My last weeks in Utah were kind of busy, and mostly just really fun. I love that I was able to spend those two weeks all with my family, and a lot with Gracie, since she and I were the only ones not in school or work. I had been planning on leaving for Boston May 7th, but because I was flying standby, none of the flights looked good and I had to end up going a whole week later. At the time, it was a little frustrating but I'm actually really glad it worked out that way because it meant I had more time at home and I also got to be there for Mother's Day, which was wonderful.
May 5th was a busy day for everyone. For the past 3 years, my mom has gone to class for four hours every Wednesday night and done a lot of homework to get her Master's degree in school counseling. Well, she totally did it! She graduated with a 4.0 and passed the licensing test so she's officially licensed to work as a school counselor. We all went to her graduation to support her aweseome-ness. :)
After the graduation, my aunt Zildy was planning a surprise birthday for my uncle (her husband) Jonas. He just turned 40 so she wanted to do something extra special for him. One of our friends (though she is practically family) lives in a complex that has a playhouse so Zildy reserved that and we went there to decorate. The party was Avengers themed so I bought cool shirt for it...I got it from Walmart in the boys section, but it is really cool because it changes color in the sun and glows in the dark! I did all the streamers and helped put out food and control the kids when they came, as it was a family party.
Haha since we get really cheap color printing at school, I printed out a bunch of masks for people to cover their faces with to surprise Jonas with as he came in. I printed the Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, and Jonas! It was really funny. Below is Sidney, Carina, and I donning the masks. Zildy also had Thor hats that we all wore.
Jonas was completely shocked when he came in! But he definitely loved it! I love Tayevion in the picture below.
Someone made a huge oreo cake for the party and I made cupcakes that had an oreo in the middle (mmm!). We had chili and cornbread for dinner and then the cake for dessert. It was a huge cake and the middle oreo stuff tasted especially yummy.
Every year, this school called Cameo in Murray does a skin care event where they have a ton of free services like pedis and manis, eyebrow waxing, and other beauty stuff that I really don't even know what it does. Anyways, I've gone most of the years, and this year I got to go again, since I hadn't made it on the flight to Boston yet. It happens during the day so the girls in school usually don't get to go. They give you a ticket when you go in and then you get to pick a service done with that ticket. Then they also have other free services (mani and eyebrow waxing) that you don't need a ticket for.
We did pedicures, which is what we usually do and also did the other non-ticket services. I didn't get a manicure because I bite my nails and even with nail polish it doesn't stop me. I know, it's a really bad habit that I'm trying to stop, but it's hard! Below is the eyebrow waxing.
My grandpa had been watching the kids while we were at the event, but then we figured Gracie and Jasmine might like getting manicures. So they came over and got to do it too. As you can see, Gracie adored getting her nails painted. She chose a shiny blue and just was so happy. The lady painting her nails was really sweet too.
Jasmine didn't show quite as much excitement as Gracie over the nail-painting...
I'm so glad I was able to stay for Mothers Day as well. We got chocolates in church (for anyone 18 and older) and all the extended family came over to celebrate. Jonas made gumbo for dinner and we had some yummy cake for dessert. I gave my mom a cute little sign with a quote about faith on it to put on the wall, and also Sidney and I spent the whole day working on making cds and cd cases to give to all the moms. Starting about 6 years ago, I made "Mom's Mix" and then I just kept doing it. But last year I kind of got tired of it, and I wasn't going to make it this year, but I ended up recruiting Sidney and we had each of the kids pick a song that reminded them of their mom and say why. It was really cute and the moms loved it. I also announced it would be the last Mom's Mix year so I'm free from it now! Ha :)
The dress I'm wearing below is also another happy reason that I stayed longer. I found it at Marshalls for only $20. A steal if you ask me. It's absolutely gorgeous! I tried taking outfit pictures but it was kind of late so they didn't turn out very good. I'll get some better pictures of it later.
Stay tuned to hear all about Massachusetts!!!
