Happy Birthday!

I started this one a week ago. Might as well publish it.

I know, I know, I said I wouldn't ever post again. But I realized I love journaling too much. Even without pictures to help share the story I still always have something to say. Blogging seems to come very easy to me. For about 15 years I was a very faithful journal writer. I wrote ever night. I love sharing what I'm feeling, love talking about my mundane days. I know I love to go back and read my parents journals, my grandmas, and others thoughts. I hope someday my ancestors can read what I have to say and get a little glimpse into who I am. I hope they can be proud of their heritage and the legacy I am creating.

It has been a great week. We spent a week with Jake's family just enjoying each other's company. Alexander loved helping grandma mow the lawn:

Dad Stevens has been a huge blessing in helping us locate a car that will fit a family of 5. She came to us Thursday missing an engine and with a few other minor needs. She's old but her bones are good. I helped dad push her off the trailer in the garage. Jake and I spent many hours Friday morning detailing the inside of our new beast. It's amazing how much elbow grease with a scrub brush can help. It was especially exciting pulling out the orange shag carpet the previous owners stapled down to the floor, very special indeed. We are both very excited to have a Suburban, despite everyone groaning at us about how we'll hate it when we have to fill it up. Our current car has a 16 gallon tank that we have to fill maybe once a month. This one should easily last a few months, at least. We don't drive much in the city, so we'll just keep walking and get good exercise. Thank you dad for all you do for us!

Friday we dropped the boys off at my sisters house. Jake and I took the train downtown. I had an evening planned to help Jake celebrate his birthday a few days early. We stayed in a 5 star hotel. We were not impressed. We won't be doing that again! There was nothing special about The Grand America. We even had to pay $10 to use the indoor pool. Sure, the outdoor pool was free, but it's night time in Salt Lake City, brrr. I was most excited about the hot tub and that was luke cool. Very frustrated indeed. Everything seemed to cost a lot of money. It quickly became a joke with us. As Jake used a pad of paper in the room I told him to not write too much because I'm sure each sheet would cost us at least $1. Everything we would touch, be careful, they probably charge for fingerprints! But, it was still nice to get away for a night and sleep in, in the morning. We ate dinner at a new find, cajun food at The Bayou. All the food was so good! Too good in fact, I ate too much; I was up half the night, and that's about as much as you need to know. The next morning we had breakfast at another new find, Gourmandise Bakery. I wasn't able to eat much but my french toast was the best I've ever had! And their wall-to-wall selection of pastries, cakes, breads and various desserts was heavenly smelling. I wanted a little bit of everything. A few bites of a peanut butter chocolate dipped cookie did me in .... sadly. The boys did great with Aunt Shawna and their cousins. Alexander fell out of bed. He's never done that before! It just shocked him and he went right back to sleep. Thank you Shawna for dealing with the boys we really appreciated it!
After we picked up the boys we headed North to finally see my parents. Made a few shopping stops along the way, Jake needed a new coat, of course I didn't find what I needed.
Sunday was Jake's 33rd birthday. We went to church...it was a successful 3 hours. Kaleb has a really hard time being in Sunbeams in our ward, he cries a lot and doesn't want to stay. My parents ward he stayed the whole time and when I went to pick him up he came running to me with an ear-to-ear grin shouting "it was fun!" I wish he could experience that all the time!
My mom helped me fix dinner. I made two kind of enchiladas - a chicken and white bean and a regular red sauce one. Also added a green salad and chips and salsa. For Jake's special cake, a Mississippi Mud Pie. Thankfully my sister brought cupcakes since her youngest was turning 2 the day after Jake's birthday, we wouldn't have had enough dessert otherwise! I invited my family which means we had 12 adults and 13 kids. Well, technically one of my nephews is 22 so I guess that would be 13 adults and 12 kids. And one of the kids is my nieces friend. It's so fun being part of such a large, noisy family. I'll admit, I had one stressed freak out moment when all the chaos got to me and I had a melt-down. I quickly recovered and enjoyed gabbing the rest of the evening with my mom and sisters. We barely had enough food for everyone, it was licked clean, right down to the salad. Guess that means it was a good new enchilada recipe that I tried out. I love cooking for a crowd!
Happy birthday Jacob! A little blog post cannot express how much you mean to me or how happy you make me. I have loved sharing your past 8 birthdays with you. Sometimes I worry you don't relax enough. You work so hard, there is so much for you to do. Do you know how much I appreciate you? Thank you for being the best man in the world. You are the greatest husband and father. Thank you especially for putting up with all the drama me and the boys dish out on a daily basis. You handle us all so well! We've learned to read each other's moods and whims, to support each other through life's challenges, to be each other's biggest fan, and when necessary, most honest (yet kind) critic. I hope that you felt special today on your birthday just as you have made me feel every day since we met.
Happy birthday my love, my best friend, my partner in this whirlwind of life.
(pictures to come later after I can get them off my mom's camera)

And this is who I've been hanging out with the past week ... and will be with for 1 more week.

Sammy, Sadie, and Ella

My sister and her husband are traipsing across Europe for 2 weeks and I get to hang out with their kids. I didn't know back in October when I agreed that I would be 9 months pregnant. Everything has been good though. I don't know my nieces and nephews very well since we don't live close by. It has been fun getting to know these three better. I am glad I can do this for Emily and Jonny. They deserve this nice break.
Thank you Jake for being Mr. Mom and holding down the fort back home!