Johnny-Chelsea-Gretel-Gwennie

"This Kitty...."

2012-01-03T07:56:00.000-08:00

"This kitty" is the beginning of about every sentence that Gretel says, and it's been going on for months now. It started with the movie Oliver and Company, and after watching it she suddenly transformed into Oliver and I became Jenny. We've role played that to death, and then she started morphing into other kitties. Sometimes she is Figaro, while Gwen is Pluto, I'm Minnie and Johnny is Mickey. Other times she is Spunky, a kitty who gets lost in a tree and needs to be rescued in a Chip n' Dale episode. Her latest kitty character is one that we can't figure where it came from or who it is. It sounds like "Louis and the frog" but she says it like it's one word. Gwen is sometimes called Rovo the Kitty. She tells me the baby in my tummy is sometimes called Betsy, a little baby kitty. (That just reminded me how extremely behind I am on my blog!! I will have to do an entire post about my pregnancy since I have not even mentioned it until now....how horrible!)

Anyway, Gretel says lots of things like "this kitty is cold." "This kitty doesn't know how to say prayers," etc. She usually speaks in third person and loves to direct. She is in charge, and loves to role play everything.
She absolutely loves watching Tom and Jerry cartoons and wants to play it with me. I'm Tom and she's Jerry. (one of few non-kitty roles) She tells me, "Now-you lay down and sleep. Then I'll pull your whisker and your tail!" After she does this, I wake up and act angry, then shout "JERRY!" while chasing her around the house. She is a hoot and I'm always impressed with how creative she is, thinking up these games.

Most of her day is spent hiding in every pillow that goes on our bed. She pulls off the decorative and non-decorative pillows and hides in them for hours! She says "Cinderella found a kitty!" (lots of times she pretends to be various princess' kitties) Or "Tiana found a kitty!" That's when I come in and find her beneath everything.
I can't believe how long she's loved hiding in pillows and blankets now. It's been at least a year. She also has a deep obsession with hiding Gwen is her blankie that has been going on daily for probably a year and a half. Poor Gwen really puts up with a lot! My mom is not a fan of dogs at all, and after witnessing Gretel hiding Gwen in her blanket night after night while I was staying with them this summer, she said "I have gained a whole new respect for that dog!"

These are Gretel's favorite toys-she lives for her Petshops! She separates all the kitties from the other petshops and hides them in their blankies too.

This is a small nook that Gretel has turned into her kitty bed. She took a couple of tiny pillows out of my jewelry boxes and lays on them. She likes to be the naughty kitty, getting out of bed and says, "get mad at this kitty and send me back to my bed."

Anyway-she is obsessed with kitties and begs me for a real one all the time! She wishes Gwen had baby pups in her tummy, and wants her to be a mommy pup. She also told my mom last week, "Mimi-I wish people has tails.....I wish I had-ed a tail." (I like how she adds an e-d to the end of the word had)
It's not on the kitty subject, but there is another thing I just remembered that's kind of creepy that she told my mom last week. She says there is a lady in her room named Chancelaura (I don't know how to spell it, but she pronounces it "Chance-a-laura") with white hair that floats up to the ceiling and back down.

One more thing-
I can't believe this kitty is a sunbeam now!! I had to take a picture of her with her great nursery leaders. This is sister Rolland...

This is her absolute favorite, Sister Coltrin....

She really misses her-this morning while we were getting ready to go to church, she told me that Sister Coltrin wants cookies. I told her we should make her some, and asked if she misses her. She said, "Yes-I love her." She really does.
She helped me make Sister Coltrin cinnamon rolls which we took her on Christmas. Gretel adores her-I'm glad she had such awesome leaders in nursery, and she also has great sunbeam teachers now. I think she likes it so far!

Halloween day

2011-11-22T20:49:00.000-08:00

On Halloween Day, we took Gretel to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm. My fam and I took her there on her 1st birthday, and I went there with some other moms and kids last year, so this was Johnny's first time going! It was a fun day- we looked at all the animals first, then did a train ride and just let her do a bunch of slides and other things. We ran into some of our friends there, the Gillespies, so that was fun. Gretel loved running around with her girlfriend Evelyn!

She was complaining about her stomach hurting once, which was odd. She never tells us if she feels sick/hurt. She really isn't much of a complainer, so I was a little worried she was getting sick. By that night, she definitely wasn't eating much, and kept saying her tummy hurt and she thought she was going to "trow up." She didn't care at all about trick-or-treating, but she hung out by me while I passed out candy to other kids. She ended up getting a fever, so I put her to bed. I felt sad that her night wasn't fun, but at least she had a blast at the trunk-or-treating night.

The highlight for me was watching a show that night with Johnny. I had recorded an episode of Dateline, and we just started it to clear some space on our dvr. We were both sucked in quickly to this gruesome true story. I love these types of shows, and always have. When I was in elementary school, I used to watch Unsolved Mysteries before bed each night. Anyway, shows like that are always better than renting a scary movie, in my opinion!
Anyway, that was our Halloweenie day and night!

I love being able to pet the sweet little goats and brush their hair!

Trunk or Treating

2011-11-21T21:17:00.000-08:00

A couple of days before Halloween, we had our annual ward trunk-or-treating activity. It was so much fun going with my little skeleton! I was excited that she wanted to be a skeleton this year. I'm really surprised she didn't want to be a kitty, since her obsession with pretending to be a kitty has not ended. Johnny thought if we painted his face first, she could see what it was like. So after watching him, she got pretty excited and sat very still while getting hers done. I was impressed at how still she was! She even requested that I do her hands white too.
On the way to the activity, she told us all about how she was going to scare her friends, and they would scream and run away from her. She did do that, and it was hysterical!!
I am so glad my mom mailed me this hood that went with my old skeleton costume when I was little. It really completed the look and made her unrecognizable! A couple of people asked me where she was when she was near me, because they had no idea who it was. She was also mistaken for a boy a couple of times while receiving candy. A couple of times people would hand her a treat and say, "there you go, buddy." It was so funny-I just LOVED her costume this year, and loved that she wanted to be something scary. She has always loved witches and been obsessed with scary things. Johnny and I agreed that this is our favorite costume she's ever worn. I think we just loved seeing her face fully painted, and also she is at such a fun age right now!
Anyway, we had a blast with her!

This is the picture I got while she was scaring her friends-she was really playing the part. She looked like a zombie running around with her little arms outstretched, making these growling/moaning sounds.

I helped her track down this guy, who she saw from far away. She loved him and kept calling out to him before we got close enough to talk to him. She really wanted him to notice her and kept saying, "scary man...see Gretel!!"

The woman on the left is the nursery leader for all these girls. Sister Coltrin is great! Only one more month, and then they'll all be sunbeams!!

Johnny stayed at our car to pass out candy to other kids, while I got to take Gretel around. It was such a treat! I just loved holding her little hand, listening to her say "trick or treat" to each person. I thought it would be fun, but it was much more fun than I had
expected!!

Back to kitty mode, licking her paws...

When we got home Gwen was terrified of Johnny because of his makeup. She ran away from him and hid under our bed, which she never does. It took Johnny a little while to get her out. You wouldn't think that a dog really looks up at your face to notice something like that. Poor pup!!
I don't know how Gretel lasted as well as she did. I thought for sure she'd fall asleep on the way home with all her makeup on. But she didn't, and I washed her face. After I got it all off, she looked in the mirror and yelled, "I'm free!" She says funny things like that so often-she is a hoot!

Gretel's Party Part 2

2011-11-03T22:05:00.000-07:00

When Sleeping Beauty first arrived, she gave the birthday girl a rose and a card with princesses on it...she is one thoughtful princess!!
Gretel has some very cute little girlfriends...they really enjoyed posing with Sleeping Beauty!

Gretel loved her sparkly shoes!

The party favors....

I am happy the girls had so much fun, and I too thought it was a total blast!
Gretel's favorite number is 8, so she keeps telling people she is 8 now, instead of 3!

Gretel's 3rd Birthday Party!!

2011-11-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Gretel is now 3! Time flies...On the day of her actual birthday, I took her to the park and she played with some friends for 3 hours! She loves the park, so I wanted to make sure we stayed there for an extra long time that day. Later that night Johnny and I took her to a Halloween store to look around at all the zombies and scary Halloween loot. I knew she'd love it! She kept asking to go back after that. She loved tearing off the wrapping paper of each gift she received. She got so many fun things from family, thanks so much everyone!

She had asked for a Sleeping Beauty party, which we did a few days after her actual birthday.

When the guests first arrived (in their favorite princess gowns) we made candy necklaces and had a snack. The glass slipper and crown jigglers were the biggest hit of all! Kids just love jigglers, but then again so do I!!

I thought up a matching game that Johnny and the man at the printing place helped me execute. I wanted to have the girls match the princess with their friend (Cinderella matches the mice, Snow White and the dwarves, etc.) We laminated them because I knew Gretel and I would play this game a lot more! It was a success-the kids did a great job and were totally into it!

After a little while Gretel was wanting to shed her dress-she really just likes to hang out in her undies....like father like daughter!! I took it off because she looked like she would've ripped it off herself!

She opened presents and then we did cake and ice cream

This is the cake I always dreamed of as a child, but never got. I love re-living my childhood through my daughter!

She was still in her undies when a surprise guest arrived! They were all so thrilled to be seeing the real Sleeping Beauty. Gretel started pointing to some of the princess pictures I had on the wall for decoration saying to her, "Look! These are all your friends!!"

I was glad she quickly put her Snow White dress back on when I asked. I wanted her to wear it for pictures!

Because of some "technical difficulties," I had to finish this post in Part 2....

Talking Tom

2011-10-21T22:17:00.000-07:00

Gretel turning 3 last week, but I haven't gotten the pictures from her fun party on my computer yet. So birthday and party pics still to come...
I didn't want to forget this funny conversation I overheard between Gretel and Talking Tom, which is a very cute ipad app that she likes. Tom is a cat that does many different things, and one of them is to repeat everything you say.

So the other day Gretel was saying to it, "Hello Tom, what's your name? I'm Gretel."

Tom of course repeats this.

She says, "No I'm Gretel!"

Tom repeats, with the same voice inflection.

They continue to go back and forth with "I'm Gretel!" until she gives up and says, "Fine-you're Gretel."

He repeats this too, and I was standing over her shoulder watching and trying so hard not to laugh. She noticed me at this point and looked up and said, "We were fighting a little bit."

Oh, goodness; she really makes me laugh!!

Gretel is a funny girl!

2011-09-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

I got a few pictures of Gretel on her little trike that "Pop-C" got her. She is so funny and is always in la-la land. She sings to herself and just messes around all day long. She is good at doing a lot of nothing, really. Just lots of wandering the house hanging /climbing on things and pretending to be several movie characters each day. The rest of us are other characters is her movie. For example, when she's Jazzy, (short for Jasmin) I am always Aladdin and Gwen is Aboo. We sing "A whole new world" and she tears up little pieces of toilet paper to make my turban and little even tinier ones to also put on my head which are the jewels. She says the words toilet and jewels really funny.

Her favorite character lately is Oliver from the movie Oliver and Company. He is a cat, so she crawls around the house meowing and pawing at me, "Jenny." I love when we pretend this because she is extra cuddly and sweet. She wants to be held and have me pet her soft fur and everything. She will do just about anything Jenny asks. She used to have a hard time saying Oliver and it sounded just like "Over." Johnny kind of taught her how to say it correctly, and she says it really well now. She tells me, "Sometimes we say "Oliver" and sometimes we say "Over." Also, when we are these characters, Gwen is Tito and Johnny is Sikes, the mean dog. The last few days she has been nicer to Johnny, but she has been going through a rough phase with him, where she was favoring me a lot, and not so nice to him.
One thing she said to Johnny that really made us laugh was, Johnny told her that he loved her toy dogs "Cutsy and Wo Wo." (she named them, and we love these names!) Her response was, "Well they don't love you! They bite you and they scratch you!"

Also, she loves to be Perdi and I am Pongo. She is Mrs. Frisby, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, etc. It changes constantly. I'm glad this phase is back, because she stopped pretending to be lots of people for a while, and I missed it!

Lately when she sees whoever it is that she's pretending to be, (either on tv or in a book) she'll say things like, "look! there I am running away in the forest and the queen is going to feed me a poison apple!" Or at the beginning of a Disney movie when they show the castle she says, "there's my castle!"
She really cracks us up.

Also, she loves music and requests these songs:

1. Magic Dance by David Bowie
2. La Vien Rose by Louis Armstrong
3. Just an old fashioned girl by Eartha Kitt
4. Face Drop by Sean Kingston (she must love him, because Fire Burning was her very favorite song when she was only about a year, and we'd listen to it over and over)
5. Someone like you by Adele (she calls it the "nevermind song")

That last one is her absolute favorite, and she asks to listen to it a lot. She also yells, "LOUDER! LOUDER!" Then she belts it out with me. The other night when I was rocking her we had this conversation:

G: Mom, what does boun mean?
me: Is the word bound? Are you thinking of the nevermind song?
G: Ya-she says bound by thee surprise....
me: Ya! She says the word "the" like "thee"...
then I explained to her what bound meant.

Really, I find her highly entertaining! She is very affectionate lately and always says, "Mommy I love you" or "Daddy I love you." She isn't such a prickly porcupine anymore!

My summer in Utah!

2011-09-04T22:26:00.000-07:00

This summer I was in Utah a ton! I went there while Johnny studied for the bar, which he took at the end of July. (He won't get his results until just before Thanksgiving!)
So, while I was there a ton happened! Hailey had her baby Penelope on June 9th. I waited to go home until she was born. My mom and I went to the hospital in the middle of the night to see her straight from the womb! It was a total blast; very memorable. She is a little doll. Her name is Penelope Jane, and I like to call her "P.J." just to drive Hab crazy! I also got to go to her one month photo shoot with Hab, which was way fun. More pictures of that later!

We planned and did so many fun things; we kept saying how we'd always remember this summer because of all the really fun activities we did.
Here are the highlights-I don't have pictures of everything, unfortunately!!

-Going to Bear Lake two weekends in a row; Gretel's first tube ride behind the boat! She loved getting splashed and giggled a ton!
-Going to Midway and riding scooters/swimming
-Going to Chuck E. Cheese or, as I like to call it...."Charles E. Cheddar!" We had so much fun there; I started referring to it as "The Cheddar." Gretel asks to go back every day.
-Lagoon; we did the freakiest ride with Gretel called Dinosaur Drop. She also did bumper cars and loved everything she rode. Hab and I did the Wicked roller coaster with Teal-so scary! Gretel also asks to go back to Lagoon every day.
-I went to my very first series of acupuncture appointments and finally got to meet the famous (in my fam, anyway) Dr. Ding! I loved every minute of being there.
-Going to dinner with Tonya, Tess, my mom and Hab at Vinto and had my dream pasta.
-Dinner with Claudia and the Olsen girls at the Grand America, so that was hilarious company.
-Dollar movie night with Hilly, my mom and Hab. We saw Something Borrowed and went to Baskin Robbins for ice cream after! I loved that night!
-I did plenty of pedicures and earned some cash while visiting with old clients of mine that I love and miss.
-Went to the zoo with the fam and Red Robin for dinner. Then I went swimsuit shopping with Hab afterward!
-We went to the Living Aquarium one day with mom, Hab, Hudda and Ollie. Gretel loved being able to see her cousins and play with them a bunch.
-Got my fave Beto's breakfast burritos on the way to the farmer's market one Saturday morning.
-I went to visit two of my friends from high school/childhood: both named Katie. One just had twins so I got to see them (so cute) and the other has a little girl that's Gretel's age and they love playing together.

-Johnny and I were both in Utah at the very end and we went to Seven Peaks for Hab's birthday, (Gretel loved going on the big water slides with me!) then saw a hilarious comedian that night. We also got to celebrate my dad's birthday by having a campout in my parent's backyard and yummy breakfast the next morning, which was really fun!
We also enjoyed a pool party that Johnny's parents hosted for his side of the fam, and Gretel loved swimming all night long! We also went to the zoo and the aquarium with his family, and ate at Hires then saw the movie The Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Wow! It really was a totally packed summer and I was able to do every activity that I've wanted to do in ages! Thank you mom and dad, for taking us to so many places, and planning such a memorable summer. I really do have the best parents and family in the world, and I really love them. I am lucky I was able to spend so much time with them this summer!

Hab and I competing-I just loved our "Evening at The Cheddar!"

Chels learns the ABC's: F is for FELINE

2011-07-20T22:27:00.000-07:00

Let me explain why I, Chels am learning the ABC's along with Gretel. I have obviously missed out on a lot during my school days. (I daydreamed all day instead of paying attention)

My confusion is almost always related to animals, and very basic ones. My family makes fun of me and every time a funny story involving an animal occurs, my family says we need to add that one to the alphabet: like R for rats and F for felines.

I'll back up to when it all began.....I was 18, and Hab was 21.

When Hab and I took our cousin to the zoo for his 1st birthday, Hab told me to run ahead and read the signs pointing to the different ways we could go, so we'd know what route to choose. I was bewildered when I saw a sign with the word "Felines" on it. I yelled to her, "Well, we can either see the elephants, or the FAY-LEENS!" She said, "What?" and came closer to see the sign because she didn't know what fay-leens were. She howled with laughter while crossing her legs to keep from wetting her pants while she explained to me that the word was pronounced FEE-LINES. I told her I had no idea what that was-I'd never heard of it. (More embarrassing, there was a picture of a cat right on the sign)

She said, "C'mon-you've heard of it!! Canine=dogs, Feline=cats!"

No-I just kept telling her that I'd never heard of it in my life. The best part is that a woman was sitting on a bench right there by us, and heard the whole thing. She looked as though we'd made her day! So we took a picture right then and there!

That was ten years ago-I can't believe after all these years I am still having major issues with my animals. I will be posting my "ABC's" as a series, because they are so plentiful!

Johnny's Graduation!

2011-06-30T23:53:00.000-07:00

On May 14th, Johnny graduated from law school! For the few weeks before the big day, we just kept saying how much we both could not believe that his school days were finally coming to an end. He has been in school since we got married, so for the past six years we have known only finals, tests, deadlines and a lot of studying! I say "we" because even though I am not in school (thank heavens-I can't imagine anything more horrid) I'm still affected by all of his late nights/all-nighters as he stays up to study for a final or to finish a paper.
He can't understand why I feel the stress of it-I think it's mostly because I feel really sorry for him. But he is crazy and really likes school! His favorite little latin phrase translates into, "learn for the love of learning."

Both his parents and mine came to his graduation! Thanks, that was so nice of you guys to come and visit for a short but important weekend. That morning, Gretel woke up with a fever so she was pretty out of it during some of the pictures. She just wanted to sleep, the poor girl! Johnny carried her across the stage with him when his name was called, and she was the first child that had been carried with a parent, so the audience liked it. Later there were lots of kids that went with their parents, so it was fun to see how many law students had young kids.
It was strange weather-freezing cold and really windy. The night before graduation we went to dinner with his parents. Then they had to leave town right after the ceremony, so we went to dinner with my parents. On the way home from that, we stopped off at Toys R Us so my dad could get Gretel a trike. She had been asking him for a blue one for a little while, and she'd call him on the phone to talk to him about it, so she was excited! (He got her a Disney princess one with a matching helmet, and she was thrilled!) Gretel calls him "Pot-C" instead of "Pop-C" so....thanks "Pot-C!"

Anyway, graduation day was great and he is really excited to be able to "work hard for the money....so hard for it honey...." If he had his way, he'd be working in criminal law. He has been working as an intern for the past two years in criminal defense. He got to do a real jury trial and loved it! (and I got to watch one day of it, and thought he did a great job)
He got an award in school right before graduation that was the "most likely to set a killer free" award, which I thought was fun, but I have some conflicting feelings about-do I want my husband setting killers free?

Anyway, I am so proud of you Johnny! You have worked so hard the last four years, and I wish you lots of luck while taking the brutal bar exam!
Now I hope you are able to pass the bar so you can get a jobby-job, so we can start paying off our hefty student loans!

Caitland and John's Wedding

2011-06-30T23:07:00.000-07:00

In May Johnny's sister got married! She married John Sawyer, so we have another John in the fam now! (Gretel now has a "Daddy Johnny," a "Grandpa John" and an "Uncle John")
It was so gorgeous and fun-the highlight for me was seeing John's face as he was looking at Caitland during the ceremony. He was so teary and just looked at her like he was so in love. It was the sweetest....true love!!
Another part that I want to remember is when Gretel saw Caitland in her dress right before the ceremony. She looked at her and said, "you look like Sleeping Beauty!"

I wanted a picture of them, and he'd just changed out of his tux

I tell Gretel that this is Rapunzel's sun

Gretel had a cumquat in her cheek-she loved picking and eating them all day

The m&ms were the wedding colors and had Caitland and John's names on them

Devon had gotten Ellie this $7 Minnie balloon. (She was so nice to share it with Gretel)

Devon told Caitland to help hold it because he was super stressed it would float up into the sky. I can't remember why, but Caitland said something like "well I'll show you, Minnie..." and playfully punched her face. Her ring punctured a hole and we all heard the air escaping! It was so awful and funny! Devon hid the balloon from Ellie the rest of the trip because the ears were the only part that survived.

Gretel's two highlights were meeting Mickey and meeting Rapunzel!

Mickey was really nice; she was in heaven because he gave her a hug and kiss.

Ellie is pretty shy and quiet, so when she meets princesses she hugs them, and is quiet and very cuddly. She met Rapunzel first and Gretel watched, so I thought Gretel would act similarly. I was so wrong!

Gretel's reaction was hilarious, and totally unexpected! She ran and jumped all around her tower, in a nervous/excited sort of way. She didn't get very close to her at first, but just asked her a bunch of questions about the tower like, "are those the floating lights?" I wish I had video of it, but I only have pictures.

She watches Tangled all the time, and I think she couldn't believe that she was actually meeting her!
She was such a pretty girl, and I was so impressed with her tower and hair/costume. It was really fun for me to see her too!

The teacup ride makes me sick, so I was grateful that the men took the girls on it! Gretel's favorite rides were Pinocchio's Daring Journey, and Snow White's Scary Adventures. She went on both of them several times in a row, and it was perfect because neither of them were crowded and we walked right on each time.

She loves scary things, so she was thrilled to see the scary whale with the sharp teeth and the witch holding the poison apple. She still asks me if we can go on both of these rides.

She also loved Pirates of the Carribean, and sings "yo yo, yo yo, a pirate's life for me!" I like how she says yo yo, instead of yo ho!

Other favorites were the Haunted Mansion, It's a Small World, and Dumbo!

We can't wait to go back-I just live for Disneyland!!

My favorite picture at the moment

2011-06-13T18:48:00.000-07:00

Until I get a little more time to do a longer post, here is a picture of Gretel that makes me laugh. I asked her to put her fist under chin like this, (like in Napolean Dynamite) and she did. I love her little teeth-she is such a ham!

The best thing about Gretel is that she does just about anything you ask her to do. She's usually happy to sing anything, or say anything I ask her to. One funny thing she'll say in the appropriate voice is "Stella....STELLAAAAA" -you know, from the Seinfeld episode.

Sister Hailey & Mommy Dearest Visit!!

2011-05-02T23:03:00.000-07:00

My mom and sis recently came to visit me! It was so fun, and I can't believe it's been almost 2 years since our last girls trip! All we did for one whole week was shop and eat out!! We ate so many naughty things every day; lots of ice cream, mud pie, cake- treats galore! (perfect vacation) Thanks mama for all the goodies; you and dad truly spoil us!

One huge reason they came when they did was because I needed a cut and color from my sista so I didn't have roots for my sis-in-law (Caitland's) wedding and Johnny's graduation which were both in May. So, I felt like a new woman after she worked her magic! Thanks Hab!

Here we are posing with some of our shopping bags....

My friend Abby took us shopping in San Fran the first day, which started things off with a bang! She used to live there, so she was an awesome navigator! Unfortunately I discovered my camera was dead after we got there, so no pics of that day:(

We went to Judy's for brunch, which is always delicious! Then we went to the most horrible place for dinner, called Anchor and Hope. Expensive, and we got only 4 or 5 bites of food because the portions were so small. (about 1/4 cup of gnocchi is what we each got!) We complained and realized that they were NOT in the customer pleasing business. And none of us are the type to complain....but really-it was the worst customer service any of us had ever experienced!
We were all starving when we left-it was so awful. We wished we would've gone to Wetzel's Pretzels instead. It's Hab's and my favorite pretzel shop, and even though they have one in San Fran's mall, we decided just to get one a different day from Roseville's mall. We were looking forward to it so much, so we felt like it was a cruel joke when we saw it covered up with a black curtain:

I wanted to sing, "So close-yet so far away!!" We were both so sad about it. Since that mall had a fire last year, just a few of places weren't open yet, and Wetzel's was one of them! We really should've gotten one in San Fran.

While Hab had my camera, she must've taken this picture because of the nipples on the mannequin! I just discovered it on my camera, so that was quite a surprise!
It gave me a good chuckle!

I took a picture of our "snack" at the food court.
We were too hungry to wait for dinner at Claim Jumper, so we ended up just getting mud pie and lemon bar brulee from there on our way home!

Gretel and I had a blast one day riding the train around The Fountains shopping center.

At Anthropologie

I wanted to show them the Sacramento temple, and while we were there, we saw some wild turkeys. My mom and Hailey still howl with laughter because I said, "That's so sad that we eat them on Thanksgiving." And as they laughed at this comment I asked, "Well isn't it?" They never answered....they said their shrieks of laughter should be the answer, but I was left feeling puzzled.

At Burr's ice cream shop in East Sac

At a candy store in Old Sac

One morning Hab wanted to make some really delish chocolate waffles. We normally don't love chocolate waffles, but these are great! They're from the "Our Best Bites" website, which I didn't know about until she told me. We topped them with strawberries and vanilla syrup. "Good idear, Steph!"

I've made them twice since then and topped them with bananas and caramel syrup. That is my fave combo!
The first time I did this was when I had Shauna over for her birthday-she loved her birthday breakfast way more than I expected her to! Then we did it once more for Abby's birthday.

Gretel Gumdrops playing with her kitchen after her hair had been freshly braided by Hab. I took pictures so I could practice later and hopefully have it turn out looking like it.

Below are pictures of when I've done her hair-these are my best efforts

Anyway, we had a really great visit! The theme song for our trip is one that my mom is obsessed with lately. My mom put her ipod on to play it almost every day! It's called "Just an old-fashioned girl" by Eartha Kitt, and it's really funny! I posted the video, and it's definitely worth watching!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IfGBQ-T_GY

Easter!

2011-05-02T21:34:00.000-07:00

On Easter morning, Gretel got to look and see what the Easter bunny left her in her room. She also got to do a little egg hunt in her room, with eggs hidden behind stuffed animals, etc.
Her basket was hidden behind the rocking chair ("rock rock chair" as she calls it) and she was just loving it!
In this picture she is looking at the movie Tangled, so excited to watch it! Lately she says, "I'm so excited!" about lots of things, and I just love it.

Thanks so much to Mimi, for being the Easter bunny's personal shopper-you really got Gretel SO many cool things! She was really spoiled; she got books, new dishes/bib, a backpack, clothes, a sprinkler toy for the backyard, and hair accessories. Also, we each got a big dark chocolate-covered caramel carrot. My fave!! Thank you for everything, Mom and Dad!

Her very favorite thing that she can't live without is the magnetic alphabet toy! She also loves her glittery fairy wand and new bath toys.

Johnny and I got her some books, a coloring book that uses a pen filled with water (great church toy) some crocs for the pool/beach and sand toys for the beach

I thought she'd want to shove all the jelly beans in her mouth as soon as I opened the egg for her, but she mostly just wanted to pour them from one half of the egg to the other.

The crusty look!

Thanks Mom, for her Easter frock-and also for mine!

I didn't have time to snap a picture of her hair before church, so by this point it's way messed up because she'd been hiding in all the couch pillows, her favorite hobby.

But thanks Hab for teaching me how to French braid her hair! Even though I've known how to French braid, it's seriously hard to do on a baby with their little fine hair. Hab has mad skillz when it comes to braiding-she is better and WAY faster than I am. She gave me some tips to improve my technique, which I really appreciate! When she came to visit recently, (my next blog post) she whipped out her hair talents and I couldn't believe how much I loved Gretel's hair like that! So anyway, I've been practicing.

That night we got together with a few other families for an egg hunt. It was Shauna's fam, Abby's fam, along with Abby's in-laws' families too. Lots of fun!!

Gretel's favorite friend, Avery

Her other favorite friend, Chloe

Shauna's cute boy, Jack

Shauna's awesome daughter Skyler, who I just adore!!

All 4 of Shauna's kids

After Shauna did this impromtu pose, we also decided to be silly with our baskets

Tribond: We gave ourselves that name while playing a board game called Tribond. We were beating our husbands (boys vs. girls) and the three of us put our fists in the air, touching them together in celebration, and the name stuck.

I love how silly we are when we're together.

The best part of Easter was that Johnny said he wanted to cook! So he did the honey pecan chicken, I did the scalloped potatoes, (my first time making them, which is funny because later I found out that my Dad also made scalloped potatoes that night-kindred spirits:)) and we both did the salad. It was lots of fun being in the kitchen together. It was nice and relaxing. So after dinner and the egg hunt, we came home and watched Tangled! That's all Johnny cared about doing all day long-he's been dying to watch it and wanted to give it to Gretel early, but I made him wait until Easter when she'd get it in her basket.

I definitely miss our families and wish we could do an egg hunt with cousins, and eat dinner with everyone. But I'm grateful that we have such nice friends that invite us to do fun things with them. We have spent so many holidays with our friends here, and they feel like family, so we're very lucky.

We will be seeing a lot of family in the next couple of weeks, so we're really excited. It was such a treat to have Hab and my mom come and stay. We leave in a couple of days for Johnny's sister's wedding (YAY!) and then right when we get home from that Johnny graduates (double YAY!!)

Both his parents and mine are coming for the graduation, so that will be really fun!

"Bow Chicka Wow Wow"

2011-04-26T20:37:00.000-07:00

After the previous anniversary post you might think you know what this title means, but it's not what you think!! You must watch this performance of Mike Posner performing on Ellen last week. I thought I was going to lose my lunch. Speaking of lunch, this is the "lunchiest"song EVER! (my fam has always used the word lunchy instead of cheesy)
I was watching it with Johnny and laughing out loud for a few reasons; these are the highlights that you should watch for:

1. Everyone in the audience starts waving their hands in the air (Hab's and my pet peeve) and a couple of people refuse to join in. A bald man, then later they show a lady in a white jacket near the aisle. They both stay strong under peer pressure!

2. He sings "I got you flowers and a teddy" while handing Ellen a gi-normous teddy bear. We all know he's singing of lingerie, but of course he's trying to make it day time "approprit."

3. The look he gives the camera after singing the line "Girl you know you like it."

4. When he sings the line "you've been playin' hard to get..." Johnny said, " I don't think she's playing hard to get; I think she's sickened by you."

*My grandma "Nan" had a saying: First you abhor it, then you accept it, then you embrace it. I admit that has happened to me with other songs. If it happens to me with this one, I WILL JUST DIE!! (I will probably not admit it, either)

* One more thing- I really like his song "Please don't go" so I can't bash him completely.

Anyway I have gotten quite a few chuckles over this, so I hope you enjoy!!

http://www.hulu.com/watch/233832/the-ellen-show-mike-posner-performs-bow-chicka-wow-wowAfter

Happy Anniversary!!

2011-04-21T21:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our 6th wedding anniversary! I was very surprised when Johnny gave me lots of potions and lotions from Victoria's Secret. He went there to get me Vicky Mints (I had mentioned a long time ago that I'd like more) and when he found out that they don't have them anymore, he picked out his favorite scents and got me hooked up with plenty of lotion, bath gel, and body spray! Little "Yanni" does some surprising things sometimes....he also picked out a very cute card and wrote a sweet message. I need to be better at gift-giving. He is way nicer in this area than I am!
So we had a fun date last night. We went to the movie Source Code and then to dinner at a place called Tuli that I've wanted to try for quite some time. It was good, and had quite a romantic atmosphere. We sat on the patio which had heater, and this reminded me of our first date! Anyway, I can't believe we've been married for six years! I also can't believe we've lived in California for almost 4 of those years-time really flies!!

Valentine's Day

2011-04-18T21:43:00.000-07:00

Gretel and I started off the holiday early by making my mom's recipe for Jell-o Valentine sugar cookies. Gretel had her own bit of dough that she got to play with and eat! They looked so cute when they were all frosted in pink!

I brought the cookies to my cute group of girls; my calling is the Activity Days leader. We made cupcake paper wreaths like the one Hailey made me a few years ago; it's one of my fave V-day decorations. I think the girls did an awesome job with theirs!!

I usually have 12-15 girls at each activity; this one was our smallest group ever.

Gifts from Mimi and Pop-C to Gretel

Gifts from us to Gretel; when she saw Tinkerbell she said, "oh my goodness!" a couple of times! So cute!!

I made the most awesome dinner ever!! Hailey recommended it because she'd just made it for her anniversary and said it was to die for. It was!
It was from the Pioneer Woman blog. It looks kinda gross in this picture, like a big plate of meat that Uncle Rico from Napolean Dynamite would eat. But it was seriously the best dinner ever!!

My mom mailed me two big boxes of my favorite candy-cinnamon lips and sugared cinnamon hearts! I just can't find them here; thanks mom! It doesn't feel like V-day without these treats.

The gifts from Mimi and Pop-C, opened.

Some festive areas of my house

Here's the wreath Hailey made me a long time ago. The computer wasn't cooperating in rotating my pictures.

I decided to hang this lamp shade that I made probably 8 years ago. It is usually in a closet on a shelf, but I busted it out, and I liked it there!

Girlfriend playing with her food (what she does best!)

The cover of the "Chester Molester" mix I made for my friends and fam! I'M SO BAD! I was thrilled with the end result, and chuckling the whole time that I was creating it. (two discs inside!) I probably get a little too much satisfaction out of making gifts like these.

Well, that's about it! We had a fun little holiday!

Recent Happenings

2011-03-29T22:48:00.000-07:00

Gretel is so funny...she makes us laugh every day! She says hilarious things all the time, and I need to write them all down, before I forget. Last summer, I was drinking a can of Mug root beer, and she looked at it and said, "Dog-beast?" That was when she was just speaking in one or two word, question mark form. She also did that with Ollie's stuffed animal build-a-bear dog.
As soon as she saw it she said, "Teddy-dog?"

Now that she's talking in sentences, she is really making us howl with laughter....on our trip to Newport last week she got to hold Gwen on her lap for the last 30 min. of the drive. Poor Gwen was trapped! Gretel stroked her and said, "I'm sorry, puppy-pup...but I'm happy!" Today while on a walk together, we passed by a middle-eastern man wearing a turban, dark glasses and walking with a cane. Gretel said "there's a man" a couple of times before she just had to add "he looks like Rasputin" just at the exact time we were right next to him! Horrid. She's easy to understand, so when she says things like that it's so embarrassing. Anyway, here's what we've been up to. A couple of weeks ago she had the flu and was throwing up for a few days. So Johnny brought her some flowers. I liked this dramatic picture of her.

Johnny's mom says she is a real character, and she is!

She loves staying and playing in her bath towel for a really long time after "tubby tine" as she calls it.

She spends hours each day wrapping up penguin and other bath animals in white wash cloths, aka making them dresses. I wish I had her facing the window so it would be better lighting. I told her to pose with her hands by her face like this, and she did it for me!

She did this pose all on her own, and Johnny captured it at the right moment. What a poser!

She loves putting on her hat, "mitts" and snow boots around the house.

She pours me smoothies in her kitchen she got from Mimi and Pop-C

She loves her "glass slippers" so much that Grandma gave her. She lives in them, and she fell asleep one night wearing them! They have Cinderella on them, and she used to role play by saying, "Cinda-grella's running away!" Then either Johnny or I would pretend to be the prince and try and stop her and beg her not to go home yet. She lived for this and we'd do it all day.

She's been in nursery for a year now! I can't believe how much bigger she is now-anyway, I came across these pictures and had to throw them in too!

This was her very first day of nursery. I remember Johnny wanted to "hold her back" a few weeks because he felt that she was too little for nursery. (kind of like you'd hold back your child from kindergarten for a year) He's so funny.

I felt like the worst mom on earth when she hurt her nose really badly one night. It was all my fault because I was playing with her on my bed. We were playing her favorite "hungry for babies" game where she hides under the covers. I grabbed her buns, and she lunged forward (her face was covered in blankets, so she couldn't see) hitting the edge of our nightstand so hard. I was terrified, and seeing how bad her nose looked, I didn't know if it was broken or not. (it wasn't)

The next day she fell and hit her forehead really hard, so she looked totally beat up for a long time. Major bruising in both places!! I can't stand when kids get injured!

This was just a few weeks ago right before a day at the zoo! She loved it so much, and keeps
saying, "we better go to the zoo!"

I thought this was a hilarious, crazed smile.

Last week she heard Johnny's dad say how much he loves her smile. He said it's the best smile he's ever seen on a kid. So the next day she started saying to us, "look at my smile" and then would give us a total cheeser. What a clown!

Hab's 30th birthday party....and other fun!

2011-03-02T20:47:00.000-08:00

So I figured I should keep up my terrific habit of posting events WAY after they occur! Back in August, my sis Hailey (aka Hab) turned the big 3-0, and threw herself an awesome pink party. My dad flew me to Utah so I could be there for the party (thanks Dad-you're the best!) as well as hang out for a week!

The first day I arrived, Teal and I stopped at my fave place....Sconecutter!! We had a hilarious experience that left us in stitches at the drive-thru, so that was fun. He drove me to Hab and Steve's house, and the kids all played together while they made us all a really yummy dinner! My parents met us there and we all had lots of fun catching up and watching the kids play in the playhouse & backyard.

Hudson's robot moves

Hab's pink party was Pinkalicious! She has a great backyard for a summer night party!
It was perfect, and she'd thought of all sorts of fun details. She'd spray-painted twigs hot pink for a centerpiece/party favor tree. There were tiny nailpolishes tied to the tree that we each got to choose from before leaving. The food was all sooo good! There was dinner, pictures, and dancing. (I made some pretty wicked dinner and dance mixes if I do say so myself!)

Lauren and Betsy-we love their whole fun fam of girls! Betsy and I used to be roomies, and took organ lessons together, and also did lots of other obnoxious things together!! She's super fun and hilarious!

Oh, yes-all the guests were asked to wear pink

Besides the party, the highlight of the trip for me was going to water aerobics with Hab and my cousins Hillary and Tenley. I expected it to be fun, but it was WAY more fun that I thought it would be!!! After our exercise class, we decided to eat back all the calories we'd burned (and more) at Coldstone and The Pie. In that order too, because Hilly and Tenley were too polite to tell us that they hadn't eaten dinner yet, and got ice cream with us first. We felt awful when we learned this, and we all grabbed pizza after our dessert!

The morning of Hab's birthday, we all went to a Chicken and Waffles place that she loves, which is unfortunately out of biz now. Too bad...it was really good!

We went to dinner at Cheesecake Factory and opened gifties at Mom and Dad's house after. Here is the birthday girl posing with a few of her spoils. (I gave her the pink coasters) I especially love the necklace that she got-very cool!

While we were there, Gretel got hooked on the swing in my parent's backyard and wanted to be pushed out there for hours!

She loves Hilly's cute dogs, Lola and Bella. I do too! I'm so glad she gets to grow up with a little pup of her own. She and Gwen are thick as thieves lately! She loves to hold the leash and run with her! Anyway, I love these little Chihuahuas-they are very sweet!

This is Connor, who I used to babysit along with his siblings a long time ago. Their family was my favorite!! I can't believe how grown up and smart he is. I got to visit with him when he came over to ride my little brother Teal's golf cart. He was trying to earn money to try and buy it (I think he's bought it since then) and wanted to practice driving it. So he took Gretel and I around the block and he was a total blast to talk to. So mature-I felt like I was on a date (in a non-creepy way) because he was so fun to talk to!

His mom and siblings came over to visit since they heard from Connor that I was in town. Such a nice and cute family-I loved catching up with them!

Gretel was addicted to golf cart rides, and thankfully Teal was generous with taking her whenever she wanted to go!! She loves him and talks about him all the time.

Fun trip, and I can't believe it's taken me this long to write about it! I hope to have another visit soon! (Or you guys are invited here....)

My wicked weekend!

2011-02-08T20:54:00.000-08:00

Way back in September, my besties and I went to San Fran to see the show Wicked. I am now getting around to posting all of these pictures. What fun we had!!!

Abby was figuring out the timer for the camera, and none of us knew the picture was being taken-we thought it was funny, how it turned out!

At a yummy dinner before the show

Inside the bart station, we stopped to pose by our sign~

A funny story about me riding the bart: when putting in my ticket for our last ride, I was expecting my ticket to come back out of the machine like it did before. But since it was my last ride it didn't come back to me-the machine kept it. But I wasn't thinking about this, and waited for my ticket. I waited too long, and the bar that lets you through (like at Disneyland rides) closed and I was trapped. With a long line of people behind me, I had to jump over the bar, which was not pretty with me wearing a skirt. The man that worked there yelled at me, until we went over and while giggling, explained to him that I'm just not all there. He seemed amused, and didn't care. We all had a good laugh about what a dope I am!

Awesome show!!

Starving afterward...we stopped at Mel's Diner for some pancakes and milkshakes

The next morning, we ate the best breakfast at a place called Honey Honey (our other favorite place there is Judy's-they are both fab!)

Abby used to live there, so she knows what's up-she's a great travel buddy, and I'd be too scared to go there without her.

Abby said Shauna and I MUST get a picture at the top of this street because it's famous for being the most steep. I can't remember the name of it, or other details about it...I'll have to ask her.

We had a blast-so sad to leave. Girls trips rock my world!!

Holidays 2010

2011-02-03T19:53:00.000-08:00

We finally unloaded our very full camera, and I figured I should post some Thanksgiving and Christmas pics. For Thanksgiving, we went to SoCal to spend the holiday with Johnny's fam. Everyone was able to make it, so that was nice. Ellie and Gretel loved dining and playing together!

They are women, hear them roar! Caitland and Cheryl, cooking our turkey rostisserie style

Gwennie waiting beneath, hoping for some scraps to drop

One of the best parts of this trip, was the girls riding around the courtyard on this little bike. It was fun to see little Jane joining in on the fun. What pleasant weather we enjoyed!

Gretel of course, making her princesses dance together. These are from the toyroom there; little does she know, Santa will later bring her the whole princess collection!!

Gwen modeling her Juicy fur coat my parents gave her a couple of years ago! She's ready for some glam holiday parties!!

Now on to the Christmas fun.... Johnny's mom's friend had these hats made for the 3 little granddaughters-so cute!

Waiting for the annual sleigh ride (with Rapunzel too!) that we go on with Johnny's fam

We rode the carriage ride around temple square and Gretel loved our horse, Charlie

Christmas day-Gretel loved her "Beast and Belle" and made sure Beast danced with all the other princesses too. Grandma and Grandpa gave her a "Cinda-grella" dress and shoes, which she calls her glass slippers, and gave her Rapunzel, Beast, and Jasmin as well as other goodies.

Her favorite thing that Johnny and I got her was the whole princess Barbie collection. She was thrilled!

She's still obsessed with this book Caitland gave her-thanks Cait!!

She loved playing with Hudson and Ollie and I feel so bad I don't have a picture with Hudda-all three kids got matching jammies from my parents and Hab got a cute picture of them on Christmas Eve.

Gretel loved chasing and playing with them-and they all loved the train, of course... We took the kids to the Living Aquarium one day and they loved it, as always. Hudson especially loved Gretel and was so extra sweet with her. He cried when we would leave to go to Johnny's fam's, and he cried when we left to go home. All three were such good playmates! She misses you too, Hudda!

She got tons of books and clothes/shoes from Mimi and Pop-C, as well as a play kitchen, pretend food, and shopping cart!

One of her favorite things about Johnny's parents house was the drinking fountain. She would climb up on her little ladder and hang out there for a really long time! She'd also wear my headband and call it her crown.

She still fights getting dressed, but she doesn't fight about putting on her "doll dress." Thanks mom and dad, she loves it!

I got to fly out separately with Gretel while poor Johnny drove alone and even slid off the road into a ditch one night! Poor guy-thanks dad, for fixing everything on his car as part of our many Christmas gifts, and also for flying Gretel and I! You are too nice to us!

I stayed for a total of 3 weeks, and it was a great trip home! A highlight for me was going with my fam on New Year's Eve to see a play at Desert Star Playhouse. It's one of my favorite places to go, and it made me miss the days when we had season tickets with Hab and Steve and we'd go on double dates!

Thanks fam, for all the fun dinners and nights just hanging out and talking....we had a blast with you all!

The Wicked Witch of the West

2010-12-12T23:06:00.001-08:00

Gretel loves witches-she notices them when we're in a store, or she finds them in certain pages of books (like Snow White) and growls at me while opening the page. Her favorite page in the book "A Cache of Jewels" is the page with a coven of witches, and we talk about their pointy noses and chins, and we point to all of their scary warts on their faces.
So I thought the perfect costume for her this year would be a witch!! She especially loved wearing her little hat.

We planned on attending a big Stake Halloween carnival, and since she's so naughty about taking naps and only falls asleep in the car, I decided to drive her around for an hour in hopes that she'd take a nap. I have never wasted that much gas doing this-I knew it was a horrible thing to do, but I just wanted her to nap so she wouldn't fall asleep on the way to the party. Unfortunately, my plan failed, and she did not take a nap. But she did fall asleep just as we were pulling in to the parking lot of the church. Then she slept through the entire thing, and woke up at the very end just as we were leaving. She was so furious that it was a major fight to get her into her car seat.
It was a different type of scary Halloween for us! Scary and very depressing for me...I had such high hopes and it was a total let down since she didn't get to enjoy any of the festivities.

Oh well-there's always next year I guess.

I was proud of her tutu that I made!

"OOOh Whooooo-Witchy Woman...See how high she flies" (sing-song voice, of course)

We love our little Wicked Witch of the West!!

Berenstain Bears and Too Much Birthday Part 2

2010-12-08T21:36:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Gretel is already 2!! On her "special day," Johnny brought her a Winnie-the-Pooh balloon (she wants to hold one every time she sees them at the store) and we opened presents, played at the park, and just relaxed and had a fun day!

Below, she's modeling outfits that both Mimi and Grandma gave her.

We invited a few friends over for a cupcake-themed party, which was a lot of fun!

I made tissue paper pom-poms and was excited about how they turned out. (The tissue paper had cupcakes and sprinkles on them.)

First, I read them the story "Pinkalicious" and then we had a snack. Below are some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a little raspberry on top, but we also had cupcake-shaped jello jigglers which were the biggest hit of all!

Then, we had a cakewalk which was really cute. I wasn't sure how this would go with girls this young, but they all seemed to catch on to the idea and liked it! I have some cute video of this!

Next, a little craft time! I had drawn large paper cupcakes for them to decorate by coloring them & applying little foam stickers.

After that, Gretel got to open some really fun gifties!

Then, cake time!

As the party was winding down, we turned some kids songs on nice and loud (same as we used for our cakewalk) and danced in the family room! It was really cute to see the little girls all dancing together. Then my M-I-L Cheryl read them "Pinkalicious" again.

She was my biggest help-I wouldn't have been able to finish doing anything for the party without her. I am never good at judging time, and how long each task will take. Thank you, Cheryl! You were a true lifesaver!

The little party favor-I should've taken a pic of the little cake balls before they were wrapped, but was short on time! They were little cupcake truffles and I also made cupcake hair clips that were attached to the package.

Happy Birthday, my sweet little cupcake! You are the best little girl in the whole world! I just love you so much, and I love smelling you at night when you're sleeping. Thanks for letting me nibble on your face and ears all the time, too. You are simply delicious!!

Berenstain Bears and Too Much Birthday Part 1

2010-12-05T21:50:00.001-08:00

I have some major catching up to do! These next two posts are two months late! Johnny's birthday is the day after mine, and then Gretel's is just a couple of weeks later. So even though I did short birthdays shout-outs to them, I wanted to actually show how we celebrated!!

My fam sent me lots of cool presents. Thanks so much!! Johnny gave me a girls trip to San Fran to see the show "Wicked" and stay in a hotel overnight with my cohorts! That was awesome-if I ever get around to downloading pics from my other camera, I'll have to do a little post about it!!

I had to pose with my sweet baby!!

That night my favorite girls came over ("Tribond"-it's the name of a board game, and while playing it long ago, we realized it's also OUR name!!) They gave me awesome gifties too-I have the most fun, thoughtful girlfriends ever~

Abby stopped on her way over to pick up the best chocolate cake ever!!

What a delicious day I had!!

The only presents that Johnny received that were wrapped were from my parents-I have become so lazy! Thanks mom for always going above and beyond, and sending such gorgeously wrapped gifts! He got lots of great additions to his wardrobe-cuff links, shirts, ties, new dress socks, shoes, and also casual wear too!

Thank you M & D- if it weren't for you, we'd all be nude!!

I threw Johnny a 30th birthday party-it was a pizza party with our friends, and we had a great time with them! Abby and Todd were nice enough to let us do it at their house, since they have more room.

Johnny loves gummi bears, so guests could take some home with them or just munch throughout the night. Also, we had a root beer tasting contest later, so this was the prize.

Abby and Todd

Jaycee and David

Rob and Amanda

Johnny and Shauna

Bill and Beka

The contest is all set up-7 types of root beer to guess. It was a little too hard for everyone.

Birthday Boy ended up winning even though he was just as clueless as everyone else. I didn't want to give him the prize, since that seemed really rude, but everyone said to give it to him-it's his b-day and he really did get 3 right. I think the runner-up got 2 right, and he won a bag of licorice!

Todd made him an ice cream cake which was really good, and I made a cheesecake with fruit on top. Johnny said he didn't care what kind of cake I made, and since my birthday was the day before his, I decided to make my favorite-I live for cheesecake!!

We had lots of fun playing Mafia with our friends-we are so lucky to have such darling, fun couples to hang out with!!

Happy Birthday to us!

Next post will be all about Gretel's special day!!

Happy Happy Birthday, Gretel Dear!!!

2010-10-12T21:35:00.000-07:00

To our sweet Gretel Gumdrops~ Happy Birthday! We love you SO much! You are such a good girl, and you make us laugh constantly. You are so sweet, funny and always full of energy. We love hearing your sweet voice always speaking each word as if it's a question.

Today you said "goodness!" a lot because you were so pleased with your gifts, and all day you sang the song from Sleeping Beauty, "I know you- I walked with you once upon a dream..." Both of those things were brand new, and we can't wait to hear what you'll do tomorrow! We can't believe you are TWO! You are so yummy, we just want to eat you all the time!

Love, Mom and Dad

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY, JOHNNY!!!

2010-09-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

Johnny Angel-

I hope you have a really great birthday! I wanted to let our friends & fam know some unique and maybe a little embarrassing things about you. So for those of you who are reading this, here is a list of 30 things that will help uncover "the man behind the mask...."

1. When he was a very young boy, he and 4 other neighborhood boys had an exclusive club called "The Feisties."

2. For his next car, he dreams of owning a Camaro. (This embarrasses ME, not Johnny)

3. He is an expert Sudoku player, and likes to do all his puzzles in pen, because he doesn't make mistakes.

4. He is a "Gleek," so we love watching that show together!

5. He can do a crazy hitch-hiker thumb, and bend it way back, so it's basically sideways.

6. He loves all music, but especially Show Tunes and Sam Cooke.

7. One of his first jobs was working at a pizza parlor, tossing pizza dough, sometimes for customers to watch.

8. His favorite movies are "The Departed" and "Moulin Rouge." He likes all genres!

9. He is very tender-hearted and still cries at the scene in the movie "An American Tail" at the very end where Fievel reunites with his Dad. "Fievel?" "Papa?".....

10. He is in his last year of law school at McGeorge, and made the dean's list!

11. His favorite girl name in the whole world is Sylvia, and he thinks if we have another girl that we will name her that. Needless to say, this causes arguments between us.

12. Speaking of arguing, he is very good at it! He chose the right career!

13. He knows the names of each flower in the backyard, and the names of each variety of roses, and likes to greet them by name: "How are you doing my_____?"

14. To explain the picture above, Johnny loves to torture me by growing a hideous beard every now and then. When he's going through one of his phases, it's awful and very scratchy for me.

15. Speaking of hobos, (jk, you know I love you!) he LOVES to wear threadbare clothing. He is known for his Counselor T-shirt, "Rooney" jeans and gray sweat pants that are see-through from being too worn/old.

16. He has expensive taste at the same time, which is unusual. He is dying for a Rolex.

17. He is an excellent painter, and has mad skillz when it comes to decorating. He spent 3 weeks painting Gretel's room before she was born. He has a vision, and is dedicated to completing it!

18. He is really fun to sing duets with in the car; our favorites songs are from the "Walk the Line" soundtrack. He's fun to play duets with on the piano, too. We used to be good at Canon in D.

19. He does a very good Johnny Cash impersonation.

20. He says "gee whiz" or just "gee" when he's in disbelief, and he isn't joking when he says it!

21. He and his dad are certified sailors and have put their skills to use sailing in Australia and Belize.

22. He fantasizes about getting a tattoo. I think he's serious-I don't think he's just teasing me.

23. When he dances in the car, he wiggles his index finger while puckering his lips.

24. He loves working for the public defender's office right now, and wants to do trial law after he graduates.

25. I am amazed at how smart he is- he has a really good memory, and is able to retain information really well.

26. He is a thoughtful and creative gift giver. For example, he did an elaborate treasure hunt with a bunch of clues for me for our anniversary this year.

27. He LOVES gummi candy: gummi colas and gummi bears are his FAVE! (and that one candy from "Clives" ha ha!)

28. He really likes teaching Elders Quorum, and spends a lot of time on his lessons. Some guys in the ward have commented on how much they enjoy his lessons.

29. He makes a mean omelet! Very gourmet looking, and yummy!

30. He LOVES being a dad, and loves babies. He's obsessed with Gretel, and she just adores him too. They are best buddies!!

We love you little Johnny-Poo! You are an awesome dad and hubby!! I really hope you enjoy your thirties....I'll make sure you're "Thirty, Flirty, and Thriving!!"

Love, Wifey

p.s. Happy first birthday to our niece Jane! That's fun that you two share a birthday!

San Diego Zoo

2010-09-20T19:58:00.000-07:00

This summer my friend Abby and I took our girls to the San Diego Zoo. We happened to be in Southern California at the same time so it was an impromtu trip. We had lots of fun!

Avery and Gretel were worn out by the end of the day!

Funny, random things

2010-09-13T20:36:00.001-07:00

The other day at the grocery store, Gretel noticed a package of cookies while we were waiting in the check-out line. I was so glad I had my camera in my purse, because I couldn't wait to show Johnny the picture and tell him what she'd said.
As soon as she saw this little man, she said "Daddy? Getchoo?" (get you) She always says each word like it's a question. She is SO obsessed with Johnny chasing her and saying, "I'm gonna get you!" in a scary voice. She constantly asks him to play by saying, "Daddy? Getchoo?" Then she dives into pillows on the bed or couch saying, "scary scary!"

This picture I took for you, Shauna! We are always noticing hilarious things to take pictures of in public bathrooms. While I was recently in a disgusting bathroom, I saw this sign on the door, and I loved what someone had added. Again I was very pleased that I had my camera with me. I also took a picture of the wet toilet paper covering the floor, but I spared you from seeing that-it was really gross!
p.s. Shauna, we really do need to make that weird bathroom photo album we talked about!

On a recent road trip, we put Gwen on Gretel's lap at the very end of the drive when we were driving really slowly. We thought it was funny that they were both enjoying it so much! Gwen didn't seem to want to come back to my lap!

Gretel's Cute Phases

2010-08-30T20:37:00.000-07:00

A while ago, Gretel went through a phase where she had to constantly check her toes to make sure they were clean. She'd stretch them really far apart several times a day; I thought it was so funny!

She also had a thing for "Honey Bear" as I like to call him. She'd kiss him and take him for walks outside, and when he'd fall on his side (quite often) in her stroller, she'd have to fix him so he was sitting up straight.

Move over Honey Bear!! Now she is OBSESSED with a new bear: "Winnie." She used to call him "Pooh," but now she calls him Winnie. She talks nonstop about Winnie and constantly asks to watch the movie. My M-I-L got Gretel into Winnie when Johnny was staying with his parents in Newport. She's been in love with him ever since. (Thanks, Cheryl for letting us take both the stuffed animal and movie from the house. We will replace both)
It's very cute to watch her rolling around with him everywhere-on our bed, her bed, or on the couch. She's always rolling around with him and talking to him, or talking about him.

She snuggled with Winnie on our drive home from Newport. She also likes to have him with her when we run errands; in the shopping cart beside her, etc.

She is WAY into sweets- especially chocolate, popsicles, and cupcakes which she calls "cake." So she'll really love her birthday this year!
When she sees a bag of peanut M & M's, she screams "Candy! Candy! Candy!" This is my favorite thing, since I heard a little boy from primary scream this while running through the halls of church about 5 years ago. I've never laughed so hard, so that's why I LOVE when Gretel does it!

Anyway, she's a good eater, so I like to reward her!! I took these pictures of her little fudgey face today. She stood at the freezer door and begged (squealed) for chocolate ice cream. So I gave her a "Fudgsicle."

Another thing she does all day is stand on the back of the couch and jump on all the pillows. She never seems to get tired of this. She loves to climb on our bed and jump on that all the time too. She's a thrill-seeker!! I'll have to get some video of the couch jumping!

Girls Camp

2010-08-11T21:52:00.000-07:00

In July I went to girl's camp for a week. While I was there, Johnny took Gretel to his parent's house in Newport and watched her there. He left 5 whole days before I even left for camp, so that was super weird to be all alone. So I went 10 long days without seeing Gretel. It was rough! He took my pup with him too, so I didn't even have Gwennie to sleep on my bed at night! Anyway, I'll try and post some pics of their daddy/daughter trip, but first here are a bunch of pictures of my week at camp!

I really couldn't believe how picture-perfect the camp ground was...it looked like it was out of a movie-so many gorgeous trees! Sacramento is the "City of Trees" so I guess that makes sense!
Anyway, I went with my 2 BFFs Abby and Shauna and the three of us were leaders of the YCLs (Youth Camp Leaders). These girls are about 16 and 17 yrs old and learning how to plan camp stuff for the younger girls.
I can't believe how much I loved those girls at the end of the week! They were so hilarious, and I found myself wanting to hang out with them after camp was over!

Our huge tent

We were supposed to bring a hat that showed what we wanted to experience at camp. I decided to be obnoxious and type out the sentence "I'd SURE like to experience B.O. at camp! My stink won't be my little SECRET!" I found those deodorant brand's logos online and printed them out.

I was in charge of one of the nights, so we had a blind-folded ice cream eating contest!

Then they played blind-folded musical chairs while the audience sang camp songs to provide their music.

Soko and Lata-some of my two fave girls!! Lata was the MC for the night, because she does a perfect British accent!

Our last game was a Sumo wrestling one that we played to help the girls learn the camp rules or traditions. We played the song Kung Fu Fighting in the background, because I love that song, and it was perfect!!

Our huge kitchen with one of the cooks on the right. The food was the absolute BEST part of camp! I wrote what we ate every day in my journal (I wrote about other things in my journal too; it wasn't all about food). It was seriously the best food at every meal-I was so impressed with the awesome cooks. They worked so hard for us and they provided a huge variety of food and everything was FABULOUS!!

My friend Abby was in charge of a huge event one night. It was the iron rod experience-the girls were blind-folded and they had no idea what was going on. They had to hold on to the rod as they were being tempted along the way, and at the end, this was the "Tree of Life." It looked so gorgeous in person, and there jewels on it that each girl got to take off the tree to keep.

The girls had a water balloon fight one day.

Rosanna (on the right) was our awesome camp director! I just love her.

I had never been in a canoe before, and it was SO much fun!!

Our theme was the movie "UP" and all the decorations and other things to do with it were really darling. I thought it was a great theme.

Some of the cute Nong Shala girls!

I loved the Nong Shala ward and the Tala Ofa ward. They both did awesome dances on bishop's night, and I love the diversity that their cultures bring! Those Tongan girls really know how to party it up!!

They did a balloon release at the end...

Before I went to camp I said that I knew how Lindsay Lohan felt, because she was about to go to jail. I was feeling anxiety about being sort of stuck somewhere for a whole week, not being able to go home if I wanted. I was seriously worried about what I'd eat, not thinking that I'd have enough snacks (I feel ill if I don't eat little meals throughout the day) and I was totally wrong about the food thing for sure.

It was a long week, and I missed my bed/comforts of home, and feeling clean. But I had so much fun getting to know these girls, and I heard so many funny stories. Oh-ya! We also had a bear come into our little camp ground the last night. I guess this happens a lot on the last night, because we eat tri-tip the last night. The two girls could hear it breathing but didn't blow their whistles (which is the rule) because they didn't actually see it. Because they were scared and hiding in their tent, and didn't SEE it! They had us laughing so hard at this. Glad we were all safe!!

Anyway, it was an eventful and exhausting week, and the girls were awesome. It's nice to be home now!

Utah trip way back from May!!

2010-08-05T21:43:00.000-07:00

So I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures from 3 months ago. I am going home again to visit my fam for my sister's big 30th birthday party, and I didn't just want all the pictures from these visits to run together in one big blur....
Better late than never-I have a lot of catching up to do! Anyway, the first picture is of my cute little brother Teal, since he just graduated from high school! I'm sorry I couldn't be there, Poochie!! Congrats you adult, you!!!

Thanks for flying me home every time, Dad! I really appreciate it!!!
Here we are, on a very early flight.

As for the trip, I got to go to a very fun bike race to see Teal in action. He is really an impressive cyclist! It was way fun watching him make his way to the front among all these men that are older than he is. They might call it "drafting," but I forget the jargon....anyway, he's super buff! My Dad was holding Gretel, and my Mom, Hailey, and I had fun cheering him on!!

Hailey and I also like to call his riding outfit his "COSTUME," as if it's a dance leotard or something.

My very tall, handsome and hilarious cousin Andy! I think he's 6'6, so we wanted to get a good shot of the height difference! It doesn't look as weird in a picture, but it feels crazy standing next to him!

Gretel was way sick on this trip, and spent almost the entire time with a high fever, just cuddled in my arms sleeping. It was very sad, and she just wasn't herself. I had to take her to the doctor in Utah, and she had a sinus infection and both ears were infected. So, toward the end of the trip she perked up a bit, and did a puzzle with my Dad!

Also, one night while I was giving my Mom a manicure, my Dad brought us some hot chocolate. My parents loved how Gretel drank it-dipping her little tongue in the mug, and slurping it at the same time, all without spilling! So my Dad had to run and grab his camera to capture the moment!

Hailey had a good idea-she suggested we go see the penguin exhibit at The Living Aquarium. It was way cool, and I think Gretel liked it. I wish she had've felt better-this was before I knew how sick she really was. She really does love "Mimi," it's just a sad moment....

Oliver and Hudson, aka Ollie and Hudda. It was awesome being able to see the stingrays so close-up! I have such cute nephews!!

Gettin' my "HAIR DID" at the salon Hailey still works at, aka my old salon too! Boy do I miss Bella Mia. My hair is always changing, and always a task for "Haaaairrrrrr's Hailey!!!!!" (in an announcer voice)

I wanted to go in between dark and blonde, and of course she delivered!

My Dad took Gretel out a few different nights to see their neighbor's chickens-she loved it!

Hillary (aka Hilly) came over one night and we hung out until late-eating dinner, frosting cookies for something Hailey was doing, and watching Glee. It was so much fun. Can't wait to see you all again very soon. Love ya fam!!

Crafting for a good cause!!

2010-07-16T14:42:00.000-07:00

So I've been crafting like crazy lately, and I finally finished everything I wanted to make this past Monday. Then I shipped it all to my sister Hailey for something really fun that she's doing!

Hailey and her husband Steve are hoping to adopt another baby! She has two good friends who wanted to help her, and suggested a fundraising boutique to help them spread the word. So Hailey asked me and other friends and family if we could help her make items to sell.

Other girls have made burp cloths, car seat blankets, binky clips, and many other flea market treasures!! Hailey has made gorgeous cupcakes and diaper cakes, and my mom has made divine marshmallow brownies. Katie Waltman Jewelry will also be there, so that's really fabulous!

Here are the details:
It will be held

Saturday, July 17
10 am-4 pm
in the parking lot of a shop in sugarhouse called "Abode"
1720 S. 900 E.

It's an outdoor flea market/boutique featuring all different vendors, and should be lots of fun....so please go and shop!!

Here are the items I made: Headbands, little girl hair clips, and wipes cases!

(just in case people want to get Christmas accessories early)

Here are the items Hailey has made: cupcakes and diaper cakes!

"Abode" wanted to feature Hailey's story on their blog, so here's the link if you'd like to read more about it. Also, (since I don't have a direct link on my blog) if you'd like to check out her personal blog, her address is threemenandalittlehailey.blogspot.com.

http://abode-abode.blogspot.com/

Yankee Doodle

2010-07-04T18:15:00.000-07:00

Years ago, my hilarious sis and I made up obnoxious dances (while singing) to "perform" for our fam. I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy was one of our faves, and we also did a great rendition of You're A Grand 'Ole Flag. It made each holiday fun, dressing up in full costume and lashes!
Happy 4th everyone!

Today's Walk

2010-07-01T11:03:00.001-07:00

Gretel has had a cold lately, and has had a rough time sleeping. Yesterday morning and this morning she woke up screaming at 5:45. I am not a morning person-I just hate mornings, and I tell Johnny that every day!

Anyway, she fell asleep on our walk today at 10:30, so I wanted to take a picture.

What a little angel!

Lately when Gwen gets hot and tired, I scoop her up and put her in the bottom of the stroller! She loves it!

She's such a pampered little pup!!
I have the two sweetest girls in the whole world-I just love them!!

Here are some other random pics I took last night:

I want to remember what kinds of things she loves to say and what she's learned recently, so this is more for me to look back on later.

Right now Gretel's favorite book is "Princess Baby." She wants to read it all day-over and over. It is so torn and beat up, and I've scotch-taped every single page. It is well loved to say the least! She says "baby" in a desperate, high-pitched voice when she wants to read it.

Also, her favorite song is "If you're happy and you know it" and she also says "happy" in a high squeaky voice when she wants to sing it.

She counts to ten if you start her at 1 & 2. She is so good at all her colors and shapes. She knows oval, circle, heart and triangle. She also knows blue, green, orange, pink, yellow, purple and red which she calls "reddy." She was adding a Y to the end of a bunch of words for a while. Like "foody" and "trucky." But now she's just shortened it to "truck" which unfortunately sounds exactly like the naughty word. She says it several times a day, very loudly-whenever she hears a truck drive by outside.

She tries to say everything, and she's at the cute stage where I can tell her to say whatever word I want and she does it.

Her favorite things are books, and she falls asleep with them tucked all around her body, so when I check on her before I go to bed I take them all off her bed so she's not uncomfortable rolling around on board books all night.

She also loves to say "The End" when we finish each story, so..... THE END!!

Groucho Marx

2010-06-14T15:44:00.000-07:00

Some days Gretel's nickname is "Groucho Marx" because of the grouchy faces she pulls like this:

She has been extra sweet lately, but a while ago when I took these pictures of her I'm pretty sure it was a teething day. I blame it on that anyway...

This is not a leg lift-she's throwing herself around while having a little tantrum.

She also hits herself on the forehead when she gets upset, or she'll find the nearest wall to bang her forehead against.

There's lots of high-pitched shrieking and whining...

followed by more dirty looks directed at me because I'm taking pictures of the whole thing!!

But the good thing about Gretel is that she does recover very quickly from these moments, and is back to her sweet self! I think I've been seeing less of "Groucho" lately because she's getting better at communicating with me, so I'm glad she's less frustrated!!

Gretel's new sleeping arrangements!

2010-06-14T15:25:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, Johnny took off her crib railing (good suggestion Hab) and he removed the springs so her mattress would just rest on the drawer of her crib. (Her crib wasn't a convertible one) It has worked out really well! We cleared out her room so there was no bookshelf to climb on or books and toys to play with. It looks very empty and also very clean!!

Johnny put a soft blankie on the floor the first couple of nights just in case she didn't make it back in bed and happened to fall asleep on the floor. But she didn't end up needing it, so that was nice.

She LOVES this "No No Yes Yes" book-thanks mom!

After we lay her down in bed, she will sometimes run toward her door trying to follow us while crying. But other times she's really good and just stays in bed.

If she's ever out of bed because of playing/running around her room or because she's upset, she always makes it onto her bed to sleep. So that makes us feel good!! I can't believe it...our baby is growing up!

No Bedtime for Bonzo

2010-05-26T12:38:00.000-07:00

Now that she's officially out of her crib due to climbing out, this is what she does now every naptime and bedtime. Kill me now!!

Devil Child

2010-05-22T12:03:00.001-07:00

I was a real devil child when I was younger-from the time I was a baby through maybe age 5 or so I'm guessing. My mom and dad always tell me these awful stories about myself and the things I would say and do, and I feel bad for them as parents! I was mean to a handicapped child that was in my primary class, and I made a couple of my primary teachers cry: I said to one of them, "I've already heard this story, YOU OLD BAG!!" I was very young, but definitely old enough to know better.
Gretel is following in my (climbing) footsteps, so I hope she doesn't take after me in all the other ways as well, or I am in for it!!

This was me when I was about 1 year old, but my mom says I started climbing in and out of my crib before I'd turned 1. Crazy!! She'd say, "Climb in your bed" and I'd do it. I guess I didn't realize until talking to her just a second ago that I'd climb in...I thought I only knew how to climb out.

Two nights ago, Gretel was crying really hard at 4:30 am, and when I went to check on her she was sitting/straddling her crib railing-sitting right on top of it with one leg on each side. I got her some milk and Motrin because I think she's teething, changed her diaper, and rocked her for about 20 minutes, then thought I'd put her back in her bed. I knew she wouldn't be happy about it, but I didn't know what else to do. There are pillows beneath her crib, but I was still in bed listening for a thud. I didn't hear anything except for her bedroom door being shut and her sudden screaming. I ran to go get her, and sort of bumped her with the door because she was on the floor right by it, just as I feared.

We brought her back to bed with us, but that was a disaster. I think it was about 6 am when I decided to set up the portable crib in her room, even though she's really close to pulling herself out of that, too.

Anyway, until I can get a crib tent for her that is where she's sleeping! I just really don't want to move her to a toddler bed & lock her in her room yet-it just doesn't feel very safe to me right now. So I guess I'll make her some s'mores, because pretty soon, she'll be campin' out!!!

(an old picture of me again-I need to take some pictures of the little hellion in her angry bedtime mode soon)

O Sister, Where Art Thou?

2010-05-02T22:55:00.000-07:00

Sisters, sisters...there were never such devoted sisters

Caring, sharing

Every little thing that we are wearing

(except when I'd spill guacamole on everything I'd borrow from you)

Hab-this post is dedicated to Y-O-U! I miss you for so many reasons, and I find myself thinking that I wish you lived by me (yes, Sac is where the party's at) because we'd be having so much fun! I threw in a bunch of old pictures of us "just for grins" and I took them out of that "Sisters" album you made me. I think they're lots of fun to look at!

I love that we always had matching jammies! (and other clothes too...it's too bad we don't have pictures of us in our squirrel outfits!

How easy we are to entertain...I remember having sooo much fun taking these pictures as we were rolling with laughter at that hideous clip-on hair piece, and me (of course) taping up my nose!!

Our rad 80's unitards!

I know I was really missing you for a lame reason when I was asked (as part of my activities committee job) to make a poster. I needed your skillz since you're the poster queen! I wanted you to see how it turned out because I was very proud of my first poster! I woman in my ward helped me a ton, because she used her Cricut to cut out the letters.

The heart is 3-D; it was a Valentine chocolates box. I had to make two of these posters so it was perfect because I used the top and the bottom of the box. I thought the black boa and rhinestones completed the look.
It looks much better in person, though.

I am always missin' you extra bad when I get that awful "line of demarcation" aka roots!! Although I would never recommend to anyone that they should color their own hair, I wanted you to see how I had to do my roots last summer when I was blonde. Johnny would hold up a mirror at a certain angle so I could see the crown area, and it would totally stress him out!

There is a definite reason why people should leave this to the professionals...I'm sure you agree with me, as you've had to fix plenty of at-home color disasters!

Thankfully you taught me well, and I could only do my partline just to get me through until my next appointment with you.

I was proud of how my highlights turned out, and wanted you to see it!

Being brunette this past winter has made coloring my own hair a little easier, but my tresses are still in desperate need of your highly skilled fingers! (my friends say you need to come here, because you have a clientele here too)

Anyway, with the weather so warm I'm itching for highlights!!

Good thing I'm coming to town soon, so you can beautify me...and I'm excited to do your makeup for your fam pictures! We need each other's skillz!

PLEASE RECYCLE

2010-04-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

If this face doesn't encourage you to recycle more, I don't know what will!

In honor of Earth Day, I thought this would be an appropriate post. I am obsessed with recycling, as my friends know, and I think I'm getting worse with age. I recently found myself wondering during church if they recycle the sacrament cups. (I found out they don't, and I'm going to help change that) All those little cups from the many wards across the world, just being thrown away week after week is abominable!

Yes-shocked is just how I feel too when I see someone throw away a water bottle, paper, or cans of soda.

When I was in 2nd grade, we watched a video that taught us "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!" in a little song. I really think it made a big impact on me. My mom is also really into recycling, and I used to tease her for how extreme she could be, but now I'm thankful for her example. I also find myself thinking many times, "I'm becoming my mother..."
So start teaching your kids young-Gretel seems quite interested in my little lecture....

She's really starting to get the hang of it!

"You go Glen Cocoa-good for you, Glen Cocoa"

The slogan on the outside of the recycle truck that comes each week says, "Stop treating your trash like garbage!"
The driver of this truck, Gretel and I will be watching YOU!!!

Happy Anniversary

2010-04-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

Sweetie pie -

I want to thank you for being such a wonderful wife and mother. I am excited for the experiences and adventures to come in the next 5 years. Thank you for your support, love, kindness, and wonderful heart. You truly are my best "bud."

Clue #7

I am the most hated possession of Johnny's. I am so misunderstood. No one appreciates me except for Johnny and maybe Caitland... (Gwen and Gretel are becoming fans...)

p.s. i picked this song just for you!!

Gretel's Favorite Things

2010-04-12T14:00:00.001-07:00

Lately Gretel is really into jumping, and wants to jump on everything all the time. Jumping and dancing around are some of her favorite things to do. She holds out her hands and waits for me to grab them so we can jump together, especially on the bed. I don't really have pictures of this....

Also, she LOVES to get in the shower with either me or Johnny, and cries when it's time to get out. No pictures of this, obviously...(you're welcome)

She likes to get my flat iron out and squish her face in it!

She absolutely loves Gwen, and plays "chase" with her every day-they both love it!

She loves when Gwen licks her ears, too- she laughs so hard!!

She loves to wear rubber gloves.

She is really into wiping lately, and likes to climb on the toilet lid and wipe her "C-rotch" area. I caught her the other day sitting her little teddy bear on the lid of the toilet and wiping between the bear's legs....it made me really laugh, but I don't have that great of a picture of it.

She loves being strolled around the house in her doll stroller.

She loves to take off her socks and wear them as mittens.

She's obsessed with climbing on the coffee table, and I try to get her to stop, but it's hard. It's all she wants to do.

She loves her friend Avery, and especially likes to feed her.

Our Newport Beach Trip

2010-04-06T22:12:00.000-07:00

We go to Newport Beach with Johnny's fam every year, and this year was especially fun because Johnny's parents have been building a vacation house there and it's now finished. So John and Cheryl had been staying there for a few weeks before we arrived. The rest of us were excited to see the house, and it was gorgeous. The trip was also planned around Cheryl's big 60th birthday!!

We went to Disneyland, aka my favorite place on earth!

Gretel rockin' the Captain EO 3D glasses-she liked to dance to the music during the show.

She's still too young to fully appreciate all the kiddie rides, but was thrilled with the steps! Her favorite thing to do besides jumping and dancing.

She absolutely loved It's a Small World and was just mesmerized.

She was exhausted when I snapped this pic, and had only napped briefly earlier. We had taken her on Pirates of the Caribbean. She was terrified because of the small drops the boat takes, and fell asleep in my arms quickly after her sobbing wore her out. Poor little lamb!

She LOVED the carousel!

Disneyland-I miss you already!!!

On a separate day, I went to TJMaxx/Home Goods with Cheryl. She bought this cake stand for me just because I mentioned that I liked it, and it reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. I swear, she is always doing nice things like that for me. I'm lucky that I have such a sweet M-I-L.

Swimming! Gretel wouldn't touch her tootsies to the water at first. But I slowly got in the water holding her, and she ended up loving it, especially after we plopped her in her little "floatie"boat.

One of Gretel's fave things was arranging (and begging for) the candy in the movie room.

And the games too...

Having fun in the toy room!

Ellie is obsessed with princesses and dresses...

They loved eating together at their kiddie table...

and having bath time together!

and playing Cinderella!

Her signature dance move...the side-step in a circle

We thought she'd love the beach but she's not the adventurous soul we thought she was. I let her stand with me on the shore, and when the water came up and hit our feet, she screamed in fear, and was SO upset. She wouldn't let us put her down at all, and kept trying to brush the sand off her feet-she hated the feel of it!

We hung out at the park a different day, and that's always a success!

Thanks for such a great time, John and Cheryl-we wish we were still on vacay!

Bra Baby

2010-04-04T22:52:00.000-07:00

She is my little Pammy Anderson...I fear the future!

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Poopy!

2010-03-31T21:27:00.000-07:00

I finally caught her in the act! She'll hate me for this when she's older, but I just wanted to remember how cute this was...she likes to crouch when visiting the powder room!

Some Patty's Day Pinchin' of Backsides, Baby!

2010-03-16T23:48:00.000-07:00

FLASH BACKsides, that is!!!
This treasured photo was taken about 7 years ago, I'm guessing! You'll have to help me remember, Hab. Time really flies! We used to dress up for all the holidays and "choreograph" special dance moves to go with our obnoxious songs we'd sing. And Hab found our fab green and gold eyelashes at Old Navy that year.
I really miss these moments with my hilarious sister! Love you tons, and I hope you at least "long distance" pinch my buns this year!!!

San Freakin' Fran!

2010-03-10T13:30:00.001-08:00

This past Christmas, Abby had a great gift idea for me and Shauna. She said she wanted to take us to San Francisco for a girls hang out day, and treat us to pedicures at a salon she used to go to when she lived there.
So a couple of Saturdays ago, it worked out for all of us to go, and we had a blast!

Here we are, about to leave for our little adventure...it was pouring rain here in Sac and the drive there was through crazy heavy rain. But we were pleasantly surprised that the weather in San Fran was perfect! Lucky us!

We started our day at my favorite breakfast place, "Judy's." It's the best food ever!

After some shopping at Anthropologie, we had a little time to kill before our pedi appointments, and we came across a thrift store. It was fun picking out some silly clothes-they had tons of great 70's stuff, and it made us want to throw a 70's party.

At the salon, "Silk." I love giving pedis, and I forget how awesome they are to receive!! Thanks, Abby!

I really like the flower petals they put in the water, and even though we were too full to enjoy this feature, they serve a big assortment of munchies on Saturdays.

Waiting for our tootsies to dry...

We needed to get back in time for our hubbies to go to "Man Night" which was an EQ hang out night. We really wanted to stay a lot longer, though.

On our way home, we stopped at the Yolo fruit stand, because Todd and Abby go there and always get wicked deals on their produce. I loved it, and saw lots of unusual little items. I picked up a bag of jalapeno cheddar pork skins and some habanero pistachios for Johnny to take to his "Man Night" because they seemed like MANLY snacks.

I did not buys these, they just looked weird.

We made one final stop for some Chipotle takeout on our way home.

And we had to expose how ridiculously packed the back seat was, although you can't totally tell from this picture. I had brought extra clothes and rain boots (just in case) and wth our shopping bags, produce, takeout, and other crap-ola, we were laughing that this was only a day trip. It's scary to think what the car would look like if we spent a weekend there, like we hope to do sometime.

I had sooo much fun, girls! Thanks for taking us to your old 'hood Abby!

Little "Granola Bar"

2010-03-05T14:06:00.000-08:00

This is what Johnny calls her since she's obsessed with being outside!

It all started when I took her out in the backyard just to take some pictures at the end of January. We needed a little fresh air/fashion show since we'd been stuck in the house due to rainy winter weather, and it was a cloudy but dry day...

She was very tentative the whole time. But I could see she wanted to explore, so I placed her beside the tiny kumquat tree. She didn't really like it and tried to get back to where she felt safe, on the patio.

Since then she's become obsessed with being outside and walking around by herself. She likes to be in the backyard with me, and she even tries to bite into the kumquats before I can bring them inside to wash them.

She also likes to wriggle out of the front of her stroller. It's so hard to sit her in there and strap her in-she makes her body go floppy and slides beneath the front bar to get out.

You can see how pleased she is, but trying not to smile....

and with such focus, she needs to use that lizard tongue of hers!

Happy happy

Joy joy (remember ren and stimpy?)

Then when it's time to come inside, she has a meltdown. It's usually after about and hour. That's after the park, walking around with Gwen, or sometimes both.

(I feel like I'm pretty generous with the amount of time that we're outside, but it's never enough)

It's sad but very funny. She tries to get her little finger in the crack of the door to open it, or lifts one leg to try and climb out.

This is my favorite picture; so dejected.

Then, she throws her stroller backward in anger.

The next day, same thing!

Serenity now!

Bachelor Party!

2010-03-02T08:55:00.000-08:00

No, there were no strippers unfortunately...(maybe someday I'll get to see The Thunder from Down Under)

Watching shows like The Bachelor/Bachelorette are completely different when you watch them with hilarious girlfriends like these!!!

So to celebrate our guilty pleasure's finale last night, we had a little bash with lots of munchies! The treats that tickled our tastebuds included: potato skins, soft pretzels, veggies/dip, chips/salsa, strawberry pineapple smoothies, cream cheese brownies, truffles and mint milanos.

Yes, at least our munchies were better than the results of the show!

Don't hate me Shauna-I loved this picture and people will understand that you were chewing!

Can't wait for the Bachelorette to start, so we can do this all over again!

Also, I did Gretel's hair in "Grinchy" style today! We were talkin' about this just the other day, Hab...so here you go!!!

Cancun!!

2010-02-23T09:37:00.001-08:00

I'm finally getting around to doing our vacation post! We went to Cancun at the beginning of January, and it was the most fun trip ever! Johnny and I have never really gone anywhere like this by ourselves. We've been on trips with each others' families, but never on our own or with another couple. We absolutely loved it! We went with our friends Abby and Todd, and they were such a blast to travel with. They've been to Cancun before, so they were very helpful and knew all the places we should go. We had so many laughs together; I just adore these friends!!!

We had flown all night, so when we first arrived we just wanted to nap in our hotel room for a while. Then we went out to dinner at this restaurant right next to our hotel. So this is the first picture that we took, just outside the restaurant.

The mariachi band was so awesome! They went to each table asking for requests. We requested La Bamba, and they did such a great job! Then we got the giggles as we watched them perform their next song. The chorus had these two quick yells, and they lifted one leg, doing two quick pelvic thrusts to match! They had such good moves and were extremely entertaining!!
We went back there to eat the very last night of our trip, and requested this song. But they ended up performing one that had even more shimmies and crazy hula hoop type moves in it! I really miss those sweet little mariachi men!!!

The next day we took a ferry to an island called Isla de Mujeres. We had lunch on the beach and walked around/shopped.

Johnny got this hilarious Nacho Libre mask!

That night we went out to dinner at a REALLY fun restaurant called Carlos and Charlie's. On our way to dinner, Johnny and Todd posed by these street performers dressed as Kiss. They were collecting tips for taking pictures with them and for standing still for a really long time.

This was our favorite night of the whole trip because the atmosphere of the restaurant was so crazy. The waiters scared different people throughout the night, doing little pranks. Also, the waiters came and grabbed me and Abby (and a bunch of other girls) and we danced with them in the restaurant and out on the street. Then they gave us piggy-back rides back to our seats. So fun!

They did a trick with my hair, putting napkins/straws in my ponytail, then pulling down really fast so it made a flower. But they didn't tell me what they were doing, and I saw they had a lighter. They just kept saying I had to hold SO still, and I was so frozen in fear that I didn't even realize that the trick was finished. (the lighter had nothing to do with their trick-it was just to scare me) We took some video of this and other funny moments that I'll try to post.

I have never laughed so hard as when they put on their very last show. Our waiter was dressed (in a gold sequin costume) as an exterminator, and another waiter was a fly. The exterminator (shown below) slowly followed the fly around the restaurant with this huge can of air trying to kill him. On his way around the room, he snuck up behind people to spray them on their bums or backs and it would scare them to death! It was the loudest noise, and they'd jump in fright and scream! Finally, he killed the fly and it was writhing on the ground forever!

The fly, shown below:

Our tiny little rental car that we had for one day, while we drove to Tulum.

This was my favorite day. These Mayan ruins were so awesome looking, I absolutely loved seeing them!

Our little "Toyota jump" on the beach.

A group took a picture like this, so we thought we'd be silly and copy them.

That night we went to dinner at a wild place called Senior Frogs. We loved these chairs!

Abby and I enjoying our daily pina coladas!

Our last day was spent taking a tour at Chitzen Itza. On our way there, we stopped at this cool underground cavernous spring.

This was a sports stadium that the Mayan people used to play in. They'd try and throw the ball through the circle. Johnny made fun of Todd's limp wristed-looking throw. Todd made us take a better picture, insisting this was a bad camera angle.

Johnny kept teasing him about it and had to show him how it's done.

Thank you so much, Cheryl for coming to our house to watch Gretel for the entire week so we could go and play! We really appreciate you taking such good care of our little girl for us!

This Little Piggy Got A Pedi

2010-02-12T22:28:00.000-08:00

I gave Gretel her very first pedi with polish!! She's so funny-she won't hold still so I can cut her toenails, but she'll let me file each nail, as long as I let her hold a file too. She pretends to file one foot while I'm working on the other. And just in time for Valentine's Day, we chose the OPI color "I'm India Mood for Love".

Also just in time for V-Day, Gretel is practicing her pucker!

I made a V-licious dessert. I tried to copy this red velvet dessert I had at The Cheesecake Factory a while ago. In between the cake is cheesecake, then on top is cream cheese frosting.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!

If you chance to meet a frown....

2010-02-03T19:48:00.000-08:00

Do not let it stay,

Quickly turn it upside down, and smile that frown away!!!

Just Like Dick Clark's-Our New Years Eve was ROCKIN!!!

2010-01-30T22:34:00.000-08:00

So I'm behind on my bloggy-blog, but I need to journal this for sure because it was probably my most favorite and memorable New Year's Eve. Normally I feel like it's kind of a lame holiday, and never lives up to the hype. But this year was soooo fun because Abby decided to throw a dance party. I enjoyed yummy snackies, awesome dance music and whipping myself around the dance floor like a crazy person! (and forcing hubby to join me during certain songs...and he looked so embarrassed, like he wanted to barf)

Pre-party, just getting warmed up flitting around the house!

Thanks Abby for hosting the best New Year's party ever!!!

Gretel's Haircut=My Highlight!!

2010-01-17T14:55:00.000-08:00

I just loved watching Gretel get her very first haircut. It was so cute, and she seemed to know that she was in the best of hands, because she wasn't nervous at all. In fact, she relished every moment!
I think it was also the blue candy cane that my old co-worker Pam gave her to suck on, that she really enjoyed.

Having a little consultation with her stylist and telling her that she wanted to lose the mullet!

Grinning at herself in the mirror...

This smile is my favorite! You can tell she just thinks she's so cool!

Her blue-stained lips match her blue bruise from bumping her head the day before.

Posing for some after shots! Hab even round-brushed the top with the tiniest round brush!

Thanks for doing such an awesome job, Hab!! We loved the trip to the salon!!!

We really DID have a holly jolly Christmas.....

2010-01-17T13:57:00.000-08:00

It's just taken me FOREVER to do a little post about it! My favorite part of going to visit our families over Christmas was that Gretel got her FIRST hair cut, and of course it was from Auntie Hab! I have so many pictures that I like from that, so I'm dedicating an entire post to it...(after this one) Here is just a little sneak preview of our little girlie at the salon...

Hanging out with John's side of the fam-Gretel had lots of fun with Ellie and Jane.

It was fun to see Jane for the first time, because she was just born in September. (The 23rd-Johnny's birthday too!)
I love how Gretel looks like Ralphie from "A Christmas Story" wearing Grandma Cherry's glasses!

Me and my 'rents on Christmas Eve at Aunt Holly's house for a very fun and YUMMY dinner. Christmas Eve is also Holly's birthday!!

Christmas morning-Gretel is loving her new Richard Scarry book! Thanks, Mimi!

Johnny posing in his "mullet" outfit, as he calls it....business up top, party on the bottom

I'm sad that I didn't get a picture of Gretel, Hudson and Oliver all wearing their matching jammies from Mimi!

Enjoying our traditional delish, Christmas brunch!

Enjoying some of her new toys from Grandma Cherry and Grandpa!

Reunion for all-even the puppies!!!

My Cookie Exchange!!!

2009-12-17T21:29:00.001-08:00

This year I hosted my first cookie exchange with the girls in my ward, and it was so much fun!! I remembered doing this activity a long time ago with my fave "Beehive" leader, Kristy O. and I just loved it. So I've wanted to host one ever since.

I made some snacks to eat along with the cookies-cinnamon rolls, cheeseball/crackers, truffles, hot cocoa and hot butterscotch.

I requested that my guests wear an ugly Christmas sweater/silly festive clothes, and there was a prize for best outfit and for best cookie-we voted anonymously!

THE GOODS:

These are all the cookies that we still had left after everyone had sampled and taken home a plate of them all, and we donated them to a women's and children's shelter.

THE GUESTS:

Courtney on the right (below) won best cookie with her snowflake sugar cookies!
They were so professional looking, and yummy too!

Below, Abby and Amanda posing in their awesome costumes! Abby won first place, and Amanda was close behind in second place! Great outfits; thanks for getting so into it!!

Random, recent pictures of the cupcake!

2009-12-17T21:12:00.000-08:00

Gretel's favorite words right now are "Mom," "Baby," and "Doggy." She is constantly jabbering and making lots of cute noises. She also likes to hold phones (and sometimes other things too) to her ear and say "Hi!" I just love hearing her high-pitched, sweet little voice!

I've "Fallen" for my Fall Garland!!

2009-11-28T20:42:00.001-08:00

I don't want to seem like I'm tooting my own horn, but I'm just really excited about this idea I had to make a fall garland. My friend Shauna had a fall party at her house recently, and she asked if I'd help her with decorations. I started collecting a few leaves because I thought I'd put them in glass jars or something. There were so many pretty ones, that as I kept walking through my neighborhood, I collected tons of them, and just threw them in the bottom of the stroller.
I thought of paper chains, and then realized I could make a garland out of these leaves just by gluing them together.
I was just hoping that it would turn out as good as I had pictured it in my mind. And it did!!

Me, Shauna and Abby posing for pics post-party....

I took the garland over to Shauna's house the night before the party, and it looked perfect right in her front room; I collected more leaves in her backyard to make two more swoops, and I thought it looked awesome in her house because of her red walls. It looked gorgeous in person!
She took some funny pictures of me in her backyard that I'll have to post- 11pm, pitch black and me holding a Coleman lantern while hunting for more leaves. We were laughing pretty hard!

I'm so excited and proud of my finished product!! I'm definitely making another one of these next year. It looks very festive, and the best part is that it's free! Fall is my favorite season!

We had a great Thanksgiving-we had dinner with Abby and Todd's family, and everything was so delicious! We couldn't stop talking about how fabulous the food was. Unfortunately, we were so thrilled about the food that we totally forgot to take pictures of us with our spread! How lame...

Todd smoked a turkey with his smoker, and they made his famous rolls, mashed potatoes/gravy, corn, salad, and a cheeseball.
I made a cheeseball, pecan yams, 2 kinds of stuffing, (I wanted my mom's classic plus I wanted to try a new recipe which was also a hit) pumpkin squares, butter thumbprint cookies, and Johnny made a really good chocolate pudding pie which was also a new recipe I wanted to try just for fun. I LOVE Thanksgiving food sooo much! We got to enjoy the leftovers the next day with Shauna and Johnny's fam after some crazy Black Friday shopping. My friends and I got up at 2:30 to be at the stores to stand in line by 3:00 am. Yes, very crazy. So that was our fun weekend!

"CRAPPY" Nappy!!

2009-11-23T20:36:00.000-08:00

Two days ago, Johnny was watching Gretel while I had an appointment at the salon. I had gotten a message from him while I was gone saying that he had just cleaned up the "biggest poop disaster ever!" I called him back to find out what had happened, and he just said I'd never believe it-I just had to see it for myself.

This was the dirty discovery waiting to greet me when I arrived at the scene..

Gretel had been in her crib, and instead of napping she'd taken off her messy diaper and spread it everywhere! He said she was covered head to toe (poor, poor baby!) and he hurried and ran her to the tub to give her a bath!

We spent a lot of time that day washing all her bedding/bumpers, washing her crib, and scrubbing the tub and all the bath toys....thanks, Johnny for all your help! I had to hand wash her doll and a stuffed animal in the sink, too.

My little "Houdini" continues to amaze me with her tricks. She has been taking off her pants for quite a while now, but yesterday she had taken one arm out of her sleeve.

I don't know how she does it. She is not a napper, and there are a lot of days that she just sleeps for 30 min. total and she remains happy and sweet throughout the day. All she wants to do all day is play and she gets very mad when I put her in her crib. She just sits and looks at books (which is her favorite thing in the whole world) and talks to herself in her crib for over an hour every time she's supposed to be napping. And I know she is tired! I spy on her, and she just rubs her eyes and yawns while standing up and doing a jig as she holds on to the crib railing. Or she smiles and laughs at herself in the mirror. I know I shouldn't complain, because at least she's a really happy baby.
The main problem is that she is the poopiest baby in the world. A lot of days, I'll change 2 messy diapers before her morning nap, and she'll still "visit the powder room" while she's trying to fall asleep, because her crib is her favorite place to go. So it makes it very hard for me to tell if she's having a hard time sleeping because she needs a fresh diaper, or if she is just having too much fun to sleep.
Right now as I'm typing, she is supposed to be napping. But I keep hearing her high-pitched excited yelps as she continues to play....I guess she is a (happy) "Crappy" Napper in more ways than one!

Our Happy HalloWEENIE!!!

2009-11-06T20:18:00.000-08:00

This year Gretel was a leopard for Halloween. She looked soo cute; painting whiskers was extremely hard though! She was so wiggly and mad that we were messing with her face! I made her ears and tail, and I was really excited about how they turned out!! I had her get used to wearing them by having her eat and hang out in them, and she kept them on really well when it was time to dress her up!!! I think she really liked her costume, because she would smile bigger and act more excited than normal when she saw herself in the mirror!

Just for fun, I wanted to put a pic on here of last Halloween when she was just 2 weeks old. And I just realized that it's 2 years in a row now that she has worn a tutu for her costume!!

Thanks, Shauna for searching out the "Butt Pumpkin's" long lost twin for me!!

At Avery's 1st birthday party!!! It was so fun that the kids got to wear their costumes and pose

for a group pic!

We went to our ward's trunk-or-treating party looking like a hideous couple, wearing our embarrassing "Snuggies" that Johnny picked up that morning!

Johnny thought it would be funny to wear signs that said, "THE COUPLE THAT SNUGGIES TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER!"

I hate to admit this, but I have the Snuggie (with Gwen sleeping) on my lap right now. I'm especially embarrassed to say that the other night I started out with it on my lap like a blanket, then ended up sneaking my arms in as I got chilly...I just never thought I'd be a Snuggie owner!!

Halloween Day with my two skeletons...

Also, Gretel started taking tons of steps on Halloween!!

Johnny dressed up as a greasy bowler I did my same tacky outfit.

Our group had a little pizza party before trick-or-treating around our neighborhood!

She was loving her little Crunch bar, and we loved her chocolate-y fingers and face!