Heidi is one of those women that you just can't get enough of. She is incredibly thoughtful and kind. She is always thinking about other peoples feelings. I am so thankful that I was able to have her near me in Virginia for a year (I can't believe that it was only a year!!) When she moved, I was so sad. Of course shortly after she left, all of my other dearest friends moved and I thought I was going to die. Yes I am dramatic. I did not die. I was blessed with more great women to move into our ward and I am so thankful for them. I feel like all of the people that I have met in the last few years have taught me different things that I will carry with me forever. Heidi's love for people is contagious and she is so easy love! Her friends in North Carolina cherish her! I received an email from one of them a few weeks ago, about a surprise party they were throwing for her 30th birthday party! I was so glad when it worked out for me to drive the four hours to surprise her! Thank you Virginia friends who took Hailey, Isabella and Talon for me!!! Thank you John for getting off work early and holding down the fort so that I could have a fabulous time!
They did a beautiful job!
We had a fabulous day filled with food, friends, and fun! Our friends 'The Burtons' invited us over and we felt so loved. The ladies and I had planned a night full of earlybird shopping so I ended up going to bed at 6pm on Thanksgiving night...well...I tried but I failed! I layed in bed from 6 to 10 and I think that I finally fell asleep around 9:15. Oh, it was so frustrating. I actually woke up at 9:45 so I had about 30 minutes of sleep. We left at 10:30pm to go and get in line at Toys R Us. We all got lots of the stuff that we had on our shopping list...minus a few really popular items that everyone else wanted too. By 2 am we were finished there and headed to IHOP for breakfast. I just love being with friends. I didn't even care how tired I was, or how rainy, windy and cold it was!! Two of us went and stood in line outside of Target (AGAIN...THE WEATHER WAS AWFUL!) I really scored at Target...worth waiting in line for! We didn't even have to stand in the checkout line but for a few minutes because we had a great system worked out! Kmart was the last stop that we needed to take...which is never busy so this was a breeze. We were home by 7am and I was feeling really tired. My house was quiet when I walked in...I was really excited that I might actually get a few minutes before they woke up. I crept quietly into my room and as I was about to get into my cozy bed I noticed my two little girls were snuggled in my place, snuggling John. Shoot! I ended up getting in Izzie's bottom bunk bed and was hoping that I was tired enough that I wouldn't miss MY bed. Nope...I couldn't fall asleep! What is wrong with me is what I kept thinking...these were valuable minutes of precious sleep that I was missing. My girls came running into their bedroom just a few minutes later and that was that. No sleeping today! I ended up getting a nap in the afternoon for about an hour and then went to be at 8pm that night and slept until 8am! That was just what I needed!
So I had great pictures of Thanksgiving and of our morning adventures shopping but my camera was stolen and so I do not have any of them. My camera was in my purse. My purse was in my car. My car was unlocked for one hour at the end of church. Don't leave your car unlocked....EVER...they didn't just take my camera though. They took my entire purse with SO many important things in it. I lost about $500.00 worth of goodies including lots of cash, TONS of gift cards (Christmas gifts for our family), and of course the camera. I am still in the process of trying to get my life back together. I have ONE card in my new wallet. It is so empty. I went with my girls last night to get a free redbox and I couldn't even get it because you have to swipe a card so they can charge you if it's late. Shoot!
I was looking forward to this evening for months!! Our evening started out at one of the Regent Professors homes. It was INCREDIBLE. I could never have found all of the detailed decorations that they had around their home. Every room was a different theme...for example they had the Cullens Territory and the Werewolves Territory. We ate in Italy! There was a red chocolate fountain (blood) with like 15 things to chose from to dip! There were quotes everywhere so that we could try and figure out who said what and we even got to figure out characters eyes from the movie. There was a goodie bag to take to the movie with us....Werewolf Kibble and Volturi Elixer! We watched Twilight and then headed to the theater to get a good spot. Even sitting in the theater was fun...even for 2 hours. Everything was just perfect and I will always have wonderful memories of this evening. The movie was fantastic. I can't wait to see it again. On a side note... I drove with my friend Jill so I left my keys at home. I realized on the way home (at 2am) that John will not have realized this and will most definitely have locked our front door. Sure enough...it was locked and I thought that I was going to have to sleep on one of my friends couches. Thank goodness he slept with his phone right next to him that night...just in case I needed him!!!
Wow! I am so thankful for these girls in my life. We are living a transit life where we are meeting new people constantly, but also saying goodbye to them constantly. I hate saying goodbye to those that I love. Who doesn't right? I am thankful for the time that I have with them!
I am so thankful right now. Why is it overflowing right now? I'm not sure because my kids have toys strewn all over the floor, it's cloudy and chilly outside, I have a big day ahead still with all of the tasks required of the mommy, and yet I can't contain the joy that I feel.
I am thankful for my children. They are amazing to me. Even though each one of them drives me crazy somehow each day, I still can't get enough of them! They are beautiful and strong. They make me so happy. Hailey lost her tooth a little bit ago and the new one is already showing. It is SO crooked. It's coming in at an angle. YIKES!!! Isabella asked me and John to watch her do her Nah Nah dance last night at the dinner table. We were not sure what she was talking about but she stood up on her chair and sang and boogied to the Nah Nah Nah Boo Boo dance (you know...the typical teasing chant!) Talon just keeps falling on his poor head. Everyday...it's a new scratch or a new bonk or bump. Oh....John is so worried for his little brain (that's the Neuropsychology coming out in him!!)
We had so much fun!!! Jessica is my sweet cousin who lives with her family in St. George Utah. They are so far away!!!! Jessica is a hard worker and has saved up quite a little stash of money and she decided that during one of her school breaks she was going to use her money and fly out to see me! Before she came I asked her about what she wanted to do while she was here. The first thing that she said was that she wanted to go to Busch Gardens. There is a special bond between Busch Gardens and the Niepraschks. There always will be. As children, our parents planned one day to go altogether with the whole bunch of Niepraschks (there is a lot of us) and we did this EVERY YEAR! RAIN OR SHINE!!!! Oh the memories that I have of this magnificent park. All happy memories...every single one. I will cherish them forever. This was the first year that I had not gone to Busch Gardens...in my entire life. I had been pretty sad about it but was proud of myself for saving the money. Well, then little Jessie comes along and has this desire to go and I have to say that I was wanting to go SO badly but I also knew that we didn't have a lot of extra money...and it's really expensive! I talked to John about it...and yes, he knows about my love affair with Busch Gardens and he thought it would be so fun for us to go. So with that said...we went. John was going to stay at home with Talon and just us girls went. That didn't last for too long though. He realized really quickly that they were missin' out so they packed up (and brought us all some more warm clothes-it was FA-REEEEZ-ING!) and headed to meet us. Okay, it wasn't THAT cold...but it was pretty chilly and we were not dressed warm enough.
