the hermana semana

So if you just happen to be wondering... "Will Sally be busy at all this week?" I am about to answer your question.

Yes.

I will be busy, very busy. But also very excitedly busy.

This is why:

As you can probably guess, that is a picture of my mission president. Please ignore the visible 7 extra pounds in my cheeks. (And don't try to imagine the non-visible poundage either.)

This is Presidente Vazquez. And below is a picture with him and his wife, Hermana Vazquez. (Now do you see why I was considered a tall missionary?)


This week is very special. It has been in the making since last summer. As a mission, we pulled together to finance a trip for them to come here to Utah this week over General Conference. They will be here until next week Wednesday.

They flew in from Mexico tonight. It was so wonderful to meet them at the airport and to see them again... and to actually be able to give Presidente a hug! A real hug! (Not so allowed on the mission!) It was so great to hear their voices again after not seeing them for almost 6 1/2 years.... even though I couldn't understand some of what they were saying... the Spanish is coming back a little though!

I am so blessed to have had such a great couple serving as my mission president, and I honestly didn't know if I would ever get to see them again... and here they are... in Utah! I am so happy that they were able to make the trip. And I hope this week is as special and memorable for them as it will be for me.

Almost Easter

Happy Sunday-before-Easter Sunday!
Due to General Conference taking place next Sunday, we did the annual Easter-wear a week early. Here are my little darlings....

Anyone who has TRIED to take pictures of my kids will know that it is an exceptionally trying task. So basically... I'm shocked they are both looking... AND both smiling in this picture!

And here are a few others I thought were worth sharing.

Handsome Sam:

Lovely Livi:

Sammy and his favorite pal:

Livia showing off her chewed up cheese. Yummy, I know.

My luck ran out... no more pictures with 2 focused and happy kids.

At least Sam was still having fun.

Happy week leading to Easter!!

It pays to Discover

My sister Ronda had 6 passes to the Discovery Museum at the Gateway. But she only needed 4. So she asked if we'd like to join her. Obviously I said, "YES!"

I still needed to buy one more pass since anyone between the ages of 1 and 65 cost $8.50. But as I was about to buy my pass, a nice lady asked me if I would like her extra pass. I smiled and said, "YES!" So with only having to pay $2 for parking... it turned out to be a pretty cheap day. (Other than my brief visit to the gift shop on behalf of the Easter Bunny. But Jason doesn't need to know that.)

We were there from 10 am until almost 5 pm. Let's just say Sam and Livia had a blast! It is such a cool place! I was tempted to play too! But I didn't want to look like the 5 year old I felt inside....

This place is basically a glorified playroom. A very large one. Very cute too.

I took about 130 pictures and videos, so even though this post is long and has lots of photos, it actually IS the edited version! For some reason I'm having trouble with some of the videos, so there's only two. I will probably put some more on the kids' blogs later.

In the meanwhile, feel free to take a lookie at my kiddos loving life as a child.




















This is my niece Brynja. As you can see, she loves the water area!!




Livia pulled her pig tails out. But at least she waited until we got to the car.

Sam showing off his new train toy.

And this would be Sam tickling Livia's head. Don't ask me why. But she thought he was funny so it works!


Here is a video of Livia in the ball area.




Sam never has been much for grocery shopping.

happy second day of spring

I just wanted to show you Livia's new spring dress. I think it's cute.
And I think it's cute that Sam thinks he should carry Livia around.



For the record, this was right before nap time, hence Livia's awesome grumpiness.

I think the chocolate was talking....

Last night we had our annual Cook Ladies Chocolate Night. As always, we had a blast... lots of chocolate and lots of talking... sometimes the combo creates some pretty crazy results.
(Jenny and Ashlee... your secrets are safe with me.)

We started off the night with an awesome Oriental Chicken Salad... and then moved onto the chocolate dipping.




What's a ladies night without a few embarrassing pictures?

Sorry mom... just had to post this gem!
(But you'd appreciate this one more than the others!)


Mom inspired us all to get a less-than-glamorous shot of ourselves.




I just realized now as I was uploading the pictures that Allyson tricked me out of not getting a picture of her! I was about to when she insisted that I had to have one as well... distracting me from my original goal. So sorry Allyson... your pride is still intact.

Mine... clearly is not.



Though Jenny's picture does not include chocolate or caramel on her face... we still got a fun picture of her.... right after she allowed her chocolate to do the talking....

But you should have seen the rest of our faces!

After we were chocolate stuffed we started working on a Humanitarian quilt. But before we got going on it, Jason came and swept me away.... (some odd excuse about the kids needing to go home and go to bed.... whatever.)

Thanks for a great night ladies!! Can't wait til next year! (Seriously I can't, so let's do it more than once a year....)

nursery magic

My big girl is going to Nursery!! Even though Livia is only 17 1/2 months, the Nursery leaders said she was more than welcome to join them a few weeks early.

She was so ready to go! I was a little worried that she would cry... but Jason dropped her off. She got distracted by the toys. And she had a blast playing with all the big kids and coloring a page.


Here is her page that she colored.



Her first time putting something on the fridge. (I'm so proud!)



And I don't really care that they think her name is Olivia.



And it's off. Well, it was fun while it lasted!



She's such a sweetie!


And may I say... I got so much more out of church! Hooray for the Nursery!!