This is for Aunt Shelby. She loves the curly ques.
I love how they showed up in the shadow. Adorable.

No Girl Scouts Needed

Samoa Cookies are my favorite Girl Scout cookie. I recently came across a recipe for them so I decided to try them out. They were a lot of work and don't really look like them. I wouldn't say they're as good as the real deal but they were good none the less. I think I may have over cooked my caramel so it was hard to disperse the coconut-caramel mixture on top. I covered the hole in the cookie it was so thick. I made quite a mess making these. This proves I need an apron! That might just have to be my next sewing project.

custom helicopter shirt

Look at what I made yesterday...

You can make one too. Just follow the directions here.
If you have any questions just ask.

just practice

We recently purchased a new camera for my birthday. Joe says it's mine but he likes it every bit as much as I do. In high school he did a little photography so he knows more than I do. He is my teacher right now. Here are some of my favorite shots. Most were taken by Joe but a few are mine.

Pies Pies Pies

{not my pie but it looks great right?}

A few friends of ours will be getting together for Thanksgiving dinner. I've decided I want to make pie. Pumpkin pie will definitely be one of them. I'm not sure what other kind to make. Apple? Chocolate? Berrie? Any suggestions?

*I've never made a pie on my own before, wish me luck. Although I did make some delicious bread last week for the first time. I shared it with a few friends and they loved it too. Joe told me I had to make bread more often now that he knows I can.

1 year pictures

I asked my good friend Laura to take some pictures of us and of Michael for some 12m pictures. I'm just now getting around to posting them. It took me a while to go through all the ones she took. Sorry they're kind of in random order.

Michael was done by the time we got all of the boys on the bench together. I like how Hayden is staring at Michael wondering why he's crying. Adrian is oblivious to what's going on around him and just wants the pumpkin.

Michael wouldn't smile much on the first day we took pictures but we were able to get some cute ones later with the pumpkins.
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Now playing: Sugarland - Want To
via FoxyTunes

Happy Birthday to me!

This little gal's 26th birthday was on Friday. We celebrated by having a few friends over to eat some ice cream cake.
I'll be eating my free Red Robin birthday burger later this week. Yum!

Halloween

We went to trunk or treat this year at the church. Everyone kept telling us how cute Michael looked in his costume. One lady kept asking when the little one was going to arrest her. Michael loved walking around but he wanted to hold one our hands the entire time. He doesn't really like to walk on his own, he'd rather walk with us. He stayed in a pretty good mood the entire time even though we stayed a half hour past his bedtime. When we pulled into the driveway our neighbor brought over a bag of candy for Michael. It was so sweet of her to do that. I guess she was expecting us to come over to her house to trick or treat. He was definitely ready for bed when we got home & went right to sleep. Guess who got all the candy?

randomness

7 random facts about me.. okay so the last tag about this I kind of cheated and only did one of the tags and counted it as two. I guess NaDell knew and is giving me a second chance at the tag. Here it goes...

1. In 4th grade I had perfect attendance along with my friend also named Kelsey. We received $15 gift certificates to the Enchanted Toy Shoppe in downtown K-town.

2. I dressed up as Corella Deville for a high school Halloween dance, my date was one of her accomplices.

3. I did not scream or yell once while giving birth.

4. I've been engaged twice to the same guy (my hubby).

5. I've never broken a bone or have had to be taken to the ER.

6. My favorite TV show is LOST.

7. I was a cheerleader my Jr & Sr year in HS.


P.S. I've been without the internet this past week and am just now catching up on reading everyone's blogs. I had a zillion to read! I'll be catching up on the blogging next week.

Lyza's Eight Tag:

8 things I am passionate about:
My family
Blogging
Reading blogs
Checking my email (Are you seeing a pattern here?)
Money
Paying my bills and having them be on time
Learning new ways to save money
Trying out new recipes

8 words or phrases I say way too often:
That's way too much food
Michael give mommy a kiss
Michael give mommy a hug
Michael give dada a hug & kiss
Oh so sweet
Drink your milk
I don't know
Night night love you
(Can you tell which ones I say to Joe or Michael?)

8 things I want to do before I die:
Have more children
Go on a nice family vacation
Buy a larger home with more storage
Have more ambition- I'm having a hard time with this one
See all my siblings get married and have children
Go on an all girls vacation with my mom, sister & sister in-law
Be completely debt free- no mortgage, no car payments...
Win a whole bunch of money & go on a shopping spree for a new wardrobe
(okay I totally feel like I'm copping out on that last one)

8 things I have learned from my past:
Just say hi & get the introducing over with
Things do get better in time
If you think it's worth it then it is
Go with your first instinct
Sometimes it's best to say nothing at all
Long distance relationships are no fun
Child birth isn't all that bad- I'm stronger than I thought
Be kind

8 places I would love to see:
Hawaii
Scotland
NY
Las Vegas
Paris
Beijing
Bahamas
Sicily

8 things I currently need or want:
Black knee high boots
Larger calves to be able to hold the boots up
Food processor
DDR mats for PS3
A hair cut from my favorite hair stylist at home
Some good shampoo & conditioner
Contacts
A pedicure

Can't wait to hang this baby

When my family came to visit in Sept. I asked my mom to bring me a pack of Christ pictures. I have been wanting to make a Christ matted frame for a copy of The Family: A Proclamation of the World. I have finally finished it. I was searching everywhere for where I had put the proclamation and I finally stumbled upon it today. So now it is complete. Now we need to finish painting the house so I can hang it!

Do you have one of these in your house?

*If you'd like to make one all you need is an exacto knife, double sided tape, 8 x 10 mat, 11 x 14 frame, Images of the Savior- Greg Olsen 3 x 4 pictures, & The Family: A Proclamation of the World.

walking, dancing & more walking

Enjoy...

Fall Feast

Saturday we went to the Neill's home for a Fall Feast. Check out Laura's post of the event for cute decorating ideas and a pic of Joe cutting his pumpkin- you've got to see it. We all brought fall dishes and desserts we love. I brought my mom's sour cream potatoes & Paula Dean's Chocolate Monkey Bread which I found on another blog.
My witch legs pumpkin- no gutting required.

Joe's scary skeleton pumpkin.

*Yesterday Michael started walking a whole bunch for us but hasn't been quite as enthusiastic about it today. Of course the batteries were dead yesterday. I'll keep trying though for all those who'd like to see a video of him walking.

Who's that?

What's that? What is that? Who's that? Michael's first phrases.
Drink away little boy. Sippy cups only in this house.

Halloween party

Last night we went to a couples only Halloween party. We had a lot of fun playing games & eating yummy treats. Michael slept in the guest bedroom of the host's home. In the group picture we have an Angel & a Devil, a Princess & the Pea, a Hippie & a Domino, two Farmers, an Ecuador woman & I'm not quite sure, Cleopatra- missing her wig & a Roman Emperor and two Cops.I came up with the idea for us to be cops since Joe already had a majority of his costume. I made badges for us & I died an old white shirt of mine. I was wearing some black pointy boots but they didn't make it in any of the pictures. I had made a hat but it turned out to be too small so it will be Michael's.

Mystery Solved

I'm sure you all remember my possessed baby monitor post from a while back. Well recently I met my neighbors who are in our ward. I noticed that they had the same baby monitor as we did. I asked her if she had a singing toy - I then sang the song for her. She tells me to hang on for a minute and she brings this downstairs...

Tell me this isn't hilarious!

It feels like Fall...Finally!

I hung my new fall wreath a few weeks ago but it was still so hot it did not feel like Fall. Today it does, my a/c has been off since last night and it's a whopping 67 degrees out right now! So I put my little pumpkins on the porch this morning. I had to keep them inside so they wouldn't rot before Halloween. Now they are where they should be. Although looking at the picture I need bigger pumpkins! Maybe when they go on sale. Our Passion Vine Lady Margaret bloomed the other night so we had to take a picture of it's beauty. This morning though it had closed up- must have been because of the cold & cloudy weather. I am so happy fall is here, for now anyway, I look forward to going home for Christmas to visit family and friends. We'll be home Dec. 17th-31st. Mark it on your calendar & stop on by!

My half done project is complete. I finished it today and couldn't wait to let you all see how it turned out. By all means it is not perfect but I think it's pretty darn good considering this is my first time making a quilt all by myself. I still haven't decided if I'll give it away or keep it. I think I like Melinda's suggestion about keeping it until a baby girl comes around and then decide. I haven't ironed the backside of the quilt so bear in mind it is wrinkled.

6 quirky quirks

I've been tagged yet again. I was actually tagged twice but I am terrible about coming up with things about myself so I just posted 6. Here it goes...

1. I'd rather be on the computer than watch TV any day.

2. When I was younger I used to eat my dinner one item at a time, only going onto the next after the first item was completely eaten. I still do that sometimes but not all that often.

3. I have to strain my orange juice or any juice with pulp. I can't stand the texture in my drink.
On our honeymoon while at a hotel restaurant I asked them to strain my orange juice for me. I think Joe thought I was just as crazy as the waiter did. I remember the waiter seeming very confused when I asked this but I got it done none the less.

4. This one might be a little bit too personal or gross. I blow my nose the same way as my sister. Using the tissue up the nose with the fingers and all. Thanks for teaching me this sis. LOL Joe thinks it's funny how I do it the same as her.

5. If I find a hair or a fuzzie on someone I have to pick it off. Even if it's a piece of dry skin I have to get it. I even attacked Joe's ear last night - don't worry it wasn't inside the ear it was the outer ear.

6. While washing my hands in the bathroom I turn off the faucet with my elbow so I don't get our hard water on our new faucets.

Stylin' in new shoes

I decided to go on a mini shoe shopping spree for Michael now that he's going to be walking soon.

I love the brown sneakers.

The leather airplane shoes are Jack and Lily which retail for $25! I got mine off craigslist for $10 and they're brand new!

Doesn't he look thrilled about his new shoes?
I love how they make shoes now that are flexible and easy for new walkers to cruise around in.

Our tiny dancer

Michael took his first steps this weekend so we decided to "celebrate."
The grooving is thanks to Blessed by Brett Dennen. You may not have heard of him yet but Joe says he's gonna be famous one of these days. I have to say that I agree. Check him out.

Remember this post? I never let you all know that the other soldier that was going never had to. I also didn't tell you that I had no idea that Joe had volunteered along with the other soldier at that time to go. It actually doesn't surprise me, he warned me once before we joined. I found this out only a month ago while enjoying a Sunday afternoon dinner with friends. I was shocked that he never told me after it all happened. I was also shocked that he decided it would be a good idea to inform me by telling everyone that was there. Thanks Hun.

So onto the point of this post... because Joe and his friend had volunteered the first time, they now have orders to IRAQ. He'll be stationed in a combat support hospital and is already preparing to leave. He's scheduled to leave the first week of February '09. He'll be gone for 365 long days. He'll be going with one of his best friends. We are thankful for that. There is still a chance that he may not go. It depends if he can pass the required physical health tests. But for now he's going. I'll keep you all informed as we go along.

landscaping & a night on the town

While my family was visiting last week my dad & Joe decided to get some landscaping done. My dad had no idea what he was getting himself into. I think my dad pulled every muscle in his body by cutting out the grass and digging holes in the dirt, I mean clay. He is now VERY grateful for his WA soil. The men were so exhausted Friday night that they just wanted to sit around and watch football. Us girls and Kenzie all wanted to go out on the town so we did & left the babe with the men. We enjoyed a little bit of shopping downtown & the river walk along with a yummy steak dinner. Too bad Shelby discovered that she'd lost her vest she'd bought, when we were on our way home. Does this sound familiar(read last paragraph)? So we turned back to see if we could find it at the restaurant. Mom and I waited while Kenzie and Shelby when to go check. It wasn't there. Darn. By the time we got home it was about midnight and we expected the men to be tucked in their beds. Earlier in the night when we called to let them know we were going to eat out and we'd be a while longer my dad asked us to call him before we drove home. He wanted us to bring him home some ice cream. So because we didn't get home until midnight we didn't call. Guess what? They were still up!!! We were shocked especially since they said they were so exhausted. He some how managed to survived his night without having his nightly routine of a bowl of ice cream.