Ask and ye shall receive or When you wish upon a blog or I have the best sister ever!

A while back, Becky posted a Blog-wish asking for Riley to come and visit her. Beck is in the middle of a pregnancy with twin boys (!!) and can't travel to see us, so we have to go there. Now, a visit to California to see two of my favorite people is never a hardship, but it can be difficult to make it happen. Apparently the blog-fairy granted her wish, because Riley is indeed going to spend a few days in California in a couple of weeks.

Here's how it happened:

I am currently participating in a year-long Health Leadership Institute that is meeting in Lake Tahoe in early October. This institute is a very good experience for me, both personally and professionally, and I am really enjoying the challenges and learning that have come from my work with it. I had made arrangements for Riley to be cared for during this week by one of her other family members, but these plans fell through and I was not aware of it until this week.

With only a couple of weeks before this trip, I was a little panicked about what to do with Riley. I felt like these meetings were important for me to attend, but I was not seeing a workable solution. I mentioned this to Beck and she immediately volunteered to keep Riley while I went, if I could bring Riley there. After she made that suggestion, everything fell into place. I was able to get my flights changed so I can take Riley to Cali, drive to Tahoe, drive back to Cali, and fly home with Riley. Riley gets to see Aunt Beck and Uncle Joey, I get to see my sister and bro-in-law, I get to go to my meetings, and Aunt Beck gets her blog-wish fulfilled.

The things I've learned from this: I truly have a wonderful sister who is thoughtful and generous and my best friend, I have a great brother in law who is willing to help out wherever her can, my daughter has a fabulous aunt and uncle who love her and are so excited to see her, and Finally...Blog wishes do come true.

Thanks, Becky and Joey. You guys ROCK!

Finally- Pics from our birthday party

Riley in her birthday hat - it lasted about 4 minutes on her head.


Our shared birthday cake


Riley and I share the same birthday, Sept. 1st. It was her first birthday day, my *ahem* ahem* birthday, so I thought it appropriate to celebrate with a family party. I also wanted the chance to thank my family for being such amazing support to me and Riley over the past year. They have, without a doubt, gone above and beyond for us many times over.

Well, it's taken me a few weeks to sort out some technical problems from my new camera, but I finally got the pics from Riley's (and my) birthday party off the memory card.

Originally, we planned a backyard barbecue, but it SNOWED in Idaho on Sept. first, so we had to move it indoors. Still, it was a lot of fun, and great to see everyone who showed up to celebrate with us.

Hallee and me....love that kid.


As per tradition, Riley got her own first birthday cake - chocolate, of course.


Busted, Uncle Keith. Sara is gonna kill you now.


Nita thought it was her job to help me enjoy my birthday cake. Thanks, Mom.


Ambrie, Nic, and Grandpa Lane - isn't she so cute?


Grandma Lane and Grandma Clark - Grandma Clark's birthday was just a few days later!


Papa Tony, Uncle Fry (kale) and Lexi - I think Lex is going for the cake!


Don't these guys look excited?

Ambrie actually gave me a hug and a kiss - special birthday treat for me!