Happy 1st Birthday Julia

Someone turned 1 today at our house. I'll give you a few hints. This small person is very close to walking, she likes to "chuck" everything out of drawers, bins, containers, highchairs, etc etc, loves her big brother, blanket and stuffed bunny, has more dresses than she can possibley wear, has beautiful brown eyes and 6 teeth and most importantly is my favorite daughter. :) I couldn't love her more. Something about having a daughter has changed my life forever. I thought my joy was full when Blake was born, and then I had Julia and now my cup truly runneth over. There is just something so precious about having a little girl. I'm so lucky she is mine. I love that Blake's eyes are green like Mike's and Julia's eyes are brown like mine. Everyday when I look at her I realize that I must be the kind of woman that I want her to grow up to be. It's a wonderful challenge for me to always make sure that I am on the right track.
Happy Birthday sweet Julia Jean. And thanks for one year of heaven on earth.

I didn't fall off the chairlift and other adventures......

Our 3 day vacation has come and gone. I'm happy to report that I did not fall off the chairlift nor did I fall skiing. It was fabulous and I'm glad Mike suggested that we go skiing. It was snowing on us while we were skiing and I was just awed by the beauty of it all. I couldn't help but laugh at myself as I surveyed my "ski gettup" of a black and neon ski jacket borrowed from a friend who skied in the early nineties. Gotta love it!!! People knew I was a tourist just from looking at me. (Just like I know people are tourists when they come here and go to the beach IN THEIR SWIMMING SUITS in Feb. )

The wedding was really nice. The Manti temple is very beautiful, but did it really need to be 8 degrees when we were taking the pictures? Once again I wonder how I EVER managed to deal with winters in Michigan for 5 years. I really can't imagine not being able to take my kids outside every day of the year. (except for the 5-6 days when it rains) I would go absolutely nuts.

A big thank you to Alyssa and Jason for letting us stay with you guys. And a shout out to almost 2 year old Britain who needs to teach my children that it's cool to "hang out" in their highchairs at a restaurant for the better part of an hour. I was completely amazed by his calm and happy demeanor.

Of course the best part was coming home to our beautiful children. I almost cried because I was so happy to see them. Thanks Jean and family for taking such great care of them.

Oh, and isn't the wedding cake lovely. I thought it was so pretty.

Here we go...

Tomorrow Mike and I are off for a 3 day vacation WITHOUT children...hence the word vacation in caps. We are flying up to Utah for Joe's wedding (Mike's little brother) and while we are there, we are going to take advantage of the beautiful snow and go skiing. I'm excited and terrified about skiing. It's one of those activities that I really like but am also kind of scared of. Just thinking about that moment when I have to get off the chairlift WITHOUT FALLING DOWN really scares me. I know I should be more scared of falling while I am skiing, but that chairlift scares me eveytime. Does it scare you too?

Mushroom Attack

I like mushrooms A LOT. But I do not like weird, freaky, scary mushroom colonies growing in my yard. Kind of creeps me out and makes me NOT want to eat mushrooms. I tell Blake that these nasty creatures are called fungus so he doesn't confuse them with their non-poisonous cousins in our fridge and attempt to eat them. But don't worry, thanks to Blake's handy dandy giraffe shovel, they have all been whacked and thrown away....until next week when they will suddenly reappear.

I eat EVERYTHING

Hi, my name is Julia and I eat EVERYTHING. I may only have 4 teeth but I am very gifted at eating everything in site. Can you guess what I am eating in the above picture? My big brother sometimes complains that he doesn't want to eat certain things, but I just shovel everything in. My momma got an Indian cookbook for Christmas and I've devoured everything she has made from it. Maybe I should move to India. My only issue is when other people (like my momma) try and feed me with a spoon or fork. Utensils are so overrated. I can do it myself with my own 2 hands. I also like to eat garbage. The trash can is full of all kinds of inviting things to eat, old food, soggy papers, tinfoil, and used kleenex. What could be more tasty than that. Oh, and here's a little secret if you are hungry. Try the kitchen floor. It's full of all kinds of treats from long ago meals. I frequently "mop" the floor for my momma and I don't understand why she tries to pull my floor treasures out of my mouth. I'm only trying to help. :) Come over sometime to see me in action, but remember, don't try to feed me.

The answer as to what I am eating in the first picture is chocolate pudding. In the bottom picture I am eating a combo of lentils and pineapple.

Larger than life- My simple pleasures

I have a fascination with things that are larger than life. Every year for Christmas I ask Mike for one of those larger than life Hershey Kisses, not because I want to eat it (which I do) but because I want to stare at it. I could stare at larger than life things for days and days and STILL be fascinated by them. Anyway, when I saw this article, my larger than life dream came true again. If only I would have known about this when I got married. ha ha (I do have to say that I think it's weird that the cake is only of the bride and not the bride and the groom) If you really want to make my day, send me pictures of things that are larger than life. What can I say, I am easily amused.

Who Will Take Iowa?????

I can't wait to see who takes Iowa tonight on both sides. There are some very interesting candidates out there. (and some very scary ones too)

My top picks Democrats-John Edwards Republicans- Mitt Romney Now whether my 2 favorites get it remains to be seen..........