Getting into the festivities!

Thanks to Ben and Amy, Jean and I got into pumpkin carving! I had been thinking about doing it, but life kept happening and we never got around to it, I like to prefer to avoid calling it lazy...Anyway, they had us over for a delicious breakfast dinner (my fave!) and carving.

I think this was my first time actually involved in the carving of pumpkins...yep, I am 26. I have helped clean out pumpkins, but can't remember ever taking a knife to one. Don't judge me!
Anyway, Jean and I picked the happy looking pattern (it looked the least initmidating) and Emma, a pro, coached me through the carving and made it look great!

After 26 years of living, I can no longer say....

that I have never been stung by a bee. Rude! At work, I was innocently reaching into my bag when a bee felt threatened and attacked! So I had no idea what to do (having no experience in this area) so thanks to my co-worker nurse who promptly removed the stinger. Side note--did you know that stingers move around after the bee has fallen off?? Weird, like a chicken without a head maybe. I guess on the bright side, I will now know what people mean when they say something is like "being stung by a bee"....

Comforting or Creepy???? what is your take??

So I just found a story on MSN that you should check out at http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/22043457?GT1=43001. They are making these dolls to look quite (disturbingly??) like real babies. They are called "reborns". Hmm. It said that they can "fill a spot in your heart" regarding women who can't have children...I know this is a sensitive area for many, so I will refrain from more commentary. But, interesting to look at the photos (click on images and you will see several different...models?...designs?). I know I would be fooled!!!

Sky

When I woke up the other morning and looked out the window to check out the weather, this is what I got! To me, these are the perfect clouds and I just had to share them with you. It was a beautiful day!!

Fall canyon--sorry the pics don't quite capture the colors...

So this last weekend was perfect weather and I wanted Jean to see the fall colors, so we took off into the canyon for some good food and relaxation in the hammock!
Of course, grilling is not complete without Jean's picanha (top sirloin)!
We chilled (literally) in the hammock until we got just a little too cold and then took off to drive the Alpine Loop.
I love Utah in the fall and even more, enjoying it with my favorite person!

28 weeks!

Okay, okay...here comes another photo of the belly. I am now six months and one week along in the pregnancy! Crazy how time flies when you are having fun! Jean felt the little guy kicking awhile ago, but is really feeling it often and more definite now, which is exciting! Baby boy was kicking pretty hard the other day so I moved Jean's hand to where I was feeling the kicks and was surprised that Jean didn't feel them too. Come to find out, Jean's hand was on top of my ribs and I was feeling the kicks on the inside of my ribs. Baby, not nice to kick your Mama in the ribs!!! And ps, if you didn't catch on, we still have not decided on a name for him yet...

September so far...

Las Vegas

For Labor Day we went back to Las Vegas to hang out with some family again. My parents came up from Texas and we had another fun filled weekend! Happy Birthday, Dad (he says he has never been so close to 60 before)! Spencer took us around the Strip over the weekend and this picture is in the Venetian.

We also went into Caesar's Palace and enjoyed the Cheesecake Factory, great spur of the moment decision, if you ask me!
Mom and Dad decided to test out the comfort of the casino chairs. Dad quickly escaped the photo opportunity, but I was able to catch Mom. And don't worry, Mom wasn't gambling!

Babysitting back in Utah...
I am constantly entertained with the things that Jean comes up with to entertain kids (not sure what that says about me...)!! Our neices got a great kick out of this idea, and especially when Jean discovered that rubberbands don't come off as easy as they come on. It was difficult trying to figure out which one was on top.
The girls and I even got in on some of the action, but yes we learned from Jean and limited the number of rubberbands we would allow to go on our face.

Utah State Fair
Jean and I made it to the fair over the weekend. It was pretty good times and great people watching! We didn't get many pics, but the tiger show was pretty cool. Not sure what possesses a man to get in a cage with 6-8 tigers, but it was interesting to watch. We could get pretty close (I didn't zoom in the picture) and it is amazing how big and strong they are!
The fair also included more than we needed of expensive fatty foods (though I would have the gyro again...), not the kind of homemade lemonade we were expecting (it was expensive ice), one HUGE pig, a few very pregnant cows (I felt their pain), a very crowded rodeo and lots of people trying to get us to buy stuff! I am so bad at avoiding them, good thing Jean has some sense!

P.S. I will be SIX months pregnant this next Saturday! Time is going by too fast AND too slow, depending on the day! =)

Courage...

Today I had a complete stranger ask immediately upon seeing me, "Boy or girl?" The confidence of this man that surely I was a pregnant woman instead of a fat woman gave me the courage to finally post a picture of my ever growing belly. This pic was taken today, and I am currently a little over five months along.

Happy pregnancy!! =)

Drum roll please....

We had our ultrasound this morning (finally) and our baby looks healthy and complete with fingers and toes! The Doc checked out the heart, spine, face, brain, etc. and said everything looks perfect! Yea! And we did a gender check and the baby is a.......boy! We are totally excited! (Of course we only have a girl name picked out though...I guess we have some time to narrow down our list of boy names.) Now I can't wait to go shopping--baby shopping seems like more fun when you know what to shop for. Okay, so the pics were saved in a weird format...as video...I don't get it, but whatever. Just click play to see the pics!

HELP!!!

Jean and I have the ever so fortunate opportunity to give talks in church in two Sundays. YIKES! Besides the fact that I am not into public speaking per se, I would like a little help from my friends as I can't seem to talk my way out of it...Our topic is Heroes from the Book of Mormon. I was thinking to share a few stories about how I was inspired by BOM people, but thought it would also be interesting (not to mention lengthen my talk--Jean will appreciate that) to get some stories from friends that I could plagiarize (giving you all the credit of course--so I guess borrow is a better word). If you would be willing to take a few minutes out of your day and email me or post a story of how you have been inspired, I WOULD LOVE YOU FOREVER!! Okay, chances are I probably will anyway, but you know what I mean...THANKS!!!!

Things I am learning about being prego...

--Zofran is an amazing drug...if you have morning sickness, DEMAND Zofran from your doc (let your insurance suck it up and eat the cost--it is well worth the fight with them!)
--I can no longer suck in my gut, I suck and nothing happens...guess I have extra stuff in there filling in the previously voided areas...and as a side note, I hit a high point yesterday when my niece asked to feel my baby so I guided her hand to where to feel and she says, "Wow, your belly is huge!" That is a good thing, right????? Please comfort me, haha.
--I have a new found love for Cheetos (maybe this should be the blame for the waistline instead of the baby...nah, the baby is the cause, for sure!!)
--Long flights are no longer the sole cause for my elephantitis...can I just tell you how much I dislike the feeling of swollen ankles and feet? I really don't like it. I can't even stand to look at them after a day on my feet...it makes me feel strange inside, like watching contortionists...
--Every woman seems to have horror stories about giving birth, which doesn't make sense to me, because I keep hearing that women forget the pain blah blah blah and that is why they keep having babies...well, the stories they share with me surely are pain-filled and it doesn't sound like they have really forgotten. I guess by the end of the year I will be able to join yet another strange club of women that don't really make sense, joy! =)
--Maybe I have more patience than previously I have given myself credit for. We find out on Aug 5 (8 days...who's counting???) whether we are having a boy or girl. But the point of that is, I am proud to say that I did not cave in and head to the mall for an early ultrasound. There is some hope for patience in motherhood!!!

Picnic in AF canyon!

Last night, prior to getting out of the house, Abbie wanted to show off her new make-up that Grandma bought her and lucky man that he is, Jean got to be her test subject. (We don't test on animals...just humans!) The eyeshadow in his eyebrows was quite dashing, but it quickly got rubbed off!

I learned on the drive up the canyon that the combination of two little girls and a camera can get things rolling and pretty entertaining. Emma and Abbie love to play photographer...which got Jean's imagination going...
Jean (I guess following the beauty theme from earlier) decided to style my hair into Cousin It and of course, Emma had to join in on the action! I think that we are way stylin! When Jean was snapping the photo I had to really fight the urge to smile, I think I still did in the end, not that you can tell, haha.
We got to the site and the girls and Reba (dog) immediately were off to explore the hill and river.
My mama almost got the smore right out of Amy's hand...sneaky little....they were a hot commodity, especially because we discovered Dallin was a graham cracker monster and was downing our supply!
I had to make sure Emma did my roasting because I repeatedly set the marshmallows on fire (well more accurately couldn't distinguish the fire)...so I am easily distracted, give me a break!
Abbie was so into her smore that she didn't even notice me literally in her face taking pictures. Can you just see the enjoyment in her face?
Dallin is really a cute little boy that will bring a smile to your face! He was very happy with the combination of his two favorite things, his mom and being outside!
Can I just add that I love the mountains in Utah!!! This is such a beautiful state!
We also got to chase prairie dogs, the girls got to pet a fish (thanks to a nice fisherman), watch horses go by and saw deer! So that summarizes our outing last night to the canyon, it was pretty great times!

Viva Las Vegas!!

My fave free tourist attraction. The Bellagio. Love the water show. Last weekend, Jean and I went down to Vegas to visit my parents, Cherilyn and Spencer, as my parents just bought a new house in Vegas. And, according to me, the trip wouldn't be complete w/o the Bellagio.
We had to kill some time between each show, so we (and by we, I mean I) went a little crazy with the camera...and took a million pictures of everyone and made Cherilyn take a million of Jean and I. After taking so many, you would think that I would have at least one I really liked. Oh well, I will take what I get!
Unfortunately, we didn't get any pics at the house, but you can look at Cherilyn's blog for a pretty good collection of the house. My parents found a great deal on a great house and we are super excited that one day they will be closer to Utah!
Too bad my brother Spencer had a date or he would be included in these pics...I guess a worthy cause though! =) We had a great time hanging out with him too, he always cracks me up...and Spencer, sorry about breaking your homemade "skateboard"!!! You can break something of ours next time you make it to Utah...
Well, it was a quick weekend and we ran from dawn until way past dusk, but had a great time! Thanks Mom and Dad for having us down!

How to burn your money in 15 minutes....

First Happy Fourth of July! I love good 4th celebrations that must include fireworks, which leads me to my "how to" for the day. Fireworks--exact definition of burning your money. You go spend precious money on all these entertainment promises and then what do you do? Set them on fire. Now that is my kind of fun!!! Except I learned a very valuable lesson this year...it is way better to let your neighbors set their money on fire and then watch theirs!!! I, for one, am too cheap to spend lots of money on fireworks (though I love love love them) so I just end up buying things like ground bloomers and poppers. But if you discover neighbors like my brother has who quite literally spent no less than thousands on their firework festivities you can get your own little free show without having to get stuck in city traffic at the city fireworks! What a deal!!! Thank you neighbors! P.S. I do recommend blue planets...pretty good show for $10. Hope you had a great fourth!!!!

There is nothing like a good RODEO!!!!!!

We went to the Lehi Rodeo on Saturday night and had a really good time! It sure beat working in the concession stands on Thursday night...I think I can still smell rodeo burgers and hot dogs. Though I was disappointed they didn't have mutton bustin, there were still good times to be had. Some highlights include:

--now I may be putting my foot in my mouth big time here if anyone reading this knows the man who sang the National Anthem, but wow, I have never quite heard it sung like this before and I have to say, I don't think I have ever heard a man sing the Anthem at a public event and not to discriminate, but maybe it should stay that way. The mic kept cutting out leading up to that huge high note near the end and I have to wonder if they were trying to turn off his mic for that note but got the cue wrong...Bless his heart for trying! (The poor man walked off with his head down!) And what was the deal with him being on his cell phone as he walked out into the arena?? Cell phone ediquette people!

--rodeo clown humor....dry as ever and sometime PG-13 but it is a tradition at a rodeo. I have to admit though, he did have a pretty good magic trick that stumped Jean and I (it isn't too hard to stump me, but Jean will usually pick up on tricks!)

--dirt bikers doing life-threatening high jumps in the air (I know, trust me it was a rodeo, not a monster truck show...why not combine the best of both worlds?!?) Amazing those bikers are still alive! They made my heart race just watching them!

--only like 3 of the some 15 bullriders made the 8 seconds, so you can imagine some pretty good falls

--a bronco rider sustained a pretty good kick to the chest, amazing he walked away, hopefully without mass internal bleeding!

--cowboy falling off a bull and when he stood up, we were thinking his leg was pretty broken and bent, turns out he is just bowlegged

--a rider with, and I am not even kidding, the best in person bar mustache I have ever seen. I mean this thing came down to his chin and then went straight out from his face with a curl at each end. I wasn't even close to the dude and I could make it out...I wonder how long it takes him to set it up in the morning and also what it must look like right after he gets out of the shower....Obviously, I was very intrigued by this.

--Jean has a pretty funny story about a kid at the rodeo that you should ask him about sometime...

Anyway, we had a good time and now I am wanting to go to a good demo derby...know of any?