Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Fair Enough? No Way!



If Josh is truthful, he'd tell you he's had enough of the Puyallup Fair to last a lifetime. He can take it or leave it. Unfortunately for him, I can't get enough of the fair. So, last week we took our family of five to "Do the Puyallup". We've been to the fall fair every year we've lived here (7 in all)and it's just one of those traditions that I'm not willing to give up. I decided this year, instead of solely focusing on pictures of the kids on all of the rides (which haven't changed much over the years), we'd eat our way through the fair (which is also something that is traditional)and I'd document our field trip to the fair with food. Of course, I did have to throw in a few ride pictures for good measure (mostly to prove to my kids that we did do something fun in their childhood). Enjoy.




Literally, 5 seconds after entering the fair, we joined the line for a Fischer scone(baking powder biscuit variety)with fresh raspberry jam.





Five minutes after devouring the scones, we spoiled the kids with their own cotton candy. (Sugar high anyone?)





Cotton candy was followed my personal fair favorite, "Elephant Ears". These are fried scones stretched and shaped into "elephant ears", lathered with butter and the choice of cinnamon and sugar or raspberry jam. We got half and half.







We topped off the night with chocolate & vanilla twist ice cream cones. (As if we needed any more sugar.)

Here are some of the non-food highlights:




























Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Hair Today...Gone Tomorrow



Who is this "great hairdini"? We almost forgot what he looks like, it's been so long since we've seen him. (Not anybody's fault, lol.)


Our celebrity of a brother/brother-in-law, Ammon (check out this link to one of the magazines he's been featured in recently: http://au-beauty.glam.com/articles/detail/ammon_carver/ ) whom we have not seen in 2 years (Mari's wedding)made a whirlwind visit this past weekend for a hair show as part of the Matrix design team. He flew in Friday, but was booked for the show through Sunday afternoon. We felt so fortunate that he was able to extend his trip for one extra day to come and spend time with us at our home.



Our kids talked about nothing else for days leading up to Ammon's arrival. "When is Daddy's brother coming?" "Is today the day that Uncle Ammon is coming?"



And let me tell you...Ammon did not disappoint. Our kids received so much one-on-one special attention from Ammon. He spoiled them with presents (totally unnecessarily) which couldn't have been more perfectly picked, even by us. Jacob has played with his Star Wars legos every day. Kaylee proudly wears her Hello Kitty purse daily, being careful to know where all of the accompanying accessories are.

We had fun playing Guitar Hero and watching movies, eating ice cream and cookies and basking in the coolness that is Ammon! We enjoyed catching up on the past 2 years Ammon and hope you'll come again soon! Next time, plan to stay a little longer.

Friday, September 12, 2008

You Might Be a BYU Football Fanatic If...



You Might Be a BYU Football Fanatic If...
(NOTE: Turn up the sound on your computer!)

Your favorite colors are blue and white.
You consider the word UTE an obscenity.
You wake your children up each morning by singing "Rise and Shout".
You hear the word "bronco" and immediately think of Coach Bronco Mendenhall.
You have more BYU paraphernalia than the BYU Bookstore.
You actually like "the power of the Wasatch", the BYU Cougar Marching Band.
You outlaw the color red in your wardrobe and home.
You've been caught singing "we're gonna beat the HECK out of you".
You know where each BYU player has served his mission.
You have the BYU football games marked on your calendar, but not your spouses' or childrens' birthdays.
You fervently pray for the Cougars before each game (as if the other team's fans aren't praying for their players).
You know the names of the starting players, as well as the names of their respective spouses, children & whether or not they earned their Eagle Scout award.
You wouldn't dream of missing the Blue and White game.
You plan your vacations around the football schedule (hoping to coordinate a vacation when the Cougars are playing at any given destination).
You've ever thrown tortillas in the stadium.
You think the BSC is blue/white color blind.
You've already bought tickets to the Fiesta Bowl thinking this "might be the year" (love you Dad)
You can name the starting players of the 1984 National championship team
You know the story behind the 1980 "Miracle Bowl"
You frequent sites like www.cougarfan.com or www.cougarboard.com
You get to the tailgate parties 4 hours prior to kick-off.
You create a blog post about the BYU Cougars.
You think the celebration penalty in the BYU-UW game was totally 100% correct.

Here are some pictures from last weekends' amazing Cougar victory over the Huskies 28-27. If you can't tell, we are huge BYU football fanatics at our house! Go Cougars!















Thursday, September 11, 2008

WHEN...


WHEN
did your hair
grow so long?
did you learn so many words?
did you develop your
sense of humor?
did you start wanting to "be
a big girl"?
did you start
playing make
believe?
did you start
sharing (or trying to)?
did you start talking on the
phone?
did you start
picking out
your own
clothes?
did you become
my little girl?

WHEN
will I stop thinking of you
as my baby?







My "big girl" started her first year of preschool last Tuesday. Mrs. Spencer is already working her magic at "Our World to Discover Preschool". We look forward to a great year.




Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Craft Room Makeover: Part 1



Have I told you that I'm married to the most generous, kind-hearted, helpful, amazing, handsome man ever? Before I left camping with the kids I finally found the storage solution for all of my scrapbook/craftroom supplies. Originally, we were going to do custom cabinets, etc...but when I saw this bookshelf/entertainment unit at IKEA for a fraction of the cost and knew I could also take it with me if we ever move from this house, it was love at first sight. I semi-jokingly told Josh (a few dozen times)that if he wanted to go to IKEA while I was gone camping and buy all of the items on my wish list and assemble them, it would be fine with me. :) And you know what? He did it. I could hardly believe it! Thank you Josh (and Sean Elwell) for surprising me with my dream!

Here are some before and after pictures. We still need to choose a window treatment, a few more accessories and a paint color for the wall (any suggestions???).

BEFORE:


AFTER: