfect. And we love her so very much! She is such a good big sister to Alice, she loves school & Sunbeams (and her teachers often comment about how mature and kind she is), she is passionate about everything. She can quiet as a mouse and as loud as a fire alarm from one second to another without any reason. She brings joy to our lives and smiles to our faces, she makes us absolutely crazy and exhausted beyond belief. And oh, how we adore this girl! Oh, how we love her!!

Some things about Georgia...
1. What is your favorite color? "two of them: gold, silver, purple, pink. That makes 4."
2. What is your favorite toy? My new My Little Pony train
3. What is your favorite fruit? grapefruit
4. What is your favorite tv show? Lalaloopsy: The Search for Pillow
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? macaroni & cheese
6. What is your favorite outfit? My 4 birthday shirt & new jean skirt
7. What is your favorite game? Wipeout wii
8. What is your favorite snack? blueberries
9. What is your favorite animal? none
10. What is your favorite song? Pineapple Princess by Annette Funicello and Slippery Fish (school song)
11. What is your favorite book? Angelina Ballerina's Birthday Party
12. Who is your best friend? Norah
13. What is your favorite cereal? Cherrio's
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? play baseball
15. What is your favorite drink? chocolate milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? BIRTHDAY!
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? My bed?
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? cereal
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Little Cesear's pizza
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? a princess

The trip home

We woke up at 5 this morning to be on the road to DFW by 7am. The three hour drive (again!) wasn't bad and, after a quick stop for breakfast, we arrived at the airport at 10:35 for our 12:41pm flight to SLC and then home to BUR.

The flight from DFW to SLC was great, both girls slept and John & I even got a little nap. The flight from SLC to BUR was awful. Naomi was d.o.n.e. being confined by seat belt and small spaces and had a fit on the plane. It was completely embarrassing and awful and everything you can imagine as a parent of toddlers trapped on a plane. I felt awful for all the other passengers and tried every trick up my sleeve, but nothing worked. The girl was not having any of it.

Thankfully that's behind us now and we are home with all four of our babies. I have missed Jacob & Georgia terribly but am grateful they were here with Gram being well taken care of. Both of them got sick on Saturday afternoon after we left and spent all day Saturday & Sunday in their jammies recuperating. They are glad to have us home and ready to celebrate Georgie's 4th birthday tomorrow! Naomi is glad to see them... she was so excited to run through that front door and give everyone big hugs.

John and I have a lot to think about. We really liked Edmond and can see our family there, but there is some negotiation with Nielsen that needs to happen in order for us to seriously consider it. They need John now it's just a matter of them making an offer we can't refuse.

Final day in OKC

Today John spent the morning with Jeff running Nielsen errands and attending meetings. The girls and I hit the town and checked out the mall and Target then back to the hotel for much needed naps. Once John was finished and the girls woke up we drove around Edmond for a couple of hours looking at more homes and then headed into Oklahoma City to see the sites.

Our first stop was the Oklahoma City National Memorial. What a powerful monument that is. The spirit there is very serene and calm. We enjoyed being there and honoring those who died that fateful day.

Afterward we drove around downtown. Saw Bricktown, the water way, the home of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the field for their baseball team, and then realized just how late it was & that we hadn't had dinner yet. We also realized that we'd be leaving early in the morning & still hadn't found souvenirs for the kids so we headed back toward the hotel for dinner and shopping.