... that I had a once in a lifetime experience?

Everyone is having babies.  Everyone.

Four of my sister in laws and my sister were pregnant at the same time this past year!  And I still have one sister in law that is pregnant!  Crazy right?  It has been 5 months of baby everything up in here.  And it has been great, really.  I love babies, duh!!!

A few months ago my sister in law Lisa called me up, and as we were chatting she told me that after her last son was born, she regretted that she had not invited any of her sisters to the birth.  She told me that she thought we were really close and let me know that if I wanted to, I was invited to be at the birth of her baby girl.  I was simultaneously stunned and overwhelmed.  Lisa reminds me a lot of my own older sister Kelly, who I look up to and adore, and I was so amazed that she would think to invite me to something as special as the birth of her baby.  I thought about it for a while, talked to Matt about it, and ultimately decided that I really really wanted to go.  I was a little nervous (childbirth is probably one of the most terrifying and horrible things I can imagine, sorry all women everywhere) but I didn't want to miss out on an opportunity that I might never have again.  So I told her I would love to be there and spent the next few months forcing myself to not call her everyday asking if she was gonna have the baby yet.  It was always in the back of my mind; I had to be ready at all times just in case!!!

Luckily for me, the little baby decided to wait till after my family had left.  My cell rang at 3:00 on Thursday while I was at work, and when I saw it was Lisa, my heart jumped.  I quickly answered and my hopes were confirmed: They were going to the hospital!!!  I was so excited, but decided to hold out for a little while longer before I went to the hospital.  I finally left work at around 4:30 and raced home to change.  I said a quick goodbye to Matt then raced up to the hospital where Lisa, Brian, and Renee were already settled into a room.  I was so glad that Renee was there, it was so wonderful to share this experience with her too!  Both of us were very nervous and unsure of what to do, so we just sat quietly as Lisa's labor got harder and harder over the next hour and a half.  Lisa had wanted to do another waterbirth, and I was amazed as they brought in a blow up tub and started to fill it.  It was a long process; we weren't sure if Lisa was gonna make it!  I could tell she was worried that it was taking too long, but she toughed it out like a champion mother and got in the tub the second it was full enough.

Then, miraculously, about 20 minutes later, there was a brand new, perfect, beautiful little baby girl in the world.  I have never seen anything quite like it.

This was not Lisa's first rodeo, but that does not diminish the fact that SHE IS A ROCK STAR.  I was simply in awe of her incredible strength.  I don't know if I could ever be as strong as her.  But I do know one thing: there is nothing more special than being a mother.  It was so precious to see Lisa with her brand new baby that she had worked so hard to bring into this world.  I will always have a special bond with Lisa and her darling Eloise.  I am so grateful to Lisa for giving me this experience and lucky to call her my sister.

I love you, Lisa!

... that they're back again???

Family.  Everything is about family right now.

My parents are getting ready to embark on a 3 year life changing journey as mission presidents in Taiwan, and my little tiny baby sister is going to serve in Korea for 18 months.  And they are all leaving in about 2 weeks.  I think I haven't really been sad yet because I am in denial that this is really going to happen.  Needless to say, the ever increasing visits to Utah came to a climax Memorial Day weekend when my favorite Uncle Johnny and favorite Aunt Jennifer decided to host a mission homecoming/family reunion party.  No Blickenstaff ever said no to a family reunion!  Mom, Dad, and Cait all came up AND Kell came up with her little babies!!!  And it was a fantastic weekend!

We started out with a trip to Seven Peaks, always a Blick fave:

The Green Slide, a favorite:

We went down this slide with Cutter approximately 19,478 times

This little babe was loving the water park :)

Then we all went to John and Jennifer's ward in Heber on Sunday and up to their cabin afterward for a family dinner.

The next day, my favorite Aunt Cathie had planned a little pizza luncheon in a park in American Fork.  We gathered, ate, talked, ate, laughed, ate, played, and ate.  It it always so fun to spend time with so many cousins, aunts, and uncles that I don't get to see that often.


In between all of our galavanting around, the Blick sisters did what we do best: Mall hopping.

My sisters only agreed to pick me up for a mall trip if I sat in the booster seat AND did the buckles :/

I only made it to two of the mall trips, but I am told there were many many more.  Luckily for Matt, he was only dragged to one of these outings; that is his limit for mall visits.  He didn't even go into a store while we were there, he just sat in the food court reading The Wheel of Time.  I asked him if he wanted to meet me at Forever 21, and his response was, "My worst experience of shopping ever was in that store.  I DO NOT want to go there.  I will just wait for you in the food court."  This was in reference to ONE time in CA that I maybe shopped in a Forever 21 for like an hour and a half and he was bored and played on his phone the whole time.  It wasn't even that bad!  But from now on, he will never ever go to a mall with me again.

Aaaaanyway, Kell also brought the kids to our house to let them see our plethora of pets :)

Babes was less than enamored...

But Cutter was THRILLED!!!

We told him that one of our snakes was about to shed her skin and he asked us about 50 times a day for the rest of the weekend "if the snake had got off its skin yet."  Unfortunately, she did not shed in time for him to see it, sorry Butter!

We also spent a lot of time that weekend at Kar's beautiful new house!  It is really cute and Kell and Cait were staying there for the weekend, so it was just sort of a natural gathering spot each night so that we could hang out after the kids went to bed.  There is this adorable little park right in their back yard.  Perfect!

Looking back, this was not such a good idea.  Pretty sure Babes was almost smashed to death.

We had a lot of dinners at Kar's house, and Matt's famous ATK creme brulee was requested not once, but twice that weekend, and my sweetheart of a husband gladly obliged.  Come to think of it, I'll take his homemade creme brulee over a shopping trip any day :)

All too soon, the weekend was over.  But I knew I would be seeing them a lot over the next few weeks before they left.  Stay tuned for more family posts, it's not over yet.

I love my family!

... that I miss the good ole' days?

I saw on FB a few weeks ago that my good friend from college and his wife had started their own little company called Brenster Occasions, and they were having a Grand Opening of sorts at a little craft fair in Provo at the Riverwoods.  I told Matt I really wanted to go and support Sterling, so we made some time in our busy Saturday schedules of cleaning/helping Kar move/setting up chairs for stake conference/adult session of conference, and off we went!

Brenster Occasions was selling cute handmade books and of course I had to have one.

I wish so badly that Sterling had acually been there!  Thinking about him reminded me of all of our good times as "roommates":

-Arts and crafts time in our apartment
-The time we went to his cousin's wedding reception and pretended to be engaged
-Practicing Chinese
-Watching "Hercules"
-The time we went to see Aida

-The time he was Harry Potter for Halloween

-Going to his and Michelle's dance competitions

-The time he came over to find me and Kar sliding down a mattress slide in our living room and immediately joined us

-Playing "Choose an outfit for your friend and take pictures" at the mall (this is one of my favorite pictures of all time and no, no matter how much you hope, it will never disappear :)

-The time Britt got married and we all went to both of her receptions

-Shadow dancing

-The time he and his roommates made me a birthday card

And so many more memories.  I am so grateful for him and all of my other amazing friends throughout the years who have made me who I am today.  I hope to see you out here soon, Sterling and Bren, and best of luck to Brenster Occasions!

I love good friends and good memories!!! :)

... that we love to BBQ?

The day after we got back from Mexico, Lance came home to visit for a few days before his big trip to Africa.  So obviously that means FAMILY BARBEQUE!!!!!

We had so much fun!  Matt was a great BBQer

We all oooed and aaahed over baby Ezra

And I discovered the first fruits of our garden this year: a single ripe sugar snap pea!!!

I was so excited to see this beauty.  It was way too hot for peas last summer, plus I was a super lame gardener and really bad at harvesting.  By the time I went out there to get the peas, they were all either too big and overgrown to eat, or shriveled and burned from the heat.  I vowed I would do better this year!!!  And this one little pea was DELICIOUS!!!!!  I can't wait to harvest more!

I love family and BBQs and springtime!