Saturday, November 15, 2008

The granddaughters


So, my cousin Holly sent this picture. I love seeing old photos that you only vaguely remember being taken and that you've never seen. My entire extended family came out to Colorado for my and Ryan's mission farewells back in 2001, and we got a cool picture with all of the granddaughters in my old back yard. Yeah for "looking back" pictures that bring back really fun memories.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

I'M IT!


I make fun of these tag things but I get a kick out of reading them and doing them anyway. Besides, if you get tagged it means you are popular and special, right?


Tag Rules: Go to the 3rd folder of your pictures and select the 3rd picture in. BLOG! So, here we go!

This picture was taken on our honeymoon in California. I'm looking at this picture and my first thoughts are: 1) wow, Michael looked skinny. 2) I wish my hair would still straighten like that, and 3) How in the heck has it been five years already?

Maybe it's just me, but I would imagine that anyone who's gotten married in their early 20s (or younger) feels at least somewhat similar to this - we kind of "grew up" together. From getting our first real jobs, to letting go of grandparents, to watching our bedtime go from past midnight to just after 9:00 because we get so tired, to becoming Mommy and Daddy...we were mostly kids when we met and now, although I would say we still have a lot of growing up to do (and thankfuly so!) we've become grown ups together. I can't think of anyone I'd rather have been with on that ride. So, in the spirit of that, I wanted to list a few things that I've noticed and really appreciated about Michael over the past five years.

1. He chases Kaitlin through the playplace at Chick-fil-e and genuinely seems like he's having as much fun as she is. Going back to the big kid thing:)

2. He's spent more time and money in school than just about anyone I know, but he still is humble enough to ask people good questions and actually listen to their answers. He doesn't pretend that he knows everything (or anything as he would claim:).

3. He'll play connect 4 with me at 3:00 am when I can't sleep.

4. He patiently explains the rules to football to me, even when I ask what a safety is for the 39th time this season.

5. Contractions hurt less when he's holding my hand. Apparently mommies AND husbands have special "no hurt" powers.

6. Old women just love him. Whether it's the file clerk at his work, random women at the dog park, my grandmothers, waitresses, you name it - they always pull me aside and let me know how lucky I am to have him.

7. He's really organized. He can find the perfect shelf for any tiny room that is dirty and cluttered and make the room actually look well thought out and tidy. I so wish I had that ability!

8. He likes to hug. I remember that movie "My best friend's wedding," and there's a whole dialog about who lets go of the hug first. I love the fact that he'll hug me until I decide I'm done - even if we're in public.

9. He's the most health conscience person I know, but he indulges me when I want a disasterously unhealthy icecream sundae without making any mean comments. He even joins in sometimes.

10. He calls me every day on the way home from work, just to talk. I find myself really looking forward to "our half hour" every day.

So, that's Michael. I highly doubt he'll read this or even know I posted it, but nonetheless, thanks for 5 really fun years!

Tag: Kathy, Christa, Marissa, Margie, and Kylie. Have fun!



Monday, November 10, 2008

Trip to Utah











We went to Utah over conference weekend to visit the great grandmas and of course hang out with my brother Kyle and his cute fiance. My aunt Jill has a little boy (so yeah, my first cousin...strange mormon familes:) who is slightly younger than Kaitlin and as much of a hellion as she is. He's INCREDIBLY ADORABLE, and incredibly busy, and devious, and prone to disaster and likes to hit...

They warned us before we even put them together and of course we thought, "we'd love to see anyone put Kaitlin in her place." She totally kept him in line! Everyone was just in awe that he was behaving so well because he knew otherwise Kaitlin would wamp him. It was really funny to watch. I think they had a really good time together. If we could have brought him home as the best playmate ever, we totally would have!












More Halloween




Mike's dad always takes the winner pictures. This was taken by his camera - as is every favorite picture in my scrapbook. Some people are just good at catching the right smiles.





Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Minnie Mouse







This was by far Kaitlin's most interactive Halloween yet. She asked to dress up as Minnie, and even had opinions on which fabric to use for her bow (so I keep hearing, and so it begins...). It was so fun to see her getting excited about the pumpkin patches, the hayrides, and of course, trick or treating. We did have two funny yet somewhat traumatic incidents while we were out hitting the streets. One, her little Wal-mart princess inspired treat basket just broke open and spilled her candy all over the place. Michael mostly managed to remedy it for her, but she was so worried about putting more candy into it. The second event (and way more scary for us...) is that when we were crossing the street Kaitlin dropped her ears and went back for them. I'm still not sure exactly who a two year old surrounded by parents managed to dart back into the street in front of a car...but you get the gist. The oncoming car was thankfully really mindful of kids that night and stopped with room to spare, but it just about gave us parents a heart attack. Kaitlin was crying more from us yelling at the car to stop than from any real understanding of how scary that coud have been, but it definitely kind of killed the fun spirit of trick-or-treating. Oh well, two days later she has only good things to say about the festivities!



Halloween 2008




Kaitlin helping carve the jackolantern.







Hanging out at the Holly Street Pumpkin patch. True to Kaitlin form, she has the huge big mouth smile and the twisted hair on top (which cartoon character is this reminding us of...Cindy Lou who maybe?).



Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Tag! 8 Random Habits/Facts about Me!

1. I don't get ice headaches. Trust me, I've been tested by countless friends with back to back slurpees and...nothing.

2. I am still afraid of the dark. I run from the bathroom to the bed at night and hurry to put my feet in the bed. You just never know what is lurking beneath:)

3. I think I brush my hair about 30 times a day.

4. I have never gotten a ticket.

5. I have attended 5 Star Trek Conventions. Fortunately, I have never dressed up as a Klingon to get in. My husband jokes that of course I didn't tell him this fact until after we were married.

6. I really like to start sewing projects, and then I begin cursing them toward the end and swear I will never start another project.

7. I used to hate avacados, cranberry juice, and cucumbers as a kid. As a grown-up, I can't get enough of any of them.

8. I love talking on the phone. If Colorado ever outlaws phones while driving, I'll be so bored. Safer maybe, but definitely bored.

Tag: Kathy, Valerie, Rachel, Lana, Erin, Eliza, Christa, Amanda

Here are the rules1: Each player starts with 8 random habits/facts about themselves2: People who are tagged need to write a post on their blog about their eight things and post these rules.3: At the end of the post you need to choose 8 people to get tagged and list their names.