Wedding, Thanksgiving, and Other Loads Of Stuff

Yikes! I feel like it's been forever since my last post. We've been pretty busy lately. Last week we were able to make a quick trip to California for Thanksgiving and Scott's brother's wedding. Actually, we just got back about an hour ago and all I have to say is that Hannah was an *ANGEL* in the car today. The trip could not have gone more perfectly. Oh, and Scott drove the entire way, even though I offered to drive, because he knows that I'm not a big fan of driving. I like him. He's nice to me.

Anyway, we arrived in California last Tuesday afternoon. There are a few things that are a must every time we go to California:

1. Stop at the gas station in Boomtown, NV. For some reason we always stop at that gas station. I don't get it, but it's a must.
2. Eat trashy food until we're about to explode (unless my mom is cooking-she's pretty good about getting us some veggies). Not trashy as in gross, trashy as in extremely unhealthy, but extremely delicious. Fruits and vegetables are not often on the menu unless they are served with butter, cheese, mayo, or on an...
3. In-n-Out burger. In-n-Out is not currently in Utah County, so it is definitely a must when we go to California.
4. Get sick. Yes, for some reason we get sick every time we go to California. This time it was just a soar throat and runny nose/sneezing, but it never fails that we catch some sort of virus.
5. And finally, drive back and forth to all of our parents, grandparents, and extended families houses until we (and especially Hannah) are exhausted. I love it, though. I'm so glad that we get to see everyone when we go there.

As I mentioned earlier, we went there mostly for Scott's brother, David's, wedding. He got married the day after Thanksgiving. Scott was the best man and Hannah was a flower girl. David and Kim looked so great together. We are really happy for them! Here are a few pictures from the wedding.

We're married!

Kim walking with her dad above

Kim's grandma walked with the flower girls and the ring bearer

Scott with the maid of honor

My smokin' hot mother-in-law with the groom

Hannah in her pretty dress

Hannah and Scott

Hannah and the other flower girl were chasing each other on the dance floor at the reception. It was pretty cute.

On Thanksgiving day we had a huge feast with all of Scott's extended family. The food was delicious and it was a lot of fun. There was even a bounce house for the kids to play in. Here are Hannah and Scott in the bounce house and Hannah with her second cousin, Londyn.


And a few other things that we were able to do this week that I failed to get pictures of were going out with my BFF from high school, Stacy and her family, to breakfast and going to a Christmas parade with my dad and step-mom.

Fun week.

Good times.

Until next time my friends.

What to do with a 2 year old on a rainy day-

It's that time of the year. The cold air is peaking its eyes around the corner and with a two year old who constantly wants to go outside to play, I feel like my creative side needs to come out. That's a problem, because I'm not very creative. Here are a few things that I've done with Hannah since the rain and 40 degree weather has hit Utah.

We made puppets out of paper bags.

We baked cookies (I let her pour most of the ingredients and roll the cookies into balls), built a tiny fort, and had a tea party.

I let her try on my clothes and shoes.

We've played hide and seek. She's very good at hiding. Sometimes I can't find her until she says something. I've found her behind her crib, in my closet, under the table, and under blankets.

Click To Play

And my personal favorite, watching Hannah play with a Wii. Thanks again, Wes, for letting us borrow it!!

I've seen magazines with various crafts that a parent can make with their children, but most of them are too complicated for a two year old to do. Of course there are always finger painting and coloring, which she enjoys, but they get boring after awhile. She needs a little brother or sister to play with! Other children to play with fulfill a part of childhood that I can't provide for Hannah. Luckily she has a few friends, but I think that it's going to be a very long winter without the swings and slides. If you have any fun indoor ideas, please let me know.

"Twick o Tweat"

Arrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!! Hannah was a pirate for Halloween last night. We went out to my sister's house to go trick-or-treating. I'm sad that I didn't get many pictures of her kids and her hubby. Jarin, my bro-in-law, was dressed as a toilet, which I thought was hilarious. He put candy in his toilet bowl and gave it to kids as we were walking around the streets. It was a very clever idea. I didn't get a picture of him, but I did catch him on video. You'll see him on the right hand side of the video. Hannah's pirate hat fell off a few times, which was kind of annoying, but other than that the night went well. She got lots of candy! Afterward, we went over to my sister's house and ate mummy hot dogs, which I failed to get a picture of, and orange drinks with ghost cool whip on top. What a creative sister I have!!! Anyway, here's the short video and a couple of pictures:

Click To Play

Scott and I had patches and hats, but I lost my hat and he lost his patch. So, we didn't really look like pirates at all.....just a girl with an eye patch and a guy with a black hat.

Hannah and Si Si, the snow princess, are shown in the above picture.

Above is Hannah showing all of her delcious candy off to the camera with her incredibly cheesy/fake smile.

My Little Shrimp Loves Shrimp

Even though we did this last night as well (see post below), it deserves its own post. We went to Red Lobster last night for dinner because we are shrimp fanatics and they are having their "endless shrimp" fest right now. Hannah ate EIGHTEEN shrimp all by herself.....and she wanted more (or "myrr", as she likes to say) but I had to say no because she had also eaten a biscuit, a lot of my salad, 2 or 3 mushrooms stuffed with lobster, and a few bites of my steak. She ate more shrimp than my mother-in-law did. I was afraid that she was going to barf. I just couldn't believe it. I wasn't really introduced to shrimp until I met my husband, so the fact that my daughter is in love with shrimp scampi is amazing to me. My family is not really big into sea food, but I've certainly become a fan since I met my husband (although I'm still having a hard time with fish, but I like shell fish). Anyway, Hannah is definitely her daddy's daughter!

Hee Haw: It's Officially A Tradish

Last night we went to Hee Haw farms! We also went last year with Hannah, so I think that we are going to try to make it a tradition until we leave good old Utah County. My mo-in-law is visiting this week as well, which is always fun. Hannah loves Grandma Julia so much! We were able to go to Hee Haw Farms last year with her, too, so maybe we'll have to make it a tradition that she is up here every October to go with us! I really love this little place. It's perfect for younger children. Hannah LOVED it! Here are our pics:

A huge improvement from last year. Hannah was terrified of these goats last year. This year she actually let them lick some food out of her hand.

The pig above is Leroy. I think the name fits him. He's the biggest pig I've ever seen.

Hannah grew a whole head and neck since last year! What a big girl!

This is the corn box. After having a corn fight with Hannah and Scott, all of us had corn in places that shouldn't have corn in them. Scott and I found corn in our bed this morning. Nice.

Hannah and Grandma Julia above

They also had a big hay trampoline

and a train ride
and free pony rides (which was kind of ghetto because it was just a young girl controlling the horse. The horse started to gallop a few times which led us to have to run beside it so that Hannah didn't fall off).

and a big slide.

There were many more activities as well, but I won't post all of them. They also have a pumpkin patch there, but their pumpkins are kind of lame so we bought some from Albertsons today. I love Halloween time!!

It's Tagging Season Again....and I've Got Two

Sevens.

7 things I can do:

1. Play piano (kind of)

2. Eat good food until I'm about to explode

3. Read Twilight series in about 2 weeks (probably faster if I didn't have a child to watch)

4. Dance

5. laugh at myself

6. watch The Office series over and over again

7. a back or front flip on the trampoline

7 Things I can't do:

1. sing well.

2. draw well....yeah, I draw like a 5 year old.

3. fit my hips in a tiny chair- these suckers are huge.

4. drive to unfamiliar places without getting anxiety.

5. become a vegetarian.

6. a back or front flip on the ground.

7. swim in the ocean without worrying about sharks.

7 things that attracted me to Scott. (ah, only seven!)

1. his eyes. seriously seriously, blue. (Keeping a few of these the same as Cori's)

2.his spirituality. I've always liked the good boys.

3. his sense of humor.

4. The Spanish accent that he had right off the mish.

5. his booty. (which I never saw until AFTER we were married, but jeans hint enough)

6. His ability to remember things well. He has a very sharp mind.

7. How much he loved and adored me.


7 things I say most:

1. Oh my gosh.

2. Boo. I'm gonna get you.

3.No!!!!! (At the top of my lungs)

4. You are cute.

5. I love you.

6. Hannah! (Often said in an annoyed voice because she's done something naughty)

7. Can I have a kiss?

7 People I admire most

1.Scott

2.My mom and dad

3.President Hinckley

4. President Monson

5. Jesus Christ

6. My sisters and bro

7. Anyone who stands up for what is right despite the fact that they might lose friends over it.

7 favorite foods

1. mashed potatoes smothered in turkey gravy

2. a juicy steak with A1

3. pasta- (Macaroni + Hunts Tomato Sauce + Parm cheese = Crazy Delicious)

4. boneless buffalo wings (mmmmmm)

5. anything with peanut butter and chocolate in it

6. pizza- any kind, but my favorite is combination

7. blueberry cheesecake ice cream

7 people to tag

1. Kerrie
2. Jen
3. Mom
4. Wendi (you need to update your blog, girl!)
5. Kate
6. Leslie
7. Alene

and anyone else who wants to do it.

Since Alene told me about her tag in her last comment, I'll do that one as well.

10 things I would do to change someone's life (I didn't do anyone in particular...just someone who is in need):
1. teach him or her about the gospel
2. give him or her money
3. pay for an education
4. give him or her a makeover
5. encourage and exercise with someone who needs to lose weight
6. adopt a child who has suffered in foster homes
7. befriend someone who is lonely
8. try to lift someone's self esteem by giving compliments
9. teach someone who is illiterate to read and write
10. bring over a meal to someone that might need it

Celeb Fest

Last Friday Hannah and I went to Thanksgiving Point for their "Scarecrow Festival" with my sisters and their kids. Around noon we decided to eat lunch on a picnic bench by the Information Center. While eating our lunch, we noticed a REALLY tall guy behind the info booth. I don't mean kind of tall, like 6 feet and some odd inches. I mean FREAKISHLY tall- like 7 feet 6 inches. Kind of a rude word to use, but let's face it, he's a freak. No, I'm kidding, he's just ginormous. Anyway, we also noticed that people were coming up to him, asking to take their picture with him. We knew that he must be a famous basketball player because he's just huge and I really don't think that he could be famous for anything else. Football? Na, you really can't run that fast being so tall. Baseball? ummm...no, the pitcher probably couldn't even throw the baseball that high when he was up to bat. An actor? Yeah, right. His head would be cut off in every camera shot while standing in the same room with shorter actors. Yeah....he's definitely a basketball player. But which one?


Anyway, none of us knew who he was, so we asked. If you're not big into basketball or you've never gone to the Taco Bell next to BYU and seen his posters hanging up, then you probably don't know who he is either. This is Shawn Bradly, who played at BYU and then went on to play for the Philly 76ers and the Dallis Mavericks (NBA). Look at how iddy biddy Hannah looks in his arms.

** On a side note, I've seen more somewhat famous people (in their daily lives, not in concerts/games) in Utah than I ever did living in CA. I think I saw Arnold Shwarz once in Cali driving his hummer when I was little but I also lived in Sac town, which is not really known for booming with celebs. Here I've helped Gary Coleman (who would look really funny standing next to Shawn Bradly) at Staples several times and seen Donny and Marie Osmond and now Shawn Bradly.

Anyway, the reason for this post was not really to talk about Shawn Bradly, but as I was watching him throughout lunch and a little bit afterward, I realized something: I don't ever want to be famous. Sure, I wouldn't mind looking like this:



But I certainly don't want their lifestyles. I felt bad for Shawn. He kept trying to eat his lunch and people (including us- hey I'm not going to miss a chance to get a photo with someone famous) kept coming up to him, asking him for pictures. He was so polite, too. I am such a private person and this would truly get annoying to me, and he's not even a real celebrity. I can't imagine what it would have been like if Britney Spears were there eating her lunch. There is nothing private about being a celeb. You can't even go out in public without people constantly coming up to you asking for pictures and autographs. This is something that I just don't think I would be able to handle. I wonder if this is why some celebs just can't take it and end up in rehab or killing themselves. What a hard life. I know that there are many who don't end up this way, though, and good for them. Some people would be great celebrities, and it would be great for them to share their talents with the world. But for me, I am just so grateful that I have the life that I have. My private life. And I can sit at Thanksgiving Point, eating my sack lunch, without people constantly interrupting me to take my picture.

Hooray For Family!

This weekend was a blast! My entire immediate family was here besides my brother. I have one sister that flew in from North Carolina, one from Arizona, and parents that drove from California. Everyone left either yesterday or Sunday besides my sister from NC, who will be here for another week (hip hip hooray!). I have a few pics from this weekend, mostly from Hannah's birthday. We were going to do a Disney theme, but I decided to do a flower/fairy theme for her birthday since I have a really cute cook book for fairy treats.

Here's my little fairy on her birthday

We went over to my sister's house to have dinner, open presents, and eat cake. Above is Hannah about ready to open her presents. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who sent her a gift or a greeting (even if you wrote a comment on my last post). She loved them ALL!

Hannah with her cousins Sienna, Kamrie, and Allie

Here is one of the treats that I made. It's supposed to be a dragonfly fairy wand. It was basically chocolate covered pretzels, and it tasted delish! There's just somthing extremely scrumtuos about sweet and salty mixed together.

These are tiny little cupcakes that we made for the kids to eat. I let Hannah decorate most of them with sprinkles, butterflies, and flowers.

Hannah ready to blow out the candles

Here is a video of us singing to her:

Click To Play

Ok, I promised that I wouldn't post the above picture but I lied. It's the only one I have of all of my family. We had a date night with just adults, which was very pleasant. We went to Olive Garden and got the all-you-can-eat pasta bowls. I couldn't even finish my first bowl. By the time the second one came around I was ready to puke up spaghetti all over the place. Bleh!

I am posting the above picture despite the fact that you could pack the bags under my eyes and use them as suitcases. I look very tired in this pic. Oh well. This is me with my 3 sisters and my mom.

Hannah and Si Si above

This is Hannah with the present that Scott and I got her. We got her a little table with chairs and a tea set. She loves them! She has to eat breakfast there every morning. If you look closely, you can see the sugar stains on my walls from when I made peach jam. Gross. I swear I tried to clean it off but it looks like it's still plastered on there.

Anyway, it was a GREAT weekend. I love having my family in town!