dyin' over zion

Tessa turned six in December, and I can hardly believe it! Part of me can hardly believe that she is six years old because that is pretty old, but the other part of me can't believe she is only six because I feel like she has been in my life for forever! Tessa has a really special place in my heart, and she always will. There's so many things that she does that remind me of myself as a child and even now. The rest of my family agrees that the two of us are a lot a like with our quicksilver(?) personalities. Tessa is the goofiest, most artistic, talented, sweetest, and prettiest six year old around.

For her birthday we went to Zions with the family and Ty's family for a picnic, small hike, and an IMAX movie, The Hobbit Desolation of Smaug. It was such a fun day and it reminded me that I need to go to Zions way more! 

I didn't take any good pictures so I think what I'll go ahead and do is just steal some from Brynne's blog and take all the photo credit. I hope she doesn't sue me for all that I have (she probably will)!

 

a happy birthday indeed

I turned 21 last week and my friends helped make it a great day! I woke up to some pretty stellar decorations by Torill, and a delicious breakfast made my Jenna. Lucky for me I didn't have school and Brynne was nice enough to drive me to the temple (broken car probs) to do baptisms for the dead. After the temple Brynne treated me to a dirty diet coke and we drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon to help Morris fall asleep aaaand to see all the fall colors. Later that night I went to Chanon Thai Place for dinner with some friends and had cake and ice cream at my apartment after.

 

 

 

{i'm pretty good at pretending to be drunk}

One Year Older and Wiser Too

My one and only nephew Max is turning 7 tomorrow! I can't believe it. I remember walking into the hospital the day he was born and seeing that alien (cone) head of his like it was yesterday. I know he wont read this because he's a seven year old boy and if he was into blogging I would be concerned, but I am going to do a little honorary post for him anyways. After all, you only turn seven once!  

Seven things I love about Max:

1. He is thoughtful. One time I was watching a movie in the theatre room and max came and plopped himself right next to me to watch it. After a few minutes he left for a while. When he finally came back down he was carrying two bowls full of tortilla chips. He said that one was for me and he thought I might want to eat some while I watched the movie. He even broke them up for me so they would be easier to eat. I really dislike eating tortilla chips without salsa but I ate the entire bowl because that little kid melted my heart. 
2. His sense of humor. That little guy can laugh his head off. All I have to do is act like I'm an evil robot or monkey or something like that and he will crack up. He just laughs a lot, and I'm telling you he has a great laugh. One time  I showed him a video I recorded of myself playing the guitar (lame I had that in the first place ha!)  and he thought it was hilarious, even though it wasn't meant to be. I didn't even care that that he was laughing at me because as soon as he starts laughing it gets me laughing.
3. He is sensitive. He's such a tough little guy but I love to see that soft side. I'll never forget the night when the Torres family was heading back to Texas. We were all sitting in the living room when we realized we didn't know where max was. Someone finally found him in the basement crying in the dark because he didn't want to leave all the family. He had us all crying. Also the time when he cried when it was time for me to leave Texas. It's good to know that he loves us almost as much as we love him!
4. How he expresses his love! He is always giving me hugs and saying how he loves me to the moon and infinity googleplex. The hugs have died down a teensy bit since he's gotten older but he doesn't stop with the i love you's! 
5. How good he is. One time we were hanging out in the kitchen and I pulled out a carton of ice cream, chocolate syrup, and two spoons. I told him we were going to do something secretive and I wouldn't tell anyone if he wouldn't. I was joking around, because it's not that big of a deal to eat a couple of bites of ice cream out of the carton but he thought it was crazy cool. After I had given him a bite he wanted some more. As I preceded to give him another spoonful he stopped himself and was like actually I better ask my mom first. Me and Cass thought it was pretty funny, but how awesome is he for listening to his mammas rules. 
6. How cute he is to his sisters. Tessa and Ella are really lucky to have Max as an older brother. He adores them. One time my mom bought Tessa some princess outfits and Max couldn't wait for Tessa to put them on so that she could look like a princess. I love when he gives Ella attention and talks to her in his little baby voice. Oh man I'm smiling just thinking about it :) 
7. He's smart. Seriously I'm pretty sure he is smarter then me in some areas of education. No joke. When I went to the zoo and aquarium with him he had to correct me many times on the animals names. Who knows what I am going to do when he is twelve! 

And one to grow on:

How he treats other people. You know how some little kids are just not that nice (me as a child)? Max is definitely not one of them. He's so nice to everyone. I love when I get to see him interact with kids his age and to see how much he cares about other people. I think Max has figured a thing or two out about life that I am still working on.

Happy Birthday, Max! We all love you!

 (Look how much you've grown!!!)