Friday, December 27, 2013

6 year anniversary (actual vs. celebrated versions)

My dear friend Michelle and her sweetie Rob got married on our sixth anniversary. The night before we went to their wedding dinner in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It was beautiful. We're so happy for them.
 It was really special for Chuck and I to be in the very temple we were married in EXACTLY 6 years earlier. It's been the best six years of my life! He's such a sweetie. I definitely married the man for me. He keeps me centered and grounded. He knows when to help me laugh it off. He's kind, generous, yet a silly goofball at the same time. He's brilliant, driven, and such an amazing father. We are equals and have such an open, loving relationship. He is my best friend and I am so grateful for him.
 LOVE!
 My friend Paula and Erica came into town for it too. They are sisters and so stinking cute. My camera phone wasn't working so we got kinda random shots of the three of us. Paula, Michelle and I were all roommates at Ricks College SIXTEEN years ago! We go WAY back. These girls and I have all kept in great touch through the years and have remarkable connections. I love Erica too. Erica, Michelle and I all road tripped it out to SD umm... 11 years ago??? for Paula and Chris's wedding. LOVE these girls.

 Sisterly love!
The happy couple!!! We had Michelle and Rob over for dinner a couple of months ago. It was great to meet Rob and see how loving he and Michelle were together. They were so comfortable and themselves around each other. After that night Michelle had my full support. Rob is a catch! I'm so glad they found each other. 
Us girls! LOVE them!!!
 It was snowing THE most perfect little star flakes. Can you see them? They were adorable!
In between the sealing and the reception we ran home and grabbed our babes for the yearly Syme Christmas luncheon in Magna. It was smack dab during our poor babes afternoon nap. If you know me I'm a strict observer of naps but we made an exception. Needless to say they were a little grumpy when meeting Santa. I think they would've been fine otherwise. They were really pretty good considering they went without a nap though (when we were holding them). We went home, attempted giving them a chance at a nap they didn't take, and rushed over to the reception that night. BUSY, BUSY day!
 Paula and Erica meeting my sweet babes at Michelle's reception that night.
 Paula's youngest (of four) is just two weeks younger than the girls.
Since our anniversary was so crazy and didn't consist of us actually celebrating our love at all my folks were total dears (again) and offered to babysit but this time they offered overnight! It was our FIRST overnighter away from the girls since they were born. We didn't worry at all. We knew my parents had seen their nightly routine enough that they were prepared and fully capable to take care of our sweet babes while we were gone.
 We went to dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse. We called ahead and only waited five minutes instead of thirty. Awesome! The food was DE-licious!!! The only problem was I couldn't breathe through my nose and had to get up to blow it twice during dinner. After dinner instead of going straight to the hotel we made a couple of stops getting me drugs, tissues, and losenges to make it through the night comfortably. Being sick is the worst.
YUMMY dinner!
  Our room at The Grand Hotel. It was indeed GRAND! Man! We could both get used to that kind of living. Someday I'd love to stay in the Presidential Suite. Man that room looks Ri-Diculous!


 The view from the 15th floor. We were in room 1592.
 Our room service breakfast. MMM!!!
 The lobby checking out the next day.

 A view from the outside.
 We headed home around noon and found our babes rested, and fed. Thank you mom, dad, and Charisse for taking such good care of our little miracles!!! First overnighter was a TOTAL success!!!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Dinner

To say thank you for a year of service the choir treats us to a very nice dinner after the Christmas concert is over each December. My folks babysat the girls so Chuck and I could enjoy an amazing night out with the choir. I love going to the dinners. It's just a time for us to have fun and be social. I love it!
 It's in the Grand America Ballroom. Here are the thousand such of us. We're a large group. It's the choir, orchestra, bells, staff, and their spouses or guests. So fun!
 The food was amazing but I didn't love my dessert. It's name made it sound a lot better than it was. Once someone explained it as being hazelnut flavored day old gravy I was done. The cookies were good though.
 My gals Nancy, Kim and Denise
 Nkoyo
 Katie and I
 Ivalani and Johnny. I've known them for thirteen years. Impressive! Love them.
 Kirsten and Shelly in front of a HUGE and very real ginger bread house.
 Denise and I. LOVE this gal.
 Trying to capture my makeup. I love how it turned out.

The girls were great for grandma and grandpa. We owe them big time! What a fun, fun night! It's always a treat. Thank you Mormon Tabernacle Choir for the amazing dinner. The entertainment was hilarious but I promised not to tell. ;)

Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert 2013

It's that time of year again for the Christmas Concert. Here is a great little recap
Concert weeks with the choir are pretty crazy. At the beginning of the week the choir president told us to kiss our family goodbye and say we'll see them in a week. True statement! Monday is our only day off and we're every evening from there. The girls didn't really notice my being gone but I didn't see Chuck much at all. I would kiss him on my way out the door as he was walking in most nights. Tuesday and Wednesday were rehearsal nights. Then we had concerts on Thursday, Friday, Saturday night and Sunday morning. Some friends came on Thursday night. Rosanne and Austin came on Friday night. Saturday night my parents, sister, aunt, Chuck, Gordon, Carol, Andy and Alexa came. My sweet neighbor Kristin came and watched the girls so Chuck could come to the concert. I rode home with Chuck and we were STUCK in the City Creek parking. We moved five car lengths in FIFTY minutes. It was MIND NUMBING and SO aggravating. It meant I was home all of about five hours before I needed to leave for the Music and the Spoken Word broadcast and mini concert in the morning while fitting in time to say hi to my family who JUST drove into town. 
I slept in my makeup and hair
 My fellow alto friends I sat next to: Jen and Whitney
 The biggest Poinsettias I've ever seen
 The set. Amazing!

 John Rhys-Davies was blowing me a kiss. Promise. He then grabbed me, gave me a hug and kissed me on the neck. He's the sweetest, friendliest person ever. He was our narrator to tell the story of Charles Dickens. He played the role of the ghost of Christmas Present and NAILED it! He has such a powerful presence. He's amazing. He and Charles Dickens flew over the audience. It was magical to watch from my seat. Him telling the story of the birth of the Savior was so moving as well.
Another highlight of the concert is Rick Elliot on the organ. My favorite part was his performing the Flight of the Bumble Bee on the pedals. WHAT!!!
 There he goes. Can you tell it's him? I'm totally bummed I didn't get a picture with him to prove it. He and I had a couple of conversations. Deborah Voigt also came and sang with us. She is an amazing operatic soprano. One of the songs she sang had musical notes written on the teleprompter. Usually it just covers the words. I could tell she didn't feel as comfortable with it as well. She had amazing stage presence. When we sang "God be with You" as our farewell she was obviously moved. What a sweet experience.
 The dancers performed for us as well so we could get a great view of all of their moves.

 After our long week my bestie AnneMarie and I snapped a pic.

 Nkoyo and I. Love my sweet friends in the choir. We're like a family. If I'm gone from my family every night for a week at least it's with these amazing people. I should've taken more pictures! What an amazing experience! I'm so glad to be a part of it but now I'm glad to take a nap and take it easy!

Me on the set.

Tug O War

I HEART this video. After putting the girls down for a nap I heard them CRACKING UP! When I looked to see what they were up to there they were playing tug o war with Charity's blanket. They did the same thing the day before but Charity lost it completely and Harmony was taunting her with it. They're so cute. I LOVE that they have each other as best friends and sisters. A friend of mine in the MOTAB has twins and said it's neat to see them grow up and to look for why they came to earth together. I LOVE that!

Dancing

I love their sweet moves!

Jogging stroller

This past October and November brought some amazing warm fall weather. I borrowed my friend Liz's double jogging stroller to see if I would want to buy one. The girls love getting out into the warm weather and it was amazing for me to get some great exercising in. It was perfect. Now I know I WANT one. It'll be great once the LONG, COLD winter is over. I LOVE my sweet babies!!!




 The girls got a little restless one windy day so I entertained them by letting them drink my water. I should've brought two bottles. :) Cute girls!



They MELT my heart!!!