Girls' Night Out!

Some of the girls in our neighborhood had a girls' night out last week. We went to Chili's and celebrated Amy and her soon-to-be-born baby girl. I feel so fortunate to have so many friends that live nearby. All of these girls and more live within two blocks of me. Unfortunately I didn't pull out the camera until after Jane Jugler left, but here are photos of the rest of us: Amy Forsyth, Emily Briones, Sarah Bernie and Baby Luka

Heather Bernie and Shannon Rasmussen

Leah's sister Brianna, Leah Knighton, Liesel and I.

It was so fun to get out without all our kids and just hang out with the girls. So fun!

Seven Months Already!

Our precious Liesel Grace is seven months old today!

I'm looking forward to when she'll have enough to hair to fix. It's growing in, but for now she is still sporting her wild do. Here she is right after her bath; that's some awesome hair!

Liesel is still petite and doesn't have any teeth (both my boys started before 5 1/2 months). She is really learning fast. She's quite good at sitting and is starting to scoot. You can't leave her on the floor, because she rolls all over the place and will end up on the other side of the room in no time. Here's a little video of some of her newest tricks.

We love you, Sweetheart!

Haircut and Comps

This week I had my hair cut. I was going for a short flippy do kind of like Rapunzel's short hair. You can't really appreciate it in this photo, but I'm sure I'll take a better one soon. I really like it! I'm still experimenting with different ways to fix it, but overall I'm very pleased.

One of my wonderful mission companions came into town for the weekend. Mayra is such a great friend and I'm so glad I got to see her. She actually stayed at my parent's house so we went down to see her on both Saturday and Sunday. Love that girl! Whenever we're at my parent's, my brother Ben will play with the kids. He's always teaching parker new games. Parker loves learning and then proceeds to win almost every game! Mancala and chess are the new favorites. Also this week I got to go out to dinner with my friend Candice. I didn't take a photo, but her four kids are growing up so much. She's another friend I admire greatly. I'm such a lucky girl to have so many wonderful friends!

Tepanyaki Experience

For Brad's birthday I planned to take him out to his favorite restaurant, Tepanyaki. Brad wanted to bring the whole family, so the kids had their first Tepanyaki experience. They really enjoyed it, especially the "show" of the chef cooking the food. Even Liesel seemed to be watching.

We ordered our favorites: Filet minon with teriyaki noodles. So amazing!

They brought the boys these beginner chop sticks and they both ate their whole meals with them. Jason concentrated very carefully to pick up his food.

What a fun night out! Happy birthday, Brad!

Tradition Continues

Brad's mom, sisters, aunts and grandma have the tradition of going to the Spaghetti Factory during the Priesthood session of Conference. The last several times they have invited my mom and sisters to join in. We've gotten so big that this year we were at two tables, so I didn't really get pictures of any of the Pratts. I was able to take a few of our table though. Here is Parker and my mom.

Angie's roommate Libby was able come too. Jason enjoys the whole experience of his food. He kept spreading his noodles on his hair and face and covering himself with Mizithra. When he saw the take-home boxes, he wanted one too, so he saved about three noodles so he could put them in one. What a funny kid!Afterwards we went to Jackie's. We had a little party for Brad's birthday, but this is the only picture I took. I love it!

Happy Birthday Brad!

I have such an incredible husband! Brad has an overwhelmingly busy schedule. Even with all the demands on his time, he still manages to excel in his MBA program, be an asset to his company, serve faithfully at church, play with his children and spend time with me. Wow!

With all of his outside obligations he knows I've been holding everything together at home until around nine at night most days (sometimes later :(). On Monday he got out a few minutes early from class and surprised me with this gorgeous bouquet of roses!

A few Saturdays ago Brad initiated a family game day. He finished his several hours of homework and then we played games as a family: Uno Moo, Rhino Rampage, Domino Build and major tickling! I love the glee in these boys' faces as they play with their Daddy.Here's another face I love; Brad's face as he plays with his children! Brad's birthday fell on General Conference weekend, so he didn't even get a chance to relax on his birthday. Oh well, c'est la vie! We did get to watch exceptional messages from our church leaders and get to spend some time with family. That evening we met over at his sister's Jackie's for homemade cookies and ice cream. The cookie recipe was SO DELICIOUS, I'd highly recommend them. On half I used the Andes mints the other half I used peanut butter chips- yum!

On Sunday we celebrated Brad's birthday with my family. The boys enjoyed our tradition of "heavy hangover". Jason didn't quite get the "tap once" concept and started repeatedly smacking Brad on the head- at least it was only the card. Ha, ha! He also ripped open one of Daddy's cards while he was waiting for Daddy to open another gift. What a funny kid!The boys helped Daddy blow out the candles on Dad's favorite-red velvet cake.

What a wonderful Daddy! We love you, Brad!

Olympic Distance

Ready or not, I've decided I'm going to do an Olympic triathlon. It's REALLY FAR to swim nearly a mile across Jordanelle Reservoir, bike 26.2 miles on mountain roads and then run a 10K all in quick succession. I'm determined to do it though. I've still got a lot of training to do, so wish me luck!

Up From Vegas

My sister and her family came up to Salt Lake for a brief visit on their way to a wedding. On Friday the kids and I headed down to hang out. We three sisters went out to lunch at Soup Kitchen. I hadn't been there forever-like a decade, but the soup is still amazing! It was so fun to hang out just us girls!

Ben with one of his favorite girls!Grandma playing Princess Memory with the kids. Grandma reading stories.Playing with toys Liesel with Heidi All the grandchildren: Dylan, Parker, Liesel, Heidi, Jason and Alison. It's always fun to see our cousins! We can't wait for our Las Vegas vacation in three weeks!