Happy Father's Day!!

Happy Father's Day to all 4 of our dads! Yes, we have a lot of dads but we love them all and are grateful for every one of them. Each one has awesome qualities and they are all wonderful grandpas to Hannah. Here are just a few of some of their awesome qualities:

My Dad:
1. Very strong in our church
2. Wants everyone to be happy/caring
3. Hard working

Scott's Dad:
1. Funny
2. So giving
3. Easy going

My step-dad:
1. Plays with all of his grandkids for hours
2. Good listener
3. Nonjudgmental/ seems to love everyone unconditionally

Scott's step-dad:
1. Awesome cook
2. Constantly serving people
3. Great handyman

This is not to say that you guys don't have some of the same qualities as each other, but I didn't want to put the same thing on your lists. I hope that you all had a wonderful Father's Day!!

Scott's grandpa and dad are shown above with Scott and Hannah.
The picture below is of my dad and all of his 5 children. We love you both, dads!

Onto my own husband...I already did a blog talking about how wonderful he is so I will spare you all today from that gargantuan list and just tell you that I am grateful for what a good father he is to Hannah. Here are a couple of pictures from today:

Hannah colored for Scott in the above picture.

Last night I asked Scott what he wanted for dinner tonight and here was what was on the menu:
1. Chicken Fajita wraps with a yummy dipping sauce (a copycat recipe from Applebees)
2. French Fries
3. Chocolate Banana milkshake

And for dessert, I will be eating some blueberry cheesecake ice cream by Meadow Gold, which is currently my favorite ice cream. Seriously, if you like cheesecake or the Cheesecake Fantasy ice cream from Cold Stone, you are going to love this ice cream....mmmmm....mmmmm! It even has little chunks of real cheesecake in it...ooohhh, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

As a present to Scott for Father's Day, Hannah counted to 10 all by herself today for the first time ever. She did it twice, and we kept trying to get her to do it again but she got her numbers out of order. I was so surprised because I didn't know that she could do that yet. Scott just told her to count to 10 and she busted it out without any help. What a smarty!!

**Ok...today is Monday and I thought I would try to get Hannah on video counting. So, here's a video. She skips the number 9 and puts a 6 after 3, but then she redeems herself after the 3. Yesterday she did it perfect, though. Either way, I had no idea that she could count that high.

Click To Play

And finally, here is a Father's Day present to you all. Even if you don't like The Office, you might still find this video funny, but a titch racist. Seriously, I love Steve Carell.

Do you recognize this man?

Well, the chances that you recognize him are pretty slim. Unless you have been watching ESPN lately, you might not know that this man's name is Tim Donaghy. His was at one time a referee in the NBA. Let me fill you in on the story... From Wikipedia... Donaghy resigned from the league on July 9, 2007^[5] prior to reports of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for allegations that he bet on games that he officiated during his last two seasons and that he made calls affecting the point spread in those games.^[6] On August 15, 2007, Donaghy pleaded guilty to two federal charges related to the investigation. However, he could face more charges at the state level if it is determined that he deliberately miscalled individual games.

Well, I am sure that most of you, if any are still reading at this point, are thinking..."Who gives a rip about this guy?" I do, and what I am about to write makes me sick to my stomach. Yesterday Donaghy's lawyer filed a document making comments about the 2002 NBA playoffs. From the report.."Referees A, F and G were officiating a playoff series between Teams 5 and 6 in May of 2002. It was the sixth game of a seven-game series, and a Team 5 victory that night would have ended the series. However, Tim learned from Referee A that Referees A and F wanted to extend the series to seven games. Tim knew referees A and F to be 'company men,' always acting in the interest of the NBA, and that night, it was in the NBA's interest to add another game to the series. Referees A and F heavily favored Team 6. Personal fouls [resulting in obviously injured players] were ignored even when they occurred in full view of the referees. Conversely, the referees called made-up fouls on Team 5 in order to give additional free throw opportunities for Team 6. Their foul-calling also led to the ejection of two Team 5 players. The referees' favoring of Team 6 led to that team's victory that night, and Team 6 came back from behind to win that series."
Now, this is where things get bad. There was only one series that playoffs that went to seven games, yep, you guessed it, Sacramento Kings and the LA Lakers. Now, in game 6 of that series, the Kings went into the 4th quarter with a lead. While most teams don't even shoot 27 free-throws a game, the Lakers shot 27 free-throws in the fourth quarter alone. Needless to say, the Lakers won the game, won the series, and won the NBA Title that year.

Now, to clear things up, most likely the only reason that this guy is now making these allegations is because he is desperate. He is trying to do everything he can to reduce the 25 years in prison that he is now facing. So, do I believe this guy....? Yes and no. I love basketball, I love the Kings, and I love the NBA. I have a hard time believing that the NBA actually told the referees to do what Donaghy says they did. I do, though, think that referees fixed that game, and plenty of others. On a poll taken at espn.com 90% of the people taking the poll think that the refs conspired to make the series a seven game series (meaning the Kings would lose)and 82% believe that they have seen a fixed game. Tom Ziller from Sactown Royalty said this about the situation...

"The simple fact that it's so easy to believe Donaghy is the NBA's real problem here. Everyone saw the same Game 6 -- even Lakers fans. And everyone will at least entertain the possibility it was rigged. It's unfortunate it takes a scumbag like Donaghy to bring this discussion back from the shadows, and really, it's unfortunate it had the discussion had to return at all. But that's what happens when there's no transperency in NBA officiating, and that's what happens when something like Game 6 comes to pass.

The NBA could have fixed this by admitting the refs made repeated mistakes in Game 6. Bavetta, Delaney and Bernhardt all worked Finals games that year! Because the NBA stayed silent, and because Stern did not discipline those referees for the worst-called game in league history, this is where we are.

That's why we should be mad at the NBA. They let this -- the reopening of the wound, and the opportunity for numerous future wounds -- happen."

So, for those of you who are still reading, thanks. We may never know what really happened during that game, but you can be sure that I will ask in the next life. Nothing can be done now, but if it was up to me, I would put a big fat asterisk right next to the Lakers name as 2002 NBA Champions.

Also, Maran asked a question in the previous post. Feel free to read and let her know what you think.

What's Your Favorite Condiment?

Since the last few blogs have just mostly been about Hannah being sick, I thought I would do a fun blog today. Scott and I make a really mean steak (I make the seasonings and he grills them). We've made these steaks twice in the past month or so and I have to admit that I almost like them better than any other steak that I've had at a restaurant. Even though I love steak, I also believe that it wouldn't be as good to me if A1 didn't accompany it. I LOVE A1! If I could swim in a big tub of it, I would. I love the tangy, acidic, and vinegary flavor that somewhat burns my tongue. I have to hold myself back from licking the A1 off of my plate when I am done with my steak (this really grosses Scott out....I've done it before). I should probably just save the money on buying steak and just pour some A1 on my plate, but I don't think that would fill me up. It is delicious and is my favorite condiment (right in front of Ranch dressing). So, what's your favorite condiment?

And The Results Are....

I took Hannah to the dermatologist today and it looks like most of you were right.....it is some kind of allergic reaction. The problem is, I don't know what she is allergic to. I haven't been giving her anything different recently. Her appetite seems to be changing a bit, though. She doesn't eat very much anymore. Here are the things that she loves: any kind of fruit (grapes probably being her absolute favorite food), cheese, yogurt, salami, olives, chocolate and other candy, and occasionally crackers. She seems to like hot dogs, too. Other than that, she usually just takes small bites of anything else and will finish it if she's in the mood. She used to love any type of pasta but today I tried giving her spaghetti and she took two bites and said she was done. I don't know what's up with that.

I haven't changed our detergent either. I use Dreft for her clothes because it doesn't have any type of dye in it and she hasn't been wearing any different type of fabric lately. So, I really don't know what is causing this reaction, but the doctor prescribed us some medicine, so hopefully that will at least get rid of the rash.

While I'm on the subject of Hannah, I believe that she is going to be a little perfectionist. As I told you guys a while ago, she is so concerned with her nails. If she has a hang nail, she has to have it clipped right away. Yesterday I tried doing finger paints with her and she was mostly just concerned with the fact that her hands were dirty. She kept wanting me to wipe them. I also caught her fixing her hair in the mirror the other day. It was actually pretty funny! Here's a picture of her finger paint masterpiece:

I Need Some More Advice

Well, as most of you know, sometimes I like to ask for advice in my blogs, and this will be one of those blogs. The first thing that I would like to ask advice on is how to get young children to share with each other. We babysit this little girl twice a week. She and Hannah usually get along great. They are both good little girls but they often have trouble sharing with each other. They always want what the other one has and it gets frustrating because one will start to cry if they can't have it. I try to teach them to share and not take things out of the other one's hand without asking but they just don't seem to get it. Are they too young to know how to share yet? If not, how do I get them to learn it? They are usually pretty cute together, though. This is Kelly tickling Hannah and the one below is them holding hands.They are only a day apart and Kelly is a good 2 or 3 inches taller than Hannah. Hannah is a shrimp and she loves to give that close-eyed smile when I tell her to smile.
Ok, one more question for you all. This morning Hannah woke up to all of these red splotches on her body. They are on her arms, around her belly button, and on her legs. She had that horrible rash around her mouth about 7 months ago and now she's got these. Is this eczema? Anyone know? She is seeing the dermatologist on Thursday again, but I just wanted to ask you all ahead of time in case it was something more serious that needed to be treated right away. Tonight, those big ones on her arms were looking like rings and seemed to be going away but then they got redder after her bath. Hopefully they go away soon.

The Petting Zoo

Today we went to the petting zoo at Thanksgiving Point with our friends Cori and Craig and their kids. We had a lot of fun with them! Here are some pictures of the event:
Petting a pony

Pointing at something

This peacock was gorgeous.

Cori and me- yeah, pretty much all of my friends from high school are beautiful:)

We got to watch them sheer this sheep, which was pretty cool.

Craig and Carter riding on the horse

Cori's daughter (also named Hannah) riding on the horse. She's so cute!

Pretty horse:)

Hannah riding on the horse

Sorry, there's not much to write about this trip, except for the fact that we had a lot of fun with Craig and Cori, and Hannah loved riding on the horses and petting the goats and sheep.

Dancing

Well I've got to give a big BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO to last night's American Idol results. I hate the fact that I am always right:) Hopefully David Archuleta makes it ok on his own.

Anyway, I haven't posted a video of Hannah in awhile so I thought that I would do so today. I realize that to some of you these videos are boring because almost every child her age can do the same things that she does. In this video, she is dancing, and it brings me so much joy to watch her do this. She usually dances more when the camera is not on, so I apologize for that, but she's just so darn cute. I really believe that it's true that a mother/father is her/his child's biggest fan because I find everything she does to be so darn cute. I kind of feel bad for our second child because he or she will probably not get as much attention. I will try my best, though. Anyway, here she is:

Go Archy!

This post is for all of you A.I. fans! I have loved David Archuleta since the moment I heard his voice. He's just so cute, too! Most people that I have talked to want David Cook to win and I have a feeling that he might. I'll admit that I think that David Cook would probably sell more albums because he seems to be more contemporary and isn't quite as goofy as David Archuleta, but David Archuleta has a FLAWLESS voice. I voted once tonight for Archy and tried many more times, but I just got a busy signal. Tomorrow, we'll find out the winner!!

It Wasn't Meant To Be

So I have kind of a funny little story about this stroller that I have to share. My sister, Kerrie, asked me one year ago if I wanted her stroller. It's like an umbrella stroller, and I didn't have one, so of course I wanted it. My sister lives in North Carolina and told me that she would bring it down to my mom's house in California for me since we were both visiting there last year. So, she brought it for me last year and I forgot to bring it home with me to Utah. We went to California again last August and last December, both times of which my mom could not find the stroller in her garage and I kept forgetting to ask her if I could look for it. This last time that I went to California, I was determined to find this stroller in my mom's garage and take it home with me. So, we finally found it and I used it a few times while I was there.

I brought the stroller to the airport with me and checked it in when I got on the plane. We had a layover in Las Vegas and when I got off the plane, I was expecting to get my stroller back because that is what was supposed to happen (anytime you have a stroller or a wheelchair they are supposed to have it waiting for you right when you get off the plane). So, I waited. A few minutes later the worker told me that he couldn't find my stroller, and he told me that he thought that they already transferred it to the plane that was going to Salt Lake. I knew that they had lost my stroller because when they checked it in, they told me that I would have to re-check it in Vegas to get it to Salt Lake. So, we got to Salt Lake and just as I thought, the stroller was nowhere to be found. I had to go to baggage claim and tell them that they had lost my stroller and they said that they would deliver it to me when they found it (luckily it had my name and phone number on it).

So after all of this, I finally got the stroller delivered to me and I was excited to finally have it home. After the delivery man dropped off the stroller, he knocked on my door about 30 seconds later with a wheel in his hand and asked me if it belonged to my stroller. Of course it did, and now the stroller is completely ruined. I can't put the wheel back on because some of the pieces are broken. I guess that stroller and I were just not meant to be. I've gone through so much with it that it's just kind of funny to me now. It's pretty sad because it's a really nice stroller.....oh well.

Scroll down for a post about our new pet!

Our First Family Pet

When Hannah and I got home from our vacation on Tuesday, Scott decided that he was adamant about buying Hannah a fish. I was not so keen on the idea because I knew that I would end up being the one to clean its fish tank every week and flush it down the toilet when it dies (I must admit that dead things really gross me out). However, we decided to buy one anyway. On our way home from Petsmart, we were trying to decide on a name for the fish and Scott came up with Hugh Morris. If you're slow like me, then let me just tell you that this is a play on the word humorous. So, here he is: Hugh Morris Sprague, the newest member of our family.

The Adventures of Hannah and Maran

We just got back yesterday from our trip to California. I've got to be honest, it was probably one of the greatest trips that I have taken there in a long time because it was definitely more laid back than usual and Hannah wasn't as exhausted as she usually gets when we visit. Usually during Christmas, Scott and I have four sets of parents in Sacramento that we want to see and it often gets very tiring driving back and forth between the houses. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love seeing our family, but it really gets hard with Hannah's naps and bedtime to constantly be going from one parent's house to the next, and because Scott and I usually only go to CA for a few days at a time, we usually try to squeeze everyone in. This time I had more than a week and a half to see everyone. One of the main reasons I wanted to go on this trip was to hang out with my friends because I rarely get to see them when Scott and I are in town. This time I got to spend a lot of time with them, and it was so much fun. Here are some pictures of some of the stuff that Hannah and I did throughout the weeks.
If you've read Rachel's or Stacy's blog, then you know that we went to the Western Festival together. If not, then let me tell you, we went to the Western Festival together. For anyone who may not know, this is a festival that has come to Elk Grove the first week in May for as long as I can remember. They have a parade on Saturday morning that I used to watch every year as a kid and then they have carnival rides at the park. It's actually a pretty big deal there and there are tons of people that go to the park every year. So this is a picture of me and my two gorgeous friends Stacy and Rachel at the carnival (and I'm not just saying that because they are my friends; they really are both extremely pretty girls and had guys flocking towards them in high school.....sorry, I hope that doesn't embarrass you girls).

Hannah and me at the carnival

Here is Hannah with Grandma and Grandpa Price (my dad and step-mom). My dad took Vickie and me out to the Cheesecake factory for Mother's day. I have never been there before. Not only did I have some delicious pasta for dinner, but I also had to try one of their cheesecakes since they specialize in cheesecake and that just happens to be my favorite dessert.

Here are Scott's mom and step-dad with Hannah. We were also able to go out to dinner with them, which was great, too. Juila also watched Hannah a couple of days while we were there so that I could hang out with my mom.
This is Stacy's little girl Montana. We went to the park to feed the ducks with them. If you'd like to hear of that experience just read Stacy's blog. Those ducks were really scary.

Hannah Montana

My mom has a gorgeous backyard that Hannah loves to explore in. She was collecting pine cones in a basket, so I had to take a few pictures of that.

We also went to Fairy Tale town and Funderland with my sister-in-law Jill and my niece Samantha. Sam and Hannah got along really well together.
Hannah absolutely LOVED this ride at Funderland. I was scared to let her go on by herself because I thought that she would start to cry, but to my surprise, she cried when I took her off of the ride because she wanted to keep riding.

My mom sliding down the slide. She is still a kid at heart.

Hannah on the train ride

Hannah and Sam on the plane ride

Sam and Hannah in the King's chair

Going through a cheese hole. I would love it if this was a real block of cheese:)

Sorry for the blurry picture, but I had to post a picture of the flowers that my husband sent to me for Mother's Day. I didn't get to take them home on the plane with me, so I wanted to remember them. It was a real surprise and treat to get something for Mother's Day (not that my husband doesn't ever get me anything, but I just didn't expect it considering the fact that Scott was in Utah).
Here's a picture of my mom, me, and Hannah on Mother's Day. Sorry mom, I used the picture with the sun on your face because I liked it better than the other ones. I probably should have put on some lipstick, though, because my lips were really dry.

Any finally, a picture of Hannah with my mom and step-dad on Mother's Day. Thank you so much to them for letting us stay and eat their food and use their car. We had a wonderful time and I know that Hannah misses all of her grandparents, as she has called for all of you several times since we've been home.

I was a bit sad to leave California yesterday because I love the weather and I will miss our family and friends, but I was very happy to come home and see my hubby. We missed him a lot and I know that he was extremely lonely here while we were gone. He seemed overly excited to have us home yesterday and I was excited to see him, too. I probably shouldn't share this because it's really cheesy, but when I saw him at the airport coming towards us I got butterflies in my stomach. I have an extremely hot husband:) Anyway, there were a lot of other things that we were able to do in California, like go swimming with Rachel, have a BBQ at Rachel's, watch a movie and talk until we were both about ready to fall asleep at Stacy's, go to the movies and shopping with my mom, eat at my favorite burger place In-n-Out, etc, etc! Overall, it was a great trip!!!