Happy Anniversary!

Three years ago today was one of the most wonderful days of my life. I married my Aaron. Many, many times over the past three years I have found myself reliving that day in my mind. I'm always thinking of things I should have done differently (I'm convinced that this is why mothers always want to be so involved in their children's weddings) and then telling Aaron that I want to marry him again so I can use all the new wedding ideas I've come up with. It was a rather perfect wedding though, regardless of my new ideas and the minor disasters we encountered that day. All that really matters is that I married the man who is truly my other half. He is cheerful, relaxed, outgoing, and spontaneous which is perfect for a woman like me who can be a little moody, uptight, shy, and unable to function without lists and plans for everything. He has made me a better woman and I am so glad that we chose each other to spend eternity with. Three years down and forever to go! I love you babe!! Thank you for being the hardworking, spiritual, faithful, goofy, and loving husband and daddy that you are. My life changed for the better the moment I met you and I'm so glad that you never let me go!

xoxo

Busy Weekend

We went to Clovis this last weekend and I didn't take any pictures (again!), but I thought I'd write down a summary of our weekend so that anyone who is irritated with us for not seeing them will be able to understand why! We left Vegas on Friday afternoon and didn't get in until 7:30 that night. We set up Loralye's crib and my parent's put her to bed while Aaron and I went out to Fleming's to celebrate our anniversary. Our 3rd anniversary is tomorrow and Fleming's is the restaurant where Aaron proposed to me! On Saturday morning we had some secret birthday planning (that we couldn't do in Vegas) to do for some of our dear family. It took a lot of time and work, but it will be well worth it, I'm sure. More to come on that another time. On Saturday afternoon Loralye, my mom, and I attended my cousin Brianne's baby shower and had a wonderful time chatting with friends and family and eating some amazing desserts. Saturday evening and night were spent entirely with BreAnna and Janice. BreAnna recently returned home from a mission in Uruguay. Her parent's moved from Fresno to Oregon while she was gone and they made plans to be in Fresno this last weekend. It was my ONE and ONLY chance to see her anytime soon and she was the only reason that we made the trip. Anyways, Bre and Jae came over for dinner and then we went out and picked up The Proposal and some Yodigity and went back to my parent's house to enjoy our movie and frozen yogurt. Then Sunday morning rolled around and we had breakfast and hit the road.

It was a very fun trip, but, as always, it was much too short and we didn't get to see nearly everyone that we wanted to. But, there is always our next trip... in 3 weeks! We will be flying into Fresno in the afternoon on Friday, April 16th so that we can be with my little brother Jesse during his last weekend as a pre-missionary! He has been called to serve in the Louisville, Kentucky mission and he leaves on Wednesday, April 21st for the MTC. I'm so excited that I will be able to go with him when he receives his endowment on Saturday morning and that I will be able to hear him give his farewell talk on Sunday.

xoxo

ANOTHER post!

Can you believe it? ONE post in all of February and SIX already in March. Must be the good weather. Which, by the way, makes me want to ditch work every morning and go to the beach (I won't! Don't worry!). Or just hang out by a pool. Or maybe just stay in my house with all the windows open while I do some laundry and scrub the floor. Seriously. Mid-high 70s and 0% chance of rain. Hot diggity dog! Also: Loralye hit her 14 month mark yesterday. With all the attitude she has you'd think she was 2 already though. She is a sassy, sweet little girl and I love her! Picture time!

I believe she's practicing to be a cheerleader here.

"GOOOOOOO BREAKFAST!"
Silly faces....
Where she spends 50% of her workday.
She LOVES her walker!
70ish degrees outside = 82 degrees in the office with the door open.
Short sleeve onesies are going to be her best friends for the next 6 months.
" Mom, if you don't stop kissing me right this second I'm going to smack you."
Pretty sure that was her exact thought at this moment.

I am an unintentional liar sometimes...

And an actual liar other times, but we won't get into that. I said a couple posts back that I have not taken ANY pictures in the past month or so. I have. I forgot about them. I stored them in an unusual place on my computer. And I found them last night. Enjoy!

Shane and Nikki came to Vegas at the end of January. We went to Lake Las Vegas for lunch and to window shop and because their dog Hank couldn't handle being left alone at our apartment and we had to go somewhere dog friendly. The gorgeous sunny day was perfect for being outside, but it got a little too bright for Loralye so she borrowed Uncle Shane's glasses for a bit. See, now that was an intentional lie. We actually forced her against her will to wear the glasses so I could take a picture. The truth isn't quite as cute.

Another "against her will" kind of picture. She wanted absolutely NOTHING to do with the headless statue. I'm not a big fan of things that are missing their heads either, but it would have been a cute picture!

The rest of these pictures are from my trip with Loralye to Clovis after my mom had surgery to remove a blood clot at the beginning of February.

Nap time with Uncle Jesse.

Hair and makeup by Grams.

At a dog show at the Fresno Fair Grounds. Loralye LOVES dogs. Can you tell?

Playing peek-a-boo with Papa.

She wants to play pool with Papa every time we visit them.

I have no doubt in my mind that she is going to go pro at age 10.

Sorry for the unintentional lie a while back. Hope the pictures make up for it! Love ya'll!! Don't forget to wear green on Wednesday :)

Family

This past week Aaron, Loralye, and I traveled to San Jose and St. George for my Gramma's funeral and burial. I am so grateful to my dad for flying us to San Jose, my uncle Mike and aunt Marnee for driving us to Clovis after the funeral, and my dad, mom, and Phil for letting us squish into the truck with them to drive back to Las Vegas. I am so glad that I was able to attend the funeral and say one last goodbye to my Gramma. It was a beautiful funeral and it was wonderful to hear so many stories about her and the wonderful woman she was. It was the first time in a long, long time that so many of my aunts, uncles, and cousins from my mom's side of the family were together. At her funeral, Gramma's bishop gave the family some advice. He said that (and I'm paraphrasing here) while this is a time of mourning, it should also be a time of joy. That we should treat this as a family reunion, share stories and memories of Gramma, and enjoy our time together. And we did. It was so wonderful to be able to see every single one of my cousins and many of their spouses and children too. I am so glad to call each and every one of them my family.

The cousins after the funeral.

It's crazy how quickly a family grows. Here's the last picture we have of so many of us together. I don't remember when exactly this was taken. I know it was sometime after I graduated in 2003. Since this picture 4 of us have gotten married, 2 are engaged, and 9 babies have been born.I didn't take many pictures during the weekend (surprise, surprise!), but I did manage to capture this. Loralye loves her cousin Greta (my cousin Niki's 3 month old daughter). Greta was not too fond of being hugged by a 13 month old who squeezes a bit too tight and grabs onto her face instead of her middle sometimes, but we all thought it was cute!

I wanted to share this picture as well. This is the last picture that I have with my Gramma. It was at our sealing in 2008 at the Oakland temple. It was a beautiful day and I am so glad that my Gramma was there to share it with me.I love you Gramma. You always had a warm smile and kind word for everyone you saw. I hope that I can live my life so that you will always be proud of me and so that we can be together again.

Baby Girls

My mom and I had been trying to plan a trip to San Jose for months so that we could take a four generation picture with my Gramma, my mom, me, and Loralye. Plan after plan fell through. Now that Gramma has passed, it makes my heart ache to know that we never got to take that picture. I found the three of these last night as I was going through my pictures at home and I wanted to share them.

Gramma and her baby girl, Kristi

My mom, Kristi, and her baby girl, Lauren (me!)

Me and my baby girl, Loralye
One day the four of us will be able to be together again. What a happy thought that is!

Gramma Janice

My Gramma Janice passed away this past Thursday night. It came as a great shock for my entire family. She was healthy and active. The thought of her passing has never even come into my mind. My Papa, her dear husband, has been sick for years. My thoughts of losing another grandparent always went to him and my worry for how Gramma would handle it. I just wish I could have had one last 2 hour long phone conversation with her. Those were her favorite. She would always try to end the conversation, "I should probably let you go..." and then talk for another half hour. She couldn't help it. She just loves her family so much. She always wanted to know everything going on in my life and was interested in every detail. I love her for that. She also spoke about the church every time we spoke. She was so strong in the gospel and in her knowledge of God's plan for us. I know that her family is so happy to be reunited with her. Her daughter Cheri Ann passed away the same day she was born and it brings me peace to know that Gramma is with her again after over 50 years on earth without her. It also brings me peace to know that she was true to her faith for her entire life. Her testimony was unwavering. I love my Gramma and will miss her happiness, her strength, her kindness, her beauty, and her love.

This is one of my favorite pictures of my Gramma and Papa. They were married just a couple days after she graduated from high school. Isn't she gorgeous?!

I was born a ramblin' [wo]man.

I can't believe it's been over a month since I've posted any pictures on here! And don't get your hopes up, you're not getting any now. I'm about to ramble. You've been warned.

We have had a busy month. As many of you know, my mom was in the hospital again with two more blood clots (She was in the hospital for 2 weeks in October for the first one). They were able to remove one, but the other will be my mom's permanent companion. So on Tuesday, February 2nd Loralye and I drove to Clovis and stayed until Sunday visiting with her and trying to help her out. I did bring my camera, but never took it out of my bag! The next weekend was Valentine's Day and we didn't do anything special, including taking any pictures. We spent the third weekend in St. George with my Aunt Leanne, Uncle Scott, and their kids. We had a blast! We took Loralye to see a movie in the theater for the first time (Princess and the Frog... She loved it!) and she also decided that walking can be fun! About a half hour before we headed back home, she wanted her hands held so she could walk all over! I bet she'll be walking on her own within a month. And again, I took my camera to St. George, but didn't use it! This last weekend I decided to fly out to Clovis with Loralye to surprise my mom and again, left my camera in my bag the whole time. It was a fun trip and I know that seeing Loralye was just what the doctor ordered for my mom. I was also able to do a session at the Fresno temple on Saturday morning with my dear friend Janice which was just what the doctor ordered for me! We flew back home on Sunday evening ($55 round-trip ticket from Allegiant Air!!) and have been trying to adjust to normal life yet again.

This week marks mine and Loralye's one year anniversary of working together. She was just 6 weeks and 3 days old when she first came to work with me! I still can't believed that I have made it through this whole year. It has been a bit of a nightmare, but apparently survivable. Don't get me wrong, I am crazy grateful to be able to bring Loralye with me. We would be filing for bankruptcy if I couldn't, but it just about the furthest thing from fun. I know for sure that I will NOT have another child until I can stay home full time. I'm well aware that might mean Loralye will be an only child for a long while, but I can't do this again. The bad weekdays outweigh the good ones being a full time employee and a full time mom. For those of you stay at home moms who complain about being at home: Shut up!! Yes mom, I know, I know... Dishes! You have it made ladies! Find fun things to go out and do, but don't wench about being able to stay home and take care of your kids like all moms should. I would give up just about anything to never have to work again. And I'm kind of trying to. We got rid of cable, opted for a cheaper cell phone plan, will be ditching our BlackBerries in November to get rid of astronomical internet fees, are looking for a cheaper place to move to in July, and have a plan already in motion to pay off our significant amount of debt as quickly as humanly possible.

To those of you who made it all the way to the end of this: Yes, I know my life is a million times better than it could be. Yes, I know that I am blessed beyond measure. I have an always smiling, always laughing, always loving husband. I have the cutest, sweetest baby girl that was ever born. I have wonderful parents, siblings, in-laws, extended family, and friends. I have a car to drive around, a roof over my head, food to eat at every meal, clothes on my back, and a thousand extra things I do not need. But this is my blog and I'm entitled to rant a bit when I feel like it.