Fun-Filled Birthday Weekend...

I thought I'd post some pictures of our birthday adventures. Thursday was Gage's official birthday so that evening, we went bowling. My kids are really into bowling right now and are both getting pretty good at it. It was a lot of fun, even though we went on league night which was a bit embarrassing for me because I am NOT a good bowler. On Friday we celebrated with both sides of the family coming over for dinner, fun and cake. Gage got some great gifts-thanks everyone, we love you all!

Boe is so funny to watch bowl. He will do a little jig while he waits for the ball to make it's way down the lane. Wish I had a video of it to share!

Speaking of OCD, Gage would ONLY use HIS ball-EVERYTIME-without fail. You'd think using another ball woulda killed the kid. I WONDER who he gets these tendencies from???

This is not the BEST cake I have ever made for my kids, but it was by far the hardest, and I don't necessarily know why-I followed the pattern and the recipe, but I could not get the frosting to work. I ended up just smoothing it instead of going for the star points, oh well, it tasted good and Gage loved it! (It's Scooby-Doo, in case you can't tell :)



Gage couldn't wait for his cousins and family to get to our house. He kept bugging me to take pictures of him on his "special" day! He's hilarious and I love him to pieces.

I Can't Believe He's Five...

Happy Happy Birthday to my little monkey Gage! I used to laugh at my mom when she would say things like "Where does the time go?" or "Time goes by too fast!" and other "Old" people sayings, but today as I sit and reflect on these last five years of my little boys life, I find myself asking just that, where does the time go? I want Gage to know how much I love him. Here are just a FEW GREAT things about Gage:

1. He always has a smile on his face.

2. He is a very good brother to Boe.

3. He genuinely cares about others feelings.

4. He is very sensitive and aware of what is going on around him and how others are feeling.

5. He is smart.

6. He is funny.

7. He is a good student.

8. He is a good listener and does what I ask him to do.

9. He loves caramel, just like his mom!

10. He loves his mom!
Love you Gager, hope you have a fantastic day!!!

And again...

So I've been tagged again, this time about my hubby... so here goes...

What is his name? Neal Hamilton Gatherum
How long have you been married? 6 and 1/2 years
How long did you date? 3 years almost to the day of our first date
How old is he? 31
Who eats more? Him, usually, but sometimes I go on those "Thomas" binges and man oh man, I can really pack it in (my sissies are laughing and nodding their heads right now cause we ALL share that little problem!)
Who said I love you first? Him
Who is taller? Him, but only by a few inches, he likes to pretend he's taller AND bigger than he is!
Who sings better? I don't think either one of us is gonna be winning any tony awards for vocal performance!
Who is smarter? I would say we are equal, but smart in different ways.
Whose temper is worse? Mine, definitely mine (can we say anger management!)
Who does the laundry? ME
Who does the dishes? ME
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do
Who pays the bills? Him, and I gladly let him do it, I don't like worrying about such things, but I do compulsivley check the bank webpage daily, or more than daily...:)
Who mows the lawn? Him for right now but starting next year the pleasure of the job is going to a "lucky" neighborhood kid or a lawn-care service, we have too big of a back yard
Who cooks dinner? ME (do you see a pattern here?!?!?)
Who drives when you are together? Him, he's kinda controlling like that-hahaha
Who is more stubborn? Oh gosh, we are both SOOOOOO-OOO stubborn and then we are surprised to see that same quality in BOE?!?! I honestly don't know, we have both mellowed in this sense, but we are both pretty bad
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Usually me, in fact it used to ALWAYS be me, but he has totally improved on this aspect of our relationship
Whose parents do you see the most? Before my mom died, it was hands-down my family, but now that my dad is remarried and my sisters have all moved away, I would say it is about even
Who proposed? He did-at Hardware Ranch in Logan, it was perfect!
Who is more sensitive? Me, but he is sensitive in his own way and it's one of the things I appreciate most about him
Who has more friends? I would say we are about equal on that. We have been together for almost 10 years so our friends are now all mingled and mixed for the most part
Who has more siblings? He does, there are 7 kids in his family and 5 in mine
Who wears the pants in the family? I guess we both do, but maybe we each do on the issues that are most important to both of us, I don't know, my belief is that neither one of us should, I love going around pantsless!!!!

Okay, now I tag: Kami, Mandy, Marti, Amanda and Megan-HAVE FUN!!!

Tag, I'm It AGAIN!!!

I love these tags, they are a fun way to get to know your fellow blogging friends. Kami tagged me so here it goes!

Four Jobs I've had:
1. Violin Teacher
2. Tutor
3. CFO Solutions (working for good ol' daddy-o)
4. Teacher

Four T.V. Shows I Watch:
1. The Biggest Loser (literally brings tears to my eyes each week)
2. Law and Order SVU (gritty but I love it)
3. Anything on HGTV (the real estate channel, lots of good re-model and decorating ideas and shows)
4. Hogan Knows Best and other great VH1 originals

Four Favorite Foods:
1. Cafe Rio Pork Salads (amen Kami!)
2. Donuts ( I freaking love donuts, I could eat them everyday)
3. Hot Chocolate or Hot Apple Cider or Hot Wassail
4. Anything my mom used to cook-man she was a great cook

Four Movies I Love:
1. Dumb and Dumber, anything old school Jim Carrey really
2. Ever After
3. Cinderella (has always been my fav disney character and cartoon)
4. Finding Neverland

Four Websites I Visit Daily:
1. KSL.com, gotta keep up on current events
2. DeseretNews.com gotta read my daily dose of obituaries (morbid I know but you would be surprised at how many people I have known who have died)
3. Yahoo/GMail for email purposes
4. Zionsbank.com so I can make sure I don't overdraw on my account!

Four Places I 'd Rather Be Right Now:
1. Lake Powell, probably my favorite place on earth
2. Paris (amen again Kami)
3. Anything tropical and carribean
4. New York

Okay, Now Mandy, Emilee, Marti and Courtney; You are all IT!!! Get tagging!

To Have and To Hold...

Friday night was my friend Courtney's wedding to Clay Olsen. It was in Heber City at the Blue Boar Inn. I thought I'd post some pictures of the beautiful evening. Congrats Court and Clay, I couldn't be happier for the two of you! The new and happy couple, Courtney and Clay...

Doesn't she just look so beautiful???
The Beautiful bride and her daughter Alta...
Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same-Anonymous. I love these girls...

SWEETCAKES

So Neal has been out of town for ten of the last fifteen days. He is coming home tonight and I am SOOOOOOOOO excited. I don't realize how much of a help he is and how much I miss him until he isn't around, so I wanted to dedicate a post solely to him. Here are 10 things I love about him...

1. He is REALLY funny and sarcastic-and the best thing about his type of humor is he doesn't try to be funny, he just naturally is.

2. He is REALLY good with money. If it were up to me, we'd be broke, we'd have everything we want, but we'd be flat broke. Neal, however, is a pro with a budget (I call him the budget nazi) and I have to say that I really appreciate having financial security no matter what happens. I must really miss him, I can't believe I just admitted all of that!

3. He is an excellent dad. His work keeps him super busy and he is gone a lot, but when he is home, it's all about him and the kids. He gets down to their level and listens to them and validates them. I love how he treats them with respect.

4. My mom REALLY loved him, she told him that he was her soul-mate, he agreed and they forged a great alliance against me. Just kidding, but she did love him and always told me how lucky I was to have him.

5. He gets along with my friends and family, actually, he gets along with everyone. People enjoy being around him.

6. He is humble. He doesn't flaunt his accomplishments, he would never want someone to feel inferior to him and he is so good at making others feel comfortable around him.

7. He is quietly faithful. Just like he doesn't flaunt his accomplishments, neither does he flaunt his beliefs but he is such a good example of being faithful and living by faith.

8. He is optimistic and positive almost all of the time. I am more of a "glass half-empty" type of gal and he definitely sees more of the "half-full" side of things.

9. He enjoys the simple processes of life. He is good at recognizing the small, important things in life.

10. He loves Me!

Okay, sorry if that was too cheesy for some of you, but I don't tell him enough how great I think he is, and I do, I think he's the greatest! Love ya Babe!

Tag-I'm it!!!

So I've been tagged...I am supposed to come up with six interesting things about myself and my family...hmmm, here goes nothing:

1. We are the current owners of 2 dogs (Zepplin and Ellie) and 3 cats (Dingo, Elmo and Maverick)-all of which live outside-but still, 5 animals in a home where the mom/boss is NOT an animal lover...go figure!

2. Neal and I dated for 3 years before we got married. I think that might be a record in the state of Utah!

3. Neal, Boe and myself are all left-handed.

4. I have a bit of OCD and I CANNOT leave my house until all 5 of the barstools at the bar are pushed in and set in their own specific spot, that's just a sampling of my crazy obsessiveness.

5. The sales people at Southtowne Old Navy and Southtowne mall Gap/Gap Kids literally know me by name...not sure if that is really a good thing or not, but it's kinda interesting eh?

6. I still have a bit of a nail-biting habit, it's not quite as gross as actually biting them, because now I am obsessed with clipping them...another one of those OCD issues...

Okay, now I tag, Allison, Marti and Courtney...Have fun!

A Tribute

Today would have been my mom's 52nd birthday. Her birthdays are always difficult but I try to spend the day focusing on all of my memories of her. My cute dad came over and brought me a Papa Murphy's pizza, a german chocolate cake and a bag of Hershey's kisses with almonds-all of which were some of her favorite things. She was quite a lady and I miss her more then I ever thought possible but I am grateful for these days when I can think about her and remember her with a few tears and a smile.