Our sweet Cara decided she wanted a haircut, which was fine but she and I had to compromise. I wanted her to get a trim and she wanted it cut up to her ears, so this is what we decided on (5 inches off). After she had it cut we came home and she was upset with me that I didn't let her go shorter....but HELLO, have you seen my bow collection??? I need my moneys worth! Pretty soon she won't want bows in her hair and then maybe I'll consider letting her go shorter. Cara is such a joy! She's had an exciting couple of weeks. She learned how to ride her bike without training wheels, she is playing t-ball, she lost her first tooth (with the dentists help), and she planted her first little flower garden. I love this girl. She is definitely one of my little sunshine's!

National Day of Service

Our Ward was asked to serve this past Saturday planting trees and clearing paths at the Memphis, Tennessee Agricenter. I must admit it was a very HOT day, but I never heard one complaint from the youth. They did a wonderful job and worked so hard. You know it's funny how proud I felt putting on my yellow "Mormon Helping Hands" shirt. Before I lived in TN. I had always seen members outside of Utah doing service and wearing their t-shirts. Now I know from experience what a days worth of service can do to help spread the gospel. We had 3 of the workers at the center ask about the church and if we had to trade 1,500 trees being planted and 130 volunteers, to get even 1 person interested in the gospel than it was WELL worth it!

Does this look or sound familiar to any of you???

So let's just be honest, being a member of the church is not always relaxing, slow paced, or stress-free. (Mind you~this is coming from someone who has been to 6 meetings in the past 2 days.) I used to be very crafty, always coming up with cute handouts, making treats, spending hours upon hours on my lessons and I've learned the past couple of years that simplicity is best. I don't want my kids to remember me as the Young Women's president but as their Mom! In the end the most important thing is that the YW have developed a stronger love for the gospel and for their Heavenly Father.

These by far are the some of the cutest dresses I have ever seen. I thought my girls looked absolutely gorgeous on Easter Sunday. Thanks Mom, they're beautiful!
We were lucky enough to have my parents and my brother Reiley in town for the Easter weekend. We kept busy doing what we do best, eating! HAHA~ We also took a little tour of Memphis, headed down south to MS to visit with friends, dyed Easter eggs, decorated cookies, and of course snuck some FOX news in for my Dad. We also celebrated mine and my Mom's birthdays. All in all it was a good weekend. Thanks for the visit Mom, Dad, and Reiley!

Cara's Easter Egg hunt

at her preschool.

GIRLS NIGHT OUT IN

NEW YORK FOR

FIVE WHOLE DAYS!

So this may be the longest post I've ever done but I couldn't leave any pics out.

I had the chance of spending 5 days in the city with my sisters, cousin Kelsey, and good friend Amy. I had a blast. The trip exceeded my expectations (maybe because I was kidless) and I'm so glad we all got to go. It was the most perfect group of gals and I'm so happy Kelsey was able to join us and be our own personal city tour guide. I've been to NY a few times before but this was one of my favs! I think the last time I was alone with my sisters on a vacation without our kids was in high school. Crazy....!

We stayed at the Sheraton right off Times Square. It was sooooo worth it. There was never a dull moment and it made everything so convenient. Above: Kelsey and I in Times Square.
M & M Store, The gals eating some Mexican, Reese's store, and me with Morgan Freeman in front of the Wax Museum.
Above: Central Park- Scenes from "Serendipity" and "Enchanted".
Below: us girlies just being silly in the gift shops.

Above: Serendipity Restaurant. YUM, YUM. We tried their famous Frozen hot chocolate and stuffed our faces with sugar until we couldn't handle it anymore.

Below: One of my favorite parts of the trip was walking the Brooklyn Bridge. A little creepy but so totally worth it. I just had to tell myself to keep breathing and don't look down!

We were lucky enough to see a few celebs. Those of you who know me know I'm a little star crazy! We saw Bob Saget, Steven Weber, Suse Orman, and Kate Moss.

Of course NY isn't NY without the Empire State Building, the Subway, and The Plaza.

Amy and I with the one and only NYPD, Madison Square Gardens, NYC, and Tiffany's.

Cute boy from "A Walk to Remember" and "ER", Kelsey and I getting makeovers and MAC, Amy and I, and yes.....finally some good Mexican food!

The Seinfeld Restaurant, Columbia University, Rockefeller Plaza, and Kelsey and I in front of the LDS temple.

Nat and I on the Subway, Radio City, FAO Schwartz, and Amy and I.

Nat and I at Bubba Gump's, in front of Letterman Show, Seaport, and Little Italy/Chinatown.

Bet ya can't tell we had a blast.

I'm thinking a for sure tradition.

Start saving your mulah ladies!

My feet are still aching and

I can't seem to catch up on my sleep

but soooooo totally worth it!

Heading to "The BIG Apple"!

I'm packing up, cleaning the house, grocery shopping, doing last minute errands, and finishing laundry all in preparation for my trip to "The Big Apple". I'm so excited. I'm heading out of town with my good friend Amy from Memphis and we're meeting up with my sisters and my cousin Kelsey (all of us kidless, yippee). This is a big vacation for me because I get two of my favorite things~time with my sisters and time in my favorite city NYC! We will be there for 5 days and have tons planned. All of the obvious tourist attractions plus I get to see my childhood friend Elaina Gingold. So I'm signing out to check off some more items on my never ending "to do" list. To be continued...........