Fun Misc.

Here are some pics of other fun things we did while in AZ for Christmas. Notice how the weather is still beautiful outside?? Thats the way I like it!

Caleb helped Mary with her work...at least went along for the ride

Played with Grampa


Played with his new cousin Heiders

Got our pictures taken

Played Golf...this is a very typical picture of my parents...all lovey dovey

His form looks good huh?

Played in the bath with Kaylynners

Uncle Tommy holding all of his nieces and nephew

Going for a ride on a surf board thingy...I'm pretty sure it broke shortly after this pic was taken

Jumped on the tramp

Kissing cousins!

So we obviously had so much fun and can't wait to go back! Preferably when it is 80 degrees like when we were there rather than 180 degrees like it is in the summer. Yup it was beautiful and we had so much fun!!

~*~SuPErsTaR!~*~

My sis in law Natalie got a new camera for Christmas so she wanted to take some pictures of Caleb. She did a little photoshop magic and they turned out so cute! Isn't he so adorable??? Don't you just want to kiss those fat cheeks???!!! I know, he should be a model and make us millions. Its so cute how he knows when his picture is being taken...he looks right at the camera and smiles! haha. Good job Nat! :)

a LiTtLE sUrvEy

I got this from my sis in law Mindy and I enjoyed reading about her so I thought I'd do it too! If any of you want to copy and put it on your blog I would enjoy reading yours too :)

1. What time did you get up this morning? Which time? 5:40, 6:30, 7:45...

2. Diamonds or pearls? I love them both

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Bolt

4. What is your favorite TV show? Probably King of Queens...or Rachel Ray

5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Oatmeal with lots of blueberries!! Or Quaker oatmeal squares...Mmmm!

6. What is your middle name? Ann

7. What food do you dislike?Anything with mayo

8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? I've been sucked into the Regina Spektor fan circle

9. What kind of car do you drive? Lexus

10. Favorite sandwich? Turkey with avocado and sprouts!

11. What characteristic do you despise? ditsy-ness when its a little extreme

12. Favorite item of clothing? I'll have to second mindy on this one...lingerie is pretty great.

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? I'll say New Zealand

14. Favorite brand of clothing? I dunno...I like forever 21

15. Where would you retire to? hmmm I'll have to get some ideas from kiel on that one

16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? My last birthday...my husbands so great!

17. Favorite sport to watch? BBALL as long as the Suns or Jazz are playing...wait, maybe volleyball is my favorite...I'll have to put some serious thought into that one.

18. Person you love most in the world? My hubby and then Caleb of course

19. Describe yourself in 2 words? Not ditsy :)

20. When is your birthday? July 31st

21. Are you a morning person or a night person? Definitely a night person

22. What is your shoe size? 7-7.5

23. Pets? None right now but I would love a dog and some horses again...too bad kiel's allergic

24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? Being a mom is the greatest thing in the world!! I love it!! And we might go to Japan this summer...I'll keep ya'll posted on that one.

25. What did you want to be when you were little? Vet, artist, singer, but mostly a mom

26. How are you today? a little bored

27. What is your favorite candy? laffy taffy and chocolate

28. What is your favorite flower? I love lilies and roses

29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? Feb. 14th :)

30. What is your favorite pastime? singing and playing the piano or reading

31. What are you listening to right now? Caleb choking...probably on a hairball

32. What was the last thing you ate? smarties

33. Do you wish on stars? No...does anyone?

34. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? RED

35. How is the weather right now? A little overcast and cold

36. The first person you spoke to on the phone today? The love of my life

37. Favorite soft drink? does berry lemonade count?

38. Favorite restaurant? Macaroni Grill

39. Real Hair color? The same color its always been...a lovely shade of brown

40. What was your favorite toy as a child? i had a wood doll that you could velcro different clothes onto

41. Summer or winter? SUMMER!! Say NO to SNOW!

42. Hugs or kisses? yes yes YES!

43. Chocolate or Vanilla? chocolate

44. Coffee or tea? hot chocolate!

45. Do you want your friends to also fill this out? Yeah sure...whatever floats your boat

46. When was the last time you cried? 2 weeks ago

47. What is under your bed? some tissues i'm sure...i don't think you really want to know ;p

48. What did you do last night? Wrote out our 2009 goals with kiel & watched Prs. Monsons fireside and worked on a puzzle

49. What are you afraid of? driving in the snow and crashing with caleb in the car

50. Salty or sweet? I have the HUGEST sweet tooth

51. How many keys on your key ring? 3

52. How many years at your current job? 8 months...I love being a mom!!!

53. Favorite day of the week? Friday...i get to see my husband for the rest of the week!

54. How many towns have you lived in? like..8...or 9?

55. Do you make friends easily? yeah

Happy New Year!

Merry (sunny) Christmas

THE 25TH

This year we did something different for Christmas, we moved it to the 27th! The reason being that Kiel couldn't get work off until the evening of the 26th. So on the 25th we had the traditional christmas breakfast of homemade cinnamon bread, omelets, porridge, and fresh orange juice from our orchard. Bless those hands that juiced all those oranges! They're gunna need it. Then we played with everyone elses toys and just sat around and talked! Now, you have to understand that my mom is one of 9 or 10...I can't remember which. And like half those siblings live on the same dead end street as my family. And each of those siblings of my mom also have at least 8 kids = a lot of ppl!! and alot of chaos...and my family wouldn't have it any other way. We really love being all together! So we just bonded for a good majority of the day and then we read the Christmas story and discussed it in detail that that evening. My dad teaches institute so he knows lots of random and technical facts about scripture stories. It was a great christmas day that really let us focus on being with family and thinking about Christ. My 12 yr old sister Katie was so cute when she called us to attention after reading the christmas story and said, " this has been my favorite christmas because I got to see that presents don't really matter. The real meaning of christmas is about Christ and what he did for us. Lets do it like this again! But not next year...lets have it on the real day next year." haha. Out of the mouth of pre-teens.

THE 27TH

Today was our Christmas! We did the traditional wait on the stairs until everyone (including the parents) are ready. Then we take a picture and line the kids up youngest to oldest and let them go into the christmas room.
Merry 1st Christmas Caleb!

Yay! Lots of presents!
Daddy's, Caleb's, and my stocking

The kids ready to look at their stockings!

Opening up presents...apparently Tommy got a nerf football
Caleb loved his presents!!!...eating them that is...
Caleb had so much fun on his very first Christmas!!
So much fun that it wore him out.

Suprise!!! Happy Birthday Mom!!

My moms birthday is Dec. 16th and all of us kids who have moved out of the house wanted to surprise her for her birthday! We were already going to AZ for Christmas so we told her we had tickets for the 18th and we even created fake flight itineraries...how brilliant was that?! But what she didn't know was that we really had tickets for the 16th. My aunt was putting on a birthday party for my mom, my grandma, and my other aunt who's birthdays are the day before and after my moms so here's how it went down: I met my sisters who flew in from Connecticut at the airport at around 3:30. Then my grandparents picked us up. They had told my mom they had to take the van in for a maintenance check up...haha. The problem was that the dinner party wasn't for another hour so we hung out and my grandparents until the anticipated moment arrived. We then went over to my aunts house and walked in just in time to sing Happy Birthday! You should have seen the look on my moms face! Well actually, you get to b/c I walked in with my camera up and ready. Isn't that the perfect surprised look??
We then got to do hugs and take some pictures (yes my mom was like bawling) and then we ate.

Then we had birthday cake...isn't it cute?? We used sparklers instead of candles..how funny is that...i thought that would be a fire hazard but it was actually pretty cool!

So it all turned out as great as possible and my mom got the present she wanted most: her whole family there with her. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! I love you!

Happy Birthday Melissa!!!!!

Today is Melissa's birthday (she is in the middle of the picture) and for her birthday she made Amber and I pumpkin pancakes!! Wasn't that nice of her? The pumpkin pancakes were super yummy! I hope it wasn't a secret family recipe because I want it! After the yummy breakfast we went to the new theater by University mall and watched Bolt in 3-D. We were at the first showing and we were the only ones there. I always wanted to have a theater to myself and it was all I'd imagined it would be! And the movie was so cute...I suggest it for everyone! The 3-D was really cool. Pretty much we just loved the glasses! They weren't the cheapo card board ones, they were high quality plastic! haha...it was tons of fun. And the whole time Caleb got to play with his friend Caleb.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA!!! :)

ChRiStMaS PaRtY!!

Yesterday we had our ward Christmas party and it was so much fun!! We had a yummy catered dinner (chicken cordon blu), a photographer, dance, program, and a visit from Santa! The party was a formal so it was fun getting all dressed up and seeing other pretty dresses! Caleb was so cute in his little vest and we just had to take tons of pictures of him! He was a very happy boy.

One week closer to Christmas

Wow this week has gone by fast! I woke up this morning thinking it was about wednesday and then I realized it's the weekend!!! Yeah!!! I LOVE weekends! I actually get to spend real time with Kiel.
So this week I had to do some baby proofing in my house. Caleb is a very mobile kid now and although its cute to watch (kind of like having a puppy follow you around) it def presents some problems! One problem that we encountered again this morning is: as he is crawling around little hair balls get stuck b/w his fingers and then eats them! He choked on one this morning and scared me half to death. He also likes crawling over to our christmas tree and grabbing the little icicle strands and eating them. Can he die of eating too many forgeign things???! He hasn't even started on bananas yet!
Kiel has been super busy this week also with school winding down. He had a presentation and hes been working on translating a japanese book. The story is pretty dumb tho. So he just has one more week of class and then finals!! woot!!!
I'm also proud to announce that I worked on my stats class this week! Actually, I started it but I've almost completed 2 chapters.
And the best thing about this week being almost over: we're one more week closer to Christmas!

Little Christmas Survey

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? I love them both!!!! Yummy!!!!!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? He wraps them and writes on them...he has the same handwriting as my mom!

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? My very favorite are the long white iceicle lights but I like the big colored ones too...we just have little white lights on our christmas tree.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? I haven't yet...but I'm sure Kiel would appreciate it ;)

5. When do you put up your decorations? I try to hold off until after halloween. Usually mid November.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? The Christmas breakfast omlet!!! It beats out everything!

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Trying to stay up all night watching movies and then waiting on the stairs till my parents were ready.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I think I've always known...sad huh?

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Nope but we probably will this yr since we aren't having Christmas till the 27th so Kiel can be with us.

10. What's your fave stocking stuffer? I like the cold cereal and fruit snacks. Kiel likes the cologne.

11.How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Candy canes, silver bows, red bulbs, white lights, and silver garland stuff.

12. Can you ice skate? Yes and I'm so glad! thats what brought Kiel and I back together...the second time.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? This is hard...I have recieved tuition money which was much appreciated and I really love the piano I got last yr!

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Being with family. That ties with drinking plenty of hot chocolate.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Moms Danish pastry! Of course!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Making christmas candy all week long and then take it caroling to everyone we know, their relatives and friends, and their dogs. Pretty much everyone in Mesa. Kiel likes the hogies on Christmas eve :)

17. What tops your tree? A little silver bow.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? I'll say both equally...I admit. I love getting presents. But I also love shopping for other ppl!

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Who Would Send a Baby? Its not super well known but I love it! ...or Oh Holy Night.

20. Candy Canes? As far as I'm concerned candy canes have 2 uses: for decorating the tree and as a hot chocolate stirrer (is that a word?)...I like the minty taste it adds!

21. Do you feel Christmas is too commercialized? No. But we probably do need to focus more on the the real meaning of Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had an awesome Thanksgiving holiday! We stayed here in Utah this year because we are spending Christmas in Arizona. Thats the way to do it! Enjoy the time here while the weather is bearable and then go to AZ when its freezing cold and still enjoy the sun. Anywho! Our thanksgiving holiday started Wednesday night (after kiel did homework for 12 hours straight!) when we realized there was no school or work the next day!!! yay!!! So we watched WALL-E--way cute movie! Kiel and I both really enjoyed it. While we watched it we dipped a thousand pretzels in almond bark because we were assigned to bring munchies to the thanksgiving party. Thanksgiving day we woke up bright and early at 8:30 and I made a peanut butter cream pie and a cheese ball. Then we headed North! We spent the day at Rob and Suzies, mostly snacking and playing Mario Party on the Wii. It was pretty fun! Oh, and did I mention Natalie and I schooled all the boys in the game?? Yeah...they thought they had nothing to worry about but we showed them! Cyber high five Nat! We ate Thanksgiving dinner at 2 and it was so yummy!! All the fixings. I think my favorite part were those yummy rolls from kneaders with homemade strawberry jam...You just can't beat that! Then we played an intense game of Mad Gab, which I suggest we avoid in the future (oh and it was boys vs girls, girls won of course) and just sat around and talked. Then we broke out all the pies! I'm not a super huge pie fan but I enjoy a homemade fruit pie. Lets see...then we kept munching and Rob called Kiel and I on in a game of Rook and like we'd turn that down! Good news: Kiel and I shot the moon with 200 points! Bad news: we still lost the game by less than a hundred points! Yeah...bummer. Then we munched some more and started Kung Fu Panda at like 10:30 pm. We really enjoyed the movie and we laughed whenever we were awake! We are going to have to watch it again when its not so late. We got home a little after 1am and then got up early this morning and went to breakfast and Best Buy before we had to get back to real life and Kiel went to work. So as you can see we had a lot of fun and we have a lot to be thankful for! I am especially thankful for my family- for my husband that tries so hard to be the best husband in the world for me and for my cute little baby. I love them both so much!!! Happy thanksgiving to all of you!