Happy 28th Birthday Honey

Today is Eric's 28th Birthday. SO.... in honor of my hubby's BIG DAY here are

"28 Reasons Why I Can't Live Without My Honey!"

(FUN FACT: I met Eric 5 years ago on his birthday!)

1. He's HOT!!! (I just had to get that one out right up front)"blue steel!!!"

2. He is adorable when He sleeps!

3. He is a complete Star Wars GEEK!!YES, we DO have life size cutouts of Han and Leah!!!
The large R2D2 is a Pepper Grinder which, believe it or not, we DO use!!!
And of course, we've got "Darth Tater" and his faithful "Spud Trooper"

4. He likes to play with his sword(s)!!! (tehehe)

5. He plays with the girls when he gets home from work!!!

6. He randomly brings me flowers for no reason at all (still!!! after being together for 5 years!!!!)

7. He snuggles me every night (even when I know he'd much rather sleep) , for as long as I want. NO COMPLAINTS!!!

8. He does the dishes without being asked (and sings Beck songs while doing it)

9. He's a great dancer...10....and shares that enthusiasm with our girls

11. He absorbs useless knowledge like a spongecake!

12. He can quote tons of lines from any movie or show he's seen, word for word. (it's the same with most songs)

13. During my time of month, he gets me chocolate and red meat. (Chocolate to cheer me up and red meat to, "of course," replenish the iron count in my blood!!!! And no, I don't eat them together)


14. He loves Pizza like a little kid!!!


15. He writes me poetry! (I have a whole box full of cards like this. Each poem wonderfully unique)
16. He's a big goofball.

17. He doesn't pretend to be someone he's not. He's not into brand names and doesn't need a big truck to make him feel like a "MAN." I LOVE that about him!

18. He looks like a vampire

19. He is a great student!!!

20. The crazy man eats salad with NO salad dressing! In fact, he LOVES veggies!!!

21. His pet peeves are: gulping water next to him in bed in the middle of the night. (still working on that one) He hates towels left on the floor. He hates it when I poke or tickle him with my toes! (But I like to do that to him anyway.HEHEHE!!!) Oh ya... and he hates it when pens are missing their caps!!!! (???)

22. He likes Hiking!

23. He plays board games with me, like Scrabble and Rummikub.

24. He folds the laundry and puts it away (without me asking him to)

25. He gives me free reign of our bank account!

26. He is a worthy priesthood holder and gives me and the girls blessings whenever we need or want them.He reminds me to read the scriptures and pray regularly (what a guy!)
27. He tells me numerous times during the day how much he loves me!!!

28. And lastly....He's my Best Friend!!!


Happy Birthday Sweety!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!

Eric In El Salvador
(this picture always makes me smile)

Utah!!!!

So this post is mostly gonna be pictures cuz it's almost midnight and I can't think straight anymore!

We were up, rarin' and excited to go at about 2ish (in the afternoon of course) the day after Christmas !

....but after a few hours that wore off!!!! I think that I was the only one who was up for the whole drive. We arrived at about 5 am (Utah time, 3 am CA time) on the 27th.
Eric and I decided to go to Utah for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons was to see some of my extended family on my birth dad's side. I hadn't seen my Grandma Olpin or my uncle Tyler since my wedding (4 1/2 years ago) and the rest (my Grandpa Olpin and uncle Kit) I hadn't seen since I was 13. None of them had ever met the girls before, So we were due for a visit!

We also went so we could visit my brother Collin and his pregnant wife Karen.

And lastly, we went for the snow!

This was the girls first snow experience!

They liked the snow alright just as long as they were inside. They didn't like it too much when they were outside. But Lucy did like to poke at it. So all in all it was a success!
Eric on the other hand... Well lets just say you don't want to mess with Eric when he's got a snowball in his hand.

hahaha!!! I love this picture of Tim.

The only time Emily is an angel is when she is in the snow.

Tim made himself a friend!

(I love this picture)

Ok !!!! I couldn't believe this, BUT...... this was the first time Eric had ever gone sledding!!!! Desite the fact that he was deprived of this as a kid, I am so glad that I got to witness this first hand! He was just like a school boy!!!! I love my hubby!!!!

WEEEE!!!!!!

Emily and I tried to go down together on one sled. But since she is a good deal smaller than me, we ended up going down most of the hill like this! But it was so fun!

She looks like a penguin!

Emily, Dad, and Tim!

Eric and Me after sledding our little hearts out!

Sistahs!!!!

Holidays with the Hardings!

The Holidays ...Christmas especially, is a really crazy time for us! It all starts Christmas Eve morning when Eric, the girls, and I have a family gift exchange!

Christmas Eve... Morning

The first thing the girls saw when they came running out of their room was this rocking horse! Evey ran over to it and said "WOW!!!!" and then climbed right on and rocked away!!! Immediately Lucy began insisting that it was her turn. The girls love it! (Thank you so much Sarah, for generously giving this to us since your boys don't use it!)(I love this picture)
Evey likes riding it right after taking a bath. It totally reminds me of the old "Mane and Tale" Shampoo logo! Do you guys remember that???

We gave Lucy a Dora memory game thinking that she'd be all excited about having a bunch of Dora cards.... I don't know what she was expecting, but she looked rather disappointed! (She likes it now that I taught her how to play)They also got "Let's Go Fishin' " which they both liked a lot!

And we changed Evey's bed from a crib to a toddler bed....

......which they mistook for a Trampoline.

Christmas Eve.... Evening

Christmas Eve night we went to My Grandparents house and had the traditional dinner (Tostadas and Lobster... YUM!!!!!!) After dinner my Grandpa reads from the New Testament. When he's done Santa (otherwise known as my uncle) yells down the chimney for all the kids to gather around and tell him whether they have been naughty or nice. Then he asks them individually what they want for Christmas. After that we had a gift exchange and dessert.

After dessert my sister and I are usually pretty sugared up and get a little nutty!

What are sisters for, if not someone to goof off with?!

After all of that Eric, the girls, and I went to spend the night at my parents house and spend Christmas morning with them....

Christmas Day!

My mom and dad got the girls a Ryan's Room dollhouse! It's all made out of wood! It is sooo cute! Thank you so much mom and dad! This is one that I'm sure will last for my grand kids!

My Brother Mike sent this all the way from Michigan for Evey. He knows how much she love stuffed animals. It says a bunch of funny lines from the new movie Bolt."Hello hairballs!" (I just can't wait 'til my kids pick up on that one)
Tim got the girls some Dr. Suess books. (Thanks Tim. They love these!)

Emily got them a pop up version of "We're going on a Bear Hunt," Which I love and may hide til they are old enough not to rip it up. (Thanks Emily!)

Mike also sent them Hungry Hungry Hippos!

Ok, so after opening our presents, we had a yummy breakfast, (Eggs, bacon, hot chocolate, cinnamon rolls, etc.) Eric and I packed up and headed over to Eric's parents and have another Christmas morning there. (Everybody wants to see the babies on Christmas!)
By now the girls were pretty experienced with the whole present idea. They knew just what to do. The first thing they ripped open was this Fairy Tea Set. They may as well have had no other gifts because it is all they wanted to play with.

They got also got some bristle blocks (Eric may enjoy these just as much as the girls. It's really fun to watch him play with these. He's such a little kid!)

Evey got a kaleidoscope too! She doesn't quite get it yet .... but I like it!

After Duan and Vince's we went home for a nap. When we got up we headed over to Eric's Grandmas house for their Christmas dinner. We forgot to take pictures there until after the gift exchange, but we did get this one...
Lucy was pooped after all the festivities, so she found a Lucy size box and curled up like a cat under the Christmas tree. ( I love my kids!!!)


But are we done yet??? I think NOT! The next day we headed to Utah! Are we crazy or what!!!!???

ANYWAY.....

I just wanted to take a quick moment to express my extreme gratitude to our family and friends and especially to Heavenly Father and the Savior Jesus Christ! At times like this I am in awe at how blessed our family is! My kids have everything they could possibly ever need (or want) because everyone is so very generous with us! Our Heavenly Father has showered blessings upon us just as my patriarchal blessing says "that there shall not be room enough to receive it." (How very true that is). I am truly humbled and thankful. I could never want anything more than what I already have.