Some of my new favorite things...

Of course, my most favorite thing is my kids. I know all mom's say this but, my kids are so awesome! They say the funniest things and make me laugh. I just look at them and think they are soooooooooo cute. It makes me tear up sometimes just thinking about them. I always have to wipe away tears when I hear how well they are doing or see them accomplish something. It doesn't take much. I am a total crybaby, especially when it comes to my kids. I am a proud mama.

This past year I discovered MAC makeup. I mean I had heard about it, but I would NEVER buy things like that for myself. I love it! Summer started buying it and I am loving it. The only problem so far is that I haven't dared use the crazy greens, blues and pinks. But, Summer does and it looks awesome. I have never been big on makeup and products for myself, but now I am loving them.

I am still watching Grey's Anatomy and waiting to see if it's gonna tank. So far, I'm still in. Only time will tell. Hmmmmmmm!

The other thing I loved this past year is white chocolate with white filling Lindor truffles. I am in heaven when I bite into these things. It's so bad and yet so good!!! I can't stop!!! I think I just ate my last one so I can officially join chocolate addicts anonymous and end the madness. But, I soooooo want more.

I love Zupas! It's a sandwhich place. It is delish!!! I had a panini with muenster cheese and pesto sauce and tomatoes. Yum. I had a salad too and that was good but the panini was to die for!

Another thing I have really loved is my camera. Not just this past year, but since I got it. I just love it. I need to learn to use it to it's full capabilities but for now, it's all good. I love being able to grab it and take pictures of anything and everything. I love this digital world and I love capturing every moment.

I love high speed internet. We have had dial-up since 1996. Dad got high speed for Christmas and I think I love it more than anyone. I can do everything so much faster. I can't believe how much time I wasted sitting there waiting for things to download. The kids love it too. Now they can chat with friends and check email and do the webkinz thing and all. I love technology. (You know you're all singing it now...) I do realize that with the new high speed comes all the troubles regarding the kids and internet safety. That part has me on constant alert and worry.

I also love blogging. I love doing mine and reading others. I love being able to blog from home and not drive to the college, pay for parking in the meters, run out and feed again after time runs out, then drive back home. So, dumb! I love technology.

And, of course, I love Hawaii. There is no better place for me. Well, I haven't been anywhere worth talking about. I tried Mexico a few times but it does not compare. Hawaii is like heaven to me. It's beautiful, warm, sandy, beachy and awesome. I can't explain it. You'll have to go and then you'll know.

I had to add DVR. I don't know how I would live without it. I can record things, watch them when I have time and stop and rewind and pause and everything. I also am addicted to reading the guide to see if I want to watch things. It really is a time saver. This was the best invention. My kids are getting so used to pausing and rewinding and laughing at things over and over again. I don't know how we will live without it. Talk about withdrawals.

My New Year's Resolution.

I think New Year's resolutions are dumb. So many people make them and don't keep them. The gym is always packed till February. I don't like it. I think you should make changes for the better all year long, so I don't bother doing it at the first of the year. However, I read an email about two words that would change my life. Those two words were "THANK YOU." So, I decided that I would focus on having more gratitude this year. Gratitude for the small things and the big things we take for granted. A chair, bed, towels, soap, oven, toothpaste, carpet, a job, clothes, shoes, coats, computer, pictures, food, electricity, running car, music, religion, roads, planes, phones, etc. I also have gratitude that I can think, laugh, see, smile, run, play, enjoy, breathe, walk, sleep, love, I'm alive and I am me.

A quote from the email:
"There are two words that, when spoken, have the most unfathomable power to completely change your life. Two words which, when they pass your lips, will be the cause of bringing absolute joy and happiness to you. Two words that will create miracles in your life. Two words that will wipe out negativity. Two words that will bring you abundance in all things. Two words which, when uttered and sincerely felt, will summon all the forces and vibrations in the Universe to move all things for you.

The only thing standing between you, happiness, and the life of your dreams, are two words...
THANK YOU!"

I am grateful that I know there are two words that can change my life!!! Thank you to all my family, friends and neighbors that love me and support me through it all!!!

Remember classic skating rink? Oh, and Alicia breaks her radial head!!!

So, Summer, Alicia, Val, Tonya, Micah and their boys and myself and a couple of Summer and Alicia's other friends went to Classic skating on Saturday. We got there and didn't realize HOW many teeny-boppers were actually there. We also didn't realize that they close to 16 and under at 10 pm. So, we were there too early. We skated and had a lot of fun. We were all relishing in the memories of classic skating all through middle school years. I didn't go as often as the others but, I still have memories. I think the rink is the same rink from "back in the day." I have to say that back in the '80s, I rocked on roller skates. I had a red and white pair that I used in the cauldesac all the time. I also remembered Classic's "snowball" skating. Where the boys ask girls or vice-versa and you skate around the rink to music holding hands. Can you believe they still do it!!! So, they start the snowball skating and everyone clears the rink and stands on the side waiting to be asked. How humiliating for all those kids. Back in my day, I remember watching so many people hand-hold skating but never actually doing it myself. No one wanted to hold my hand and I was too scared to ask a boy! So sad. :-( Anyway, we skated till 10 and then the funny stuff and not so funny stuff happened. Alicia comes over to tell us that the MAC makeup guy that sells them their makeup was sitting across the rink. We had been to see him two times in the past and just happened to see him that morning as Summer needed to buy some makeup. It was so funny that he was there that same day. He told Alicia over and over that he was not gay. Just because he sells makeup and he's a good skater doesn't mean he is gay. He also had some converse sneakers that he had made into skates in Paris. So, he starts skating and he is awesome. We are talking toe touches and everything. He fell a lot too. Then people showed up in costume because it was disco night. But, one guy shows up dressed in a full-on Bat Man costume with a mask and everything. He's skating around and he's pretty good too. Actually most people that show up after 10 are good skaters. There was even the creepy old guy that showed up to skate by himself. A group of people are making a skating train and Alicia tags on the end after Bat Man. He boogies a little and she lets go laughing. Around 11:30, "Can't touch this" comes on and Alicia goes out with Summer. She's on the rink for like 50 seconds. Summer does the running man on skates so Alicia does the running man and BAM falls on her tailbone. Of course, she caught herself with her hands so she ends up with extreme pain in her left arm and wrist. She scoots herself off the rink and after much nausea and light headedness and panicked breathing and crying, we whisk her off to the ER. The films come back and she has broken her elbow. The impact from the weight on her wrist jammed the elbow. So, she is in a a lot of pain and we all have a story to tell. But, it doesn't end there... The next day Summer and Alicia go to church. Everyone is asking about her arm and she is telling her awesome story. Then this guy leans over and says "Did you say you broke your arm skating at Classic last night?" She says "Yes, how did you know?" He says in a deep, firm voice "I'M BAT MAN!" Summer and Alicia start laughing and he never says another word. It's as if he really IS bat man. Or, at least he thinks he is. This whole time bat man was in their ward and they didn't know it was him. His sister is in the ward too and she was skating with them and broke her wrist. Probably the only two people that broke bones that night are in the same ward. So, the moral of the story is...it's an extremely small world and you never know who is watching you or who knows you. So, be on your best behavior people.

Alicia, Val, Summer, Me and Ton

Chad and Russ

(Not pictured: Micah and their boys.

They were busy having "safe" fun in the jungle land)

Getting the splint.

Three gorgeous and very supportive friends.

"Ouch"

Stuck in an elevator!!! Plan on 40 minutes!!!

Okay, how many of you have ever been stuck in an elevator? It really doesn't happen that often. I ran an errand downtown and on my way out, I get back on the elevator. I notice a man and a lady with coats on, but they look like they aren't ready to get on the elevator so I let the door close. I notice that it has a strong smell of cigarette smoke. I figure some chain smoker had just ridden it. I sit there for a bit (like seconds really) and then I hear a ding and the elevator opens to the same floor and the man and the lady with the coats get on with me. She says "didn't you push any buttons?" I say half embarassed "no...I hardly slept last night so I am just in la la land." So, we both push our buttons and it goes from our floor (4th) down to 3rd then to 2nd and everything goes black. Emergency lighting goes on and the elevator has definitely stopped! I say to both of them, "does this happen very often?" She says "it has never happened to me." So, I look at the number and remember that it is only the 2nd floor and try not to panic. They start calling everyone to try and get a repair man out there. I just keep saying let's use the call button but they ignore me. After all the calls are made, we just stand there. I decide to make small talk with these people so I don't panic. Come to find out that one is an attorney and one is a secretary. I bring up my old boss who he knows (she has quite a reputation!) We chat about all kinds of things. It's rather boring but he's a lawyer so there ya go. It started getting hot in there so we took off our coats. We sit down on the floor and get comfy. We joked about having some Christmas gifts to eat and drink so we are okay that way. We end up there for 40 minutes and then they pry open the doors and ask if we would like to get out? The elevator is actually stuck between the floors so they have to lift us out of it.
The really interesting part about the entire thing is that about a week and a half prior to this incident, Suzanne calls me and tells me she is stuck in an elevator alone! I can tell she is going to panic so I have to talk to her and keep her mind off it. She tells me how they had just watched a show on tv about elevator deaths. You can survive the 5th floor and down but nothing more. She is stuck on the 9th floor! She tells me to tell everyone she loves them. I have to keep her totally calm. I even make her call the service button again to find out an ETA. I try to tell her that at least she is not having a baby in there or having heart surgery or stuck with a stinky person. She agrees but I don't think it helps. After all is said and done, they get her out of there after 40 minutes. So, I am figuring that it takes 40 minutes to get a service team out to your location to do an emergency open of an elevator. Keep that in mind, you never know when you might need that information!

Thanksgiving 2007

Here are the pictures of Thanksgiving. They look oddly like the pictures from last Thanksgiving. But, rest assured, they are not. We had Suzanne's boyfriend Nick and his daughter Macey this year. It was good food and fun. The pictures are so dark. I think we live in a cave.

The gang!

L t0 R: Derrek, mom, Nick, Suzanne, Alicia, Summer, Dad, Cham, Billy, Kim

L to R: Mikaela, Ari, Hudson, Dalton, Loren and Macey

Dalton is giving a look like...take the picture and give us some food already!

Mikaela and Summer donate their hair to Locks of love!!!

Summer needed a haircut so Danielle talked her into cutting 10-11 inches off and donating it to Locks of love. Then, Mikaela decided to do it too. It was a little traumatic for her but made her hair so much healthier.

Mikaela and Summer's donations!

Ahhhhhh!!!
Am I okay with this?

Mikaela's designs!!!

Mikaela had taken old material her grandma gave her and designed outfits for grandma's old manequins. She cut them and sewed them by hand. We all thought they were pretty creative so I had to take a picture. Maybe someday she will have her own collection. You never know.

Sorry this blog is pathetic!

I am so sorry but I can't seem to get any computer to work with me on my blog. I keep trying to download pictures and it just isn't working. I will keep trying though. Be patient with me and hopefully I will catch up. I still check your blogs so keep up the good work. I love being up to date with your families.

Kids and Halloween '07

Here are the kids from Halloween. Mikaela was an aqua fairy, Hudson was a ninja and Dalton was, as he calls it, "skelebones" or a skeleton. The kids decorated the front door.

Mikaela
Hudson countin' and sortin' his candy
Dalton dumpin' his candy




s

Halloween 07

Summer had a Halloween party for the adults on the 26th of October. Everyone was very good to dress up. The food was pretty good but, the location was a pain. We couldn't really decorate and we had to be quiet and out by 10 pm. The music definately needs to be re-vamped for next year. Other than that, the party was fun. We also tried limbo and dancing. We know what to do better for next year. So, everyone plan now for next year because it's going to be awesome!

God's gift to women (Billy) and Ariel (Cham)

Don, Larissa, Tamra and Kyle
Kim (greek goddess) and Derrek (troll doll)
Pimp daddy (Nick) and Raggedy Ann (Suzanne)
Some of the yummy treats. Summer made brain cupcakes, witches hats, veggie tray and wassail. She was super crafty. I couldn't believe she wanted it so cutsey putsey. We even made cute cards to label the food trays. Ton brought carmel popcorn and brownies. Kim brought candy.

Summer's friends
Kevin (dressed as Kyle), Shawn (guy from clockwork orange), TJ (Plug), Kim (Socket), Kyle, Micah, (don't know this guy?),
Tonya, Val and Summer (Mr. Slim Goodbody)

The Golden Girls

Jon, Melissa, Laura and Spew

Kim's friends

Slash (Lorna), Raggedy Ann and Pimp daddy
Pirate couple - Ton and Micah

Hudson's Soccer Fall '07

Hudson's playing soccer again. He is getting more aggressive as you can see from one of the pictures of him playing offense. Apparently soccer is a contact sport. I didn't know that. Check out the girl using her arms to keep him away and he looks like he could take her down! Obviously, there isn't much refereeing going on. At this level, they don't provide refs. Coaches provide their own. So, you know how that goes.

He played goalie a lot the first half of the season and then he started turning it down. I talked to him about it and found out that he had hit his head on the soccer goal posts during a game and didn't want to go back. I had no idea. So, hopefully he is over that now and will resume some goalie time next season. He could become an awesome goalie someday. It's getting so fun to watch the more serious games.

Check out the aggressive chick!!!

Long time no posts!!!

Well, my computer crashed and since school has been out for the summer I have had no time to get to another computer and work on my blog. I plan to put a ton of pictures on here and catch up but to the entire 3 people that check my blog, I apologize. I tried using the computer at the library but it won't work. I keep checking all of your blogs so keep up the good work. Love ya all. Larissa