Happy Birthday, to ME!

I had the BEST Birthday yesterday! I truly did everything I wanted to do and I was a queen for the day! Of course I don't have any pictures to prove this, but you will have to just trust me on this!
Schedule of Events for June 23rd:
*Came downstairs to find Regan making his famous crepes with fruit and whipping cream as well as a HUGE high school musical balloon that plays songs and a big birthday cake!
*Regan gave me some $$ to go shopping with so I could get what I wanted. Opened birthday cards from family as well!!
*Regan put all 3 kids in the car, had them watch a movie while he drove for 3 hours taking pictures of homes he insures while I went shopping BY MYSELF for 3 hours! Even if I wouldn't have bought Anything, it would have been a treat to just walk around hobby lobby and the mall BY MYSELF without having to push a stroller or deal with whinning kids!!!!
*Drove with the family to Provo, had a delicious salad and soup from Mimi's with my whole family, opened up great gifts from my family!
*Went to 7 Peaks Water Park in Provo for 5 hours and had a pure BLAST! I think I am getting more scared in my old age because my 13 year old sister went on the freefall slide and I would not do it! The Boomerang was enough for me!
*Dropped the kids off with my mom and went to my favorite place ever: Ottavios in Provo! They sang me Happy Birthday in Italian and had a delicious dinner!
*Came home and watched Confessions of a Shopaholic with Regan!

I have 1 more year to live up my 20's because next year is the big 3-0!
Thanks to everyone who made my birthday SO special! I absolutly LOVE Birthdays!!!!

Swine Flu Alert!

We were evacuated out of our own home last Thursday for 4 days because Regan has the SWINE FLU! The ironic thing about him getting it is that we were going to leave for Can Cun on a trip that he won for American Family Insurance yesterday, but they cancelled it 2 months ago because of the Swine Flu outbreak in Mexico! But no, he had to end up getting it on his own in the good old city of Herriman! So I left the kids in the car after institute on Thursday, packed all of the clothes up, and stayed in Draper with my family until last night.

He called in to the Dr. on Thursday and described his symptoms and the Dr. said most likely it was the Swine flu. He said it was SO boring to stay home for 4 days by himself. He watched a ton of movies! Honestly, if it were me, home alone for 4 days, I would have lived it up! I would have re-read the Twilight Series, caught up on my scrapbooking and watched some great chick-clicks, wrote in my journal, crosstiched....I just can't even think that much because it would have been a very productive time for me!

He went back to work today, but left because he doesn't want anyone to get exposed to it. I have spent the majority of my day disinfecting the house and cleaning EVERYTHING! If we are going to be here with him, I am going to make sure the house is clean, free of germs, and make sure that the kids do NOT get sick! That would be the worst thing ever because they are just so little!

So-beware of the Swine Flu lurking around the Fackrell Home!

Suzuki Institute

Highlights of Suzuki Institute 2009:
*Riley having a hilarious Master Class teacher named Terry Durbin from Kentucky! He made Riley laugh so much by making funny noises on his violin. Riley learned how to make a perfect bow grip because of this teacher!
*Riley had a violin Repertoire class with Ellie Albers-she is the one who taught me Suzuki Book 1 Teacher Training when I was just starting to be a teacher!
*Dalcrose Class-Music & Movement Class where Riley loved dancing to the beat of the music and drums!
*Riley made a great friend and had a ton of boys his same age in his classes!
*Riley LOVED eating school lunch!
*Sunny LOVED the daycare and the daycare teachers LOVED her! They didn't want her to go!
*Ellie was a pure angel the whole week! I couldn't ask for a better baby!
*Tons of students at institute always said HI to Riley and we didn't even know them! It just seems like Riley attracts a lot of people because of his curly hair! Everyone loved him!
*I got a lot of great ideas for my own studio!
*We got to see Jenny Oaks Baker and the Aaron Ashton Fiddle Band in concert!
*We had a wonderful time and hope that Riley can remember all of the things he learned this week at Suzuki Institute!

Recap of Sunny's 3rd Birthday

It has been so busy around here that I haven't had a chance to blog about Sunny's
3rd Birthday! We started the day out by going to the kids first day of Swimming lessons, which she wanted to go swimming on her bday anyway, so that worked out great!
*I took the kids for lunch to the park and had a teddy bear picnic.
*Then, we had Regan come home early and we took the kids on a big hike up to Yellow Fork which is pretty much our backyard here in Herriman. It was a gorgeous day and the kids LOVED looking under rocks for bugs and we saw A LOT of BUGS!
*We took Sunny to dinner at her choice which was McDonads, then set up a teepee in the backyard with blankets and watched Mary Poppins! A pretty good birthday if you ask me!

Sunday Dresses!

I have found my weakness in life...Little Girl dresses! I absolutly LOVE getting my gorgeous girls dressed up in their cute little dresses. And who's to say that Sunday is the only day that a girl can wear a dress?

Ballet/Dance Class

Sunny and he best friend Kayci have started going to dance class together and I can honestly say that there has never been 2 cuter ballerinas! They are so cute and they both love to dance! They go twice a week for alternating weeks throughout the summer and I have a feeling that this is something that Sunny will want to continue for a long time!

Grateful for LIFE!

So a few sad things have gone on with us this week...
{I can't even believe I am blogging about the 1st}

Riley and Sunny's pet hamster they got for Christmas, Yoshi, died 2 days ago. It was so sad to see Riley crying and asking when he will be resurected! He kept asking if Yoshi will live with Heavenly Father and Papa again. That even me tear up over the darn thing that scared me to death every time I saw it! Especially when it escaped two times in our house!!!!

The second experience I had this week made me grateful for my children! I was at Walmart and a lady came up to me and asked how old Ellie was. I told her she was almost 9 months and she started to cry. I asked her what the problem was and she said that her baby would have been 9 months old as well, but she passed away by Christmas time of SIDS! It was their last baby of 6 kids, and she was devestated! I started to cry in the middle of the aisle of Walmart with this lady that I didn't even know because it made me so grateful for healthy children! I told this lady how I am the oldest sister to younger sisters-my sisters are 13 and 15 and that it was a great experience for me to kind of be the second mom and help raise them when they were little. I honestly think that is where I got a lot of my mothering skills from. She was interested in that fact and I just think that for some reason, her and I were supposed to talk to each other that particular day! I had crazy kids running up and down the aisle way, but I thought it was important to just stand there and talk to her instead of get those crazy kids!

Anyway, I am just so thankful that Heavenly Father has given me these 3 beautiful children for me to raise because even though they are kind of crazy and hard at times, they make my life so happy and complete!

Happy Birthday Sunny!

We love you Sunny Bunny!
You are the most independent girl I have ever met! You know what you want and what you don't want and you let it be known!
*You love to dance and sing
*You love to dress up in girly girl outfits and jewlry
*You & Ellie are the most gorgeous girls I have ever seen!
*You have the most beautiful blue eyes!
*You love to swim, play with your brother, jump on the tramp, play with your best friend Kayci, and eat your "B" {her blanky}
*You don't like it when I do your hair, when someone bosses you around, or when we make you do something you don't like!
*You are a total daddy's girl!
*You love the color Pink {pretty obvious by your room!}
*We are so glad that you are in our family!

Happy Birthday Sunny!

Today is Sunny's 3rd Birthday! She started out the day by getting some twin dolls, a game, a barbie movie, and a new BIKE! She is excited to learn how to ride it! I made strawberry french toast for her, and then we were off to Sunny and Riley's 1st swimming lesson of the season! That was perfect for Sunny's birthday because she wanted to swim anyway for her birthday!

Sunny is wearing a cute dress made by her Grandma Fackrell! It is adorable and she just loves to wear it so she can twirl in it! We had a family party on Sunday at my parents cabin a little early to celebrate Sunny's birthday. Regan's mom and Bob were able to come up as well and we all had a lot of fun together. Sunny of course just loved dressing up in her presents! She is the ultimate girly girl! I decorated Sunny's bike to have some more girly girl elements on it as well! {Do you like her bed head crazy hair?}

We went on a teddy bear picnic for lunch {The kids brought their bears with us} and Regan will get home early to do some fun activities with Sunny this afternoon!

Happy Birthday little Sunny Bunny!

Preschool Graduation

Riley graduated from Preschool last week! He had a great year with Ms. Carrie and learned a lot! He is so excited and ready for Kindergarten to start! His graduation was full of cute songs and poems and Riley did a great job!

Best Friends

We are so lucky to live across the street from some great friends for Riley and Sunny! Jaxson is Riley's best friend, and Kayci is Sunny's best friend! Riley and Sunny want to call them everyday and play with them. The best thing about my kids being best friends with these kids is that they are good examples and good kids! You know how you just don't want your kids to play with some kids because they are not good examples to your kids? Well, Jaxson and Kayci are perfect for my kids and I am so grateful that they have good best friends!

{One day, Riley and Jaxson wanted to wear baseball helmets, be bug-kateers, and they found 12 bugs with Riley's bug-vac and put them in my jam jars on the kitchen table!}

Memorial Day

We were able to go up to Brigham City with my family to see my Papa's grave on Friday. It was a beautiful evening and great to just look at his grave and think about what a great man he was. He just past away in December, so his memory is still very fresh on our minds. Especially my little Riley...he has talked about Papa so much lately; asking me questions about heaven, and when we will see our Papa again. Even though he was not feeling well, and even had a heart attack on the night of my sisters wedding, he was still himself at the wedding-talking to everyone! He was notorious for talking to anyone he didn't know. Sometimes I think that is why I liked Regan immediatly when I met him; because he is just like Papa!

Anyway, we went to our family favorite place afterwards; Maddox! It is the most delicious place to eat ever! It was a fun evening with my family!

On Memorial Day, we went to the Bluffdale Cemetary to see Grandpa Anderson. He passed away 2 years after I got married, and I still remember the sadness I felt when Regan told me after I had taught a violin lesson that he had passed away. If I could follow anyone's example, it would be his! What a neat man! I only wish that Riley would have known him-that is who he is named after. {Riley Reed}

Biggest Loser Reward

After we weighed in for the last time, we decided to treat ourselves to free Mothers Day French Toast at Kneaders {Saturday before Mothers Day}
It tasted SO good and it felt good to not feel one ounce of regret! Our cute friends also met us there to enjoy our success and to enjoy the delicious french toast! If you have never been to Kneaders for French Toast, you have to try it-so yummy!

It's Good News!

I am blogging about the results of my biopsy because I am so happy it is Good News! The nurse just called me and said that the Doctor was not concerned about the results and that it was an inflamed abscess.
I have to say that the last few days I have been really worried about the biopsy because anytime you have some kind of a lump, I think people automatically worry about having cancer. A girl that went to my same High School, but graduated a year after me just died on Monday of skin cancer. She had 3 kids like me, and since Monday, I haven't been able to think about anything else but the possiblity of me having cancer. I have really been reflecting on life and my family and it has been a very emotional few days for me!
I am so grateful and blessed to have my health. I am so grateful to have a supportive family who helps me through any kind of trial I have! My mom and dad have been right by my side by watching the kids, bringing in dinner and calling me to see how it is going! Regan has been so supportive! He has watched the kids and been there by my side from the beginning of this whole ordeal.
Anyway, thanks to my friends who have been so concerned and supportive about all of this! It has been a hard thing to go through, but I have great friends who have called to see how things are going.

Recovery Day

So I did not tell a lot of people this, but I had surgery yesterday! I had a vulvar mass removed {which is in my groin area-probably why I didn't tell anyone} and my Doctor removed it yesterday at Alta View Hospital. Today I am lying in bed recovering and getting through the pain of the stitches. Regan is so awesome-he took the kids on a picnic today! He looked so cute and funny wearing the baby bjorn with Ellie in it! He is a good dad!

Now back to the surgery; my Doctor is having the mass examined in a lab and so we will get the biopsy results next week to see if it is anything we need to be worried about or not. Basically, I felt a lump a while ago-actually when I was pregnant with Ellie is when I first felt it, but my Doctor told me it was an inflamed vein. Now that Ellie is 7 months and it was still there, I went to the Doctor a few weeks ago to have him examine it. He put me on an antibiotic to see if it would go down, but 10 days later, nothing happened. SO-he scheduled me for surgery and wanted to remove it, stitch it back up and then have it go in for a biopsy.

He told me no exercising for 2 weeks and I am totally bummed about that because I have been on a role with exercising! I am not going to lie though, I have been scared the last few days. I am trying to not think about it too much, but anytime you have some kind of mass or lump, you always think of cancer right? Well, I don't know what it is, and I am determined to freak out until I find out what it is. It's probably nothing, but I am still thinking worst case scenerio I guess.

Anyway, the few people who do know about it aka-my mom, dad & mother in law, and a couple of friends have been super supportive and great about this. Regan has been so great too-he stayed at the hospital all afternoon with me and has taken over with the kids at home. He is a great husband and I am grateful for him! Just thought I would blog about my life and what is going on. I am hoping for the best with the lab results and until then, trying to take it easy as best as I can so that the incision will heal well.

Happy Mothers Day 2009

Well, I had a great Mothers Day-we had Regan's family over for breakfast in the morning, went to Church with his mom and Grandma, then had my family over for dinner! I actually love having things over at our house because it makes me have everything organized and looking good! Anyway, I was a little bummed throughout the day since Regan didn't give me a card or anything...especially when I went to Relief Society and all of the ladies are telling the special things their husbands did...and reading ladies blogs etc. but I guess I just need to learn how to be patient. On Tuesday, Regan gave me my Mothers Day present and it was worth the wait! IT is so cute and I am excited to start wearing it! Thanks Hunny! Love ya!

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

Yesterday, I went to the Oquirrh Mountain temple to volunteer at the open house, but when I arrived, they informed us that there would be no general authorities or dignitaries at the temple that day. They gave us a very extensive tour of the temple and told us where everything had come from. WOW-it was truly amazing to go through the temple in a tour like that. They told us to come back and bring our families, so at 5:00, Regan and I brought the 3 kids and had a great, non-rushed tour of the beautiful temple. It was so neat to tell the kids that this is OUR temple and that we will be able to come here whenever we want! It was also so neat to say that we will be together forever because we are all sealed in the temple! WOW-blessings from the temple are amazing! We are so blessed!

Spring Recital

On Saturday, I had my annual Spring Solo Recital in my backyard with every single one of my students! I had no idea that I teach so many students until I printed out the program and counted 17 students! WOW! I just feel so blessed that I am able to be a stat at home mom, and teach 17 violin students at the same time! It really wouldn't work if it weren't for my amazing children! The girls usually nap during the afternoon lessons, and Riley likes to play with my violin students siblings that come to lessons, or just have some quiet time. I love teaching violin and I just feel so blessed! This is a picture with me and all of my students! Life is good!

{We had 40 chairs in the backyard and the kids played on the top of the rock wall as a stage! It was a gorgeous day and we had a great turn out!}

Spring Family Pictures!

I've been told that I am a bit obsessed with family pictures...I look at it as documenting my families life! Okay--I just LOVE getting family pictures and I love hanging them all over my home! I also have to admit that I have the Cutest kids on the earth! WOW-they are beautiful and I have no problem admitting that! I mean, come on...they seriously could be models! {Can you tell I am a bit of a proud mom?}

Anyway, enjoy the slideshow of Spring Family pictures 2009!
Love, Andrea

Twinner Sunday!

I just love Twinner Sunday's!!

Skiing with the Sisters!

I took my 2 little sisters skiing last week to Snowbird! It was a great Spring Day, the girls were doing great, and we were on our last run of the day when tragedy hit! My little sister Angie got hurt and so I had to ski down to get the ski patrol and they put her in a stretcher and skiied with her down the mountain. We met her down at the paramedics and ends up that she broke her leg! So sorry Angie! I was just praying that nothing would happen to them since I was the one who was watching them! Anyway, I am glad I got to go for as long as we did since I am usually prego in the winter and can't ski!