Utah fever

Last Saturday was an important day at the Mayfield house. Mike had been talking about the big Utah/BYU game and prepping our kids for it the entire week previous. We put our big block 'U' in the window, Mike put his Utah flags on his car, the kids decked themselves in red and Elle ran around yelling, "Go Utes!" And that was all the day before the big game. When we woke up Saturday morning, this is what we found...Mike and I enjoy a good prank and we laughed when we saw our new decorations. We mused about who was responsible (was it the Blakes? the Hess family?). We think it's a teenage friend of ours (yes you, Jonathan Z.) but time will tell. What Mike and I didn't expect was Paige's response to the BYU balloons. She took one look and burst into tears, crying between sobs, "Now ... everyone will think ... that we like ... the COUGARS!" We assured her that we would get the guilty party back by initiating Operation Ute Fan prior to the next Utah/BYU matchup. She's gathered as much red paraphernalia as she could find and is ready to deface his front yard when daddy gives the word.The game itself was so fun. Mike was a nervous wreck beforehand but I was just happy to be there in person. That was my first time seeing the Holy War in person. And it proved to be quite the game.Mike could write a great post, I'm sure, about the details and highlights of the game. We'll save that for another time. One of my highlights was watching Mike and Rob rush the field at the end of the game, along with all of the 30,000+ other fans.

Life has been good at our house.

Look what I did ....

Birthday butterflies

Paige turned 5 last week. She keeps saying, "I just can't believe I'm 5!" Any of you who know her know that she has an attitude far beyond her years. Major sassiness, this girl. Loves to cock her hip and watch herself in the mirror. We are in serious trouble.

We opened presents at home in the morning, .... handed out treats at preschool,... went to Build-A-Bear in the afternoon,... and had a butterfly birthday party the next day.We painted fingernails, put butterfly stickers on our faces, colored butterfly pictures and ate butterfly cake. Paige was in butterfly heaven.Can you tell she likes to be the center of attention? :)Paige is spunky, funny, tender-hearted, loving and absolutely wonderful. She makes life fun on a daily basis. Happy Birthday, Paigie!

Just a little obsession

I spent the weekend at the movie theater. Literally (well, almost). I went to the midnight premier of Twilight (I'm only slightly obsessed) and dragged these 5 ladies with me. A few of them came willingly -- the others I had to coerce. After a couple of hours of waiting in line, the movie began. I was almost giddy with excitement. Would it live up to my expectations? Could it ever be as good as the book?

Honestly, nothing can compare to reading Twilight for the first time. And, let's be honest, the second, third or fourth times either. But I'm happy to say that I really did enjoy the movie. I liked the actors cast and thought the movie was fairly true to the book. Some in the audience laughed at parts that weren't supposed to be funny but it didn't ruin it for me. I left the theater with a smile on my face.

Went to bed that night/morning at 3am, only to be awakened by Elle 3 hours later. We were up for the day -- no nap for me. It was a Twilight weekend, though, and I was still on a high. That afternoon, I went with Mike and 6 other friends to go see the movie again. And this time, the viewing experience was amazing. The audience cheered, sighed, ooh'd and aah'd at all the right places. Even the other guys we were with liked it so that's a good sign.

If anyone else out there wants to go see it, call me. I'd go see it again. I'm a giver like that.

Crazy 8's Tag

8 TV Shows I Love to Watch:
*Lost
*Most shows on HGTV (Designed to Sell, House Hunters, Divine Design ....)
*The Office
*American Idol (although this past season was really my first time watching it)
*So You Think You Can Dance (again, I've only watched it the one season but I liked it -- having someone on the show that we knew was pretty cool)
*The Today Show
*ER
*House

8 Favorite Restaurants:
*Paradise Bakery
*Plates & Palates (great sandwiches, salads -- smaller than Paradise but similar)
*Biaggi's (their lobster fettucine is to die for)
*Market Street Grill (crab, crab, crab)
*Costa Vida (love the mango salsa with sweet pork)
*Bajios (love the sweet shrimp tacos or salad)
*The Mandarin (Honey Walnut Shrimp and the best creme brulee around)
*Royal India

8 Things that Happened Today:
*My baby threw up
*Reconnected with 3 friends from the past on Facebook
*Made a Costco run for 2 things and came out with 20
*Debated whether to shower or just wear a baseball cap (the cap won)
*Talked to various friends about our plans for the Twilight midnight premier
*Took the kids to piano lessons (my son complaining about it the whole way)
*Washed and folded a mountain of laundry
*Made chocolate-covered caramel apples

8 Things I Look Forward To:
*Twilight! Only a few more days :)
*Christmas -- the whole season
*Snuggling with our kids in our bed every morning
*A few moments to read a good book
*Date night
*My pillow every night
*Our next trip (wherever it will be)
*Mike walking in from work at the end of the day.

8 Things on My Wish List:
*My dad's health
*For my kids to be happy, healthy and successful at something they love
*A gazillion dollars
*The right house or building opportunity to actually materialize -- we've been looking for so long! I want to get settled and be where we're supposed to be.
*To have my skinny self back (I'm getting there....)
*A personal chef
*A Mini-Cooper (I fully plan on trading in my ginormous car for a cute little thing someday)
*Many travel opportunities throughout my life

Deep thoughts

"Paige, what are you going to ask Santa for this year?"

Long, thoughtful pause ....

"Goodness."

"Excuse me?"

"You know how I'm bad sometimes? I'm going to ask Santa for goodness."

I'll be excited to see Santa's face when she sits on his lap at the mall and asks him for that. Kodak moment, I'm sure.

Christmas has arrived

My good friend, Krista, is a part-owner & designer of Modern Display. For those of you non-locals, Modern Display is a huge seasonal decor showroom. Beautiful stuff. They have a great Christmas village display with multiple tables and sets that my kids love to ooohhh and aaahhh over every year. But I digress ....

I mentioned to Krista that my Christmas ornaments are a modge podge of little pieces that look fine but are far from great. She excitedly said that she would help me redecorate my tree. Ummm, let me think about it ..... Yes, please! So, a few weeks ago, we went to the showroom and looked at tree styles and colors. Then we went down in the basement where there are rows and rows of ornaments, garlands, ribbon - you name it. We ended up with boxes and boxes of beautiful ornaments; things I never would have thought to use (and on a larger scale than I would have thought) but it all looks amazing. Then a few days ago, Krista came over and created this ....This picture does not do the tree justice. It's really stunning. And it's mine. :)She also worked her magic on the mantel and the banister.I have yet to put up the rest of our Christmas decorations (it's still a little early for my taste) but this tree makes me happy. Krista, my friend, thank you. I love it.

My 2nd mom

Today is my stepmom's birthday. It always feels a little awkward to call her my stepmom because that title tends to carry a slightly negative connotation. Thankfully, that was never my experience. Dad and Shirlee were married when I was 4, so I've pretty much grown up with 2 wonderful moms. I always felt loved and accepted by Shirlee, right from the get-go. I have so many wonderful memories with her, as a young child, through adolescence and now as a mom. I couldn't have asked for a better 2nd mom and I'm so glad to have her in my life.Happy Birthday, mom/Nana. We love you!

Halloween 2008

Elle (almost 2), Paige (almost 5), Christian (10) & Haley (7)With cousin Sydney.At the library for Toddler Time.Extended Mayfield family (and Grandpa as Moses).At Paige's preschool.