90

On Saturday we celebrated my Grandpa Nelson's 90th birthday. 

 I made the banner. Yep I am proud about it. 

 This is my favorite picture of my Grandparents when they were newly weds.  

 They are such a charming and good looking couple. They are both still alive but I didn't get any pictures of my Grandmother at the party. Oops. 

 My Grandfather was in the Airforce during WWI. My Uncle John served in Vietnam, and my cousin John is still in the Navy and has been deployed here and there during the most recent wars. 

 My Grandparents served two missions together, their first in New Jersey and their second at 

Temple Square. 

 My Grandparents have been married for over 60 years...I think.  

 This my Grandpa and his brother, Uncle Max. Uncle Max turned 88 a few days later. :)

 My cousin Richard took some amazing group shots. I hope to get a few copies so I can post them. 

 All the grandkids got together and sang I Am a Child of God for my Grandpa. My niece and nephew played the violin and the cello and my Dad played his Ukulele. Then each of my grandparents kids got up and shared their memories of Grandpa. Then Grandpa got up and shared some thoughts and his testimony. 

 Roan chilin' with my second cousin, Sonia

My Uncle John lives in Washington so he skyed into the party. (Also pictured is my cousin Kimberly)

This is my Grandpa Kenneth Nelson. He is awesome and he almost ALWAYS blinks for the camera. My sister gets that from him. :)

I love my Grandpa. He is a funny guy and has always been a strong example to me of love and service. He is still super fit and independent for his age. Seriously, he and my Grandma still live on their own (close to family of course). They are very active in their community, church, and family. He has a strong testimony of the gospel. He has always told me to have fun in righteousness and to turn to the Lord for everything and I will find happiness. I love you Grandpa. Happy Birthday!

2

Roan turned 2 on January 19. I cried. LOL I can be a sap sometimes. I seriously cannot be more grateful for this little man in our lives. He has grown so much. He is a smart, sensitive, sweet, and smiley little guy. When I look at pictures of him from then to now, I am amazed. We enjoy watching him grow and develop. I spent the last week reminsing on our lives with him and have reread some previous post from the day he was born and his first birthday. I am in awe at how perfect he is for our family. 

His birthday weekend was a busy one. We had lunch with my best friend from High School, Amy D. I got to meet her boyfriend too. He is a super nice guy and they are a wonderful couple. They were passing through town so we had a quick lunch date to catch up. It had been 6 years since I had seen her. She is my super awesome and smart friend and I loved our reunion. 

Classic Charlie's Angel and it looks like we are saving him. 

We hosted a few friends from Anaheim that needed a place to crash just for the night. At 2:30 a.m. we found out that our carbon monoxide alarm worked. Everyone was safe and it was nothing serious. Just left some wood smoldering in our wood burning stove with the vent closed. Oops. We left the windows open for a while and everything was cleared out within an hour. Oh did I mention it is still winter. Yep. 

Sunday we woke Roan up with cheers and hugs. Then we jumped in the car and went to my brothers pre baby blessing breakfast. My brother married one of my best friends from high school and most of her family was there. It is always nice when we get together with them, like a blast from the past. After the blessing festivities we came home and put Roan down for a nap...which turned into play for 2 hours. This kid didn't sleep and I was worried he would be cranky for his Grandparent Birthday Party. I think he was just excited and didn't get enough energy burned before his nap. He was in good spirits the entire day and even crashed as soon as his party was over. 

We decided to keep the party low key this year and only invited the Grandparents, which actually is still a lot of people since he has 8 living grand and great grandparents.  Since the occasion brought all these people in one room we had to get a bunch of picture. 

Lars side: 

Mom & Step Dad Barlow

Dad & Step Mom Madsen

 My Side: 

 Grandpa and Grandma Nelson (My Mom's parents)

  Mom and Dad Stark

I served light appetizers and instead of cake we had pie, because Roan is our "Cutie Pie". :) I had a few decorations up, one of which was a a #2 made out of pictures of Roan from the last 2 years.

 Loaded sweet potato bites, veggies & hummus, cheese & crackers

We watched Roan play, eat, and then we opened presents. Then we sang to Roan. He was so cute, he got shy for a minute and ran to Dad. He blew his candles out a few times because he thought it was fun. 

This is the balance bike we got him for his birthday. :) He is super excited. Once the weather warms up we will take him out for a spon. 

It was such a perfect weekend. We love Roan so much and are so grateful for everyone's birthday wishes and for all the Grandparents for coming out to celebrate.

 His new tie

 Yummy red velvet cake pop

 I wanted to get a picture of him with his new Star Wars shirt but he didn't want me to. 

 (he and his friend Dane match, we are seriously going to make it a tradition where for the rest of these boys lives they have to have matching Star Wars shirts). 

Finally!  A successful picture. 

Since his birthday he has had a doctor appointment and here are his stats:

28 lbs and 10 oz 75th%

36.5 inches 98%

He also had his first ear infection. :( Growing up is awesome

31

My birthday week was pretty awesome. My birthday was on January 30th.  I decided to be nice to myself and give myself a cool treat...I went out to eat everyday of the week. I grew up poor so going out to eat is a huge luxury. I didn't go too crazy. I budgeted for it and utilized birthday coupons and gift cards. But I was sure to make it about me and go where I wanted and get what I wanted. It was mostly on my own during my lunch and a few dinners with families on the weekend. All in all it was a lot of fun. By the end I missed cooking a little bit and decided that for the month of February I am not going out to eat at all and I am only going to make 2 trips to the grocery store for fresh produce only. Other than that I am going to utilize food in my pantry and deep freezer. Enough of that, back to ME and my birthday. 

For me my birthday celebration is a week long event. Each day was special in it's own way. I had a sister date. People were nicer to me than normal and I was more chipper than usual, with the exception of a few moments of self reflection, something people do when they get old I suppose. On Thursday, my actual birthday, my coworkers baked me cookies. Lars got me flowers, which I loved. We went out to eat with my Dad & sister to my new favorite restaurant, Longhorn Steak House. I took Friday off and got some needed Roan time and bought a new skirt. Saturday I went bowling with my brothers family. The bowling alley was super classic, they honor birthday folk by having their party sign an old bowling pin to take home. It was awesome and I got mozzarella cheese sticks with fry sauce and it was so good. Plus I bowled a pretty good game. SO that was my birthday week. It was awesome and I appreciate all the birthday wishes. 

 My new skirt from LulaRoe, it is a new design to with a lace overlay. Super cute and comfy. 

 Roan's cute bowling shoes

Cheesecake Factory Red Velvet 

 Smashburger all for $4 because of coupons

 Cafe Zupas

 PF Chang's with my HRO family, we celebrated 3 birthdays. 

My sweet friend Rebecca sent me a birthday care package. She gave me a cool cup, hair jewel, and scarf. 

 The bowling pin

The stunning flowers from Lars. 

I love taking pictures of flowers as they open. This is from over a week. 

Regarding my thoughts on getting older...I have come to the conclusion that the some people in the world associate youthfulness with giddiness. When people wanted to guess how old I was they always guessed 25 years and under. People mistaken me for younger because I am so "bouncy" and "happy". There is nothing wrong with this. I take it as a compliment but sometimes it bugs me when people give me wide eyes when they find out how old I am and then follow up their surprised face with, "You sure have a lot of energy and seem very happy for someone who is 31." Why yes, yes I do and it is my choice and I hope I am that way forever. Where does it say I have to be grumpy and cranky with age? Since I have been in Young Women's as a leader I have tried to dress a little "older" or "mature" since I keep getting mistaken for one of the youth. Well, I am throwing in the towel on that one and am just going to be who I am through and through even if I look way younger than I am.  Don't get me wrong, I like that people think I am not as old as I look and that I don't have to lie about my age yet. But they do seem surprised when I tell them I am 31. I am proud of how old I am and all I have done in 31 years. I am also proud that I can be this energetic and happy at my age if I want to, happiness is a choice, or so I believe. I am going to continue to leave them all guessing. so HA HA!

Roan Randoms

This is what Roan looks like when he wakes up from a nap (So Serious)

He still loves bathtime...a lot!

Love that face.

Roan loves helping me in the kitchen which easily turns into game and playtime. 

Where's Roan?

Where's Roan?

Where's Roan?

Where's Roan?

Where's Roan?

Oh 

there's 

Roan :)

Let's do it again. (this is his "don't take my picture face")