the gordon's

December

2011-12-29T10:35:00.010-07:00

We had a very fun December. I still will have to post about Brett's birthday.

This was my attempt at taking pictures of my own kids.

He of course was great.

Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas party at Preschool.

Corbin was excited to see Santa

Same with all the kids.

Yep this is how she looks in pretty much all her pictures.

We had the chance to go to Utah to visit Brett's parents.

Tradition is of course going to see the festival of lights in spanish fork.

Tori had a lot of fun on Christmas morning with all her new toys.

Corbin loved his new walker.

Of course they got new clothes for church on Christmas day.

He is such a cute little man.

I caught a picture of Tori playing really good with Corbin

picture of Tori and her cousin's Halle and Brooke

At Brett's company party he got employee of the YEAR!

I am beyond proud of him.

His company always goes big for the Christmas party. We had it at the Biltmore Resort and even got to stay there.

Tori has put into notion the no animal left behind law.

The Farm

2011-11-04T22:30:00.002-07:00

We went to the farm for preschool. Tori of course was in heaven. Thanks to Kristin for putting this fun morning together.

family photos in Utah

2011-11-01T14:02:00.004-07:00

While hunting in Utah in October we were able to get some family photos with the nice changing fall leaves. Thanks Brett's mom for taking them for us.

Sea Life Aquarium

2011-10-18T16:51:00.006-07:00

A week ago my mother took us to the Sealife Aquarium at Arizona Mills mall. It was a lot cooler than expected and Tori (of course) was in heaven.

being a crab

She liked the starfish but did not want to touch them.

She was a little scared at first to look through the dome but with help from aunt rachel she agreed.

a little scared

Best part was being surrounded by Nemo fish and Dori fish

corbin of course was great the whole time.

we just had to end the night with a seahorse ride.

Baby & Me

2011-10-18T16:35:00.004-07:00

A friend in my ward took Corbin and mine photos a month ago and I had a little fun with them in photoshop. This month we will maybe get family photos done.

Park day

2011-10-18T16:24:00.005-07:00

I took the kids to the park for the first time since Corbin was born and they both enjoyed themselves. ....man i have some wonderful kids.

it's raining it's pouring... for 2 minutes

2011-10-18T16:03:00.005-07:00

Tori got to enjoy our first fall weather for about two minutes. and she loved every minute of it.

My baby looks so big in this picture. she is growing so much.

I love to be a mother

2011-10-03T14:23:00.008-07:00

Some houses try to hide the fact
that children shelter there.
Ours boasts of it quite openly,
the signs are everywhere.
For smears are on the windows,
little smudges on the doors,
I should apologize, I guess,
for toys strewn on the floor.
But I sat down with the children
and we played and laughed and read;
And if the doorbell doesn't shine,
their eyes will shine instead.
For when at times I'm forced to choose
the one job or the other;
I like to be a housewife but
I love to be a mother.

This is the face she makes right before she is about to do something mischievous

Antelope Hunt

2011-09-24T07:58:00.010-07:00

This weekend we went to Southern Utah for the Antelope hunt. We had a wonderful time hanging out with family and enjoying some cooler weather. The first day it just rained and stormed on us making it ideal for some nice photos.

tori spent the entire weekend outside with the animals. Brett's sister, Natalie, has chickens, a duck, a pig, a dogs, some cats, and some horses. It was a dream come true.

We got to teach her how to blow a dandelion for the first time.

She was also Grandpa's girl for the weekend.

The boys were able to get the antelope opening morning! So we had lot of time to explore the area which included Bryce Canyon.

Corbin was excited to sit with both of us in the back of truck and just smiled at us the whole time.

after a while the animals knew who would give them the most attention and started just following her around

Our brother in law Tim was able to find a horse and carriage to pull us all around town in

Me and my sister in law Natalie

Obviously Tori had a wonderful time.

The last night we had a bonfire and roasted marshmallows.

I don't think Grandma put Corbin down the whole weekend.

my kids

2011-09-22T17:51:00.005-07:00

Corbin enjoying his new toy.

Usually if I get a picture of Tori it is something like this or where she refuses to look at the camera.

we had a giraffe party. i believe we counted 26 giraffes in the house

Sunday drive

2011-09-21T16:45:00.003-07:00

One Sunday we decided to go for a nice family drive. We also had just bought the new Mazda5 and wanted to test it out. We ended up finding this old bridge and dam and stopped to take pictures.

Corbin's Blessing

2011-09-09T10:29:00.004-07:00

This past Sunday we finally had Corbin's baby blessing! Thankfully he was still able to fit in his tux! We had a wonderful time with family and friends! ( ps we still have subway sandwiches left over). We are so blessed to have Corbin in our family now. it has almost been three months and feels like he has been part of our family forever. Love you buddy!!!

Silly Tori

2011-09-01T19:43:00.002-07:00

Tori loves causing trouble. Her new favorite thing to do is steal our seats. Literally the moment we stand up from our chair or start to walk towards a chair she runs and sits in it. She thinks it's a really funny game.

One day after I get out of the shower I find this.

I wouldn't really care except for the fact that I specifically bought her the donut with the candy on it and she took a bit out of all them BUT that one.

Gotta love Donut Day!

2011-08-28T15:46:00.004-07:00

Corbin's 1st smile

2011-08-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

Corbin can smile now!!! And it's awesome!

iPhone photos

2011-08-18T19:12:00.006-07:00

Finally downloaded the pictures from my phone to the computers. Here are some random ones of the kids the past two months.

being sweet and not so sweet.

All ready for church

Brett and I won this giraffe for Tori at Dave and Busters and it is huge!

Riding the train at the mall.

Came home from work one day and found my family like this.... so sweet.

I think she likes him : )

I was watching Les Mis (the concert one) and afterwards I found Corbin like this. Like father like son.

All ready to get blessed now!

Hi grandpa!

2011-08-17T16:07:00.002-07:00

We took these photos right before we went out to celebrate my birthday. I have to say I am pretty lucky girl this year!

Welcome Corbin Jay Gordon

2011-08-03T18:01:00.002-07:00

Corbin Jay Gordon is HERE!!!

He joined our little family 6 weeks ago on Fathers Day
June 19 @ 11:39 pm
He weighed 7.11 lbs, and was 19 inches long.

I went into labor the day I finally gave in and realized he probably would not be coming for another two weeks. We were over at my parents house for father's day and getting ready to say our goodbyes and my water broke. 3 1/2 hours later Corbin was here. It was crazy fast, we didn't even seem to have time to process that this was actually happening. He come out perfectly healthy and I bounced back quicker then ever.
We are so happy to have him here in our family. Tori is doing so great with him and loves being a big sister.
Thanks to everyone who helped us out so much.

My mom took this photo of my being in labor at her house. Thanks mom! At least I look hot : )

This is the feltner family seeing Corbin for the first time at the hospital

first family photos

Tori was more interested in helping me eat my lunch then meeting her new brother.

But once corbin came home Tori was all into him.

Grandpa Williams and Corbin

Aunt Shane , Aunt Jenny & cousin Parker

Aunt Kristin and Uncle Tyler. Tyler and Corbin now share a birthday!

My friend Jessica

Taking a nap together at home.

All ready for his first Sunday at church

2011-06-29T17:22:00.001-07:00

Baby Shower #2

2011-05-25T20:04:00.006-07:00

At the beginning of April I had my baby shower. It was great fun and i am forever in debt to the people who helped me out so much.

Vanessa Campbell, in my ward, made my cake. It was AMAZING!

To see how she did it click here.

It tasted as wonderful as it looked.

tori ate each animal like they were suckers.

My mom ran with the whole Noah's Ark theme from Corbin's room and made the rainbow platters. it was such a cute theme.

Kristin, Brett's sister, even made the punch to match the theme.

the girls did a wonderful job decorating my front room.

The streamers are still up, I can't bring myself to taking them down, maybe after Corbin is born.

My friend Nikki

Brett's sister Kristin and my mom.

Tiffany Haynie and her little boy Jack.

Heidi Larkin, Julie Harrison, and Maylene Gishey

Work friends and church friends.

Work friends.

Me and Cassandra.

I had such a great turn and am truly grateful for all the support! I had such a blast!

I am sure glad I did it when I did cause I have no energy now.

Thanks again to my mom, kristin, nikole, tiff, and Jenny for helping me put it all together.

Corbin's Room.

2011-05-25T19:47:00.005-07:00

After many months of trying to figure out what to do with Corbin's Nursery I came across this beauty at Kirkland's. I knew instantly that by nursery was going to be based around this picture.

I also found these pictures at Kirkland's and over time finally purchased all of them.

a couple weeks later i found this beautiful crib set at Toys R Us and knew that it was meant to be.

With some painting technique help from my friend Jessica I decided how to paint it.

Brett said it seemed like I was painting forever. I even had the help of jessica, my mom, and my visiting teacher S. Felton.

It still took me a good week and a half to finish.

My dad and Brett also put in the chair rail for me. Thanks guys!

I found these beauties at a garage sale. I was going to originally repaint them but they seem to actually fit right in with the decor!

After random trips to Ross, Hobby Lobby, and what not, Corbin's room is complete. I could not be happier with it.

We did purchase the crib new from Amazon.

We also inherited this changing table from Brett's Sisters

Zoo with Preschool

2011-05-25T19:35:00.002-07:00

Back in March we went to the zoo with Tori's Preschool. Tori was pretty much in heaven there. She did not want to leave at all. Thanks Kristin for teaching her so much!

Disneyland with Pixie

2011-05-25T19:16:00.006-07:00

Back in February My best friend Cassandra and I decided to take a last minute trip to Disneyland with our girls. She has a daughter (Pixie) who is 6 months younger than Tori.

They had so much fun together. We also had fun catching up as well.

Deciding on where we should go next.

We had Breakfast again with Minnie and friends.

This is Tori with the fairy godmother.

Pixie was not camera shy at all.

Tori with Silvermist the fairy

Tinkerbell and Pixie

We were the only ones on the Pirates of the Carribiean(sp?) ride.

Pixie had a once in a lifetime moment with Mickey Mouse. He stole her away skipped across the street and waiting in line to introduce her to Minnie. She was the only one to get a picture with both. it was awesome.

Tori and I got both got very very sick at Disneyland so we had to shorten the trip a little.

It was so much fun to go with just the girls. I hope to maybe to be able to do it again sometime. : )

Tori's 3rd Birthday

2011-05-25T17:44:00.004-07:00

We had a wonderful 3rd Birthday for our little Tori back in January!

Dad went and got her donuts for Breakfast. Of course she had to eat three!

We tried to go to this really cool indoor play area but after 5 minutes we realized it was too advanced for Tori.

So we went and hung out at AZ mills mall.

We had to have lunch with all the animals at Rainforest Cafe.

Trying to blow out her candles.

The next day we had a party for her and all her nursery friends. She picked out Toy Story as the theme.

The kids had so much fun playing with the parachute.

Tori did not like the idea of hitting Buzz Lightyears space ship at all.

She loved all the suckers though.

Can't tell if she is happy in this photo or not.

Either way we are so excited Victoria is part of our family.

Easter 2011

2011-04-29T18:11:00.007-07:00

we Went to Laughlin, nv for easter weekend with Brett's family. It was so nice to get away and enjoy family and the sun. I say we do it again next year!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-04T16:36:00.008-07:00

The Greatest Thanksgiving Ever

2010-12-30T19:33:00.012-07:00

Picture overload time!

Sometime in July or August I decided I wanted to host The Greatest Thanksgiving Ever. Sometime in August I even sent out invites. I wanted it to be over the top and a little ridiculous. Brett's parents, my parents, my whole family, and Brett's two sister's and their families were able to come. I think there was 25 people who came to my house.

I made a turkey cake

and some pilgrim hats

What could be more fun then renting a jump house???

Yeah I couldn't think of anything either.

Even my dad got in there and played around with Tori and Halle

My friend Leilani, who is a professional wedding decorator, lent me her table clothes, chair covers, and linens. The pictures don't do it justice.

Vic carving the turkey

Gotta love the Joy on Jayden's face

After we ate I gave everyone Ugly Sweaters. I always wanted an Ugly sweater party and I figured that only way to get one is if I bought everyone one. We got a few good laughs out of it. Most of them "smelled like an old woman", and most were ichy.

The Marshall Family

The Feltner Family

The Williams Family

The Williams family and all our additions.

Vic and Joyce

The Anderson Family

We announced to our family right before we ate that we were expecting another baby.

Tori came out to dinner with a shirt that said I am a Big Sister.

It was great.

Realizing there are 4 people in this picture.... Priceless

Cute Parker

Randy and Halle

My Gangsta Brother Nate

After we ate and took ugly sweater pictures we all went and saw Harry Potter 7. Some of us it was the 2nd time. Can't think of better way to digest all the good food then watching a good movie.

The next night we had a very special visitor.

Santa!!!

He even brought all the kids gifts.

Santa was telling me I was going to have another little girl so I would keep having more kids.

Tori also got to open her Christmas gift from Grandma and Grandpa Gordon cause we probably wouldn't see them again before Christmas.

Tori opens all her gifts this way. She just would rip a little off and then hand it to us.

A Princess kitchen

Special Delivery

2010-12-30T16:04:00.002-07:00

Boy or Girl?

Which will be sent from heaven?

We will find out

July 2011

That's right we are due to have a new addition to the family on the 4th of July

(pray for a boy)

Birthday in Flagstaff

2010-12-30T15:07:00.005-07:00

For my Brother Nate's Birthday we all went up to Flagstaff to visit him. I think he appreciated it but he never shows emotion. Brett was out of town but that didn't stop the rest of us from having fun. We all met up pretty early in the morning, we had cake and opened presents in the woods. Then we all went back to his house for some games. My family loves playing games.

Then we went to Red Lobster. Gotta love time with the family : )

my cute nephew Parker

Opening the gifts I got him.

Love this picture of my dad and Parker

Tori sure does love her uncle "Mate" Nate.

She is always glued to his side when he is around.

Happy Birthday Nate Dawg

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE

2010-12-30T14:47:00.004-07:00

Back in November Jenny and I were finally able to go to the So you think you can dance concert. We bought our tickets in August and it seemed we had to wait forever.

I am pretty sure lady luck was on our side. We just used our charm and our striking good looks. We were able to get a killer parking spot, We also managed to get seats 10 rows closer to the stage. The new seats that we picked just happened to be by one of the dancers family. And... they gave us back stage passes to meet all the dancers afterwards. It was an insane night.

Jenny by the stage

Kent and Robert

Allyson and Kent

Gotta love Bollywood.

Last season's winner, Russell

Jenny and Robert

This was also the last stop on the tour and the girl from Arizona was the winner this season as well.

Thanks Jenny for being such a great date.

You can see more pictures of it on Jenny's blog and facebook

P.s. The next night was also the opening night for Harry Potter 7, so for two nights in a row I stayed out till all hours of the night.

Hunting and Halloween

2010-12-17T15:52:00.006-07:00

In late October we were able to go to Utah for some good ole hunting and Halloween

to the trained eyed you should at least see 4 deer.

(i didn't see any at first)

He was about to shoot a little buck but passed.

We were able to stay at Brett's sister's husband's grandparent's cabin (whew)

They brought their horses and Tori was in love.

The hunt was from Saturday - Wednesday.

The first two night we were there Tori decided to not sleep at all. And kept me up all night right along with her. Monday morning rolled around and my patience was gone and the with newly fallen snow storm Joyce and I gave up and went to Spanish Fork to spend the rest of the week warmth and peace.

Brett was able to get a deer on wednesday morning!!!

I have very much enjoyed all the deer jerky.

We found out about this little animal museum at BYU and had to take Tori.

Of course she was in heaven

Look it's a Liger (it's pretty much my favorite animal)

Happy Halloween

I Utah they celebrated Halloween on Saturday instead of Sunday.

The town of Spanish Fork let all the kids go to each business and get candy.

We even went to the mall and went trick or treating.

Coolest costumes ever!

Grandpa Gordon kindly took Tori around at night after the freak hail storm.

Then she helped them decorate cookies.

Osam- work campout

2010-12-17T15:35:00.004-07:00

We had a very busy September.

We went to Disneyland one weekend and the next we went to Brett's work adult only camp out.

He has such a small company that they are able to do this.

We were there from Friday night to Sunday morning.

We mostly just hung around and ate and sat by the fire and played Corn Hole.

Thanks OSAM

Someone tried to make a new dish of food,

it wasn't a complete loss i guess the inside was ok.

Getting ready for the final match up of the ridiculous game Corn Hole.

Seriously the boys played this game for 3 days straight.

President of the company, Ron and his wife Sara.

More Corn Hole

Tori and Preschool

2010-12-17T15:03:00.006-07:00

Tori, Tori, and More Tori!!! Yeah for Tori!!!

Back in August we upgraded her to a big kid bed.

She adjusted to it seamlessly. As soon as she slept in it she now keeps her head on her pillow and her blankets on her.

Looking for dinosaur eggs at preschool.

What's inside?

a Dinosaur!

typical, looking at me and not paying attention

She always carries little animals around. Always

Having fun at the Veteran's Day parade.

Down on the farm with cousin Halle

She wanted nothing to do with picking vegetables

She loved playing in the corn.

I found about 20 pieces hidden in each shoe.

Jessica Allen

2010-12-17T14:34:00.004-07:00

Jessica Allen, 19, born July 19, 1991 in Indio passed away August 15, 2010 in Avondale, Ariz. Jessica is survived by her mother, Denise Kight; and father, Thomas Gary Baze, Jr.; sister, Kyla Kight; two brothers, Brandon Williams and Casey Kight and her grandparents, Fredi and Bob Huffine and Gary and Nikki Baze. She attended schools in Indio, Palm Springs and Hemet, Calif. She was a very enthusiastic student at Estrella Mountain Junior College in Arizona. Her determined spirit will be remembered by everyone who knew her. A Celebration of Life will be held at 2:00 PM on Sat. Sept. 25, 2010 at the Indio Hills Community Park at 80-400 Dillon Road, Indio Hills.

The hardest worker ever at Olive Garden, Jessica Allen, died in August.

I am just now getting around to posting pictures of her and her goodbye service.

Her entire family is in California and my friend Leilani and myself took it upon ourselves to give her a proper farewell here in AZ. Leilani provided the decorations and my church building provided everything else. It was a beautiful little rememberance ceremony that we had for her.

Her parents even came over from Cali and was taken back by all the love for her daughter.

Each person was able to share stories about her and her life.

I remember her really wanting to dress up as Jesus for Halloween, if anyone could pull it off she could.

at the end of it her family wrote messages on balloons and released them.

I shared this poem at her service:

Too Rough for Heaven!!!

"Dear Lord, we think a mistake's been made   And we feel it's right and proper   To inform you of this error made   And ask you to consider our offer  You see...you took someone from us  Who's too rough around the edges  And would be better off on earth with us  Than up with you in heaven  And it wouldn't be a hardship  For us to take her back  Just send her back to us...safe and sound  And there'll be no questions asked  We're even prepared to list the reasons  That she'd be better off right here  And we're sure when they're considered  Your choice will be quite clear  she's just not ready for heaven yet  Right now she'd find it quite a task  But if you'll give her a few more years  We'll work on fixing that  First, you'll find she prefers a pair of jeans  And well-worn shoes or boots  To whatever it is that you wear up in heaven  Be it robes or business suits  For she's much to hard a worker  To keep clothes pristine...she'd make a fuss!  And though you need hard workers in heaven  she'd still be better off with us  Second, when you consider  The language for which she's known  Her colorful words would shock the angels  So you might want to send her home  For though you'd respect that she speaks the truth  And "calls things as they are"  Frankly, we need more truth like her’s here on earth  Heaven is just too far  She doesn't have perfect table manners  She prefers beer to a glass of wine  She’s just not ready for your heavenly feasts  Her manners aren't that refined  And we realize you appreciate her kindness  And the respect she’s rightly earned  From those of us privileged to know her."

Love you and miss you Jessica

Update

2010-12-14T18:40:00.001-07:00

Maybe someday I will update this...... Maybe not today.

Happiest Weekend Ever!

2010-09-29T15:02:00.012-07:00

Since Last year I have been dying to go to Disneyland. My wish was granted 1 1/2 weeks ago.

The week before we started wondering what the heck we were going to do with Tori while we went on all the big rides. I asked my Dad on Friday if he just wanted to tag along with us. On Saturday he asked if he could just invite the rest of the family as well to come along. Of course I didn't care. On Sunday afternoon my ENTIRE (Jenny and her family and Nate in Flagstaff) decided they would join our Disneyland festivities. We were leaving 5 days later.

I was so excited to have all my family with me at Disneyland.

This is Brett and Tori in the hotel the night before.

The smartest thing we did was set up to dine with "Minnie & Friends- Breakfast in the Park"

We were able to get to the park right when the gates opened (you had to have a special ticket for that). And do the opening countdown with everyone. We went straight to Plaza Inn on Main St. and met Minnie Mouse and all her friends. Tori had to idea what to think at first.

All the characters spent one on one time at each table and tried to get Tori to smile. The buffet breakfast wasn't too bad either. We really didn't seem to eat to much because we were so distracted by all the characters. It was by far the best way to see tons of characters.

Hi Minnie

What up Max!

Playing Peek-a-boo with Tigger

Kissing Dale?

Chip and Dale fighting off Captain Hook so he won't put "Tinkerbell" in a lantern

She really was not a fan of hook. Especially because she had just watched Peter Pan like 17 times on the way to Disneyland.

Kissing Chip?

Kissing Minnie

Oh Eeyore perk up.

Mr. Rabbit what are you late for?

Look how pretty it was at the Plaza Inn.

Tigger came up and scared Brett.

Since we were there so early we ran on to all the major kid lines with Tori. It was great!

We rode Dumbo first! No wait time!!!

Took a ride on Finding Nemo! (a lot cooler then i thought, way to go Disney!)

Tori and I met Woody randomly walking around.

Parker and Tori crashed out pretty early in the day.

Hi Mickey!

Watching the parade

Hi parker

My Tinkerbell

Waiting for the firework show (right in the middle of Main St.)

So many people waiting for the fireworks.

Best firework show ever!

Disneyland was great!

We were pretty dang tired of walking by the end of the night. Especially since we were there from 7am-11:30pm

The next day we took a little trip to the beach.

It was pretty cloudy when we got there but it cleared up fast.

Shane, Jenny, Parker, Mom, Dad, Rachel, Scott, Nate, Tori, & Brett.

She loves her uncle (mate) Nate

I told Nate I wanted to write something in the sand so he told me just to write something.

Parker Loved the water, even though it was freezing.

Preschool

2010-08-24T17:01:00.004-07:00

Tori now attends Tiny Scholars Preschool. Put together by Brett's sister Kristin.

She was kind enough to allow Tori to start coming. Even though she's not 3. It will be good for her to interact with other kids and learn new stuff. Thanks Kristin you're the best

She is the youngest for sure and has a hard time following directions and taking turns.

She really enjoys learning the alphabet and numbers. She also loves painting and fishing.

Try to find the matching numbers on the duck.

She did!

Thurs-Monday!

2010-08-19T13:21:00.005-07:00

I am now the ripe old age of 20 something! I had a wonderful birthday! My family all spoiled me and I could not be more thankful for my husband. He totally out did himself this year.

Brett and I every year try to extend our birthday out as much as possible. I managed to celebrate it Thursday through Monday!

Thursday night I went out with Nate to see Step Up 3D! It was pretty good but you have to like that kind of dancing. If you don't like the previews you won't like the movie. Pretty cheesy and predictable but some AMAZING dancing.

Friday night I somehow tricked a ton of my co-workers to go to Applebee's afterwork. We had a blast just hanging out the talking. I did give myself a caffeine hangover though.(Now that I work out at the gym caffeine has an effect on me. If I drink it I have a very hard time sleeping that night, I made the mistake of drinking 3 cups of Mt. Dew around midnight. I couldn't sleep until 2 am and woke up at 5:30am. It was awesome)

After a few advil's I was good to go.

Saturday morning Brett took me to Black Bear Diner for my favorite breakfast food (eggs benedict)

Then we went and found my beach cruiser at Costco. Yes I had to test ride it around the store!

Brett then proceeded to take me shopping for some sassy clothes. He was actually very helpful in helping me pick shoes, jewelry and a new wallet. Thanks babe! Now I look read sassy!

That night Brett took me a very nice, very romantic dinner. We went to the melting pot! We got our own little secret booth, He had a vase with flowers and a card already sitting on the table when we got there. The Melting Pot even took our picture and put it in a frame for us. The food was spectacular as always! The meal lasted up 2 1/2 hours! I enjoyed every minute of it!

Sunday we had a mini Thanksgiving feast at my parents. We had smoked turkey and other wonderful side dishes. All my siblings hooked me up, and I won't need to buy anymore Chocolate for awhile. We ended the night watching Brian Regan and eating my favorite all american chocolate cake from Costco.

Monday Nate( my brother) again took me out to lunch at Ichiban. I mistakenly took a huge bite of Washabi thinking it was my avocado. Thanks Nate it was great food!

Thanks to everyone who made it so special for me! Special thanks as well to my in-laws for my new calorie counter!

Party at Applebee's

The Melting Pot!

My new bike! I love it!

Best cake ever

Me and Nate Dawg

sick zone

2010-08-03T07:56:00.002-07:00

I am now going on 6 days of being sick. Can you believe it. I have had a horrible cough which seems to get worse with each passing day. I also have had a on and off fever as well as hot and cold flashes. (NO fun)

I pretty sure my work hates me for not working, my house hates me for not cleaning it, Tori hates me for making her watch 4 hours straight of Mickey Mouse (ok maybe not), and my husband hates me for not being able to sleep in the same room cause i will keep him up all night with my beautiful soothing cough.

Here hoping for tomorrow.

p.s. I have been still TRYING to work out. I will have to count stretching and simply getting off the couch as a work out. Only 11 more days to go.

Video time

2010-07-21T08:46:00.005-07:00

These videos totally show her personality. Brett and I love that she knows how to use the iPod touch so well. It's great cause we don't have to help her anymore.

She also loves to sing in the car and I was able to finally take a video of it.

Enjoy!

The apple of my eye...

2010-07-20T10:19:00.011-07:00

At our house it's all about TORI, ALL THE TIME!

(here is for all you people requesting more Tori photos)

Utah: part 3

2010-07-20T07:34:00.006-07:00

My family and I drove up to Utah. We picked up Nate in Flagstaff. It was really nice hanging out with my family. Too bad Jenny couldn't come with us though.

My mom had been thinking about hiking zion's and bryce all summer long and the rest of us were there to keep her company.

We walked all along Zion's. Everyone but Tori and I did a river walk.

They had a lot of fun doing that.

The next day we went to my cousin Trevor's wedding.

My cousin Megan

My cousin Audrey, Aunt Tika, cousin Megan

Scott was so sweet putting his arm around Grandma

We found a little park by the Salt Lake temple. I think it's called Memory Park.

It was sooooo beautiful there and a perfect place to take picture. I'm pretty sure there was 22 brides there taking pictures.

My grammie and dad posing like celebrities.

My uncle Sten has a huge back yard. With a big hill and huge sandbox. All the cousins and grandkids had a ton of fun. We even had a impromptu kick ball game.

The kick ball game was the highlight of my trip.

We went on another hike around Provo with my cousin and her kids.

Her twins stayed asleep most the hike.

The last day Tori got to see some horses and frog with Aunt Natalie.

That was probably her highlight of the trip.

Utah: Part 2

2010-07-19T20:09:00.007-07:00

We saw many different sites on our road trip to Utah. We stopped at Zion's National Park and Bryce Canyon. Here is what we saw.

smallest snail

Memory Park

Mossy Caves

Utah: post 1

2010-07-19T17:44:00.005-07:00

Last week I went to Utah with these lovely people.

Tori

My mom & Dad

My brother Nate Dawg

My sister Rachel

My brother Scott

We visited these people

(my mom's family)

And these people

(my dad's family)

Brett was away at Scout camp so I invited myself and my brother Nate to travel along with our family to Utah for my cousins wedding.

5 years!

2010-07-16T11:42:00.004-07:00

That's right I have now been married to my wonderful husband for 5 years!!!!!

Our engagement pictures.

I (being the wonderful wife that I am) had someone makes Brett a iPad cake.

Can you think of anything that describes him more? I submit not.

We had a wonderful time at Olive Garden the day before. And an even better time at ah-so the night after. (i had to work on our actual anniversary).

We also went and saw Grown Ups.

(pretty funny but you have to like Adam Sandler's humor)

Can't wait to see what next year will bring.

Love you!

Day 50

2010-06-25T08:26:00.003-07:00

100 day work challenge: DAY 50!

Status: Feeling pretty darn good.

Workout: Boxing Circuit Class(hardest class ever) (I get to use my new pink boxing wraps)

I am feeling better and better about going to the gym EVERYDAY. I really had no idea if I would be able to stick with this or not. But being a stay at home mom makes it pretty easy for me. I just don't really make plans in the morning. (not that I use to before) The difference I see now is that I can now run a mile with no problem. I usually do 2 1/2 miles on some kind of machine. I don't hate the treadmill anymore. AND I'm not as sore after every workout.

I also cannot drink caffeine anymore. I body can't handle it anymore. I literally won't be able to sleep at night after I drink it. So.. goodbye sweet mountain dew(i do love you).

I am also darker than I have ever been (according to Brett). Tori and I go outside and swim alot now. I don't mind being sun-kissed.

P.s. On a different note we have now lived in our house for 1 YEAR! That year has flown by. I am loving my house more and more each day.

Twilight Party

2010-06-11T16:31:00.005-07:00

Somehow, surprisingly I got invited to a Twilight/ Edward's birthday party last night(Thursday). It was a ton of fun and even though I knew very (very) little about Twilight I still enjoyed myself.

Here is the super cute invite.

We played Twingo (twilight/ bingo)

look at these super cute candle holders that were made

chocolate filled strawberry rose

We each received one of these as well.

The food and dessertS were so good that I am still feeling the effects of it now.

We all were assigned a character and had to bring a door prize for everyone that related to that character. Some people were super creative!

This was all possible because of this wonderfully talented/creative woman Vanessa Campbell.

Thanks for inviting me.

To see more of what she does click here. http://sewcakemake.blogspot.com/

The Graduate.... Scott

2010-05-26T20:50:00.004-07:00

That's right little Scotty(my youngest brother) has now graduated high school, but now he is taller and bigger than the rest of the family. 4 out of 5 kids in my family have now succeeded in doing so!!

Scott and the parents.

Nate and Scott- my handsome brothers.

proof that Scott really does know girls.

Even Tori is shocked

Scott had his last band performance a week before he graduate. He is getting super good at baritone.

Scott and his friend Joey.

LOST : (

2010-05-26T18:15:00.004-07:00

Sadly the TV series of LOST has come to an end.

Thank you LOST for the many many many hours of confusion and suspense.

I loved and hated you.

After being on TV for 6 years I had to end LOST with a proper party.

I went all out.

I served all the food in suitcases.

(what would a lost party be without dharma soda?)

Everyone became a member of the Dharma Initiative.

Brett cooked us up some nice food.

I made everyone their own boarding pass.

We all took a quiz to see how we thought it would end.

Mary won.

Gotta have a hatch centerpiece and some Dharma candy.

I also made a super cute cake but my camera deleted pictures of it.

It included the island with a crashing airplane and polar bear present.

Maybe I will be able to find a picture of it later.

Thanks to everyone who came over to my party. I sure had fun.

5th Birthday Bash

2010-05-19T14:38:00.004-07:00

Little Miss Halle turned 5 on May 5th.

Like I blogged before her parents had to do this party big cause she was born at

5:55 on 05-05-05

Grandma got all the girls matching outfits.

I just had to show how cute Tori's hair was that day.

It was Candyland themed as you can tell.

Check out these super cute invites.

Everyone got a toothbrush as their door prize.

They needed them for sure after all the candy they ate.

Halle helped pick out her present from us.

grandpa and the girls.

This probably shows only 1/2 the kids there.

Way to go Kristin for creating such a cute party!!

p.s. Tori doesn't really like to play with other children but she sure loves her cousin Halle.

She loves following her around and saying her name at home.

200th Post- my shadow

2010-05-14T15:55:00.002-07:00

Tori is still my little shadow and follows me everywhere around the house. She is usually in the same room I am in or in the room next to me.

Whenever I go to the bathroom she always puts her hand or foot under the door. If she has something in her hand she usually pushes it under the door as well.

My shadow

For Grandpa

2010-05-10T15:02:00.005-07:00

for grandpa... because he asked. Here are pictures that I took of Tori myself.

She is always carrying around things.

Here are pictures that I tried to have done for her 2nd birthday. I didn't LOVE really any of them and have not showed them to people until now.

Enjoy!

all her animals.

typical screaming 2 year old.

i do love this face though

Day 1

2010-05-06T10:31:00.003-07:00

Work out Challenge: Day 1

Status: feeling slightly sore but good and really sweaty

Workout: warmup- 2 miles on bike

treadmill 30 minutes run 1 min. walk 1 min (makes time go by faster)

cooldown- 2 miles on bike

finished with arms exercises

At least I made it to the gym on day 1. I would hate to already start this thing off badly.

Only 99 more days to go.

Lucky 5

2010-05-05T08:14:00.002-07:00

On 05-05-05 at 5:55pm Little Miss Halle was born.

My beautiful niece will be 5 today!

You know we have do something big today for her 5th birthday!

What a cool birthday to have.

Pictures to come soon.

She also shares a birthday with my wonderful Mother-in-law

Happy Birthday Halle and Joyce

Gadget nerd

2010-05-05T08:10:00.002-07:00

I think Brett has gone a little too far. Look at this setup he has in his office. How many monitors do you count? I count 5! That's also not including the iPod touch and the Blackberry hanging around this room as well. Soon we will add more to this family..... an iPad.

count down

2010-04-23T14:39:00.003-07:00

I have officially decided to put this on blog. Which in turn I hope makes me more accountable.

I thought that it would be fun to give myself 100 day challenge. No matter what I have to work out for 100 days straight.

I have had a gym membership since August. I have been going about 3 times a week. I would really like to be better at this. My goal is to have membership for a year and then maybe get pregnant. My goal is to be healthier at the age 26 then I was at 25. So it appears in 113 days it will be my birthday. So in 13 days my challenge will start.

Please feel free to leave comments on any exercises I should start or try or just different workouts in general.

Hopefully after 100 days I will be healthier and more ready to add a second child and then get fat all over again.

Wish me luck.

Please also ask me how I am doing so i feel more motivated to keep going.

Dancing with Buzz

2010-04-07T21:03:00.003-07:00

Buzz Aldrin was voted off Dancing with the Stars Last night. Sad day... but he sort of deserved to go home, no one really wants to see an old person dance.

I always wanted a reason to pull this photo out and show people.

We took this picture on my cruise ship and he signed it the next day.

Thanks for everything Buzz. "To infinity and Beyond!"