Weekend in St George

For Christmas I gave Kirk tickets to see his favorite comedian, Brian Regan, at the Tuchan in St George. We were super lucky that Tom and Layne were willing to take the girls for the weekend so we could go just the two of us. We left Friday around noon and had fun exploring on the way up to St George. We got there in time to get ready to meet up with friends for dinner. One of my very best friends Chalice and her husband also got tickets to the show. It was fun to hang out together as couples without any kiddos. We went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse (man alive was it delicious!) it was so fun to catch up with the Anderbergs. Chalice and I had so much to catch up on that we weren't bored for one second by our husbands work chatter. :) There was only one point (on the drive up to the Tuchan) that Chalice and I reverted back to our high school teenage selves rather than the wives and mothers we are now. It sure is fun to have friends that you can go back in time with without missing a beat.
The show was super fun and we laughed until our mouths and stomach's hurt....and then we laughed some more. After the show was over we hated to see the evening end so we decided to go hot tubing at our hotel. The water was way to hot to actually get into but we sure had fun sitting there on the side letting our feet soak. And then we super dare devil parents of 2 and 3 went to a midnight movie. None of us had seen Avengers yet and it had been out for a full week so really we had no option, ha ha. The movie was super fun, Chalice and I both fell asleep but apparently I was the only one who snored. We were sad to say good bye to such good friends but it helped that we absolutely made every moment of the night. We didn't get back to our hotel until 3 am...if that doesn't mean a good time I don't know what does.
Kirk and I slept until 9:30 the next morning then went to Kneaders for free mothers day french toast (if you haven't tried their french toast you should stop whatever you are doing and go immediately!). We went to JoAnns and got fabric to make kitchen curtains and then decided to go home because we missed our girls. We had a fabulous time, thanks Michael and Chalice, lets make it a annual thing :)

At the show with my handsome man

Me and Chalice

Brinkerhoff Women Extravaganza 2012

A few weekends (May 17-20) ago I was lucky enough to have my mom and 6 of my sisters come down to Vegas for the weekend. This was no ordinary happen at the last second weekend, it was a weekend we had talked about for over a year. My oldest sister Kristy just graduated last month with her bachelor degree in Elementary Education. Last year we decided that it would be fun to put together a girls trip to celebrate her huge accomplishment. Phantom of the Opera, shopping in Vegas, and my willingness to host, landed our fun weekend here. I have been so excited for months and months...I have had a rigid cleaning and home repair schedule so that everything would be perfect for this weekend. But it wouldn't have been nearly as fun without my mom and sisters. Everyone but Amanda was able to make it, which was such a treat to be together (we missed Amanda so much!). Kristy, Camille, Crystal (Riley's wife), Jess (Brett's wife), Emily (Garrett's wife), Chelsey and my mom...it was just a party waiting to happen!
The ladies arrived in the late afternoon Thursday. We visited and ate warm chocolate chip cookies (luckily it was a windy day here and chocolate chip cookies were in order). We made dinner and my good friend Sarah came over with her massage table. She set it up in our playroom with candles, and soft music and then each of us were treated to a 30 minutes massage. My oh my it was heaven and the perfect way to start out the weekend. While each person got their massage the rest of us played games, watched movies, snacked on yummy food, painted our nails, did face masks, and of course chatted (Crystal kept us all entertained!).
Kirk and the girls were here, but not here. Kirk kept the girls plenty busy going and doing fun hikes, McDonalds, swimming, seeing mermaids, and all sorts of fun stuff. It was the perfect combination because my family was able to see my cute girls but I was also able to not worry about taking care of them because Kirk was all over it (he even took Friday off work!).

Friday was our shopping day. We hit up Target, Ross, World Market, Mimi's Cafe, The Container Store, Victoria's Secret, Bath and Body Works, Old Navy, and H&M. We literally shopped all day and came home with enough shopping bags to fill my living room floor! We left at 10 and didn't come home until 8...we had that much fun! Once we were home we had a fun fashion show and got see everyone's purchases. That evening we watched more chick flicks and put our feet up.

We spent Saturday morning at the pool. It was perfect weather and so fun to just be with my sisters at the pool. We had a blast swimming and sun tanning. After a quick lunch we went and got pedicures...all 8 of us. It was super fun to see all our fancy toes afterwards. And would believe me if I said we stopped at Target on the way home? Can you see where I get my love for Target from? :) We all got dressed up fancy at went to the melting pot for dinner. Non of us had been there before and we thought it would be fun to try it together. We weren't quite prepared for how expensive it was ($40 a plate), but decided to make the most of the moment and enjoy it. Oh my word we had so much fun. I think it was my favorite part of whole trip. We laughed and chatted and the food was so fun and delicious! It really was a perfect evening. We were enjoying ourselves so much that we lost track of time and had to rush through dessert so we could leave and make it to Phantom of the Opera in time. Yes the whole reason for the trip was Phantom. And it did not disappoint, the showing was amazing. The singing, the props, the special effects...it wasa  stunning show and we all had so much fun. Afterwards my crazy sisters wanted to walk down the strip (at midnight on a Saturday!) and well lets just say they learned their lesson and won't want to be doing that again :)

Camille, Mom, Crystal, Chelsey, Me, Emily, Kristy, Jess

It was so sad to see them leave Sunday morning. Our fabulously fun weekend was over. But I needed sleep so desperately that I knew it was time :) I took three naps that day and still slept 10 solid hours that night....and that's how you know we had a very very good time.
I love you ladies, thanks for the memories!

Pool Time

An evening trip to the swimming pool before it officially opened for the season. The water was freezing cold but the girls didn't mind. This was back in April 2012.

Sister love!

And the day Daddy did our hair, aren't we lucky?!

Love these girls!

New Years Eve 2011

Doing some catch up on my blog today :)

We had such fun New Years Eve 2011. We arrived home from Vernal late Thursday night and picked Brett and Jess up from the airport early Friday morning from their Christmas vacation to Hawaii! It was so fun to hang out with them for New Years. We did a lot of relaxing, hanging out, playing games,eating, and Jess and I had one really (REALLY) fun trip to Target (where we brought most of the store home with us...it has since been decided by our husbands that the two of us are not allowed to go to Target alone with each other). I really don't remember a lot of details about our fun weekend (since it was 5 months ago...) but I do remember what we did at midnight. We woke the girls up at 11:00 and went downtown, to the top of Kirk's work parking garage and watched the fireworks from all around Vegas. The girls LOVED watching the fireworks and for a couple of weeks afterwards every time we would get in the car and it was dark they would beg to see fireworks :). It was a super fun weekend thanks to Brett and Jess. We sure love those two!

Hawaii tans!

Happy 2012!

Waking up to see fireworks can be pretty rough...

It was cold

New Years kiss

Jess is saying "I predict we have a son this year and do NOT name him Fredrick Vaughn Brinkerhoff"

Kirk's 28th Birthday

Kirk turns 28 on the 27th but since we are leaving for Vernal today(to see his youngest brother get married) we surprised Kirk by celebrating yesterday! He woke up by me singing happy birthday and letting him know that "surprise, it's your birthday today!" We hiked up Mountains Edge early in the morning and came home to a yummy breakfast of crescent roll, ham, cheese, spinach, egg bake. And of course a couple of presents for him to open (Oreos, a new work shirt, and croquet). We kissed him goodbye and wished him a fantastic day at work.

After picking Kirsten up from school we went and picked Kirk up for work and took him to lunch at one of his favorite places Jason's Deli. It was delicious and super fun.

The girls and I spent the afternoon cooking up a storm. He came home to a yummy dinner (his favorite homemade Caesar salad an homemade rolls). Then more presents! A camelback water thing, milanos, energy bars, and skele shoes. He is one happy man! We went and flew his fancy kite (his new favorite hobby) at the park in the evening. It was a beautiful night and a lot of fun. The girls were little monkeys and spent most of their time in the trees.

 We came home and he blew out all of his candles in one breath, but forgot to make a wish. Oh well maybe wishes only come true on actual birthdays anyway! We had a fun day celebrating Kirk. I am so grateful for him, every single day. Love you babe!

Happy Mothers Day!!!

I love to see it turn to spring,
Where sunshine brightens everything!

Where birds start singing in the sky.
And people warm themselves outside!

Flowers blooming smells galore.
Children sing like ne'er before.

Yes springtime joys are always fun,
But reasons greatest there is but one.

A time of year to celebrate mothers,
A greater calling? there is no other!

That's why today we celebrate you!
No sufficient way to say thank you!

You make the difference in our kids,
I'm grateful for the things you did!

But as a mom, you were born to,
Take care of yours just like you do.

No, greater far your purpose here,
You've done this well to me it's clear.

You make me better every day.
By all the helpful things you say.

You make me smile from ear to ear,
When we are home our children cheer.

So nothing more that I can say,
But please have a Happy Mothers day!

I love you babe!