Arizona cuties

This Saturday I'm heading to Phoenix to visit my sister, Heidi, and her family. I'm going to be watching my two cute nieces during the day while Tate and Heidi work. And I'm so excited! Since they have moved to Phoenix, I only get to see them once--maybe twice--a year. Heidi posted some really cute pictures of the girls that were from Sadie's birthday. Aren't they dolls?

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Last Friday (July 18th) was my birthday. Normally I wouldn't announce that to the world, but I just wanted to thank my friends and family for making it a great day (I just won't mention how many candles were on my cake). I received some beautiful flowers from a friend and a co-worker, received phone calls, emails, and ecards wishing me a happy birthday, went to lunch with my parents, went to dinner at Le Nonne--one of my favorite restaurants--with Daela and Alayna, and then to see Mama Mia that night.

The next day Daela, Alayna, and I headed to Bear Lake for a fun day of swimming and sun. I LOVE Bear Lake! It pretty much has been the tradition for most of my birthdays to spend it there. The water is so beautiful, and it was so refreshing to swim in! It was the perfect day. We even avoided getting completely sunburned--just burned in the spots that we missed with the sunscreen. Nothing like having red stripes and splotches.

Anyway, I had a wonderful birthday. Thanks, everyone, for making it a great day!

My new ride...

After a lot of tears, heartache, and stress over my RAV4, I finally was able to get my new car yesterday--a 2009 Toyota Corolla. This certainly isn't what I had in mind when I thought about selling my RAV4 back in March and cashing in on the equity that was in it. (Instead I ended up spending about $6,000 in repairs and it was still having problems.) Even though it's not how I thought it would turn out, I am glad to finally have a car, and have it be one that I can rely on. Thanks so much to my dad for getting me through these last couple of weeks, and to my uncle Chuck for helping me get the car! The Corolla is a beauty. Now I need to name him (yes, it is a boy). I'm open for suggestions.

I feel like I need to mention that I loved my RAV4. He was a great car and I loved driving him. He didn’t do anything wrong, just a lot of bad luck happened over the last month. The night before I got my new Corolla, I had a dream that my RAV4 was feeling abandoned and hurt, and I woke up feeling extremely sad. I don’t know why I turn cars into animate objects. It must be some disorder I have. (When I had to leave my first car, the Toyota Corona, in Tennessee, I cried for 6 hours because I felt like I was abandoning it as well). Something to talk to the therapist about I guess…

Things happened so quickly yesterday that I was not able to give Mags (the name I gave it) a proper goodbye. So I wrote the following poem.

Ode to my RAV4

RAV4, RAV4, you will always be
A very special vehicle to me.
You hauled my boat proudly,
You were so strong and sturdy,
And I drove you with such joy and glee.

However, our time together is done.
Yet I will never forget all of the fun.
You are such a great car,
And I know you’ll go far.
And I hope your new driver is a good one.

Heather tagged me...

Heather tagged me to play this little Five, Five, Five, Five, Five game......

1 - Five places that I go to over and over: Space Dynamics Lab, Benson marina, my apartment, church, and bed.
2 - Five people who e-mail me (regularly) : Daela, Ginger, Jen, the program manager I work with, and Jill.
3 - Five favorite places to eat: Cafe Rio, Juniper Takeout, Le Nonne, Outback, and Sizzler (for the salad bar).
4 - Five places I would rather be right now: the Caribbean, Grand Canyon, Jackson/Tetons, Bear Lake, pretty much any vacation spot.
5 - Five TV shows I watch all the time: This one is hard to answer since I don't really regularly watch anything. But my favorite show on tv right now is So You Think You Can Dance.

I guess I'm supposed to tag 5 other people, but I don't know that many with blogs that look at my site. So I tag Daela.

Happy Birthday, Campbelle!

June 5 was my cute little niece's 2nd birthday. The weekend before my family went down to Orem to celebrate her birthday with her. What a party!
Campbelle and I had a great time jumping on the trampoline. We laughed and laughed, until "Aunt Liz" realized how out of shape she was and collapsed.

Jumping on the tramp must have worn her out as well. So it was time to relax in the hammock with Gretchen, Aubree, and Brinnan.
Grandpa enjoyed playing with Beau, while Grandma spent a long time making the perfect birthday cake--Curious George!
Campbelle LOVED her cake. She also loved blowing out the candles. So we had to light them several times and let her blow them out several times. After we ate the cake, she pointed to her stomach and said "Gee "(for George) to let us know that he was in her stomach.

After the cake, it was time to head to the park for a bubble party!

And then finally it was time for the best part of a birthday party--presents! Jen and Steve (Campbelle's mom and dad) helped her open all the gifts, most of which were books. I think she enjoyed opening the gifts just as much as getting them. As soon as she was done opening one, she would put it aside then put her hand up and say, "Boo" (book), expecting that there were more gifts and it would be a book as well. Campbelle loves books and was so excited for each one.

What a great day. You throw a pretty good party, Campbelle! Happy Birthday, and I love you!

A Day to Celebrate

Yesterday was the wedding of a dear friend that I met in Romania—Cristina. She had heard about Bridge of Love and their work in the orphanages and asked if she could join us when we went to orphanage. She became a great help to us, not only by translating for us, but also in helping care for and play with the children.
Her family was one of the first families to sign up as a foster family under Podul Drogustei (the sister foundation in Romania to Bridge of Love). Their first child they fostered was Marian, now known as Joshua, whom the Lundberg family later adopted. Cristina and Joshua still have a very close relationship, and she refers to him as her “American brother”. Cristina also met up with Ginger in Romania during her trip to pick up Georgie, now known as Collin, and really helped Ginger and Collin through that transition.

When she graduated from high school in Romania, she applied to BYU and was accepted. She came here to Utah 4 years ago. During her time at BYU, she learned more about the church and the gospel and was baptized last year. She met Brandon and they were married a year later. She is one of the kindest people I have ever met, and I am so happy for her and her new husband Brandon.
The wedding brought many reunions. Cristina’s cousin, Lucia, and friend, Irina—who both also volunteered in the orphanage and knew both Collin and Joshua when they were babies—were very thrilled to see them. Cristina’s mom also knew Collin when he was in the foster program, and was excited to see Collin as well. Her face lit up when she saw him and she immediately said, “Ce fac, Georgi!” (How are you, Georgie!) Collin remembers just a few words in Romanian, and he very shyly replied, “Bine.” (Good). It made everyone smile to see him and hear him speak just that little bit of Romanian.The evening was amazing. I loved watching Cristina and Brandon, seeing how much in love they were with each other. I loved seeing how happy and beautiful Cristina looked. And I absolutely loved watching Joshua and Collin play together. At first they were a little shy with each other, but within just a few minutes, they acted as if they had been best buds forever. I have no doubt that their souls were bonded from their time in the orphanage together. It is amazing to me to see these two now and yet remember what it was like for them while they still had to live in the orphanage. It truly is a miracle.I also wanted to add some pictures of me and my buddy, Collin, at the temple. Ginger and I had some taken of us together, but they really didn't turn out. As Ginger mentioned on her blog, Collin has recently discovered the wonder of "bunny ears" and will produce them at every opportunity he can. He's such a goof!

I love being an Aunt!

Becoming an aunt 5 times to 5 beautiful girls has to be up there among the significant moments in my life. I love showing them off! So I created a link on the right that will take you to a photo album I put together of my cute girls. Enjoy!