sugar and spice

By the way, we are having a...











...baby girl!! :)

evolution of the van

The van. It has been a staple in my life. It all started with this beauty:

The Ram van. Who didn't have a Ram van in the 80's? Mr. T even had a Ram Van. Teen Wolf did hand stands on top of a Ram van. My brother liked to take us off sweet jumps in our blue whale of a van. It was the bomb.

Then in the late 80's/early 90's came the invention of the minivan. So instead of a giant 8 passenger van that could fit the whole contents of your house inside, came the more sophisticated minivan. My brother and I were given a Dodge minivan to drive during our senior year of high school, pictured in the background here:

Immediately, we dubbed it the "Shaggin Wagon" and labeled it as such on the back with a bumper sticker. Just as fast as you can say, "By the beard of Zeus's ghost", my dad had taken the bumper sticker off. He served his mission in Britain and therefore knew the true implications of such a word as "shaggin".

We even had a van in Russia when we lived there. It was dubbed something a bit more boring: "The Mission Van". Lame. ;)

The evolution has now come full circle with the newest addition to our household:

The Odyssey. This is definitely not your mother's van. This is much cooler than any van that has ever driven on this planet. We just purchased this over the weekend and are enjoying the full benefits of having a sweet ride:




It is roomy, comfy, doors open automatically with the push of a button. We love it. I just still can't believe I am now driving a minivan. It will be dubbed "The Swagger Wagon" and will fully carry the weight of its name.

mormon messages

This is a wonderful message and my previous Bishop is interviewed in this piece. He is the one who manufactures the crutches that this man bought. So cool. Enjoy.

august

How does one sum up a whole month in just one post? It was the best having my family here all together this summer. We absolutely loved being together for the first time in a couple of years. We even sat still long enough to get some awesome family pictures taken. So August was a crazy month: 4 days spent at Bear Lake, celebrating Mi-Mi's birthday, family pictures, copious amounts of cousin bonding time and Mo starting Kindergarten. Hang on. Here we go:
It would be a disgrace to allow our nephew to return to England without THE defining American symbol -- a foam finger. Look for him at the next Chelsea game with this bad boy on his hand:




Not sure what to call this "game" they liked to play. All it was really was them snagging the ball away from each other, falling on the ground, laughing and then doing it again:

Bear Lake:



The three amigos:

Dinner time at the cabin:

The pool table and also the theater room, putting green included, was a favorite for these three:


We even celebrated Mi-mi's birthday at the cabin in Bear Lake with all her cousins:

Family pics:



Birthday breakfast:

Birthday dinner with grandparents:


The quintessential summer picture:


First day of Kindergarten:

I think this thumbs up is more for me:

"Mom, really...its okay. I am ready." Not so sure I am ready for this milestone:

Mi-mi also started preschool at the beginning of September:



All of this has me asking the same question a lot lately: "Where does the time go?" Am I really at the point to be asking this? Napoleon Dynamite was really on to something with his time machine modulus device. Too bad it just produced a massive quantity of electricity to his body rather than him actually travelling through time. Crap.

the fighter

Finally, The Fighter trailer is out. I am so looking forward to this movie. Not only does it look like an awesome story but Christian Bale is in it. Yes, he looks lanky and awful. He definitely took one for the team in the looks department. But it just goes to show the lengths he will go and the dedication he puts into a role.


Here is also another movie I'm really looking forward to. Denzel is such a great actor and Chris Pine adds a young, fresh side to Dezel's seriousness.

fanatical friday

Just got this in the mail yesterday. So very very excited about it. The hubby thinks watching it would ruin our concert experience. The concert we should've already been to but Bono had to go and break his back. ;) I figured that in the meantime I could fill the void by enjoying this on the big screen in blu-ray. And imagine what it will be like in May when U2 FINALLY comes. It is almost too bad it has taken this long. My expectations of the show will be through the roof. U2 had better come through for me. I mean, I know they will because they are U2 but still...here's to hoping.

joys of pregnancy

I love to brush my teeth first thing in the morning. It helps me to feel somewhat ready for the day even though I'm still in my robe and my contacts have yet to meet my eyes for the day. So it is quite disheartening when the pregnancy hormones settle in and my gag reflex is heightened to the umpteenth degree. The sounds coming from the bathroom are definitely not pleasant ("Oooyick" and "Aaaacck"). It irks me to the point that it has made the top of my list of pet peeves. The phrase, "The Joys of Pregnancy", automatically kicks my gag relfex into high gear. Don't get me wrong -- I am truly blessed to be able to even get pregnant the old fashioned way minus the gadgets and drugs, etc. I am even more blessed to have babies thus far without any serious physical or mental ailments (though sometimes they make me mental). I do realize that. But all the in- betweens (aches, uncontrollable urge to pee, uncomfortable sleep, nausea and vomiting, swollen ankles) make it harder to focus on the pure joys of having a beautiful baby as the end result.

In my quest to overcome this unpleasant relfex, I have come up with ways to try to avoid the inevitable. You know the feeling -- your mouth starts to water, you can feel your tummy begin to boil over, your tongue betrays you by moving into place to help whatever in your body that wants to come out, come out. After how good I treat you and this is how you repay me?

• when I first feel the gag I immediately tip my head up and look at the ceiling in my bathroom. This usually leads to thinking about how awesome of a paint job Ammon did and how I hate to paint, with a passion! Then I feel glad we were able to pay someone to do it instead of having to ourselves. To live with that kind of regret is just awful. Paint regret -- shudder.
• when I have to tip my head back down to spit and I feel the gag return I scoop some cold, cold water in my mouth to swish.
• if this still doesn't work, then I get some more cold, cold water to gurgle. I usually do this several times in an effort to try and freeze those gag muscles in the back of my throat. Then I do a little dance, a party will do. Do a little dance, a party will do. Do a little dance...um...

At this point I know I have won. I have defeated the gag and can now face the day without feeling overly unpleasant. Or with a bad aftertaste in my mouth that seems to never go away. One ailment down, 457 more to go. ;)

snl weekly

Garth and Kat have quickly become two of my favorite characters featured on SNL. I can just imagine how they both walk out to start their skit with zero plan except to have Kristen follow Fred as well as she can. It just cracks me up. I need to thank my awesome friend Amelia for sharing this treasure with me. Enjoy!