While in Utah...

This last week we packed up the car and headed to Utah. It was a great trip because we rode with Sarah and the twins in their van. We did so many fun seeing friends, and playing with cousins.

Aria helped Grandpa make Swedish Pancakes, a Hill tradition.

After 2 years of getting her hair cut with kitchen scissors, Aria got her first "professional" haircut.

We always love visiting Grandma Joeen because we get the cutest pictures taken.

We also got to help auntie Kelsey get ready for her Junior Prom. She looked absolutely stunning.

I couldn't resist putting up this picture. It is my favorite picture of my favorite twins. They look so grown up and I just want to squeeze them!

As you can see we had so much fun. I am so glad that we were able to be there for both our mothers on Mother's Day. Being away from our mom's has made it that much more apparent how much we love them and need them. Love you!

Speaking of Vampires...

My daughter is a vampire and I only have myself to blame. When I was pregnant with Laila, I read all the books in the Twilight series. I thought the book was so good and I had a crush on Edward and I thought that vampires were so interesting, blah blah. Now Laila is one of them and I am not sure how I feel about that.

I keep wondering, if I just hadn't read those book would she be normal? But alas my fascination with vampires has resulted in Laila's teeth.

Then there is Jacob Black the werewolf. I thought that he was kind of cute and I felt bad for the way that Bella treated him. So again, while I was pregnant with Laila I thought a lot about how poor Jacob grew so tall and big while he was still very young. But alas my fascination with werewolves has resulted in Laila growing so tall and big while she is still very young.

This picture doesn't show it very good but Laila's feet hang off her car seat to her ankles and her head hits the sun visor.

Next time I am pregnant I will only read books about nice, smart, athletic, funny, contributors to society instead of vampires and werewolves.

Laila's Constipated

"nuff said.

Happy Birthday Russ!!

Today is my baby brothers birthday! He is 17 years old...WHAT?!?! As a mother it is weird when my kids get older, but it is way crazy when my little brothers get older. I hold Russell as a 2-5 year old in my head. Now those were the days. Russ was definitely the cutest kid in the world and he totally knew it, boy did he work it. He understood that he had 5 mothers and he had each one of us wrapped around his little fingers. I am sure none of you knew this but I was always Russell's favorite. I could get him to do things when no one else could. Also my name was one of his first words.

Happy Birthday, I Love You!!!

Happy Birthday April!!

Today is my little sister April's birthday. She is 22 years old. How did that happen?!?! I feel like it was just last year that we were sharing a room, playing house and rolling on the barrels. What happened to the last 10 years? Now she is so grown up having all sorts of grown up adventures.

The good thing about growing up is realizing how precious my family is. 10 years ago I was still very mean to my little sister. I thought she was so annoying and just wanted her to leave me alone. How times have changed. I feel so glad that I have 4 best friends, my mom and all my sisters, I am so lucky!

April has become a remarkable woman that knows what she wants out of life and is not afraid to go after impossible dreams. She is the best sister and Auntie on the block!

I hope they call me on a mission!!!

My little brother Douglas received his mission call today and he is headed to Mexico City West. We are so excited for him. There are only a few boys that I have ever known that are as ready as Doug to go on their missions.

Doug is one of the most amazing people that I know. He not only is a wonderful brother, he is a fantastic uncle and a great friend. When I am home he always wants to hold and play with my kids, and he never complains when I ask him to watch Aria and Laila.

The last time Doug came to visit us he would study "Jesus the Christ" and the Scriptures every part of down time we had. He is a wonderful example of goodness, devotion, conviction and hard work.

Doug is so talented and fun to be around. I am so proud of my little brother! We are going to miss him very much, but we know there is no place he would rather be then sharing the gospel with those in Mexico.

Doug's Eagle Scout Court.

WHATEVER!!!

So Target USED to be my favorite store. My cousin Camille just got married and I was on her blog this morning and she had quite an interesting post. Well, it seems that Target has instituted a new policy that you can only return two items within a twelve month period without a receipt and they cannot exceed $20.00. Seriously is that the stupidest thing you have ever heard?!?! When we registered at Target for our wedding their return policy was dumb, but at least they let us return the 30 cookie sheets that we received without a receipt. But this is ridiculous! I remember the nightmare of returning gifts so I will never buy another wedding gift at Target. I hope you tell anyone that might be getting married not to register at Target and if you want to buy a gift for someone at Target don't forget to include the gift receipt!

Who needs a mom?

Aria has always preferred her dad over anyone, including me. At least I was still the mom... not anymore. For the past few months Aria has called me "Leena". I thought it was just a phase and she would get over it but the last few days she has not called me "mom" even once.

She has been doing this for so long that I don't notice. But it makes me a little self conscious when we are around other people because everyone notices and makes comments. Has anyone else had their kid do this?

I might have the cutest kids in the WORLD!

Today was a great day! What made it such a great day? I played with my kids, that's all. I didn't worry about getting anything done today and just played. My house is a disaster, phone calls were not made, computer work didn't get done and projects are unfinished but my kids are happy. I usually get so caught up in what needs to be accomplished that I let the TV do my parenting. Not today.

Laila entertained us with her cheesy smiles and "melt-your-heart" laugh. She is so snuggly and always pats my back when she hugs me.

Aria is getting so big. It hit me today that she is not a little girl anymore, I am sad. Today she said the prayer for Family Night and she blessed that we would not go astray. (Her favorite song is "Follow the Prophet"). At times like these I want her to stop growing up. I suddenly don't mind the tantrums and drama, in one moment I am reminded that I love being a mother.
So today I definitely have the best kids in the world and there is nothing I would rather do then play with my girls.

Potty update

Potty training really IS a good amount of work and frustration. So after those first few days things didn't go so well. Aria pooped in her pants 2 times and peed once. The worst part was the 5 days that Aria held her poop. She was cranky and irritable (I totally understand) and just wouldn't go. The good news is that she hasn't had a"wet" accident in 6 days and she did finally poop in the toilet. My mom assures me I have a few more weeks until I am out of the woods.

So there you have the intricacies of Aria's elimination processes, I am not sure if you really wanted to know.

Potty Poo-Poo Wee-Wee

These are just a few of the words that we have been using a lot of lately. I have had enough of spending all my money on diapers. This Saturday was d-day, the potty training has begun.
We started the day with training a baby doll how to go potty on the toilet then it was Aria's turn. She started the day off with an accident and Geoff told me just to put her diaper back on. But I was determined. We stuck to it and she eventually went in the toilet. It then took her a few more accidents to realize the sensation of needing to go to the bathroom.

Aria loves getting potty trained. She has 100% attention of her mom and dad, she gets lots of yummy treats and prizes when she goes in the toilet and she gets to play the computer on the toilet while she waits.

I want to announce that Aria has been a champion! Today she hasn't had any accidents. She even went to the bathroom in Nursery. She told us she needed to go to the bathroom without any prompting and she POOPED!! Now, it has only been two days and I might be jumping the gun, but potty training has not been the headache that I thought it would.

Good Job Ari!

Easter!

Easter was so wonderful because Sarah drove to Vegas from California so we could all be together. We had our annual Easter Egg hunt on Saturday. We have a little kids hunt first. All the kids did very well the Easter Bunny was generous.

Look at those eggs!

After the little kid's hunt we had one for the "big kids". This is the best because the Easter Bunny puts plenty of cash in the eggs. There wasn't a lot of space to hid the eggs so we all decided to create "impairments" to make it more challenging to find the eggs. Here we are.

IMPAIRMENTS*

*Sarah made this list. It was so good I stole it.

DARCY: Wore a helmet with red goggle glasses that impaired his visual depth perception.

RUSSELL: Wore swim goggles with masking tape impairing his vision entirely.

DOUG: Wore fake hair that increased dehydration in the hot sun & tied his feet together with a rope impairing his mobile ability, requiring him to jump & leap.

APRIL: Wore hot pad mitts extremely limiting her ability to pickup & deposit eggs in her basket.

SARAH: I had to ride a broom. (There should be no interpretation into this impairment by the reader)

ALEENA: Wore a hand towel over her head? This would not be considered an impairment especially because the video camera caught you removing this impairment at the beginning of the hunt and then secretly replacing it at the end. huh, wonder why she received the largest portion of eggs...cheat'r. (it is very hard to keep a towel on your head when you are trying to bend over to pick up eggs full of money.)

GEOFF: Wore his clothes. He came AS IS. That was enough of an impairment for him...poor guy.

Our attempt at a family picture.Aria is waiting for the Easter Bunny to deliver her basket.
James, Olivia, Aubri and Aria

Ruthie's birthday!

After being at my parents house for 6 weeks they all decided to come to Vegas for Russell and Doug's spring break. I was so happy to have help in the car on the ride home. We had a wonderful time!

First was Ruthie's Birthday! She is the most lovely 53 year-old that I know and I feel so lucky to have her as my friend, business partner and best of all my mom. Most of you wouldn't know that most of my life my mom and I didn't get a long...at all!!! Now that I have grown up and realized that she has always been right a day doesn't go by that I don't talk to her or think about her. I love you so much mom!!!

The Birthday started out on the boat. Thanks to Jeff for piling in 15 of us for a wonderful morning. It was Laila's first time on the boat and we found out she hates the sun in her face.

After the boat we left the kids with a babysitter and headed to the Bodies exhibit. It was truly amazing. I highly recommend going it was fascinating!

Next we went to a very yummy restaurant called Maggiano's at Fashion Show Mall. Talk about delicious.
Then we went home for some birthday cake and presents. It was a fabulous day for a fabulous lady! I love you!!

Our trip to Utah!

I have learned that when you live away from family and your kids are not in school, no calling, and a husband that travels, a two week trip can easily turn into 6 weeks.

Our days mostly consisted of working at the store and fixing all of the things that I cannot do from another state. Every time Aria says a prayer she prays to see cousins Kylee and Nick and friend Brookie because they live far away. Her prayers were answered! We got to spend some time playing with all those that we love. It was a wonderful trip. Some of the highlights are below.

One night around 11:00 pm I walked into my bathroom to find this. A life size barbie with a butter knife in one hand and a bloody Kleenex in the other. My little brothers and their friends were hanging out at our house when Russell got a bloody nose and the rest happened from that bloody nose. They thought they were so funny!


This picture is what I found when I thought Aria was taking a nap. She did such a good job I let her do my makeup the next day, what do you think?

I think Laila had the best time in Utah I don't think she was ever put down. Some one was always available to hold her. She developed a special bond with her Papa. Every time he would hold her she would grab his face and give him lots of wet kisses.

I am sad that I didn't take pictures of everything thing we did and everyone that we visited. Thank you to both sets of Grandparents for putting up with us for so long!

St. Patricks Day Party

Because I haven't had time to update my blog please bear with me as I chronicle the last month. Earlier in march the Gardner's hosted a St. Patrick's day party at their house. Lindsay and I love to plan parties. The crazier the better. We usually subject the invitees to dressing up but this time we only required the color green. Our first game was a video scavenger hunt. It was really fun. I had one girl ask what we were doing and how old we were. Yes, we are a bunch of 25-27 year-olds playing a game reserved for 12 year-olds.

Then we came back to a wonderful meal full of green. We had Ham (not green) green rolls, green potatoes, broccoli, salad, green jello and for desert a wonderful mint chocolate chip ice cream cake! Yes it was very good.

Next came yet another elementary school game of feeding your partner green Jello while blindfolded from behind. good news was that it is a little easier when your are in your late twenties then when you are 10.

It was so fun to be able to get together with some great friend that we haven't seen in a long time. Thanks for coming and putting up with things that Lindsay and I think are funny.

Glad to be back!

Hello!
We are back! I have spent to last 6 weeks in Utah. You would think that would free me up to spend a little more time on the computer, not true. I am 10 times as busy when I am in Utah, not to mention that I haven't had a computer since I have been back in Vegas. So I have a lot to catch up on. Just wanted to let you know I haven't died.

Happy Birthday Geoff!

Today is Geoff's birthday. He is 27 years old and again we are not in the same state. I want to pay tribute to him as a husband and father. Geoff and I met on a blind date where we went to Lagoon. The date lasted about 12 hours and he asked me out for our second date at the end of the first. I knew there was something about him and I was so glad that he kept asking me out. My mom said it best when she first met Geoff she said that he had "a good spirit". Coming from Ruthie that is the highest compliment. Now four years later I am continuing to discover how wonderful Geoff is in so many ways. He is so kind, selfless, loyal, hilarious, thoughtful, aware, cute, smart, funny, and did I mention very good-looking? He is all of these things and more. I am so lucky to have him! I love you!!!!

So Hot!