a quarter of a century

this little one turned twenty-five thursday.

i can't believe it. seems like yesterday i was driving up to the hawker home for one of the first times to celebrate his twenty-third. 

but his twenty fifth was one for the books

 & i was so lucky that i could spend the whole entire day with him.

we started off the day with mcdonald's breakfast in bed, since that is the birthday boys favorite.

i then blindfolded him and took him to the airport where he rented his first car as a 25 yr old. 

i had a convertible all saved but ben quickly asked for a camaro instead.

After, we raced (literally) over to pick up Adam for lunch at the kyoto.

 Ben then insisted we all go back to his parent's house and play super smash brothers. 

oh the demands of such a simple birthday boy. 

After smashing both Ben & Adam (thanks to my handicap), Ben & i headed up emigration canyon to see what the camaro could do. we are lucky hertz doesn't check the tires when you return the car because Ben was drifting around every curve possible. 

We then headed to the tennis club to play a few games. it was perfect weather. 

later that night Ben insisted he didn't want a fancy dinner but rather just pizza so we grabbed pizza to go and ate at the park. it was the perfect end to such a fun day. 

i loved surprising ben by having the whole day planned. he was in heaven.

i won't bore you with 25 reasons why i love ben or anything but i will say i never knew i could love someone this much. he is the best, most fun best friend/roommate/husband/lover. i love how every night feels like a sleepover & i love how he makes me laugh so very much.

there's been a murder

Ben is turning 25 on thursday and so we decided to have a murder mystery party last night to celebrate. the story was set at an old western saloon. it was such a blast to really get into character and guess the murderer (who ended up being the birthday boy himself!)

meet the moneys. montgomery, elizabeth and our daughter minnie

harry & henrietta high-stakes. we missed you emma!

matches spelled out 25 and lit themselves one by one as requested by the birthday boy

this was the first birthday cake i have ever made from scratch. icing and all. laura would be so proud

i love birthdays. my mom has always made them such an amazing event & now i am doing the same. this is just the beginning of ben's 25th celebration. can't wait. i love spoiling my little ben.

lala

• This is the woman that made me breakfast every morning before school even when I took zero period seminary and had to be at the church at 5:30a
• She is responsible for my freckles
• This woman came to all my dance recitals & cheer competitions with flowers in hand
• She taught me the piano even though I refused to practice
• She taught me how to cook, to clean and to love unconditionally. She taught me the power of prayer
• This is the woman that is always up for desert no matter how much we ate for dinner & always up for a late night of family fun no matter how little sleep she had the night before. 
• She is the first person I called when I knew that I would marry Ben
• This is the woman I strive to be more like everyday
• I have never known a woman to love the Lord like she does

I cannot say enough wonderful things about my mother. She is the most amazing, beautiful, fun-loving person. Happy Birthday Mom. Can't wait to celebrate many more with you!

xo

betty

i have been on a cooking phase lately and wanted to share some quick delicious recipes we have enjoyed over here.

last night we made this. we loved it so much! but we also love pesto added to pretty much anything so i knew it would be a winner.

and a couple nights before that we made this pesto/avocado pasta. it was also a hit! yes you could say we seek after pesto inspired dishes.

for lunch another day we decided to try this chicken salad with avocado dressing. oh my gosh it was was the best chicken salad i have had & it makes great leftovers!

thanks pinterest for all the great recipes. 

you have really sparked my love for cooking