The First 48, Weekly Recap, and the Final Countdown.

Last Wednesday (my birthday), I worked 9 hours, and these beautiful peeps got flowers to welcome me home after a long day. I think Bill is enjoying his newfound skill of flower arranging (channeling his lil bro Brian). This arrangement was just as amazing as the last (Valentine's Day), but about half the cost (I love it when Bill shares those details because he knows I love a good deal). 

We celebrated around 10pm. Thanks to a generous, sweet gift from a friend, we had raspberry rolls from Kneaders in place of birthday cake. YUM.

(I had to snap a few pics of those flowers almost a week later... I'm telling you, those lilies are amazing!)

I was also showered with lovely gifts from dear friends, several of which were also flowers.

Love them.

Loved all the sweet calls and messages from my fam, too.

The first 48 have been good. Very very good. I am so blessed!!

Friday of last week I walked into my bedroom and spotted an OWL in our tree in the backyard. I swear that I had just that very day (or maybe the day before) thought about how cool it is that, here in CO, we literally have wildlife all around us. I have seen {hundreds of} deer, foxes, coyotes, raccoons, {hundreds of} bunnies, squirrels, bear, and all sorts of fowl. But this was the very first time I have seen an OWL IN MY YARD. So cool.

 Hello, owl.

On Saturday, Mar participated in the National Federation of Music Clubs Festival. She and her friend Addy performed two duet numbers. The goal was to get a "Superior" rating, which would then allow them to go to State. All this intense piano stuff is new to me, so I'm not sure how it all works. I had a RS meeting that morning, so Bill got up nice and early to get the girls where they needed to be.

They did it - a Superior rating! Way to go, girls!

Last week Britt and Austin closed on their new house.

They moved in this past weekend, and we are counting down the days to Spring Break so we can initiate the new place with visitors!

Here we come, Wonderful Sweet Scarlett 
(she actually said "Grandpa" and "Gigi" on our video chat Sunday night!!)!

After a few days in UT, Bill, Mar and I are heading to CA to spend some time with our cousins.

 woot! woot!

The last time we went to CA, circa 2012 (just the girls and me):

(it was actually a good thing I looked through the pics, since my wardrobe has not changed much in the last 3+ years -- other than the things I've outgrown weight-wise haha. I have made a mental note not to pack the same things where possible!)

We also plan to spend a couple of days in the magical land of Disney. 

The last time Mar went was back in 2008.

 She tells us she can't remember much about it, so we figured we would give that last little girl at our house one more trip, for memory's sake.

Hopefully we will get a chance to get back to the beach, too!

And we'll be in CA for Easter again. It's crazy to look at this picture and realize that two of these kiddos are married (one is a mama), two are returned missionaries (one is engaged!), and two are currently serving missions. Time goes soooooooo fast.

Tomorrow we are down to single digits on the countdown! It's seriously what has kept Mar and I going the past few weeks. I can't wait!

Lex and Jason are coming THIS weekend for a job interview... my fingers are crossed that it will turn into a good enough option for them to come back to CO. I'm looking forward to the time with them even if it's only a couple days. We'll see them the following weekend, too (and two weekends after that...). I'm so excited for the break... two weeks away will be a welcomed reprieve from the day-to-day.
Life is good.