My birthday

Today was my birthday and it has been a really good day!

Firstly, Stephen slept from 9 until 4:30am. I slept so deeply the whole night. Rob woke a little after 4pm to go to the bathroom, which woke me and I realized I needed to pump. I then realized Stephen was still asleep. As I began pumping he began to make little noises indicating he was waking up. I love that Stephen very rarely cries. After feeding Stephen I went back to bed and woke up a little before 8am.

Trifle - YUM!

My wonderful grandparents called me and we spoke for a long time while I fed Stephen. Boy, but do I miss them a lot! I then Skyped my mom and Kristin with my new webcam from my mom. :) I would have liked to have Skyped my dad, but I then had to rush to get ready for church, which started at 11am. Mervyl Meyer came over and brought gifts and a huge trifle.

Rob slaved away the other night making chutney which is similar to Mrs Balls chutney, only better. He knows how much I miss it because I talk about it ALL the time. So today he gave me about 6 huge jars full of chutney he made. I really, really appreciated it. I also got chocolates and a beautiful letter.

Chocolate cake made by Rob

Church was good. I bore my testimony in Relief Society. When we came home I fed Stephen and ate some trifle. Rob also made me a divine chocolate cake yesterday and so I had some of that too. Hey, it's my birthday - I'm allowed to. :)


For dinner we had probably one of the best curries I have ever had. It is a recipe from Sri Lanka and so delicious. It is also so simple to make:

Curry, yellow raisin rice, chutney, avocado, bananas in sour cream

Cut up boneless, skinless chicken and toss in 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp tumeric. Leave for 15 minutes. In a large skillet, cook 1 chopped onion with 2 bay leaves, 1 stick cinnamon, 3 tsp cumin, 4 cloves of garlic minced, 2 tbsp minced gingerroot, and 1 tsp garam masala. Then add the chicken and 1 can of coconut milk. Simmer on low with a lid for 30 minutes.

The rice was simple too: Cook 1.5 cups of rice with 2 tsp butter/marg, 1 tsp tumeric, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 cup of raisins in 3.5 cups of water. 

First Birthday Party

So the boys turn one next Wednesday (27th) and so since Sam (and family) were leaving today for France and we wanted to have a joint birthday party, we had their birthday party last Wednesday (April 20th). I really didn't think it would take long to organize, but I was WRONG. Thank heavens Sam and I did it together.

Tons of people from my ward came with their babies (most of them being 6 months old and younger). Val Bibb, Des Belt, and Mervyl Meyer also came, including Candice Bailey, Rachel MacDonald, and Krista Tripoli. The boys got lots and lots of gifts which they enjoyed opening. Unfortunately most of the gifts didn't say who it was from and so I don't know who to thank. But, I am very grateful to all who came and all who gave gifts, and all who helped set up and clean up afterwards.

We were hoping to have it outside, but it is April and in Utah it rains A LOT! So rain was forecast for the afternoon at the very time that the party was scheduled and so I had it inside. The most fun part was when we gave each boy (Thomas, Luke, and Benjamin) their very own cake with a candle on it. We sang to them and they each dug into their cakes immediately. Thomas ate 80 percent of it, while Luke just had a little. They loved it though. 

My Birthday

I can't believe I'm 33 years old. Good grief! Clare reminded me in her "Happy Birthday email" today that it was 20 years ago this last January that we first met. Wow!

Anyway, Rob went to Krispy Kreme before 6am and came home with a dozen donuts - no, I did not eat them all for breakfast! I had two though. He went to school as he had a midterm exam to take and I went off to my yoga class after leaving the boys with Des Belt and Melissa Hubert for the morning. In the afternoon, I helped my friend Sam with some Stats and she helped me with my hair and then Rob came home from school early and we went for a nice stroll along 900E towards the temple and back. It was a pretty nice day outside actually. Blue sky, although still chilly. No real sign of spring quite yet, but I didn't feel like I needed to wear a coat outside, which was nice. In the evening we went out to dinner at Red Robin with a bunch of friends (Candice, Rachel, Lyn and Gordon, Stephanie and Joe, Stephanie and Derrick, and Abby ... two people had to leave early due to other obligations and it taking forever for us to be seated). Anyway, it was tons of fun!

I'm grateful for the people who tried to make me feel special today. I appreciated the emails, phone calls (and voicemails) and Facebook wall posts as well as the gifts and cards I received. Thank you!

Here are some photos from our walk today:

 

So curious about the dry grass

 

Loving being with his dad

Pick me up, Mom!

My birthday

March 4th was my birthday. I spoke to my parents and grandparents in the morning which was nice. During the day my birthday present from my parents arrived: a book called The Photographer's Eye. It is such a great book - I'm loving it. It teaches you about how to design really good digital photographs. I had to teach in the evening and at 6pm Rob picked me up from BYU and took me out to dinner at a Thai restaurant in Orem (Thai Evergreen). Rob knows I LOVE Thai food!!! :) The food was delicious. After the we came home and Rob gave me my presents. Rob's mom gave me a whole bunch of maternity clothes, which was wonderful because I don't have too many. Then I opened my gift from him and I could not believe my eyes!!! He gave me a DSLR camera: a Canon Rebel XS. I felt so unbelievably spoiled and loved by Rob. He is so good to me. My goal is to learn how to take really good photos and then take them professionally. So, I've been trying to learn all I can in between finishing my thesis and working on various other projects. Anyway, it really was a fantastic birthday.

Rob's birthday

Thursday was Rob's birthday. I made him French Toast for breakfast, which was yummy. He then left to go to class; however, when he returned, he opened his gifts. I got him some strings for his guitar and a chinning and sit-up bar so he can exercise at home. My mom got him a book he really wanted so he's excited about that. We then went to get some things at the store as well as 8 movies from the library :). We then wrapped Christmas gifts. We were going to go snow-shoeing, but I couldn't get snow-shoes till yesterday, so we'll go sometime this coming week. In the evening we went to dinner at the Brick Oven - we love their pizza!!! Rob made a little man out of the straw paper which he was proud of. Throughout the day he received phone calls from friends and family which I know he really appreciated. I think overall he had a good day.

My birthday

So, my birthday has been fabulous!

Firstly, Rob has been spoiling me so much. A week ago I received gift #1: a haircut. So, he came along because he wanted to make sure that the hairdresser didn't give me a Utah haircut. It was funny because at one point she did style it a bit like that. Anyway, then on Saturday Rob gave me gift #2: a bicycle. I was over the moon about it. I have been wanting a bike for a while because (1) I really would like to get in shape; and (2) Rob has a bike and I think it would be so much fun going cycling together. So, we went for a short ride up City Creek Canyon. It was really nice, although my butt hurt quite a bit the next day!!! :) But, the more I ride, the more I'll get used to it. Today Rob came over and gave me gift #3: there is a picture of Jesus Christ called the Gentle Healer, painted by Greg Olsen, which I have always loved...so Rob got me that picture, which we will have framed and in our first home. I was so amazed how thoughtful Rob is and that he is able to pick out the most perfect gifts for me. I received a text yesterday saying gift #4 is on its way: a new cellphone and 2-year contract. I really do feel spoilt by my man! :)

Last night I went out for dinner with some friends: Candice, Rachel, Suzanne, Tasha, Lauren, and Rob came too. We went to a restaurant in Orem called Thai Chili Gardens. It was lots of fun and the food was good. Thai food is probably my most favourite food in the world...especially what I had: Phad Thai. When we came home Candice baked a yummy chocolate cake which we ate and then we played Five Crowns - a game I quite enjoy, although I lost last night.

This morning I met up with Jacqueline du Plessis and Jana (a friend in my program) and they gave me a card and had made yummy chocolate chip cookies. So we had cookies and milk - YUM. Then, I went to class and that was fine.

At 1pm I went to lunch with the South African Ambassador to the USA, Welile Nhlapo. He was making a visit to Utah and gave a talk to BYU students and then a few people were invited to have lunch with him. I had RSVPed a while back but had actually forgotten until I was emailed yesterday. I was placed at his table and so we talked a fair amount. As the other people at the table were asking him about South Africa, such as what do South Africans think of Winnie Mandela? and has South Africa managed to completely eradicate Apartheid? and what are your thoughts on Zuma?, he would often ask me to express my thoughts on these matters as well. That was fun! It is funny because politically, I'm completely apolitical. I'm just not interested and here I was explaining about the political situation and history in South Africa. To be honest, I was actually very impressed with his answers because he didn't portray a "black" or "white" view but rather he was neutral in terms of race. I did think his views on Zuma were pretty amusing...and true.

Then, Rob came over and we watched a movie and then went out to dinner at the Brick Oven. They have the best pizza I have tasted in the US. I guess it remnds me a lot of the pizza at home. The servers then came and sang to me and I received a free chocolate mousse, which was MASSIVE!!

So, all in all, it was a really great birthday!!! :)