Weekend Getaway

Lily also turned 8 months this past week. She is now crawling and can wave "hi!"


This was our room at the JW Marriot. It was super nice.

Lily loved this blow up toy we got her to go swimming in. She was so much fun to watch.

Thanks to our good friends (Mike & Sarah Rogan), Lorin, Lily and I were able to spend the weekend at a resort in Scottsdale to celebrate my birthday. It was so nice to get away, swim and go shopping at Desert Ridge. It really felt like we were out of town and we had a great time. Thanks again, Mike & Sarah for hooking us up. We had soo much fun!!

3 Years Ago

That was me three years ago... not married with no children. My life was so different!! In this pic, I was on a work trip in New Orleans. It was actually a few months before Hurricane Katrina hit. At the time, I was dating Lorin and I knew I was in love. A few months after this pic was taken we were engaged and a few months after that we were married. Fast forward a few years and we now have a little girl who we love sooo much and we're happily married!! I don't really know why I'm making this post. I guess I just saw this pic and thought, "wow, life sure has changed since then... and for the better!" I think there were times when I felt so discouraged and thought I'd never meet my match. I am so grateful I did though. Lorin may not be perfect, but he's definitely perfect for me and I love him so much. He makes me so happy and I'm so glad he's given me Lily. She also makes me so happy and I love all the time I get to spend with her. I guess I just feel so grateful right now!! I don't know what I'd do or who I'd be (probably A LOT worse of a person) without my little family. I love them so much! :D

Lily with Uncle Evan at Chili's last week. She sure does love him!
Lily at the zoo.
The fam at the zoo Saturday. Yes, half are wearing sweaters/jackets. Crazy, huh?

Last week's weather was wonderful. I think because of the weather we were able to have a more enjoyable weekend. We decided to go to the zoo Saturday since the weather was too darn nice. We went with Tyler and his fam as well as Tara and her fam. That night we were also able to celebrate my cousin, Kyra's, graduation. Like the mexicans we are, we ate and danced the night away to our ghetto music. It was a blast! This past weekend my parents also bought a trampoline. I forgot how much I loved them, ALTHOUGH I found a huge downside to them. If you've had kids and have jumped on a tramp recently you know what I'm talking about. ;)
ANY WHO, I was also able to finish reading THE HOST by Stephenie Meyer this week. The first few chapters are pretty tough to get through because they are kinda confusing, but once you get past those it gets a lot better. It's not as good as Twilight, but in the end I really enjoyed it. I can't really imagine it as a movie because it might be a little hokey. I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong? Did anyone else read it?

So much to report!

Tanner (Elder Ritchey) at the airport Thursday.

All of us moms made shirts for our kids. Lily's said, "Hi, my name is Lily. Who r u?"

Liz, Mia, Jolene, Xander, Breanne, Millie, me & Lily at Cafe Rio Friday.

Camden Michael Carpenter. What a cutie!

Lily (& Lo) at the hospital visiting her new cousin.

So...
Tanner came home Thursday. It was so great seeing him. He just had this glow around him. I loved it!! We went out to lunch as a family and spent the day chatting and catching up. We also had a big dinner that night with fam and friends which is always great.
On Friday, I was able to have lunch with some of my friends from El Dorado ward. Breanne Noyes came in town from Utah, so we had lunch at Cafe Rio with her, her kids, Jolene Carpenter, her new baby, Katie and Liz Zamora with her baby, Mia. It was great catching up and just enjoying one another's company.
Kellyn was due on Friday but didn't have her baby til Sunday. Tanner's homecoming was at 1 and Kellyn delivered Cambden at 1:17. Could the timing be any worse? Right before we left for church, we were informed that she was crowning and that she started pushing. We were all very anxious at church so once Tanner was done speaking, my mom, my dad, Tara and I all left to the hospital so we could see Kellyn and the sweet Baby. Cambden Michael Carpenter was 8 lbs 7 ounces and was 21.25 inches long. He has a dirty blonde color of hair and he is so darn cute. He is so small, and it made me realize that my little "peanut" Lily wasn't a real baby anymore. Seeing him made me want another one sooo bad, but I guess I just need to be patient. All yesterday I couldn't get over the fact how wonderful, imortant and awesome it is for a baby to be born. I feel like it's such a big deal that the world should stop for a minute or something, but that obviously couldn't happen since babies are being born every second. It really is just an awesome thing and I hope people realize how wonderful it is. Any who...
After seeing Camden we had all the fam and friends over for dinner that night. By the end of the day, Lorin and I were beat. We were ready for a bed after such an eventful but FUN weekend.

Meeting Stephenie Meyer

Stephenie signing away.

I just had to get a pic with both of us in there. They wouldn't let you take pics with her, so this is the best we could do.

Tara, Pancho (Stephenie's husband) and myself.

So.... last night was awesome! Tara and I went to Marcos de Niza where Stephenie Meyer, the author of the Twilight series, was doing a book signing. Stephenie talked for about 20 minutes and answered questions and then started her signing. We were assigned by letter to go up for the signing and unfortunately, we were letter U so we had to wait for awhile. We went home for a little bit and came back. It was definitely worth the wait though. She signed The Host, her newest book that is unrelated to the Twilight series and then signed 2 of her previous books. I had her sign New Moon & Eclipse because my Twilight book is paperback and all banged up. When she spoke, she mostly tried to focus on The Host, her latest book that came out last Tuesday. I just started reading it Monday but I'm not very far since I haven't had time to read. She also answered a few questions about Twilight. She said that she's just finishing editing Breaking Dawn, which comes out in August. She also said her next project is Midnight Sun, which is Twilight from Edward's point of view (can't wait for that!!). She said she has visited the set of the movie a few times and is very pleased. She said the chemistry between Bella & Edward is GREAT! She was very happy about that (and so am I). She also said that the director has taken most of her notes on the script, so I'm sure that will help the movie be more like the book. Other than that, she said that if The Host were made into a movie, she had a few actors in mind to play the parts. She is still unsure who would play Melanie/Wanderer. She said Matt Damon would be perfect for Jared (I agree), and that James McAvoy would be perfect for Ian. I was definitely excited to hear that since he's my favorite actor right now. When it was our turn to get the books signed, I really didn't know what to say to her since she was signing so fast and they were trying to get through the hundreds of people, so we just talked about how we were in love with James McAvoy. It was cool cuz she kinda stopped signing books just so we could talk. We were both trying to explain to Tara who he was and why we liked him so much. We agreed that Becoming Jane is what made us first like him so much. After that, we just said thank you and went and talked to her husband, Pancho, for a bit. We asked him some questions. He told us he quit work and is now a stay at home dad. He doesn't go on tour with her so he has to stay home and watch their three boys. He said that Stephenie never asks him for his advice on the book. He also said that he was a "bad husband" and discouraged her from writing the first book because she was staying up too late and would be tired and cranky the next day when she had to wake up early and get the kids ready. He also said that he waits to read the book til it's done and bound. We couldn't believe that part. Who could wait when they know the book is sitting on their computer!?!? Even though he does wait he said that he knows how Breaking Dawn ends. Oh, the anticipation!!! Pancho was very nice and we were so happy we got books signed and got to meet Stephenie. We will probably go see her again when Breaking Dawn comes out... just 79 more days! Woo HOO!!!!

We can't wait for this week!!

Tanner & I before he left.

A pic of my mom's sewing room before.

A pic after we organized her room.

This wall was blank before so we put of pics of all the kids & grandkids.

We painted her drawers and put all her stuff in bins. She's been so busy getting Tanner's room done that she put her room on the back burner.

First of all, last week was awesome. Mother's Day was great!! It was nice celebrating the moms around us and I didn't mind getting a few gifts myself. I guess I kinda forgot that I would get some stuff, so it was nice when I did. Lorin and I were able to make something for his mom's which I will have to take a pic of and post later. We were also able to help with my siblings to transform my mom's sewing room on Saturday. It was a little unorganized so we had my dad take her out for the day while we hurriedly put it together. It was crazy but fun!! Even though last week was great, we are even more excited for this week BECAUSE.... Tanner is coming home off his mission, Kellyn is due to have her baby Friday, and Tara and I are meeting Stephanie Meyer, the author of Twilight!!!

Stephanie Meyer will be at Marcos de Niza Tuesday night so Tara and I are meeting her, buying her new book and getting our Twilight books signed. How could we pass up on opportunity like that? But more exciting than that is Tanner coming home Thursday and we are soo excited to see him. I just love that kid so much!! He'll be coming home to 3 (maybe 4 depending on Kellyn) new nieces & nephews. Then, Kellyn is due to have Cambden on Friday. If she doesn't have him on that day, then she will meet with her docs next Monday to schedule a possible induction date. We can't wait for the arrival of Camden as well as the arrival of Elder Ritchey! Woo hoo!!

Lorin's Birthday - 25!!

I had to add this pic. Lily was wearing Orange & Gold all week to support Uncle Evan in the high school baseball playoffs this week. Unfortunately, they lost yesterday and are out. :(
Lorin & Jaylynn blowing out the candles. Lorin was laughing too hard he had a hard time helping Jaylynn out.

Ryan, Nathan, Erica & Lorin at CPK.Lily at CPK. She loves sitting in the high chairs, and I think it's because she likes seeing what's going on as well as she loves gnawing on the table in front of her.
Lily exploded out of her diaper while we were at CPK so I took her out to the car to change her and this is how Lorin found her when they had finished paying the bill. And just so you all know, although she may look like she needs a bra and is very chunky, she's in the 50th percentile for her age. I just need to remind people that. :)Lorin blowing out the candles on his lemon meringue pie.

This past week was Lorin's birthday and we (Lily & I) had a blast celebrating it. In fact, we had so much fun that we celebrated it 6 times. I know, I know... we celebrated a little too much, huh? We honestly didn't try to. Lorin hates the attention, so I guess he got a little more of it than he had hoped.

Celebration #1: 4/21/08 - A BBQ at the Ritcheys to celebrate both Lorin & Kristi's b-days since they are close together.

Celebration #2: 4/26/08 - We went to OrganStop Pizza to celebrate Lorin & Sam & Jack O'hare's b-days. These were the twins we were watching for 2 weeks - they turned 10.

Celebration #3: 4/28/08 - Lily & I took Lorin out shopping & for dinner to celebrate.

Celebration #4: 4/28/08 - We had a surprise party for Lorin & Jaylynn Andersen at the Fish's house with some El Dorado ward friends.

Celebration #5: 5/2/08 - We had a BBQ at Discovery Park with all of Lorin's high school friends (his birthday was more of an excuse than anything else to get together) :D

Celebration #6: 5/3/08 - Lorin's family took us out to CPK & then had us over for cake & ice cream afterwards.

SIX celebrations!! It was sure fun, but I guess we can officially say the celebrations are over.... until next year!