Mothers' Day

Mothers' Day was great. I was worried it would be super emotional but instead it was just a happy day.

Lucas got me some sweets because sweets are my favorite. I'm talking chocolate dipped strawberries and a giant cupcake that I keep saving because its so pretty but I should probably eat it.
My sister-in-law surpised me with a bouquet of flowers that are so pretty and now sit on my desk at work.

My brother and his wife called me and wished me a happy mother's day and I had some sweet messages on facebook.
We went in the morning to the cemetery to visit the babies. My mom and brother came too and brought lots of bright colored daisies, which was really sweet. Kellen stilll has no headstone so we just layed his flowers on the grass above him. We designed his headstone, and should finally have enough saved up (thanks to the donations of some wonderful wonderful people) to have it start being made soon.

After visiting the babies, we went to church where my mom spoke and talked about her mom, Elaine, who was inspirational in so many ways. I've never met her, but I hope my children know her well.
After church we went to my aunts house and had dinner with lots of my extended family. It was a great time.

It was a good day to be a mom. :)

By next year I would love to have a little one to hug on Mother's Day, though. That's my goal.

I'll Go Back One Day!

(This post should have pictures but they are stuck on my old phone and I cant send them to myself now.
I apologize.)

A couple weeks ago my old friend Sara invited me to go to a Rockies game with her. Lucas was out of town and her husband was working so it was pretty perfect. We hadnt hung out like that since probably 3rd grade, maybe you could count some church activites later on in life but not much.

Anyway, we had such a great time. I didn't pay any attention to the game and kept accidentally cheering with the opponent's fans that happened to surround us. It was too distracting to talk to Sara. Then it started flashing lightning, raining, and hailing on us so everyone was kicked out of the game and the feild was covered with a giant mat. Sara and I were freezing but had tons of fun walking through the rain and trying to convince the employees to give us free jackets (They didn't- I've lost my touch). We rode the lightrail home from Denver and by the time we got home our cheeks and abs hurt from laughing.

There was a drunk girl on the lightrail home that looked super familiar to Sara and I. We coudln't figure out how we knew her but we ended up sitting next to her. She was on the phone talking like a baby, leaning slumped in the seat and saying into the phone "I'm on the lightrail! That is where I am! I am on the lightrail, seriously! I know that's where I am. I'm seriously on the lightrail!" She hung up the phone and laughed and slurs to us, "I mean that's where I am. I'm like' UH I AM ON THE LIGHTRAIL!" We laughed and mentioned that she looked familiar to us and she asked about some schools we knew nothing about, told us she was 28 so we probably wouldn't have had the same group of friends. We almost gave up and she goes "WAIT, ARE YOU MORMON?"

We decided we knew her from girls' camp long ago. It was so funny.
We talked to her and her sober chaperone on the train embarassedly put up with her antics until they got to their stop. As drunk girl staggered off the lightrail she yells over to us
"I'LL GO BACK TO CHURCH ONE DAY!!!"

We had a good laugh over that one. So did everyone around us. :)

Anyway, it was really good to have a girls' night and just hang out and have fun. I should do that more often. I sure love hanging out with Lucas but I like it so much that we often just stay home and enjoy being with each other. Its causing me to neglect some of my friends, and now I remember why they are my friends. I LIKE THEM!

Oh, and the Rockies lost once the rain stopped.

Wishing you a...

Thinking of some amazing women today.

There are some who will never understand.

They will always think you took the easy way out.

But to those who know, we are humbled by you. 

We know there was nothing easy about your decision.

We are amazed to know you and we see the wings you wear.

And your child now lives the life you chose for them,

 each day feeling your heart beating inside of them.

A heart so full of love from their first mother. 

So no matter how they know you,

Tummy Mommy,

Birthmom,

 maybe First Mom

or friend,

You are a wonderful Mother.

 

 

Couldn't be a military wife

I would miss Lucas too much.
And Lucas would miss me too much.

He would also miss Moose. Wouldn't you? Look at his face! His grandpa eyebrows are beyond amazing. He thinks the mouse arrow on the screen is a bug and has tried to eat it his whole life. Once his mind is set he can hardly be distracted from his goal. This is a video of today's attempts.

(Please excuse his eye booger and unkempt appearance. I'm bathing him tomorrow, also he's a dog. )

I've posted a lot about Moose lately. I'm betting nobody else finds my dog as entertaining as I do, but oh well.

HappySad.

It is a strange feeling to feel joy and sorrow simultaneously. Its difficult to process and it usually leads to tears for me. 

Today at work we had our bi-weekly sales meeting. I had forgotten to turn my volume down on my phone and mid-meeting I received a loud text message. I quickly grabbed it and in order to turn off the sound I opened the message I had been sent.

I immediately learned that my brother, Jason,  had just become the proud father of a beautiful little girl.
6 pounds, 6 ounces and a head full of hair.

My heart leapt with joy, but on the way down it ripped in half. I felt heavy and no longer cared about the meeting. I just wanted to hold my babies.

A few months ago we learned that their baby had a heart condition and there was a chance she would need heart surgery at birth. Our family fasted and prayed for her and her heart fixed itself despite the odds. She is healthy and gorgeous.  She is the first granddaughter of my parents since Molly. She's a miracle.

It only took a second of looking at her picture and I started to cry. I had conflicting emotions. I was SO happy she was okay and here safely and that my brother and his wife had a beautiful daughter to add to their family. (She is Hank's sister). At the same time I was overcome with a heart that suddenly remembered how empty it feels. I missed my babies so much in that moment.

I hadn't expected to react this way. When Mara was born I was ready for it. Maybe its because this time this is my own brother's baby? I'm not sure. Maybe its because she's the first girl on my side of the family and it feels a bit like she is replacing Molly as the oldest granddaughter of my parents. I'm not sure why, but I had a hard time. However, because I was about to present numbers in the meeting, I tried to wipe away my tears and tough it out until the meeting ended. I had to actively try to think of other things and if I thought for a second about my brothers sweet little girl I would immediately tear up. I forced thoughts away and made it through the meeting. I dont think anyone could tell how shaken up I was when I got up to present numbers. As soon as the meeting ended I quickly walked upstairs to my office. I closed the door sat down at my desk. I knew there was no stopping it and I buried my head and let myself cry.

I cried because I felt guilty for feeling any sadness when this was such a happy moment.  I wanted to feel only happiness. I didn't want them to lose their baby- I knew that. I wanted them to have her and I wanted her to be okay. I was thrilled that she was fine. (For the record, I would not wish losing a baby on my worst enemy.)
 I hated making this about me, when this was such an important event for THEM.  And I really was happy for them. I imagined them holding her and looking into her face and feeling the overwhelming love that comes when you see your baby for the first time. The image gave me joy and jealousy and sadness. I felt broken and happy.
I couldn't handle my mixed emotions.
I felt selfish for feeling so jealous of them. 

Mostly, I think I cried because their daughter got the miracle we prayed for and Molly and Kellen didn't.
If miracles can happen, why didn't they for us? Why did we lose both of them? It felt unfair, really.

Once I started I could not stop. I cried for a good hour until my manager came in to see if I was okay and to tell me he was sorry. Then I pulled myself together and went about my work with red eyes and a swollen face.

I kept on trying my hardest to shut out my feelings about me and focus on the happy side of my emotions. It worked for the most part. I was able to remember that my children were given a blessing and will be raised one day when the world is a better place.
 I waited until I could congratulate my brother with only feelings of happiness and I sent them a text of congrats and told them to give my love to their new baby. My sister-in-law text me back and then I got a text from my brother. They always seem to be aware of how others feel. They are pretty in-tune.

Jason, my brother, sent me this :"I love you, Amber. As I have been sitting here thinking about you guys today a scripture came to mind: Alma 36:18-21. The circumstances are different, but I was filled with excitement for the day that this scripture is fulfilled for you guys."

I immediately looked it up and read through tears.

"18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, ^ahave mercy on me, who am ^bin the ^cgall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting ^dchains of ^edeath.

 19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my ^apains ^bno more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

 20 And oh, what ^ajoy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!

 21 Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy."

It was so comforting. I know our joy will come. We will have our family one day when the time is right.  I called Jason today and we talked about how we were feeling. He was feeling similar feelings of joy and sadness today when thinking about Lucas and I. Hes a great brother. 

So, I had a moment, but I'm better now. I'm so happy that my little niece is here.

Welcome to the family, Nora! I Love you already.

 

My car won't brake for The Avengers

The Acura dealership where I work hosted a pre-release screening of The Avengers the day before it was released. People were pretty excited about it. 

Hadley and I invited 250 guests, and after she had her baby I took over. I made sure everything was scheduled, met with the movie theater management to get everything planned, arranged to have three demo cars that were all decked out in S.H.I.E.L.D. gear on display in the lobby, and put together 250 give-away bags that ate up my office for a couple days.

The morning of the premier I was pretty excited. I already saw the movie so I knew everyone was going to love it which made it more exciting. I have worked a few hours late every day getting ready for everything and by about noon of yesterday I was ready. I got caught up on all my Non-Avengers work and had two hours to take a break between work and getting back to Courtesy Acura to get everything and everyone ready to go to the movie theater.

As I left the dealership to go get some food I was stopped at a red light facing down a pretty steep hill when all the sudden my brake pedal stopped holding the vehicle, slammed to the ground, and my car started rolling into the intersection. I held the brake on the ground (though by now I knew it was doing nothing) and yanked up on the e-brake to keep me from slamming into traffic that would not have seen me coming.

I laughed at the timing. Lucas and I have  had no issues with our Escape since we bought it about three years ago. Its been solid and reliable. But it chose today to have the brakes break. Or not brake, if you will.

I knew I had to run home to get things for the movie, and I live about 15 miles away. I had to take two highways and drive through two cities to get home. Maybe I'm an idiot, but I worked too hard to let my car with no brakes keep me from getting my first even at my job from going well, so I just kept on driving. I used my emergency break to assure I stopped before hitting any cars. I drove super slowly on my way home and made it safe and sound into the driveway.

As soon as I turned the car off I heard a clunk and when I got out of the car there was fluid all over the underside of the car next to the front tires. I'm pretty sure it was brake fluid and my car was basically giving up forever. I now had 20 minutes to make it back to the dealership.

I ran inside and grabbed the keys to my in-laws car, let moose out, grabbed some water and the things I needed for the movie, and drove back to the dealership in a working car. Somehow I made it back on time and once at the theater the GM and I left to get everything set up at AMC 24.

We set up a table to greet our customers and had a wait line. Soon guests started arriving, we greeted them, gave them their goodie bags, their phones were taken away by representative from Disney (because it was an early screening- which was kinda silly because it was being released 5 hours later for the midnight showing- but oh well), and soon everyone was seated and watching The Avengers.

It was my first time coordinating and pulling off such a big event. It was really fun to turn and see everyone laughing and having so much fun. Everyone was so excited and was really happy to be there, so it made the long hours worth it. (Also I got to see it again for free which helps in the happiness)
When the movie ended we said goodbye to all our happily new Avengers-obsessed customers (seriously. Everyone was SO into it), and then I got to drive a shield car home for the night.
I love my job. And Acuras. And The Avengers.

Loots of Thoots.

Lucas is taking his final right this second for his Real Estate classes!

I'm so happy for him because he has loved learning everything and is SO excited to start his life in Real Estate. I love seeing how excited it makes him thinking about his future. :)

He takes his licensing exam next week and he already knows some brokerages he wants to talk to about getting started with them. Fingers crossed!

I've had popcorn every day for about two months and I'm still not sick of it.

 Lucas leaves tonight to go to Utah for our niece's baby blessing. I am sad that I cant make it. Baby blessings are really hard for me, though, so at least I wont have another Sunday headache from crying. I wish I was getting to meet miss Mara though! She is the first baby girl born in either of our families since Molly was born and I thought that would be harder on me than it has been. Instead I just want to hold her and meet her. After all, it wasn't that long ago and she was hanging out with her cousins and they were telling her how awesome her aunt and uncle Amber and Lucas are! (hopefully!) I'm bummed that I have work and cant go. Its just going to be me and my sister-in-law Hayley and our cute puppies for 4 days.

Speaking of puppies, Moose is hysterical. He watches you so closely when you talk, then when he wants something he sits on your lap and puts his front paws on your chest and tries to talk to you. He moves his tongue around and makes some of craziest sounds. He is patient at first but gets excited if you show any excitement and starts smothering your face with his chest. I have tried filming it and this is the closest I have gotten.

My job is still great and I love it. My boss just gave me a new ongoing project to take on that will end up getting me paid more so that's awesome! But what's even more awesome is that my boss is a great person. It makes such a big difference when you respect the person you work for and they are nice. Woohoo! (Hadley came in the other day to visit and brought her sweet baby girl. She had the happy glow of a mom in love with her baby. One day.)

Last night, Lucas and I found a townhome that we love! We haven't gone to look at it yet, but we will if it's not sold by the time he gets back in town next week. I want it. I look at the houses on the market all the time.

Blue Bell ice cream is the king of ice cream. When I finish this popcorn I'm having some.

Things with adoption, as people have asked, are okay. I receive emails daily of children seeking homes but they all need a current home study so I haven't been able to inquire about most of them. I am SO excited for Lucas to get his license in a few weeks so we can get our home and get our home study approved. We were on such a roll in Idaho and moving here really slowed things down. I really feel that everything happens for a reason and there is a specific reason we need to be in Colorado right now. As always, thank you for your support and for keeping word out that we are hoping to adopt. We feel hopeful.

Speaking of adoption...Lucas plays the SIMS sometimes. He likes to design houses. So he made himself a character and then he made me. Our characters got married. The other night I couldnt sleep and I came downstairs and he was up late on the computer. I came up behind him and he turned and said "Hi! We just adopted a little girl! She's so cute and has red hair and her name is Rose and I can't stop playing with her!" It was pretty adorable to know that when some husbands are up late at night on the computer there are reasons to worry, but my husband stays up late having too much fun practicing adoption. :)

I am trying to plan Lucas' 30th birthday adventure! He has not given me any hints as to what he might want but I'm trying to get creative. After all, 30 is a big deal! If you happen to be great at planning birthday celebrations let me know...or plan it for me and make it good because he deserves it. Also, if you are friends with Lucas and happen to be in the area in the end of June then you should come help us party!


I have been writing this in little spurts all day and guess what? Lucas passed his tests! I'm so proud of him. One test to go and he will be able to sell everyone we love a house in Colorado.

Last but certainly not least, my friend sent me these scriptures today and I love them.
"Romans 8:16-18

 ¹⁶The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
 ¹⁷And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
 ¹⁸For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

King James Version (KJV)



A trip through my phone.

Today I went through all my phone pictures. I should do it more often! Here are some of the highlights:

 When I get up in the morning and get in the shower, Moose always moves up to steal my pillow. He always looks adorable when I come back in. 

 This is the panorama of our apartment in Rexburg. I miss our stuff. 

 Chewy, Moose's best friend, longing for the oudoors. 

 Chewy feelin' free.

 Lucas and I were obsessed with this house in the Parade of HOmes. It was awesome and we still talk about it. 

 I dont know how I am green in this picture.

 Hadley's baby shower cake. It's kinda creepy.

 My favorite flowers in all the world. Hayley didn't even know that and she bought some for Kellen and Molly on Easter.

 Kellens perfect tiny little feet.

 I love my sweet boy. 

 Moose, the day we bought him. He was so dirty.

 Moose gets anxiety when we are on the other side of a door from him. This is how he waits on the other side.

 This is how Moose waits for popcorn, which is his current addiction. 

 I miss being pregnant.

Moose when he was a new puppy napping on Lucas' head. He was so tiny!

Brat-a-tat-tat.

 (Moose and Chewy have nothing to do with this post. I just like them. The light puppy is my sister-in-laws dog and Moose's best friend.)

One of the things I liked about Lucas when we first started dating was that he did the little things all the time. I especially liked that he would open the door for me. Unless it was too freezing outside, then he would park as close as he could to me getting in the door and look at me with a crooked smile that says, "Please don't make me." I assured him I understood.

Slowly, we have been more casual and he opens the door for me less often. In real life, sometimes you just get in the car. Most the time I beat him to the car and am sitting inside before he even has the chance.

This morning, we were walking out of the house to get in the car and go to church.  He walked a bit faster than me and I was pleasantly surprised when he reached for my door handle and opened the door so I could get in. I smiled, thanked him, and stepped just inside the door. As I began to get into my seat he closed to door on my legs. I looked through the window at him and he started laughing and walked around the car laughing his head off about it. Which of course made me laugh as I pulled my legs back inside.

A few minutes later we were stopped at a light and he says, "I think we are going to be great parents."
I grabbed his hand and said,  "I sure hope so!"
He answered, "I know so." Pause "You'll be upstairs being lazy and in bed. I'll be downstairs feeding the kids, the baby in the highchair, getting ready for the day. You'll sloooowly make your way downstairs."
I looked at him
He answered as though he has discovered something important, "I guess I'm realizing that I'll be a great parent and you'll....be there."

Hahahaha! What a sweetheart.

We laughed the rest of the way to church. My Dad was at the stand making announcements, and we went to the singles branch to hear my sister speak.

We were probably talking more than we should have been, so Lucas leans over and whispers "Your dad caught me"
I said, "I'm a tangerine? You're a tangerine!"
Confused, he said, "What?"
I repeated, "You said I'm a tangerine, but I think you're a tangerine."
Lucas whispers, "hah! No I said your dad caught me, but then I thought you said that I'm a teenage dream!"
We both quietly laughed until my mom slid into the bench next to me.
 I whispered to her,  "Mom. Lucas is a teenage dream!" she said. "Okay."

Terrifying Awkwardness- A picture story.

This is a true account of real events. Some names have been changed.

 A couple weeks ago at a Sales meeting, there was a moment so awkward I felt like I was on candid camera or somehow found myself employed by a paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Right now, Hadley is 38 weeks pregnant and this is her last day at the dealership. This particular Friday there is a Sales Team meeting held with the entire Sales team, Sales management staff, me and Hadley.

The general manager uses a kind of "wake up" exercise to get everyone involved, paying attention, smiling, and ready to participate. It is intended to go something like this. Manager stands for exercise and says, with a big smile, "Good Afternoon!" Everyone else stands up and repeats, "Good Afternoon!"  Manager: "Welcome to Courtesy Acura!" everyone else:" Welcome to Courtesy Acura!" (Big Smiles!)

What is said and repeated is different and at the discretion of the person leading the...chant, but its normally something along those lines.  It is a mild exercise. Simple. A bit uncomfortable, but not unbearable.

On this particular Friday, however, things were different. Perhaps something was in the air; crazy particles floating all around us.

Regrettably, Andrew*- a fairly new Salesman, has worn tennis shoes with his dress pants, shirt and tie. This is not condoned footwear at the dealership. However, rather than calling him out in private,  it is early in the morning and there are 18 men and 3 women feeling high on crazy air.

Andrew is called to the front of the room, not for an angry scolding, but in a silly manner. He is jokingly told to stand on a chair to show everyone his fancy shoes.

Andrew, slightly embarrassed but going along with it, laughs as he stands up on a chair in front of everyone. He is slightly too tall for the room so he is is just a tiny bit slunched over. And too bad for Andrew, he is inconveniently standing directly below a light that reflects off his shaved head.

After a good laugh about his shoes the managers and sales team keep talking to him,  their voices a little too loud, and simply because he has not been told to get down, Andrew stays standing on the chair. I breath a sigh of relief when the awkwardness ends and Andrew is told he can step down. As he is about to retreat to the safety of his chair, he is invited to lead the morning smile chant. You can see the unwillingness in his eyes. He does not want the focus on him any longer, but does not want to be the one who doesn't do it. He says, "Okay. I dont know what to do..."  Already, I wish to save him. The general manager then stands and give an example "Like 'easiest part of my job!' or 'How can I help you?"' He then moves to the side of the room as everyone else stands, ready to participate.

Andrew stands alone and decides to to go for it. He calmly, a bit quieter than normal, says "Good Afternoon!" Everyone else repeats, "Good Afternoon".

Suddenly, without warning, Andrew lowers himself into a sort of squat, throws his head back, his arms flex by his side, his hands make fists. He begins screaming pre-game football chants into the air. "WE CAN DO IT! AAAAAAAAA LETS GET EM! EAEEAAAAAARRAAGH!"

He squat stomps toward the salesmen, where everyone is standing in shock, and begins pounding his fists on the tables. Coffee cups immediately fly into the air and spill their contents everywhere! A couple men jump back with coffee all over their clothes. A few steaming mocha puddles shake on the table and continue to splash in unison with Andrews continued table pounding. The unexpected turn of events has most people frozen in shock.

Andrew continues screaming into the air as people run about trying to clean up the coffee mess. Simply out of shock, another coffee cup is knocked over in the back of the room as its owner is unable to look away from a moment that has spun wildly out of control!

After a few more yells into the air, Andrew finally sits up and awkwardly laughs/smiles. Instantly he looks as though he is not sure what happened. A group of men are laughing, most people sit in shock. Hadley begins having contractions.

Slowly, the mess is cleaned up, and Andrew sits down at the table next to his fellow salesmen and tries to ignore that their clothes reek of coffee.  One of the managers remembers this was supposed to be a meeting and says "Well......with that.......uh,  lets just go over numbers." The meeting continued as normal, the crazy air had all been used up. Poor Andrew awkwardly sat at his chair, so full of adrenaline that his tennis shoes bounced up and down nonstop, shaking his whole body the rest of the hour. In all honesty, I felt horribly bad for the guy. It was as if this was out of his control. It was a downward spiral and he had too much momentum. It was horrible and amazing all at once.
 Who knew the Hulk was among us? We were unprepared.

That night, Hadley had her baby two weeks early. Welcome to this crazy world.

Waiting and Columbine

Today is the 13th anniversary of the Columbine Shooting. I honestly cannot believe it has been that long. Thinking about that made me wonder about the parents of the kids who were killed that day.

I bet part of them is thinking "Has it really only been 13 years? It feels like I've been missing them forever. I cannot remember who I was before that day."

I bet it feels even longer for the parents of the boys who entered the High School that day planning the unspeakable. For their parents, I bet these last 13 years have been an eternity. And I truly hope that all those parents have had moments of immeasurable, incomprehensable happiness where they know their children are with them always.

As I thought of this, my mind has drifted to waiting.

Waiting to not feel lonely anymore.

Waiting to feel happiness without feeling guilt.

Waiting for a big moment that will change everything.

Waiting for things to be just right.

Waiting to adopt our children.

Waiting for good news.

So while I sat at work, instead of checking my email for the 25th time today, I googled "waiting" and I found a quote that, in an instant, made waiting easier. It also made me cry, of course. (such a baby)

“I’ve learned that waiting is the most difficult bit, and I want to get used to the feeling, knowing that you’re with me, even when you’re not by my side.”
― Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes

This did not get me choked up for the reasons you expect.

I wasn't even thinking, necessarily, of my babies.

My life is an eternity of waiting to see them again.

When I read this quote my mind thought of my amazing husband. Of the wait for a baby who belongs in our family. I thought of the fact that every day we wait together. We laugh together and cry together and sometimes we share silence together. We wait for adoption, for our day to come, and he is with me.

We will also wait our whole lives for our family to be together, all our children in one place.

We're a team.

Prize Vacation Weekend!

We are back from our California prize vacation! 

It was Amazing. So amazing, in fact, I'm pretty sure our little angels had some part of orchestrating it for us. Thanks kids!

On Wednesday afternoon we flew to California. We were pretty excited!

When we landed, we walked out of the terminal where we had our driver holding up an ipad with "L. Taylor" on it. Lucas was pretty pumped about that. He says its one of the things on his bucket list to have someone hold his name up at the airport. Check!

We were escorted to a black town car, the driver gave us an LA tour and drove us through Beverly Hills. We drank from some tiny waters and had so much leg room we could have layed flat in the backseat without having our legs touch the seat in front of us.. 

We pulled up to the Sofitel Los Angeles hotel and were greeted by a bunch of men in black suits. They opened the doors for us, got our luggage and brought it in for us to get checked in. 

We checked in to the hotel and were told we had a Premier Luxery suite reserved with a view of the hills. We were spoiled.

Once we got settled and stopped obsessing over the view from our balcony and the awesomeness of actually being here for free, we went to eat at California Pizza Kitchen. Yes, I know they have these in Colorado, but it sounded great and it WAS great.

When we got back to the hotel, we got a phone call and were told something was going to be delivered to our room. A few minutes later we opened up a gift bag with an HD video camera and a book about comics (since this was an Avengers prize). That was a fun surprise!

We went to bed and woke up the next morning to sunshine streaming in our windows and used our $80 breakfast allowance to have room service brought to our room.

I've never had room service before. It was pretty amazing.

After we ate, I got ready to go to my hair appointment for my Let's Make A Deal prize package. 

It was at Fred Segal, and the owner, Mathew Preece was the one doing my hair.

Lucas walked me down to the lobby where a bellman hailed a cab for me, and I drove down to Santa Monica for my appointment.

I was greeted by a pretty red-haired hipster who introduced herself as "Mathew's Assistant" and then took me to his station. A few minutes later Mathew came and immediately started playing with my hair as he introduced himself and said he was going to make my hair "Absolutely Beautiful"

I said, "Okay!" and he set to work!

2 hours later I left with a basket full of free hair product, and the best hair of my life. Its no surprise he owns tons of salons and hosts fashion shows and things. He is master of hair. 

I took another cab home where I dug through my gift basket and played with my hair, which had suddenly turned into silk.

I changed my clothes and got ready because just a little while later we were getting picked up to go see "THE AVENGERS" Premier! Woo hoo!

We met with a group of 10 other winners and their guests from around the country. We introduced ourselves and met lots of nice people. Then we were driven a few blocks to the Four Seasons Hotel. 

We got out here, walked into the most immaculate lobby in the world. (Seriously, they had a bouquet of flowers that went from the table and touched the chandelier 15 feet above in the air)

We were guided upstairs where we walked down the hallway where there were people with badges and clipboards walking around looking very busy. Lucas and I agreed that it felt just like Notting Hill where Julia Roberts is being interviews by tons of magazines and Hugh Grant is uncomfortable and trying to fit in). The group met in this big room where a photographer took pictures of us. (We weren't allowed to bring cameras or cell phones because the movie doesn't come out for another month)

We knew that we were waiting to meet the Actor who plays Agent Coulson in the Marvel movies.

While we waited for him, Lucas was looking out into the hallway when a door across the hall opened and he noticed some red shoes. He looked at them and then looked up and noticed that the person wearing them was Robert Downey Jr! They looked at eachother and then RDJ walked away and Lucas whispered to me that he just saw Iron man. He was really excited about it.

A few minutes later, Clark Greg walked in and was really funny. He took a picture with every couple. Shook our hands, made some jokes, and then went back to his Avengers Meetings. 

The photographer let us know that the actors who play Captain American and Thor were in the room right next door in a meeting. We kinda wanted to "accidentally" go into the wrong room. haha

Finally, we went back to the bus and were driven to Hollywood where we walked over all the celebrity stars to the "El Capitan" theater where Iron Man 2 Premiered. 

It was the most ornate and stunning older theater I have ever seen.

We got in to the private showing where we got popcorn, treats, and then listened as a man sat on a bench playing a fancy organ with six billion buttons and keys using his hands and feet. 

It was amazing with one song, but he played memorized songs for like an hour which was unbelievable. 

Then we saw "The Avengers"! 

We had the best seat in the house in a yellow chair that said, "Reserved"

Without spoiling it, the movie is REALLY REALLY good. It had a ton of absolutely hysterical moments where everyone was dying of laughter. 

Go see it when you get a chance.

This is the perfect thing for Lucas on a vacation. This man loves super hero movies, loves special events, loves 3-D films, loves when he happens to have the best seat haha, and LOVES free things!

haha. We are pretty sure that Kellen made this work out for his dad. 

We left feeling super excited and drove back to the hotel where we crashed.

In the morning, we ordered room service breakfast again and enjoyed taking our time eating breakfast in bed. Then I quickly got ready for my Spa Day part of my LMAD prize.

Lucas stayed hanging out at the hotel all day enjoying just doing nothing, sleeping, watching TV, and taking a few walks down to the pharmacy. Might sound boring, but that's kind of his dream day.

He also left for two hours with his group and got a tour of Paramount Studios. It was raining and freezing, but he said it was pretty cool still. He said he saw 4 kinda famous people, haha.

He also saw the courtyard from "Community" and the bench from "Forrest Gump"

Meanwhile, I took yet another taxi to the Murad Health Spa!

I checked in and immediately everyone was acting like I was a celebrity or a secret shopper. 

I changed into a robe and soon was given a full body soak and scrub then resoak, then I had a full body mud treatment and a tea-bath in a giant copper teacup filled with Earl Gray Tea. I ate an apple while I soaked in tea. Then I got out and had an 80 minute full body massage where I fell asleep because I was too relaxed. Once that finished I was escorted to get a facial/ more massages. Then last, I received a quick mani/pedi before I had to leave so I could make it back to the hotel to get ready for the "winners dinner" with Lucas for the last part of his Prize.

When I finished with all my treatments (I wish I could afford to live this way. It was like 2000 dollars worth of treatments and I didn't pay a dime! Thank you LMAD!) 

As I checked out of the Salon feeling like a new and very relaxed JELLO woman, they gave me two giant bags full of body creams, face washes, a vitamin regimen, face products, lip products and every kind of cream you can imagine. 

I barely made it back to the hotel in time (it was a miracle actually. There was NO traffic on a friday afternoon in LA. The cab driver told me I was the luckiest person he ever met and that I shouldn't have made it on time. I told him he was a rock star and he goes "NO! YOU A ROCK STAR!")

I ran through the hotel, past the chair made of silver dollars, and up the elevator to the room where I hurried to get ready. 

  We got on the bus with all the winners and drove to "Fig and Olive" in LA. We enjoyed pre-appetizers, delicious appetizers, amazing entrees, and dessert for FREE, and we chatted and talked to some amazing people.

There was another LDS couple there from Texas who sat next to us. They had also lost a baby, a son named Jacob, at six months old. It was wonderful to talk to them and feel the instant friendship that being a baby-loss parent gives families who have gone through this. We talked through  most of the end of the night.

YUM!

After dessert and chatting, we went back to the hotel where we watched some TV, showered, and enjoyed our last night of Vacation by ordering up some second-dessert. 

The next morning we had breakfast ordered again (I swear we did more than eat. I just loved having room service, it was a major highlight for me). We ate, got ready, and then went down to the lobby where a driver picked us up and drove us back to the airport.

So all in all, it was a perfect vacation. There was a little something that was perfect for me, a little something that was perfect for Lucas, and it was affordable (free). Win-win-WIN.

We talked a lot about how this couldn't have been just luck.

I mean what are the chances that Lucas and I BOTH win trips to LA? 

What are the chances that they would be so perfect for us?

What are the chances that I could get appointments set only a week in advance and that the times woudl work out with Lucas scheduled prize events?

What are the chances that our hotel was almost exactly inbetween (like 15 minutes each way) from my hair appointment and spa day place?

What are the chances there is no traffic and I make it home in time for the dinner?

PRETTY UNLIKELY.

 Unless you happen to have two angel children looking out for you from heaven.

I like to think this was a gift from them. 

It was so wonderful :)