Nick's 4th Birthday

Nick chose to have a "How to Train Your Dragon" party for his birthday this year.

We got viking hats and had the kids decorate shields. It was really simple but the kids seemed to really like it, and it was easier for the younger guests.

Matt made the yummiest chocolate cake with homemade icing! Everybody loved it.

The boys are excited to open presents.

That Toy Story Tent was a HUGE hit with all the boys. They had a great time playing with all the fun new toys.

Thank you everyone who came to celebrate with us. And thank you for all of the awesome presents, Nick was definitely spoiled and is loving all of them!

Disneyland

Some friends of ours planned a trip to Disneyland around Nick's 4th Birthday so we decided to join them! We had SO MUCH FUN! You can see how excited he is in the pictures. Nick loved all the rides and wasn't scared at all. He also loved getting to meet all of the characters. He was so funny with them, he would poke them in the nose or the eyes and just laugh and laugh.

This is how excited Nick was riding on the tram to the park!

Nick and Dad on Dumbo

Mickey

Goofy

Nick and Dad trying the Sword in the Stone

Nick was so excited to meet Woody...

...and Jessie too!

This was the AWESOME parade in California Adventure..

And this was Nick's face during the whole parade...

It rained a ton while we were there so we weren't able to take a lot of pictures but with ponchos and an umbrella it really wasn't bad at all and the lines were great! Next time we are going to have to stay longer though, while we did get to do just about everything it would have been nice not to feel so rushed (and I wanted to take Nick to the beach which didn't happen). Anyways, now we know why they call it the happiest place on earth and we can't wait to go back!

Breaking Dawn!

I am really not as obsessed as this makes me look. This is just the first year I wanted to do a more intricate pumpkin carving and I wanted it to represent something about me. I tried to get Matt to do a Harry Potter one but he wasn't that into it. I had a hard time with the checkerboard but other than that I think it turned out pretty sweet!

PFG Insurance

I really appreciate good customer service. Do you? I think everybody does but it is so rare these days. I think there is a mentality out there that in order to get a great deal you have to sacrifice good customer service. Well that might be the case at Wal-Mart (I don't have the energy to take them on right now) but pretty much everywhere else I think it is just unacceptable.

As a dental hygienist I feel like I provide my customers with great service. I always make sure to find out if the patient is having any concerns and if they do I make sure to address those concerns during their appointment. Right now we have a promotion going on that a new patient to our office can get a prophy, exam, x-rays, and bleaching trays for $79 and I honestly do not treat the patients that utilize that promotion any different than any other patient in the office. They always get the best care possible!

So on to PFG Insurance. I am not sure exactly what their business would be classified as, maybe an Insurance brokerage? Anyways, they provide all types of insurance (health, dental, vision, life insurance etc.). Matt's company started using them last year for their employee health insurance and then when we bought a house I really wanted to make sure Matt or I could pay for it if something happened to one of us so we got life insurance through them.

Let me tell you they have been the BEST people to work with. I probably email them at least once a week with questions about our health insurance and they email me back right away with a very clear and understandable answer. I have NEVER understood my health benefits so well and it's so nice to have someone to help me make the most of them. One time Matt hurt himself pretty bad while dirt biking and we called them to see whether it would be better with our insurance to take him to a doctor or a hospital or what. They told us a physical therapist would be best AND recommended a great one that was a provider for our insurance! They probably saved us hundred of dollars by avoiding an emergency room visit and Matt loved the physical therapist and he is all better now!

And when it comes to the life insurance it just gets even better. They made an appointment with us during convenient hours for us (in the evening after 7 pm) and spent time explaining all of their options, helped us determine what type and amount of coverage would be best for us, and did all of the paperwork etc. It was very easy. Then the week we closed on our new home we found out that Matt might not be able to get paid because his business wasn't doing too well at the time. Talk about stressful! Well it turned out that Matt actually didn't get paid (or got paid much less) for several months in a row. As we scrutinized our budget it became clear that we needed to change something with the life insurance. So we called up PFG and sure enough they met with us that same week and helped us to get a policy that would keep us within our crunched budget for the time being and that could later be easily upgraded to where we were previously without losing any money we had put into it. I was so worried about losing our investment and they were so knowledgeable and helpful in making sure that we didn't!

They have even come to my work several times (quite a drive) to bring me paperwork to sign so I didn't have to drive to their office (even though it's right on my way home from work).

Seriously, if you or anyone you know needs small business or just personal/family health, dental, vision, life, disability, or any other type of insurance I HIGHLY recommend you talk to PFG. They will find you the perfect plan to fit your needs and your budget.

Check them out there: http://pfgins.com/

(sorry if this post is totally annoying but I just want people to know about awesome services out there. I know I don't ever go anywhere (restaurant, store, any type of doctor, etc) without reading the reviews and I love it when people refer me somewhere great, it saves me a lot of time, money, and stressing. AND I would totally love to be a critic and write reviews on places for everyone to read. Only the GREAT places though. They say if people have a bad experience they tell like 10 people and if they have a great experience they only tell like 1 person. That's sad, the great places are the ones that should get the attention)

Arizona 2010

Some fun things we did during out trip to AZ this summer:

Went for a walk with the fam in the blistering evening heat. Yuck.

Matt got one of these nasty buggers stuck in his toe. I had to pull it out and got it stuck on my fingers where I still can feel the little spines in there.

We went to the lake and went Jet Skiing. Nick had a great time playing in the water

and driving the Jet Ski all by himself!

And this is how hot it was. Thank goodness we were at the lake!

We went shooting in the wash with my little brother Tory.

Matt showing us how its' done. That's hott!

Nick didn't like the loud guns.

So he wore his headphones and played DJ in the truck.

We tracked down the elementary school that I went to kindergarten at, I never lived in one place for more than 6 months at a time but I remember almost all my schools and stuff that happened at each one.

We also drove around trying to find the house I lived in then but couldn't ever find it. I have a TON of memories from that time in my life and it was neat to see where they took place and what it looks like now.

We went for a quad ride with my Dad and Tory. Halfway through the ride it started to pour on us. It was actually kind of nice and the ride was beautiful. Nick was a trooper too, he didn't like the rain but he didn't cry about being wet and cold and still having to ride all the way back home.

This is my nephew Sean doing a flip into the pool. He is only a little older than Nick and he is CRAZY with his flips and stuff in the pool. Wild Child.

Then on Main Street in Kanab. The city must have reduced their police force due to budget cuts from the poor economy right now. But no worries, people won't be speeding with this guy around!

We did a ton of other stuff too. There were a lot of family things we were able to attend which was great. And we got to visit my bestest friend Amanda and her family. Thank you Dad and Mia for letting us stay with you and play with your toys while we were there. And thank you Amanda for letting us stay with you and drive you crazy for a few days, it was so much fun!

I always love going home to AZ. It will always be my home I think even though I will probably live in Utah for another 20 years. It is where my dear family is and it is where I am from. Not just where I lived but where I came from. Where I was shaped, and molded, and made into the person that I am today. Every time I go home I feel more like myself than I do anywhere else. I feel comfortable and close to my family and I wish that I was with them all of the time so I could have stronger relationships with them and learn more from them. I feel like it's the place that I will always grow the most at and the place where I can reach my full potential in life because I have my amazing family and my friends to look to and learn from everyday. I love your guys and I hope you know that each of you have so many great qualities that I see and I want to be like you in so many ways! Thanks for your examples in my life.