OU Ortho Reunion in Portland

Getting together with our fellow OU Ortho friends is always something that we look forward to.

And this year's OU Orthodontic Reunion was no exception.

The boys get to spend time together in class, discussing the latest in the orthodontic world  

while Mary Ann and I see the sights of the city, catch up with what is going on in our lives

 and of course, there is always lots of reminiscing about the "good old days" in Oklahoma.

It was pouring in Portland but we weren't going to let anything rain on our parade!

Mark and I got in late the first night and look what Mary Ann had waiting for us in our hotel room!  Voodoo Donuts!  Yum!

I ran into Lisa Shotwell, one of my dear friends from our Weddington neighborhood, in the hotel elevator one morning.

 She had just dropped off her son at college that weekend.  What a small world!

Mary Ann and I lunched together all afternoon while the boys were in class.

I think we sat in that booth and just talked for hours.

This was taken in the lobby of our hotel on our last night.

We just couldn't ask for dearer friends than Bill and Mary Ann Osborn.

And we are always grateful to spend time with those two!

And of course, I had to include a photo of the boys with Dr. Currier.

So many good memories with this guy!

And this Oregon OU Reunion is another one to add to the list!

BYU/Utah game

We had so much fun watching BYU upset Texas that we headed back to Utah to see the BYU/Utah game.

Unfortunately, we weren't so lucky that weekend and it was a terrible loss.

But we had fun hanging out with Brooke and Ashley at the game.

I visited with my brother Eric, which was really one of the sweetest moments that we enjoyed during our journey

and this photo will forever be one of my favorites of us the day he left the hospital.

I never get tired of looking at it and will always remember what we went through together,

which will bind us together no matter what!  This is how I want to remember my brother!

My cute dad was still up in Utah so he came and stayed with us up in Park City

 and we had such a good time with him all weekend.

We drove out to Kamas one day to see the town and stopped to grab lunch at the local diner.

My dad loves a good root beer and loves ice cream like no other

so he was pretty happy enjoying his root beer shake with a cherry on top.

It was a great weekend in spite of the Cougars big loss 
because of moments like this spent with some of the people that I love most!

BYU upsets Texas

We flew straight from New York City to Utah so we could catch the BYU/Texas game back in Provo.

The weather was crazy when we arrived at the stadium with black clouds looming overhead.

Since we were early, we walked around the stadium to take a few pictures.

By the time we grabbed something to eat, walked back to our seats and sat down, 

I looked up and this is what I saw!  Pretty scary, right?

I barely had time to place my diet coke in the cup holder when the wind started to swirl all around us. 

The clouds were so dark that I swear I thought I was back in Oklahoma and a tornado was about to touch down.

I grabbed my coat and purse and ran to shelter so fast that I left my fresh diet coke behind. What?!

It stormed like crazy and within seconds all the fans in the stands joined us hiding out under the stadium.  

The game was delayed for a couple of hours so we walked over

 to the CougarClub hospitality room and waited until the lightening stopped.

It was a fun game sitting next to Dale and Debbie Merrill.

And the Cougars played great and upset Texas.  Go Cougars!

NYC and the US Open

*Trying to catch up with all my blog posts.  This was written back in September last year.  At some point, I hope to catch up... maybe!

I've never been so happy to board a plane but once I was cleared to leave the hospital, 

we picked up Mark, who was flying in from Sacramento, from the airport, 

enjoyed lunch at Cheesecake with the little girls 

before we headed back to the airport to catch our plane to NYC!

I was so looking forward to spending time in the city with Kimber, Brett and baby Cheri 

and super excited to go to the US Open but really excited to go to Philly

 and spend time with Allie and Justin and explore the city that they call "home" with Mark.

I was still feeling the after effects of the bone marrow donation

 but I tried not to slow me down too much and for the most part I didn't

 until our last day in Philly, where I spent most of the day in bed. 

 I can't complain though considering what I had gone through the week before.

  I was just really grateful that I was there and felt as good as I did

 because I was SO looking forward to this trip.  

It was what kept me going through all of the craziness the week before.

We met up with Kimber the first day for lunch at Nougatine at Jean-Georges restaurant near Columbus Circle.

Kimber came straight over from doing a shoot at FoxNews so she was all dressed up.

That night Allie and Justin came up from Philly to join us at the US Open.

The venue is gorgeous and it was fun to just walk around and take it all in.

We watched Serena Williams that night.

Dad is pretty excited to be there too!

Our cutest little BYU cheereleader all decked out in the outfit that Aunt Lisa gave her, 
ready to cheer on her Cougars, who were playing that day.

Seriously, isn't she the cutest!

Sorry for posting so many of her but can you blame me!?

The girls surprised me with a "Be a Match" party,

celebrating being done with the bone marrow donation.

And of course, I got teary-eyed when I walked into the restaurant and saw all the balloons and decorations,

and then I saw Kib and Lisa Jensen and Cindy Pearce and her kids and I lost it!

I'm not really sure why but I think because I know how much Kimber and Allie

 wanted to help and support me through out all of it and this was their way to do it.

I felt so many emotions right at that moment.  Relief that it was over. 

Gratitude that I was physically there and healthy enough to enjoy the evening.

  And love for my sweet family and for their incredible support.  

Mark and all of my kids have been so incredible throughout the whole process.

 I felt so incredibly loved and it was just one of those moments that you don't want to forget!

 Lisa and Kib

 Cindy, Josh and Hayley

 Allie made these darling cookies!

 The girls were so darling and put so much work into making it a special celebration.

 They really are so sweet to me!

Every single detail, right down to the cute crown that they made me wear!

After dinner, we headed over to see Matilda, the musical, which was spectacular!

The kids in the show were absolutely amazing! Watching them sing and dance just blew me away!

Loved the story!  Loved how they had you laughing one minute and then crying at the end!

It's one of those feel good shows that touches your heart and makes you smile!

Matilda is right up there with Wicked in my book!

And it was so fun to share the evening with the Abbott and Pearce families.

They are great cousins and we always have such a good time with them!

We made our way down to Philly to spend time with Allie and Justin.

The first night we ate dinner at The Parc, most incredible French restaurant that I've ever been too.

Everything that we ordered was absolutely incredible!

 The appetizers were so yummy!

 Such a fun time with these two!

These two sure do LOVE the city of Philly!

Unfortunately, I got sick late that night and felt pretty awful the next day.

Mark went and saw the sights with Allie and Justin the next day and then flew back home.

I felt well enough that night to spend some time with the kids

and then took the train back to NYC for a couple of days before I flew home.

Back in NYC, this was my view of the WTC on our walk one morning.  

Pretty gorgeous, huh?!

We walked over to High Line park one day and took our lunch

 and just sat out there and enjoyed the beautiful weather!

And we had fun with that cute baby Cheri, watching her explore the High Line.

She got a kick out of seeing herself in the glass wall that separated

her from the cars driving on the street down below.

That girl loves her mama a lot!

And her mama sure loves her!

Although Cheri doesn't look that excited, we all had such a good time together and it was the perfect way to spend my last day in the city!