Bryan's Wedding

My older brother Bryan and his wife Brittany were married last weekend in Utah. It was great, everything about it was great. Great weather (for January) great company (love my new sister-in-law and her family) great food (brunch at Magelby's and homemade soup at the reception) and a really great sealing in the Timpanogos Temple. (Don't think I spelled that right.)

Here is Eli at the reception being very cooperative while I try to take his picture. That is just his nature.
Here is Cameron not being cooperative. He is about to hit Eli because he wants the chair.
So he gets his very own chair and now he is being slightly more cooperative but not really. At last he give me a decent smile and pose.

Here's our whole gang.
This picture definitely requires explanation. This was Brittany's garter that for some reason all the single men refused to catch so Eli ended up with it by default. Brittany pointed out that it isn't a garter at all, it is just a cute little headband for a baby girl. We thought it was a good photo-op since Eli ended up with it. Richard wasn't too impressed.

My New Favorite Place

I should have gone on a mission to a third world country, because I am a completely commercialized American. Maybe if I could see the way people live in other countries I wouldn't care so much about material possessions, but nonetheless, I do. I am a consumer through and through. So while I was in Utah this weekend we made a visit to the IKEA in Draper. It was a blue and yellow paradise! Any piece of furniture you could imagine, and hundreds more you couldn't, were there. It is an immense warehouse filled with "room" displays that make you want want want want! I felt like the little girl on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But what was so delightful about this gigantic world full of household items was the low cost of these domestic treasures. Unfortunately I had very little time and money, and so I didn't make any purchases worthy of a picture on the blog. But I have grand plans of returning to the wonderful home decor heaven. I did get some small practical things like a stool for Cameron's bathroom, some kids dishes, some decorative mirrors, some simple white picture frames, and a cute hanging storage "thing" for the playroom. (All this for less than $30!)

I should say, that despite this weakness of mine, I do believe that material things don't really matter. I fight the urge to "keep up with the Jones's". I constantly try not to let myself be jealous of other people's nice houses. But sometimes, it's just so fun to shop!

Toothy grin

I love this picture. For one reason in particular. Eli has kind of a crooked smile. A little backround: In the mouth there is something called the midline. It is an imaginary line between the two front teeth on top, and between the two front teeth on the bottom . It is supposed to line up, but you can see in the picture that when Eli smiles his jaw moves to the side so the bottom teeth are to the left of the top tooth, not directly below. Maybe it's because I look at teeth all the time that I notice, or maybe I would notice anyway. But it's adorable to me. (You can see it best if you click on the picture and make it larger.)

Jumpin' on the Bed

I may have to buy a few extra mattresses or make a couple trips to the ER over my lifetime but I just can't break up a good bed-jumping.
Cameron and his buddy Zeb were jumping on the bed and they were having so much fun I just let them be.
It's hard to get good action shots though. They wouldn't slow down for me.
Luckily no one was hurt, and who knows what it did to the bed.

Tagged again!

Well here are 6 things about me. Sorry it took so long Wendy!

1. I was born in a bathroom. I actually tell people this a lot so everyone probably already knows. My mom wanted to take a shower before she went to the hospital. You would think she knew better since she worked in labor and delivery as a nurse and I was the 3rd child. But I was just too anxious and my dad delivered me on the bathroom floor.

2. I love to ski. I didn't start skiing until high school and lately I've missed a couple years becuase I've been pregnant. But I love fresh powder and groomed runs both. I especially love skiing at night, it is so quiet and peaceful on the lifts. I can't do moguls though, never learned.

3. I love to travel. If we had a lot of money I wouldn't spend it on a big house or nice cars or cute clothes. I would travel wherever I could. I love road trips to states close by and I love to fly across the country to the East coast. I would love to go overseas too. If you ask Richard he will tell you that I am always planning our next trip.

4. I hate to be alone. Having kids has been so good for me because otherwise I would be so lonely when Richard was at work or out of town. (Although sometimes I yearn for adult interaction in addition to the company of my kiddos.) I love to talk to people and whenever Richard is here I always want to be in the same room as he is.

5. I love candy, desserts and chocolate of any kind. My kids are so lucky to have a mom like me who is always wanting to get ice cream or buying goodies. I'm not sure it's good for them, and I am sure it's not good for me! My particular favorites are Giradheli caramels, any chocolate with peanut butter, twizzler licorice, cookies & cream ice cream. I could go on and on!

6. I resist efforts by my sister Lori to help me be in fashion. I love jeans, sweatshirts and tennis shoes. If it weren't for my sister I wouldn't wear anything else. And sometimes I don't care and that's all I wear anyway.

Snow-mans

I don't remember having days like this last year, but maybe I just didn't take advantage of them. But it just seemed to snow all day today. While Eli was taking a nap Cameron and I ventured outside to build a snowman.
Cameron named this snowman "Vick" but he names everything "Vick". (Don't ask me where he got that one.) This was his first snowman. He has "wickerish" (licorice) for a mouth and it was really hard to keep Cameron from taking it off his face and eating it.
This is Cameron's attempt at a snow angel. He had a hard time opening his eyes because snowflakes were falling in them. He's got lots to learn about snow angels. Our neighbors gave us a hand-me-down snowsuit. He looks like a little marshmallow but it kept him warm and dry.
After we built the first snowman Cameron wanted to build another one. I wasn't really up for it so I made up a lame excuse that we couldn't build another snowman because we didn't have another hat. Cameron said we could build a "snowman wif hair!" It amused me enough to put forth the effort to build another snowman. Nice hair huh?
Well he stayed warm except for his face I guess. He and I both had some rosy faces by the time we came inside. We had hot chocolate and my only regret about our afternoon was that I couldn't have a picture of us together. Oh well, some other time!

Christmas

I'm a little slow getting pictures up but here are a few. Unfortunately I seemed to forget my camera everywhere I went over the holidays so this is the best I got. This is my brother Bryan with Cameron and his cousin Charlie.
I wish Cameron really liked books this much. He just likes this one because it has Lightning McQueen.
Eli was pretty easy to please. He was mostly interested in bows and wrapping paper.
Richard and I got to enjoy a lot of great food cooked by our mothers.