I had to make sure to do this post right after a post of ali as she normally looks...but the stank face is too funny, and happens too often, to possibly be left out of the blog.
If you compare pictures of the last post to these you will get the full effect of just how much this girl can contort her face...it is so random, and so ali.
As you can see these pictures were each taken on separate occasions, proof that this happens often...
and judging from what a ham this girl is we are in for lot's of stank face pictures in the future.
a while back my family came into town and justin and I got to go on a real live date! we had planned to go to the movies and justin called me from work to say he had tried to get tickets to "fame" since he knew I love anything that has music in it. but he said that it was sold out and that he got tickets to something else, but would not tell me what. he even clarified saying "please don't think I am tricking you and really taking you to that" ah he knows me all to well.
he always wants to walk around outside on dates and I am always cold so he forced me to bring a jacket...I thought nothing of it since I am a pansy about cold.
so, we start driving to the movie theater and we are going towards the middle of nowhere. he kept assuring me that his co-workers had told him where it was and that we were headed that direction. then he acted like he was confused and needed me to call 411, but said the call kept dropping when I held the phone to his ear...tricky tricky. then he said "they said I needed to be on (insert some road name I forgot)". I assured him that we were on that but he just turned on to some road called TUCAN (like the bird). yeah, at this point many of you would have caught on...but not I, the ever gullible girl.
we were STILL headed towards nowhere, and he finally said, ok, I lied , it's an out door theater. I was like oh I love outdoor movie theaters! STILL not catching on.
then we pull in and he tells me it's the famous TUACAHN theater. then it makes sense, and I instantly melt at his cuteness. he took me to see AIDA. I love musicals, I love fun surprises, I love cute husbands who plan amazing things and keep it all secret!
the show was wonderful and I loved every minute! from the music to the hot chocolate, it was perfect. major brownie points justin.
we got home and raved about how good the show was to my parents. they saw it a few nights later and were equally impressed.
definitely one of the best dates ever...thanks sweetie!
and now...what all the family has been waiting for...
our little beauty and our little beast
I have to give credit yet again this year to the amazing becca. she whipped up this vest and jacket for cole that were just perfect! my mom had sent me these boots forever ago with a dress up outfit, and I fashioned this wig out of craft hair and those horns were devils horns transformed with a bit of paint.
justin was a bit unsure when I said I was making a wig...oh ye of little faith...don't you know what can be done with a glue gun?
becca and I both thought the back was as good as the front...
and my mom found this for our little ali.
did she like it? well, we put it on and she would not stop twirling and looking at it...such a girl
it was so perfect.
before the tick or treating could begin daddy decided that ali needed a dainty candy holder, so I made this (with inspiration from the ever crafy lindsey).
then it was time to put them to use. first we practiced on becca...
and then we moved onto the neighborhood party. this was the cutest thing I have ever seen, food, drinks, games in each driveway on this cul-de-sac, trick or treating and a costume parade. it was intense! and my friend lenae's little girl tasia was belle, we couldn't resist a picture! her mom whipped this costume up...she could have been a pioneer with all her mad skills.
and when night fell it was time for the real trick or treating...cole and dad braved the streets, while ali and I handed out candy...she was OBSESSED. she waited by the door and got SO excited each time the doorbell rang...it was hilarious.
we had so much fun carving pumpkins on FHE a few MONTHS ago! don't judge...I had a good reason for not being able to blog this forever ago remember?
ali loved that she got her very own pumpkin
and justin and cole took it all very seriously
while I enjoyed the fall fattening treats with pleasure
ali got right to work
and cole dug right in
until dad asked if he wanted to eat it
c'mon cole...not even one little bite?
all that hard work payed off and those guts even became a tasty treat the next day when cole and I baked the pumpkin seeds...yum!
justin did the detailed haunted house while cole and i stuck to the simpler, but no less scary skeleton.
cole's favorite part? lighting the candle with dad...ah my little pyro's...and if you know about my irrational fear of lighting things on fire then you definitely know this boy get's his interest from dad!
cole brought me the peter pan dvd and asked me if he could watch
Tai Pan
poor kid, apparently he has been dragged there one to many times.
on a different note, I have given up any hope of finding my camera cord to upload my pictures...hence the clip art updates, but I was able to find a replacement cord on line for cheap so hopefully actual pictures will grace our blog soon! just don't judge me if halloween pictures show up Dec. 1st!
the other night one of Justin's co-workers was kind enough to give us tickets to the Dixie State production of "a year in frog and toad". when we arrived we found that we had been given front row seats! the play was fabulous. it was obviously meant for full family enjoyment. the jokes and songs were entertaining to all ages and I must admit Justin and I laughed out loud many a time. Cole also loved it! he was so excited and was glued to the play the whole time. but the big surprise of the night was how much Ali loved it. she was captivated through the entire first act. the music started and she, while sitting on daddy's lap, began to bust out her dance moves. it was hilarious. when they flew a kite on stage, she reached out her hand to try and grab it and turned to us with a look like "this is amazing!" she only got antsy for the last 15 minutes of the entire show and that was because she wanted to walk around...and get to the stage. at intermission the snail (who was one of our favorites) came out to have some fun with the kids. when all the kids followed him up the stairs ali hopped off daddy's lap and tagged right along with cole. at the end all the characters sat on the edge of the stage to talk with the kids. cole got first dibs due to our amazing seats. the cast was so cute with him and he was awe struck. all in all great family night out.
Yesterday after a very long and full life my "other grandma" went home to be with her sweetheart.
(this was taken when cole was 2 weeks old)
the term "other grandma" although odd sounding to outsiders, was a term my grandma loved and encouraged. she signed all notes, letters, and referred to herself as other grandma. it was not a definition just a term she heard her tiny grand kid say and decided to make it stick.
she was born in 1917 and was 92 when she quietly slipped away at my parents home, in her bed. to those of you who knew her, you know that she has wanted this for a long time. in fact each time I would go visit and tell her she had to stick around for another grand baby or something like that, she would put her hand up over her face and say "oh heather, don't wish that on me!" she had had a long life with plenty of experiences and was so ready to be reunited with my grandpa. my grandpa died when I was 11 months old, and all she wanted was to be with him again. so, yesterday afternoon she finally got her wish.
I was lucky enough to get to spend time with her just a few weeks ago when my parents brought her up with them to visit the grand kids. she loved just watching my oh so entertaining children. and then the day before she passed I was able to speak to her on the phone and say goodbye. and when I told her to say hi to other grandpa for me I am told she got a huge grin across her face. there is no doubt in any of our minds that other grandma is happy and that other grandpa is too.
just a few thoughts...
juicy fruit, her big red-ish car with cushion so she could see over the steering wheel, hiding her keys, 7 up, broccoli and avocado dip, the brown bowl chair, the way her bedroom smelled like her, neapolitan ice cream, drum sticks, baseball games, clapping her hands together once when she was so happy about something, broaches, tough, being the audience when david and I put on award shows with categories like "best other grandma" and where the awards were forks wrapped in tin foil, being our customer when david and I made up restaurants with menu items like "piece of bread", visiting her at her ward and in the church library, the house in vista, passing the landmark of the big guy and knowing we were almost there, the bag, how much she approved of and loved justin, her watching my kids, the pictures of her grand kids all over her house, how proud she got when she talked about my dad, stories about when she met my grandpa and stories like how her pictures were on public transportation as adds for the photo studio, how strong she was, how much she loved us. xoxoxo
ok, since I still can't find the silly cord, I will update what I can of the non-picture required posts. aside from computer drama the other reason posts have been non existant is the craziness of this:
while we are not 100 % sure (due to the fact that St. George has seen so many cases they stopped swabbing to confirm) it appears that justin was hit with the swine flu. he had all the symptoms on the page and they told him not to bother coming in unless he had respiratory problems because they are only giving medication if you are under 5 or over 65. so he was quarantined to our room and I lathered everything he touched with hand sanitizer. After 3 days all that remained was a sore throat and we seemed to be in the clear.
then a week later I developed symptoms (minus the fever) and we thought we were in for it...but I was better by day 2 and sore throat free by day 3. so we don't know what I had because justin looked like he had been hit by a truck for 3 days and I bounced back in 1.
then a week later after I had stopped freaking out that the kids were going to be afflicted cole said "I feel sick...in there" (pointing down his throat). after it was clear he felt yucky we took him in and I have never been so glad to get a diagnosis of strep in my life!
so while they still insist that it sounds like justin had it, cole only had strep. and thanks to apparently fast acting antibiotics he has not complained once today of any soreness...hallelujah!
in less than a week: drove to st.george. found a place to move. drove back. packed our life. moved. (thank you to all of those who helped us). drove back again from st. george. and now to complete the list: ACL sugery. that list looks small as I type, but I am too tired to recall the million other things we had to get done to accomplish those things. the good news is that we are at the tail end of this insanity and that justins surgery went really well. the surgeon said his knee didn't look like an old worn out football knee, which is great news for a man who wants to be active the rest of his life. so now we begin reab. stay in provo for a few days. and then head back to continue rehab in our new hometown. like I said we are officially crazy. thank you to all of our wonderful friends who have helped us in a million ways and allowed us to accomplish our huge checklist. I don't know what we would have done without your help. we are more grateful than you will ever know for your willingness to help.
we are back from our whirl wind trip down to St. George to find a place to call home. and we are so happy to report that it was a success! thank goodness. we were actually surprised at the number of good places we saw. we really liked the area that this town home is in and it was a good deal with all the things that are included in our rent. so after some craziness we finally decided to go with it and are happy to show pictures of our soon to be home! (I am also equally excited that there is a Tai pan in S.G. so I can cutify the place for cheap!)
so here is the kitchen
and dining area
we are SOexcited to have not one but TWO bathtubs! (it's a 2 1/2 bath) Although we loved our current place, the 1 bathroom, shower only got a little tough 2 kids later. Cole is going to be in HEAVEN.
there is a family room off to the side of the kitchen.
this picture was taken from the living room, we didn't really get a good picture of the living room itself. that hallway you see leads to a bathroom, and then on through to the kitchen and family room.
this is one of my favorite little details. I love that little nook in the wall where the stairs turn. I can't wait to accessorize it.
there are 3 bedrooms and a laundry room upstairs. it is a cute place and we are excited to have that big obstacle checked off our never ending to do list. the development also has a pool and gym and places for kids to play.
Justin and I were lucky enough to have Justin's mom stay in town and watch the kids so we could go down and run around like crazy looking at places. his company set us up in a nice hotel and it was really great to spend time together even if it was filled with time crunches and such! I have to admit though I BAWLED when we left the kids and could not have been more happy to see Cole waiting outside when we returned. he ran so fast to the car and I could not have been happier to see him! Ali was equally as adorable and did a little dance upon our arrival. we missed them and are happy to be home with them.
so now onto loading up the truck monday and heading out! ah! this is craziness!
yes, it's official. we are actually leaving provo. Justin was promoted to the St. George office. which means a commute is out of the question and a move is in order. we are excited about it, but to tell you the truth, it all happened so quickly that it is a little surreal...wait I mean a lot surreal. I can't even begin to think about how much I will miss fabulous friends or I will start to bawl. so maybe it's a good thing this move is happening so fast that I don't really have time to fully process any of this. if you know me, you know I hate change. I struggle with it in general and so I was surprised when I was able to "calmly" (okay maybe not completely freak-out-less) consider this proposal. not to mention that I think I shocked my husband pretty thoroughly as well.
when things fall into place easily, it makes you feel a bit more peace that it is what is supposed to happen. even if you do hate change, and you don't know a soul, and...okay, stopping myself now. so it's off on a new adventure a few hours closer to family, and although it's chaos now, it feels right. and on a side note, I am so proud of Justin and all of his hard work. he amazes me and I know I am one lucky gal.
one of our favorite local places to visit over the years has been thanksgiving point. it has so much to do and see especially for the kids. we have been to the petting zoo, all the cute shops, and even seen the reindeer at Christmas. this weekend we decided to take justin's mom up to discover some of our favorite spots, and one we had yet to check out.
first stop was the dinosaur museum (I am sure it has a much cooler actual name, but that's what we call it). we had never been there before and were excited to take cole.
there were so many fun things for him to see and explore.
ali liked all the eye candy too!
it was so nice to have an extra pair of hands to chase kids.
this was a fun activity. kids could build a dino using all the velcro parts...
I guess I should specify that it's not just for kids. notice though that justin was not following instructions...yeah, that's a leg, in it's mouth...such a boy.
a BIG hit for cole was the erosion table.
water. dirt. toys. what's not to love?
once again, fun for all ages. this time justin followed directions.
meanwhile ali snuggled with her nana.
and we eventually pried cole away from the dirt...and onto a dinosaur.
and then...
he found the this!
and the conversation went like this:
"what does he eat cole?"
"macamoni" (yeah that's macaroni, but he has called it this since he first learned to talk and it just kinda stuck in our house lingo.)
then the last thing you see is a "dig site" where kids can be little archeologists.
after escaping the gift shop with a small toy for justin and cole, we headed to the gardens.
they have a pond with fish food to feed the fish with. cole was fascinated by these things...as was ali. she started laughing and pointing when they toppled over each other to get the coveted food pellet.
we love this place. and know it well. in fact this should have been the place. for those of you who never heard the story. one of justin's buddies let it leak to his wife who was one of my best friends, that after our long courtship justin was going to propose here a certain weekend...yeah, didn't happen and it was almost the end of our story...oh the drama.
now 2 kids later we look back and laugh about it. so we had to take a picture in the spot that has been "our spot" where the proposal never happened.
it was soooo hot and we were melting, so not the cutest picture of all time, but too important to leave out of the post.
then we headed to the discovery gardens for kids. basically a quaint little place to cool off.
and of course as always cole found...
a girl.
and our little girl found the water.
and loved it!
and I will let coles face speak for itself.
it was a BUSY BUSY day, with a picnic thrown in the middle.
there is just something so fun about knowing that they love our kids as much as we do.
and it doesn't hurt that all that extra love and attention just happens to bring out...
If you compare pictures of the last post to these you will get the full effect of just how much this girl can contort her face...it is so random, and so ali.
As you can see these pictures were each taken on separate occasions, proof that this happens often...
our little beauty and our little beast
and justin and cole took it all very seriously
ali got right to work
and cole dug right in
until dad asked if he wanted to eat it
c'mon cole...not even one little bite?
the other night one of Justin's co-workers was kind enough to give us tickets to the Dixie State production of "a year in frog and toad". when we arrived we found that we had been given front row seats! the play was fabulous. it was obviously meant for full family enjoyment. the jokes and songs were entertaining to all ages and I must admit Justin and I laughed out loud many a time. Cole also loved it! he was so excited and was glued to the play the whole time. but the big surprise of the night was how much Ali loved it. she was captivated through the entire first act. the music started and she, while sitting on daddy's lap, began to bust out her dance moves. it was hilarious. when they flew a kite on stage, she reached out her hand to try and grab it and turned to us with a look like "this is amazing!" she only got antsy for the last 15 minutes of the entire show and that was because she wanted to walk around...and get to the stage. at intermission the snail (who was one of our favorites) came out to have some fun with the kids. when all the kids followed him up the stairs ali hopped off daddy's lap and tagged right along with cole. at the end all the characters sat on the edge of the stage to talk with the kids. cole got first dibs due to our amazing seats. the cast was so cute with him and he was awe struck. all in all great family night out.
(this was taken when cole was 2 weeks old)
so here is the kitchen
and dining area
we are SO excited to have not one but TWO bathtubs! (it's a 2 1/2 bath) Although we loved our current place, the 1 bathroom, shower only got a little tough 2 kids later. Cole is going to be in HEAVEN.
there is a family room off to the side of the kitchen.
this picture was taken from the living room, we didn't really get a good picture of the living room itself. that hallway you see leads to a bathroom, and then on through to the kitchen and family room.
and catch things with your bare hands
and get dirty
with dad
in nature
and then eat your spoils
first stop was the dinosaur museum (I am sure it has a much cooler actual name, but that's what we call it). we had never been there before and were excited to take cole.
there were so many fun things for him to see and explore.
ali liked all the eye candy too!
it was so nice to have an extra pair of hands to chase kids.
I guess I should specify that it's not just for kids. notice though that justin was not following instructions...yeah, that's a leg, in it's mouth...such a boy.
a BIG hit for cole was the erosion table.
water. dirt. toys. what's not to love?
once again, fun for all ages. this time justin followed directions.
meanwhile ali snuggled with her nana.
and we eventually pried cole away from the dirt...and onto a dinosaur.
and then...
he found the this!
and the conversation went like this:
then the last thing you see is a "dig site" where kids can be little archeologists.
after escaping the gift shop with a small toy for justin and cole, we headed to the gardens.
they have a pond with fish food to feed the fish with. cole was fascinated by these things...as was ali. she started laughing and pointing when they toppled over each other to get the coveted food pellet.
we love this place. and know it well. in fact this should have been the place. for those of you who never heard the story. one of justin's buddies let it leak to his wife who was one of my best friends, that after our long courtship justin was going to propose here a certain weekend...yeah, didn't happen and it was almost the end of our story...oh the drama.
now 2 kids later we look back and laugh about it. so we had to take a picture in the spot that has been "our spot" where the proposal never happened.
and of course as always cole found...
a girl.
and our little girl found the water.
and loved it!
