The Sekikawa Family

Dear Anthony

2011-06-05T15:25:00.000-07:00

My Sweet Anthony,
Three already? Weren't you just born? I know it's going to get annoying at some point that I'm always saying "time really flies" or " I can't believe how fast it's gone" but I'll keep saying them anyway. You make my day every single day. My heart beats for you and Carter. I love every single second with you, even the ones that are really trying. You have accomplished so much for such a little guy in the last year. You hardly said any words by the time you were 2, and now at 3, your vocabulary is huge, and sometimes rather humorous. You've learned to wear "big boy" pants, and all that comes with that (I'll spare all the "potty" talk...wouldn't want to embarass you!) You're so smart, and very resourceful. You're always very concerned and have been since the first day of your life; I think you were born with a furrowed brow. You became a big brother this year, something I was really nervous about. You have LOVED Carter since the moment you saw him. You took to him like you've always known him, and have become the best brother. You have learned many many many songs and always love to sing them. You have learned so much at church and I know you have an increased understanding of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
I love your personality, and your demeanor. You are always doing the funniest things. You are always concerned about what's going on around you and will not settle for an answer about what's going on, you want to see/touch/hear what ever is around you. We've successfully gone through the "why" phase and sometimes revisit it. You always have to know where Carter is. If I put him down for a nap, and come back to a room empty handed, you ask where he is. If you and I walk to another room, and leave Carter, you ask me to go get him. You love to ride your bike (big wheel) and I'm sure you'll love the new one you just got for your birthday. You love to play "kitchen" and you always come up with excellent gourmet dishes. You love to "help" (when you have children of your own, you'll understand why that word is in quotes.) me with anything and everything. Especially in the kitchen, you want to help do dishes, make dinner, put away groceries... anything. You always request pancakes because it's fun for you to mix the batter, but you don't actually ever eat the pancakes. I love all the things you say like: "Fank-you for mine yay-gos." (Thank you for my legos), "Her's Firsty" (Referring to Scout being thirsty), "Yinkin Yogs" (Lincoln Logs), "Cinda-yay-a" (Cinderella). I love that you quietly sing and chatter little made up songs when you're playing by yourself. I love you're sweet little kisses, and hugs. I love you're laugh. I love when you and I exchange a good hard laugh, and we can't stop because the other can't stop. I cannot imagine a day without all of those things.
I'm so excited for you to start preschool in the fall, I know you're going to LOVE it! Although, admittedly, I am a little sad. I want you to be 3 forever. I love every moment of it. I pray everyday that I am able to teach you right from wrong, and that you'll grow up with a strong testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I pray that you'll have a strong knowledge of the gospel, and a desire to live, share and teach it. I love you and Carter with all of my heart. You are by far my greatest accomplishment in life and I love you, I love you, I love you. Happy Number 3!
Love,
Mommy

Ro-day-oh!

2010-08-29T20:53:00.000-07:00

While in SLC for the 4th of July, we went to the West Jordan Rodeo, where I, yes, I met the Mayor of West Jordan City. Which was actually comepletely uneventful, but she was a very nice lady. Anthony on the other hand was the lucky recipient of one horsey ride!He loved watching all the animals, and it was great to be right above the chutes. He was so excited to have a little horse ride, and grinned ear to ear the whole time. It was HOT that day, but we had a great time.

Anthony is 2!

2010-08-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

I can't believe he's 2! I know, I know, that's what every parent from the beginning of time has said... but seriously, HE'S 2! We had a little birthday gathering with Grandma, Grandpa, Antie Tara, Toshi and Marc and Pamela. We prepared for our party by washing the window.He got a new bike, which he loves, and often proclaims "I'm fast!" He wasn't so sure about the whole cake, singing thing, until...He realized it was for him!Luckily we didn't have to convince him this year (unlike last year) to eat his cake, and he used a fork on almost the whole thing!He loved to open presents, although was perfectly happy with the cards and balloons. At the end of the day, he was caught hiding a piece of cheese in my purse. Thank heaven he was caught, I can't imagine finding that cheese who know's when?!? Anthony had a GREAT second birthday!

Pwetty

2010-08-22T13:49:00.000-07:00

I put on a chiffon-y shirt yesterday. Anthony came up to me, climbed on my lap, pulled the sleeves out to the sides and said "pwetty." Melt my heart, my boy just said I was was pretty. I love being a mom.

Goodbye, farewell, auf wiedersehen

2010-06-14T19:16:00.000-07:00

This is mostly for my parent's who are sweating their fanny's off in Jamaica. Some random photos from their farewell party.

They've been gone 2 months already! Hear that Mama, only 16 more links to tear off on your paper chain!

Lots of friends and family...

Ah, yes, the good part... the dessert table!

And, of course, Max's magic trick! (Max, I'm still trying to figure that one out!)

And a tired little guy after a great party! Hope you enjoyed, we love you and miss you! (and as I type this and re-post the photos, Anthony keeps pointing to the first 2 photos and declaring "Nana, Pop!"

Monkey Poop

2010-06-06T13:57:00.001-07:00

Ok, so this is not the sorta thing I make it a habit to speak (or write) about, but it's far too funny not to share with the blog world (actually it mostly meant for Nana and Pop in Jamaica.) So... here it goes:
Anthony came into bed with us Saturday Morning about 6, dozed back off, then woke about an hour later. First thing he did was hop off the bed, run to the cell phone (old, but still mostly working lights), realized it was dead, brought it to me with a frown, until he spotted his little stuffed monkey. Little guy grabbed a box of baby wipes I had on my night stand, proceded to pull out most of them, that is until wonder mom interviened. I gave him 1 and asked why he needed it. He didn't say a word, but started wiping Monkey off with the wipe, then looked up at me and said "poopy." Ah, of course, monkey poop. Gross. He then took the "dirty" wipe, held it between thumb and forefinger, as far away from him as possible, and carried it to the garbage can. As soon as he dropped it in, he shook his hand off and loudly declaired "YUCKCH!"
It was the highlight of my day. Love me some two year old!

TWO!

2010-06-03T21:35:00.001-07:00

Precious Anthony,
I can't believe you're two. You amaze me everyday. You figure things out, you explore, study, examine and observe everything you come across. You are the quiet observer. You always sit back and watch other kids at play, until you can figure out where you'll fit in best, then you go for it. You're so caring. You like to swaddle your giraffe in your blanky, then tuck him in and shut the door, so no one will wake him up. You often "feed" your toy sheep and horse, sometimes dog food, sometimes "sheep" food (raisins.) You have to give not only Daddy and myself goodnight kisses, but always Scout. Sometimes getting out of a bed you're already tucked into to do so. You are so funny, always trying to make us laugh, and often declairing "I'm funny!" You LOVE to play in water. Any water. Bath, sink, squirt bottle, hose, cups, water cooler, dog's dish. DOG'S DISH! Not only do you love to play in it, but you certainly aren't shy about sharing it with Scout.

I love watching you play, you are usually very methodical in your play, and very creative. I love the attachments, that change daily, to a particular toy. Yesterday it was a toy hammer and garbage truck, today it was a piece of cheese (luckily that only lasted as long as the cheese-not long!) I love seeing you smile at me when you look up to realize I'm watching you do something. I love your laugh. I love that you love your family. You always want to be near Daddy and I and love to "talk" on the phone to Nana, Pop, Grandma, Grandpa, Papa, really anyone you choose. I love it when you ask for more milk at night, and I tell you to stay in bed, that you wait a second for the coast to be clear, then BOLT to daddy. I let you say one more nighty-night to dad, then you snuggle me all the way back to your bed. I really do want you to go to sleep, but I really do love it. I love when you come into bed with me (anytime after 6 am... before that, not so much) with your blanky in tow and climb up to snuggle, then fall back asleep. I love it when you insist on wearing your sunglasses, and will hold them on your face, because they're way too big. I love that you'll go to nursery on your own now and that you really do like it.

You are a busy body, and you go go go. You've got a great little personality. Although you are shy, once you know and trust someone, they're like your best friend. You are such a good boy and I'm so excited for you to be a big brother. I know you'll take great care of your sibling(s) and be the protector. I can't tell you how much you mean to me. You've completely changed my life and am so thankful for that. I'm so thankful that Heavenly Father sent you to us. I'm so thankful to be your mom. You are my world and I cannot imagine life any other way. Thank you for being my little buddy. Thank you for the joy you bring to our family. You are a bright bright light. Please always shine. Always remember that you are a Child of God and you will always be looked up to by your brothers or sisters. You will be an example to them forever. I love every inch of you and every second I spend with you. I know when you were born, I would just and stare at you, I still do and I always will. Amazed that you are mine. I can hardly bear the thought of you not being my two year old forever, but I know it just keeps getting better and better. I love you with all my heart and soul. Happy Second Birthday Buddy!
Love,
Mommy

Cruisin'

2010-05-30T14:28:00.000-07:00

So, I've been absent a while, eh? Well, I'll do my best to keep up, but make no promises. I mean, seriously? How do people keep up with this? Pioneer Woman... how do you have 4 kids and not just a blog, but a REALLY great blog? Wowsa. Well, Here's just a quick little update about our FABULOUS vacation with the Harts. We started off on a week long Caribbean adventure (sans kids, good call Megs, GOOD CALL!) and had an amazing time. This is a not so detailed, or chronological, or organized in any way, shape or form account of our exploits.Having a great time on our Jeep Tour in Cozumel...

Then we (and by we, I clearly mean Megan) had an excellent time mini golfing on the ship, minus the 869 million bugs and 700 mile an hour wind.

We got all gussied up for a night on the (ship?) town... Obviously Megan and I were meant to be life long friends, as you can see that neither of us thinks it one bit necessary to be serious in a photograph, no matter how dressed up you are.Although, Tony was none too amused with our shenanigans, and I paid the price dearly. Can you see the pain?After being all fancied up, we jumped in the Ocean in Grand Cayman to swim with the sting rays. This is the MOST amazing thing, ever. Should you ever get the chance to do this... DO IT! It's like no other experience you'll ever have. Look... we are friends, we do exist in the same photo!I gave my new little ocean friend a kissy, while Tony gave one a hug.Then, I thought it's been a few minutes since I've last seen the Harts...scanned the sea (of people)...wait, there they are...I can still hear it. "OVER HERE!" Not sure if they were trying to get my attention or practicing their syncronized swimming routine. Can't lie, that's my favorite sequence of pictures... EVER. Sorry guys, couldn't resist.
Then... The unthinkable happened; Megan conqured her fear, BIG fear of sea creatures and snuggled up to one. Until it realized she didn't have food. And clearly she thinks the poor creature thinks she IS the food.

Hmmm, yep, no order this post. (sorta poetic, given my orderless life) Here we are back in Cozumel. We took an awesome Jeep tour (good call again Hart's) and had so much fun on that. We got to take a jeep around the whole island.We did have a little pit stop, clearly marked for what the pit stops purpose served. Hmmm.Then, on our way back to the ship, I think I may have said something along the lines of "I wonder how Scout is..." So, Tony took the liberty of doing a great Scout impression, and licked me right upside the face. Nice babe, nice. More time on the ship... On the way to dinner. It was so fun to sit and eat dinner with great friends every night for a whole week. Especially friends that you only get to have dinner with when one of travels a long way to do so. Megan's display of the desserts, that I can barely talk about with out feeling sick because I ate WAY too much of it!See anything wrong with this picture...?Our last few hours with the Harts, we spent in Coral Gable, FL, which was an AWESOME little place, right next to Miami. Loved every minute of this trip and really really really hope we get to do it again someday. (May be a while now...) More to come... My little guy turns 2 tomorrow. Can't hardly believe.

Where have I been?

2010-02-14T14:21:00.000-08:00

Before my rather ridiculouslylongwinded update, I would like to say Happy Valentines Day to my one and only Valentine. I saw a picture of the heart below that a fellow blogger had taken and posted on her blog. She said it was taken at the end of Pier 39. We were headed to San Fran just a few weeks after I saw this, so when we were there, I thought I'd wander over to the banister to see if it was still there, or even findable. I walked up to the old wood railing, and it's the first thing I saw. I love you, Tony. You're the best Valentine a girl could ask for. Ok, well for starter, our hard drive crashed, in the midst of the holiday's, so that was not our first priority, aparently neither was it the first priority of my computer technician. And I started a new job, which takes up all my blogging time, I mean I barely have time to take a restroom break, let alone blog. Third, I have an-almost two year old, which actually over-rides excuses one and two. So, with that said, here's what Bug-Man, Wonder Baby and myself have been up to since my last update. The Hart's came to Vegas to visit, and sadly for them we didn't let them out of our house. Sorry guys. Really, I am. They came for an amazing purpose (not just our annual get-together; Vegas Style) and I still (4 months later) cannot wrap my head around their visit. If I ever find words of gratitude for them, they'll be first to know. Tony asked Chris to baptize him while they were here, and it was truely the most amazing experience I have been witness to. For me, mountains were moved, and I really will never find the right words to express my gratitude for my friends. Thank you.

Since I didn't really let them leave the house, however, there are not many photos to document the whole trip, except for this adorable little photo of the munchkins in the tub together. Neither of them had ever shared a tub, so neither of them was quite sure what to do. Addie splashed, Wonder Baby took cover. It was pretty funny. We literally went out to dinner once, then had a house full of people the next day, after the baptism, then that night, for the UFC fight. The next day was church and relax, then they had to go home. So... HART'S... if you're out there...Please forgive us... Please come back again in October (it wouldn't be October with out you)... Please, Please, Please!After the Hart's visit, we had Halloween. Here's my (little) Tony (THE only time I will EVER call him Tony) the Tiger. He loved his little Tiger Costume. And after the first few houses, really got the whole concept of Trick-or-Treating. Although adults in costume totally freaked him out, he loved running from house to house. We went to the Pumpkin Patch and picked one out, took it home, gutted it, carved it, lit a candle, set it on the table, then threw it away after 2 days. FUN!And Spooky!Shortly after Halloween, we had a gold party, where our friends came to sell their old unwanted gold. This really wasn't all that evenful, other than we got to dress Homeboy up to model the goods. It's the Mr. T starter kit. I pitty da fool!Then in November, we played in the dog run.And then... THIS guy... this dear, sweet, hansome, loving Bug-Man, MY Bug-Man took me to San Francisco for my first 29th birthday. Just the two of us. For 3 whole days. I SLEPT IN for 2 days in a row. Oh, it was delightful. We wandered around Union Square, We visited The Rock, which is where dear, sweet, loving Bug-Man, MY dear, sweet, loving Bug-Man threated to leave me had I not shaped up.Luckily I did (bringing you this blog update, aren't I?)We wandered Pier 39, ate Trish's doughnuts, walked down to Fisherman's Wharf, got dressed up(ish), and ate great food, shopped, and again, did I mention the sleeping in part? It was such an awesome trip, and I love my husband so much for wisking me away, on a romantic little weekend. Thanks love!We went to a little Christmas get-together with friends, where Wonder Baby got to be Rudolph. He makes a good one, doesn't he?Then we headed to Salt Lake City to see my family and spend Christmas with them (and maybe sneak in a little snowboarding). Anthony LOVES to see and play with his aunts, uncles and cousins. We wish we saw them every week!He loves Pop, and I'm pretty confident that feeling is mutal.I got to have a little snuggle with my hansome husband, and while my sneaky little big sister was fondling my precious Canon, she gave it back to me with this:Oh, honestly, Angie... We can do better than that...hand it over.But then she recruited Ben, and we sadly, sadly lost this battle. We raised the white flag and surrendered. Well played you two.Christmas morning, we took Anthony sledding at my elementary school.He liked it, despite the photo below, he just had to take cover from the cold white stuff coming his way... he doesn't get to see much of that.After the first run down the hill, he spotted the playground and couldn't have cared less about the dumb sled... there was a SLIDE! He went down forward...backward, forward, backward, for....well, you get my drift (get it...drift, snow?!? Ha... man I crack me up).Then we bundled up... Really bundled up, it was like 14 degrees, and headed to Temple square to see the lights. I LOVE LOVE LOVE doing this, and haven't for several years. It was SO beautiful. We were joined by our great friends, The Harts (picture taken where they got engaged) and froze our hind parts almost off (not quite, though, darn it... my hind part is still there.)But it was worth every last shiver. Because THIS:It is breath-taking. It gets prettier every time I see it. There were different nativities all around, to illustrate different cultures, and I fell in love with the Japanese one. It's too cute with the little pagoda style manger and all the cute little slanty eyes. I want one living room display size for my house... Anyone? Anyone? No?... Oh, well.Then, we headed back to Vegas to have a little Christmas celebration with the Sekikawa's. Anthony now has more toys than some countries. Seriously. He loves all of them and loved opening the presents. Thanks everyone for your generosity. Then, New Years rolled around, and what better way to celebrate than having a little frosting, right off the beater? There's only one thing better;Sharing it with your dog. I'll try to be a little better with the updates, sorry peeps! Hope this is good for now...

The End.

ZIon-October 2009

2009-12-15T21:28:00.000-08:00

Hello! No, I didn't fall off the face of the planet. I'm still here. Just been a tad bit busy. Sorry, again for neglecting you. I'm back tracking a bit to October and our annual trip to Zion National Park. Oh, The Desert Pearl Inn, how I missed you. We set up shop early Friday morning and headed out for a little hike. With Anthony in the baby backpack (thanks, Jana!) we headed to Emerald Pools. Here's my handsome honey.I gotta say, being on the inside of a waterfall is pretty spectacular.I realize this photo is a little blown out, but it's the only one I got of my little family on our adventures.And the Bone's with Wonder Baby. And a little Franny thrown in the mix.Then we ran into this little guy... Hello little guy! I made Bug Man put his foot next to this furry eight legged friend so you have an idea of the size of the spiders in Zion. He was just moseying along, trying to get to the other side of the trail, not bothering anybody (save for myself). The next morning we travelled a little way down to Grafton, a little ghost town, consisting of a school/church, a few little houses, our motorcade/entourage, serious-faced Bug Mana few goofy kids...Wait...Everybody's leaving me...in a ghost town. Hang on, gotta run to catch up to them.Also spotted in Grafton: my sister's hiney. (Sorry seester...I had to:)There's also this tiny little cemetary there, next to this little hill that everyone hiked up, Erwin and Drewby...Everybody wave!Of Course, this is where ol' Cedar Pete is buried.Pop and Wonder Baby had a grand ol' time together. That baby does not let his Pop out of his sight. Ever.
Ok, so this is pretty cool... my parents met a man, and I don't remember how, who said "Hey, come check out my cool toys if ever you're on the road to Grafton." We happened to be on that road, so we stopped to see his cool toys. His garage is every adult male's playground. He's got all kinds of stuff. He and his team/family set the land speed record, and are the current land speed record holders. Here's the latest vehicle he was working on.This one is the current record holder. It has a helicopter engine in it...how cool is that?!?You can read all about them here!
Then, of course back to the pool for a little fun! That's about all we did. Hike, Pool, and eat. I love our annual Zion trip, and would like to give a shout out to the sponsor of such luxury. Thanks Ma and Pa! I love you!

Katie's Wedding Food and Paper

2009-10-31T21:24:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, it doesn't seem logical to put food and paper in the same post, but stick with me, I won't lead you astray. It all comes together in my evil plot to blend the 2 worlds of culinary deliciousness and papery paperness. Have I lost you? Don't feel bad, I think I lost myself when I titled this post. But come along, and we'll journey through this one together! I have a little side gig that I call The Paper Giraffe. Most of y'all know that already. I do custom invitations. Wedding, baby or bridal shower, birthday...basically anything you'd invite a person to... I'm on it. Because I held Katie in a head lock and forced her to let me do her invitations, and really she had no choice in the matter, I also got to do her bridal shower invites and her rehearsal dinner invites. Unfortuately due to unforseen circumstances, the rehearsal dinner invites will not make an appearance in this post. Maybe another day. It was so fun for me to see a paper project for one event all the way through. As a result, everything was cohesive. All the paper coordinated, and I got a little bit of artistic liberty (again, because I had Katie in head lock) which was so great. Not to metion it was a seriously fun shower.Thanks again, Mama for letting me take over your house. Here is the wedding invitation.Isn't that picture so cute. They really are a darnit cute couple.I love that green paper, they call the patern "regalia." Doesn't that sound so...so...so...regal?!?The two inserts in there are Map & Directions and additional information about the ceremony.Now, you may at this point be asking yourself "Self, what does any of this have to do with food?" And speaking of food... here's some of it. I don't know how I missed getting pictures of all the food, but here's what I did get, and what I do know is that it was SO good.This was a bruscetta. I like to say brew-shet-a. My sister-in-law, Jill went on a mission to Italy and says brew-sket-a. I know she's right, but you can't teach this old dog new tricks. Sorry Jill, I will continue to embarass you! Anyway, it had a thin slice of fresh mozzerella (don't even get me started on the pronunciation of this one...it could last for days...) and some coarsly chopped avocado in it. It was mighty fine. And a spring salad that was good, but the honey dijon dressing...there just aren't words. And if you're still asking yourself what the food and paper are doing in the same post...here is where it all comes together. The universe will make sense again! There were cards for each dish, stating what they were, in an adorable (my opinion, of course) matchy-matchy kinda way.Then there was great fresh fruit and other goodies to douse in the chocolate covered fountain. One picture I didn't get, that I really wish I had was of about 5 young kids literally dripping in chocolate. Down their mouths, shirts, pants and hands. I'm sure their parents were none too happy, but I got a kick out of it.Then, Katie did the cutest "Candy Bar" with different candies, all in her colors. It was so cute, and delicious too.She wanted a sign that said "How sweet it is to be loved by you" All together now... "Awwwwwww....."It really was a great detail.We stamped these Chinese take-out boxes with a cute design and "P" and on the opposite side, it said "Thank-You" So the guest filled their own candy boxes and took those as their favors. It was really a beautiful event and I, again, am so thankful I was asked to be a part of it. I had so much fun not only participating, but having the chance to do all the paper. I loved every minute of it.Enjoy!

I Scream, You Scream...

2009-10-21T11:15:00.000-07:00

We all scream for Ice Cream! Wonder Baby enjoyed a delicious ice cream cone on Sunday, his first. I know, I know, yes, I went ALL summer without giving the poor kid one ice cream cone, but believe me, he didn't go hungry. At all. He loved every second of this little Rocky Road wonder and gobbled one side all the way down. His silly mother tried to intervene to show him that he needed to TURN the cone to enjoy the other side. He threw a fit, held the cone as far away from me as he could and ran. I finally sat next to him to show him I wasn't trying to take it away, only help. Don't think he cared. He was perfectly happy to munch down only one side.

I'm sorry for the poor quality of this picture, just had to add that he is the BEST helper. Here he is assisting his Grandpa with bringing in the drinks for dinner. What a good boy.

Here Comes the Bride...

2009-10-05T21:25:00.000-07:00

Oh, it was such a fun day... came and went so fast! Here is lovely Miss Bride, getting her hair done.

She got married at Heritage Gardens, in SLC, and it was beautiful! I never even knew the place existed and my, oh, my is it pretty!Here is the garden, and waterfall.And set up for the ceremony. Below is Alyssa, Levi's (the groom) daughter, just a-waiting for the show!Now, really I apologize for the quality of this photo...it came from my iPhone, and HOW, you ask, HOW did I not get a picture of just the bride in all her full, beautiful, bridal, bridalness? I don't have a reasonable, good, or even ANY real excuse for this, sorry. But, isn't she pretty?So, at this point, I turned my camara over to my mama, Franny, to get some pics of the ceremony. That was a great idea, in theory, but the execution... not so much. You see, I didn't actually take one single second to change my aperature, tell her anything about my super-fantastic zoom lens, or any of that non-sense. So, you see, the result is...well...you'll see.She spotted the Harts, waiting for the show, but apparently they didn't know. Just goes to show you, you never know just who's watching, like Franny, for instance. I can hear it now... "Ha-arts!" "Who...us?" Oh, sorry, gotta get back to my duties... Here's Tyson, Levi's son. Handsome little devil, isn't he?and the man of the hour... Mr. Groom!Bridesmaid #1, Liz. Yours truely...Blurry flower girls. But... notice the artistic spin she put on this one, focus on the plant, blurred the cute girls just a smidge... yeah, we won't blame Franny, we'll say she was going for "an artistic perspective." Mmm, hmm.Waiting for the star of the show, and her lovely escort.and, with the plant in the foreground... (wow, Franny, artsy!)And there they are folks... just come a little closer, please!Awww, there they are. Doesn't she look beautiful?A squeeze to her daddy. She's the baby, the last one to fly the coup. Well, she actually flew the coup, long ago, but she's the last to get hitched. The ceremony was so nice. Clark (the officiant, who lives doors away from my parents) said some really beautiful things to them, and kept is short, simple and sweet. Asked them if they did? And they do! Did? Will? Hmmm. Katie gave Levi a ring, then turned her head to flash a smile to those watching her get her pretty sparkler.And then, a nice BIG kiss. There they are, offically Husband and Wife! Then this cute little guy came walkin' down. He was the best ring-bearer!And Tyson and Alyssa.Here's Katie's mom, Judy. Katie looks nothing like her. Nothing. Ok, let's just say that if Katie ever wonders what she'll look like when she's her mom's age... this is IT. And behind Judy is Jack, Katie's step-dad. I made the mistake of asking Jack to dance with me. Thinking I was doing something nice. Oh, no...no, no, no. Jack, apparently IS a dancer. He wore in out in 10 seconds flat. I was huffing and puffing and dripping...and I run in 5 miles a day, I thought I was in shape. Don't they look a little more relaxed, now? It's a done deal! Please note, the little girl in pink, in the background, stripping. A little wedding exhibitionist. Here I am, talking to Megs, post ceremony. You may think that I'm wiping a tear, because I was so moved by the commitment that was just made. Sorry, not me. Remember, I don't cry. I have, and I will (maybe someday) but for the most part, I just don't. It was windy, maybe there was something in my eye. Havin' a little chat with Megs.And, giving my parent's a little squeeze.Here's Franny, now in front of the camara. Showing us a sampling of the delicious food. Which, by the way, will get it's very own post. All by it's self! Mmm, food post.The cake was so cute. And delicious. Again, I post the question...who can resist cute food? Who?Here's the sassy-pants bride, checking out the cake.And Franny and Jack...taking a little break.Then...at the end the end of pictures, after the ceremony, just at the perfect time... a little rain. Really, like 7 drops. Just enough to say it rained on her wedding day. It's good luck you know! Who gets a rainbow on their wedding day? Well, if we were in Vegas, I'd say NOBODY, because it NEVER rains here. But, Katie... she got one!

Then, I put the camara away and danced, danced, danced. It was SO much fun and so beautiful. I got to see some old friends and made some new. It was really a great day, and I'm so glad that Katie and Levi allowed me to be a part of it! They left for Mexico and I'm dying to hear all about it. Well, it was a honeymoon, so maybe not ALL about it. So, CONGRATS to the newlyweds!

Wedding Rehearsal Dinner

2009-10-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

So, this wasa the night before the big day! Katie and Levi had their rehearsal dinner at her dad's house, which I have not set foot in since we were in high school. I rang the doorbell and when Mary Jane, Katie's step-mom, answered the door she didn't recognize me for a minute. It didn't take long, but it's been over ten years since I've been there.I told her I felt weird ringing the doorbell, because I practically lived there, had a key, the alarm code, and a chair at their dinner table. Oh, how I've missed that house. The views, the views are second to none. You can see all the way north, south and west. They sit right on the mountain side, so all you can see to the east is a big fat mountain. The backyard was just redone for the blessed occasion and it looked great. I had to wander around the entire place to take pictures, just in case it's another 10 years before I get back.In the midst of my wandering I was so preoccupied with my camara, when I took it away from my face for 3 seconds, I saw this little guy sitting RIGHT in front of me. I'm telling you... 10 steps, and Peter Cottontail was my pet. He just sat there, and starred. I starred, he starred, he didn't move so much as a whisker. I started to think he was a lawn decoration, so I casually took a step toward him...and hop...hop... hop away, he did. so long, bunny.Like I said, the views... to the North.To the South.Here's the groom, cool as a cucumber. Really...can anyone help me with that phrase? I mean, after a little refridgeration, maybe, but are they always cool?The lovely couple. They look so peaceful, so calm, no cold feet (unlike the cucumber) and just happiness to be together.My homegirl and me. Yep, I just said homegirl. Don't we look like homegirls? We are pretty fly. Did I just say fly? I've offically lost it.
This photo doesn't even do the sky justice. It was blue skies and warm all day, then just as we finished eating, the wind picked up a bit and we got this beautiful pink and grey sky. It was truely breathtaking. So... Tomorrow's the big day! (Ok, so it was really like 2 weeks ago, but play along, please!)

Dandy Halloween Giveaway!

2009-10-02T09:22:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'll confess... I am a.d.d.i.c.t.e.d to reading blogs. Sad, but true. This cute girl found me somehow, and in turn, I've started following her blog. She's having a cute Halloween giveaway, so I thought I'd share the love. Enjoy!

Now I know where I get it...

2009-09-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

Wedding post to come...promise!

But first, I thought I should give all y'all a glimpse into my life. I've had a few moments, of...uh...let's just say "less smart" moments in my life. I remember a mere 10 or so years ago, being SO bothered by ditsy people. People who just didn't think things through. Oh, the irony. I am the queen, leader, 1st place winner of the that entire collection of people. All hail Queen Ditsy. Yep, that me. I tell you you this to bring awareness to this growing problem in America, and I'll start with some examples.

First: a few months ago, my less-than-amused Bug Man husband was none too pleased with me about having to fork over $500 for a new garage door. You see, I learned EARLY one morning that backing out of the garage BEFORE opening it is in fact a bad idea. Oops.

Next: A perk of my father-in-law working for Delta Airlines for 30someodd years is that his children get flight benefits for life, and their spouses... endless buddy passes. It's great, really it is, ok, who am I kidding. The idea of it is great, unfortunately, if you don't have a lot of flexibility in travel times, it can be a bit of a pain. The super-good perk of it, though, is that if you do get on a flight and it's relatively empty, you can be put in first class. Aw, the life of a first class passenger. I left one day for SLC, hoping to not only get on a flight, but to sit in a first class seat, so I could later brag about it. Sitting there...waiting...they call my name! YES! I'm on! SCORE! OK, I called Tony to let him know I got on, and he asked if I was in first class. I dunno, how do you tell? He asked "What's your seat number?" My reply? Uh... One, Oh, E. Tony: babe, you mean TEN E? Yep, I'm a genius.

I've been trying to come up with a valid excuse for my behavior, and there just isn't one. UNTIL today... my mother called me at work, while she and my dad were driving to Oregon, and I learned that such behavior is genetic.

You see, my dad's car needed to be serviced before the trip and so my mom took it in. Called him and asked "lube, oil and filter, right?" Dad says yes, they hang up. She calls back a few minutes later "synthetic oil?" Dad says whatever the manufacturer recommends. Got it. Third phone call "You'll never believe what I did!" At this point, I'm not gonna lie, I'm thinking she put windex in the oil or something like that, but no, she confesses "I got the wrong car serviced." That's right, she took HER own car in, instead of my dads. I feel so much better. Thanks mom.

The beginning of the end and a PSA

2009-09-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

Labor Day to me is a monumental holiday as it marks the beginning of the end of hideous, horrible, hot, hated heat. Don't get me wrong, it's still quite warm, even over 100 degrees, but...the end is near! It was actually nice enough to step outside of our air-conditioned caves and get some fresh air. We BBQ'd at the park with friends. It was lovely. Good ol' BBQ food, and some Phillipino fair too. Hmmm, here we have some Lumpia. They're like tiny little egg-rolls. Wonder Baby ate about 43 of them. And he stood here and patiently waited for a 44th.Pamela skipped the food and went straight for the s'more cookie (more on that later.)Here's Marc, he's the grill master. Bug-Man .Here's Marvin, he's Dianne's husband. Dianne is my friend and co-worker. If you ever have a chance to work with her...take it. She's a laugh a minute. There's a filter that most people are born with, some people's work better than others, but let's be honest, Dianne didn't stand in the "filter" line in heaven. She was too busy standing in the "pretty" line. She's pretty. Filtered, no. You just NEVER know what Dianne's going to say next. That's what we love about her. Well, that and she'd give you the shirt off her back, or do anything for you. Here she is, loving Wonder Baby to pieces. Dianne and I have grown to place with each other of not just finishing each others sentances, but KNOWING exactly what the other is trying to say, when we just can't quite articulate.

She just always know's what I'm trying to say. Here's Marley. He was the smallest little guy there. And Scout, taking a little break at the watering hole. Between Ramsey, the sheep dog, and Scout the moose, poor Marley was soaked by the end of the day. That's the problem with being the shortest dog in class.Wonder Baby has a little fetish with dog dishes. He loves to splash in the water, or help Scout by placing her food in her water dish. Helpful...right?Wonder Baby was trying to have fun with Marley, but Marley was happy in the security of Pamela's lap. Auntie Dianne and Auntie P were keeping Anthony quite entertained. He was laughing so hard at these two.This little guy, Kyle, was so cute with Anthony, he played and played with him. He was showing Anthony how to blow the "fur" off the dandilions, and how to ride his scooter. Here are some of the boys, doing boy stuff.

And Wonder Baby trying to keep up.Ok, so on a more serious note... Here's Kylie, and below her sister Abigail. These two little, emphasis on little, girls were hit by a car a few weeks ago. Yes, you heard (read?) correctly, HIT by a car, the car, no, the SUV ran OVER Kylies legs (who weighs 60 lbs, at 10 years old) and then HIT Abigail, who is a mere 38 lbs before coming to a stop. By only an amazing miracle are these two ok, apart from deep bruising, a fractured collar bone, and lots of scrapes and bruises. I know they were being watched out for. They are in great spirits, considering what they've been through. SO... here's your PSA for the day: (in a calm, loving tone of voice) please I beg you, put all your focus back on the road. So many times I am distracted by phone, radio, billboards, baby, you name it... and this was a huge, big fat, giant, reminder to refocus myself whist driving.

Thank You... the end.

Rocky Mountain High

2009-09-08T21:21:00.000-07:00

Harry: I expected the Rocky Mountains to be a little rockier than this. Lloyd: I was thinking the same thing. That John Denver's full of it, man.
Sorry, that's what I think about everytime I drive up to the mountains. I know we're not actually in The Rocky Mountains, but who can resist an opportunity to bring Dumb and Dumber into a blog post?
A couple of weeks ago, my fantastic husband took a Saturday off, GASP. That happens ever-so-rarely so we took full advantage. Summers are hot around here, no secret there. End of August is usually about 100 degrees-ish. This particular Saturday there was excessive heat warnings all over the place, so we decided to ESCAPE that nonsense. While 110 in town, lovely Mt. Charleston is a DELIGHTFUL 75 degrees. Yes, a 35 degree difference. I was surprised there weren't a million people up there. We'll just call it our little secret.
We drove up to the ski resort (coming from Salt Lake City, Utah, which boasts the greatest snow on earth, I can't help but laugh at calling it a ski resort) and parked and had us some lunch. He's hot. Like a fine wine, gets better with age. Just kidding babe, I know you don't age. Note to self, don't ever let anyone take a photo of you a. eating b. from below you. I'm just sayin'. Just some good ol' Subway sandies. We've vowed to be a little more preparred for our next mountain adventure, which will include a home-made picnic. Someone was very thirsty. Don't worry Wonder Baby, we'll wait for you to finish that Coke.Done? Ok, moving on. This was right where we parked. We knew nothing of the trails, length, difficulty, etc, so we got out the jogging stroller and took off up this trail. It was funny. ROCKY, and funny to watch Wonder Baby's cheeks jiggle. He laughed a couple of times at the jiggling, then he wasn't so sure what to think about it. We didn't make it too far, before we ditched the hiking, for something a little more stroller friendly.Look at that view. Trees? In Vegas? Who knew?Scout loved it. Behind Tony is one of the trails and half pipe for the ski resort. Any of you Utah skiiers/snowboarders planning a trip to Vegas now, just for the stellar boarding? No? Come on...LOOK at that half pipe. Ok, we'll come there. Twisted our arms.Please note the little kid RUNNING towards us. I though his parents were maybe up ahead of us and he was trying to catch up with them. We were stopped lazily on the trail and as soon as he approached I turned around and said "you can pass us." He looked at me and said, "do you know if there are bathrooms up here?" ME: "Uh, probably not. Try the campground or ski area?" Kid: "Ok, thanks." Then he ran in the other direction. Was he trying to reach us just to ask us that? What the heck? So, after our "hike" we drove back down to Lower Lee Meadows. Seriously, that's all it is. A meadow.See?So, we took shelter under this shade tree, and I proceeded to teach my child how to dig in the dirt with a stick.Good mom, aren't I? Well, he tired of that pretty quickly, so we spent the rest of the afternoon following Wonder Baby while he wandered the meadow. He climbed, put tree bark, pineneedles, rocks, sticks, probably ants, any other mountain meadow findings in his mouth. Was fun! Like I said, next time... WAY better prep. He loved climbing on all the fallen trees and logs.Scout love to sniff, sniff, sniff. Like any good dog would.Then, when the log got boring, we opted to climb what other than...his stroller. Who needs nature when you have your stroller?See? We do exist in the same photo... not very often.The End.

Wedding Teasers...

2009-09-04T07:23:00.000-07:00

I'm a sucker for a wedding. When I got married, I spent all my spare time working in a bridal salon because I had to surround my self with all things wedding. Funny enough, those bridal store peeps became my Las Vegas family. So, of course when Katie called to tell me she was engaged, what did I do? I politely told her congratulations and then dropped the polite-ness and started ordering her around. "You WILL fly to Vegas to look for a gown." "You WILL have your shower at my parents house." "You WILL let me boss you around and do everything I say." "You WILL let me do your invitations." You get the picture right? Are any of you considering not being my friend anymore? I swear I did all of this "ordering" with a smile. and maybe a whip.The funny thing... she willing submitted. She should know by now, my bark is bigger than my bite. She let me come to her fitting, and I got some great pictures, but for fear that Levi, Katie's fiance, is a dedicated blog reader (man, I crack myself up...) I can only post teasers. He cant see her in her full beautiful bridal-ness now... 2 weeks before the big day. So, I can only leave you these teasers. Sorry. Wait, just wait until I get to do full posting of all the full bridal-ness in all her bridal glory. She looks SO beautiful. And the wedding... it's gonna be so nice. I can't wait. I'm a sucker for a wedding. See, it even makes me repeat myself. She even asked me to be her "Matron of Honor." That's the nicest gesture, and that's the type of position where I can carry a whip and order people around, right? I'm gonna get my hair done, and a nice mani/pedi, put my pretty dress on, then start ordering people around. Bwa ha ha.
So, with only two weeks away, please don't leave me because of all my wedding rambling. I have a lot more, A. LOT. But it's going to be SO worth it. So... come back real soon, k?

Dorfus Pottysprinkles

2009-08-26T08:20:00.000-07:00

Now, you should know this came to me in an email and I'm not one to post about an email, that seems silly, but after I read my friend who was the sender of said email's name, I couldn't help but share this with the world. (Or the 2 people that may read this blog on occasion.) I promise this is so worth the laugh. I, for the record, am Boobie Chickenhead, but the person that sent this to me (who I miss dearly, as I have not laughed nearly as hard as I did with her) is named Dorfus Pottysprinkles and I dedicate this post to her. Love You!

The following is excerpted from a children's book, Captain Underpants And the Perilous Plot Professor Poopypants, by Dave Pilkey, in which the evil Professor forces everyone to assume new names... So:-

1. Use the third letter of your first name to determine your New first name:

a = snickle

b = doombah

c = goober

d = cheesey

e = crusty

f = greasy

g = dumbo

h = farcus

i = dorky

j = doofus

k = funky

l = boobie

m = sleezy

n = sloopy

o = fluffy

p = stinky

q = slimy

r = dorfus

s = snooty

t = tootsie

u = dipsy

v = sneezy

w = liver

x = skippy

y = dinky

z = zippy

2. Use the second letter of your last name to determine the first half of your new last name:

a = dippin

b = feather

c = batty

d = burger

e = chicken

f = barffy

g = lizard

h = waffle

i = farkle

j = monkey

k = flippin

l= fricken

m = bubble

n = rhino

o = potty

p = hamster

q = buckle

r = gizzard

s = lickin

t = snickle

u = chuckle

v = pickle

w = hubble

x = dingle

y = gorilla

z = girdle

3. Use the third letter of your last name to determine the second half of your new last name:

a = butt

b = boob

c = face

d = nose

e = hump

f = breath

g = pants

h = shorts

i = lips
j = honker

k = head

l = tush

m = chunks

n = dunkin

o = brains

p = biscuits

q = toes

r = doodle

s = fanny

t = sniffer

u = sprinkles

v = frack

w = squirt

x = humperdinck

y = hiney

z = juice

So...what's your new name???

Wonder Baby Plays...

2009-08-25T09:58:00.000-07:00

Post Script: Reading back over the title made me think of the line in Oceans 13 where Matt Damon has on that ghastly nose prosthetic and says "The nose plays, oh the nose plays." Funny. I love those movies.
And plays, and plays and plays. You get the idea right? This was in SLC at the famous Sunday Dinner. I was sitting at the table after eating, in my food coma, when I hear one of the girls behind me. "Aunt Mollie, you gotta come look at AJ." Sidenote - I had such good intentions to call Wonder Baby "A.J." When he was born, Anthony just seemed too big of a name for such a little guy, plus it just didn't FEEL right. I would've called him Jack, but Bug Man about has a coronary when I bring that up, so I settled on AJ. I even called him that in a few blog posts. It never stuck. Eventually I came around to calling him Anthony, when I'm not calling him one of my made up pet names, and it finally sounds and feels like his name and now when I hear someone (my family) call him AJ, I don't really like it. But, I can't take it back now because I started it all. What's a girl to do? I digress, back to the girls calling for me to come look. They had somehow negotiated a sweet deal with this black cat to sit still while Wonder Baby checked him out. It was really quite adorable. He's so used to his 100+ lb. chocolate lab, that any other animal, he thinks he can lay on, squeeze, pull various apendages, etc. The most shocking part is that Wonder Baby was done before the poor cat was. I have a friend (who I've sadly lost touch with... Dori, you out there?) who named their cat "Poor Kitty" for various reasons, but I always cracked up at that. Poor Kitty.Then Eliza started chasing the baby around, waving her fists at him, which he thought was THE funniest thing he'd ever seen. Laughing, Laughing, Laughing. It was so entertaining. He formed an attachment to this basket, which is the same size as him, and held on to it for dear life. I have no greater joy than hearing my child laugh, and giggle and squeal.And look at that smile. I think these two wore each other out.I love those chubby fingers, barely there hair, squishy cheeks, ok, ok, ok, so I'm a LITTLE bias, but come on, look at him.How can you not?He loves playing at Nana and Pop's house.What is it with babies being chased, they run, giggle, pause so you can get them, tickle them and put them back down to run and chase again.We had a grand ol' time.And by we I mean Anthony and Eliza. I was a mere spectator.With a camara.*Heart Melts* Then a little spinning. What is it with babies and spinning?Dizzy.Man, I love these kiddos.

Martha Who?!?

2009-08-19T07:54:00.000-07:00

That Martha lady's got nothin' on us. (Martha, if you're reading this, I didn't mean it. You're the best.) While I was in Utah, My great friend Megan and I threw our friend Katie a bridal shower. Here's Katie below, she's getting married. Isn't she purdy. We've been friends since we were little ones. Well, if I'm being honest, I was never little. I'm 5' 11" and I have been since I was 4. But we were quite young, anyway.

This is Megan. She moved into our neighborhood when she was 6 and we've been great friends ever since. She's Martha Stewart incarnate. I'm telling you, she sews, she cooks, she crafts, she blogs, and she's a mom. She made the decorations for this shin-dig. They were the cutest darnit things ever. The perfect accent.The food, oh, the food. Does anyone recognize a pattern when I post about a party. FOOD FIRST. We wouldn't want to hurt it's feelings. We put Jack to work at the grill. Chicken marinated in italian dressing. I recommend cooking on foil, otherwise you get blackened chicken, which was not what we were going for here. Of course, Jack already knew that because he's the best. EVER. We kept it pretty simple. Chicken, Watermelon, Summer Spinach Salad and Chicken and Grape Pasta Salad. The Summer Spinich Salad was my creation. In an attempt to recreate the Summer Salad from Yard House (have you tried it? Seriously, go there now. Eat it. You'll never be the same.) I came up with this, which is close, but no cigar. It's still pretty good though. It's consists of: Spinach, oranges, avocados, strawberries, sunflower seeds, gorgonzola and the best dressing I can find for it is Gerrard's White Balsamic. Oh, my is it ever tasty. Great, now I'm hungry. I'll be right back.I'm back, thanks for waiting. Here is Meg's pasta salad that I've been sitting by the phone for weeks now, waiting for the recipe. (Just kidding Megs, no rush, you've got a lot going on right now.) It was so good. Spiral pasta, grapes, celery (a sure fire way to my heart), cashews...other stuff? Don't remember, but I do remember that I must eat it again. Soon. Watering hole. (Can you use the word 'hole' on a post about a bridal shower? Seems wrong.) Tracy, Megan's mom, made her famous Lemeon Acid to drink.However, because you can't use the word 'acid' at a bridal shower (or hole) she called it Lemon Ice, just for us. For the non-adventurous types, just some plain ol' water. I love water, drink about 3 liters a day. Spend a lot of time in the ladies room. Ok, now I'm positive you can't talk about THAT in a bridal shower post, I'm just sayin'...Ok, so the food part in my opinions is just a formality in order to get to dessert. Here's the dessert table. We had plenty o' sweets. Chocolate cupcakes, Vanilla Cupcakes, We found the bling for the cupcakes the night before, thanks to Megan and her creativity. I never would have thought to find GIANT diamond rings for the cupcakes. Gook thinkin' Meg. Plus we had a REALLY good time goofing off at the party store with our husbands and children in tow, just like we were 12 again. Except for the husbands and children part...we knew nothing of that when we were 12.I made some cake pops, with the help of one lovely Bikini-clad baking assistant. Could have done it with out her. Thanks Puhmella.Aren't they cute? Who can resist cute food, who? Nobody, that's who.

The decor... was perfect. My Mama had everything perfect on her patio. Her chairs painted, pots planted, pergola built, lawn mowed, tables set up, table clothes made, hurricanes ready. I tell ya, she worked like a slave on my behalf. I really appreciated it too! It was perfect.Her patio really is the perfect place for a sumer evening gathering. Shaded under the big pine trees, creek running through the back, twinkle lights, etc. When I first told her I was throwing a shower, I told her I wanted to do it at a cool, swanky hotel or something. Just to be different. I've been to a lot of punch and cookies type showers (no offense to you punch and cookie types, really) and I really wanted to do something DIFFERENT. This turned out to be THE perfect setting. Thanks to my mama and her out-door genius. And her in-door genius. Ok, she's just a genius all around.Truth be told, she might have been happy to have an excuse to crack the whip on the pergola getting done.I'd say it came out nicely. Good work Jack and Eric, good work. I decided to cross the creek to get the party from a different angle, and zoomed on Megs and told her to smile. (Sorry Megs, I had to put this in here.) If ANYONE can tell me WHAT she's doing, I'd really appreciate it. Wonder Baby isn't quite old enough to stand and urinate like boys do, but I think this is kind of what it looks like. I think. (Sorry, urinate is probably on the list of non-shower approriate words...)Megs, you're at a BRIDAL shower for crying out loud, what are you doing? Maybe a boy is in the works for you on round 2.Here's the across the creek (pronounced KR-EE-K...if anyone of you say KR-ICK, please get out. No, not really, please don't leave, I beg you.) photo. Isn't her yard pretty? Please note Jack in the apron in the way way way back. Remember how I said he's the best. EVER.?!? He just blends into the backgound and does as he's told. Most the time. Love you dad!Out the patio door...We had a good time.I saw OLD friends, and met new friends, and took pictures (sorry it's so dark...havn't edited yet...I was too anxious to get it on the blog), and enjoyed the scenery.I love celebrating marriage, babies, friends, family, really anything. Doesn't hurt that cake is usually involved. It was fun to celebrate Katie. She's so fun to be around and has lots of different friends and a big family. We may have a had a laugh at here expense...sorry girl, but the why-tamins story had to be told. What's that you say? You want to hear the why-tamins story. Readers Digest version: Katie asked a sales clerk at a make-up counter, who had a VERY thick greek accent, who had just described the great-ness of a product because it had so many vitamins (due to the accent, sounded like why-tamins) and minerals..."Oh, what are why-tamins?" Her response: "You know, like why-tamin A, why-tamin B..." I left a solider behind. I had to leave the poor girl standing there all by herself to defend her question because I simply COULD NOT contain my laugher. Oh, that Katie, she's funny.

Sorry for repeating it again. I can't promise it won't happen again in life, I mean we're young. Instead of planning and executing a dumb shower game (again, no offense to those shower-game players, really.) that no one really wanted to play anyway. We started a poem and passed it around for everyone to add a line or two to. Here's Meg's bling. I'm thinking 10 year upgrade?Here's a picture of the cute notebook(s) I found to give out as favors. They were a big hit!Here's the Queen's chair. A place to check out her loot. Er, I mean a place for the delicate bride-to-be to open her gifts of fine China, and serving platters. Ok, who are we kidding, it's loot.She cleaned up. Kate...I expect a batch of fresh baked cookies, and a pot-roast from your new crock pot and dessert from your new dessert dishes and for my hiney not to hurt, because you got cute new chair cushions. I know you have all that stuff now...I know you do!Here's the bride-to-be...and her mom, Judy.Here's Connie Jean, who I had not seen for probably 15 years. Connie Jean is showing off her bling. You go girl.Here's Katie, Connie Jean's daughter, who I also havn't seen for almost as long. She's cute, and funny and single (sorry Katie, I had to do it) for all you single, cute, funny men...Here's Katies friend (insert name here...sorry I can't remember...)And Liz, one of Katies bridesmaids.And Kathleen, Liz's mom...Friend... (Kate...name? I am so bad at this.)And Meagan...she's Levi's (Katie's finance) niece. She introduced the two lovebirds.

Here's Angela and her baby. They didn't get to stay very long, but it was good to see her too.This is Matilda. Her name isn't actually Matilda, I just can't remember it either ( I met so many new peeps that night) so I just thought I'd start making up names for those I don't remember. So, Matilda it is.It was a great time, and I'm so happy we got to do it! That week we did lots of fun wedding stuff... more to come!

So, with that...congrats Katie, can't wait for the wedding!

Sunday Dinner

2009-08-17T14:35:00.000-07:00

I love going home to see my family, especially over a weekend when Sunday dinner might be involved. My mama is a fantastic cook, as is my dad. I always eat WAY too much but every last calorie is so worth it. The entertainment is the best part. We laugh, we cry, we eat. Except we don't really cry, that is unless we're laughing so hard, tears come. Which happens a lot, so yeah, I guess we do cry. The last time I was home, I didn't get pictures of everyone.And, if there's one thing my mama taught me, (here's mama above, admonishing me as I type this) it's to include everyone. Not always an easy lesson for me, but I think I got it. Sorry Mama.So, here we go... Here's Jack. He's my pa. He's the best dad ever. EVER. Got it?Here's a little after dinner conversation. Looks like Erwin must've been saying something interesting. Or funny, or just making strange sounds, never can tell from a photo.The aftermath.Here's my oldest sister, Susan and her husband, Randy. They just moved back to SLC after a long absence. They havn't lived in SLC for over 18 years. Which mean they moved away when they were just three. (Wink, wink...)This is their oldest daughter, Cassidy. She's 17. WHAT? 17? No, no, no...she was just born, I swear. My sister loves the share the fact that I'm closer in age to her daughter than her. Not by a whole lot, but it's true. Here's Parker, he's Susan's second child. He's 13 and a pretty darn good kid. Here's Preston, he's Susan's youngest, and I always have to remind myself that he's only 9 because he looks like he's 15. Hmmm, that sounds familliar.Here's Eric. Or Erwin. He's my brother. He's been through a lot in life, so I'm happy to see him smile. He always has something witty to say and never misses a beat.Here's Coleman. I think he likes to just be called "Cole" now. I'm just the aunt who will always call him "Coleman Dude" because that's what we called him when he was just a little dude. He's 12, almost 13 and he's a great kid. Apparently loves Caesar salad. Max, Maxinator. He's Eric's middle kiddo. We celebrated his 9th birthday at this particular Sunday dinner. He cleaned up pretty nicely. Andrew, Eric's youngest. Mubby Jubby. He says funny things that have become tag lines in our family. A couple of years ago at Christmas he was given the task to blow out all the candles. Angie told him how many there were to blow out and his immediate response was "yeah wight." Then he told me that his has a "wap-top." He's funny.Here's Angie. She's my sister, she's the middle kid. That's her husband Brian. They're pretty funny. You may remember seeing these two before.Ben (a little blury, in the distance). He's Angie's oldest. He's the most mature 12 year boy I know. Although, for the record, I really don't know a whole lota 12 year old boys. Ok...movin' on.Emily is Angie's middle kid. She's great. She takes care of Anthony everytime dinner rolls around, so I can eat. Thanks Em. Here's Eliza Jane. She's sassy. She's Angies youngest and sassiest. Sassy, sassy sassy. In a good way. She LOVES Wonder-baby and wants to hold him and carry him like a widdle tiny baby. Problem is that Wonder-baby is one. He walks, (and by walks, I mean RUNS) climbs, and doesn't really like being cottled like a baby. Also, he probably weighs pretty close to he same amount as Eliza.

{Insert picture of Josh, Jill, Dominic & Everett. I falsely stated they would be moving back to Utah soon...not the case. They've decided to go stay in Portland for now. Darn. They weren't in town for this Sunday dinner... hey, guys... I need some picures of you, k?}
Here's Bug-Man, he's sexy, eh? Well, I think he is. On the left, we have Zach. He was a missionary in LV, and spent many-a-evening at our house teaching. Can't say enough good about the kid. Let's just say he has "it." Wonder-Baby. I love when he squats like this to play.Coleman and Ben, conspiring something good, I'm sure.

So that's a typical Sunday dinner at home. It's a little LOUDER than you might imagine, but I'm not gonna lie, we're loud people. Stop by sometime, you're always welcome! The more the merrier. Sorry again, Mama, I just invited who-knows-how-many people over for dinner (let's be honest, maybe 2 people read this and one of them is my mama. Hi Mama. Mom? Are you there? Mom? Gosh, not even her? Bummer.) but I'm just making sure I include everyone.

Rolo Cookies

2009-08-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

I vaguely remeber saying something about a problem I had with baking and eating said baked goods. There's one I may or may not have blamed on my sister Susan for letting me flip through her recipes. That may or may not have been my favorite little cookie called The Rolo Cookie. Named for the little surprise you'll find in the middle. They really are delish. My love of The Pioneer Woman led me to attempt a photographic journey through a recipe. I dunno how she does it, with EVERY stinkin' one... it's a lot of work. So, for my one and only recipe I have or will ever take photos of every step, I bestow upon you... THE ROLO COOKIE. First, one cup of softened butter.

Cream that with one cup sugar and one cup brown sugar.Then, photograph your vanilla and eggs. Ok, now add 2t. vanilla and 2 eggs. Then wipe the egg goo off your hands to photo your eggs and vanilla in the butter/sugars mixture.In your favorite yellow Williams-Sonoma melamine mixing bowl combine two and a half cups of flour, and 1t. baking soda and 3/4 cups of cocoa. The cocoa will undoubtedly make a big fat cocoa-y mess EVERYWHERE, and if you have small ceramic tile countertops, it will undoubtedly stick in your light colored grout making your kitchen look like you've never cleaned it. ever. And, this may not turn out very well if you don't have this delightful aformentioned bowl. Sorry.Slowly add the flour mix to the butter/sugar mix and inhale deeply, because you will be inhaling cocoa flavored air. Odd.Mix well. Pause to photograph your one year old pulling every dish cloth and wash rag and napkin you own out of your baby accessible drawers.Locate the bag of Rolo's that a certain Bug-Man may or may not have sampled.Unwrap 'em. ( I recommend refridgerating until use if you live ON the sun like we do.)It may help to refridgerate the dough while you unwrap the Rolo's... makes it a little easier to work with.Scoop some dough.Squash a Rolo into it.Roll the dough so it completely covers the Rolo. Get a bowl of sugar. I once experimented with powdered sugar, didn't work. Must be regular ol' sugar.Roll that dough ball around in the sugar. Arrange on a cookie sheet, and bake at 375 for about 10 minutes, give or take one or two until the tops start to crack.Yust like zees. Mmmmm. I usually leave them on the cookie sheet for a minute or two or five after they come out of the oven, but I got a little anxious today and scooped them up and put them on my new Pampered Chef stackable cooling rack (cool rack eh?) and I ended up with carmel covered countertops. (Don't think for one second I didn't scrape up every last little morsel of countertop carmel and eat it.)Let cool for a bit and enjoy! They're great warm, or the next day or two, but don't last much longer than 2 days. Best to keep them in an airtight container.

Rolo Cookies

1 C sugar

1 C butter

1 C brown sugar

2 1/2 C flour

1 t. baking soda

2 t. vanilla

2 eggs

3/4 C cocoa

48 Rolo candies (give or take)

2 T sugar (for rolling)

Cream Butter and Sugars, add eggs and vanilla, mix completely. In separate bowl, combine flour, soda and cocoa. Slowly mix flour mixture in with butter mixture. Refridgerate. Unwrap Rolo candies, form dough over candy covering it completely. Roll in sugar. Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Continuous

2009-08-14T09:31:00.000-07:00

I love going home to visit my family. Pretty soon the younger of my two brothers, Josh and his family will be moving back to SLC so it'll make it pretty darn easy to see them all in one shot. I'll be the only outsider, the black sheep if you will. I just love it when my siblings hug and pose for a nice Sunday afternoon photo. They loving put their arms around one another and smile like the polite, sophisticated people that they are. Or not.Whatever. You decide. The previous two photos were taken continuously in that order. I love the look on Angie's face in the second photo. What, huh, what are you talking about, I didn't do anything...Then I asked these two lovebirds to give me a little smile. I do have to say for the record, I adore that one little thingI like to call Continous shoot. It's the best option Canon ever put on the camara that I adore so much.
The End.

You may regret saying that...

2009-08-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

The title of this post is referring to my sister who lovingly reminded me that I needed to update my blog. I do have SO much to blog about after my fantastic travels to the City of Salt Lake, it's just that my mom came home with me and we were busy accomplishing "the list" (more on that later) and then I had to do Katie's Rehearsal Dinner invites (more on that later too) then I had to get back to work and do post-vacation work junk (not more on that one...I think that sums that subject right up) not to mention my work slave (aka Pamela, the bikini-clad baking assistant) has had to do back office work, which means I've had to do all the front office stuff, which in turn takes all my blog time away. Whewwww. SO, as you can plainly see, I've been a little busy. However, I did feel the need to share this picture just to tide you over until I can get to the updatin'. So, here you are Angela dearest, wait till you see the one I got right after this one... it's purdy funny. (More on that later, too, also, as well.) Peace Out.

All work and no play...

2009-07-24T14:01:00.000-07:00

makes Anthony a dull boy.
Ok, Ok, he's really not dull. he found his grandpa's broom and scooper/dustpan thing and apparently was going to town. I unfortunately was not there to enjoy watching the slave labor, but rest assured that I crack the whip when he's at home.

Blood, Guts and Cakepops?

2009-07-21T14:25:00.001-07:00

Yep, that's right, blood, guts and cakepops. A few weeks ago, Bug Man and I decided to get the UFC fight and invited my favorite bikini-clad baking assistant, Pamela, and her boyfriend, Marc over to watch. The girls decided we needed something girly to make us feel more, uh, um, girly? Anyway...my blog addiction led me to Bakerella, who stands for all that is good and right in the world of baking. She has these cakepops on her website that are so a-darn-dorable that I couldn't resist making them, even if it was for no special occasion, other than celebrating the blood and guts that is UFC. They were so fun, and pretty easy. Here they are, only partially complete.And the pink "muffin top" candy coating. Never thought of the underlying meaning of the muffin topping causing greif to my actual "muffin top." Hmmm. And, the lovely bikini-clad baking assistant, Pamela. Everyone should have a bikini-clad assistant, weather for baking or not. Actually, Puh-mella (pronounced the way that Borat talks about Pamela Anderson) and Marc had just come from the lake, hence the beach attire. We thought we had this one down pretty good. Make cake ball, shape ball into cookie cutter to form scalloped, cupcake-like bottom, dip in chocolate, stick in bottom of cupcake, in fridge to set, pull out, dip top part in pink candy-coating, sprinkles & m&m on top, and, and, and, crap, where the heck to put 'em now to let the top part set... We got creative-fast. Collander, we'll put them in the holes of that. Nope, the sidesways leaning caused chocolate to run to the side. Bakerelle recommends a block of styrofoam, but I missed that little detail while at Michael's (and I loathe Michael's, so I wasn't about to make a run). SO, I grabbed a Gymboree box, poked holes in it and thought that was the PERFECT solution, but since the inside was hollow, they tipped so easily, and ran into each other and smudged and the world almost came to a screeching halt. THEN...The genius bikini-clad baking assistant said, "What about a baking rack?" So we placed a baking rack on two Cherrios boxes and now we're gonna patent it and make millions. Not really, but it was the perfect solution to our problem and the cake pops were more delicious because of it! Hello my pretties...

I have had this inherent need to bake lately. In addition to Bakerella's cakepops, I've been baking any and all recipes I come across that look sugary, chocolatey, and delicious. It's a problem. Mainly for my waistline. I blame (in no particular order:) Pioneer Woman (LOVE HER) for all her delicious looking foods AND for the whole Tasty Kitchen thing, Bakerella for having not only delicious treats, but adorable treats. You can't resist cute food, you just can't. Also, Joy the Baker for the whole S'mores cookies incident (the incident being that I made them and ate them), and Neiman Marcus for having the urban cookie legend, in which a woman charged a cookie recipe to her account, wound up with a rather sizable bill, decided to share the cookie recipe with the world via email to get back at Neiman's for the cost of the recipe. They are REALLY good. And, my sister Susan, who let me flip through her recipe files, only to find a recipe titled "Rolo Cookies." Need I say more about that? I really do take responsibility for my baking/eating problems, but sometimes it just feels good to blame my love of baked goods on others. All of the aforementioned recipes may make a debut on this here blog. Which may mean that I have to bake them all to take photos and then I'll eat them and blame the blog. Darn blog.

Lenny

2009-07-16T10:13:00.000-07:00

These two antagonize each other, just like siblings. If Scout was a tiny dog, she'd have NO shot. But since she's got Anthony by about 75 lbs, she's gonna be just fine. This is mild on the torture scale, he's usually chasing her around with a bat, flashlight, toilet plunger, chain saw, anything that he can get his little grubbies on. Not really on the chain saw. I walked into the bedroom to see this, and hollered at them. "CHILDREN!"They both stopped and looked at me, and although neither one can actually say "what?" I will maintain that I did hear that word from this look. And then I crawled down on the floor and squeezed both of them. Wonder baby loves Sesame Street. It's the only thing he actually ever watches. I try to not keep the TV on much but when I need a few minutes (or hours) to clean...Sesame works great. This is usually how I find him. I took this photo, then crawled onto the floor to squeeze him. Then he pushed me away. His show was on. I know he loves me. Just not more than Texas Telly.

Up the creek without a paddle...

2009-07-15T10:51:00.000-07:00

On our recent trip to Utah for the 4th of July, we got up every morning and played in the backyard and the creek. The weather was perfect and the creek was fuh-reezing! But it is water and where there is water, there is a certain one year old that must be splashing in it. So, here we are (unbeknownst to me and my pajama/ponytail combo) splashing in the creek, having a grand ol' time. Does Utah get prettier and prettier or is it just me? It was (and probably still is, even though I can't see it right now) so green and pretty. No other way to put it. Anthony caught wind of the paparazzi and flashed his toothy little grin. Chris and Megs brought Addie (or Ads as I like to call her...something about the Hart family that beckons an "S" at the end of every name, don't know what it is?!?) over to play with wonder baby and they were too funny together. They sat down with some toys and Anthony picked up two of the same toy and held one out for Addie, she took it (oh-so-daintily) and then reached for the one in his other had. He was having NO part of that, and told her rightly so. She seemed perhaps a little concerned about this situation as you can see from her face here.They got over it all pretty darn quick when Ads took Anthony over to show his the ropes on the trampoline. I can't lie my first reaction to putting a one year old on a trampoline was "ABSOLUTELY NOT" which really is not like me. I'm all about letting the kids explore and have a good time, but sustaining trampoline injuries myself, that were in all likelihood really minor, but I of course thought they were life-threatening, I was a little leery. Then Chris talked some sense into me, explaining that the one year olds were not auditioning for Cirque du Soleil. Good call Chris, good call. They had so much fun. They're a crack up together because half the time they were swiping toys from each other and the other half the time they were totally oblivious of each other. I couldn't help but think of the many sleep overs we had at the Melville's house on this very trampoline and how we'd wake up at the crack of dawn with the sun beating down on up, huddled into a big ball of sleeping bags, pillows, blankets and people in the middle of the tramp. We had some good times! Now it's their turn, I'm passing the torch. Thanks for the trampoline fun guys, we'll be back in a few weeks to do it again!

4th of July!

2009-07-14T10:55:00.001-07:00

First, we'll start with the food. I mean I have priorities in life. Since this was not actually my party, it was my seester, Angie's, she had to get the photos of the food, and since I am such a great guest at said party, I had to get a photo of Ang getting a photo of her delicious food. With me? Doesn't matter, what does matter is that you get a good look of this oh-so-great meal. We had gourmet hot dogs. Which were really just regular ol' hot dogs but with a gourmet twist. Bacon, Gruyere, some-kinda-fancy-sauce (Ang...name of sauce?), avocado, corn relish, and for you plain jane's... ketchup and mustard. My sister Susan made this delicious and surprisingly calorie free grape salad. Right Sue...calorie free? I'm pretty sure that's what you said. My contribution was this spinach summer salad.Hot dog creation by my Brother-in-law, Randy. Great photo Randy, sorry it's the only one of you. I'll try harder next time. The I-just-had-so-much-sugar-I'm-pretty-sure-I'll-be-in-a-coma-soon beverage. Lime Ricky. It has some sugar in it, which is one of the food groups I need to function, so it was OK by me!Next, comes family. Awwww, family. I love my family. I regretfully didn't get photos of all my family members, sorry y'all. Actually after seeing these you may be thankful.Here's Parker, He's Susan's oldest boy. You can't see from this photo, but he had just come home from Scout Camp and had approximately 8,595, 348 bug bites all over him. Looks pretty happy for having all those bites, I'd say.This is Max. He's my brother Eric's middle kid. He's so darn cute, I have to really try not to rub my hand all over his noggin every time I see him. Although, I don't try THAT hard, because I DO in fact rub my hand all over his noggin every time I see him.This is The Bug Man (and a good attempt with the Steve-o face, but not the best effort I've seen from him). Pretty Sexy, eh? Oh, and wonder baby extraordinaire. Wonder baby may or may not have a nose picking fetish. This is my brother Eric. It's so great to see my brother smile. He's been through a lot, so seeing him smile makes me smile.This is Eliza. We'll check up on her a little later in this post.Coleman and Max, two of Eric's three boys. Where in the heck was Andrew all day? Not one picture of Mubby Jubby. What gives? "Boy's... DO NOT SMILE. What ever you do, don't smile."Never worked on me either. I always end up smiling. Enter Ben, who is Angie's oldest and Preston, Susan's youngest. Preston, on the far right is the youngest of all these boys, yet the tallest. Must have some Andersen in him.Ben's pretty cute. And dangdarn smart too. Plays the guitar and just cut about 43 pounds of hair off his melon.Here's Maddy, she too just lost about 43 lbs. of hair.

Which brings me to FUN. Here's my husband on the trampoline thinking he's 16 again. Weeeee, this is funnnnnn...I can go back, I can go forward, I can...Ooooo...wait...a...second...gotta...catch...breath.... (He may be realizing now that he in fact is not 16 anymore.)Wonder baby got lots of attention. Here he is on a wagon ride, compliments of Emily. She even gave him his very own steering wheel. He was in HEAVEN.He played with Nana, outside.He melted hearts. Mine especially.Remember that little darling, Eliza that I introduced you to earlier? Well, to say she has personality would be a huge understatement. She's Angie's youngest. "Lizey...smile for a picture." This is what you get...and this...and this...Ang, remind you of anyone? Ahhh(you)Choo. 'Scuse me, allergies.How did this get in there? I didn't allow anyone else to handle my precious Canon. "What's that? Smile? Ok, I'll smile, but only for one.""I'm sorry, what? Turn a little? Ok.""Huh? You still didn't get it? Does this help?" GOSH, I'm sorry about those. Don't know how that happened.

AND...work. Wait a minute. (Counting on fingers) Food, family, fun...work? How did that happen on a holiday, at a family party? Hmmm... Jack must have been there. Yup, that's Jack. There's not a whole lot of sitting around with him, as evident from my father's day post. He's a worker. A hard worker. Angie got some new furniture that needed assembling, so who better than to do the job? That's right, Jack and his project sidekick, Eric.

While we're on the subject of work...here's Emily. She's Angie's middle child. She worked her little hiney off. And believe me, I am thankful for that. I actually got to eat (with both hands), play (chit-chat), and snap a million-plus pictures. She watched Anthony the entire time. She's the best. Thanks Em, I owe ya!They did this...and this...and this...and this...and some of this...and lots of this...and LOTS of this... then they shared a moment doing this.Whew, I'm exhausted! And I wasn't even the one doing all the work. Thanks Emily. Your favorite cousin had so much fun with you :)!

After all the Food, Family and Fun, we walked about a mile or two to Sugarhouse Park to watch the Fireworks. Awesome, awesome, awesome. I loved it and I'm so thankful we got to see them. Sugarhouse has done fireworks for as long as I can remember. Because of the recent downturn in the economy, they won't be doing their fireworks for the 4th anymore. Hopefully once things get a little better, that will change. Understandable, but still a bummer.

And, this last part has not one darnit thing to do with the 4th of July, but I had to take a few photos of Angie's flowers in her yard, because they sure are purty.
Flowers make me smile. And me taking a SUPERCLOSEUPPHOTO of Ben makes him smile! The End.

Naked Gardening

2009-06-30T22:06:00.000-07:00

That's just how we do it here in Vegas

Fork?

2009-06-30T22:03:00.000-07:00

Please explain Daddy, what's that pointy thing for? My mom said it's just one more stinkin' thing she has to wash, so why bother. She has to wash me anyway, so let's eliminate the middle "man" known as the fork. Thank You.

Scout

2009-06-30T21:57:00.001-07:00

Scout, Scouty McScout Pants, Scouter, Smoosh, Pee-Foot, Drooly McDrool Pants, Whichever you prefer...go for it! She's adopted many names in her two and half years. I think she's looking at me like this because she's confused about who she really is. Identity Crisis. It happens to the best of 'em. Poor thing. Anyone else wanna take a shot at what she's thinking? I'd love to hear your thoughts. What about this one?

There is absolutely, postitively, without a doubt, under any circumstance no explaination whatsoever for this.

And her most recent name...Weirdo.

Hair Today...er...uh...well...maybe not.

2009-06-30T21:41:00.000-07:00

As my sister Angie said of my nephew Ben: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow...

Problem with that is that Ben had hair. A lot of hair. Long hair. Curly hair. Thick hair. Get my drift... A LOT OF HAIR. I thought that title was so appropriate for a haircut. However, when you're cutting this hair, the barely there, white, blonde, scarce, baby hair, not so much. Oh well!

This is Anthony's first haircut, just after he turned one! He had the best barber in the world, trained at the Conair Clippers Pamphlet School of Trimming. Tony worked those clippers like a pro. And the client...he was happy. Not a great tipper, but no complaints about the 'do.

I'm not sure he knew he was actually getting his hair cut. He thinks he just got to play with something that's normally "off-limits"Yes, another satisfied customer from Mr. Tony, Professional Hair Trimmer Trained at the Conair Clippers Pamphlet School of Trimming. His schedule is booked for months, so if you want an appointment, it doesn't look good, sorry.

Bug Man and Bug Boy

2009-06-30T21:36:00.000-07:00

Bugs are problem here in the desert...But don't worry, we have these guys to make sure that those pesky pests aren't a problem... There they are now...looking for the bugs, to squish, squash, and spray.

I think the little apprentice may have found something promising...

Note to self:

2009-06-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

Thoroughly check your garbage can before taking it out. You never know what may have found it's way in.

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T21:24:00.000-07:00

Dear Dad,
Happy Father's Day! You're the best dad a girl could ask for. And the best "Pop" a grandkid could ask for. Although I've graduated to adulthood, you continue to DO, DO, DO. "Dad, I don't like the mirrors in my dining room!" Mirrors down, wall patched, textured, primed and painted. "Dad, I can't find the bookshelves I want in Vegas, can you go to Target, see if they have 'em, buy 'em, and drive 'em to Vegas?" I have 7 matching bookshelves. "Dad, we're flying in around 11." Flight delayed, late, LATE, LATE. Dad's there to pick us up. "Dad, can you go check out a car I called on, buy it and I'll come pick it up this weekend?" Car purchased, washed and gassed. "Dad, I don't need this car anymore, but am having a hard time selling it...can you come drive it back to Utah and sell it for me?" Car transported and sold. "Dad, I gotta get all my stuff to Vegas, can you drive me there, in the world's biggest heap of a truck, drop me and the stuff off, then turn around and drive back?" Here, in Vegas with a truck load full of crap. My crap.

I know this is a super short list, but if I wrote everything you've done and continue to do for me, we'd both be here a while! You're the best example to me and have never let me down. We've had countless daddy/daughter dates, which I cherish. And lots of laughs. I'll never forget you taking me square dancing in the 3rd grade, or waking me up, so I could drive you to the airport so I could have your car the days you were out of town. Trips to Iceburg and shared Hostess cupcakes. Trips to Hires and more recently, In-N-Out. You're the most giving, selfless, generous man I know. I love you so much and I'm so thankful for you. Happy Father's Day!

Love,
Your Little Girl

Honk Chew

2009-06-16T10:01:00.001-07:00

Need I say more?

Happy First Birthday!

2009-06-11T15:19:00.000-07:00

Anthony turned one!!! I cannot believe a year has gone by. It's been such an awesome year. He started walking about 11 months, and hasn't looked back since! He threw him a little family shin-dig with cake and ice-cream. It was a lot of fun. He got lots of fun toys including a jungle-gym (as if our house wasn't cluttered enough...thanks Grandma and Grandpa!) that he loves! For his birthday party, my great friend (and Anthony's future mother-in-law) Megan made him this AWESOME banner, that I will change the number on and use for every-single birthday until he's 50. I love it! It's so cute and creative.

When it came time for cake, I stripped him down and let him at it. Except, he didn't really WANT at it. He looked at it like it was a foreign space invader that landed right there on his high-chair. What the heck, foreign space invader, what are you doing here?Perhaps, if I look away, it will beam back up to it's spaceship and GO AWAY!Nope. Darn, it's still there.Maybe if I just give it a little poke...pinch... Nope, nothing. Well, it's not THAT bad...No, wait. Maybe it is that bad. Get off my fingers.Perhaps, a second chance... It's ok, I'm gonna be ok, just lick it off my fingers and then maybe it'll go away.

***Mom chops a big piece out to show boy that little invaders aren't hiding in it...it's actually just cake.***

Sorry mom, didn't work... Please get me outta here. NOW.

Here is a picture of all of Anthony's grandparents, and his great-grandpa. What a lucky little man! Glad you all could make it!

"Well, I learned something this weekend..."

2009-06-11T08:36:00.001-07:00

Tony says to me as we're leaving Disneyland with Anthony dead asleep in the stroller.

"Oh yeah, and what was that?"

"That one year old's don't care about baseball games or Disneyland."

"Hmmm. What else did you learn?"

"That my wife was right."

I just had to share that because it might be the only time in history my husband has or will admit this.

We planned a trip to Anaheim with Tara and her boyfriend Toshi for a little weekend get away. Tony was jonesing for a baseball game, and I will admit, I was excited to go too. The Angels were playing the Mariners, and Toshi, being from Seattle is a Mariners fan. Perfect. We drove down Friday afternoon, the last weekend of May and I will admit, I was petrified about spending 4 hours in the car with Anthony. I had Tony's mom try to have him nap early, so he'd sleep at least part of the way. He slept and slept and slept. Surely he's going to wake up soon, I kept thinking to myself. Nope. Slept the entire way. As we pulled off the freeway in Anaheim, he woke up and looked at me like it was the best nap he'd ever had. Ever. GREAT! Score. We went to Johnny Rockets for dinner, down at the Gardenwalk in Anaheim. Great little mall with restaurants. It's about time Anaheim built something like that! Then, off to downtown Disney. We love the little shops and live performers down there. We pulled up to where we usually park, and we were directed to another parking lot. The Disneyland Park parking lot, to be specific, top level, last parking spot on earth. It was SO far. I guess Disneyland is popular at the end of May (DUH.) We had a good time, albeit short. But, fun.

Saturday Morning, we got up, and headed to the beach. Got out of the car to find a place to eat breakfast and it was FREEZING and WINDY. Bleeech. Went to breakfast in Huntington, at IHOP. After it was a little warmer, still stinking windy. Again, bleeech. Got our gear and headed toward the water. We set up shop just down the way from Dwight's food rentals, and right next to the kite flyers. Did I mention I'm terrified of Kites? I know, it's crazy and irrational and there's nothing to warrant such fear, but I am afraid. Why, you ask? I have no explaination for it. I was never viciously attacked by a kite, nor was a kite mean to me when I was little. None. Anyway, I digress, back to the beach. I was so excited to see what Anthony would do with the sand and all that water! He wasn't freaked out by the sand, but he did pretty much stay on the safety of the blankets and towels. When we took him down to the water, he was all about jumping in! It wasn't as cold as I anticipated, but it wasn't the Caribbean. He kept pulling Tony closer to the water, and sat down in it a couple of times. It was so cute.

I felt it my motherly duty to explain how the tide works, and the lunar pull, and quantum physics. I think he got it.I feel also as though I should explain my turbin... cold wind = ear ache for me. Bathing suit cover solved the problems of the world.I love Love LOve LOVe LOVE when my little man feels like he needs a mom snuggle.

So, after the beach, we headed back to Anaheim to get ready for the baseball game. Once cleaned up and in our Angel's gear... we headed out. The first thing we saw once at Angels Stadium was the memorial set up in front for Nick Adenhart. Although I never saw him play and certainly didn't know him, it really did make me teary. What a great guy he was and I'm sure is sorely missed by all his family, friends and teammates.

I wasn't ever opposed to taking Anthony to the baseball game, but I knew he'd be more interested in climbing around the stadium than he was the actual game. We were sitting right by the stairs and all he wanted to do was climb up and down. I let him, once, then thought maybe he'd like to wander around the mezzanine. Nope, straight back to the stairs. So, I walked with him around the whole stadium and ended up in the gift shop. Where he proceded to re-arrange the entire place. And I let him. He was happy and occupied, so I did my best to clean up after him, but we did spend the majority of the game there. Happy as clams.

This was before the game started. Before the attention span was totally lost, and before he eventually passed out on my shoulder.

Tony felt bad that I didn't get to see any of the game, so at the top of the 9th, Angels up 3-O, he said, "let's go!" Anthony was already out cold on my shoulder, so we headed out. We reached the gates and the usher got a message on his radio that they tied up the game. As Tony, Tara and Toshi walked ahead of me, I stopped and ashed the usher, "seriously?" He said, "Yup." So I caught up to the crew and they all said to me "yeah, right. He just told you that because we were leaving early." "No, it really sounded like they did." I don't know why I was making a case for them. So Tony pulled his phone out, pulled up the scores, and who was right? ME. That's who. So, they turned around, and went to watch the rest of the inning. I found me a comfy chair in front of a TV by the concessions and waited. The game went into a 10th inning, and I told them to stay, I was comfy, baby was sleeping. But, here they came. We listened to the game on the way back to the hotel and they lost in the 10th. Why oh, why is it that a baseball game which is potentially boring (I've heard, I would NEVER say that about baseball...) gets all the action at the bitter end? I don't get it. Then, of course, on Sunday...the game we didn't go to, they won. Go figure.

Sunday morning, against my better judgement we headed over to Disneyland. I had said SEVERAL times up to this point that I would absoulely, positivly, under no circumstance take a one year old to Disneyland. I think it's ridiculous. They can't do anything, we can't do anything. Crowds, Strollers, Lines, Crazies... WHO would subject themselves to that? Who I ask. Well, aparently me. Tony has an old valet customer that works there and has gotten us into the park before fo' free, so we thought we'd go say hi to her. Regardless of getting in, Tony still wanted to go say hi. We found her and she did get us right in. What a sweetheart. I felt justified in giving in because we weren't spending our life savings on passes. First we saw Pluto, and stopped to say "HI!" He makes Scout look like a chihuahua. We went over to Dumbo and waited in line about 25 minutes. Not too bad. However, my precious baby didn't give two hoots about it. Tony and I were excited to see his reaction, but nada. The look on his face was as if to say " I do this everyday, what's the big deal with the big dumb flying elephant anyway?" Stinker. Well, it was actually my first time on Dumbo too, and darnit, I liked it.

Next, we took him over to Toon Town, and got him some lunch, then let him climb around there. That was fun, and he really did enjoy himself there. He loved playing this piano and was so cute not to get in the other kids' way.

He loved this Jack o'lantern. And then, when most kids were trying to get OUT of jail... he was begging to get in!He didn't seem too concerned to get out of the way of dumbell's flying out the window onto the pavement below.

So, after Toon Town, Tony & I got some lunch, then headed to Pirates of the Caribbean. The line wasn't too bad, and Anthony needed a little "freshening up" so the crew (Tony, Tara & Toshi) waited in line, and by the time I got back from freshening, they were almost to the front. Nice! So we hopped on. Anthony was sitting on my lap, in the front row of the boat. After the first drop, he turned around and climbed up me and clung to my neck like a little monkey. He put his head on my shoulder and his eyes kept looking back and forth. About half way through...OUT. Sound asleep. SOUND asleep. He was done. Tuckered out. We put him in the stroller and decided to leave while he was snoozing. A good time to hit the road, we decided.

As soon as we loaded him in the car, he woke up. For sure he'll doze back off and sleep all the way home. It's been a long day! Not so. Fifteen minutes on the road and he way getting cranky. I climbed into the back seat, pulled out the laptop, put Elmo on the DVD and held it for him. The. Entire. Way. Home. That was a long drive. And though it was not so comfortable, it was worth it. He was pretty content the whole way home. No complaints from me.

"Well, I learned something this weekend..."

Lesson learned. Babies don't care about Baseball games or Disneyland. And although we did both, and the baby didn't care, I'm so happy we did. I had so much fun and I'm so glad we just did it. We have great memories and pictures to show for it!

Favorite Quotes...

2009-06-11T07:49:00.000-07:00

Pop (my dad) talking to Dominic (my 5 yr. old nephew):

P: How old is Everett now?
D: He's still zero.

Watching a PBS fundraiser with 50's music, my dad says about one of the singers:

"Hmm, she used to be young!"

My Co-Worker, Jana, shopping with her six-year-old daughter, Peyton, looking at a rack, next to a large group of African-American women:

P: Mom, do you like black people?
J: WHAT?!?! Of course I do.
P: I don't.
J: WHAT?!? Honey, that's not nice to say, they're just like us, everyone is the same.
P: Well, are they Christian?
J: ***Thinking to herself*** RUN.

For the record, Peyton has black friends, and a black teacher, who she loves. Where do they come up with these things?

My friend Tara , tucking in her then 6-year-old Victoria, wearing a regular nightgown, instead of her normal sweats & t-shirt:

V: What's that?
T: What's what?
V: What are you wearing?
T: A nightgown.
V: Why?
T: Why do you care?
V: Is daddy going to do sex to you tonight?
T: WHAT?!? Victoria, how do you know that word? You're too young to talk about things like that.
V: From the cartoon, with a mommy and daddy and talking dog. (Family guy)
T: Where did you see that?
V: Cartoon Network (apparently comes on late at night) Don't worry mommy, I'm not going to have sex until I'm 20.

I don't think Victoria has a television in her room any more. Again, where do they come up with these things?

My niece, Eliza, probably about 4 at the time, while taking a bath and totally out of the blue, talking to my sister, Angie:

E: I used to think the thing that hangs from boys' bums was just for decoration, now I know it's where they go pee from

My mom called and told me this one. I lost ALL ability to speak, because I was laughing so hard. I had tears pouring from my eyes, and it took at least 45 minutes for me to tell Tony, because everytime I tried, the uncontrollable laugh showed up.

I have more...oh do I have more. I plan on writing a book with these things, I just though this would give me a nice start.

Dear Anthony,

2009-06-03T20:55:00.000-07:00

Dear Anthony,
Happy First Birthday! I know I'll forget so many things about your first year as time goes on, so I want to share with you my favorite things about you. This has been with out a doubt the best year of my life. From the second you came into my life, I knew that I would never be without you. You bring so much light into my world and I am so thankful for you and for your place in our family. I love your giggle. I love your perfect tiny spaced 4 teeth. I love the way you make a motor boat sound when you are playing by yourself. I love that you figure things out for yourself. You climb and open and close and pull out and put back and tap and shake and stack and knock over all that you get your perfect little fingers on. You never shy away from something new. You are not afraid of anything. You love to be with the people that love you. I love the way you rub your little eyes with the backs of your hands when you're tired and you snuggle up to me and put your head on my shoulder when you feel you need safety. I love your scarce super blonde hair, making you look like a baldy. I love when I smell your feet and tell you "peeewwwww, stinky" you laugh. Hard. I love that you love the water; baths, sprinklers, pools, the dog's water dish, anything...you love to splash. I love the way you eat, opening your mouth as wide as a crocodile. I love the way you pick up one little cheerio with your thumb and your forefinger and if you miss your mouth, you chase the cheerio up your arm until it lands in your mouth. I love your serious face, I love your silly face. I love watching your face the first time you try a new food. I love how delighted with yourself you are when you're walking around.

It wasn't for about another hour that you came into this world, one year ago. You cried before you were all the way out and the one thing I will always remember is the doctor saying "You can't cry, you're not even born yet." You were so alert, and wide awake. I spend those first 48 hours staring at you. I couldn't take my eyes off you. And here we are, an entire year later. You're walking, and jibby-jabbering and feeding yourself cheerio's. I have loved every single second of it. Every day gets better and better.

You are such a sweet spirit and I love you much. I love your daddy and the rest of our family (which may not be here yet). I know you are a child of God and He love you. He will always be with you and guide you. Listen to Him, follow Him and trust Him. I have so many things I want to teach you and so many things I want you to learn about on your own. I promise to try to look at every situation as a learning and teaching experience.

At one year old you love your daddy and mommy, your dog Scout, your Nana and Pop, Grandma and Grandpa, aunts, uncles, cousins, great-grandparants. You love to feed yourself, although you're rarely given the opportunity because you shove ALL your food into your mouth at the same time, and have choked a few times, which has given me a few gray hairs, and heart attacks. You love to clap, wave goodbye, dance, watch Sesame Street and tease your dog. You smile at me when you first wake up, which makes my heart melt. You laugh at yourself when you burp, sneeze, toot, cough. Which has proven, you're never too young to think bodily functions are funny. You love ice-cream. To the point of a small melt-down when it's all gone. You love to get into anything you're not supposed to. Cupboards, tight spots, electical cords, up on the coffee table, end table, etc. You love to be chased and laugh and wait for me to catch up to you, then run, then stop and wait for me, then laugh...

I love you so much and I look foward to all the "firsts" you will have in your life. I love watching you learn and grow. You're the perfect you.

I love you.

Love,
Mommy

Vacuum Attachement

2009-05-21T15:22:00.001-07:00

There are five hundred million things in our house for a baby to play with - safely. But does he want one single thing to do with ANY of them? 'Course not. What he DOES want is the plug to any appliance when it'splugged into the electrical outlet, while said appliance is running. Which I'm pretty sure turns out to be not so safe. So, we resort to vacuuming like this:

Dental Hygiene is KEY!

2009-05-21T15:13:00.000-07:00

I'm really not one of those crazy-obsessed dental office worker, hygiene types, really. I like good dental hygiene as much as the next guy...but I'm not so crazy that I'd make my 10 month old child obsess over it. He just has a thing for a toothbrush! I gave him a little one to play with/get used to and everytime he sees Tony or I brushing, he wants in on the action!

Isn't my husband svelt? He's trimmed down (which is the only reason he let me put these photos up) and got himself a HOT farmer tan. I guess that's what happen when you spend most of your day in the desert sun, golfi-er, I mean working, yeah, that's it...working! (You should see his legs...calves are nice and dark, thighs and ankles...not so much!)

Just gettin' in a little back yard time!

Easter

2009-05-21T15:04:00.000-07:00

This is the easter dump-truck/wagon. Basket, you ask? Baskets are for wussies. Ok, not really, we just didn't get photos of that. It was rather uneventful...the basket that is. Nurf football and basketball, that are already gone (dog) and a sand castle bucket and shovel. Easter Bunny was a little weak this year, maybe I'll send a letter of complaint and hope for a better one next year.

Anthony was pretty happy with the dump truck/wagon full of giant lego-type blocks (times 2). Auntie Tara and Grandma got the same one... Like mother/Like child.

If at first you don't succeed...

2009-05-21T14:39:00.001-07:00

My favorite thing to do is watch this kid figure out the world. It's sometimes hard for me to just sit back and let him do what ever it is he wants to do without reaching in and showing him. The first couple attempts at the stairs head-first weren't really going his way, so I picked him up, took him down a couple and put him back down so show him to go down backwards, the way most tiny humans do, but he thought that meant go back up, since of course he was facing that direction, he'd proceed back up the few that I had carried him down. He'd get to the top, turn around and try the face-first route again. So I sat on my hands and tried to let him figure it out on his own. With mom and top and Nana right below, I let him go for it. He didn't do too shabby either!
A little carpet burn on the nose never killed anybody!
The next day, back up it was...for about 30 minutes, all we did was up, down, up, down, up, down...you get the picture, right? I didn't quite make it in time with the camara, but he went from the other side of the table to here, underneath, scaling over the foot-rests on the chairs. Quite the little climber.

First whipped cream beater...YUM!

Maybe laundry time?

Again, with the climbing. What gives?

Did I really say that?

2009-04-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

Baseball has become the background noise at all times. Sports Center, front and center. Random BURSTS of yelling, swearing, cheering, etc. errupt frequently. Records, stats, numbers, percentages are all I hear. I'm rethinking my enthusiasm for baseball season, and we're only a week in. I have yet to learn, really learn what "3 and half games out" means, and please for the love of it, don't try to explain it...I stopped listening 5 minutes ago. HOW do you become "half" a game out??? Don't get it, don't really wanna get it. I am excited for our renezvous to Anaheim though. It's different BEING there, much different. I will endure another season, I WILL!

All dressed up

2009-03-17T13:40:00.000-07:00

And no place to go! Well, folks it is upon us again. The day that I used to dread, for it meant a moody husband, endless hours of balls, strikes, runs, fouls, outs, walks, RBI's, ERA's and a lot of other BS! But, oddly enough I find myself with little butterflies of anticipation, with the excitement of the smell of hot dogs and cotton candy, lazy summer days and perfect weather. That's right, it's almost here...I can almost taste it. Baseball Season at last! It's been a great off season, but I'm ready for it to roll around again. I've been converted to baseball. Although I had never really followed the sport, much less a specific team, I did always like the Red Sox, probably because my sister lived in Boston for 4 years while her hubby went to dental school, but then I married Tony, and my BoSox took a back seat. At first I became an Angels fan by marriage, and although I really tried to ignore it, they never went away, and like the sun rises every day, baseball season rolls around every year. I gave in. I will say it...I am now a true fan. I'll join in the jersey wearing, the trash talking, the hot-dog eating, the wave doing and enjoy every minute! I really have come to love our get-aways for games and take in the SoCal weather. So...here we go again...LET"S GO ANGELS!

Although Anthony did join us last year about mid-season, he wasn't here to truely appreciate baseball. So, we're getting an early start!

Defending Carseat

2009-03-17T13:34:00.000-07:00

Addie got a little curious about AJ's carseat and went to scope things out...

AJ saw these happening, and quickly went to defend his territory (typical boy).

Imagine how big we look to this little guy!

Draper Temple

2009-03-17T13:28:00.001-07:00

I love that anyone can walk through a temple prior to it being dedicated. It is such an awesome experience. Tony and I had the opportunity to go while we were in UT, and walk through the Draper Temple. It sits right up on the base of the mountain, and is so awesome the way it's nestled in. The last time I got to do this, it was the Bountiful Temple and I think I was about 12 or so. Too young to really get it. I'm so grateful that Tony wanted to go with me and see what it was all about. An awesome experience for both of us! Now, we're looking foward to the Oquir Mt. Temple to see yet another beautiful building. Sorry, picture quality on this isn't great, we didn't have the best vantage point, and time of day lighting wasn't optimal, but you can still see it's beauty!

Snowboarding ( I use the term loosely)

2009-03-17T13:20:00.000-07:00

In January, while in SLC (actually, the reason for the get-away) we hit the mountain (hard). Post baby...not so easy. Core muscles need a little work! I spent the good majority of the day on my hiney, but it was so fun and such a beautiful day, I didn't care! Tony and I took our nephews, Ben and Coleman, and had a blast. Although I only saw the boys at lunch (and the last run with Tony) I had so much fun. On the last run, when I finally got up to a standing position, Tony caught up with me and got a few pictures. Great Day!

If you look closely, you'll see the boarding angel on my shoulder!

Needed a little rest.

After boarding

Babies, Babies, Babies!!!

2009-03-17T11:59:00.001-07:00

Oh, how time gets away from me! We took a little trip to SLC at the end of January for a little friend visiting and (Snow)Board Therapy! I had talked to Joanna about a month before we went, and to my excitement he told me that the Dickson clan would be in SLC at the same time. WHAT?!? Hip, Hip, Hooray!!! I havn't seen them for entirely WAY too long, and had never even had the chance to meet Carson, who is just 2 weeks older than Anthony. So, it was high time that we have a get-together. Jo had the great idea to surprise the Hart's, so we planned lunch and invited Chris, Megan and Addie. Much to their surprise, when they arrived we had a little mini-reunion! It was so much fun to catch up with everyone, nosh on some Litza's pizza, salad and garlic bread, which I have longed for for a long time now! We thought we should document this little visit...and it was a challenge! Here are our attempts at photographing 3 babies at the same time!

Addie's ready! (She deals with a lot of paparazzi)

Mr. A-very concerned with his feet. Yep, Son, they're still there!

Who, What, Where?

Emaline lending a helping hand!

KIDS! PAY ATTENTION!

Well, better luck next time!

Joanna and Mini-Me, oh, I mean Carson.

Addie got the "Hear no evil" but the boys just wouldn't cooperate with the "see" and "speak" parts...BOYS!

It's still wild to me that 3 great friends had 3 babies within 3 months of each other! I know we'll be lifelong friends, and so will the bambino's. I am so thankful to have such great friends! It was great to see you girls (and boys). Let's do it again before too long!

Four Generations

2009-01-15T11:38:00.000-08:00

Anthony Jack is lucky enough to be alive with 3 generations before him. My mom's dad is the only grandparent I had living in my life, and I often think of what the others were like. I like to think that some of my personality came from each of them, and I know from Grandpa Seibold that I have some of him in me. Anthony, Tony, Howard and Howard Sr. are in the picture below. I love to hear the stories of my Grandpa, and his experiences in Germany as a missionary during WWII and Tony's grandpa has awesome stories from that era as well. He was a child at the time, and living in Sacramento. Because his family is Japanese, they were moved to an interment camp, and lost everything they had, including a lot of land (they had a strawberrry farm) and all their personal belongings. It is really heartbreaking to hear what had to endure and what they lost, especially because our government never fully compensated those families for what they lost. Imagine what a big chunck of farm land in California would be worth today. They hardly got anything. Although a sad part of American History, it's fascinating to hear about it straight from the horses mouth so to speak.

Up, Up and Away.

2009-01-15T11:18:00.000-08:00

Anthony has not only started to crawl, but he's learned the fine art of pulling him self up onto EVERYTHING. The coffee table, the couch, lovesac, dog, carseat, fireplace, wall, bookshelf, bathtub, cupboards, you get the drift. The Christmas presents are on that list as well.And the toy basket...Decisions, decisions..This one will do.

Rubber Duckie, you're the one!

2009-01-15T11:07:00.000-08:00

This child LOVES to have a bath! He is so impatient to get in. I will lay him down on the rug to get him undressed and he pops right up and leans over the edge of the tub. It's great to watch, so cute, but a little difficult to undress and undiaper him.

When all is said and done, he doesn't love getting a diaper back on, or clothes for that matter. He tries to crawl away. Good thing he can't go very far when he's on the changing table. When Tony changes him, I often get called in to help...4 hands are always better than 2!

Coffee Table Jail

2009-01-15T11:03:00.003-08:00

It's offiicial...He crawls! I find the coffee table photos particularly funny, because that was Scouts favorite napping spot when she was a puppy! He gets everywhere. The cutest thing is when Tony comes in the door, he'll drop what he's doing and b-line for Tony. He loves his daddy!

2009-01-15T11:03:00.001-08:00

SNOW!

2009-01-15T10:57:00.000-08:00

This happened about a week before Christmas. I ran a lunch time errand and right as I got back to work, there were a couple of little white flakes falling from the sky. GREAT! I thought we'd get a little flurry, of course it would never stick...it never does here. By the time I left work, there were a good 4-5 inches on the ground, and it was still coming down pretty heavily. WOO HOO! Scout of course loved it, and I was so happy for the change! Growing up in the snow, it didn't really seem like that big of a deal for me, but the entire rest of the day, the news was on with coverage of the snow... "Breaking News!" Yeah, I found that pretty amusing. It was the biggest snowfall in like 30 or something, not bad Mother Nature...not bad!

Happy Unbirthday! SIx months old!

2009-01-15T10:54:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of the six month birthday. He got his first tooth on that day and the second tooth the next day. He started fully crawling that week and shortly after started mostly sleeping through the night (he still has his moments)!

Oreo Madness

2009-01-15T10:52:00.000-08:00

First oreo experience...This is definately his father's child

Mess Maker, Mess Maker, Make me a Mess...

2009-01-15T10:43:00.001-08:00

I have learned that it's much easier to update my blog while AJ is asleep, or at his Grandma's. I was trying to do something ever so quickly on the computer, and he was getting a little grouchy while in his excer-sauser, so I sat him on my lap and let him play with the few remaining things on the desk ( I had just mostly-cleaned) and of course I was right there, I mean he was on my lap for cryin' out loud, but within about 45 seconds...this is what I found.

The guilty party.

Turkey and Stuffing

2009-01-15T10:38:00.000-08:00

Again...I claim no chronology (pretty sure that's not a word endorsed by Webster...wait just looked it up and...SAFE!) so, here are a few pictures of my little turkey on Thanksgiving!

First Airplane Ride!

2009-01-13T14:53:00.000-08:00

Before I begin, I should note that my posts are in no way chronilogical...with that said, Anthony had his first airplane ride! When we went to SLC for Thanksgiving! He was SO good. It was way past time for him to eat when we were at the airport, but there were so many new things to see and so much going on, he didn't seem to notice. I was trying to hold him off so I could feed him while taking off ("they" say they should eat when taking off and landing to avoid ear pressure). So, we took off and I fed him, he fell asleep until landing and then ate again when landing and DONE! No problems, no fussing, nothing! What an angel!

Excited for the flight!

Biggest Loser

2009-01-13T14:14:00.000-08:00

So, a woman in my ward started a friendly weight loss competition. I am giving it a go. I set a goal of losing 20 lbs by my anniversary before I found out about this. My anniversary is April 9th and the deadline for the competition is April 15th. So, I figured I'd join. 20 lbs gone and some extra dough. Woo Hoo! I thought there were a few people in the ward that joined, making the pot maybe a little over $100 ($20 to join), but I just stumbled upon Sarah's blog (the contest starter) and she just updated that there 37 people... 37!!!! That would make the pot a whopping $740. That's a lot of money. The real reason for joining is to loose the 20 lbs. but a little extra cash doesn't hurt! A few of those girls were doin' a little trash talkin' at church (can you do that?!?) and I must say...it just added fuel to the fire. I'm ON IT! Went to the gym yesterday, and gonna go today, and I have to do it. Any motivation you can send my way...I joyfully welcome! Wish me luck!

Sprite Lap, Rib Pants, Hurl Shirt

2009-01-09T11:03:00.000-08:00

I said I would elaborate on the reason for not leaving the house for dinner. And here it is... When we were in SLC, we went to dinner with the Hart family, and thought, hey...how hard can 2 babies be? WELL...now I know better! Anthony doesn't love to sit in a high chair, so we don't go out nearly as often as we used to, which is actually a good thing, but I know he has to learn how to behave when we're out (I know he's a little young still), so what to do? Anyway...we ventured out to PF Changs and thought while we were waiting we'd get a few pics of us. I can't keep my eyes open in a picture to save me, so that explains that, but that's not the point...the point is, if you look closely, you'll see THE LOOK in Anthony's eyes. If you're wondering to yourself..."what is THE LOOK?" I'll tell you...it's the look of "I'm up to NO GOOD!" The drink you see in front of him, was FULL of Sprite, and the moment after this picture was snapped, the entire glass was on my lap, upside down. OK...that's Sprite Lap. The next photo is of the Harts...doesn't Addie look sweet and innocent? Well, a few minutes after Sprite Lap, our appetizers arrived and Megan had put a nice, sauce-y spare rib on her plate. If you have been to Changs, you know those tables aren't so big, and we were in a booth, which limits the space you can put between kids and tables. Addie must've wanted that rib because she grabbed the plate, and down went the sauce-y rib onto Meg's pants...Rib Pants!

So, I enjoyed a wet lap dinner and Megan enjoyed slimey pair of pants, and after all the fiasco and yummy food (what made it to our mouth's anyway) we were getting ready to leave and Meg and I went to the restroom to change Addie ( 4 adult hands = better than 2!) and came back to Tony traumatized and covered in baby throwup. YUCK. Apparently AJ, a.k.a. Lighting Hands, grabbed a cocktail napkin that Tony didn't see and started snacking away. After he started choking, Tony did a finger through the mouth to remove said coctail napkin and his Paul Bunion fingers made the baby gag, and he ended up with what other than...Hurl Shirt?!?

So, the moral of the story is this: GET A BABYSITTER IF YOU WANT A NICE ADULT DINNER!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

2009-01-08T14:42:00.001-08:00

We have this great new mall in Vegas, it's outdoors, and they have a little Norman Rockwell style house set up for Santa. Once a week, they allow pets with Santa. I thought that was perfect, since she is a part of our family. We got ready, and headed out to see the man in the red hat....got there and about a billion other people had the same brilliant idea we did. GREAT! It was cold, but we braved it and waited patiently, and waited and waited and waited and waited...well you get the point. It was maddness, and not worth it. We finally got there and AJ was awesome the whole time we waited, the as soon as he saw Santa, MELTDOWN CITY! He was curious, for about 2.3 seconds (picture snapped) then melted down. Poor Baby. We got a couple of good shots and he crashed the second his little bum hit the carseat. Next year, no dog, not peak Santa hours. NOTE TO SELF. More on Christmas later. Moving those pictures to computer requires time that doesn't seem to exist.

Half Way, 2 Teeth and Crawling for freedom!

2009-01-08T14:30:00.000-08:00

So these pictures were taken back in October when the Hart's were in town, and AJ was trying his darndest to crawl. He was getting pretty close too... But the along came his 6 month birthday and literally on that day, he sprung 2 teeth. He went from sitting up by himself, to crawling to pulling himself up on things all in a matter of a week. WHAT?!? Slow down kid, what's the big hurry? I'm so sure I was ready for that, but I love it. He is so fun to watch. He particularly loves crawling over to the dog, which she doesn't love...she usually just walks away when she sees him coming. A few nights ago, she left one of her toys, a cow, on the floor next to Love Sac she's claimed as hers, and she had another, her duck, in her mouth. AJ crawled over to the cow, picked it up and starting waving it at her. She hopped down, grabbed the cow, leaving the duck behind, and back up to the Love Sac with the Cow. He grabbed the duck, and waved that in the air. She hopped down, grabbed the duck, left the cow, AJ made a move to get the cow back, Scout looked at him, nudged him out of the way, and on her merry way she went, with a mouthful of duck and cow...NICE DOG!

He loves his independence, and I'm sure will be walking before we know what to do. We've tried to baby proof, but I'm sure he'll discover something we've forgotten about before we do!

Oh so Thankful!

2009-01-08T14:03:00.001-08:00

I really do have a lot to be thankful for. We got to go (home...I call it) to Salt Lake for Thanksgiving, which was so awesome. He packed a lot into a short week/long weekend! First, of course the best meal ever! I love Thanksgiving food. Well, let's be honest, I love all food, but I do play favorites when it comes to Thanksgiving food! It was so good and it was the first time my entire family was together in a long time! All 11 adults and 12 kids. If anybody ever asks "when exactly did you loose control?" The answer is right there...as soon as the kids outnumbered the adults. There it it!

Then came family pictures... with everyone. That was a bit of a challenge, but they came out great, and I'd love to share some, but something about copyright, and laws, blah blah blah.

After that, we had the awesome opportunity to have Mr. Anthony Jack blessed by his pop (my dad) and his cousin Everett was blessed by Josh. It was so fun to get the cousins together, since they are the closest in age...only 2 months apart. That was such an amazing experience. What a great blessing to have this amazing baby in our lives that I know will be an amazing example to both Tony and I throughout his life. It really made me reflect on the importance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life and how grateful I am for Him, for my family, for my wonderful husband, and of course the center of it, Anthony Jack! I love my famliy so much and I am so blessed and fortunate to have the knowledge that I do and the love that I know surrounds me.

AJ's blessing day...Tony cleans up nice eh?

Me and my little man, hanging out at Nana and Pop's house

Anthony and Everett...can you believe that they're only 2 months different?!?

Proud Pop and AJ after blessing

The Hart's after the blessing...Thanks Chris for being there for us! We love you guys!

The Boys and the Babies!

Next Item up... a Monkey!

2009-01-08T13:52:00.001-08:00

Halloween kind of came and went, and really there was no fanfare. I'm not sure what I expected with a 5 month old. I got this great Monkey costume that I was so excited to put AJ in because I call him "Monkey" more than I call him his own name! It has a curly tail on the back and a banana in the pocket. I had a great idea to dress Scout up as a banana also, but finding a banana for a 100 lb. dog isn't so easy! So, she was the old stand-by...a witch! On Halloween, we took the baby to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a few minutes, just to get a few pictures, and then went to Capriotti's for a quick bite to eat, hopped in the car to go to Dan and Jenny's, where a whole bunch of people were hanging out and BBQ-ing, and of course passing out candy. As soon as we headed to the Skelly's, the baby crashed. It was a bit past nap time, and there was a lot going on. The most unusual thing about it is that it was borderline HOT that day. Strange for Vegas, it almost always rains and is cold here for Halloween, but of course not the year I get a plush, padded, 900 degree monkey for my baby. So...the cosume got about 10 minutes of use. Great.
Tony had the Idea of putting an Angels jersey over the Monkey, so he would become the rally Monkey, but that didn't work either.
Oh well...Maybe next year it will be a little more eventful.

Trick or Treat

Don't worry, she's a good witch!

Harts in Vegas

2009-01-08T13:27:00.000-08:00

So...here is my best atempt at an update! I'm gonna start slow and work my way up, so let's see how this goes!

We'll start out with were we left off...waaaay back in October. We had a great visit from our friends, Chris, Megan and Addie Hart. We had a great time! We shopped, shopped, ate and shopped, then ate some more! Poor Chris for enduring the shopping. And, I feel a little bad that we were such home bodies, (no shows, no doing out to dinner, just boring old home) but lately I've discovered with the baby(ies) home is so much easier. We can eat, they can (at the time roll) crawl around on the floor. I don't have to worry about Mr. Squirm Worm wiggling out of a high chair. Poor Addie had no choice...she's pretty highchair-y, AJ, not so much, especially at that time, he wasn't even sitting up by himself. Now, it's a little better (not much...which I will elaborate on in a later post). So here are a few of the kiddos hanging out together.

I think this is so cute with her little head on his shouler...say it with me now..."Awwww!"

Tick Tock

2008-12-31T16:40:00.000-08:00

I have good intentions, just no time...maybe later.

Invitation must be lost in the mail.

2008-11-25T10:04:00.000-08:00

To All My Friends...that I love...I love to check your blogs to feel like I'm keeping up with you even though we don't talk as often as I'd like. Some of you have changed your privacy settings so that I have to be invited and I havn't recieved an invitation :( I'm giving you all the benefit of the doubt that it was a mere oversight. If I'm wrong and you really don't want me stalking your family, then so be it, but if you don't mind me being a little voyeuristic, then please invite me! If you don't have my email, it's mollieandersen@yahoo.com . You know who you are, Joanna and Deb. Oh, if you didn't there you go!
Thanks...much love,
Mollie

Wouldn't it be nice?

2008-10-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some random goodies I couldn't resist sharing!

OUT! I love when he sprawls out like this...too cute!

Such a little boy.

Just chillin' in my hoodie with my peeps. Hey?!? Where did my peeps go?

She opened her eyes for this photo, but she was passed out cold on Tony's foot!

Smell My Feet...

2008-10-22T08:59:00.000-07:00

I love these jammies! I can't resist pumpkin bum! He did have a little dirty diaper situation so Tony now refers to the pumpkin bum as "Rotten Pumpkin" and rightfully so I guess!
Jack O'Lantern Feet!

Spoiled!

2008-10-22T08:48:00.000-07:00

There is no shortage of love for our little man! He gets sooooo much attention! Here he is playing with Max at Coleman's soccer game in SLC. He loves his cousins! Andrew calls him "Afney" while other variations have been adopted by others, we have Athney, and Anferney! Too Cute! Max and Anferney

Auntie Tara put him to sleep!

Leave the Cannoli!

2008-10-22T08:41:00.000-07:00

Ohhh, San Gennaro! It used to be an annual occasion, but for some reason, it's become Semi-Annual. It's my favorite time to get my grub on! Italian Sausage, Pizza, Gellato, Texas Twister (super-sugar-y lemonade, with lime, cherry, orange, and who knows what else) and that's just the first go-around! I always leave there about 5 lbs heavier, because it's SOOO Good! It was AJ's first trip the the Italian Food Festival! Take notice of my smile, yes, showing off ALL my teeth! That's the food kicking in. I can't help it!

Zion Nat'l Park

2008-10-22T08:23:00.000-07:00

Andersen Family in Zion 2008. My family has an October gathering spot at Zion Nat'l Park. It's so great! The Desert Pearl Inn IS Zion! We mostly spent our time by the pool, but did manage to get in one hike! (which was more leisure stroll than hike, but who's counting?) Brian, Angie, Emily, Eliza, Max, Franny, Tony, AJ and I did this one! Usually we do have a larger group, but The Bone's couldn't make it, nor could The Oregon Andersen's (We missed you all, and hope to see you there next year!) Hiking Trail?...Of Course it's the perfect place to strike a pose!

This Pic is for nostalgia...my extended family on my mom's side all meet at Lake Alturas every year, and for as many as I can remember, and have on record, there is a photo of my mom and her brother taking a picture of the other taking a picture of them! Confused yet? Me too... considering that we have probably 25 years on file of my mom with the camara to her face, and my uncle Dick with a camara to his face! SO, Angie and I are starting the tradition too! Consider 2008 on the record book!

Eliza Jane...Front and Center!

My Family on the hike! Don't make fun of my Axl Rose bandana...my ears were cold! Note: AJ awake and happy...

AJ asleep... didn't last long!

All tuckered out... it's so exhausing being carried around!

Mmm, Mmm, Good!

2008-10-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

Solid food has been our newest adventure. We were given the green light, so we started with a little wall paper paste, oh, oops, I mean Rice Cereal! For all he cares it is wall paper paste. He squished it around in his mouth for a second, the out it came!

Cereal Prep...
Cereal Spit...
Clinging to the chair for dear life... GET ME OUT OF HERE!

When all was said and done, I did nurse him afterwords, as to follow the doctor's instruction. Although I didn't capture that with the camera, he did have a look on his face as to say "OH, Thank Heaven!" A little relief that I wasn't taking that away from him!

So a week or so past and we started veggies. Peas were the first veggie encounter. He actually ate them! And, from what I can tell, I think he likes them!

Ok, so maybe he's wearing a little more that he ate?!?

Pea Smile

Leaning in for more! Oh Yeah!

And for good measure, Tony figured if he can Rice Cereal, and Peas, why not a little licorice?

MMMMM, Licorice!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'...

2008-10-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

Here is AJ's Rolling. He typically goes from his back to his front, then gets mad because he doesn't want to be on his tummy; however, he won't stay on his back long. If you put him down, he doesn't stay long, he rolls right over to his tummy. He does roll the other way, just not very often.

Before Roll...

After Roll

What?!? It's October!?!

2008-10-21T19:33:00.000-07:00

Where does the time go? Seriously? I can't believe it's October, and on the late side of October at that! xdc cs z\\

\\ hg h g ij ik mi tf dvg

No, I havn't lost it... that was AJ's input to this post. Funny enough, those are acutally the sounds he makes! ( If you didn't know that "\" made a noise...it does, you just have to listen for it!) He wanted to add his imput, but when he started drooling on the keyboard, I decided he was done! He is getting so big. Over 17 lbs, and he's already 6'2". Ok, not quite, but at this rate, it won't be long. He's 4 1/2 months and he is: rolling over, playing with his ears, lots (he just discovered that he had something fun to play with on the side of his head...cheap entertainment), drooling LOTS (teeth may be just around the corner), making some great noises (as noted above), scooting (a precursuer to crawling, much too soon in my mom opinion), he wants to stand ALL the time, and lots of other stuff.

Smile!

Unibrow

2008-08-18T11:45:00.000-07:00

Here, we have a picture of what appears to be a unibrow...I swear it's just a forhead wrinkle. He barely has eyebrows, and they're super blonde, so a little hard to see!
This is actually AJ's second swim. We didn't have a camera handy for the first pool experience. He didn't complain, but you can see the look on his face, he wasn't sure if he liked it either. He loves his bath, but this was a little cooler than his bath.
Nap time at our house. It seems like everyday, there's a point in the afternoon that everyone is asleep...BUT ME. While I seem to get things done, It's a little frustrating because I'm SOOOO tired. I lack the actual ability to nap...there's so much other stuff I could be doing!

Ouch!

2008-08-11T17:33:00.001-07:00

So here is a picture of the bumper tragedy. I was headed to a wedding reception at 9 in the morning, Yes, that's right, 9 in the morning (she had to get married on 8-8-08, being the wedding capitol of the world, you take what time you can get at the little chapel of the west!) ANYWAY...I was exiting the freeway and at a red light, waiting for traffic to pass, and SMASH! Crap! The baby started crying right away, which totally freaked me out. I was out of my seat and in the back seat in a nanosecond. As soon as I picked him up he stopped, so I think the sound scared him. No one hurt (except the pride of the guy who hit me) just injuries sustained to the poor bumper of my car, and the blown tire from the fender smashing into it. Just hope it'll be fixed in time for us to drive back up to Utah!

Back to work!

2008-08-04T20:03:00.000-07:00

went back to work today... like 1st day of school... felt i should have a pencil box... love my job, love it more if it were from home... only cried when i dropped him off... not bad, proud of myself... long long long day... uuuuugggggghhhhhh... 4 o'clock rolls around, ready to RUN out the door, oh wait, of course, rodger still has a patient... UUUUURRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH. HURRY!... actually asked asked tony to go gamble and win millions so we don't have to work, very unlike me... not so big on the gambling... i lived... aaaahhhhh, home... held baby tight for an hour... didn't let go... best part of my day... husband, baby, dog... family... best part of my day... do it again tomorrow...

Random Baby Pictures

2008-07-31T15:31:00.000-07:00

Anthony tries so hard for his thumb, that I'm really happy for him when he finds it! He doesn't always get that what he's sucking on is attached to him, and he obviously doesn't have control of his hands, so when his hand moves and his thumb...that he worked so hard to find pops out, he get's a little angry, poor guy.

The baby fell asleep with his hand against his face, and Tony couldn't resist the opportunity to wedge the phone in there. Afterall, baby's got stuff to do. It reminds me of the etrade commercial, with the baby. If you havn't seen it, youtube it, because it's pretty funny!

AJ has a look that cracks me up, because all I can see is my brother Josh. He totally looks like him here, it's CRAZY! I never thought that new babies looked like anyone, generally I just think they look like babies, but I can actually see someone in him everytime I look at him. This look just happens to be Josh!

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a picture of AJ and his doggy, Scout. She licks him a lot, we constantly have to keep her away from his face, but he never seems to mind. Sometimes he smiles at her, other times, he just closes his eyes, and waits for the giant dog tongue to leave. He never fusses though.

2008-07-31T12:57:00.000-07:00

Well, another week has past, and i have to go back to work on Monday. BOO HOO! I don't want to go. I never thought I'd feel this way, I thought for sure I'd be itching to get back to work by this time, but the thought of not spending every day, all day with my little man is so sad! I guess I gotta do it though, so suck it up Mollz.

We did go to Utah for the 24th of July, which to Tony's surprise is actually a holiday there! Thank heaven for those pioneers! We had fun! Tony golfed with my dad all three days that we were there, and actually complained about being tired. Jack was quick to point out that he's 70, and had no problems! We didn't do too much, went to Park City for dinner with Chris & Megan and Addie, went back to Park City outlets to do a bit of shopping. hung out outside (not easy to do in Vegas, so it is actually a highlight!) We went to ward breakfast, and neighborhood BBQ. Here a few pics from our trip!

2008-07-15T17:50:00.000-07:00

SO... we had some pictures taken of A.J. and Tony and I, for the most part they're pretty good. Tony's customer (who used to be his baby-sitter...which is kind of creepy, I won't lie) does a little hobby photography and got some pretty good shots, but I want lots more of him awake. He slept through most of the bulb flashing...can't bother that kid with anything when he wants to sleep (just wish that were actually at night!) But, thought I'd share a couple of the pics!

Hopefully I'll have a little more excitement on this blog after our Utah trip, and we actully do something. We're kind of prisoners of our house because 115 degrees doesn't go so well with 6 week old baby. You'd think we could go out at night, but when the LOW temp for the day is still 101...not so much! SO, we stay in a lot! Can't wait to go to Utah and cool off, and see some great outdoors!

Anthony Jack

2008-07-07T16:59:00.000-07:00

So here is our little man... Anthony Jack Sekikawa. Born on June 3, 2008 @ 10:39 pm. He weighed 8 lbs, 11 oz. and was 21 inches long. He just had his one month check up and is already 23 inches, and 12 lbs. BIG BOY! He is so fantastic. We love him so much and we're so happy he's finally here and so cute! (Ok, so I'm a little bias!)