Sweet Tooth Fairy...YUM!

As many of you know, I love cupcakes. I don't know why...I just do! I am not big on cake, but give me a cupcake and I melt. Well, a new cupcake bakery recently opened in Draper. Kristen, Gracie, and I visited there. We got a chocolate/peanut butter cupcake, a vanilla cupcake, and some lemon cake bites. They were all good, but the vanilla cupcake was by far the best...it had a great flavor and just melted in your mouth! The chocolate/peanut butter cupcake was kind of dry and the lemon cake bites were just okay. I can't wait to go there again to try some of the other treats!

Birthday Party #3

I had one more birthday celebration. A few people in my family came over to my grandparents to help me celebrate one last time...I am so spoiled! :)

Fun With Gracie!

I love it when Gracie comes to visit! We have so much fun! I'm not bragging or anything, but she really does love her Aunt Vanda!

My Birthday Surprises!

So...back to my birthday. I know it was forever ago, but I never finished sharing about my wonderful weekend. You all know how it started (with the wonderful surprise party from my students), but it just kept getting better! A few hours after I posted about my party at school I got another great surprise. Kristen and Gracie were coming for my birthday weekend, but they brought another fabulous person...my mom! Can you believe that? My mom flew in just for my birthday! Isn't she just the best mom? I know...you are all jealous! Anyway, they came to school and visited for a bit and then went to my grandparents. I met them there after school. We were planning on going to dinner. They brought up Mimi's Cafe (home of the BEST grilled cheese sandwich). I had been there twice already that week with an awesome friend, but I was ready for more. Kristen said she had to go to the mall to get me my birthday present so we were going to meet her, my grandma, my cousin, and my two aunts there at the restaurant. My mom and I drove up with Gracie and, being the weird person that I am, I noticed a few cars that I recognized (they were not the cars of my family members). I walked in to a group of friends and family yelling "Happy Birthday" and "Surprise." My favorite sister, Kristen, had planned a surprise party for me. She had contacted my friend Tina (who is also the head secretary at my school). Tina got her a list of some of my favorite people. I am not a big fan of surprise parties, but I had so much fun...thanks Kris! Here are some pictures of the fun night!

My Fantastic Day!

So, my birthday is tomorrow and my students have been so excited. I love my birthday, but I couldn't figure out why they were so excited. I had heard a few things and thought they were planning something, but I didn't know what was in store. My friend Lauri (who works at my school) took me out to lunch yesterday. We went to one of my favorite places, Kneaders, and I had my favorite sandwich, Turkey Bacon Avocado. It was nice to get out of the school for a bit and visit with an awesome friend! Little did I know, my students were back at the school decorating my classroom for my surprise party. I got back and had to let the 5th Grade classes in from recess. My students went in before me. When I opened the door they all yelled "surprise." It was very chaotic, but I tried so hard to step out of the teacher role and let them have a little fun. I found out later that they had been planning this for quite a while. One of the students collected a dollar from every student to buy a cake (which another good friend, Amy, purchased and brought to the school. Thanks Amy!!!). One student brought drinks, and others brought ice cream, balloons, streamers, etc. They plugged my laptop into the classroom sound system and turned on my favorite songs. Every detail of the party had been thought out and planned. Needless to say, I've always known I have the best class and this just goes on to prove it! They are awesome and I LOVED my party!!! Thank you to all of my fabulous students and friends who helped with my fun party! (We got some really cute pictures, but I can't show student's faces. Here are some that are okay.)

They got me a fun hat to wear. They made sure it was red, my favorite color.

Here is the cute and yummy cake!

Kori's 40th Birthday Gift

My friend Kori turned 40 on January 26th. Another one of my friends had a party for her on Friday the 29th. We had a ton of fun! My plan for her present was to make forty dollar roses. I am so glad that my friend Tina was willing to go in on it with me. We realized how long they were going to take so we recruited some help (a huge thanks to Laura, Tamera, Sherry, and Lauri...we wouldn't have gotten all the roses rolled without them). I'd have to say that the bouquet turned out pretty cute. I forgot to take pictures of it until we got to the party and Kori didn't want to take the cellophane off so the roses are kind of hard to see. Here they are anyway:

Christmas/Las Vegas Trip

It's been a while since I posted last. I was able to go home for Christmas and had a great time. Chad was home from Christmas Eve until the 27th. Kristen, Rick, and Gracie came on the 31st and I left to go back with them on the 5th of January. I didn't get any pictures while I was there...terrible, I know!

I was also able to go visit cousin Jen and her family in Las Vegas. I think I've said this before, but Jen's family and my family lived about a block away from each other from the time I was six. Because of this, Jen and her brother Blake are more like siblings to Chad, Kristen, and me. We feel very fortunate to be so close to them! Well, I was supposed to go alone, but Kristen, Gracie, and my mom were able to come as well. My great-aunt on my mom's side passed away on January 7th. She had Down's Syndrome and was 67 (a pretty long life to live with Down's if you ask me). They held her funeral in L.A. on January 16th (which would've been her 68th birthday). My mom flew in to Salt Lake to drive with my grandparents to the services in L.A. Kristen and Gracie came, too. They stopped in Las Vegas and Kristen and Gracie stayed while my mom, uncle Mark (who lives in Vegas), and grandparents went to L.A. We had a ton of fun. Carter had his birthday party while we were there. He had a pirate party and I was able to make the cupcakes. I didn't take pictures, but I am borrowing some from Jen's blog (thanks Jen).

The kids were pretty goofy as you can see from the next pictures.

Gracie ran around trying to be one of the big kids and had a lot of fun with her cousins the whole weekend. The three kids were sitting on the floor watching T.V. and Gracie got down there to be part of the bunch.

I didn't get any pictures of Kate (their new baby...born November 4th), but luckily Jen had another one I could borrow. :)

Drew left to go to Haiti for the Air Force while I was there. He was called Friday and left by Monday. It was hard for Jen and the kids to say goodbye, but it will be a wonderful experience for Drew. Please remember to keep him and the other people over there in your thoughts and prayers.