Look what Santa brought!

This little angel is my newest nephew and man is he perfect! He had a little bit of a rough start spending the first 5 days of his life in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit. But being the smart baby that he is he passed all of his tests and came home today to 2 amazing parents and 2 of the best biggest sisters ever! Welcome home Hudson. You were worth the wait.






I think it would send Corey into convulsions to know that holding this little snuggle bug makes me baby hungry. We just won't tell him.

Mr. Destructo Climber Guy

I forgot how exhausting a 1 year old is. This kid is all over the place!

He climbs, he jumps, he opens up cupboards just to pull everything out, he pushes buttons, he steals remotes and phones, I turn things on - he turns things off, he ......... well, he could not be any sweeter.

Happy Holiday! Is it 2011 yet? I am beat.

Presents Schm-esents! This holiday was all about the food. When is my next meal? Where is my next meal? Oh! The door bell! Go see what treats are there! This weekend (and past month) have been a non-stop consumption of yumminess.


Donuts, compliments of DeeDee, and homemade chocolate cream cheese turnovers for breakfast.

We thought it would be fun to have a sushi party for Christmas Day after the presents were opened and we were all showered and presentable.

True form with Nori (dried seaweed), bamboo mats, sticky rice and all.

Jalapeno, green onions, sweet orange and red bell peppers, mango and avocado.

Crab cakes and battered shrimp. No sushi-grade tuna to be found. Oh well. We will make due with fried ocean life.

Krab (surprisingly more popular than the fresh crab we had out) and smoked salmon.

Grilled steak and cream cheese.

A little run across the middle with some spicy sauce.

Yum-didley-umptious.

The boys code names for their presents this year were Jacob and Edward (aka Hotty Werewolf and Hotty Vampire). It was a constant bicker over the fact that Colby DID NOT want to be any stinking vampire. He was relieved to find out in the end that he was Jacob. It is his strong belief that werewolves are infinitely better than vampires. When a present for me showed up under the tree, much to my delight, it was nicknamed as such.

'Tis the Season

We must all do our part for the holiday weight gain. Ryan is more than eager to participate in the feasting on of holiday treats!


He has chocolate covered pretzels all over his face (and hands, and pajamas, and hair, and the floor...). What he needs is a good lick-down by the dog, I guess a bath would suffice.

Also to get into the holiday spirit --- Ryan's little talent of harmonica playing complete with singing and dancing.

My my we are a talented family.


p.s. don't mind the mess in the background. garbage cans are a thing of wonders in our household.

Being good in Sin City

We took a little family (minus the cute little smidgen of a baby who stayed with his new best friend Kiley) getaway to Las Vegas this weekend. It is a bit of a different experience to visit Las Vegas with wide-eyed little boys by your side but we managed to have a good time eating, shopping, swimming, sleeping in and eating some more.

A very large and sugary Eiffel Tower drink from The Paris Casino. It took all 4 of us and we still didn't finish it.

Marnie and Kim - I giggled to myself thinking of all the funny memories I have from our trip to Vegas, especially those involving Marnie's virgin drink! We need a repeat for sure.

Luke and his girlfriend, Athena.



Colby and his favorite God, Poseidon, at Caesar's Palace.

Some very obese pumpkins at The Bellagio. Ugly things weighed around 1000 lbs!

Luke and girlfriend #2.

Colby making a move on Luke's territory.

Mr. Ry-Guy. Jeez I missed this kid like crazy. I vow to spoil him rotten from now on, starting with as many Oreos as he can possibly eat. I wanted to get home so I could snuggle with him and some blasted white-out storm kept me in the car for 10 hours while my little angel was at home waiting for me. So do you know what I did? I woke him up as soon as I got home so I could soothe him and then put him back down to bed.

It seems we have learned a new trick in the absence of parents.

I call take-backs on that spoiling thing I mentioned earlier.

Go Cougs!

Corey and I ditched the little brats and went to the BYU football game today. The weather was perfect, my date was great AND I got fed lunch. A winning combination.





Thanks Frank and DeeDee for the sitting on the babies!

Has anyone seen Ryan?

Mom and Dad are busy. It's been quiet for a while now... Anyone seen the baby?

Oh. There you are playing on the stairs with a choking hazard in your mouth and a sharpened pencil in your hand. Oh, and you've drawn on your face. Well that's just swell.

We promptly took away all the contraband so what does he do? He heads straight for the space heater to see what fun can be had over there.


The picture is a bit on the blurry side because this baby does not stop moving unless the sweet angel is sleeping. Bedtime is a sacred word in this household.

It is tough work being a baby.

He is too young to realize this is not a flattering photo of him. Oh well.

Tough work I tell ya.

Haunted Forest 2010

Dark tight spaces with zombie's jumping out at us? Yes please.

Scary men in masks chasing us with a chain saw and a blow torch? Yes please.

Endless mazes where we are chased into a corner? Yes please.

Followed up by cheeseburgers, fries and shakes at 9:30 at night? Um, YES PLEASE!



Colby, the little brat, kept shouting "Ladies first!" and shoving me forward in front of him to take the force of the scare impact when someone would jump from the dark. He ought to be kicked.

I love meat!

Colby's school writing assignment to explain what they would be doing for Halloween.

On Halloween my friends and I are not going to do Halloween. Because we will be going up to Park City. And we'll be having SUSHI! I absolutely LOVE sushi. I will die for it. I Love Meat!

I wonder what his teacher's think of him. Half the time I am not even sure what to think.

Little Einstein's

Our FAVORITE show. Drop everything and watch. Please don't block our view or we will get a titch upset.

Superbowl 2010

Luke's flag football team (along with Coach Corey) ended their perfect un-defeated season with a Superbowl Championship! A season of 11-0 baby!


Hot diggity dog!!

Thriller!

We went to see the Odyssey Dance Theater perform Thriller at the Covey Art Center this week and it was FANTASTIC! I highly recommend it to anyone. The boys loved it after they got over the creepiness of the dead zombies roaming around the lobby. It was a performance full of funny,morbid and scary (but amusing) Halloween choreographed routines - complete with a creepy self-pitying clown to keep us entertained in between dances.

Did I mention morbid? They worked the "Jason" mask into several of the dances and then sold this sweet, soft and cuddly little teddy bear complete with his own devilish little Jason mask. Colby has been waiting all his life for such a companion, so he purchased one with his saved up money.

Mean Doctor, Sad Baby

We went for the obligatory, but mean none-the-less, 1 year check up for Ryan yesterday. That Horrible-Terrible-No-Good-Doctor gave him 5 shots AND pricked his heel to test for iron.

After we stripped my poor baby down to be prodded, poked and tickled we had to wait for the Doctor to come work his magic. Here we are without clothing, trying to keep out of too much trouble.






After a lot of snuggling and loving, we got Ryan into the bath to soak in some warm water. It seems that warm water and bubbles is the cure for almost anything.

Flag Football 2011

Luke and some of his friends are on a flag football team with none other than Corey coaching at the helm. They completed the season UN-DEFEATED! They won their first game in the post season tournament. They play one more game and if they win then they will be headed to the Super Bowl. The games are a lot of fun. Ryan, Colby and I love to go watch and cheer on the side lines while we chow on popcorn. EVERY game we go to Ryan likes his bag of popcorn and his swedish fish - it's a tradition.

My Little Drunken Pirate

I am raising a sweet little drunken pirate. My angel has recently added walking to the list of his many talents. Also on that list is the thieving and stashing of valuable items. Now if your definition of valuable is anything he can get his grubby little hands on and the definition of stashing is throwing it all into the garbage can, then we are indeed reading the same dictionary. Bless his little heart.



The remote control? Where is a good place for that - why in the garbage can for certain. Take notice of what he does when he sees Luke pull out the mini soccer ball. He used to cry the biggest tears when he first started going to soccer games (when he was just a wee little baby). Something exciting would happen, we would cheer and he would cry. Now he sees a soccer ball and he thinks the appropriate and immediate reaction is to cheer wildly.







He is indeed a clever little chap, in that he has taken to carrying (or thieving if you please) my couch pillows around with him. It does so happen to provide a nice soft spot to land on when gravity pulls him forward, as it often does when one so small carries an object of great proportion around in front of him. Genius I tell you.




p.s. I am not entirely sure why there is no sound with the videos, but it is most certainly not my fault! DeeDee says she gets sound, but I don't - so maybe I am a little to blame but I will deny it profusely if anyone asks.

Join The Rebellion

I am part of a book club and we recently read (of course, like all the other cool book clubs out there) the series of Hunger Games books. We had an assembly of Rebellion Leaders the other night and the District Leader (MeLisa) did a great job with the evening!
~if you haven't read the books you are probably a little in the dark with this blog, sorry. if you have read the books you can appreciate her work.

The Birthday of Smick and Smack

I decided to honor my oldest and most favored child by bringing a blessing into his life. A blessing that demands constant love and attention. A blessing that disrupts his quiet time with yelling and squawking. A blessing that will bring him joy and dirty diapers for many years to come. Luke, this is my gift to you. I Love you man!




What better way to celebrate your 12th birthday then by sharing it with your baby brother. Ryan on September 23rd and Luke on September 24th. I think I got a few pictures of Luke, but the camera seemed to point towards the 1 year old the whole night. I can't help it, it's camera magnetism plain and simple.

Look at my cute 1 year old crown. So handsome! (Thanks Joe & Kim! The cute onesie that goes along with the crown was just not a battle I was going to pick - sorry)

Oh look! A burning candle with a 1 year old. That seems like a good combination to me, anyone else agree?

Ok, so I'm confused with the plan here.

Seriously, with the crown again?

Yea, I don't think so. Thanks though.

Luke's birthday request. Beneath the layers of cream, berry, and cookie goodness lies a rich cheesecake. Hello heaven.