Wild, Wild West!

Jason and I were invited to celebrate our friend, Jenn Broderick's, 30th Birthday a couple weeks ago. This wasn't any normal, run of the mill birthday party, however. This was a Mystery Dinner Party and the theme was a Poker Tournament held in the good 'ole Wild West. So Jason and I were assigned to play certain characters and it was asked that you get dressed up. So, we did along with everyone else who came to the party and a great time was had by all. The food was delicious and the company was fun, even if we were discussing a murder (Jason was the victim).

So, thanks to the Hartmans and Tyson who hosted the party! We had such an awesome time, and thanks to Karissa for watching Kamryn for us that night! We are blessed with such rad friends. (I've really been into that word lately).

I got Jason a fake cigar....I think he enjoyed it too much. :-)




















The Sheriff with the businessman (who ended up dead).





















The birthday girl with her bartender husband, Tyson.
















An outlaw with his woman....who used to be someone else's woman, etc.....















The hosts of the party who let us use their home.

Picking the perfect Tree

Every year, Jason and I debate about whether we should get a fake tree or get us another real tree and so far, the real tree has one out every time. I'm assuming it will keep winning each year until maybe we're older and the kids are gone from the house....we have a ways to go with that.

We just can't get enough of that fresh pine scent and the fun we have going to a lot and picking out the "perfect tree." Kamryn enjoys it too!

Zee greatest zinger in da world!!!!!

Thanks to my husband Jason (and a little guilt tripping by his wife) I was able to attend the Celine Dion concert the first week of December. This has been a dream of mine for a long time. I always thought that I would see her concert in Vegas but time flew by and that never happened. So, when I found out she was going on tour I knew it had to be now and never. So, it was now! Of course, Jason is not the hugest Celine Dion fan which is understandable considering her music is mostly love ballads and such so I was able to take a friend with me. Karissa had recently taken me to see "Wicked" so I thought I would return the favor. She is a huge Celine Dion fan like myself so we had a great time together!















Here is a video of her singing her new hit, "Taking Chances," just in case anyone cares to listen to one of the greatest singing voices of our time. :-) Enjoy! Oh, and please forgive the video movement. I couldn't help but move with the beat.

Thankful for Thanksgiving!

I figured most of you were tired of looking at ultrasound pictures being that most of them look more like an alien than a baby. So, I'm finally gettin' around to posting some Thanksgiving pictures. We spent it in Arizona with my brother Jeremy and his family, my brother Aaron and his wife Whitney, and my Mom. We had such a fantastic time. I am blessed with sister in laws who can really cook. :-)

Our wonderful hosts! Thanks Jeremy and Mary for hosting such a wonderful weekend!















Aaron and Whitney intently working on baking a scrumptious Apple Pie. Seriously, one of the best I've ever had.















Some of us gathered at the beautifully decorated table. Such good eats too!















Kamryn has slept through her past two Thanksgivings. She pretty much slept through this one also but was able to join us right at the end. Of course, she wouldn't try anything.

It's a .....

Boy!!!!!!

What almost was, but wasn't

So here is Kamryn all puppy-like about a week or so before Halloween. Don't be fooled, as I believe Amy explained, this did not happen on Halloween. What a fight she put up, and, yes, she was the victor, Amy and I, the losers. Anyway, for your viewing pleasure, here is evidence that Kamryn was fully prepared to be a puppy for Halloween, and that I, Jason, called it. Glad we kept the tag on and were able to take it back.

Overview of October

You know, I never thought I would be one of those people who was always trying to play catch up on their blogs. I liked that I was never more than a week behind on the blog. But this pregnancy has thrown me for a loop and I can't seem to catch back up. I'm 18 weeks and still feel sick so either I'm having a boy (because I was done being sick by now with Kamryn) or I'm having another girl who loves to play mean tricks on me. I'll find out next Tuesday so I'll keep you all posted.

Anyway, being that I was feeling crappy in October, I didn't take a lot of pictures when I was able to get out of the house so I figured I could do the month of October in one post. That'll catch me up quicker.

RILEY'S FARM

We did take our traditional trip to Rileys Farm to pick out our pumpkins. We went with our friends, the Hartmans and the Silagyis. Here are some pictures of some of the kids.
















Colin and Kamryn walking together, holding hands. Seriously Cute!















HANGIN' WITH FRIENDS AT DON JOSE!!!!















MY BROTHER, HUSBAND, and BROTHER IN LAW.....MODELS FOR OLD NAVY!















PUMPKIN CARVING TIME!















You may be wondering where her costume pictures are....she's 2. Wonder no more. Her? Wear a costume? However, when Jason gets back from San Diego I'll have him post the video we have of her in her puppy costume...she only wore it at home for us once and never again.

LA County Fair

Yes, it was soo long ago, but I still want to record it for journalistic integrity. It did happen and I have pictures to prove it. That was the first week of my long journey through pregnancy sickness. We had received free tickets from our wonderful friends and even though I felt like crap, I was determined to not let those tickets go to waste. I didn't want to deprive my family of a fun evening out either. So, we went and really had a great time. We enjoyed walking around, watching the mini parade, going to see all the animals and enjoying a funnel cake to end the evening.
















I always wanted to be a chicken. (Anyone ever see "Return to Oz") :-)
















Our very last stop was to visit ZOLTAR!! We even forked over our precious quarters (laundry money) to get our fortune told by this wise piece of almost real-like machinery. Was it worth it? I'm still asking myself that question.....

Re-living my 30th!

Now that I'm feeling a tad bit better, I thought I'd slowly start catching up on the last couple of months events. The first beginning with my 30th birthday celebrations. My wonderful husband planned two surprise events: one with friends from my ward and the other with some family at Claim Jumper.

It was awesome to have some of my good friends around to celebrate my special day. Thanks Teresa, for letting us party at your house.



























































Thanks Karissa for making such fabulous cupcakes and taking the time to decorate them all so wonderfully. If you guys look closely, you'll see a Disney cupcake, a music cupcake, a "Wicked" cupcake, and a Lakers and Angels cupcake! She knows all my favorite things! It was awesome. Thanks Jason for getting my friends together, buying everyone pizza and making this such a special night.

















And thanks to my family for also celebrating with me. A special thanks goes out to Aaron and Whitney, who took time out of their day at Disneyland to celebrate with me. That meant a lot guys! Love you all and thanks to everyone who made my birthday rock!

Let's just get it out there!

So, since most everyone knows now I'll just get it out there so then everyone really knows and so that everyone understands why I hate blogging right now. I'm pregnant....about 14 weeks pregnant and I heard the strong heartbeat last week. :-) I'm also sick. SOOOOOOOO grateful to be pregnant after a year of trying and I wouldn't trade being sick for anything if it means I get to have another child. However, this blogging thing is really the last thing on my agenda. It's all I can do to just sit here and type this right now. I'm hoping that the sickness will end soon and my enthusiasm for my old way of life will return. I'm sure Jason and Kamryn are hoping to get their wife and Mommy back.
Anyhow, my due date is May 6th and I'll find out what I am having in about 5-6 weeks so I'll be sure to let everyone know. I do promise to catch up eventually with events in our lives but it will come slowly. Unless Jason becomes more of a blogging enthusiast and he takes over (but he is already doing more than he usually does around here so that may not happen). I should be getting over this sickness hump soon.

So, you're sick of the cookie monster huh???

Well, quite frankly, I'm sick of the entry too....So many things have happened since then....like me turning 30, going to the LA County Fair, picking pumpkins at the Riley Farm Pumpkin Patch and other such events. And being the avid blogger that I once was, it seems unusual to many of you that it has taken me sooooo long to post anything new. Right? I guess it's just a phase....that will end shortly. Just let me take one more week off and then I promise you will get so many new entries you will be sick of looking at my blog. We are taking a little vacation this week that I'm trying to get ready for. After we get back from that, I PROMISE to get to being the dedicated blogger I once was. Until then....go outside! Especially if you live in California. It's a great day to go to the beach (yes, even in October).

Cookie Monster!

This is what happens when you leave a bag of cookies in your purse. Kamryn knows that Mommy tends to put snacks in her purse, so whenever I leave a bag lying around she goes through it to see what goodies she can find. Well, I can't keep tabs on her at all times at home and I forget that I have snacks in my bag. So, when she walked out with this cute face, I couldn't get mad. My bad for leaving the cookies in such an accesible spot.

Bring out the Rally Monkey!

Last night, our little family headed out to attend an Angels Game. I'm trying to make it a point that we attend at least one Angels game each season...I guess I would like it to become a tradition of sorts. Anyhow, Jason and I were a bit nervous about bringing Kamryn to a game. The last time we went, Kamryn was a year old and was pretty content to sit on our lap and look around. Plus, she didn't talk quite as much. So, we worried this night would be challenging...but I'm happy to report that she did great. And she was enthralled with all that was going on around her. I mean, just look at this happy face! :-)
















Kamryn is clinging to Jason in this picture. They let off some fireworks in the beginning of the game and obviously, the noise doesn't thrill her.















Kamryn got really happy by the end of the night when they brought out the RALLY MONKEY!!! She loved seeing the monkey on the big screen and watching everyone wave their own rally monkeys. She kept saying "Go Monkey!" (We had her saying "Go Angels" earlier, so she improvised).















Jason and I just enjoying a night out with our family. Oh, and we enjoyed watching the Angels come back from a 3 run deficit in the eighth inning to win the game, 7-5. GO ANGELS! (and go rally monkey....he works like a charm every time).

Two reasons why I loved the Olympics!

It couldn't have ended any better! Go Team USA!!! You make me proud to be an American. Until 2012 then.....

Finger lickin' good!

Aaron McCargo, Jr. of BIG DADDY'S HOUSE!!


Okay, I'm far from being a great cook. Probably far from being a good cook. However, last night I somehow turned into, at least, a great cook for one night. I'm a big fan of the show, "The Next Food Network star" and the winner now has a show called "Big Daddy's House." He makes some yummy food and makes it look easy. I have watched many a Food Network Chef make fried chicken, but I never once was inspired to try it myself until Big Daddy. He made it look easy. He didn't need his own deep fryer or a special oil thermometer. No, he just used a big frying pan and the back of a wooden spoon to tell the temperature and voila, fried chicken. So, I tried it and if I don't mind myself saying, it really was finger lickin' good. I attempted to take a picture, but my camera is suspiciously dead (kamryn) and sadly, I don't know how to charge it...or at least, I have no idea which cord, out of the 5 million we have, charge it. So you just have to trust me and Jason when we say it was good. (The chicken looked pretty similar to this but without all the pretty green stuff on the plate).



So thanks Big Daddy...for making me feel like a great cook for at least one night.

My Three Favorite Things of the Week!

1. Swimming- We have gone swimming quite a bit the last couple weeks. This week we went swimming two days in a row and Kamryn has made improvements. She's gone from clinging to Mommy and Daddy in the pool to now hanging out in a special "Fish flotation device" that she borrowed from our friends, the Livingstons. Now we just need to get her to try putting her head in the water and we're on our way to the Olympics.





























Just taking a break!
















2. Build-A-Bear- I have been wanting to go to this store for many years now, but always felt silly going for myself being a twenty-something adult. But thanks to Karissa and her son, Blake, turning two, we got to go to a Build-A-Bear Party with a bunch of our friends. This store is awesome and we had a great time with everyone and seeing how excited Kamryn was to build a...puppy. I hoped she might choose a bear (since she already has lots of puppies) but it wasn't to be. I can't believe how many outfits they have to choose for these stuffed animals. We tried to convince Kamryn that her puppy, named "Trusty" (greatest cartoon dog in movie history) should wear an "Anaheim Angels" outfit, but she refused to let puppy wear anything. So, we got her a stroller instead. !
















Her favorite thing was the "condo." She loved it so much she had to hold it in her car seat...and fell asleep with it basically on top of her. These are the moments I love! Happy Birthday Blake and thanks for the awesome party!
















3. Michael Phelps- Usually, I'm someone who likes to root for the underdog. I'm not one for those who dominate a sport and leave no room for others to thrive (ie....Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods and Tiger Woods). Okay, so obviously I'm not a big fan of Tiger Woods. Something about him rubs me the wrong way and yes, him winning the US Open was pretty amazing with a hurt knee and all (so dramatic) but I was rooting for Rocco to win his first major at over 40 years old. I like to see other athletes get a chance to be great. I make the exception with Michael Phelps. I enjoy seeing him crush the competition one race at a time. I love watching him make history. Reason I like him and not Tiger??? Hard to say, but it seems that Phelps is friendlier, a little goofy and he wears a little less. Go Michael! Way to get the 8 golds! Tiger Woods has nothing on you! :-)