Andrew's 10th Birthday

Andrew turned 10 years old today.  Dec. 27 is not a very good birthday...it's TOO close to Christmas, but we did get a tax break the year we had him, so that's one positive about this day for a birthdate. 

Andrew earlier in the day picked Olive Garden for his birthday dinner....but a lot of peer (sibling) pressure forced him to change it.  (Bradley seems to think that Olive Garden is a "girl" restaurant.  William had work to do tonight in an attic of a lady in our ward, so he didn't want dinner to take too long.  Melanee thought Olive Garden was too expensive.  And Scott doesn't like Olive Garden because they don't serve hamburgers.)  So we went to a local pizza place called "Woodstocks".  (I had a buy one get one coupon.)

 I baked the cake and made the frosting.  Andrew wanted Costco type cream cheese filling inside, but I didn't have any cream cheese, so I just made some white frosting with powdered sugar.  He wanted chocolate frosting, but I didnt have cocoa powder so I melted some chocolate chips and made up some more powdered sugar type frosting and combined them....home made frosting (and filling frosting) are so much better than those little store bought tubs. 

 Andrew was funny opening the presents.  He just ripped wildly.  He actually started opening the first present before we even sang, before he even blew out the candles....a BIG no-no. 

yeah, we bought him an airsoft gun.  (Yeah, there are little pellet shaped dents all over our kitchen wall now.)  He is a happy boy!  (look at the photo, you think William and Bradley want one too???)

blog search

haha...someone found my blog by searching for the words "mother of the bride is freaking out".....yeah, you came to the correct place....that's what I'm doing....someone help me! 

USA shirt

 Mega Close Up Shot! 

 ok, I just had to share one of my gifts (from Scott to me, but I bought it for him to give to me)....I know I already have 2 other USA soccer shirts, but I really did need a new one, the other ones are wearing out.  And this one is so cool.  You cant really tell because it's all wrinkly, but it's the USA crest and  you cant tell but on the back it says USA and has the number 11 (probably for the year, but I can think it's my Stuart Holden shirt, right?)

Hair Cut

I used to cut William's hair all the time.  I do a decent job, but since I clipper the sides and use scissors for the top, I would always leave a "line"...(I couldn't blend it)...so for a long time, while in high school, he wouldn't want me to cut his hair.  Well, tonight, he asked me for a haircut....I was nervous....but I think I blended it well.  I also cut Bradley and Andrew's hair tonight, so I think I saved the family at least $30 or 40 bucks! 

Christmas Morning....some of it

Andrew opening a Lego set.

I don't know if every blogger in the world is trying to blog their Christmas right now and blogger is blogged down or is my computer is slow...or WHAT...but I want to put up way more pictures than this, but I am not able to and after about an hour of trying....this is what you get....so enjoy!  We had fun opening presents this morning!

I made Melanee a hard bound book from my visit to SVU

Our gift from the Herberts, I loved the bag AND THE CONTENTS!  Thanks Michelle!!!

You know how I now have a 3rd favorite hockey player Dustin Brown???  I found his shirsey (shirt, but has the logos, name, and number just like a jersey) from the Olympics!!!!  Bradley got it for Christmas!

Andrew got a hunting vest from grandma and grandpa Guymon (so did Bradley).

Andrew was so proud and happy and excited to give us this gift he made for Scott and I. 

This is a Washington Capitols shirsey...it's for Bradley, Melanee is wearing it as I type! 

Deacon

Bradley turned 12 a few weeks back.  Twelve years old is an important age in our church, because if boys who are 12 are worthy they are able to become "deacons" and are ordained with the Aaronic Priesthood.  As our bishop pointed out today, Bradley actually now has more authority than the President of the United States or the Pope (priesthood authority, that is, haha).  We waited for the setting apart to take place today, because William wanted to be there when it happened and he wasn't here last Sunday.  It's pretty cool that Bradley got the priesthood on Christmas day.  What a wonderful gift.  (He didn't wear the hat to church, if you were wondering!!!!)

Christmas Morning

Before the present opening began, I wanted to get a picture with the kids, the tree, and the presents...which is actually kinda hard to do....haha...I like this picture anyway---

They're Back

Last Monday Bradley, Andrew, and I picked Melanee and William up at the Sacramento Airport.  We hid and planned on jumping out to surprise them as they came down the escilator, but Andrew ran out first.  This was the first picture I got---

 They hadn't eaten all day and I told Bradley and Andrew I knew where an In and Out was in Sacramento....but I took the wrong exit and we almost didn't find it...but we did and we enjoyed our dinner.  We got an employee to get a picture of us all together again---

Sunset

When we went to Sacramento to pick William and Melanee up from the airport, there was this beautiful sunset---Pictures never REALLY show the same beauty that you can see with your own eyes, and these were taken by Bradley, through windows, in a moving vehicle, but they kinda show the beauty...and this second one shows a FEW of the thousands of ducks and gees who flew past, over, and all around us as we drove down the highway.

Penguins

I need to have a hockey party and serve these Penguins and that watermelon shark head!  Or maybe I should hold off on any parties until the wedding reception...you think the guest would appreciate these tasty treats?  You think Melanee and Dax would appreciate a Hockey themed reception?

Mother of the Bride

All day long I've been getting the question, "So how do you think you'll like being the mother of the bride?'  Just a second ago it was asked on Twitter.  Twitter gives you ONLY 140 characters to answer, so I'll write it here, then direct her her to read this, haha!

A few days ago, when I won the free Sharks tickets I was talking to Melanee and a bunch of times I HINTED, but I thought I was pretty clear what I was trying to point out, NOT TO MAKE ANY plans on April 7th ....no, not because Melanee is the one I want to take to the game, but because I didn't want her to put me in position to have to choose between my ONLY daughter, my first born, and my first child to get married's wedding and a Sharks game LIVE and IN PERSON, because I'd probably choose the Sharks game, then feelings would get hurt!  SOOOOOOO, last night, when I asked her if they had picked out a date, she said, "early April" haha, WHAT!?!?!?!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.  But today she was talking March 20th, so that's good.

Anyway, I am freaking out a bit about the mother's dress...hoping she picks a good color, because I've seem some UGLY mother's dresses....and I hope I will find someone to do MY hair and MY make up, because I am inept at those two things! 

I haven't met Dax's parents yet.  I think they will be nice, though.  Dax's mom just had both William and Melanee over for Thanksgiving.  That was kind hearted! 

Before I even THOUGHT about having Andrew, a mom of a kid from one of William's class became a mid wife, and in talking to her, and KNOWING that I wouldn't have any more kids, haha, I told her that IF I DID ever have any more babies, she could be my mid wife.....and yeah, I let her, but wish I never would have said that...lol.....now, I am stressing because I think I have told at least 3 different photographers that I have a daughter that might be getting married soon!  Who to pick!!??!!???!!!!  I didn't get ANY good wedding pictures from my wedding, so I DEFINITELY want a GOOD photographer for Melanee!!!!!  DEFINITELY!!!!

The only other thing I worry about is ALLLLLLLLL the people who have already said, "Melanee is TOO young."  I shouldn't worry about what people think, but I do.  I've also told people that I didn't think this would happen THIS QUICK....but again, Melanee and Dax get to choose, not just random people I blab their business to, right! 

SO, YES, I'm excited to be the mother of the bride (....if I can find a good dress (Michelle promised to help) and hey, blog readers---do I have any hair and makeup volunteers?????  And maybe a 3 month weight loss consultant!!!!)

Hunting

Scott photo texted me these photos, so that must mean he wants them on the blog.....

Scott vs. Dax, haha

I didn't take any photos while it happened because I thought Scott was being silly (dumb) and I didn't want to support his "actions" (and because the Sharks game was close, going into overtime with my favorite player scoring, and a shootout)...but Dax wanted to "talk" to Scott.  Scott, ALL ALONG, has been saying that he wants to be friends with Dax and wants Dax to make an effort to want to make friends with him, but I think with all the family stories floating around about how Scott "is" have scared Dax out of his wits...maybe...but the other night, Dax Skyped us.  I talked to him a bit and so did Bradley, while Scott got "ready".  Scott dressed himself like a Taliban or Bin Laden or something, sat on the couch, surrounded himself with guns, knives, swords, hatchets, stuff like that, then standing side by side of him were Bradley and Andrew holding guns and all three of them just stared into the Skype camera, not smiling, for the LONGEST time!!!!  I think Dax just laughed at them, but I couldn't see him from where I was sitting.  After the starefest, Scott started talking and they just rambled about family stories, this and that.  Scott finally took of the snuggie and put away the weapons and Bradley and Andrew sat down.  I think that conversation went on for a good 45 minutes (poor Dax, haha). 

That was on Thursday.  Last night, I went to my work Christmas party.  At one point Melanee texted me and asked if Scott was home, but I wasn't sure because he was going to go out to the wildlife refuge.  I guess Dax called to Skype, but ended up just talking on the phone.  Scott did grant his permission....when I asked him if he gave Dax any conditions (like my dad told Scott that he wanted me to graduate college and never get divorced), Scott said he told Dax that he wanted his grandsons to be duck hunters....lol....Dax had a good comeback to that though, he told Scott that he (Scott) could take them!

I still wish I would have been home last night, and I wish the tradition was for the man to ask the girls MOM for permission!!!  haha!!!!

Melanee is ENGAGED!

I went to my work Christmas party last night.....and WHILE I WAS GONE things were going on with my family....like a phone call between Dax and Scott and an important conversation a little bit later between Melanee and Dax.....In fact, I didn't even answer my phone when Melanee called because the band was TOO LOUD.  (I also CAN'T keep a secret and Scott had texted me that Dax had asked him if he could marry Melanee and he (Scott) said "yes", but NOT TO TELL MELANEE.  So, when I saw that it was her calling (besides the band being loud) I figured I better not answer it in case I'd have to keep a secret.  When she called the second time I went outside (in the cold) and she said, "I'm engaged"!  Here is one of my favorite pictures of them (from about 2 years ago)----

 And this is from last year when they both graduated from seminary INSTITUTE.  This week they both graduated from Southern Virginia University! 

 And this is from the Buena Vista parade.  Melanee's roommate joked that they were "Mr. and Mrs. SVU" (instead of Mr and Miss, haha).

    

Dax took her for a walk and they talked (I wasnt informed of the details of the talk (maybe because I cant keep a secret)).  Then Dax got down on one knee but then stood up again, saying, "no this isn't right" (or something like that).  Then they walked a bit further....and he got down again and presented her with a ring, she said "YES", hugged him, kissed him then started jumping up and down and dancing all around!  I can just picture it now.

haha, probably not, but that's the only video I had of her dancing. 

Anyway, I am happy for them and wondering what the next few months will bring!  I've heard wedding and reception planning are stressful.  I don't even know where to begin.  Gina, can I borrow the lamps!  haha!!!!  I know personally 4 engagement/wedding photographers.....who to pick????  So exciting though, what colors are they going to pick, which temple, have to find a dress, where to have the reception, when???????  oh my, they are saying, "How about March 20th?"  MARCH 20th!!!!  (I don't really have a problem with that, I just told them that they couldn't have April 7th because that's the day I am going to the Sharks game!!!!) 

I will try to get more details and photos and blog more later!  I'm so happy right now, it's making blogging hard, that and Andrew whining at him to make him some breakfast cuz he's STARVING.

Thoroughly Disgusted

I said yesterday in a post that I would be "thoroughly disgusted" if the Sharks were to lose again.  In that same post I wrote about my brother's birthday, Melanee and William at SVU, and Andrew.....the only comment I got from that "article" was---  "are you disgusted?"  HAHA! 

NO, I'm not "disgusted", I'm THOROUGHLY disgusted.  The Sharks cant even beat the LAST PLACE team!  UGH!  I know the shoot out is like a coin toss, but WHY would the coach send Winchester out there to attempt a shot when he has on his bench Couture, Boyle, Marleau, OTHERS....ugh!!!  But, I know, I know, I am not at practice, I know that there must be SOME reason for the coach to put a player out there who has only participated in ONE shootout in his WHOLE CAREER....I know the coach doesn't WANT to lose.  And we all would have been praising him if Winchester would have scored, right???  AND I am NOT going to leave Niemi out of my WRATH.  My Twitter friends seem to LOVE Niemi and will NEVER put the blame on him, but the first guy shot the puck RIGHT TO HIS GLOVE, HIS GLOVE.  He needs to just stand there with the glove UP and OPEN and he would have saved that shot.  Just like the goalie is the key player on the PK, he needs to be the key player in the shootout!  Plain and SIMPLE. 

But I am happy that Patty scored with a few seconds left to tie it and give the Sharks ONE point on this road trip!  ONE point in THREE games.  (He began his slump when I stopped sending Melanee her "PATTY" texts, so I don't care if she doesn't like them, I'm going to send her them again...hopefully 40 more times this season!)

Some of my Twitter friends (followers, haha) are college students who should be studying for finals and writing papers right now, but one of them, instead of working on his homework, produced a chart comparing where the Sharks were last year and where they are this year when it comes to goals and the Sharks were pretty bad last year and came on strong later in the season, so not to worry, they could do that again this year.  We should all be happy that they don't have as many people on the Injured list as the Penguins! 

I wouldn't mind a trade.  I wouldn't mind a firing.  Shake them up.  Wake them up.  OR........just play Patty on the top line!  Patty is the best, he doesn't need linemates named Handzus or McGinn.  Can they get him the puck?  NO.

And TORREY MITCHELL would not be on ANY other "top" line in the entire NHL, so WHY is he on ours?????!!!!!??????!!!!!!  Torrey Mitchell, top line, does not make SENSE!!!!  Torrey Mitchell 3rd line, 4th line, Worcester.....makes sense.  Tell me, which team is the WORST in the league, (it's the Ducks...their top guys are Selanne, Perry, and Ryan...if Torrey was on the Ducks...he would NOT be on that top line, ever!)  he would be on their 3rd line (or in their farm system)!  Why is he on the Sharks top line????  WHY???? 

just killing time

I am at Andrew’s basketball practice right now. The past few practices have been fairly boring for my, so this time I brought my laptop to blog.  I don’t really have anything all that exciting happening in my life right now to blog about, though.  Ummm, let’s see.  Today is my brother David’s birthday.  He has always been a good brother.  He is my younger brother.  I also have an older brother.  I’m the only girl.  David is the perfect child, you know, the one in the family who doesn’t ever do anything to get in trouble, who everyone likes, who is smart, talented, fun.  Kenny and I made all the mistakes, David learned from them, so I guess you could say that we helped David to become the “perfect child”.  Haha! 

I talked to Melanee today.  She is having a hard time packing to come home.  She has been there for 4 years (just about).  She has gone from here to there each time with 2 suitcases full and has come back each time with one.  She has also bought stuff while there, I have sent her stuff, has been given stuff, and has just accumulated STUFF.  She did, though find a UPS store in the same town as the airport she is coming home from, so hopefully she can just mail some of her stuff home. 

In the times I’ve talked to both college kids this week, they have both told me that their papers and finals are going well.  In fact, Melanee said that this was her best semester ever.  William, I guess, too, could say the same thing since it’s his only semester of college. 

William loves Buena Vista so much that he wants us to move there.  He said that things are ALWAYS breaking all over the school and that Scott could be the fix it guy.  He said that I could be the sports writer.  I’d LOVE that.  I’ve been coveting that job for a while now!!!!  If we did get jobs at the school, William’s future tuitions would be taken care of!!!

Andrew has been home from school the past two days.  He felt achy, runny nose, congestion, frog in his throat, sore throat, and miserable, but I told him----YOU ARE GOING BACK TO SCHOOL TOMORROW no matter what.  We’ll see if that threat makes all his cold symptoms go away…..or maybe this basketball practice out in the cold will clear up the lungs, yeah right!  A big percentage of the kids are school are sick, it’s better to keep HIS germs away from others and OTHERS germs away from him. 

Our friends the Chelson’s moved completely today.  They’ve been in Chico for about 5 years.  In all the different stages of the move, Scott brought home trailer loads.  We now have a scrap metal pile, a ride on lawn mower, a basketball hoop, and a large frozen turkey (among other odds and ends).  

There is a Sharks game tonight.  I will be thoroughly disgusted if they lose AGAIN.  They are such a good team with so much talent.  I want to be the coach, haha, this is what I’d do----the top line is made up of the best 3 players.  WHO CARES if the “bottom lines” are NOT producing.  Patrick Marleau is on the top line, plain and simple.  I have more, come back later to read my other coaching ideas…Andrew’s practice is over and I have to make dinner before the game.  If I were the coach, I’d have people to do that for me….and I’d be in Denver right now!

I WON

Everyone always teases me about Twitter.  How "you cant believe everything you read on Twitter", and how those people on Twitter are my "followers" not my "friends", and how Twitter is a waste of time.  Well, I guess I cant disagree with the waste of time part, I do spend a lot of time on Twitter, but if finally paid off.....and last night I participated in a Sharks trivia contest.  The question was, "Which team did Joe Pavelski score his team leading 12th goal of the season against?"  The answer was Minnesota...so I answered....and about 15 minutes later I checked back and saw that I was randomly selected as the winner.  There was no mention of the prize when the contest was announced, so I was thinking it would be something like a bobble head, signed poster, a puck, a t shirt, or I was hoping for a jersey (those are EXPENSIVE), but I actually won something better than ALL of those....I won TWO TICKETS TO A SHARKS GAME!!!  The game is the final home game and it's Fan Appreciation night that game.  And they are playing the LAKings! (I really like one of the players on the Kings, Dustin Brown!

Here is the actual random generator which picked me.  Looks like only 10 people entered the contest and I was #6 and number 6 was chosen!  Woo Hoo.

This is Dustin Brown.  I especially like this photo because he is doing this big hit on Ott from the Stars.  I hate Ott, he is so mean and gross and rude!  Go Dustin!  Anyway, I don't think I've blogged about my new fan-girl obsession with Dustin Brown, but I started liking him the game the Kings played the Sharks and the refs disallowed his goal.  The camera stayed focused on Dustin's poor face most of the time the refs discussed the play and re watched the video, Dustin looked so sad.  I've liked him since then.  I also follow him on Twitter and it was funny when he showed us a clip of him taking a drink from his squirt water bottle, but it was upside down, so he didn't really get a drink. I thought it was cool that he could laugh at himself about that.  Then I read that when he first came into the league, he was a young guy on a veteran team.  One of the older guys would tease him about his lisp.  That's so sad.  I also enjoyed watching him on Price Is Right, where one of his teammates set out to make fun of Dustin, but that teammate ended up ripping his pants after getting thrown into a boat.  And I think it's funny that he is missing a big percentage of his teeth!  haha!  He just jokes about it saying the ones he has are easy to brush! 

Since its a Sharks game I thought I should include a Sharks photo into this post, but I didn't want to go looking for one, and this is all I had on my computer.  It's Torrey Mitchell.  I think I saved it to show how much he looks like Dax (if Dax didn't shave).  Maybe I already have.  I don't know, but I'm super excited to finally get to go to a Sharks game!!!

Birthday PARTY (not exactly)

    Today was Bradley's birthday!  It was a quiet day.  Andrew stayed home from school sick.  He had a stomach ache, runny nose, sore throat, his right ear wouldn't pop, and a head ache.  Bradley came home from school with hives all around his chest, neck, and shoulders.  So I gave him Benadryl and he slept for 3 hours. 
     He woke up in time for dinner, cake, birthday cards, presents, and games.  He had a good birthday.  

I hope he grows into them before they rip!

I made the cake mix I bought for Melanee's birthday,
 so it's a orange and black Halloween cake.





These were our guests, I asked them if they wanted to be on the blog....they smiled, so I guess that was a "yes".  I hope they had fun.  Andrew talked non stop, the basketball got dribbled in the house, the singing off key and the singing of the Hooning family birthday song,  a little bickering went on about the size of the waders.  I'm sure it was chaos compared to their home with just the two of them! 

Sid

I really want Happy Birthday Bradley to be on top, but I haven't figured out Blogger enough to order the posts the way I want them...sooooo, I just have so much to do today, but I find myself on Twitter following the Kings practice and reading about how good Jimmer is and the Penguins website which tells us that Sid will be out even longer with concussion like symptoms.....but he did go with his teammates today to a children's hospital for a visit, he's so cool like that!   I really hope he is ok!  He's smart to stay away from hockey with a brain injury, though, wayyyyy to many players come back too early and have permanent damage.  (my poor fantasy team, though, I have THREE guys on the injured list right now)

They REALLY do not fit in these chairs!!!

Happy Birthday BRADLEY

We were looking at the baby book and Bradley's head and chest measurements were equal...is that normal?  But look at him, HUGE HEAD!  (Or do all babies have these proportions?)

12/12 is Bradley's birthday! Wouldn't it be cool if he was turning twelve next year.....12/12/12....haha, but he is not, he is twelve this year! I love this little boy, although he no longer looks like he did in this picture...and he is no longer little.

Bradley is now 12 years old.  Wow, where did those 12 years go? 
Someone said this about Bradley today, "Bradley is the nicest kid ever."  That is a great compliment.  Bradley is nice.  I'm glad people see it.  Bradley is almost like a middle child (except we have 4 kids, so really no middle child).  Melanee is the only girl.  William is the oldest boy.   Andrew is the baby of the family.  Bradley is the middle child.  He loves attention.  He loves hugs.  He is outgoing and friendly and does everything possible to fit in and have friends.  He cares about how he looks and how he dresses.  He wants to be like his big brother.  He wants to be like his dad.  He will do whatever you ask and is great to have around.  We love our Bradley.  He has recently "changed" his name to Brad.  He does have 2 Bradley (ee)'s in his class, so that may be part of it.  But he says that Bradley is a wimpy name.  I try to tell him, that for as long as I can remember "Bradley" was the name I was going to name my son.  I LOVE the name, but I am not too fond of the name "Brad"....oh well, guess its a sign of growing up...just like William goes by "Wil"....I will still always keep calling them Bradley and William.  And I will ALWAYS call my brother "Kenny" even if I'm the ONLY one on the planet who calls him that and even though he now has a son named "Kenny". 
I've already baked Bradley a cake.  It's a white cake with white frosting.  The scout leader has already brought over his application for REAL scouts and a Boy Scout book.  And the Bishop has already interviewed him for the aaronic priesthood, although, William has asked for us to put that off for a few days so that he can be home and be a part of it.  Bradley might get the Aaronic priesthood on Christmas, wouldn't that be memorable? 
The school district has banned cupcakes and cookies and the such for birthday celebrations, SERIOUSLY, like they are against the rules, but Bradley wants me to bring in cookies....what are they going to do, really??? 
Some friends are coming over for dinner tomorrow, but Bradley doesn't even know them, so that might be weird, but it's always fun to have people over, so hopefully it will go well.  They are coming over to try duck, so Bradley's birthday dinner is duck.  He didn't get to pick, but luckily he likes duck. 
For decorations, I may just put back up the banner Krisha got me for the World Cup!  I still have it!!!
Come back later for birthday boy photos!!!!
Happy Birthday Bradley!

decoys decoys decoys

Most of the big giant geese got picked up, but now the ducks are ready to be painted....I'm sure my dad would call our house the "eye sore" of the neighborhood.  haha.  In fact, he WAS here last week and he said, "looks like you are having a yard sale!"  hahahahahahaaaaaa! 

BBall Preseason Scrimmages

Andrew is really good at rebounds, especially defensive rebounds!

he made a basket on this shot!!!

this is one happy and exhausted little boy!