Peterson Family

My New Nephew

2009-11-13T13:44:00.005-07:00

It's been so long since I posted anything I'm having to remember how to do it all over again! But it's worth it for this post :). My sister Nicky just had her forth baby and I got to go see him yesterday. She was more than a week overdue, so we were pretty anxious to meet this new little guy. What a sweet experience it was holding this new angel and feeling the peace in the room. It was wonderful! Love you Nicky and Jason, congratulations!!!

I love my sister, but seriously it's unfair how beautiful she looks after delivering a baby! Ok, I'm done with my jealous rant :). She really does look amazing though!

Me with my newest nephew. Even at 8 pounds 10 ounces, he was still so little!

What a sweetie. Love that face!

My Ten Year

2009-08-16T17:57:00.003-06:00

I can't believe I'm here already! I had my ten year high school reunion last night and it was so much fun :). They had good food, awesome entertainment, and I got to see some really good people that I haven't seen in forever. I only got one picture, but it was with some of my favorite people :). Thanks everyone who helped put it together. JR even had a blast! :)

Nicole, Jared and Jennifer Day with their little Jackson, Me, Rodney Dye and his wife.

Jared was one of my best friends growing up and it was awesome to see him again, and to meet his cute wife (officially :) and their sweet little baby boy. Rodney and I also go back to Jr. High and we had a blast catching up. Thanks for the conversations guys. You made my night!

T-ville Friends Get-Together

2009-08-09T22:27:00.022-06:00

As we try to do at least once a year, yesterday was another get-together with my high school girlfriends. This time we included husbands, kiddos, etc. We met at a park by where most of us grew up and had a blast catching up and letting the kids play together. Then we BBQ'd some hotdogs and enjoyed a fun dinner. As we get older and life gets crazier I'm glad we're still taking time to spend together. We never get as many girlfriends there as we'd like, but there's always next time :). Thanks everyone for coming and making it another fun outing. I can't wait for what we come up with next time! But in the mean time, I'll hopefully see you all at Melisa's wedding in a few weeks. Congrats Melisa!

Melisa, Tiffany, Oliver, Me, Isaac, and Shannon at the playground. (Sorry you're not in the picture Jenny! You were getting the grill :). Thanks for doing that btw!)

Isaac and Oliver. They were playground buds bonding over balls and wood chips :).

Cali and Isaac braving the balance beams. I remember playing on those

when I was little :).

Eating yummy dinner. I love Jenny's little girl Hayley's (in the pink) face in the picture. Such personality!

Enjoying our yummy dinner. Thanks everyone for bringing stuff!

Melisa, Tiffany, Oliver, Hayley, Jenny, Me, Shannon, and her new three week old baby girl. Too bad we didn't get a picture with everyone. Sorry hubby's but someone had to take the pictures! :)

* * *

And, just for fun, here's my kiddos before church this morning. They looked so cute!

Cali looking cute as ever in her fun summer dress.

Can you believe she'll start kindergarten in a couple weeks? I know, me neither...

I love it when I get good smiley pictures of Isaac. What a cutie!

This picture cracks me up. Look at that pose! Like father like son I guess... ;).

Can you believe Isaac is just two and Cali is five! Isaac is a giant and Cali is my petite little girl. Oh well, at least it's not the other way around!

Love those two little stink bugs!

Missing Michael

2009-07-01T15:46:00.005-06:00

Ok, so I seriously haven't posted in forever. But it's only because I have SO much to post about that I don't know where to start! Before I start on everything else I want to post about I thought I'd do a quick post about Michael Jackson. I'm still sad that he's gone. I know his life was crazy, but his music and his dancing were amazing! In tribute to him I put up a MJ playlist for your listening pleasure. I've been listening to his stuff all week and I love it! It makes me miss him even more. Well, at least the music and his moves live on. My kids have been enjoying his music too when we listen to it in the car. Even Isaac was singing along! It was pretty funny :). Oh well, at least they're getting a taste of some great music. But maybe I'll have to play primary songs for a week or two afterwards to even things out ;). Miss you Michael!

Cali's Preschool Graduation

2009-05-22T10:49:00.022-06:00

So I think I'm still in denial that I have an almost Kindergartener. Cali will be five in just a couple of weeks! I'm not ready for that yet either. It's hard having her grow up, but I'm loving all the new things that come with every step. She had her preschool graduation last Thursday. It happened to be on the same day as our wedding anniversary, but we let that day be here day and celebrated our anniversary that weekend. Cali had such a fun day. That morning Cali, Isaac, JR and I all went with Cali's preschool class on a field trip to Thanksgiving point. They saw animals, rode ponies, and ate a sack lunch outside. It was really fun and we had a great time enjoying the activity as a family.

Here's Cali with her preschool class. Her teacher, Mrs. Adrienne, does such a good job with the kids. We'll miss having her be Cali's teacher.

As you can tell, Cali was super excited and had so much fun at Thanksgiving point with her class.

The pony rides are always a favorite :).

Isaac's first pony ride. He loved it!

They all had a blast playing together. It was hard to get a pic of Isaac because he was running around everywhere!

Isaac loved looking at all the animals.

Isaac and JR. JR was an excellent camera man that day :).

Cali eating lunch with her school class friends.

After the activity we all came home and rested for a little while. It was a hot day! That evening we had Cali's preschool graduation at our church building. Cali was so excited :). Thanks for those who were able to come. I know she loved having you all there!

Cali's preschool class all lined up in their graduation hats.

The tassels are just too cute :).

Cali getting her preschool graduation certificate and memory book from her teacher, Mrs. Adrienne.

Cali watching the slide show her teacher put together with the Aunt Anna.

Cali with her proud parents :).

This pic makes me laugh. Cali was trying to give Isaac hugs, but he was on a chair so it ended up on his neck somehow. Such sibling love :).

Isaac giving kisses to my good friend Jami after the program. He's such a little flirt!

We had such a great day celebrating Cali and her graduating from preschool. We love her so much and are so proud of how well she's doing in school. She's so excited and ready to go to kindergarten. I'm the one who's not ready! I'm glad I have the summer to prepare myself, but I'm sure I'll never be ready for her to get older. What a big girl I have :).

To the Best Wife and Mother

2009-05-10T09:56:00.004-06:00

I've been trying to think of a fitting tribute to the woman that holds everything in our lives together, and everything I could think of just seemed to come up short (no pun intended).

And then I realized something. Kristen has so many great friends and family, including all of you regular Peterson Family blog readers, that love her dearly and can't imaging life without her, and they--YOU--are the ones who understand more than anyone just how wonderful life is with Kristen in it. It is only fitting, then, for me to share just a few of the reasons why I and our children love Kristen as our wife/Mother/best friend.

Kristen knows just how to make things right, whether she even realizes it or not. Her love, patience, and overwhelming kindness seem to shine through the darkest of moments--be it the ache of a sick kid, the frustrations caused by an idiot husband, or the fearful dread of dealing with cancer. Her outpouring of selfless love, love that isn't focused on solving a problem or receiving anything in return, softens hearts and endears all to her infectious charm.
Kristen is an amazing organizer. She can make sense out of the biggest pile of junk and turn it into a well sorted library of, well, junk. :) I'm afraid my constant clutter is shaving years from her life.... She also does wonders with our finances and keeps them organized so we stay afloat.
Kristen loves time with family and friends more than anything in this world. It's almost like watching someone walk into ecstacy when she is around those she loves. With a family the size of hers, and more good, close friends than Facebook can account for, I just wish I could give her more of what she really needs with those people: Time.
Kristen is truly a manic-expressive. If it's on her mind she's going to share it. The crazy part is that when she shares it she always seems to enjoy a willing, and often enthralled audience. I don't mean to have that sound like shock, but I know that if the fortunes were reversed and it was me doing the talking I would have a bunch of really annoyed people on my hands. Heck, I say more than a few words and that's how people get already! The wonderful thing about her gift is that all the best parts of it have been passed on to our kids. I'm just hopefull that I'll be able to account for something positive in their lives. :)

The list could go on, but then I wouldn't be able to get away from my computer, which is something I already spend too much time with.

Happy Mother's Day sweetheart! Cali, Isaac, and I love you more than we can ever say.

Happy Happy Birthday Isaac Dear...

2009-05-04T11:14:00.003-06:00

Ok, sorry about the title. I think I've been in Primary too long ;). I already mentioned in a previous post that May is our crazy month. So many things going on with birthdays and anniversary's and such. But it's all good things :). Saturday we celebrated Isaac's 2nd birthday. It wasn't his official birthday, that's tomorrow. But a two year old doesn't know any different right? :) Two years old. I can't believe Isaac is two! He's definitely starting to act his age, if you know what I mean. But he's still cute so we're keeping him. I haven't made any promises for when he's a teenager, though. ;)

For Isaac's birthday we had a little party at my parents-in-law's home. Thank you Petersons for letting us have it there! It really was wonderful :). My parents, my brother Jeff, my sister Heather, her boyfriend, and my nephew Britton were all able to come, along with the Peterson clan, and Isaac's great grandma and grandpa Nelson. So it was a full house :). We had a BBQ, opened presents, and had cake and ice cream. When I say cake, I don't just mean any old cake. We ate the coolest cake ever! Well, at least me, JR and Isaac think so :).

What do you think?! It was seriously the funnest cake to make and it just makes me happy looking at it :). "The nose plays." LOL!

Here's some more pics of Isaac's fun party:

Isaac with his great grandma Nelson.

A rare moment with Isaac where he's actually looking at the camera! He was so into his party that he didn't have time to look or smile for the camera :).

Isaac opening his presents. This present was my favorite! JR's mom and sisters made Isaac a quiet book. It's amazing!

He looked so intense when he was opening all his gifts. He didn't know what to do with all his new stuff!

I love Cali's face in this one. She was so excited to see what Isaac got :).

Isaac's big toy from JR and I. He wanted it out of the box ASAP.

He LOVES his new Spongebob PJ's. I think he's trying to stick his tongue out like Spongebob is :).

Isaac with grandma and grandpa Weeks. He's holding some balls that they gave him. Such a great gift for a two year old!

Oh, and just because I can, here's a pic of JR's sister Anna before she left for Prom the night of Isaac's party. Doesn't she look gorgeous! And to make it better, she went with a special needs kid. Isn't she cute :).

Isaac was a little overwhelmed I think with all the gifts and the party, but he loves all his presents and has had so much fun playing with it all. He also didn't quite know what to think about his Spongebob cake when we first brought it out, but now he will not stop talking about it! "Baba cake!". I was so proud of him because he blew out his candles all by himself, and we hadn't even practiced with him. He's such a big boy and I'm so happy that he's mine :). Happy Birthday Isaac! We love you!!!

One month down, about 15 more to go!

2009-04-30T12:54:00.009-06:00

I knew that starting school meant that I'd be spending less time on my blog, but I still feel bad. There's so much going on! This past month has been really good. I just finished the Orientation part of school. During Orientation we learn how to do many of the things that they do in the Spa. It's kind of a crash course. We hurry and get the skills down so that we can work in the Spa to get experience. I just tested out of the skills I've learned so far, so that means that today I might actually take my first client. I don't know if I'm more scared or excited to start that phase of school. So far I've learned waxing (eyebrows, underarms, legs, lip, etc.), eyebrow and eyelash tinting, manicures, pedicures, a facial, and a back treatment. I can't believe I've only been in school less than a month with all that I've learned. There's still a long way to go and more skills to learn, but I think I'm off to a great start. So, as a little plug, if there's anyone who wants to pamper themselves (or drop some hints to the hubby :) you should totally come to Acaydia. Since it's a school spa it's half off the treatment, so it's a good deal for high quality treatments.

Here's me in my lovely school uniform :).

Other than school, life is going really well. This next month is my super crazy month. Just in our own little family there's three birthdays and our anniversary. Since I have school on week nights, most family things have to be done on Saturdays and Sundays. This Saturday we're celebrating Isaac's birthday. I can't believe he's already two! Then JR and I are celebrating our 8th anniversary (I know!) a couple weeks after that. Then it's JR's big 3-0 a week or two after that. And we end with Cali's 5th birthday party the first weekend in June. She's having her first friend party, so we'll see how that goes :). I really hope I don't kill myself with all that's going on, but I'm super excited for it too. Once this next month is over life and school will feel like a breeze! Ok, scratch that. I don't want to jinx myself!

Since I haven't posted pics for what seems like forever, here's some cute pics of the kids in their Easter clothes. Since everyone was sick over Easter weekend, they didn't get to wear their Easter church clothes until the week after Easter. So here's the kids sporting their new Easter clothes the week after :).

They're so cute :). Isaac looks SO grown up in this pic! You gotta love the mohawk :).

Cali looking so pretty and grown up :).

Don't you just want to squeeze him!

I'm still here...

2009-04-14T11:25:00.003-06:00

Sorry for the long absence! It's been spent doing wonderful things that I really want to blog about, but haven't had the time or energy :). I'm in my second week of school and I'm loving it! I've learned manicures, pedicures, eyelash and eyebrow tinting, and eyelash perming (yeah, I didn't even know you could do that!). And that was just my first week! Yesterday I had my first school test in like five years! I was a little nervous, but it wasn't too bad. I got a 92%, so I can't complain :).

I hope you all are doing great and that you enjoyed a wonderful Easter weekend. Mine was spend staying home taking care of sick kids, but it was still nice. I will do my best to get caught up with all that I want to blog about, but until then thank you for all your love and support and friendships!

My New Adventure

2009-03-24T12:52:00.003-06:00

I posted not to long ago and mentioned reasons why I haven't posted a lot lately. I didn't mention one of my big distractions because didn't want to jinx myself and say anything before things were official. Well, now it's official - I'm going to go back to school :). I've decided to become an aesthetician. For those of you who don't know what that is, I'll basically be learning how to do all the fun things they do in spas. It's more than that, but that gives you an idea :). I've always been interested in this industry and now I'm going to get to be apart of it! I got accepted into an aesthetics school in Provo called Acaydia. It's a really really good school and I'm so excited and feel very lucky to be able to go there. I'll be getting my master aesthetics degree and it'll take me about 16 months part time. I'll be going to school everyday, M-F from 5 to 9 p.m. It'll take a lot of my time but I know it'll be so good for me and my family in the long run. JR's been so supportive of my decision. He's so excited for me and I know I couldn't do this without his help. I'll be done before I know it and then I'll have a really cool skill set that I can use in a Spa, in a Doctor's office, or even out of my home. I'm so excited by the possibilities! The crazy part is that I start school in two weeks...TWO WEEKS! It's been a while since I went to college, so hopefully I can still remember how to take a test!

Aside from the obvious extra income reason, there are so many other reasons -more important reasons -why I decided to do this. For the past couple of years I've struggled and had to work really hard to change my mind set of what a wife and mother does. It's amazing how difficult it is to break the mold that society and I created for myself, but I knew I wouldn't be completely happy living my life the way I have been lately if I didn't. I love being home with my kids. It's been such a blessing in my life that I've been able to do that. But I've felt like I need something extra that I can do just for myself that will help me feel more complete and well-rounded. I'm so excited to be able to learn a new skill set that is so diverse and flexible. I'll be able to work around my kids and my family :). I'm so excited about the possibilities that I'm working to create in my life. It's been a truly empowering experience realizing that I can really become anything I set my mind to. I'm excited to start this next phase of my life and prove to myself that I really can do this. It's going to be an exciting adventure! Wish me luck!!!

Thriving Ivory Concert

2009-03-21T16:24:00.012-06:00

A few months ago I got introduced to a group called Thriving Ivory. Parker from 1019 was showcasing this group for the second time on his radio show when I heard them. I fell completely in love and they're my new favorite band. The lead singer has such a unique, amazing voice. When I first had JR listen to them he didn't like the singer's voice. He said he liked their songs, but just not his voice. Well, after buying their CD and letting JR listen to it more he's totally loving their music too :). I knew I'd win him over, because the group really is amazing. So now it's great being able to enjoy their music together :).

We got to go to their concert in Murray this Wednesday. It was just a small venue because they're still new to the music scene. But that worked out great for us because the concert was small and intimate. It was SUCH a great concert! They had three opening bands, which was a lot. And it was standing room only so we got a little tired standing that long. But all the bands really were great so it was worth it :). We missed the first band, but the other two were actually really good so it was nice :). The two opening bands we heard were Company of Thieves and State of Shock. They both put on a great show, but I think I prefer Company of Thieves music over the other. I put one of their songs, Pressure, on my playlist if you're interested :).

Thriving Ivory was amazing live and JR and I have a blast at their concert. I love discovering good music and this band is definitely one of my all time favorite discoveries. I have several of their songs on my playlist if you care to listen.

Here's Company of Thieves. You gotta love a girl lead singer :). And she was really really good! JR and I couldn't pinpoint who her voice reminds us of. Either way, the group was really fun to listen to.

Here's State of Shock. They look harder than their music really was. They gave a really fun performance. And, again, you gotta love a girl rockin out on the guitar!

Here's us waiting for Thriving Ivory. Not a great pic, but at least it's something! :)

Here's Thriving Ivory. I wish the camera that I brought to the concert took better pics. I have a better camera, but I didn't want to take it because I didn't know how rowdy the crowd would be. But they were really well behaved, so that made the concert even better - you know, for us old people that can't jump up and down for two hours straight like we use to :).

The lead singer is seriously amazing. And the keyboard player behind him is one of the main songwriters. So of course I love him too because their lyrics are doubly amazing!!!

I had to snap this pic after the concert. Such a great show!

Here's a little video clip of one of my favorite songs - Angels on the Moon. You may have heard it on the radio :). Of course they sounded much better than they do on this video, but you get a sense of the awesomeness :D.

P.S. I mentioned that Parker from 1019 introduced me to this group. He was there at the concert and I got to thank him after the show for introducing me to Thriving Ivory. We had a great chat :). Too bad he's not on 1019 anymore! I miss his show!

I leave JR alone with a pair of scissors...

2009-03-16T17:00:00.000-06:00

So Isaac has been needing a haircut for some time now. I was hoping for a trim. But JR decided to cut all his hair off - curls and all! It makes me sad just thinking about it! I'm trying to breath and remind myself that it'll grow back, but I've never seen Isaac without his cute curls and he just looks so different. And he looks so much older. It's hard! He looks adorable, of course, but he just looks so different and I'm still trying to get use to it and not cry :(. I was so upset that JR was cutting Isaac's hair that I didn't get a 'before' pic. But here's two very recent ones that show off his hair pretty well.

Look at those curls! Such a cutie pie :).

Look at all that curly hair in the back!

And here's the after pics. Brace yourself....

Look at how short it is!!!

Look at all that hair! And that's only half of what JR cut off. *sniff*

I know he looks cute, but it's still hard and I miss his curls. But he does look very grown up and handsome. When JR was cutting Isaac's hair I heard Cali say, "Now Isaac won't look like a girl!" What a stinker, she's suppose to be on my side! :)

Well, if cutting off Isaac's hair wasn't bad enough, JR decided to chop off Cali's too. It was suppose to be a trim, but we all know that I can't leave JR with the scissors unsupervised anymore. Again, I didn't get a 'before' pic because I didn't know that the 'after' would be so dramatic! So here's a more recent pic of Cali. Her hair really was getting long.

Sorry, this was the best pic I could find! Here she is with her cousin Brianne :).

And here she is today:

The short haircut really does look cute on her :).

It is at least 5-6 inches shorter. And her curls are gone too!

I do think her haircut is cute. But, again, it makes her look so much older! And to make things even worse I just registered her for kindergarten today. Man, it's hard having your kids grow up! Especially when it happens overnight!

Angelica, Bryan, and Baby Hayward

2009-03-16T16:00:00.001-06:00

This weekend I got to spend some time with my BF Angelica. She's ready to pop with her first baby in a week or two, so we figured we better hang out now before the baby comes - because we all know how your free time changes after kids :). JR and I went out to dinner with her and her hubby Bryan and we had the best time! I felt back for Angelica because we were laughing so hard I know it had to be uncomfortable for her with the baby, but we couldn't help ourselves :). They really are so much fun to hang out with. I just wish we lived closer to each other.

The last time we hung out (at Angelica's baby shower) I forgot my camera! Another reason why I haven't posted a lot lately. I keep forgetting my camera so I don't have pics! So I made sure I had my camera this time. I made Bryan go back to our house so I could get it :).

Me and Angelica. She looks so cute and prego :).

Here's us (JR, Me, Angelica, and Bryan) waiting to eat at Outback Steakhouse. Mmmmm such good food!

I'm so excited for Angelica and Bryan to have their first baby. They're having a boy, so maybe our little guys will play together when they're older :). Love you guys and I can't wait to meet your little one! Now you just need to think of a name.... :).

Happy St. Patricks Day!!

2009-03-11T17:09:00.001-06:00

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Something to tide you over...

2009-03-10T12:40:00.004-06:00

We all know what a slacker I've been lately with my blog. I have SO much to blog about, but I either don't have the pictures or the energy :P. Plus there's something else I've been distracted with, that I'll definitely be blogging about soon, but I can't yet because I don't want to jinx myself :) (And NO I'm not prego :).

So, in the meantime, I had to share with you a funny conversation with Cali. We were driving in the car when some fun dance music came on the radio. I started dancing in my seat and told Cali to dance to the music with me. She replied simply, "I can't mom. I'm chewing gum." Cali couldn't understand why mom was laughing so hard! It was quite the funny moment :). I loved it!

So there you go, something to tide you all over until next time :).

Our Valentines

2009-02-15T17:04:00.012-07:00

I had such a fun Valentines Weekend. I love having Valentines Day on a Saturday! I did something for JR and the kids on Friday as a surprise, and JR got to take charge of Valentines Day on Saturday. So everyone was happy :). I decided to have a surprise dinner for my family on Friday night. Cali helped me get things ready and she did SUCH a good job of keeping things a secret from JR. I decided to let JR and the kids have their favorite foods for dinner. Cali had a McDonald's Happy Meal, Isaac had pizza, and JR got sushi. He was SO excited that I got him sushi. It's his most favorite food ever. Usually when I plan a candlelight dinner I just want it to be JR and I. But this year I thought it would be a lot of fun to involve the kids too. They loved it! I think I'll do more things like this as a family from now on :).

JR came home from work early, so I made him stay upstairs while I finished getting everything ready. I really REALLY wanted everything to be a surprise. Luckily JR was really cooperative and didn't peak :). He didn't have a clue :).

Everyone seemed pretty happy about the food :).

JR showing off his lovely sushi. I had a little bit. I just wish I enjoyed it more! But I'm glad JR liked it.

Of course Isaac loved his pizza :). It was even leftovers, but he didn't care.

Cali and her happy meal. She was such a big helper and really enjoyed the fun dinner.

Isaac apparently was still hungry after dinner, so he decided to steal Cali's fries.

Complete with ranch dip. What a little stinker :).

The table after dinner. Luckily there wasn't much to clean up :).

And I had to throw this pic in because it's just cute. Love that kid!

After our fun dinner we put the kids to bed and enjoyed a movie. It was great :). For Saturday JR got his family to watch the kids and we did some shopping. It was nice shopping for clothes without the kids :). For dinner we ate at Applebee's, which was super yummy. We had a great time together, I got an awesome skirt, and the kids had a blast with the Petersons. So all in all it was a perfect day! Happy Valentines everyone! Hope yours was just as fabulous!

Isaac's Night of Firsts

2009-02-10T16:44:00.011-07:00

I'm so sorry I haven't posted anything for a while. You know when you get in those ruts where you have stuff you could blog about but you don't have the energy too? Yeah, that's where I am. But I have things I want to blog about, so hopefully I'll get caught up soon.

First, though, I had to share with you some pics I took of Isaac yesterday. All of a sudden he's become this big little man! He's still my baby, but he's huge :). He eats more than Cali and I for lunch, and he's loving being able to feed himself. He's so much more adventurous and willing to try things by himself than Cali was. I love his little personality and all the things he says. "Hold you?" as he reaches up to me. I love it! Enjoy the pics of my big boy. Makes you just want to squeeze him!

Last night he would not eat his dinner. So we finally took him out of his high chair to give him some time to calm down, and to see if he'd want to eat after a break. Well, after JR finished his dinner he decided to eat a yogurt. Isaac wanted his yogurt, but JR told Isaac he couldn't have any until he ate all his dinner. So, Isaac went into the kitchen all by himself, climbed up to our table, and started eating his dinner! I couldn't believe it! He ate it all gone! And then he was so excited when JR gave him some yogurt. It's amazing how smart kids are. He's 21 months and he understood exactly what JR was saying and he did it! And that was the first time he's eaten at the table instead if in his high chair. Such a big boy!

When it was time to get ready for bed, Isaac decided he wanted to brush his teeth all by himself. He stood on the step stool like a big boy.

I couldn't believe he could reach the water by himself! He's such a big kid! Doesn't he look so much older than 21 months in this pic? Maybe I'm just biased :).

Then to end the night Isaac went to sleep on his new big boy pillow. I think he really likes it, plus it probably helps him breath better since he's been a little stuffy. Like I said, it's like he's grown up over night! I just love my big little guy :).

A Little Excitement

2009-01-21T22:56:00.006-07:00

I feel like a dork because I can't think of anything exciting to post about. Oh, there's been excitement, but I just don't have any pictures. Ok, so there hasn't been THAT much excitement. But I did just finish something exciting so I thought I'd share it with all of you. I just read "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer and loved it, of course. And I was proud of myself for finishing it in just a couple of days! But I won't mention the part about neglecting my kids, my talk in church for Sunday, the laundry, JR, a shower, etc. The book was different than I expected, but brilliant still and I recommend it to anyone and everyone. So, if any of you have some time to kill and feel like neglecting something then I highly recommend "The Host". Great book, but unfortunately it hasn't helped me with my talk for Sunday. Help!

Draper Temple Open House

2009-01-17T20:14:00.003-07:00

Thursday night of this week JR and I took the kids to go to the Draper Temple open house. I was super excited for Cali to see the inside of the Draper Temple so that she could get a better understanding of just what temples are all about. And it was a perfect opportunity to talk to her about how special they are and how we can be together forever because mom and dad were married in the temple. When we got there we realized that it was going to take much longer than I had planned on. There were so many people there! When you go, you start out at a church building near the temple where you watch a short video about temples. Then you board a bus that takes you up to the temple. It's quite the coordinated effort! We got to our designated chapel at about 7:40 p.m. (our reservation time) and we didn't get up to the temple until just after 9 p.m.. So, by the time we were done going through the Draper temple it was about ten. Isaac was such a trooper despite being so tired. Cali was tired too, but she liked all the pretty chandeliers and was excited that she got to go see the temple. Even thought it took longer than I expected, I'm so glad we all got to go. It was a wonderful experience and it just reaffirmed to me how much I love the temple and the wonderful Spirit that's there.

I'm so grateful for temples. Even talking to Cali about them made me choke up. How blessed I am as a member of the church to be able to attend the temple and know that my family can be with me forever. I'm so grateful that I started my marriage in the temple. Knowing that JR and I are sealed for eternity impacts our choices and how we want to live our lives. I encourage anyone who can to go to the Draper Temple open house. It was such a wonderful experience and I loved being able to share it with my family.

To make a reservation go here:

http://www.lds.org/reservations/ticket1/0,10785,1624-1-501-0,00.html

Vote for CJane!

2009-01-13T12:54:00.005-07:00

For any of you out there who read my blog, PLEASE help me help out a fellow blogger. Please vote for CJane's blog as best Major Blog on the Weblog Awards. It seriously takes two seconds. Just click HERE. Or you can try this link:

http://2008.weblogawards.org/polls/best-major-blog/

If it doesn't work please let me know. Or just google it and hopefully it'll get you to the right page. I believe we have until tomorrow at five p.m. to vote. Please show your love and support for Courtney, Stephenie, Christian and their entire family - not to mention support for people who blog about things other than politics and cars. If you don't know CJane, her family, or her blog click HERE. There are also links at the bottom of my left hand navigator for her and her sister Stephenie's blogs.

Lets help CJane win!!!

The Best New Year's Eve Ever!!!

2009-01-05T21:22:00.022-07:00

Usually New Year's Eve consists of spending a little time with family and/or friends and then heading home, putting the kids to bed, and watching the ball drop on TV. I remember one year JR actually got in bed 15 minutes before midnight. Yeah, he didn't get away with that one - stinker :). This year, though, we actually had some plans! First, we dropped off the kids at JR's parents home to play and spend the night, so JR and I had the night all to ourselves! I love my kids, but it's amazing how nice a night away is!

Then we hit the first of two parties for the night. First we went to a party at our good friends John and Laycie Bowers home. We had great company, amazing food, fun games, and just an overall great time. We don't get to see them as often as we like, so it really was a lot of fun hanging out with them and their friends. We love you guys!

Me, Laycie, Laycie's brother and his date, and Celeste all playing The Game of Life. Too bad we couldn't finish the game before JR and I had to leave. My life was looking pretty good!

Here's John (center) with some friends rocking it out on Rock Band. JR had quite the fun time doing the vocals on this game. If any of you haven't figured it out by now, JR loves to sing :).

After spending a few hours with John and Laycie we went to another party that my good friend Jami Werner invited us to. It was with lots of ward friends and was held at our ward building. It was an 80's theme party, so of course we had to get decked out :). We played rock band, 80's trivia games, we danced, ate food and enjoyed counting down the new year.

Here's JR and I 80'ing it up. JR was Don Johnson from Miami Vice (sexy, I know :), and I was... um, someone from the 80's :). Nothing specific really, I just grabbed anything 80's I could find and threw it on - which btw is NOT that hard now. 80's stuff is EVERYWHERE! Great for my outfit, not so great for 2009. Scary!

What Don Johnson outfit would be complete without Aviator glasses. Thanks Steve for letting JR borrow them! Grrrrr :).

Me posing on the 80's wall. Even though I was little in the 80's, there were still quite a few things up there that I remember using. Ahh, memories. Oh, and if you're totally loving my Chicago sweatshirt (DI is the best!), it got even better on the back. It said "Tour '84". Yeah, it was pretty cool :).

Here's all us 'ladies from the 80's'. I was the youngest one there, but I was still rockin' it up. I just wish I would have had time to crimp my hair :). I am proud to say, though, that even without the crimped hair I still won the "most stylish" award. I guess all that 80's shopping paid off!

Here's JR rocking it out on Rock Band (for the second time that evening) with some of the other 80's men at the party. Love the shoes with no socks :).

And here comes one of the highlights of the night... JR's lip-sync to "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice. Yeah, he knew the ENTIRE song and did the whole thing - all 4+ minutes of it, complete with his amazing dance moves. It. Was. Awesome! I seriously almost peed my pants it was so funny!

And if that wasn't great enough, our home teacher Jared Warren (who btw is one of the nicest guys and more of the quite type - well, at least he seemed that way to me!) knew the whole song too and was 'the DJ' in the song. Again, IT. WAS. AWESOME!!! And, we found out on Sunday that apparently news of JR's amazing performance has been making the rounds in our ward. Could there be an encore in JR's future?

Here's us women rocking out to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". I learned in practicing for this that my moves weren't 80's enough. Oh well, at least my outfit looked good :).

I had to add this picture because, well, it's awesome :). Here's Jason Leckie and Ryan Howell after their moving lip-sync to a Wham! song. Yes, those are official 80's pants that Ryan is sporting. And no, their chest hair is not real, but it sure looked cool :D. Hahaha! Too funny!

Here's us enjoying a nice dance to some wonderful 80's song. Man, 80's music really was the best!

This picture just makes me laugh. Here's JR and I with our good friends Jason and Jami posing it up. Jason and Jami's pose totally looks like it could have been from a dance picture in the 80's. Too funny! Thanks for inviting us Jami! You guys are the best!!!

According to JR, we had the best New Year's Eve EVER! I think I have to agree :). It was nice not having to worry about the kids while we were out late. They had a blast at the Petersons and JR and I had a blast enjoying an evening out with amazing friends. Thank you to everyone who helped make our New Year's Eve the best yet!

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVERYONE!!!

P.S. Ok, so I know I've totally written enough already on this post, but I HAD to share this story. I don't know if any of you remember the 80's show Dallas, but there was a main character in the show named JR. Some people think my JR was named after that JR, but he's definitely not. So, JR's whole life he's grown up with people asking him, "So who shot JR?". Apparently that was a huge question in the TV show. So during the 80's trivia game we played I learned who shot JR. It was his girlfriend KRISTEN!!! I about died! You would have thought with all the people asking JR who shot him on Dallas that that would have come up. It was just too funny. So now JR knows he REALLY needs to be nice to me :). Its a good thing we don't own any firearms :D. Hahaha!

Our Merry Christmas

2008-12-29T20:06:00.022-07:00

I know I always feel like each Christmas is the best, but this year really was my favorite Christmas to date. The kids were so much fun to watch and we got to have lots of fun with family. And the weather cooperated! Here's a picture re-cap of our wonderful Christmas day:

I got some great shots of Cali's face opening presents. That's what it's all about :).

Isaac opening his Elmo guitar. This is about the only pic of him looking at me. Most of the pictures are of him looking intently at all his toys. He had a blast :).

Cali opening Wall-e. Love that movie! And love the face. Priceless!

Isaac and his Sponge Bob football from dad. He sure does love Sponge Bob, so of course we indulged him :).

Me and my fancy fancy new camera!!! My blog is about to get a picture upgrade!

JR opening his Harry Potter box set. I think he was excited :).

Cali opening Sleeping Beauty. I just can't get enough of her surprise face! Makes me want to go out and buy her more presents! Well, almost. She did get pretty spoiled :).

Isaac with his stocking. He got three Sponge Bob DVDs :). Maybe a little over board, but we all love them. And they keep Isaac entertained. Yeah for Sponge Bob!!!

Cali with her stocking. Fruit snacks are the best!

Isaac and all his toys - referred to as the 'haul' picture :). In my family these pictures have ended fights over who's toy is who's. Here's some proof for later :).

Cali's 'haul' picture. I think she got spoiled, but it was fun :).

JR and I showing off our new Christmas clothes. JR looks H-O-T hot in his new sweater and scarf - if I do say so myself :).

Christmas night with the Petersons. Cali got spoiled again of course :).

JR showing off his very expensive jeans (well, at least according to me :) from his bro Steve. He felt like being overly generous :). Thanks Steve!!!

Isaac in his new Sponge Bob hoodie. It looks super cute on him, don't you think? Thanks Peterson family for the wonderful gifts and for such a fun night!!!

Christmas Eve Lights

2008-12-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

Every year JR and the kids and I spend Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas Day with JR's family. It's always so nice to get to spend so much time with each of our families. On Christmas Eve my Dad puts together a yummy dinner, we have the Christmas story, open some presents, and then head off to Temple Square to see the lights. My family has made it a tradition to see the Temple Square lights on Christmas Eve and I love it! Especially now that I have kids of my own to experience them with. It was such a fun night. Thanks Dad for all your hard work! I took a lot of pictures this week, so even though what I posted seems like a lot, it's nothing compared to what's stashed on my computer!

JR and I with Isaac enjoying a yummy Christmas Eve dinner at my parent's home.

My parents and a few of us kids enjoying dinner. This year's dinner was awesome Dad!

My Dad's Christmas sweatshirt. It's weird, but we love him for it :).

Some of the grandkids listening to my Dad read the Christmas story.

Cali was so excited to get Barbie's from her cousins. Her first Barbies. Thanks Gina and the boys! She loves them :).

My sisters Nicky and Annika with my Mom showing off the "Believe" plates I made for them. Yeah for Super Saturdays!

Posing at the reflecting pool on Temple Square. So cold, but totally worth it :).

Here's us all bundled up by the temple.

Cali and Brianne. Cousins and the best of friends :).

Isaac and Beauen. They were being so cute for the camera :).

Enjoying the beautiful lights. Oh, and just FYI - the hat Isaac is wearing is JR's. Yeah, he's got a big head!

It's hard to tell, but this is in front of the manger scene. I always love hearing the Christmas story by the temple. There's such a wonderful spirit there.

***

When we got home we had the kids open up their Christmas PJs. They had crashed in the car, but as soon as they knew there was another present to open they perked right up!

Isaac opened his PJs almost all by himself! I think he was practicing for Christmas morning :).

Cali and Isaac in their new PJs. They were pretty excited for Santa to come :).

Isaac looking at the tree. He actually didn't destroy my tree this year! Here he is being extra soft :). And look at that belly! Man I love this kid :).

Merry Christmas from the Petersons

2008-12-26T15:24:00.005-07:00

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful Christmas season. Our Christmas couldn't have been better :). Here's a little something from our family to yours. Just click on the picture to enlarge it. Enjoy!

Also, for those of you who are really interested in what we've been up to this year, here's our family Christmas newsletter. I know it's a novel, but I tend to be long winded. So, here's my apology in advance :).

Good News!!!

2008-12-22T10:34:00.004-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted anything for a little while. Christmas time gets so busy, but it's been full of lots of good things :). I have pictures, I just haven't had a chance to post them yet. I do have something that I wanted to post about really quick. I had a follow-up MRI on Saturday to check and see if any cancer was growing back. I was really hopeful that everything was going to be fine. My last MRI from May was clean and I've felt fine since then. Well, I just got the news that there was "no evidence of recurring growth". YEAH!!! This whole process of finding out that I had a cancerous bump behind my ear and going through all the steps to make sure I'm in the clear has been such a testimony builder. It's been a hard year, but such a blessed year as well. Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts on my behalf. It's paying off :). Love you all!!! Merry Christmas!!!

The Blog Frog

2008-12-13T18:19:00.004-07:00

Hey all. I just wanted to let you know about a cool new website that allows you to log in and see all of your blog friends and new updates on their blogs. If any of you are like me, I love reading all my contacts' blogs, but sometimes it gets hard clicking on all of them to check for updates. That's where the Blog Frog has saved me tons of time! I just log in to their website and it shows all the new updates right there! And it's free! So, if there's any of you who haven't tried out this cool new service I highly recommend it. It just makes blogging that much easier for me! Enjoy!

http://www.theblogfrog.com/

Gingerbread House - A Tradition in the Making

2008-12-09T15:11:00.010-07:00

I've always wanted to put together a gingerbread house, but haven 't gotten around to it until yesterday. I bought one of the kits for us to do for FHE. I don't know if I'll buy the kit next year, but at least it was good for the first time around. We just can't eat it because I don't think it would taste good :P. But the kit made it really quick and easy, so that was nice :). Cali had a blast helping and JR loved doing it too. He loves anything that you can put together, so this was right up his alley. It made for a great activity and I think we'll make it a tradition every year. I love Christmas traditions! Now that Cali is old enough to really enjoy them I'm trying to make more that we can do as a family every year.

Here's Cali and JR and our kit before we got started. It's nice because it comes with everything you need. It's just not very good if you want to eat it :P.

JR 'gluing' the house together with the icing - which was more like cornstarch with a tinsy bit of sugar thrown in.

JR let me put the roof on. He was really enjoying doing it himself :). "Just like Lego's" he said :). Maybe I should get him some Lego's for Christmas....Hmmmmmm.

Here's Isaac being very sad that he couldn't eat the candy. I think I prefer the crying over him chocking on the extra hard 'candy'.

Here's him after getting some goldfish crackers. Apparently he just wanted to eat. Who knew?!

Cali decorating the windows. I tried really hard not to tell her where to put stuff, but of course I still did. Next year I think we'll each make our own so that Cali can go crazy and do whatever she wants!!! Sorry Cali for cramping your creativity. I'm trying... :).

The finished product. And it only took about an hour!

Cali wondered today why we still had it out and hadn't thrown it away yet. I guess she figures if we can't eat it we should just throw it away. We'll see how long it lasts on our counter - especially if Isaac trys to eat it.

Challenge

2008-12-06T11:15:00.006-07:00

I thought this looked like a fun challenge - not only to see what I've already done, but to see things that I might like to do in the future. It's always nice to get ideas of new things to try :). Enjoy!

Rules: Anything you have done has to be in bold and/or underlined. How much have you done? It only takes about 5 minutes… :) Come one.. try it out!

1. Started your own blog (Yeah baby! One down, 99 to go :)
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (Heck yes! It was a band of sixth graders and we played home made instruments. Yeah, we totally rocked :P. Remember that Jenny???)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a Praying Mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched an amazing lightning storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables (Next year for sure!!!)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train (Not overnight, but I did fall asleep when I rode the Chunnel train from France to England. That was a cool experience :)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (Not yet... )
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (For just a moment when I was little and got some inheritance money from my grandma. There were two zero's in that check!)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (Well, on one of those rotating fake rock walls :)
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (Well, it was sketched by an artist in Paris. I think that counts :)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (I was in a TV show once, but no movie)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp (Dachau in Germany. Very sad.)
67. Bounced a check (Yeah, won't ever do that again!)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt (Does helping to tie a quilt count???)
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job (Technically they just never called me to work again after my first day or two :)
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (College paper :)
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Visited Italy

Well, there's a lot I haven't done yet, but I guess that's what the rest of my life is for right :). Except the 'been stung by a bee' one. I'm ok to never experience that :)

Our Thanksgiving Weekend

2008-12-03T23:40:00.022-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I know this post is a little late in coming, but I had such a busy Thanksgiving weekend I feel like I'm still trying to recover! It was an awesome weekend, though, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share it with all of you :). Thanksgiving this year was spent at JR's grandparent's home in Pleasant Grove. All of JR's siblings were there, including his brother Aaron, his wife Angel, and six month old A.J. that drove down from Idaho. It really was a lot of fun spending some quality time with the Peterson/Hutton/Nelson clan and the food was, of course, amazing.

Here's the feast room after the feast. I was too busy enjoying my meal to take a picture of everyone eating :).

Here's the clan relaxing after dinner. Someone put on Baby Einstein for A.J. to watch and somehow everyone ended up watching it with her. It was pretty funny :P.

Here's us with JR holding A.J.. She just keeps getting bigger every time I see her! And by big, I really mean big. She's a little chunk! But that's how we like babies :).

Here's Cali with aunt Rachel, Isaac, and JR's cousin John's little boy Cameron. They had a blast playing together.

Here's A.J. looking cute as ever in her festive Christmas outfit. It was the day after Thanksgiving so I'll allow it :). (Yes I'm a fan of not celebrating Christmas until after Thanksgiving - but after Thanksgiving I'm all about Christmas!!!)

***

Since this year was the 'off' year for my family, meaning it was the year that everyone spends Thanksgiving with their in-laws, my family decided to get together for dinner on Sunday. I have to say that as good as Thanksgiving dinner was, Sunday dinner was pretty dang good too :D. We ate good food, played games, and had a lovely evening together. I took a lot of pictures because usually I forget my camera when I go to my parents house, so I had to make up for it this time. Enjoy!

My niece Erin, brother Mark, bro-in-law Jay, and brother Cory in the love sac.

Everyone enjoying dinner in my parents sun room. Love that room!

Here's my sister Nicky and her hubby Jason. You're lucky I didn't post the other pic that you took of yourself Jason. It was S-E-X-Y! This one is nice too :).

My mom was sweet and fed Isaac for me. He loves his grandma :). And he loves food, so he was happy :).

Here's Isaac's new stinker face. What a cheese head!

Here's my cute mom and dad.

My sis Nicky and I voguing it up for the camera. And, I have to say, looking rather festive in red and green!

Here's my sis Heather, sis Annika and her hubby Jay. Annika and Jay, you look lovely. Heather...not so much :P.

Cali and her cousin Brianne showing off the new princess barbie dolls my mom let them play with. They're about two weeks apart, and inseparable when we get together.

Here are the guys watching funny stuff on YouTube. JR, brother Jeff, brother Cory, bro-in-law Jay, and brother Mark.

Here's Isaac with his cousin Beauen. They're also about two weeks apart and I'm sure will be little terrors as they get older :). At least they're cute :). Oh, JR you're cute too.

Here's Isaac giving loves to his cousin Nathan. He's getting so big!

Right before we left my parents house they gave everyone Advent calendars. I love it and Cali really enjoys putting the charms on it. Now she knows how many days until Christmas! Thanks mom and dad :). We had a really great time with everyone and had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend. Nothing like good food and family to enjoy the holidays!

Joseph B. Wirthlin

2008-12-02T12:24:00.004-07:00

I just heard this morning that Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin passed away yesterday. For several years now he has been one of my favorites, if not my favorite member of the Quorum of the Twelve. I have enjoyed his talks and his humor. Because he seemed to struggle more than the other members of the Twelve with public speaking, he seemed even more real to me. I could relate with him on having a fear of public speaking :). He wasn't a perfect man, but he was willing to give everything he had to the Lord even if it was hard. His example has really meant a lot to me, and his talks have been some of my favorites. I will truly miss his counsel, his humor, and his humble sweet disposition. He was a man of God and I know he is in His rest now. I will miss him.

Joseph B. Wirthlin

June 11, 1917 - Dec. 1, 2008

Hair Update

2008-11-26T11:38:00.007-07:00

Thanks everyone for helping me decide on what to do with my hair. Seriously, you were all a big help! I was leaning more towards auburn, but you guys made me decide that color for sure :). I'm actually getting my hair done in about an hour! I didn't think I'd be able to get it done so soon, so I'm a little nervous! Plus, it'll be a cut that I've never had before, so that makes me nervous too. But I need a change, so I'm excited to see how it turns out. Wish me luck!

Here's my before pic:

I'll post the after pic when I get home...if I like it :).

Thanks again for all your help!

***

Ok people, here's the new me! It's so much different than anything I've ever had before, but that's why I love it! I get so tired of the same old, so it's nice to switch things up every now and then. Hope you all like it!

I actually have bangs now. But the guy who cut my hair called it 'fringe'. I think I like his term better :).

I love all the layers in the back. You can really see the darker red-brown color underneath.

So here's the new me! Hope my new hair was worth the suspense :). Thanks again for everyone's help!

Hair Troubles... Please Help!

2008-11-24T23:26:00.014-07:00

Lately I've been pulling my hair up in ponytails (it was pigtails today - yeah, I know I'm too old for that :P) and dreading the days when I actually have to do my hair. I've finally admitted to myself that I hate doing my hair. I use to think I just got tired of the style, but really I think I just hate doing my hair. I was never blessed with the 'able to do hair' gene (poor Cali). Well, since I can't shave it all off I've decided to opt for a new look. I'm excited to get my hair cut again because usually that gives me the motivation to do it when it's something fun and new. Plus, usually I get it cut short enough that I can't pull it back so that forces me to do my hair :). So now I have to decide how to get it done. Especially what color to do my hair. I thought I wanted to go blonde again, but now I'm second guessing that decision. So here's where all you lovely people come it. Please tell me what you like best from the pics below, and how you think I should do my hair. I seriously need all the help I can get!

Here's my most recent hair cut and color. I was blonde with a dark color underneath. I really liked the color and thought I'd want to do it again, but now I'm not so sure. What do you guys think?

Here's me with auburn colored hair. It looks more brown in this pic, but it was really more auburn, so just imagine :). I actually really loved this hair color and wouldn't mind doing it again.

Here's me with dark hair. I don't know if I'd go this dark again, but then again if you guys loved it you just might convince me!

I wanted to post some pics I have of different hairstyles, but I can't. So here's one pic of the hairstyle I want. I'm going to get more bangs which I'm excited about, and I want more of a piecy, chunky haircut. So, hopefully this pic will give you an idea. I'm not doing the same color as her (even though I think it's way cool!) but the cut is about what I want, only I'll go shorter - to just above my shoulders I think. So, tell me what you think.

So there you go. Honestly, any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Doesn't Get Much Better Than This: Twilight and Coldplay

2008-11-23T23:35:00.015-07:00

To put it lightly, this week has been quite the crazy week. But as busy and crazy as it's been, you can't go wrong when you end your week with one amazing thing, let alone two! As I'm sure all of you know, the Twilight movie came out this week. As cool as going to see the movie was, what made it even cooler was getting to see it on Thursday night at six p.m. - a whole six hours before it was released! How am I so lucky you ask? My sister Heather was part of an Allyse's Bridal prom dress fashion show that went on in a few theatres in the SL/Utah county areas as part of the Twilight movie opening. Since the fashion shows brought in tons of money for the theatres involved, they decided to reward the girls by letting them see the Twilight movie Thursday night instead of having to wait until Friday. So my sister Heather got ten tickets to the early showing and lovingly let JR and I have two of those tickets. THANKS HEATHER!!! It was such a blast finally getting to see the Twilight movie. I have to say I didn't love every single thing about it, but it was still really really good and I can't wait to see it again.

Now as if going to see Twilight wouldn't make my entire week fantastic, JR and I also got to go to the Coldplay concert on Saturday night. Can you say amazing?! I have wanted to go see them in concert for so long, so when I heard they were coming to town I knew I had to get tickets. Even though we were in the nose bleeds, it was such an amazing concert and JR and I had the best time! They are such a talented group and their live performance was brilliant. It's probably one of the best concerts, if not the best concert I've ever been to. Enjoy some pics from the concert! I know these pics don't have the best detail, so just click on them to make them bigger.

You can see the lead singer, Chris Martin, in the middle. He was such a great performer. He's vocals are amazing, and he's so crazy good on the piano he could be a concert pianist.

Here's Chris rockin out on one of the side stages with his guitarist. He was so entertaining. It was awesome!

Here's JR and I enjoying the concert. We were in the nose bleeds, but the view was amazing! If you look closely you can see Chris on stage right by JR's shoulder :).

Here's Chris on the side stage with all the confetti that came down during one of their last songs.

Here's the band with Chris on the piano in the middle. I loved what he did when he was at the piano. Amazing!

Enjoy a little taste from the concert:

All About JR

2008-11-19T22:19:00.007-07:00

1. Where did you meet? -- Snow College in a Social Psychology class.

2. How long did you date before you married? -- We dated for about a month and a half, and were engaged for about six and a half months. Yeah, it was a little backwards :).

3. How long have you been married? -- Seven and a half years. Eight in May :).

4. What does he do that surprises you? -- He wanted to read the Twilight series books with me! We read the whole series out loud together and it was so much fun. I never expected him to want to read it at first, but now he loves it almost as much as I do! He wants to be my Edward :). I know, too cute huh :). We are also going to see the Twilight movie tomorrow night at six - six hours before the movie is released!!! Yes, I know I'm lucky :D. We can't wait!

5. What is his best feature? -- That's a tough one, because I don't know if I can pick just one. I guess it's a toss up between his full lips and his nice bum :).

6. What is your favorite quality of his? -- He is a very passionate person. He really cares about a lot of things and I love that about him. Some of his passions include cooking/food, teaching, politics, gaining knowledge, and me, of course :).

7. Does he have a nickname for you? -- Love, Baby, Krissy. He uses lots of cute names for me, but I think his favorite is baby.

8. What is his favorite food? -- Sushi

9. What is his favorite sport? -- Football

10. When and where was your first kiss? -- Our first kiss was on our first date. But, in my defence, we had gotten to know each other the whole week beforehand. Our first date was to a Sadies dance at Snow College. We kissed after an activity in my roommates car. Yeah, not the best location, but it was a great kiss...*sigh*.

11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? -- Go out on dates. I don't really care what we do as long as we get to spend time together. I love it :).

12. Do you have any children? -- Yes, Cali and Isaac.

13. What are his hidden talents? -- He is a really amazing writer. I hope he writes a book some day. He is also amazing with music and can play the piano and guitar by ear.

14. Who said I love you first? -- JR did, but I said it right back.

15. What is his favorite music? -- He loves all sorts of music. Right now he's really into Brazilian Jazz (ie Bossa Nova).

16. What do you admire about him? -- He loves being a father and is so great with our kids. He gets on the floor and plays with them and they have a blast. His favorite thing is being at home with his family and I love that :).

17. What is something he loves to do? -- JR loves being the senior primary chorister in our ward. He loves working with the kids in primary, helping them love the primary songs, and helping them feel the Spirit. He does a great job and I don't know what we'd do without him in primary!

18. What is his favorite color? -- Blue. (Side note: So I asked JR what his favorite color was after I answered this question, just to make sure I was right, and he spouted off about seven other colors that he loves. "Black, red, blue, gold - no silver, green is good, I like orange too. Dang it! I just like variety." So there you go. There's his answer. He's such a dork :P.)

19. What is something about him that not very many people know? -- JR is a complete goof ball. To most people he comes off as very serious and intellectual, but the more you get to know him you realize he's just as crazy and goofy as me :).

20. Who do you tag? -- Anyone wanting to brag about their spouse :).

Sunday Best

2008-11-16T16:34:00.012-07:00

For being the middle of November, today was a gorgeous day! I love when all the leaves are nice and crunchy. Of course that means it's been dry, but come on, crunchy leaves are MUCH better to walk through that old soggy leaves. I think once Isaac gets up from his nap we'll have to take a walk and let him play in all the leaves :).

Since this weather won't be lasting long (*sniff*), JR and I decided to take some quick pictures after church in our Sunday best. Isaac was asleep so we didn't get any pics of him, but I think I have plenty of him on here for this month, so he's covered :).

Here's me with all the fun crunchy fall leaves. What a beautiful day!

I just got this sweater yesterday and I love it! It makes my eyes look green, and it was on sale :). What more could I ask for!

Here's my beautiful husband looking beautiful. Enough said :).

Anyone reading my blog from GQ magazing? Here's JR's headshot pic.

My cute Cali had to get in on the action, since she's the prettiest one of us all :). She even posed with her hands on her hips. What a big little girl I have :).

Can we say adorable??? She's so pretty :).

Here's me looking much better now that JR's in the pic with me. Thanks to our very nice home teachers for taking the pic. Your service for us is done for the month :D.

Sunday - Part Two

2008-11-16T16:30:00.002-07:00

Ok, so I feel like ranting for a minute. I had second thoughts at first about subjecting all of you lovely readers (yes Jenny, that's you :) to my inner most thoughts, but then decided that it was my blog so I can rant if I want to (just makes you want to start singing doesn't it :).

After taking these pictures today, it came to my attention (for the one millionth time) that I suffer from what's called a "pretty husband". I'm sure most of you don't know what I'm talking about because you're all much prettier than your husbands. And if you DO have sexy husbands, then you're smokin! Now, usually having a gorgeous husband is NO problem for me because I get to look at this lovely man every day and think, "Wow, he really is sexy isn't he...".The problem occurs when I see pictures of myself next to pictures of him. I can then completely relate to what Bella thought about standing next to Edward – that is until she because a sexy vampire :P.

I do understand that I'm really not photogenic, and I try to make myself feel better by thinking that that's not how I really look to other people (Please say that's not how I look to other people!!!). JR makes me feel beautiful, so I must look better than that right?! Then today I look at picture after picture of myself just praying that I can find at least ONE good one, after looking at JR's pictures that look more like head shots for a modeling agency! Some days it's just not fair. Honey, I love you, but you're too pretty for me to take sometimes! I feel like I'm going to have to get plastic surgery in a few years just to keep up!

Ok, end rant. Quoting Mushu from Mulan, "You just gotta learn to let these things go! *sniff*"

Yeah, I'm working on it :).

Some Much Needed Motivation

2008-11-14T12:57:00.008-07:00

I found this on my friends blog. If something makes me laugh out loud I have to share it :D. That, and I've been needing to start exercising again but haven't found the motivation to start yet. I think I just found my motivation. Enjoy!

PS- JR, this one is for you too :). hehe :P

Weeks Girls Night Out

2008-11-09T20:23:00.013-07:00

Ever since my dad took JR and my other bro-in-laws out to Red Lobster (yeah, not fair) after the Priesthood Session of Conference, my sisters and I have wanted to do something fun together - without the kids :). So, yesterday we went out on the town! We went and got pedicures in this great place on State Street and about 6000 south in Salt Lake. It was only $20 for a nice pedicure! And they had way comfy massage chairs to relax in while we got our feet pampered. It seriously was so nice, and it was so much fun to hang out with my mom, sisters, and niece Erin.

Afterwards we went to Leatherby's (yummmm!) and enjoyed dinner and, of course, excellent ice cream. We all shared each other's ice cream, which meant lots of yummy flavors. Mmmmmm :). We talked and talked and had so much fun together. It's amazing how nice it is talking without getting interrupted by our kids. We could actually enjoy adult conversation! So, of course we acted like dorks :P. And, since we obviously don't get out much, we had to take our camera's along!

Here's half of us enjoying our pedicures: Erin, Annika, and Nicky.

Here's my mom and sister Heather. Doesn't my mom look so relaxed :).

Here is a picture taken by my 'cool' sister Nicky. This is Annika enjoying the nasty tea they gave us to drink. I think she's faking the enjoyment....

Here's a 'very cool' self portrait of Nicky. It's nice when your sisters take blackmail pics of themselves :D.

Here's me looking sexy and relaxed in my awesome massage chair. Nicky, I think the pic is a little crooked.... Oh, wait, she called it "artistic" :P.

Here's all of our lovely finished toes. Don't we look so pretty! And, I have to say, we have some nice looking feet!

Yes, we made the lady at the nail shop take a million pictures of us. Thankfully Nicky explained that we don't get out much, so I'm sure they understood :D.

Here's all of us at Leatherby's: Nicky, Erin, Annika, Mom, Heather (yes, she's a natural blond ;D) and me. I took this pic myself! I know, I have such talent. And apparently some long arms.

Here's me looking very cool in Nicky's sunglasses. I think she was jealous of how fabulous I looked.

Yep, she was definitely jealous :D. Ah, sisterly affection. Oh, and I swear my tongue isn't really that pointy.

Here's all of us enjoying our ice cream. Thanks Nicky for getting the yummy blue bubble gum ice cream. I LOVE bubble gum ice cream! But only because it's a truly adult flavor :D.

Thanks ladies for such a fun night! I think we should do it again. I have next weekend available... :).

18 Months Old - Such a Big Boy

2008-11-09T20:00:00.010-07:00

I had to take more pics of Isaac. He looks so grown up now! I'm starting to get use to his new hair cut, but I can't get over how big he looks now. He's not my baby anymore *sniff*. He turned 18 months on Nov. 5th, the day after I took these pics. At his doctor's apt. he weighed 27 plus lbs, was in the 78th percentile for height, and was in the 98th percentile for his head. Yep, that's my boy :). He has to have that much room for all his smarts!

What cute big boy :).

"Wasat?" ("what's that" for you non-parents out there :).

I love his belly hanging out. So cute :).

Here's Isaac with his blanket. He bites on this thing all the time! And then he snuggles and sucks his thumb. Too cute :).

See, he still has curls in the back. Thank goodness!

Look at that dimple. Love it!

Look at those blue eyes. He's so dang cute!

Go Vote!

2008-11-04T15:47:00.003-07:00

I did my civic duty today, now it's your turn! Hurry, you have until 8:00 p.m.!

Plus they give you these cool stickers.

My outfit needed a pop of color :D.

You know you want one too...

Isaac's First Big Boy Haircut

2008-11-02T22:33:00.012-07:00

So, Isaac has been needing a haircut for quite some time and we decided to give him one tonight. He had a haircut when he was younger, but it was only to cut the long hair on top of his head, and I did it in like three snips of the scissors. Today's haircut was like a million scissor snips! Of course, that's probably because JR was really getting into it, but still! If I would have done the haircut he would not have lost that much hair. I can't help it. I love his curls! They're just so dang cute! But I realized that he needed a haircut, so I let JR take charge while I helped to entertain him and video the event. In the end, JR cut off way more hair than I would have liked, but it still turned out really cute. And his curls are still there. But he looks so much older! I think I'm going through withdrawls or something. I think I'm missing my little boy! Isaac will be 18 months old in three days and he's getting so big! Plus, add the new haircut on top of that and he's not my baby anymore! I'm trying to tell myself that it'll grow out. At least the curls are still very much there, so that's a relief. I just can't get over how much more grown up Isaac looks now. I think I need some tissues...*sniff*.

Before:

Look at all those pretty golden locks!

Ok, yeah he definitely needed his bangs cut :).

Look at how long his hair is! And it's even curly in the back!

This is right before JR started cutting. That's when I started videoing, so this is the last pic of him and his long hair...

After:

Look at how stinkin cute and grown up he looks! I can't get over it!

His curls are still nice and tight :). I know it might look like he still has a lot of hair there, but JR really did cut off a ton. I almost had a panic attach with all that hair flying around! JR really did a nice job with his hair cut, though. Thanks honey :).

My sweet little Isaac is getting so big. Even thought he's turning into a tornado who loves to say "Mine!", he's still so dang cute and such a sweetheart. Love this kid!

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-02T22:01:00.009-07:00

Halloween this year was a lot of fun. Cali is getting older and enjoying Halloween even more. Isaac is walking this year, and was able to trick-or-treat better. Although, most of the time he was being carried :). Cali was Cinderella and Isaac was Linus from Peanuts. We figured since he loves his blanket and sucking his thumb it was a good match :). They both looked adorable of course :). But unfortunately I forgot to bring the camera when we were out trick-or-treating, so I don't have a ton of pictures. Here are a few pics taken with the kids in their costumes. The first few pics were actually taken the Saturday before Halloween at a party my mom threw for all the grand kids.

Here's my Cali as Cinderella at my mom's Halloween party. Ok, I know I'm biased, but doesn't she look pretty!!! Oh, and quick funny story. As I was getting Cali ready to go trick-or-treating I was going to put some sparkles on her face. Then she informed me that Cinderella didn't wear sparkles. I told her that they were cute, and she said that the fairy god mother didn't put sparkles on Cinderella. Luckily I'm the mom and have complete control over what makeup my daughter wore that night :D. And yes, she let me put sparkles on....eventually :). They were cute!

Here's Cali and Isaac (aka: Linus) at my mom's.

I thought this picture was so cute. What a helpful girl I have getting Isaac to look :P. hehe!

Here's my cute mom and Isaac. I thought he made a cute Linus...even though it's hard to tell he's dressed up :).

Here's my kids at our front door on Halloween night. I can't believe this is the only good pic I got of them! Oh, and if you're wondering what's on Isaac's shirt it's a name tag saying that he's Linus. I just figured that was easier than a million people asking what he was suppose to be :).

Of course we had to get some cool pics of our awesome pumpkins :).

This one turned out so great! Good job on the pic JR!

I hope you all enjoyed a happy and safe Halloween! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go eat my children's candy :D. Yummy!

Pumpkin Carving

2008-10-31T12:52:00.010-06:00

It has been FOREVER since I've carved pumpkins. I think it's one of those activities that I want to do for Halloween, but never end up getting around to it. Well, thanks to some free pumpkins from my parents, we decided to make sure we carved pumpkins this year. Cali was also good to not let us forget :). So, for FHE this week we carved pumpkins. I felt bad because there wasn't much Cali could do when we got started. It would have been a little tricky for her to cut the pumpkin, but she did pick out the face she wanted and was still excited watching JR and I carve, so all in all it was a really fun activity for everyone (well, except for maybe Isaac who I'm sure felt neglected :). Enjoy the pics of our creations!

This is the face Cali picked out: a scary scream face. I think it's a great likeness, don't you? :D I carved this one for her and she enjoyed watching me.

Here's Isaac with his Isaac inspired pumpkin. JR drew this one based off of Isaac. I think it turned out great! Look at that resemblance! JR has a gift for carving pumpkins :).

Here's me with my pumpkin of choice: StrongBad. Yeah for homestarrunner pumpkin pencil sketches!

Here's JR's pumpkin of choice: Homsar from homestarrunner. It's pretty funny if you're familiar with the website :).

Here's a better look at the Isaac pumpkin. Kinda creepy, but still cute :).

Here's my sexy husband and all the pumpkins. I think his face is a mixture of Homsar and the scream face from Cali's pumpkin...nice :D. JR and I each did two, and it didn't even take as long as I thought! We're definitely going to make this a yearly tradition.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Primary Program Sunday

2008-10-27T11:38:00.005-06:00

For those of you who don't know, I'm the first counselor in my ward's primary presidency. I just got called a few months ago. My first main order of business: write the October primary program. Needless to say, I put it off as long as I could. I didn't know how to be in the primary presidency, let alone put together a compilation of things the children have learned throughout the year in a meaningful yet 'simple enough for the kids to memorize' way.

This month has been focused on practicing with the kids and fine tuning everything. I have to admit, I was more stressed and nervous that I expected. But deep down I knew that the kids would pull it off. And, of course, they did - and then some. It went so well and I was so proud of the kids. People kept telling me what a great job I did, but I know it wasn't me. I couldn't have done it without the kids! :) Almost all of the kids had their parts memorized and everything went smoothly. I have to say my favorite part, without being biased of course :), was Cali. She's a little sunbeam and the only one in her class that would have been willing to sing a solo. That's right, Cali stood up at the very beginning of our program and sang "I Am a Child of God" a capella. She sang the first few lines and then the rest of the primary sang along with her. It was really beautiful and Cali did a perfect job. I loved that the kids sang it without accompaniment. They really sounded great and it was a perfect start to our program. Cali had both sets of grandparents watching her, as well as many aunts and uncles. They couldn't have been prouder :). Cali also did really well with her speaking part. She had a whole scripture memorized, reference and all.

It was fun being involved with the primary program this year. I've gotten to know the kids in primary more, and hopefully they've gotten to know me. They really brought a special spirit to our sacrament meeting, and I felt privileged to be a small part of that. It was really fun working with Cali and JR too. JR is over the senior primary music, and he was a HUGE help with the kids. So, thanks JR! I couldn't have done it without you! I also have to thank the amazing women who are in the primary presidency with me. They're so much fun to work with and it made doing the primary program that much easier. Thank you thank you!

Thanks also to mom and dad Weeks and family, and mom and dad Peterson and family for coming and supporting me and my family. Cali loved it, and it really meant a lot to me :).

Here's pics of my kids yesterday, sporting their new outfits for the special day :).

Cali looked so big in her new outfit :). I was so proud of her!

Isaac looked so big and handsome in his new church outfit - tie and all!

Say CHEESE!

2008-10-24T13:57:00.004-06:00

Isaac handed me my camera today, after much effort picking it up off the floor :), and said, "cheese". It took only a second to figure out what he meant. So, of course I had to take a picture of his cute self - messy hair, jammies, and all :). Love that kid!

"Cheese!"

Too cute, even with drool on his chin :).

PS- Yes, I know he needs a haircut :). Poor kid won't be able to see soon!

Happy Birthday Angelica!!!

2008-10-22T21:42:00.010-06:00

So, since I didn't get to talk to my friend Angelica today to wish her a happy b-day (because she's off having fun at Disneyland! - I know, jealous) I though I'd send her birthday wishes via the www. And with that, I had to dig out my old photos of us from way back when to add. Ok, so it's only from about ten years ago because the rest of the pics are still at my mom's house. But I could get a pic from like 25 years ago if I found my old picture box... What I'm trying to say is that we've been friends FOREVER. We grew up across the street from each other and have been best friends since we were basically born. It was so nice growing up and being able to just run across the street if I needed someone to talk to. So much better in person than on the phone. Not to mention all the sleepovers, breakfast/lunch/dinners, late night talks, tanning in her backyard, double dates, getting ready together before school, help with boyfriend troubles, riding our tricycles, eating popsicles in the rain.... you get the idea :). We always said when we got older that we'd be next door neighbors. Too bad that hasn't happened...yet :). With marriage, work, family, and everything else we don't get to chat or see each other as often as we'd like. But we still try to make some time, even if it's a quick phone call, or catching up over old pictures on my blog :D. Enjoy!

Don't you just love old photo booth pics. These are from '97, so of course we thought we were hot stuff :D. Well, I thought, Angelica succeeded :D. Raaar.

Ah, nothing like bonding moments at Girls Camp :).

I took this pic on the day we did our Dance Company photos.

I love this picture of Angelica! You're gorgeous Gel!

Angelica and Bryan in the early dating years :). We took this when JR and I were out on a double date with Angelica and Bryan. We had so much fun that night!

After Angelica got her endowments at the Jordan River Temple. I got to be her escort. How cool is that!

Angelica and Bryan's wedding day. I loved being your bridesmaid :).

The last pic of us together. I need to bring my camera more when we hang out! That last time at JR's parent's home was the best!

Love you Gel!!! I hope you had a great birthday. Miss you :)

Starting to Feel the Holiday Spirit...

2008-10-22T21:05:00.003-06:00

I know it's only mid October (which I'm still in denial about) but there are certain smells that tend to get me excited about the holidays. Today JR was in the mood for cookies. I had seen an easy pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe on my friend Sharla's blog and, since we had a leftover can of pumpkin from last season, we thought we'd give it a try. Oh, and by 'we' I mean JR (but in my defence I was getting some dinner ready). So JR started whipping the cookies together and before I knew it my home smelled like pumpkin spice. It gave me this warm and cozy feeling, like I needed some peppermint hot chocolate and a fire place. And it made me excited for snow and all the holidays that are associated with this time of year. Now, don't get me wrong, I can go a few weeks or longer without having to deal with the cold, and snow. But all of the other things associated with this time of year I'm starting to really get excited about. Either that, or those cookies were just really really good :).

For those of you wishing to join me in this moment of holiday spirit, here's the cookie recipe (thanks Sharla!):

Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 Spice Cake Mix (or white/yellow cake mix plus cinnamon & pumpkin pie spice)

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin

1 cup chocolate chips (or more if you like :)

Mix & bake at 350 for 13-15 minutes.

Again, these were super easy and super yummy. Just make sure you have a glass of milk handy. You're definitely going to need it!

Girls Weekend

2008-10-15T14:59:00.013-06:00

Last weekend my girlfriends from high school and I all got together for a fun over-nighter. We ate at Cheesecake Factory (yum!), we watched improv comedy at the Off Broadway Theatre in Salt Lake, and we stayed overnight at the Hilton Suites hotel. We never get to see each other, so every little while we try to get together for some bonding time. This weekend was so much fun I think we definitely need to make it an annual event.

As my friend Jenny and I were waiting to get into the Cheesecake Factory (we waited for over an hour and a half! But it was worth it :) we ran into another friend from high school, Lisz. How lucky are we! We had a great time catching up, and it made the wait go by much quicker :).

Us girls at Cheesecake Factory. Melisa, Jenny, Tiffany, and me.

Hanging out before the improv comedy show.

We got Melisa and Tiffany up on stage. They did such a great job!

Enjoying our cheesecake after the improv show. Shannon couldn't do dinner or the show with us, but she joined us at the hotel. Melisa, me, Tiffany, and Shannon (with Jenny taking the pic :).

Out hotel was so nice! It had a kitchen, living room, and a separate room for the bedroom and bathroom. We had a blast there. We stayed up until after 4 am before we decided to crash. We had a lot to catch up on!

Jenny and I being our usual cool selves :).

On Monday we ended up going out to lunch with another high school friend Jessica. She had to work over the weekend and couldn't come, so we had lunch with her instead :).

All of us enjoying lunch at Ruby Tuesday. Tiffany, Jenny, Isaac with the sippy cup :), me, Jessica, Shannon, and her daughter Hailey. Cali was there too, but she was probably under the table or something. Crazy girl :).

A Beautiful Fall Night

2008-10-09T23:43:00.013-06:00

I love this time of year. I love the changing of the leaves and needing a light jacket. The only down side of Fall is that it's over so quickly. Some years I don't even get a chance to take a drive to see the leaves. So this year I made sure my family and I got to enjoy this beautiful season fully. We took a drive for FHE up Hobble Creek Canyon this week. It was a short drive, but gorgeous. It was so fun being outside in nature with JR and my kids. Cali and Isaac loved being outside. Especially Isaac, who, since turning 17 months, has decided to be even that much more independent. He just took off on the trail without a backward glance. Stinker :). It was so nice spending time together as a family, and getting to enjoy nature as well. I really need to do that more often!

This picture makes me smile. Isaac was totally being a boy - stomping around and loving his freedom. He looked so cute in his new jacket too :).

How beautiful is that?! It really was a perfect night to look at the leaves... and to take pictures :).

So cute. Too bad we couldn't get them each to look at the same time...

Look at those leaves! JR's not bad looking either :).

Cali busied herself with gathering leaves. They were so pretty she held on to them the whole way home and I put them on our counter for decoration.

Cali just gave him back the rock he threw. Look how happy he is!

I had to include this pic. He was so mad that JR wouldn't let him wander wherever he wanted when it was time to go home. He's a stinker, but he's cute :).

It was getting dark when we left, but it was still beautiful. We need to go back there again soon!!!

More About Me

2008-09-23T16:00:00.002-06:00

This is a fun tag I got from my friend Jenny's blog:

Write what you were doing 10 years ago, 5 years ago, and 2 years ago. Then write what you hope to be doing 2 years from now. Then tag a few friends if you want to.

Ten years ago I was in my senior year of high school. I was way into the drama of high school life (i.e. boys... stupid boys :). Luckily, I involved myself with activities that brought me out of the drama and into something I truly loved - dance. My senior year was my second year on our high school Dance Company and I was the historian. Some of my best high school memories are because of Dance Co. and the friends I had there. Luckily I've been able to keep up with some of my Dance Co. friends and we still enjoy time together every once in a while.

Luckily this picture is too small to notice how drunk I look! Not a good picture of me, but everyone else looks good :).

Here's me and my friend Jenny. Don't we just look sexy :). Oh, and btw Jenny, as I was looking through all my old pictures I realized again how many blackmail pics I have of you. Sweet :D. Maybe one day if I get bored I'll post some... :D.

My senior year dance portrait.

All my good high school girl friends at graduation.
L to R: Melisa, Jenny, Me, Tiffany, Jennifer, Jessica, and Shannon.

Another fun thing I did ten years ago was go to Europe... twice! I went the summer before my senior year with a school group and then I got to go again towards the end of my senior year with my family. It was so much fun! My dream is to go back to Paris again. I absolutely loved it there!

Here's me by the Neuschwanstein castle in Germany.

Me (on the far left) and my tour buddies by the Eiffel Tower.

I want to go back there so bad!!!

I kept dancing into my first two years of college. I was on the drill team at Snow College and I loved it even more than I loved dancing in high school. So even though it wasn't technically ten years ago I still had to include pics from that. It brings back such great memories!!! Plus, my first year at college was really a great year for me. I learned a lot about myself being on my own that first year. There's a lot of nostalgia for me at Snow College. Plus, my second year at Snow I met JR, so that was pretty great too :).

The girls on my second year of drill at Snow. That year was the best ever!!!

Ok, so these next two pics are from my first and second year on drill. I think I grew up a lot from the first one to the next. Maybe the 'not having braces' thing helped a little... :). Thank goodness I didn't meet JR until my second year! I looked much better that year :).

My first year on drill.

My second year on drill. Much better :).

Sorry, that was a lot for my 'ten years ago' part. Luckily for you, the rest isn't going to be that long :). Five years ago I was starting my last year of college at Southern Utah University. I had been married for just over two years. I got pregnant with Cali just about the time school started, so I was eight months pregnant when I graduated. It worked out great timing wise :). I was really glad I got to finish school before I had kids. I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Psychology major, Communications minor, and a 3.95 GPA. I was in the Alpha Chi National Honor Society, Psi Chi National Honor Society in Psychology, and was on the National Deans List. I never thought I'd finish college, so this was a really cool achievement for me. Sometimes I think about going back to school and getting my masters in psychology or counseling, but I think I'll wait on that for a bit.

Here's me and JR at the beginning of my senior year at SUU.
Yeah, I know, my hair was dark!

Here's me in my large eight month pregnant glory. My feet got so swollen during graduation! Oh well, much easier finishing school with Cali still in my tummy :). Oh, and look at how long my hair was! I don't think it's ever been as long as it was when I was pregnant with Cali.

Two years ago TODAY actually, JR and I moved into our first official home. We bought a town home in Spanish Fork and have been here longer than anywhere else. Stability has been nice, especially now that Cali's getting older and going to school. Two years ago I was also pregnant with Isaac. I was only a couple months along so the move wasn't bad, but feeling nauseous wasn't fun :). Luckily I had unpacking to keep me distracted from feeling sick.

Two years from now... I'm not exactly sure where I want to be. I've never been much of a planner or goal setter, but I can say that I hope to be happily married and enjoying my kids as they grow up. I haven't decided yet about baby number three. I'm playing that by ear - any by my sanity :). I do hope to be more out of debt and in a better financial situation. But I guess that's everyone's dream right :). Just like Jenny said, I hope I'm rich by then :D. As long as I'm happy and with my family, I guess nothing else really matters.

Now, I tag anyone who wants to take the time to dig out your old photos and scan them for this blog post. Trust me, it's not for the faint of heart going back to "pre-digital". Scary!

A Love Story...

2008-09-21T21:36:00.004-06:00

For those of you who haven't heard about Stephanie and Christian Nielson and the plane crash they were in a month ago, you can check out their story using the links at the bottom left column of my blog (NieNie and CJane). To sum things up they are both in an Arizona burn unit. Christian was burned over 30% of his body and Stephanie was burned over 80%. I have been touched many times by their incredible love for each other, their beautiful children, and the stories of their accident and recovery. For reasons I won't explain right now this story I read today touched me very deeply - so deeply that I needed to share it with you. It's a simple story of the love they have for each other, but it's also a very deeply moving story of what they're facing together now. Stephanie's sister Courtney (CJane) blogs about life, taking care of three out of four of Stephanie's children, and Stephanie and Christian's condition. She wrote the following story and I cried reading it. I mean sobbed...and I don't cry :). So, even though the story may seem simple, it really spoke to me. I hope you enjoy it, and remember to keep Stephanie and Christian in your prayers.

September 18th, 2008
Do you want to hear a love story?
-by Courtney

(Ok, but I must warn you, the ending is still in the works.)

When Stephanie was a teenager she fell in love. With a boy. A boy who I will call Grant. This was a remarkable occasion because Stephanie was terribly shy when it came to boys. And therefore notoriously picky. She couldn't even look at one without her cheeks turning to scarlet. But Grant was an easy going kid (who reminded me of a less-goofy shade of Shaggy from Scooby-Do) (where are you?).

Stephanie and Grant were essentially the same person on either sides of the gender spectrum. They were young teenage artists and nothing in high school was cool enough. They were cool. Then one day high school was over and Grant was preparing--as any good Mormon boy should--for his mission. This was very cool.

Then at his appointed time and place Grant was shipped to his two year mission leaving Stephanie devastated. She wouldn't eat. She couldn't sleep. And as I remember, she rolled around on the family room floor a lot, as though she were in actual physical pain. I think my mother went so far as to call the whole missionary mourning pathetic. And it went on-and-on for months. On-and-on, I tell you.

This was bad news for those of us still living in the house. Two years of this? No hope in sight either, we all agreed, because our delicate sister would never resort to dating anyone else ever. Her love and loyalty would never allow it. So she spent her days working at our father's business answering calls and filing away files. Counting dragging days . . .

But one day the phone rang at our home.

I picked it up and the caller asked for my father. I notified the caller that he wasn't around and asked if I should take a message.

The caller said yes.

So I wrote this message:

Dad, call Christian.

Then I hung up.

Next to me, on a dizzy bar stool stooped Stephanie. Shoulders slouched. Head down. Gloom. Despair. Doom. Pointless doom.

"Make sure Dad gets this message." I bossed, passing the paper to her as I was headed out.

Steph looked at the paper and BOOM! Her being startled to life.

"Did Christian really call here?"

"Yes." I said, looking curiously at my sister who suddenly had a bit of light in her soul.

"He is hot." She said back to me. "Like, really hot."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"He comes to the office to sell Dad cell phones."

And then the flush of red in her cheeks as she sat staring at my scribbled message.

"Christian." She repeated in a trance-like monotone.

And suddenly: Grant who?

In the weeks to follow Stephanie did her best to look transparently cute every day at work. One day Christian, The Charming Cell Phone Salesman, asked my little sister out. Turned out that Christian (Christian, well-named man) was not only hot, but intensely passionate, intriguing with a head full of ideas. In a month's time they were talking marriage. Young, young and why not?

But before they could meet at the altar, Christian was off to Africa to help film a documentary for a month. The night he left felt sickeningly familiar. It was Steph, rolling around on the carpet again groaning. We braced ourselves and hunkered down for a month more of her dramatics. Up until now, it may have been the longest month of my mother's life.

Then a December marriage, an October baby, moves, jobs, baby, baby, baby.

Then today.

Christian was able to visit with his young bride for the first time since their airplane crash. You'll want to know that he was strong. He told her to fight. He thanked. He prayed. Hearing this gives me the feeling Steph won't be long in recovery.

After all, Christian woke her up before . . . he can do it again.

Like Mother Like Daughter

2008-09-12T11:58:00.008-06:00

I am a BIG organizer. I recognize that everything has it's place and I love it when things are where they're suppose to be. Nice, clean, uncluttered, organized. As of about two weeks ago this trait manifested itself in Cali. All of a sudden she was organizing her room and cleaning it up ALL by herself. Next came the top drawer in our bathroom. She got after me when I didn't put the toothpaste back where she'd put it. "Mom, this is where it's suppose to be" she'd told me. I KNOW! I was so proud my buttons would have burst! - if I wore buttons :). I've come downstairs in the morning to find the dining room table cleaned off, the toys organized how she wanted them, and two towels perfectly folded up on the kitchen counter - that she'd used to wipe off the table I'm guessing. She even got after Isaac because she didn't want him moving the toys after she'd cleaned them up. "Now you know how I feel" I thought :). Last night she asked me if she could 'sort' something. I told her she could pick up some of the toys and she got all excited and went to it. She said her preschool teacher had taught them about sorting, so she wanted to practice. Thanks Ms. Adrienne! I told her she was getting to be such a big girl. "Ah, it's nothing", she responded. She's so funny :). It's so nice now having a child that understands me! She's been so much cleaner and she actually wants to help clean up. This makes her so much more grown up now. I love it, but I realize how big she really is getting, and it's kind of sad. She's just a big little person now!

Look at how organized this drawer is! Well, I guess you'd have to have seen it before, but this is even more organized than I get. She did this all on her own. I bet there's things she's organized that I haven't even noticed yet!

Here's her hair clips she organized.

Here she is organizing all her toys. It was quite the long process, but she did it all by herself and didn't even ask for help. She was so proud of herself when she was done :).

Here's her beautifully organized room. She hasn't even taken a stuffed animal to bed lately because she wants it with the other's where it's suppose to be. She's not suppose to be that big yet!

So, we'll see how long this organizing kick lasts, or if it's an ingrained part of her personality now. If nothing else I hope she goes easy on me the next time I put the toothpaste in the wrong place.

Stalling...

2008-09-03T14:33:00.005-06:00

I'm stalling, so instead of doing more important things I thought I'd give this a try. For those of you who would like to join in you're more than welcome :).

Type only ONE word for each of the questions below. It's harder than you think!!!

1. Where is your cell phone? Pocket
2. Your significant other? Sexy :D
3. Your hair? Ponytail
4. Your mother? Peacemaker
5. Your Father? Talker :D
6. Your favorite thing? Happiness
7. Your dream last night? Long
8. The room you are in? Rearranged
9 Your favorite drink? Lemonade
10. Your dream/goal? Gym
11. Your fear? Loss
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Backyard
13. Where were you last night? Home
14. What you're not? Motivated
15. Muffins? Blueberry
16. One of your wish list items? Flooring
17. Where you grew up? T-ville
18. The last thing you did? Chat
19. What are you wearing? Pink
20. Your TV? On
21. Your pet? Nope
22.Your computer? Slow
23. Your life? Good
24. Your mood? OK
25. Missing someone? Friends
26. Your car? Blue
27. Something you're NOT wearing? Shoes
28. Favorite Store? Craft
29. Your summer? Short
30. Your favorite color? Purple
31. When was the last time you laughed? Yesterday
32. Last time you cried? Forgot
33. Who will re-post this? Bloggers

Cali's First Day of Preschool

2008-09-02T17:00:00.009-06:00

I can't believe Cali's in preschool. She's getting so big! At least it's at a lady's home in my ward, so she's not too far away. Plus it's a small class with some of the other kids in the ward. I need to take baby steps I guess before I can officially send her off to "the big school" :). She has been excited about preschool all summer. We visited her preschool at the very beginning of summer, so you can imagine how long it's seemed to Cali waiting for today. I've been excited too because I know how good it will be for Cali to get out to socialize and learn. She gets so bored at our house. She had a blast today and I can't wait to hear more about what she'll be learning throughout the year.

Here she is ready to go to class. Can you tell she's excited? :)

Her teacher made all the kids bags with their names

on it for their school work.

Here's Cali with her teacher Ms. Adrienne as I was dropping her off.

She was so excited :).

p.s. - When JR got home from work tonight he asked Cali how her day was in preschool. She said, "I had a fantastic day!" She's so funny. She must get the big words from JR :).

Hogle Zoo

2008-08-31T16:27:00.000-06:00

I've been wanting to take the kids to Hogle Zoo this entire summer. My nephew Josh had a birthday and he wanted to go to the zoo on Saturday, so it was a perfect opportunity to go with my family. The only down side was that JR and Isaac didn't get to come, but it was still nice getting to spending some time with just Cali. She had a blast with her Grandma, Aunt Annika, Uncle Jay, and lots of her cousins. I really enjoyed spending time with my family also. The animals were cool too :).

The first thing we did when we got to the zoo was see the bird show. I can't remember the last time I went to it. It was really fun and Cali was so excited with everything. It was cute :).

Here's the rest of us enjoying the bird show.

Here's one of the birds flying. What a wing span!

Here's Cali and a Meerkat. I wonder what it's thinking... :).

We were waiting behind some class to see if we could see the Tiger. All of a sudden the Tiger comes right up to the glass to get a drink. What a great view! It was beautiful! ...but I was definitely glad to have the strong glass there :).

Here's the baby giraffe in front of the momma giraffe. I thought it was a cool picture...if I do say so myself :D.

Cali got tired and cranky on part of our walk, so she hung out with cousin Nathan for a little while.

I thought this pic was cool too. I caught the bear right as it had climbed out of the water and was shaking off.

Here's Cali and I enjoying the elephants. The one in this picture is over fifty years old, and she's a grandma :).

I had to get this picture of Cali. I have one just like it when I was around her age. I'll have to compare the two now :).

Here's all of us getting ready to ride the train.

After we were done I sat down by zoo entrance with my mom to relax and Cali sat and played here for about a half hour! I need one of those at my house....

Peterson Family Weekend

2008-08-25T14:51:00.011-06:00

Last weekend JR's brother Aaron was in town, along with his wife Angel and their new little girl AJ. She's the first niece I have on the Peterson side and it was so much fun getting to see her again.

Here's JR with AJ. I'm sure from their names they're going to be close :).

Isaac wasn't sure what to think about his new cousin. I'm sure he'll be tackling her in no time, though :).

Here's AJ. She's even cuter than the last time we saw her!

Here's three of the four Peterson boys (and Cali :).

L to R: Aaron (AJ's dad), Steve, and Adam

She's only three months old, but look how big she is! If you look close you can totally see drool on her mouth. I love it!

Here's Isaac dancing with his Aunt Rachel.

Isaac is always begging for food, so of course he had to beg for Grandpa's ice cream. What a stinker!

Black Family Reunion in Antimony

2008-08-19T16:18:00.002-06:00

Ok, so this was two weeks ago but I still had to post my fun family reunion. Every year my mom's family gets together at my grandparents guest ranch for a big family reunion. It's loud, there are lots of people, and you don't really sleep well, but every year I always have so much fun. I really enjoy the relationships I get to have with my family and extended family. I feel so fortunate that my family has a place to get together for the whole weekend to really become close and develop lasting relationships. The kids love it too because there's horses, a playground, and lots of space for them to run around. And they get to spend more time with their cousins. Enjoy the pics from our fun weekend!

Here's us dancing around Friday night with the cool live band they had.

JR dancing with Cali. Too cute :).

What a great mom I have. My kids sure love their grandma Weeks!

Enjoying the playground with my sister Heather.

You can't go to the ranch without riding a horse. Look at Cali all by herself. She's getting so big!

Isaac enjoyed a ride too. Cali was a good big sister and held on to him tight :).

Here's my cute grandma Black playing with Isaac. She broke her hip last year and she's been using a cane to help her get around. But she uses it a lot like President Hinckley did - she just carries it around :).

Here's me, my grandma Black, my mom, and Isaac. Four generations!

Here's Cali and her cousin Josh swinging. She purposefully made that face because I was taking a picture. What a little stinker!

Here's my grandparents Rockin' R Ranch.

Here's the inside. I love lounging in here.

Here's my dad and more of the lodge. I have so many memories here!

Here's the back of the lodge.

I love going to Antimony because it's such a beautiful little town. And at night you can see a gazillion stars!

The sunset was so beautiful I had to share it!

The view from one of the balconies. I love it here!

Here's my sister Heather getting Isaac into the cowboy spirit :).

On Saturday night we had a program and we always do skits. This one was so funny I had to share. It was a "wet t-shirt contest". Each person was given a wet t-shirt that had been frozen. The first person to undo the shirt and put it on was the winner. Most of the shirts were frozen solid and it was so funny watching everyone try to put them on. Here's my bro-in-law Jay putting his shirt on. He was the winner, but only because his shirt wasn't as frozen as the others. My dad's shirt was so frozen he put it in the microwave and it didn't even make a difference! For anyone looking, this is a really cute game idea :).

For my mom's family's skit they did a spin off of "America's got Talent". It was so funny! Here's the judges (my uncle Lance, my grandma, and my cousin's wife Molly) and my cute mom dressed up as the cow Gladis. If you know the song you'll understand :D. She was so funny!

Here was another skit my sister and some of our cousins did. It reminded me of a dance my Dance Company did in High School. It was really funny :P.

Here's my grandma and grandpa Black. It's not a family reunion without my grandpa Black singing silly songs. I know they won't be around forever and I cherish these moments.

All my mom's brothers and sisters were at the reunion, so they took a family picture. Here's my four uncles, three aunts (plus my mom :), my grandparents, and Roger (the one in the glasses) who was basically adopted into the family. There are over 100 direct descendants from my grandparents. What a family legacy they've created!

(Thanks aunt Michelle for those last two pics. I copied them off your blog :)

Breaking Dawn...finally!

2008-08-05T23:56:00.008-06:00

(Don't worry, no spoilers :)

I can't tell you all how excited I've been about Breaking Dawn coming out. I know I shouldn't be acting like a teenager, but once I started with the series I was hooked. I blame that on my sister Nicky for giving me Twilight as a gift :). Thanks Nicky! I got Breaking Dawn at about 12:10 a.m. on Saturday morning and of course I had to stay up for a few hours reading. I finished it yesterday afternoon (Monday). I have to say, for the longest book I've ever read I did pretty good on the time! Of course I had to neglect a few things, but my children have recovered nicely. hehe ;D

This book was so much different than I expected, but in amazingly good ways. I have to say that I absolutely loved it and it is my new favorite in the series. I knew from the start that it was going to be an amazing story, but having finished the book it's my favorite for so many other reasons. This is something I wasn't sure I was going to say when I started reading it. A little ways into the book I thought I was going to have to swear off Stephenie Meyer books! (OK, so that was a slight overreaction, but that's what happens when you get so caught up while you're reading :) I seriously got a little worried about a third of the way into the book (and no it wasn't because of the honeymoon stuff :), but luckily my complete addiction and curiosity won me over and I had to finish. I'm so glad I did! I have to say that this book has taught me so much about live, love, sacrifice, and about what's really most important. It's helped me realize that becoming the person I want to become isn't something that is going to just happen on it's own. It is going to take all my blood (hehe ;) sweat and tears. Anything that is worth having (or becoming) is worth fighting for. I'm not a person that gets symbolism or hidden meanings very well, but after finishing this book I was so deep in thought. Right after I finished it I couldn't wait to read it again. That was a first for me, since I'm not a big reader (or wasn't until the Twilight series :). The best part is that I didn't have to wait long because JR and I started reading it together tonight :D. Yeah! And it was actually JR's idea... I KNOW! I loved reading the other books with him and I can't wait to read this one together. I just hope I don't completely bawl in the process :).

I wish all of you out there happy reading, and let me know what you think when you're done. If the book starts to freak you out a little like it did me, I promise it'll be all worth it in the end :). I don't know if all of you will get the same things out of it that I did, but at the very least you'll hopefully appreciate and love your family more. Plus you'll get a heck of a great story!

Our 24th of July Weekend

2008-07-27T18:34:00.005-06:00

We had such a fun weekend I had to share it with all of you. On Thursday the 24th JR's family brought dinner over to our house where we ate and relaxed for the evening. The food was great and I had my first corn on the cob of the season. Yummy! Later in the evening after JR's family left I wanted to go see fireworks but JR didn't want to (I know, party pooper :D). So, I took Cali and we went and checked out Spanish Fork's firework show. It was really good and there were so many people there! It was a lot of fun doing something with just Cali and myself. I think I need to do more things just the two of us girls.

On Friday we headed up to Salt Lake to my parents home to help my sisters get things ready for a surprise party for my mom. She turned 60 last month, but we waited a little while before we threw her a party because of schedule conflicts, and because we really wanted to catch her by surprise. It turned out great!. She was so surprised and it was fun getting together with family and friends to show are love for her. Plus, we had the best cake and mint brownies (mmmmm :) that we ordered from Schmidt's pastry. I still have leftovers. They're the best!

On Saturday evening we got together with JR's family again. JR's dad took all the boys to a baseball game with his ward. So, the kids and I had fun hanging out with JR's mom and sisters. Cali sure loves spending time with them. And, any night I don't have to cook is a plus :D.

To top the weekend off we had a great Sabbath day today. Well, a great spiritual growth day I guess you could say. I got set apart as the 1st counselor in my wards primary presidency. I've never had a major calling like this before, so it'll definitely require much more from me, but I know I'll grow from it and I'm actually looking forward to stretching and serving more. Plus, I get to work with JR, since he's still the senior primary chorister. He's been so sweet and supportive with my new calling. I guess time will tell how things go, but so far I'm excited. The ladies I get to work with are amazing, so if nothing else we'll have a great time together :). Receiving this calling confirms even more to me how much Heavenly Father knows us individually and how he gives us opportunities to grow and become better. When I got called in to see the bishop, one of his counselors asked me if I was ready to receive more blessings. I knew I was in for something big (well, big for me :), but I really liked how he put what he said. I was in a position of ease and comfort with my life and I'm actually looking forward to serving more because I know that I'll be greatly blessed because of it. I just feel humbled knowing that Heavenly Father hasn't given up on me and still wants me to become all that he knows I can be with his help. Like I said, it's a humbling feeling.

So, there's my great weekend! I'm sure you're all wondering where the pictures of my adventures are, but apparently I forgot I had a camera this weekend. Sorry! I hope you all had awesome weekends as well and hopefully I'll get to read about it on your blogs :).

24th of July Parade Floats

2008-07-24T11:31:00.011-06:00

On Tuesday night we took a drive up to the South Town Expo Center in Sandy to look at all the 24th of July parade floats that were on display. It really was a lot of fun! I had heard about it on the news and we're really glad we went. We don't usually go to that parade, so it was nice to see the floats up close. Plus, they had entertainment there, face painting for the kids, it was in an nice cool building, and it was free!

On the drive up to Sandy this was our view of the sky. It was so pretty, even through the car window :).

While we were there we got to vote for our favorite float. This was JR's and my favorite. It had seagulls and crickets on the float moving around. It was really cute and the theme was about still seeing miracles today.

That float also had two people dressed up like seagulls out in front talking to people. It was really entertaining. :)

It's amazing how much work goes into these floats. And some are by wards and stakes. What talented people we have in the church! :)

This was Cali's favorite float. It was Noah's Ark and it had a lot of cute animals all over it. If you look at the top right you can see Noah himself! :)

Here's Cali showing off her adorable face painted butterfly. I'm glad we got a picture because we just went home and washed it off in the bath. I wished she could have worn it longer. It was really really cute.

Here's the sunset we enjoyed on our drive home. The sky seriously looked like it was on fire. It was amazing!

The Life of a Boy

2008-07-16T14:17:00.006-06:00

Poor Isaac. Yesterday was the second time he knocked his head against the wooden cupboard by our front door. The first time he got a huge goose egg. This time he got and even bigger one. He got over it sooner than I did. It just looks so painful! It's a good thing he's got such a tough head. He also has an older battle wound on his cheek from the other day. Of course this had to happen a few days before I'm putting him in the Spanish Fork baby contest. I think he's going for the sympathy vote :).

Despite the bumps and the messy hair he looks so cute in this picture. He's started to say 'eeese' (cheese) for pictures and he gives me the sweetest smiles. I love it!

Decorating Letters Using Mod Podge

2008-07-14T14:25:00.021-06:00

I had so much fun decorating Cali's name letters and picture frame that I thought I'd share how I did it. I love to do crafts but I'm not that talented, so this was a great craft for me because it was really easy and something that anyone can do.

I started out with unfinished wooden letters and a picture frame. Then I sanded and spray painted them and let them dry for a day or so.

I went to Roberts Craft and found some cute scrap booking paper, stickers, ribbon and other items that I thought might be cute to decorate the letters with.

I decided what paper I wanted on which letters and then I cut out the paper so that it was flush with the edge of the front of the letters. I just turned the letters over and traced onto the paper. Just be careful to not mark up the letters with the pencil or pen you use to trace with.

I decorated my picture frame first because I wanted something to practice on that I didn't care about as much. It was good practice for me before I went on to the letters, and the letters turned out much better because of it.

After I had cut out all the paper I got my mod podge and poured some into a bowl. I got a sponge brush and used that to apply the mod podge. I put mod podge onto the part of the frame where I was going to put a specific piece of paper. Then I layed the paper onto the frame and smoothed it out really well to make sure every part was glued to the frame. Then I went on to the next piece of paper and did each one at a time to make sure they were all glued down really well.

After all the paper was glued down to the frame I put another layer of mod podge over the whole front of the frame to seal everything, making sure not to leave any bubbles.

I did that to all the letters after I finished the frame and I let them dry overnight. I wanted to hang my letters on the wall, so after the letters were completely dry I tacked metal hangers onto the back of each letter. Then I hot-glued ribbon and other decorations to the front of the letters.

I wanted ribbon on my letters, so I looped the ribbon through the metal hangers and made bows.

After I decided where to position each letter on the wall, I hammered one nail to hang it up on the metal hanger and I put another nail to hang the ribbon up on. Then I was done!

It was such a fun project and now Cali has letters that spell her name that are unique just for her. The matching picture frame was lots of fun too. It ties her room together and I though it was a cute addition. I hope this was helpful for any of you who would like to try this project. If you have any questions, just let me know. Have fun being crafty!

Cali's New Room

2008-07-14T13:37:00.008-06:00

I decided after a year and a half of Cali living in a boring room that it needed a change. It took me a month or two of doing things here and there, but I finally got Cali's room all put together a week or so ago. It turned out so cute I thought I'd share it with you!

Cali with her new curtains and wall letters.

She got a really cute purple prayer rug from my mom for her birthday.

It fits in her room perfectly!

Cali's shelf that I FINALLY hung up. I've had that shelf since I was in high school and just never finished it so that I could hang it up. I'm glad I finally finished it because I really love how it looks in her room.

I finally found some really cute wooden clips that I used to hang up this gorgeous quilt that JR's grandma made for Cali. It's so intricate and beautiful and I'm so glad I get to finally display it!

Cali's letters that I decorated for her room. I really like how they turned out!

The cute frame I decorated for Cali's shelf.

Now I just need to find a cute picture to put in it :).

Memories!

2008-07-11T13:28:00.003-06:00

Memory Lane...
I got this from my friend Keelee's blog. I thought it would be fun! I hope you will play along. Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.

Thanks in advance for participating!

Kid Tag :)

2008-07-10T10:48:00.011-06:00

Cali has been tagged, so I get to brag about her :). Here are ten things you may or may not know about Cali:

1- Cali's full name is Calista Rose. I love her name, but we never call her that :).

2- When Cali was 15 months old she burned her hand really badly on a hair straightener and had to go to the U of U burn center for skin grafts. She wore a burn glove for another 15 months. She's doing wonderfully now and her scared hand doesn't seem to hinder her at all. She still has to go into the U of U for appointments every year or so. The doctors will keep tabs on her until she's basically done growing to make sure her scar grows ok. She might have to have another surgery, but so far so good :).

3- Cali is one of the most sociable little girls you'll ever meet. She loves saying hi to new people, loves making friends, and is one of the nicest little girls out there :). She wins over everyone!

4- Cali has a really good ear for music. She picks out songs she's heard on the piano. The first song she picked out was "Ode to Joy", and she was just barely three years old! Her nursery teachers said she played it for them and they about died! It was really cute :).

5- Cali has an incredibly good memory. She remembers songs on the radio and will tell me the names of songs after hearing them only two or three times. Yesterday she heard the name Crystal and she said, "Mom, that was the name of the lady who helped clean my teeth." It took me a minute to remember what she was talking about because it had been a month since we went to the dentist, but she still remembered the name of the dental hygienist.

6- Cali has always been a really good eater, but lately she's been taking after her dad as to some of the things she likes to eat. She's been eating green olives and she even ate some salt and vinegar potato chips JR gave her. She DEFINITELY gets that from JR.

7- Cali has a really good imagination. I don't get phased now when Cali talks about playing with monsters and queens and turtles named Shelby. She might even have an imaginary friend or two... :). She is always making up songs and stories and jokes. She's quite the entertainer :).

8- Along with Cali having a good ear for music, she has excellent rhythm. If she's not singing a song she's clapping out the rhythm. She's been like that for as long as I can remember. When she did her little dance camp performance a few weeks ago she was really on beat with the music, and that was her first official week of dance - ever! Maybe it's the dancer in me that wants Cali to dance too, but I really think she loves dancing and I know she has a good ear for it :).

9- Cali is an excellent communicator and has been since she was really young. She LOVES to talk and if you're willing she'll talk to you forever (can't imagine where she gets that from ;). She is very articulate and likes learning and using new and big words. She definitely gets that from her dad :). Cali recently gave her first talk in primary. Out of the other kids in her class that participated she was the only one that you could understand perfectly. She did such a good job :).

10- Cali is such a good big sister. She loves Isaac and plays with him really well. She loves making him laugh and is always giving him hugs and kisses. She's a good little babysitter too and if I'm in the other room she'll tell me if Isaac is getting into things or if he needs me. She's a really good helper and I don't know what I'd do without her!

Cali would now like to tag Brianne Skowronek, Kyle Jennings, Jordyn Pearson, Kurt Benson, Ethan Millette, and Caleb Winfree.

Isaac Walks!!!

2008-07-05T12:21:00.003-06:00

We didn't know if it would ever happen, but Isaac is finally walking! - well, walking more than just one or two steps :). He did his first big walking stretch yesterday and he's been doing awesome today. I think he's going to go straight to running with how fast he's walking. Maybe I didn't want him walking just yet... :). It seems appropriate that he's really starting to walk on his 14 month birthday (today) since his dad walked at 14 months too. Like I said in my last post, like father like son!

Happy Fourth!

2008-07-05T12:00:00.008-06:00

Happy Fourth of July everyone! It was such a fun day, and even nicer that it was on a Friday so we have Saturday to recover :). We hung out with JR's family and went swimming and had a BBQ. JR and I also got to take Cali to go see the new movie Walle. Thanks Rosalie for watching Isaac for us! Cali had a blast, since this was only the second movie she's ever seen in the theatre. It was SUCH a cute movie and we highly recommend it. Here's a few pics of our Fourth of July adventures:

Like Father like Son. I love this pic but they both have their eyes closed! Isaac had a blast playing in the shallow water. He kept wanting to explore where it was deeper. I told him if he walked he could explore more, but he didn't pay any attention to me :).

Here's everyone chillin after swimming.

Isaac had lots of fun eating treats on grandma's lap.

Cali had a blast with these bubbles at the BBQ. So did Isaac :).

Yeah, Isaac liked the bubbles :).

Cali with her first sparklers.

Just Showing Off... :)

2008-07-01T11:07:00.010-06:00

Ok, so I've been meaning to post these pics for two months now. These are Isaac's one year old pictures. I know they're two months old, but they're so dang cute I just had to share them. Enjoy!

Such a sweet little face.

Look at that big smile :D.

Isaac with his daddy.

This picture makes me laugh.

It's like Isaac is saying, "Man, getting old is rough!"

He's so darn cute.

This picture is my favorite! He's such a ham!

More cuteness... :).

There was a bunch more I could have posted, but I decided not to get too carried away :).

Taylorsville Days Fireworks!

2008-06-29T16:20:00.009-06:00

I love Taylorsville Days fireworks. We get to walk to the park by my parents home and just lay on the grass. The fireworks are right over our head and there's never a bad spot. Cali really loved the fireworks. Isaac wasn't quite sure what to think at first, but after a little while he was so tired that I don't think he really minded laying down and watching. As long as I get to watch the Taylorsville Days fireworks I'm usually good with not needing to see anymore for the rest of the season. Not because I don't want to, but because it's such a good show and we have such a good view that it fills my firework quota for the year. Plus, it's always a lot of fun getting together with my family and enjoying them together.

Here's Cali with her cousin Brianne. They had SO much fun together at the park. With all the boy cousins I'm glad they have each other to be girly together.

Here they are watching fireworks. It's so fun now that Cali is getting old enough to really enjoy things like this. Watching fireworks brings you back to when you were little and in awe by how big and bright and loud they are.

It's the best!

Here's us snuggling watching the fireworks.

There's no better way to enjoy them!

There never as cool on film, but they're still cool.

Isaac was so tired, but I think he still enjoyed just chillin' with dad watching the fireworks.

Happy Birthday Mom

2008-06-29T16:00:00.005-06:00

Friday was my Mom's 60th birthday. We got to celebrate it on Saturday before we went to watch fireworks for Taylorsville Days. It was a lot of fun surprising my mom, even if it was just with a (yummy yummy) cake :). I have to take a moment to express how much I love my mom. She is the kindest most angelic person I know. I am so blessed to have been raised by such a sweet and always loving mother, and I'm continually blessed because of her. My children absolutely love their grandma. No matter how many grandkids she has she always makes each one feel loved and extra special. I love you mom and I'm so grateful that I have you. You are such an example of Christ-like love and living and I hope I can become more of who you are. Happy Birthday Mom. I love you!!!

My mom's so cute. She doesn't look a day over 29!

...or five, according to Cali :).

Here's the yummy Cold Stone ice cream cake. It was to die for!

Enjoy your leftovers mom. You deserve it! :)

Cali's First Dance Recital

2008-06-29T15:19:00.006-06:00

This past week Cali went to her first dance classes. I've been meaning to put her in dance for forever and finally signed her up for a little dance camp. She went every day for an hour and a half and then performed what she learned on Saturday. She loved every minute of it and was so excited that she was going to get to perform at the end of the week. It was a teddy bear dance camp, so everyday she got to bring her bear and practice dancing with it for one of the dances. She did such a good job on Saturday. She smiled and danced in rhythm and had such a great time performing what she learned. Of course she was the best little dancer of the group, but then again I was really only looking at her :). She did do a really good job, though. For having never had a dance class before, she learned all the steps and was one of the only ones doing the steps at the right time. It's no wonder I was completely proud of her. She's so cute to watch and I can't wait to sign her up for more dance classes because I know she'll have a blast - and I'll love living vicariously through her :).

Here's Cali showing one of the things she learned this week: first position.

Look at those perfectly positioned little feet! Too cute :).

Here she is getting ready to perform her bear dance. Her dance teacher helped the girls make their costumes. They were really cute :).

After Cali finished her first dance she did a bow like this one and held it for like 10 seconds. I was mad because I had stopped videoing right before she did her bow, so I had her do it for me again. It's too cute - it makes me laugh :).

Here she is showing off her bear pose. She looked so cute and grown up performing. Especially since she got to wear makeup. What a pretty little girl :).

For those of you who are wondering, yes she's wearing her Snow White princess costume. Since the girls were so young her teacher said that they could wear whatever dress-up costume they wanted too. Since I haven't gotten Cali any dance clothes yet, she wanted to wear this. She had lots of fun getting dressed up and putting on makeup. I'm glad she got some more use out of her Halloween costume...again :).

Finally...

2008-06-29T15:00:00.006-06:00

We FINALLY gave Cali a haircut. She has only had one haircut her entire life, and that was when she was 18 months or so. Her hair has just grown in unevenly, so I didn't quite know what to do with it. Plus, I was worried about cutting off her curls. But it was getting so long in the back that I finally had to trim it. I ended up cutting off more than I thought, but it still looks cute. Her curls are still there, but it takes a little more effort to make them really curly. Her hair looks a lot better though, and much thicker. I still can't believe she's only had two haircuts. I think I need to be more on top of this when it's time for another one :).

Cali's long pretty blonde hair before we cut it.

It looked so short to me after we cut it! But it's not that short. I think I just freaked out a little bit, cutting my little girls hair and all. Maybe I'm just in denial that she's getting so big...yeah, probably :).

Weeks Sand Dunes Camp Out

2008-06-22T16:17:00.014-06:00

For the past few years my oldest brother Tim has put together an annual Weeks family camp out at the Little Sahara Sand Dunes. We get to ride 4-wheelers, motorcycles, and other fun sand dunes toys, as well as enjoy family time and the great outdoors. All of my family came this year, including my younger brother Jeff who flew in from a summer job in Texas. Besides enjoying food (thanks Tim!) and conversation, we also celebrated all the June birthdays. This included Cali, so of course she had a blast opening up presents and blowing out her cupcake candle.

This year was JR's and my first time sleeping over. We've been party poopers in the past (according to my family) and never really slept overnight. This year we had no excuse, with my brother Tim loaning us his huge tent and air mattresses. I have to say, for sleeping in a tent, I was so comfy! I would have gotten great sleep too...if it wasn't for the party going on at the campsite next to us. It's difficult sleeping when there's loud 4-wheelers zooming past your tent until five a.m. So, other than getting no sleep and getting sand all over, we had a great time. Cali loved playing with her cousins and going on the 4-wheelers. Isaac loved eating and being outside. JR and I loved spending time with my family, and taking a shower and a nap when we got home :). JR and I don't consider ourselves very out-doorsy, but I guess when you get to spend time with the ones you love it makes all the dirt, heat, and no sleep worth it :).

Here's me and Isaac enjoying some camp snuggle time :).

Here's everyone who got to celebrate their birthday at the Sand Dunes:

Brianne, Cali, Jaryn, Erin, mom, and Steve. Happy Birthday!!!

Here's my mom reading a cute poem that went along with the

Prayer Rugs she made for Cali and Brianne. They're so cute. Thanks mom!

I'm pretty sure Cali loved her present... :).

Here's JR and Isaac chillin'. Isaac is trying to attack that huge pretzel.

I bet you can't guess who won that fight... :).

Here's Cali and Isaac relaxing in our tent. Luckily they seemed to sleep ok.

Here's everyone bright eyed on Saturday morning :).

At least we had a yummy pancake and bacon breakfast to get us out of bed.

Well... that and the heat.

"Look dad, my head is as big as yours!"

Here's Cali and uncle Cory getting ready to take a ride. Poor Cali - I had put sunscreen on her face but all it did was attract dirt. She looks like a raccoon! At least she still had a blast, despite getting sand in her eyes.

Date Night...finally :).

2008-06-20T13:57:00.000-06:00

For those of you who read my Lagoon post, since the power went out last Saturday while we were there JR and I got to go again for free! Thanks to JR's family who watched our kids, we got to have a Lagoon date night on Thursday. It was so much fun! We got to go on the big rides that we like (including the new Wicked ride which was so much fun) and we didn't feel bad about bailing out early since we got in free. Apparently we're too old now to hang out at Lagoon all day. So, we went to Lagoon for a few hours and then decided to jet back to SL for some Olive Garden. It was such a fun day. We need to have more date nights just the two of us because it really helps to strengthen our relationship...as I'm sure it does to everyone :).

We don't have any fun Lagoon pics because we didn't take our camera for fear it would get broken on the rides. But, thanks to my sis-in-law Anna, we do have some way cute pics of the kids playing at Grandma's. They had so much fun playing in the water. Thanks Peterson family for letting JR and I have a date night. You're the best!!!

Cali sporting her new swimming suit.

The hat was from last year, but I guess it still works :).

Here's Cali and aunt Rachel playing in the sprinklers.

It took Cali a few tries to get use to it, but after that she had a blast :).

Seriously, I know I'm his mom, but how cute is he!

Here's Isaac playing wearing his new swimming suit.

He didn't really enjoy the water, but the toys were ok :).

I thought this pic was cute. Thanks Anna!

Visit JR's Blog!

2008-06-17T11:14:00.004-06:00

JR just recently created a blog called "One Great Whole". In it he shares his views on gospel principles and his own personal insights that are truly inspired. Some of the posts are long, but definitely well worth the read. He has such an amazing ability to express himself, and the insights he shares will bring joy and peace to your life. Please take the time to check it out. Leave a comment too of your thoughts. It's a work in progress, and JR loves feedback :).

Here's the link: http://www.onegreatwhole.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

JR's Work Lagoon Day

2008-06-16T10:28:00.020-06:00

JR's work had a Lagoon Day on Saturday. Although JR and I didn't get to go on any big rides, Cali and Isaac sure had fun, so it was all worth the trip :). Cali was so brave and went on lots of rides. Isaac enjoyed being outside and riding the merry-go-round, the ferris wheel, and the train.

Just before we were about to leave Lagoon the power went out. Cali and JR were waiting in line for the final ride when it happened. The lady working the ride said that the last time the power went out was two years ago. We didn't feel too gypped because we were going to head out soon anyways. The cool thing, though, is that from now until the end of this month we can take our ticket stubs back to Lagoon for a free admission to make up for the power going out. Yeah! Now JR and I can go back and ride the big rides for free! Now we just need to find a babysitter... :).

Isaac playing with Dad :).

This was Isaac's first ride. He was so timid - it was cute :).

Cali had was so excited to ride the merry-go-round.

Here's us getting ready to ride the train.

I love this picture :). Cali and Isaac are both 'oooing' at the animals we saw on the train ride. The tiger actually roared for us!

Here's Cali and I on the new kiddy swings.

I love rides that the parents can enjoy too :).

Isaac got thirsty enough that he figured out the sippy cup.

He had a blast with it after that :).

After we left Lagoon we went to my parents home to hang out and cool off. We had fun riding scooters and Cali and Isaac had fun hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa :).

Here's Cali on her scooter ride with my brother Cory:

She had a lot of fun, if you can't tell :).

Here's Isaac trying to escape down the sidewalk.

At least he's saving his knees from the concrete :).

Happy Father's Day JR

2008-06-15T12:51:00.014-06:00

I needed to take a moment today to pay tribute to my husband JR, the father of our two beautiful children. Words cannot express the love I have for him. That love has increased exponentially as I've watched him be a dad. When we first had Cali it was a little bit of a struggle for him. He wanted so much to be a loving patient father, but, not having had an example of one from his own father, it was hard for him to know exactly how to be a good dad. Having children sometimes brings out the best and worst in us all. JR has been determined ever since to be the best dad he could be, and I believe he had reached his goals and then some. My love for him grows every day as I see him playing with our children, teaching them, singing to them, loving them. He's more patient and loving than me!

To give you just a small taste of what an amazing dad JR is, this morning JR got up early with Isaac, fed him, changed TWO poppy diapers, fed Cali, and played with the kids so that I could get a little extra sleep. He wasn't even grouchy! I am so blessed to have JR as a husband and as an amazing father. Our children are blessed because of his love. Thank you JR for all that you do. Our children could not have a better father, and I could not have a better husband.

Here's some fun pics of JR and the kids, being such a good dad :).

Dancing with Cali at Angelica's wedding.

Enjoying Christmas morning with Cali.

Enjoying snuggle time with Isaac in the hospital.

Reading to Cali and Isaac. I love this picture :).

Cali getting into trouble for running off. JR is such a good dad, disciplining firmly, but with love.

Happy Father's Day JR. We love you!!!

Idaho Falls Trip

2008-06-09T15:38:00.019-06:00

On Sunday we got to enjoy spending more time with JR's family, especially our new little niece A.J. who got blessed. It's hard to remember just how little your kids use to be until you hold a newborn again. She's so sweet and snugly :). It was so much fun visiting JR's brother Aaron and his wife Angel. We've never been up to where they live in Idaho Falls, so having little A.J. blessed was the perfect opportunity. After church and lunch we went to see the Idaho Falls Temple. It's beautiful, so of course I took way too many pictures :). The whole weekend was so much fun - spending time with family and enjoying a mini vacation (any night at a hotel counts as a vacation right?! :).

Baby Angel Jane (A.J.). She's so cute! She's also my first niece on JR's side of the family, so that makes her extra special :).

A.J. and Grandma Peterson.

JR being a good dad - trying to corral Isaac so he didn't destroy Aaron's house. That's no small task! Look at Isaac's face - it says, "Dad put me down, there's stuff I haven't sucked on yet!"

The Hickmans (Angel's family) were up for the weekend too, which made it even more fun!

Enjoying chat around the table :).

Here's my beautiful sis-in-law Anna. She's such a great aunt :).

JR, me, Rachel, Cali, and Anna enjoying the falls by the temple.

It is such a gorgeous temple. What a perfect location!

All the animals on the water by the temple.

Ok, I know I'm retarded, but this picture makes me laugh. It looks like the goose has called a meeting for the other ducks (and the seagulls - that were pretending to be ducks in the water so they could get food too). hehe! Hey, maybe that's what the meeting is about - getting rid of those pesky seagulls so that they could have all the food....Ok, I'll stop now. :-D

It was a little windy, but still a beautiful day.

Idaho Falls, Idaho Temple

Happy Birthday Cali!

2008-06-09T14:11:00.021-06:00

This month has been so crazy. There's only four people in our little family, but we've celebrated three birthdays and an anniversary in the past month. Apparently we don't like to spread things out :). As hectic as it's been, it's also been a blast.

We ended our hectic birthday month with a trip to Idaho Falls to visit JR's brother Aaron. He and his wife Angel blessed their new little girl A.J. on Sunday. So, we thought since all the Peterson's would be there, and it was Cali's birthday on Saturday, why not make it even more special for Cali and celebrate her birthday there. The only worrisome part was transporting Cali's 'purse' cake from Spanish Fork, but luckily that went without a hitch, so everything was great! Cali was so excited all day and couldn't wait to get to Idaho to have her party. Her party was so much fun. All I can say is that Cali got SPOILED! I knew that would happen, simply because she would have been spoiled just from the presents JR and I got her, but add the family gifts on top and she made a killing! Of course she didn't mind though. She even told people proudly that she got spoiled. It was so fun watching her face as she opened each gift and got so excited...even if she didn't quite know what the gift was at first :).

As crazy and silly and talkative as my daughter is, she's still so very sweet and I couldn't be more proud to be her mom. She's getting so big and is continuing to blossom into such a beautiful little girl. JR and I know we're in trouble when she's older :). JR and I love her so much and look forward to many more birthdays and special occasions with her. But more than that, I look forward to the everyday things that bring me joy and make me realize how blessed I am to be her mother. Happy 4th Birthday Cali! We love you!

Cali picked out this cake over six months ago and never changed her mind. I didn't mind, because it's cute and very easy :). I thought it turned out cute, don't you think! I mean, what four year old doesn't need a purse cake complete with candy jewelry, candy lipstick, and chocolate money!

It was so cute - Cali was so excited for me to bring her cake in, and once I did she immediately blew out the candles. I almost said, "Wait, you forgot to make a wish!", but then I figured she was already going to get spoiled so she wouldn't be any worse off :).

She got some Scooby Doo Cartoons from her Grandma Peterson. She was so excited because she loves watching those cartoons with her Aunt Rachel.

What little girl doesn't want a princess wrap and wand. Even her eleven year old Aunt Rachel was jealous!

It was so sweet, Rachel's friend bought this for Cali. You should have seen the look on her face when she opened up her princess phone! Now she had a direct line to all the Disney princesses...whom she calls frequently :).

Cali LOVED her candy bracelet, necklace, and lipstick (that she's sucking on in the picture, and in about half of the other pictures we took :). I also let her wear one of her new shirts, which looked SO cute on her!

It was so much fun celebrating Cali's birthday in Idaho. Thanks Aaron and Angel for letting us use your home. It was a great party and Cali had a blast!

Here's an after-party picture of Cali and Rachel playing with Cali's new toys and eating cake. Cali loved playing with the 'money' that was around her birthday cake. She didn't even realize, until chocolate started oozing out from the warmth of her hands, that the coins were filled with chocolate.

She's so funny :).

I swear there's some inner biological clock that kids have that tells them they're having a birthday. When Cali was about to turn three, and again when she was about to turn four, she kicked up the drama another notch. It's like her body instinctively knew it was getting older so she was suppose to become an even bigger stinker. Case in point, when we were driving up to Idaho Cali had to ask a million times if we were there yet (I think that phrase is inborn as well :). So, finally I told her, "Cali, you'll know we're there when we get out of the car." Cali responded, "But that doesn't MEAN anything?!" JR and I started laughing so hard. I know that phrase doesn't mean anything, but she wasn't suppose to figure that out until she was a teenager! What a stinker :).