Kent and Denise Conder Family

soooo special

2012-02-15T15:14:00.000-08:00

Here's a little Valentine sneak peek. Addie had a cute little Valentine party for the girls (pictures to come), and Sophie, Addie, and I went to a princess party for the soon-to-be-3 Penny. All the girls wore princess dresses. The party (pictures to come for that also) was super cute, but we expect nothing less from the super talented Natalie.

Here's a funny story about Sophie. The other day Addie was on the phone with my mom and sister and the whole time Sophie was brushing Addie's hair and saying, "so special, soooo special", and would occasionally hold her chin. Kids are the cutest. So are kittens dressed in clothes.

John and Marlena from our very own DOOL want to wish you a 1980's Happy Valentine's Day.

Here is my favorite Valentine from 2012.

I've recently started watching the TV series Friday Night Lights and I'm hooked.

It's such a good show. Tons of drama, heart, and high school football. I highly recommend it.

Isabelle's Book "I Love"

2012-01-27T11:20:00.000-08:00

Here's a little story Izzy made. That girl is a real hoot and a holler.

What would we do w/o her wackiness. My favorite is the facial expressions.

(she hears him coming near)

(translation: "Tada!")

The Moral of the story is:

If someone gets mad at you, build them a tower and then they will love you and marry you.

In closing, I submit this awesome picture:

"A snake is chasing you!"

St. George Temple

2012-01-18T10:14:00.000-08:00

This past Monday we celebrated MLK, jr. day in St. George. April went through the temple for the first time. It was so exciting and special. The past year has been so good for her and she has come so far. We couldn't be prouder. I got to be her escort, which is something I will never forget. I also got to wear Grandma Conder's temple dress, which made the occasion that much more special. Addie, April, and I all went through the St. George temple for the first time. The only thing missing from the day was our sweet Kc. We missed him.

L to R: Dad, Geneva Bringhurst (Blake and Brooklyn's grandma), mom, April, Aileen, Addie, and Jayna

April's friend Donny "Donzo Gonzales"came to the temple also. He has been a really great friend to April and the family.

Jayna and I's token weird friend photos

After the temple we headed on down to the ol' Chuck-A-Rama. The choice is yours at Chuck-A-Rama--and we chose right. Nothing like a full belly to help you fall asleep on the drive home. Lucky for me Addster wasn't tired at all and she let me sleep in the back while she drove a couple hours.

Addendum:

Here are photos taken in the "photo booth" at our MSA Christmas black tie party back in December.

L to R: Moroni Schwab, Jayna, Chris, Bradley, me, and Paul Tripp

Chris and Paul could have cropped everyone else out of this one and sent it as their roommate x-mas card.
Maybe next year.

Nothing says friend like a back-to-back photo.

American Girl: the dollhouse years

2012-01-13T14:36:00.000-08:00

This year Shaun and Addie decided to surprise the girls for Christmas and make them an American Girl doll dollhouse. They had locked the girls out of the basement while it was being built, but a little girl followed Shaun quietly downstairs once and from thence on was in on the secret. Luckily the girls didn't understand when she tried to spoil the surprise by trying to tell them.

Phase 1: Construction + a baby ballerina.

Phase 2: Painting and tons of beautiful detail.

Phase 3: Testing the furniture out.

Wha-la! Finished!

Is that amazing or what?!!!

Shaun and Addie should go into the doll making business.

When the dolls aren't home they go camping, ride bikes, or visit the stuffed animals on the center shelf.

Christmas morning.

Isabelle's advent calendar.

After all that hard supervising and testing Sophie is wiped out literally by the swim noodle.

christmas coats

2012-01-12T16:15:00.000-08:00

Grandpa and grandma got new coats for Christmas! (fist pump)

(photo taken by Kt)

Merry Christmas from Macgyver + friends!!!

2011-12-29T23:43:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas candids started out with these blurry shots taken by grandma. You would think with how hard she pushes the button and then dramatically releases that she'd get some good shots. Nope. There I was Christmas Eve, laying lazily on the couch, awaiting nothing--when the Robbins' showed up and all the girls dog-piled me. Sophie has the cutest horns.

Christmas morning pre-gift opening grandma had Kt read the story of the birth of Jesus while the other kids + Bruce the Christmas hamster, held up pictures. That Bruce. The highlight of Christmas for all the kids. None of the adults.

Also, how 'bout those fancy pajamas??? You wanna try them on don't you? Don't worry, we did. I tried on Kt's and Addie tried on Izzy's. Perfect fits. Addie asked that her picture not be shown. Too cute to be shown outside of family.

Here's a little of how the rest of the morning went:

It's true. I got a "bumpit" from Brook. Apparently she thinks my hair lacks volume (crying). Addie's gift tags were brilliant. She printed out pictures of everyone (in their youth) and attached them to the gifts. That way those who can't read (Sophie) would know who they belong to. She picked my best (worst) school picture. The year daddums did my hair whilst mom was working at the sewing factory (true story). Nothing like a ponytail with a newspaper rubber band. I had also worn the same dress in my kindergarten photo. How embarrassing. Later, after a delicious HAM lunch, I took close-up shots of everyone's butts. Those are too cute to see outside family also. Then we had PIE. Here's the winner of the best "pie face".

If that doesn't scream delicious--I don't know what does.

Here are some "fer cute"'s:

Whoa. Who's the wise guy (gal) who added grandma's bum?

The next morning we had a visit from our favorite Nicole and Will Fawcett.

By now you're probably wondering when we get to the Macgyver part of this post.

Well folks, here it is:

Macgyver. Holding Will. Pondering the meaning of life.

Later, Macgyver ponders life across the room in the recliner with a swim noodle.

...while grandpa inspects his remote control helicopter.

Back to Will.

Macgyver and Will--the early years:

Ahhhhhh--CUTE!

Later the Conder clan (minus our Kc--sad) had a delicious lunch at Pancho & Lefty's in San Jorge (St. George for those of you who speak English), followed by a Costco excursion.

Sophie got a little hungry in the cart.

That's a wrap for Christmas 2011.

Hope yours was AWESOME.

Awesome, like being a man who rides a buffalo, and then one day finds a baby in the weeds.

That kind of awesome.

Here's a Merry Christmas from just Jayna and I.

Here's a Merry Christmas from Jayna, Seaweed, and I.

I know. End already.

The End.

One more thing--have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

cookies with santa

2011-12-27T10:45:00.000-08:00

The weekend before Christmas Addie took the girls to a Dear Lizzie event: Cookies with Santa.

Natalie are her two cute little kids were there also.

All the kids got to sit on Santa's lap and were given a HUGE sugar cookie.

Sophie would not sit on his lap though. If you've never been to Dear Lizzie--go there!

You can browse their adorable shop and then eat in their boutique cafe.

Here are a few photos making gingerbread houses:

The rare occasion that Izzy isn't making a weird face, and the others are--Sophie looks ready to bite!

(She bit me twice over Christmas.)

gobble gobble

2011-11-27T17:10:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving from the Conder clan!

Filled with tons of good food (lots of pie), the Muppet movie (or Muffin movie as one little girl was calling it), the live nativity at the Tuachan ampitheater, black Friday shopping (a nightmare), and more shopping. Oh, and more eating. I did make it to the gym twice--which probably didn't help too much.

Sadly I only took pictures Friday night.

We went to Village Inn for dinner in St. George and had the delicious pumpkin pancakes w/caramel syrup.

Then we headed out to Ivins to the Tuachan to see the live nativity.

We were the first in line (thanks to Addie and Shaun) and got front row seats for the 15 minute production.

Spent some time in the gift shop with two gangsters.

Jayna got engaged with a beautiful puppy ring.

Sat on Santa's lap. The little girl far left is April's friend Donny's little girl Meridian.

Jayna was over the moon with excitement to see Santa.

He was pretty delighted to see her as well.

We ended with a horse and carriage ride around the Tuachan (actually mostly the parking lot).

Halloween: a highly eclectic post

2011-11-02T15:03:00.000-07:00

This post is going to be long, super eclectic lookin', and a gazillion pictures.

Prepare yourself for a good long sit--unless you stand at your computer.

*****

The Saturday before Halloween we got together for a Halloween party at the Fawcett home, which included:

a) A potluck dinner of soup in bread bowls, and tons of treats.

b) A cakewalk w/super cute cupcakes.

c) A costume contest.

d) Loads of silliness.

(The cast of characters - minus a few):

Candid photos of the evening:

We had a costume contest and the winners were:

Best adult costume: Tom Giles as Mike Wazowski of Monsters, Inc.

Best child costume: Will Fawcett as a Chick-fil-a cow

Best overall costume (team): the Giles family as Mike, Celia, and Boo of Monsters, Inc.

Towards the end we decided to have fun with Chris' wig.

*****

Monday at work they had a department decorating contest. One department did a "Grease" theme, and another an outdoor type theme (I forgot the actual name). I'm not sure what rodent that was--but it was disturbing.

*****
Halloween night (Monday) we went to the annual MSA/YSA Halloween party up in Hobble Creek at the Spring Haven mansion. There were over 500 people there. It was packed. I actually don't have any pictures from that... Boo (and not in a scary way--a sad mime crying kind of way).
*****
Addie helped out on Halloween with Izzy's class, and then she took the girls up to Shaun's work for trick-or-treating. Also, shown is their night of pumpkin carving. They look hyper (probably from the chocolate evidence around their mouths).

*****

April, Brooke, and Bk ran in the "Spooktacular" run in St. George. I think it was a 5k. Brook ran ahead of April the whole way, but Bk lagged behind bored collecting leaves. He did point out that he was ahead of some old ladies still.

Mom running to get some chocolate chips.

Above: The Hurricane Conders Halloween. April, Brook, and Bk.
*****
To end this eclectic post--I give you a photo from "crazy hair day" at school.
Sophie went along by giving us her best bed-head hair.

Rapunzel had a birthday!

2011-10-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

Our not-so-little Brook turned 7 on the 14th of October.

It's hard to believe she is already in first grade.

April threw her a super fun Rapunzel birthday dress-up party at g-ma and g-pa's clubhouse.

Kt, Izzy, and Sophie came down for the grand occasion (and also to go to Disneyland).

Grandma Conder, Brook, and Grandma Bringhurst

Brook and Grandpa Conder

I want to say April made this... so we're going to go with that. Well done April!

Sophie Snow White and her balloon.

Super excited about getting both dolls. Ryder is so dreamy. Not sure what Kt is doing. Candle light vigil?

Brook and Bk

hiking the narrows

2011-10-01T10:21:00.000-07:00

This last weekend some friends and I went down South and hiked the Narrows in Zions. It was my second time hiking the Narrows and just as fun as it was before. The whole hike is 16 miles, but we didn't do the whole hike (about 3/4 of the hike is in water). We hiked a total of about 7 hours. Sometimes the rocks can be slippery, but our walking sticks helped steady us. Did I still fall and face-plant in the water? Yes, yes I did. I stubbed my toe as well. Luckily the water was cold and numbed my toe and bruised and swollen knee. Did I cry? No..., but just barely. Phew.

The crew ready to take off. L to R: Jon, Chris, Shelly, Aileen, Brad, Joel, and Michelle.

Chris, Brad, and I went a little farther than the rest of the group and turned back at the part where it really starts to narrow.

I posed Brad for a funny photo, haha. Also, you can see the one portion of the hike where the water is pretty deep. It's only about 30 feet.

Brad and I in a scaaaaaaaary cave. Not really scary, but looks scary with our glowing wolf eyes.

It was a suuuuuuuuuuuuuuper fun trip, and we ended the night with a high-calorie binge-fest at Texas Roadhouse in St. George. Soooooo good! I highly recommend hiking the Narrows. You can even stay at the Kent and Denise Conder hotel. They love visitors. I can even guess that they might pack you a lunch for your hike. Also, YAY! Provo tabernacle will be a new temple! So cool!

toof: the finale

2011-09-16T14:48:00.000-07:00

Here it is: My new porcelain tooth. Can you tell which one it is? No? Good (evil laugh-mwhahaha).

I'm so happy with it that I'll probably give an analogy about it during my next testimony in church.

If I chicken out I'll have my mom do it.

Have you heard her analogy's during testimony meeting?

I think my favorite was about the movie Superman Returns.

ps: What's going on with those whispy side hairs? Show-offs.

A hairy affair

2011-09-14T15:49:00.000-07:00

After a couple failed attempts at halo-braiding my own hair, I think I finally got it right.

(Patting myself on the back.)

The pictures below are the day-after-slept-on-version.

Still looks priiiiiiiiity good.

As Miley Cyrus would say in a sing-song voice, "It's preeeetty cool."

I also recently acquired a new tooth.

Guess which one?

The off-colored one?

You don't say.

Right now it's in it's temporary plastic state,

but as of tomorrow it'll be the real deal, or real deal porcelain variety.

I'm happy with it.

It took care of the previous guy who didn't want to look straight for the camera.

the littles of Hurricane

2011-09-07T09:28:00.000-07:00

This cool dude turned 10! He celebrated with a party at the Hurricane splash pad.

Brook grew some beautiful Rapunzel hair.

Bk started 4th grade and Brook started 1st grade.

"the circle of life!"

2011-08-29T15:34:00.000-07:00

My good friends Nicole and Nate had their first (of ten) baby! We're all so excited for their little baby Will!

Sophie checking out her new friend Will.

Peek-a-boo under the cart.

first day of school!

2011-08-23T11:33:00.001-07:00

Kt's first day of 4th grade and Izzy's first day in 1st grade.
Sophie's smile face is closing her eyes. She is ready for school too.

an addendum

2011-08-20T09:23:00.000-07:00

Veda, Denise, and I at La Jolla beach.

Brad, Chris, Veda, Denise, and I beachin' it up. How pretty is that sky?!!

Last: Dinner at BJ's in Stockton with Chris and his friends after a day in San Francisco. You wouldn't know it, but I am beyond tired in this picture. I had to go to the bathroom to wake myself up.

Picture taken with Chris' iPhone. It gives us a bronzy glow.

summer

2011-08-19T12:37:00.000-07:00

Near the end of July I took a week and a 1/2 long vacation to California with my friends Chris and Brad. I had been telling my old roommate and friends Denise and Veda that I would visit them--and finally made good on my promise. We spent the first part of our trip visiting Denise and Veda in beautiful, sunny, fun San Diego. I didn't take many photos, and then my camera died and I forgot my charger. When I collect pictures from friends I will post more. Our first Sunday night we had fish tacos (so good!) for dinner and then we (Veda, Jake, Denise, Cubbie, Chris, Brad, and I) took a walk down on the San Diego harbor.

Jake, Veda, Brad, and I trying to have a chicken fight?

Our first day at the beach, Brad, Chris, and I got super sunburned. We went to the beach almost every day, and it was awesome. I think I got more burned every day--and the last day my cheeks got the most of it. One afternoon Denise, Veda, and I got caught in a rip tide and Denise and Veda got out of it, but I had to be towed in on a surf board by a life guard. It was humiliating. We ate a lot of fish, swam a ton, had the best weather, and had a great time. Towards the end of the week we said good-bye to SD and headed North to Stockton to visit Chris' mom and sister. Chris' sister has a pool so we kept up our daily swim. Good thing I brought all my swimsuits. Chris lives about 2 hours from San Francisco, so Brad and I went in for a short visit the day before we headed back to Utah. We had enough time to see the Japense Tea Gardens (where my camera died), eat fish on Pier 39, do a little shopping, and head back.

*****

The following Sunday was my birthday. I won't tell you how old I am--but I turned 19 again. Is their a limit on how many times you can do that? That morning I went to Natalie and Dave's baby blessing of their new little guy Emmett. He is adorable, just like his big sis Penny.

That afternoon I took some friends and we had a little bbq at Addie's. Chris and Brad guessed that my birthday wish was an Aileen sandwich. If that was right (it wasn't), it came true. We took a group picture out back before we all left (minus Addie, Shaun, and Sophie). Sophie wouldn't get in the picture because she was having too much fun on the neighbors slide.

'Twas a good time. Also, a shout out to Shaun and Addie who also had summer birthdays in July. Addie, the girls, and I went to Guru's for a birthday lunch for Addie and had their delicious chocolate cake. Well, we more watched the girls eat it. If you haven't had it I would highly recommend it.

the Hap's

2011-07-13T11:43:00.000-07:00

This past month we had two birthdays. This lil' lady turned the big TWO! Hard to believe she's not a baby anymore (crying) ..., and

this not so lil' soon-to-be-4th-grader-lady turned the big 9. NINE! It seems just yesterday she was two, and making me talk stuffed animals with her. Now she's getting grown up ("getting grown up" refers to nine year olds), has probably read more books than me, and she's got braces. Look out world for this one.

In honor of the birthdays and summer, the Hoff ordered lots of fun, and LOTS of swimming.

Sophie's birthday present from grama and grampa!

For the 4th of July we allz (except April, Bk, and Brook) had a bbq at the park. I contributed a box of grape candy, which helps secure my status as the favorite aunt. I wouldn't ask the mom beforehand if the kiddie's can have the candy, or they might not get it.

Ariel?!!... with an acorn collection?!!

(Acorn collection in the white cup.)

A little pioneer fun at this is the place monument.

Laura and Mary Ingalls

That's the hap's so far this summer. Next blog post may be about my California beach getaway..., or maybe, just maybe, I might actually post about my New York trip. Either way it's something to look forward to for the end of the year.

ps: Why does blogger make it so difficult to post?

Our lady friend is havin' a baby!

2011-06-11T21:42:00.000-07:00

On June 11th, we threw a baby shower for our friend, the soon-to-be-mama next month Nicole. Addie hosted the party at her house and we had a great turn out.

Nicole, her mom Marilyn, and grandma Barbara.

The FOOD! Yes!

lemon water

Nicole with all her presents. (Also, notice Isabelle in her own world w/her feather.)

Isabelle was content singing to her feather while presents were opened.

Nicole also had to get in on the fun.

Party Party

2011-05-31T08:36:00.000-07:00

The month of May has had its share of "good times" and parties. About mid-May we threw our good friend Natalie a baby shower at Dear Lizzie. She is having a boy around mid-June and we couldn't be more excited for her.

This past weekend we celebrated the 6th birthday of this wacky lady.

Friends at Izzy's garden party got to eat a fancy lunch, play games, fill pink flower pots, and received their own pair of fairy wings. Sophie was particularly intrigued with a jewelry box from grandma Conder. The best part of the weekend (besides the birthday) is Bk and Brooke came up for the occasion.

After the birthday party the kiddies went to Trafalga and got drenched in the bumper boats, and then we went to Guru's for a birthday dinner.

We also got to meet up with Uncle Kc for lunch at Iggy's and then played hard at the playground at Provo Beach.

Sophie and her fuzzy hair were over the moon playing in the toddler playground.
I got this great video of her going down the slide.
The second time going down the concerned look on her face (before she gets bumped from behind) is because she kept getting shocked from all the static electricity.
That didn't keep her from bouncing back up again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5YXo8lpYRw

Spring Break

2011-05-09T09:16:00.000-07:00

"Hello?... Is it me your looking for?"

Spring break 2011 the Robbins family headed down south to spend the week at Grandma & Grandpa Conder's house, which = LOADS of fun.

One day they all rode bikes to this fun park in St. George (grandpa rode his scooter). They ate lunch and everyone played on the playground, even Uncle Shaun.

Snow Canyon w/Grama and Grampa

2011-04-12T11:55:00.000-07:00

Bk wasn't happy with his injured arm. Poor kid.

You did it! You really did it!

2011-03-16T19:49:00.000-07:00

Saturday, March 12th Jayna and I ran the Rex Lee Run at BYU. It was Jayna's first 5k and my third. The first part was all up hill, but after that part it was downhill and then pretty level. I had been wanting to do this run for a couple years now, so I'm glad I finally got the opportunity.

Winter Bridal Shower

2011-03-04T08:21:00.000-08:00

Around the 3rd week of January, Nicole Fawcett and I threw our good friend Nicole Wenczel a bridal shower. Since it was still sort of around Christmas, I left up my tree and we did a winter themed bridal shower brunch. My sister helped me make a gorgeous "bride" garland (she is so talented--she thinks of things I never would) and we cut out (with her cricket) individual snowflakes to put on the party favors. A couple days before the shower Nicole and I baby-sat Tom and Season's little bunny (she slept the whole time--what a good baby) and got almost everything made, except food, for the shower. The night before we put flags on straws, cleaned, set up, and prepared food. The food turned out sooooooo good too. We made these two (1 and 2) recipes from the Pioneer Woman with homemade syrup. I'm licking my lips thinking about them. Nicole also made 'I'd poke my eye out to get one' cinnamon rolls, PLUS--I made expired muffins! Everyone's favorite. Don't tell. For more pictures of the shower you can go to our friend Tracy's blog. It turned out really well, and we are so happy for our Nicole!

On February 19th Nicole Wenczel married her sweetheart Darren Seegmiller in the Provo temple. Darren was one of my dad's boy scouts, and lived across the street from us.

It was such a beautiful day, and we are so happy for them!

A Mustache Tea, if you please...

2011-03-03T09:14:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was Jayna and I's good friend Chris' birthday. A couple weeks before Chris had told me that he wanted to have a mustache party, and then a couple days later said everyone was doing them, so he didn't want to do it anymore... who is doing them?!! I've never been to one (crying)! So in honor of his almost-mustache-party, I decided to make him a homemade mustache gift. I got the idea for these two things here: Mug & tea bags. Chris' good friend (and mine) Brad, helped me paint the mustache on the mug, and by help me, I mean he did it all. Then I went to Good Earth and bought some loose leaf herbs, and went home and sewed mustache tea bags. I made lavendar & chamomile, spearmint, and peppermint.

I think it turned out priiiiitty good, if I do say so myself. I think Miley Cyrus would say it's pretty cool. Jayna and I also offered to get the cake from Costco. Chris knows we're nutty, but I don't think he knew what he was in for. Good thing he's gotten used to our weirdness, and he said he loved the cake. Nothing like a cake with a goofy dinosaur with a Justin Bieber head, a gross zombie, tv's favorite couples, a black scary doll, and Joan Rivers (of course).Then we loaded the cake with about 50 candles, just so he wouldn't get his wish. What? Is it fair that he gets a wish and we don't? Kitting!

Happy birthday Jerk!

You're really doin' it!

2011-03-01T13:33:00.000-08:00

37 years ago (I think) today, a handsome guy in a green tux married a very pretty girl holding yellow daisy's. They provided the sack of flour, and someone made them that awesome cake.

Just look at them now! (crying) All grown up with 4 kids (who are grown up too) .

Still just as handsome/pretty as ever.

Thanks for being the best parents! You have been wonderful!

Be Mime Valentine

2011-02-15T14:03:00.000-08:00

This year for Valentine's Day, Addie and some of her close friends had a Valentine's party for their girls. They made these cute little mailboxes for their Valentines and cute bead necklaces. Addie also made an adorable doily garland. As a treat the girls had chocolate fondue. Kt especially loved it.

I talked to Izzy on the phone yesterday, and she said she got tons of Valentines from school. So many that it filled her backpack full and made it look like a turtle shell.

I got this dazzling homemade Valentine (below) in the mail from my friend Brooke, who lives in DC. We've got a running inside joke about mime's, and so she made me a bunch of mime Valentine's for me. It is hilarious, and I absolutely love it. This is just one of 5 that she made.

For Christmas this year, Shaun suprised Addie with a craft room. He got up in the middle of the night to paint it pink, and hid everything from her until the big reveal. She loved it, and has spent some long hours in there already. It turned out really cute. Well done Shaun.

Can I say the prayer?

2011-02-10T09:58:00.000-08:00

The best is when she's kneeling, and she's so chubby she can't hold herself up...
so she face plants it a lot. She thinks it's funny though.

hola amigo

2011-02-08T09:01:00.000-08:00

Hola. Mi name es Juan Pablo. Me gusta suck off todo el chocolate of the popcorn chocolate.

(translation: Hello. My name is Sophie. I like to suck all the chocolate off the chocolate popcorn)

Mi favorite color is light tan. Mi animal favorito is los poopies. Tambien, me gusta los gatitos. I like serving the Lord. Hiking, play volleyball...

(My favorite color is light tan. My favorite animal is puppies. Also, I like kittens. I like serving the Lord. Hiking, playing volleyball...)

Just kidding! It's me Sophie!

Uh oh

2011-02-02T11:11:00.000-08:00

Around the beginning of December I went in to get a couple tests done, which resulted in this:I had a "mass" next to one of my ovaries about the size of a golf ball. I'm not really sure what to call the "mass", because my doctor was calling it a tumor--and other times a fibroid. We'll just call it "the tumoid" (cue scary music). Tumoid could also be its celebrity name if the tumor and fibroid were dating. How 'bout that?!! Fer cute. Now, just to ease your minds, they were about 98% sure it was benign, and it was. Everything went super smooth. There was a possible risk of having an ovary removed, but the tumoid was sitting on the outside of my uterus which made the surgery smooth. Because it was major surgery (it was similar to a c-section), I had to stay overnight in the AF hospital and then spent 3 weeks at home recovering (no work, excercise, or driving). Mama Denise stayed in the hospital and then took care of me for a whole week. I don't know what I would have done w/o her. She was such a blessing, and very much appreciated.
In the hospital I was so tired I kept going cross eyed and then closing my eyes. During the night I asked my mom if she wanted to start loading up the car, and she said pretty matter-of-factly, "No!" It was then that I realized that did not make sense.

As of now (today), I'm feeling good. I got the green light to excercise, lift heavy objects, and everything else humans do. After 3 weeks I was able to drive (hallelujah) and go back to work.

Not too scary.

2010-12-01T13:34:00.000-08:00

For Halloween this year, Jayna-bob and I decided to be multi-costumers and had THREE cra-cee costumes. Our friends Tom and Seaz had a 1920's murder mystery party the weekend before Halloween. It was b'loads of fun. I was a murdering author, but not the murderer in the mystery. I won't tell who it was. It was Jayna. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. If you can't find Jayna, she is the bespeckled-mustacher to the left. Nate and Nicole were there, along with new friends Nate and Rachel. Clara the butler retired before we got there. I stole this picture from Tom and Season's blog. To see more pictures, click on the pig nose (00) (also stolen from their blog--I'm an aper, what can I say).

Our family ward also had a Halloween chili cook-off. Jb and I dressed as the hilarious SNL duo Garth and Kat. Sadly, we didn't re-enact anything they did. We will, mark my words. Then you'll regret ever asking to see the 3 hour sketch we make of it. To see a real-live-version, click on the crying frowny face, which we'll say is a Halloween mime: :*( We won most creative costume at the party! Yes, I made those vests 2 hours before the party. The look it, don't be fooled.

The following Friday, we had a party at our home. It turned out super fun. Lots of people in the neighborhood came. We didn't get people to leave until 1:30 a.m. Our friend Rhiannon lent us her sound system and Nicole Fawcett single-handedly got the dance party started. She also supplied us with the finger snappin' dance tunes. That's right. All we did was snap. Kidding! Good thing we had her to count on. Jb and I dressed as banshees. I made us matching skirts, which you can't see in the pictures. We were kind of a make-shift-costume, but it was cool enough. We got a lot of "what are you?"'s. We glued a type of lace-feather monocle to our faces. Once again Nicole came to our rescue and created some awesome hairstyles for us. If she worked in the beauty shop with Dolly Parton in Steel Magnolia's she could say, "This is goin' in the hairdo hall of fame!" Then I would have a diabetic attack and she would have to redo my updo, and later on she'd cut my hair into a pixie cut to get me ready for my kidney transplant and upcoming part as Tinkerbell in Hook. Saturday we went to the stake singles Halloween party up Hobble creek. Nothing exciting to write about that.

The End.
With a cute little ps: Sophia, winter-ready at Kt and Izzy's dance recital. She's so cute. I almost can't stand it.

kids say the darnedest things

2010-11-09T15:27:00.001-08:00

Isabelle: (saying the prayer at dinner) Please help us to be safe, bless the prophet, bless the food, help us to learn to speak spanish....

These are funny things other people's kids have said:

Boys are passing the sacrament water to Olivia: No, I want coke please.

Chelsea: It is called the snackrament because they serve snacks!

Don't you hate it when this happens?

2010-11-01T23:43:00.001-07:00

6 years! Hooray!

2010-10-14T16:24:00.000-07:00

A funny thing happened.

2010-09-22T15:48:00.000-07:00

Last night at my weekly zumba class the instructor was trying to get a certain song to play, and kept fumbling around with it. Everytime she would hit play it was on high speed. After messing with it a bit she just opted to go with it. She started doing the dance really fast for about 2 minutes (with everyone following super fast) and then said something like, 'We can't do this chimpunk speed' or something similar. I was dying laughing. Apparently, I was the only one who thought it was funny, or noticed, because I looked around and everyone looked completely oblivious to what was happening.

*As a side note. My friend Jayna always calls zumba--Zupa's, and vice versa. I'm thinking of changing them both to zumpa's so there's no confusion in the name... only in which one you're going to at the moment.

**As another side note, if you raise your arms and smile in a photo are you considered a musician or a gymnast? Murray wants to know.

September thus far...

2010-09-21T21:09:00.000-07:00

Here's a run-down of the things that happened thus far this month:

1. We had a joint birthday bash for Nicole and Jayna. Both August birthdays. I made their fancy hatish things. Jayna and I were in charge of providing a BBQ. We had two at our house, but didn't bother checking them beforehand--only to find one was occupied by a wasps nest. Nate was the unlucky fellow who checked the BBQ and was stung. The other was spider infested. We ended up having to shamelessly use a George Foreman for our BBQ. Sorry guests.

(Nicole's only birthday wish was a group hug with Seaweed.)

2. September 5th we had our annual camping trip. Same folks as last time with a few extras (Jayna, Chris, and Brad). It was a whole lot of fun. There was fishing, secret sister gift exchanges (no joke), smores, etc. Jayna, Season, and I all had sleepless nights, praying for the dawn. It could've been one of the longest night of my life (crying). It was my own fault for thinking I could sleep on the straight ground. Boy was I wrong. Who let me get away with that ridiculous thinking?!! For some reason Tom isn't in any of the pictures... and only the back of Jayna's head.

Clara Giles first camping trip. She was such an adorable trooper. Awww, fer cute.

3. On the 11th, Nicole and I ran our 2nd 5k this summer. We arrived a little before 7:00 a.m. to register and then spent the next 56 minutes in the car because it was so cold outside. That Spanish Fork wind was freezing. 4 minutes before the race we got out, jump roped to warm up, and got ready for the blast off (which wasn't really a blast off, but would have been cool). We beat our time by a couple of minutes, hooray!

Nate and Jayna came and cheered us on. Nicole and I doing our after-run-happy-stretches.

Before the race, Nicole and I were warming up--she was across the street from me. I wasn't paying attention to her, and when I looked over she was doing these weird crazy warm ups. It was soooo funny. The first pic below is her re-enacting one of her warm ups. The other is my jealously overcoming me... probably for her winning 2nd in her division.

After the race and naps, Jayna, Nicole, and I went to the Women's Expo.

4. Jayna and I spent last Sunday afternoon up the canyon. Jayna was supposed to do homework, but we spent the first half talking (which we had agreed we wouldn't do). It was so nice and beautiful up there.

Me Birfdee

2010-08-18T21:47:00.000-07:00

About a week and a half ago it was my birthday. I wasn't looking forward to it, but there's no avoiding it. You have to get older. Wouldn't it be nice if that was optional? I always like to go swimming on my b-day so me, Brooke, Nicole W., and her bf Darren went swimming at the new Payson City outdoor pool. It was a little cold and rainy, but we still had a fun time. I normally like to go to dinner and a movie too, but Nicole F., Brooke, and I had already done a girl's day of that the Wednesday before (the 3 of us all have August b-days). Later that night a few close friends and I went to the Pizza Pie Cafe for dinner and then went back to my house for cake. I put on my peach lace 80's dress and brought out Seaweed for some pre-cake entertainment. I was also given a very special present: A plunger w/toilet paper stuck to it. Yes, it was from one of the boys. You will see in the pictures below that I counted my candles to make sure they weren't the real thing, and they weren't. Good job girls. I'm still 28.

Sunday Addie and co., had a BBQ for me and some of my good friends. Addie even made delicious cupcakes. I love Isabelle's face in the picture and those chubby legs of Sophie. The little girl I'm holding is none other than that cute little Penny--daughter to Dave and Natalie. It was a great birthday. Thanks to all who made it special for me!

That's it?!! (crying) - A look back at the year exercised.

2010-08-11T12:50:00.000-07:00

This week I've been reflecting on my exercise/eating habits quite a bit. I feel like for the most part I've maintained some good healthy habits, with a few bouts of falling off the wagon into the sugar cane field. Now that my birthday is over I have no more "free" days to look forward to, and can reeeeally get down to business. My goal for the year end is to lose another 30 lbs. and enter a body building contest. Just kidding, but not really. YES, kidding. This morning I did my mid-year calculation for how much I've exercised (I've been keeping track on my calendar since the beginning of the year, no that's not anal), and it was a lot less than I hoped. Hopefully I can make up for it by year's end.

After running my numbers, I perused the internet for the best cardio exercises.

Top 10 cardio exercises which burn the most calories in 30 minutes:

1. step aerobics (thinking of this makes me want to cry)
2. bicycling (like)
3. swimming (like)
4. racquetball (not sure how you play this even tho we were taught in high school)
5. rock climbing (never been)
6. cross-country skiing (never been)
7. running (like - and am improving, which makes me like it even more)
8. elliptical trainer (sure)
9. rowing (Utah lake here I come... carp watch out)
10. walking (backwards? moonwalk?)

For real high intensity cardio, here are the top 3 exercises that will provide amazing results:

1. jumping rope (what if you can't jump more than 3 times before catching on the rope?)
2. sprinting (practice by stealing old ladies purses)
3. spinning (this also makes me want to cry)

What the heck kind of post is this?!! I don't know. Maybe just so I can organize what's going on in my mind and create a whirlwind of motivation and excitement that bursts out from every pore. Cross your fingers that happens.

Katie's Baptism Photos

2010-08-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of the beautiful pictures that Kate Benson took of Katie for her baptism.

Last One to the Handcart Has to Pull It!!!!

2010-08-05T12:03:00.000-07:00

Over the Pioneer Day weekend Nicole and I participated
in a 5k with her sister Michelle up in Bountiful. This was
Michelle and I's very first 5k... Although, I may have done a few
a couple decades ago with my parents
(I can say that cause I'm over 30 (crying)).
Once we crossed the finish line Nicole's niece Xanadu (Megan) gave us
congratulatory pictures she colored for us. For completing the race
we were given a wooden medallion
(I was hoping for a chocolate gold medallion).
Nicole and I had told her sister Michelle that if she walked they gave
you a handcart to pull. That would have been awesome, and practical
if someone needed help moving.

P.S. Yesterday Nicole and our friend Brooke had a birthday extravaganza day. We went to the Scera pool (swam in the rain), and then went and saw this movie. Yeowza! Who cares what the story's about, it's got Z. Efron, right? I mean, he even cried in it three times! I almost cried* when he did... almost.

*Sidenote to the PS: I did cry laughing twice that day.
Once when Nicole tried to fake us out by making it seem like she was buying a 2 month old jalepeno cheese bread to take to the movies at Maverick.
Second, when we were standing outside the theater in the rain and Nicole began a quick-paced-20 sec-snort-giggle. She's wacky. Must be why we're friends.
Now that I think of it, it could have been the overload of junk food I had which contributed to the out of control giggling.

ZUMBA!!!

2010-07-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

Around January I started attending a Zumba class at Gold's gym. I was hooked from the get-go. I absolutely love this class and adore the teacher. I go to the Tuesday, 7:00 p.m. class with Allison. She is so high energy and fun. About a month or so ago she taped our class doing Shakira's "Waka Waka" song/dance for... uh... the World Cup? I can't remember. Something involving charity... I think. Anyway, here is the video from the class (that I stole from her facebook page... I hope that's okay).

Do you see me?!?!?!! Just look for the biggest looking dummy. Ha ha! I'm definitely not a dancer, but I love the class so much I don't care. I'm behind the pole wearing a purple v-neck and black pants. You can pretend you don't know me. :)

{Conder Family Photos 2010}

2010-07-19T23:52:00.001-07:00

{Sophia Jane 1 Year Birthday}

2010-07-14T15:11:00.000-07:00

Our dear little Sophia turned 1 on July 6th. Addie planned the cutest 1 year birthday party for her at a park near her house. It was adorable to say the least. Sophia spent the first part of her party zonked on a blanket on the grass. I say zonked because only a person who is zonked can be sprawled out so comfortably while sleeping.

{Kt's Baptism}

2010-07-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

Kt was baptized last Saturday. I can't believe she's 8. She's so grown up. (The picture above is right before we left for the church). Her baptism and confirmation was beautiful. I cried. I couldn't help it. After her baptism the Conders and the Robbins went to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch. Kt got her first set of scriptures and even read 3 chapters from the Old Testament on the way home in the car. Sophie also got a ride from grampa on his scooter at the restaurant. After we ate Izzy got restless so we went and sat outside and I let her fill my hair with leaves she picked off the trees. April and her family came into town also, and we had a great weekend all together.

Come again? The 4th and so forth...

2010-07-08T22:02:00.001-07:00

Remember way back when, when I said new posts coming soon? That took a little longer than I imagined. Anyway, we're now caught up (3 prior to this) and ready for the next big posts, which will be after this weekend. They will feature the lovely Kt's baptism and Sophie's 1st birthday! We are also getting family pictures taken tomorrow night--so you may see some of those in the future too. The talented Kate Benson will be our photog for the night. We're going to the water park tomorrow prior to pics, so hopefully we won't be a family of sunburnt tomatoes in our new portrait. Now, I know you've been counting down the days till a new post appeared (all 2 cats), but a wise woman (Tom's mom Marilyn Hadd) once said that blogs are therapy, and that's what we just have to keep telling ourselves when no one is interested in our blog but the people who write 'em. So true M. Hadd, so true.

*****

A couple other things that have happened over the last month are:

--My good friend Meg got married in the SL temple. Our other good friend Denise flew out for the occasion and we even got to have a girl's night/slumber party the following Saturday, complete with several costume changes from me and an appearance by Seaweed.

--My friend Chris and I had a b-day party for our friend Brad. I even coerced Chris into giving him a best friends necklace. The two heart halves were even adorned with a dolphin with a gem eye. It was a hit. What can I say, I've got good ideas.

--Nicole W. and I went and saw Eclipse. We giggled along with everyone else, and thoroughly enjoyed it. We're girls, we can't help it.

--On the 3rd of July, Chris, Kathryn, and I went up to Rock Canyon Park and watched the fireworks from Stadium of Fire. I wished we had a radio so we could hear the timeless patriotic tune of Neil Diamond. Alas, we did not.

--For the 4th of July, I went up to Addie and Shaun's and we lit off a pack of fireworks in front of their house. Sophie didn't like her knees touching so she was doing the below typish crawl, which was super funny.

--The 5th of July I met Addie and fam at the Scera park/pool for a picnic and swimming. While we were waiting for the pool to open I took Kt and Izzy over to the playground. Izzy got hot and marched herself over to the shade. Meanwhile Kt managed to get herself stuck in the kiddie swing. Admist my laughing and taking photos Izzy undressed down to her swimsuit and requested a photo. While taking photos Kt casually walked over with a piece of licorice in her mouth. I asked her where she got it and she immediately spit it out, with a "don't tell" following. Just goes to show that you can't take your eyes off them for a minute. I put Izzy's swim cover up on her backwards (on purpose) and then it became a game for the two girls. After our picnic Izzy was dying to get into the pool. As you can see, she is the lone child in the pool while all the other hundreds of kids are still getting slathered with sunscreen. We spent a good 3 hours there and I even got carried all around the kiddie pool by Kt and Izzy. Royal treatment with lots of "accidental" dunkings.

Kt's Dear Lizzie B-day

2010-07-08T21:14:00.000-07:00

On June 19th Kt turned the BIG 8! It's hard to believe she's that old. This year she had a tea party with her closest friends (and little sis) at Dear Lizzie. It was quite the fancy affair.

Izzy was being crazy as usual. Not only was she making crazy faces, but we couldn't get her out of Kt's "friend" pictures. Oh boy! She cracks me up. I think my favorite is the 3rd picture with her scared face. No. 2 is known as her crazy face. I can't stop laughing looking at them!

Sophie and Shaun showed up at the end and Sophie got her mitts on a tootsie roll and wouldn't let go. We walked her around the bistro to show off her advancing walking skills (holding someone's hand).

After Kt's tea party, Addie and I attempted (attempted being the key word) to take some pics of Sophie for her birthday invitation (and also a sisters shot w/Kt's new American Girl Doll). Alas, none sufficed and Addie turned to our trusted Natalie for help. Which is always a success.

Uncle Kc met up with us after that and we went and saw Toy Story 3 and then went to California Pizza Kitchen (Kt's favorite) for dinner. There we met up with grandma and grandpa Robbins who gave Kt some cool books for her birthday. She is quite the reader these days. Happy Birthday dood!

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-07-07T23:45:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day weekend grama and grampa Conder came up for a visit. Sunday was Izzy's real birthday so we had a small family party. Uncle Kc even came and gave Izzy some really cool coloring books that she colored in non-stop for the next two days.

Sophie also started pushing the lawn mower around. The gallon of popcorn helped stabalize the mower. She also showed off her ability to stand on her own. Hooray!

Monday we all went to a Highland Park... forget the actual name, but we made a picnic, and I gave Sophie her first cookie. I also tried out some new hair styles on Kt and Izzy. Kt's turned out pretty good. After lunch grampa fished in the small lake and Addie and co. rode their bikes on the trail around the lake. Grama and I went for a nice liesurely walk on the paths around the lake. After the picnic we went back to Addie and Shaun's and packed up more food and went back to the park for a BBQ. My good friend Nicole W. even drove up to have dinner with us. A real treat. Also pics of Kt and Izzy doin' their tricks on the play ground. Izzy collected a whole cup of acorns for her "acorn collection", and her and Kt got a ride with grampa on his scooter.

Izzy's Vintage Barbie Birthday Party

2010-07-07T22:44:00.000-07:00

Guess which crazy turned 5? Holy moly, you guessed it--our very own Izzy.Izzy had an adorable vintage Barbie b-day party. Complete with vintage paper dolls, pin the ponytail on the Barbie silhouette, dress ups, coloring, etc. Izzy, of course, pinned her ponytail in the exact spot that it was intended even though she said she couldn't see. She also lived up to her wackiness by not paying attention when the others were playing the game and instead punched her balloons and repeatedly asked when she could open her presents. Sophie had a grand ol' time and was so hyper that she was crawling all over the place laughing, and then bolted up the stairs for the first time. It was cute/hilarious! I made Izzy a play dress that she now refers to as her Cinderella dress. After everyone left and the presents were played with Kt and Izzy decided to play with some of their toys in the bath tub. I had a hard time getting a picture because they were laughing so much. Addie did a great job with the party, and it turned out SUPER cute.

As a special b-day ending Izzy's cute b-day guest Penny smoking her pretzel like a cigar and combing Kt's hair with the doll brush.

Coming soon...

2010-06-18T00:24:00.000-07:00

Some new pictures of Bk and Brook!

2010-05-29T15:48:00.000-07:00

Lesson learned. Tough Stuff.

2010-05-26T22:24:00.000-07:00

(Not for the weak stomachs... but a good lesson.)

The other night (Monday) I was feeling a little bit of a sore stomach after FHE, and laid on the floor with my space heater blowing about 2 inches from my face. A comfort I indulge in often. I awoke some time during the night fully clothed w/my make-up still on. I staggered to the bathroom and decided to wash my make-up off w/hand soap. I've done this once or twice before so I didn't think too much about it. Afterwards, I resumed my spot on the floor and fell back asleep. A couple hours later I awoke to my eyes stuck together + redness and soreness. The picture gives you a glimpse into those sad eyes and into my awesome bed head hairdo. So (shaking my finger at myself) all I have to say is: Lesson learned. Tough stuff.

Movin' up in the automobile

2010-05-17T14:24:00.000-07:00

Someone got too chubby for their car seat and bumped Izzy out of her car seat. So now Izzy is sportin' a booster like Kt. I think Sophie is relishing in the fact that she now can see FORWARD!!! Pure happiness. I got many smiley pictures on this car ride. Also some wacky faces from Kt and Izzy. I especially love Kt and Izzy's faces in the first group shot.

Road Trip: SF, Klamath Falls, Spokane (beware--this is long)

2010-05-10T21:58:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, April 28th, Jayna and I--along with our friends Brad and Chris, headed to California. Jayna was heading home for the summer in Canada and we were along to help her drive and to see some sights. We decided to make a big swing over to San Francisco on our way. The majority of our trip was spent there. This was my 3rd time to SF. We left at 4:30 pm, but didn't make it to Chris' house in Stockton, CA until 6 am (Utah time). We had a little trouble once we reached Donner's Pass. They had checkpoints and were requiring people to have snow chains. We were forced to buy $70 snow chains for the tires. When we drove over the pass there was only snow on the sides of the road. It was a complete waste of money. It was frustrating to say the least. I wonder how those Californians would fare in Utah. The snow is way worse and I've never used snow chains.

*****

Day 1 in San Francisco only Jayna, Brad, and I went in to the city, because Chris stayed behind to be with his family. First thing we did when we arrived off the Bart was go to H&M. One of my all-time favorite stores. We quickly made Brad a fan. We spent probably a good 2 hours there, and then put our stuff on hold to buy later so we didn't have to carry it around the city. We walked down through Union Square and through China Town and then made our way to Pier 39. We took some pictures off the pier and watched the seals a bit and then ate at the Market Pier restaurant. They seated us at a window right next to the pier also so we could see the beautiful bay at sunset. After we ate and relaxed we went back to Chris' house for the night.

Day 2 in San Francisco we got a late start, but got to take the ferry out to Alcatraz island. We took the audio tour of the island, which was quite interesting. After about 2 and a half hours there we took the ferry back to meet my friend Gabe and his wife Brittany and their new little baby, cute Sydney, for dinner on the pier. It was sooooo good to see them. One of the best parts of the trip. We ate a place called the Fog House on pier 39. After dinner I said good-bye to the Keogans and Brad, Chris, Jayna, and I went up to Ghiradelli's for ice cream. Both Jayna and I got the cookie bottom sundae--except Jayna switched her vanilla ice cream out for chocolate. It's already super rich with the vanilla. You could pretty much get diabetes just looking at her sundae. I told her to put chocolate around her mouth, which she did, and then she started crossing her eyes and making weird faces. I started laughing so hard that I hit a wall and it started the niagra falls of tears. I couldn't stop laugh/crying. Probably one of the hardest laughs I've ever had--but a good one. We then made our way to our hotel out by the SF airport for the night.

Day 3 in San Francisco we went to the California Natural History Museum. It has one of the best aquarium's in the US. They had an albino alligator. Also their own rain forest and many other cool things. We didn't get to spend much time there because we wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge and Muir Woods before we made our way to Oregon for the night. It was my second time to Muir Woods, but still just as beautiful as the last time. Here are a couple photos from the aquarium, Golden Gate Bridge, and the redwoods at Muir Woods.

After Muir Woods we drove another 6-7 hours to Klamath Falls, Oregon for the night. Then the next morning we left for Spokane. The drive to Spokane was so pretty and green. When we got into Spokane we ate dinner at IHOP and then headed to our hotel. We hurried down for a quick sit in the hot tub before we crashed for the night. Then the next morning Jayna dropped Brad, Chris, and I off at the airport to head home to Utah. It was a super fun trip, and we were so grateful that Brad and Chris helped us with the drive. It was a huge help, and they were super fun travel partners as well. The summer will be over before we know it and that wacky Canadian will be back again. I miss her already.

Get that corn outta my face!

2010-04-22T07:28:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I'll have a word or phrase stuck in my head. This is the current phrase. I love this movie, and it will always be hilarious to me.

Why post this? We needed a new post. Nothing new on the homefront, except that I've been super busy. Just this coming Saturday I have a baby shower, bridal shower, and going away party, and on top of that I feel a sort of impending doom blowing up on my face in the form of the most hideous zit I've ever had. Not only is it gaining momentum under the skin, but it is attached to my lip to add an extra bite of ache and pain. Gross, I know. Probably a little TMI. To counter the last couple of sentences here is a cute little picture of Sophie in the adorably weird cat shirt I got her. WAIT A SECOND! The biggest news is that Sophie is CRAWLING! It's so cute! I'm still working on trying to post a video on the blog. Again, so cute.

Kitchen Amour

2010-04-06T10:26:00.000-07:00

Once again, while perusing some daily blogs I came across
this beautiful kitchen here. I love, love, LOVE, the way they did
the hand towel racks on this vintage baker's table
--that was converted into an island with a sink.
Other things I love about this kitchen is the spice shelves, the
dual chandelier pot holders (not sure what those are actually called),
the 3 legged chopping block, and the small alcove above the stove
filled with jars of utensils and such.
I know it's not the prettiest kitchen, but I love it's originality.

Penny's big day and Sophie's 1st b-day party (they're destined to be best friends)

2010-04-04T22:34:00.000-07:00

March 13th Sophie went to her 1st birthday party (accompanied by her aunt and mama).

Our good friends Dave and Natalie's little girl Penny turned one, and we were able to share in the fun of their adorable little girl's birthday. Penny is lucky to have such uber creative parents. I'm sure it will run in the family. I love this picture of her sitting at her birthday lunch. The whole party was done in a mini theme. Natalie did such a great job on the party. She beats Martha Stewart by leaps and bounds. Everything you see in the pictures was made by her. The cake (including the topper), cupcake flags, mini caramel apples, garlands, pom poms, everything.

Addie and I gave Penny the Fisher Price little mommy doll and stroller, and our present was a hit with Penny. Natalie said she is entertained for hours with it, which makes us extremely pleased. Job well done--even if Natalie did give us the idea. Penny was circling the kitchen laughing up a storm with her cousins.

Before she figured out how fun it was Sophie took a turn with it.

Uh-oh the birthday girl sees that someone has her present. I love the chip stuck to Penny's face. Ha! It also started to SNOW huge flakes while we were there and covered everthing before we left. This crazy Utah weather.

Addie and I started putting Penny's stroller together--but eventually had to hand it over to the handy man Chris (Natalie's brother). Sophie was attached to one part of the stroller that she carried around. I think this first picture captured her right at her pirate moment. Hilarious. The second picture I had been playing with her then crossed the room to take some pictures, and when I looked back she was looking at me and smiling. Soooooo cute!

Baby legs? How about kitty legs?

2010-04-01T08:17:00.001-07:00

Why make baby legs when you can make kitty legs? Don't have a cat/kitten? Make 'em for your neighbors cat. Please, you don't want an unstylish cat scampering around your neighborhood, do you? Be a friend, and help your community. Adorable, right? I mean, just look how happy this cat is.

Blogs are full of April fool's DIY craft projects today. Check out other DIY projects here. Also, a big hearty shout-out to mama/grandma Conder! It's her birthday and she'll cry if she wants to, but chances are she will probably be swimming rather than crying. It is, after all, her favorite past time. I hope she likes the swim shorts I got her. In honor of the crazy/wacky/silly mom's birthday--a hilarious video here: SNL - Garth and Kat.

It all began in the year 1974...

2010-03-01T08:48:00.000-08:00

The E! True Hollywood Story:
Once upon a time there was a stake roadshow in Southern California. Afterwards a singles dance. A girl and boy met. The girl wearing a pioneer dress (she thought it was a pioneer dress-up dance), the boy not in pioneer apparel. From then on it was history in the making. My mom thought my dad was rich because he drove a cadillac, but on their next date he said bring pants--and he showed up on his motorcycle! Craaa-zee! Turns out the cadillac was his dads. Look at this couple! Yeowza! Fun fact: Both of their favorite colors are green. What are the odds of that happening, right?!!

On March 1, 1974 they were married in the Idaho Falls temple.
(Imagine me whistling a cat call)

By 1982 they had moved from Idaho to Colorado to Utah. My dad had joined the army and was sent to Germany twice, and they had four little kiddies to show for themselves.

(pictures below)

1. 2 triangle hairdo's, and... what?! Cool guy in the suit down in front. No tie necessary. John Travolta would be jealous.
2. Homemade pajama's for kids and their cabbage patch dolls (with Grandma Conders help) while mom and dad are in Hawaii = 80's cute.
3. Awwww, cute.

4. Saturday is the day we get ready for Sunday, which equals foam rollers and frizzy ringlets on Sunday. Saturday is also the day we would sit in the living room in this picture pose for hours!

5. Family dinner. We always ate dinner around the table. With charm necklaces apparently.
6. Conder family 2010. We still look like this! How amazing is that?!!! My teeth still haven't come in.

12
34
5.6.

These photos are to show you what a beautiful lady my mom is. I know the first picture is a little orangy yellow, but look at how pretty she is. The second also. My mom really likes this picture of herself (#2). Those are two attractive parents with windblown children. What more could you ask for?!! Seriously. This place is no joke.

Here is a look at my future:

I will be 9 again. Using my dolls as my fake children. So much to look forward to. (crying watermelon sized tears of future happiness). Add 20 cats and it's like I won the LOTTERY of HAPPINESS!!!

To end this emotional tear-jerker of a tribute to our parents on their 36th anniversary--I give you a random photo of me on the slip n' slide. Enjoy.

{photo shoot}

2010-02-24T10:20:00.000-08:00

Addie recently had pictures taken of the girls for Shaun for Valentine's Day. To sneak a peek at how ADORABLE they are click here. Skye Johansen was the photographer, and did such a good job.

Alien Baby

2010-02-16T10:05:00.001-08:00

The other day Kt and Izzy were left alone in the kitchen with a high chaired Sophie. Kt, according to the journal entry of a 7 yr old, started to think about space. Kt decided it would be funny to make Sophie into a little alien. Sophie happily obliged and just let her do it. Shaun was on the computer in the other room and came back into the kitchen to find this. Needless to say, a photo shoot of the baby alien ensued. I had a pretty good laugh when I saw the pictures. In fact I laughed so hard that there was the beginnings of tears.

These little kiddies sure crack me up. Sophie is so cute. She is so shy and whenever I look at her she buries her head in mom or dad's chest smiling and kicks her legs around. Quite adorable. It's so fun to see their little personalities develop and how much they've grown just in the few weeks that pass inbetween that you see them.

If I had a country cottage/cabin...

2010-02-16T09:50:00.001-08:00

In the 3 seconds it took you to read the title and get to this point you have probably thought 'you should get a house before you think of getting a cottage/cabin' but as declared in a previous post--a girl can dream, right? Right. I found this little kitchen today while surfing design/decor blogs. I have always adored kitchens with shelves rather than cupboards, but would never do this if I had my own home..., well 1st home (if I ever get to that point). However, if I did have a quaint little cottage or cabin (small 2nd home/vacation home on the beach maybe?) I definitely would do this, and have dreamt of doing this on more than one occasion. I'm gonna say probably about 75-100 occasions. For now I will just stare at this for another 10 minutes taking in every minute detail and then go back every now and again to stare and sigh.

Another Izzy-ism

2010-02-08T10:17:00.000-08:00

Recently at dinner Izzy let her family in on a little unknown fact about syrup. Did you know that there are boys in syrup? You know like sir-up. Cause "sir" is a boy, so there are boys in syrup.

Huh. Who woulda known.

Happy Skeleton Day!

2010-01-31T22:41:00.000-08:00

Izzy. I feel like all the stories I post about her are just so random and wacky. She must have got a little of grandma and aunt Aileen's wackiness. Addie said that they had to get a card or something for Izzy's class and Izzy refused to give her class anything but transparent green skeleton's that she spotted at the store.

Exhibit A:

Addie said that this is one of Izzy's new favorite toys and that she dresses it in the poly pocket clothes and plays with it in the bathtub. Who knew a tiny skeleton would be a 4 year old girls new prized possession. Her and Kt were running around the house yelling 'happy skeleton day!!'. So I guess, HAPPY SKELETON DAY!

*Also Kt has now lost 5 teeth!

**Sophie has gone down from the 97% in her weight range to 80%, and still just as cute as ever.

Valentine Love Birds

2010-01-31T22:28:00.000-08:00

I went to Addie's today so she could cut me out some letters

for my Valentine's garland on her cricuit. With her help and

superior craftiness we came up with this heart throb.

We copied the one that she bought at Thanksgiving point,

and although hers is still the reigning champion between the

two garlands, I do have to say that this one comes pretty close.

Many thanks to my sis Addie, my all things crafts mentor.

A close up of the crowned love bird.

A Girl Can Dream, Right?

2010-01-20T14:48:00.000-08:00

Recently while perusing through design/decor/DIY blogs
I came across this "girly kitchen". I'm not sure where the blogger
found this (she didn't list a reference) but
I LOVE it.
3 chandeliers, are you kidding me?!!! Heaven.
Although I don't think a man would be caught dead in it.
*Sigh* so pretty.

I also found this beaut' below and ogled for oodles of time
over the ornate wall trim surrounding the mantel.
The silohuettes are pretty awesome as well.
Thank heaven for the internet or where would anyone get any ideas?!

Progressive Dinner

2010-01-18T22:33:00.001-08:00

This past Saturday night the Giles, Fawcett's, and I had a progressive dinner. We started our night at the Giles' apt. for the appetizers. Season whipped up a delicious tray of sorts with a pomegranete jazzy drink which all was consumed in a matter of minutes.

Here are the couples waiting to sit down to eat. Only soon-to-be-mama Season can be seen smiling (in the 2nd picture). What? You want a close up of these faces? Well, sure, scroll down.
Classic.

Afterwards we headed to my place for taco salad. Nicole, Season, and I worked on setting the food out while Nate and Tom did some "fix-its" around the house. My dad has designated Nate as my maintenance man, and luckily he doesn't seem to mind to much. Tom opted to use the Edward cup with dinner. I think he might be in love.

For dessert we went to Nicole and Nate's new townhome. Nicole, the excellent baker that she is, made an apple pudding cake to DIE for. It was so good I ate two pieces. I don't think I've ever had anything she's made that wasn't super good. Ummm... cinnamon rolls. Just sayin'. While our food digested we watched episodes of our new favorite show "Modern Family" with a special screening of Tiny singing in Disney Santa buddies. Good night and good friends. What a great combination.

Be Merry: Christmas 2009

2010-01-18T21:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2010. This post is going to have a clump of pictures in a somewhat organized matter, but just getting them all up and posted is making me sigh a 3.5 minute long sigh of "it's done". The first picture is my attempt of having my own Christmas tree. I made the tree skirt and coordinating stockings (hanging on the bookcase). I had it all up (except tree ornaments) before I left for Thanksgiving, which was my goal to enjoy it for as long as I could.

This year the Nicole's, Nate, our new friend Jayna and I decided to do a Christmas dinner with each other instead of presents to save money. Along with the potluck dinner (at my house) we gave each other a little treat. I made smore's kits. Everything they need for smore's ready to go. The picture was taken before Jayna got there (she had a previous engagement) and unfortunately is the only one, so sorry for the blurryness. I made Nicole's soooooouper delicious enchiladas, Nicole W. made a salad, and Nicole and Nate made cowboy caviar w/chips for an appetizer. After dinner we played a couple gut-splittin' games of MASH. Everyone's favorite fortune game with Nicole and I's wacky twist on it. It's sure to bring on laughing tears.

Addie and I also attempted to take some pictures of the girls for her and Shaun's family x-mas card. We got some cute ones, but nothing compared to having a fancy SLR camera, which we both would like very much. I included some of the candid ones that aren't usually seen so you can get an idea of how much these girls "love" (maul) their baby sister.

Addie, Shaun, and the girls, Kc, and I all arrived home Christmas Eve so there wasn't much to do before we hit the hay excitedly awaiting Christmas morn'. Kc and I did have a good pre-bed giggle fest wrapping knick-knacks around the house and tagging them "Your a jerk - love mom". The funny thing is my mom was there the whole time shaking her head with a smile on her face. She's always up for a joke. Who do you think we learned it from? Christmas morning was a mad house like normal. It always starts with good intentions to open one present at a time, but that lasts 2 seconds before everyone is opening at the same time. The girls made Sophie a very cute paper bow headband. Addie was lucky enough to get a stick w/duct tape on the end. Courtesy of Kc and I's gift giving. We told her it was the "beating" stick passed on to her for her posterity. I made Brook, Kt, and Izzy rag dolls. I was sure Izzy would love it the most, but she was the first one to forget it. Kt kept telling me how much she loved it which made me feel good. Izzy got the movie "Up" and showed us her best impression of Kevin. She also had her first experience with shelled peanuts. The picture shows her eating the shell to get to the peanut.

The next day we all went to Olive Garden to celebrate Kc's birthday. Our little baby is growing up. That probably should have been said 15 years ago since he is now 27!!! Whoaza. How old does that make me? Still 19? I guess so.

New Year's Eve I went up to Addie's and we had one wild n' crazy night, or as much as you can with 3 tired adults and a 7 and 4 year old. Kt was checking the clock every hour and Izzy only made it till about 10 pm. I was just waiting for the apple to fall so I could finally go to bed. Pretty sad if you ask me, but not sad enough for me to care. New Year's day Shaun took the girls to the squeakquel and Addie and I went with our friend Natalie, Penny, and her mom to see "New Moon". Yes, of course we giggled. Jacob with his shirt off? We didn't notice... maybe a little (smiling a lot inside).

Whelp that's a wrap for the end of the year '09!!! Here's looking at 2010... sorry that post was posted long before this one. Oh well, whadda ya do.

Somebody shops at Smith's...

2010-01-15T15:23:00.000-08:00

... and somebody lost her TWO front teeth!!!

Next Christmas all she's going to want is her two front teeth together.

As a little treat I'm also adding a video my friend sent me with a caution to have tons of tissues on hand. I giggle/cried the whole time.

2009: A Reflection

2010-01-07T09:17:00.001-08:00

In honor of 2009, I take a moment to reflect on some of my goals accomplished. It's kind of like kicking the soccer ball into the goal and it splitting on the post and only half actually going in... or maybe 1/3. Either way I figure it's still something, right? Right. Also, a look back at some 2009 highlights.

2009 Goals:

1. After a rough 2008 in the weight department, and support of my family, I lost over 50 lbs. I still have a lot (and I mean A LOT) more to go, but it gives me hope and motivation to lose more. Here I am as Miss Piggy.

2. and 3. I decided to have Nicole (my beauty operator) put pink streaks/panels in my hair (which I loved, but have recently been colored out). I told myself this was the year I was going to Hawaii, and I did. Me and mom spent a week over my birthday relaxing in Oahu. We had a great time and got to see a lot, and mom spent double the time at the beach than I did. I think she's 1/2 fish.

4. Two new temples (Draper and Oquirrh) were dedicated in '09. In September I set a goal to go to the temple once a month. I got 3 out of 4 (for year ending) which is once again a split ball, but hooray nonetheless. This goal is going on into 2010 though so we're shootin' for 12 out of 12 or more. I haven't been to the Oquirrh temple yet, but the Draper is beautiful. During the open house Nicole and I got in trouble for being silly and laughing. By Nate. Her husband. Good thing he was there to keep us in line.

2009 Highlights:
(in order of occurence through the year)

1. My good friend Anneliesa (Scott) got married in Mesa, Arizona in January, and my good friend Gabe (Brittany) got married in Oakland, California in June. I was lucky enough to attend both and had a sooooouper fun time.

2. We had a suprise baby shower for Addie at her favorite place Dear Lizzie.
3. Sophie blessed us with her presence July 6th (probably the fan favorite of all the highlights).
4. Nicole and I had a niece sleepover with Kt, Izzy, and Megan, which we're still exhausted from.
5. Nicole/Nate, Tom/Season, Anamae, and I went camping up in the Uinta's, complete with whistling games, spooky (or weird) stories around the campfire, and tons-o-fun!
6. In September Blake was baptized and Sophie blessed. We did them together in Hurricane. That was followed by lunch at Chuck-A-Rama where I ate my weight in cinnamon pull aparts, which is A LOT.
7. Kc was installed as the Senior Steward in his Mason chapter. Ma and Pa came up for the dinner/ceremony.
8. I purchased an antique dresser and desk (I'm assuming they are about 50 yrs old). Two lovely beaut's to go in my home office/sewing room.

(pictures of all highlights below)

In the year 2010 the only thing I hope to become is this:
Yes, a money hungry cat. Wish me luck.

*Christmas pictures to come in less than a week (fingers crossed)!!!

Sisters

2009-12-23T20:15:00.000-08:00

Who knew Joseph carried a purse?

2009-12-18T15:43:00.000-08:00

Izzy has been know to take things and make them her own. Among them my DVD's. Over Thanksgiving she compiled all the things she wanted to take home in Sophie's car seat including my new Madagascar 2 DVD. I would take it out and then find it back in the car seat minutes later. Addie put her nativity set out this year and it magically disappeared up to Izzy's room. Addie told me that she brought it back downstairs and this morning she found baby Jesus in the kitchen. When she went to put baby Jesus back she found Joseph wearing a purse. A polly pocket purse none the less. Maybe Izzy thought Joseph needed some fashion, or maybe he was on diaper bag duty.

the GOOD, the BAD, and the absolutely ADORABLE!

2009-12-15T08:31:00.001-08:00

first The ADORABLE:

I LOVE this picture of Sophie. Absolutely ADORABLE! She's so cute, and her little laugh just makes you want to melt.

The GOOD:

Last Friday Kc was installed as a 2010 officer with his Mason lodge. All of us (minus April and her family) were invited to attend the installation at the Masonic temple in Salt Lake City. They served us a nice dinner and then we moved upstairs for the ceremony. It was really neat to see, and we are so proud of him. He was installed as the Senior Steward and he has a special chair and everything! Kt and Izzy were really good through the whole thing. Sophie was making her bird noises. She has been nicknamed Kevin (from the movie "Up"). Overall great experience!

Pre-installation:

Getting installed:

After with the other officers, and then with family:

This was supposed to be a son/parent shot (below) but Isabelle decided to stay and made a rather cute addition.

The elevator didn't go all the way to the bottom so grandpa was lucky enough to get to ride on one of these (picture below). Addie, Shaun and the girls had already left by then, but I wish Izzy could have seen this. She made sure grandpa watched "Up" over Thanksgiving because there is a grandpa in it, and he rides one of these chairs up and down the stairs and I'm sure she would have loved to see it.

The BAD:

Brook was jumping off some blocks one evening last week and the blocks toppled over when she jumped causing her to fall. When she fell she broke her fall with her elbow. April took her over to Instacare and they took x-rays. The doctor then referred her to an orthopedic surgeon. The next morning April took Brook to see the ortho surgeon. He took more x-rays and said Brook needed surgery the next morning. The next morning Brook cried and screamed she was so scared. Poor girl. The nurses eventually gave her some medicine, that is like valium, to calm her down. The surgery lasted about 45 minutes, and when Brook woke up she was crying again--this time in pain. The surgeon had to reset her bones and put a long pin and two little pins inside her bone. The ends of the pins are sticking out of her skin so when her cast comes off the doctor can pull them out. The nurses gave Brook some morphine for the pain and sent her home. She is doing good now. In ten days she will get her hard cast, but until then she has to wear a soft cast until the swelling goes down. Grandma said that Brook was acting really goofy after she got her medicine and was saying, "Grandma you have two faces". I would have liked to see that.

Sweet Baby Shower: Dear Lizzy

2009-12-07T11:03:00.000-08:00

Early June Addie's friend Lindsay and I threw Addie a suprise baby shower. Since this was baby No. 3 I don't think she was expecting it, which made it all the sweeter. We decided to have her shower at her favorite little boutique Dear Lizzy in their bistro cafe. It turned out so cute. We had delicious salads for lunch and cupcakes for dessert. Lindsay really did a lot for the shower, and in the end was unable to attend unfortunately. We really appreciated all her help. The beautiful photos were taken by the wonderfully talented Natalie Malan. You can see her baby Penny in some of the pictures, but because she was behind the lens, you won't see any of her sadly. If you've never been to Dear Lizzy in Highland then you are definately missing out.

Sophie Claus

2009-12-02T15:43:00.000-08:00

Some of you might be thinking 'who arranged these photos in this weird fashion?!!!', while others will be shaking their heads and tsk tsking. Truthfully, I started putting this together and the more and more I played with it the worse it got. Poor Sophie. Getting displayed in the tackiest photo montage known to man. Too bad that I'm too lazy to fix it now. Please don't hold this against her. She's too innocent. Do disregard the background/text and focus on the semi-fuzzy/blurry pictures from my parents camera. If only I'd had my camera. A couple things to look out for in the crappy cropped pictures are the frequent appearances of Kt in the background. The bottom right featuring only her teeth and a hand is my favorite. For now enjoy the lil' butterball in her santa suit (dress). Better pictures in a better arrangement coming soon. I promise.

Give Thanks '09

2009-11-30T22:22:00.001-08:00

Wishing everyone happy holidays this season from the Conder family! {See photos of our family Thanksgiving below}.

We had a really GREAT Thanksgiving this year. Dinner was had at April and Chris' w/tons of food and we actually managed to all get together to snap a family photo. Kc was only able to come home for about 24 hours, but we are happy for the time we had with him. The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxing. Full of movies, eating leftovers, Chuck-o-rama, Zions park, swimming, and LOADS of shopping. April, Addie, and I endured a sisterly black friday for the second year in a row starting out at the early morning hour of 3:30 a.m. It was full of lines, running, more lines, lots of stores, and exhaustion. The only thing missing was a sister photo shoot in matching shirts at the Wal-Mart photo studio. Addie had to get back to Sophie by 6:30, but April and I trudged on successfully till 10:30 a.m. Did I sleep the rest of the day? Yes, yes I did. Barbie winnebago: check. Easy Bake Oven: check. Gilmore Girls Season 1: check (and more that can't be named at this time, hint: serger (whoops--that hint is for me).

I also managed to fit in a work-out session and a visit to the St. George temple (where I was reunited w/an old friend) so the trip was complete. The only draw back was the minor bit of a bug I had for the whole of the weekend and Brook's bout w/bronchitis. Poor girl. She's getting better though, which helps grandma not to worry as much. Mom and Dad were gratious hosts as always, and mom was frantically trying to accomodate everyone as usual.

*A major highlight was dressing Sophie in the Santa suit (dress) I bought her from Wal-Mart and then showing Addie. She looked so cute (and HI-larious). Pictures of the jolly little Sophie Claus to come.

Matching $2 kitten shirts, awwww.

Who Me?

2009-11-19T00:04:00.000-08:00

Recently Nicole arranged a girls night out to see "Curtains" at the Hale Center Theatre in West Valley. Her sister Michelle starred in the musical and was superb, of course. After the show we spent our hard earned cash at McDonald's. Below left to right (top) Tracy, Nicole F., Michelle, Anamae, Season, and Nicole W. (bottom) Jill, me, and Jayna.

I bet you can't guess who was the star that night though. No need to try and re-focus your eyes, you're seeing it right.

Tonight I finished my one and only decoration for Thanksgiving. One week before Thanksgiving. Way-ta get things done early. Addie cut out all the cardstock and the letters to make the banner and I made the pinwheels and hung it with not-real-durable raffia. Cross your fingers, legs, and eyes the raffia doesn't break and send "Give Thanks" into a heap of no thanks.

A couple Fridays ago Nicole F. and I made this cute little jingle-bell-birthday banner for our good friend and old roommate Jill. She was the poster child for roommate prayer in college wards. Gracias Jill. I have to say that Nicole and I did a pretty darn good job on this one. If my basement wasn't such a dark cave you might actually be able to get a better idea of what it actually looks like. I intend to make another for my home office using the same "ingredients", so stay tuned for those photos. Any suggestions for a cute word to use for my banner in my office?

Last but not least {of the post focusing soley on me} is my Halloween costume. Here is the pre-wear of the unflattering pink poof of a costume that I fashioned for myself. The fact that I actually sewed myself a costume before the holiday passed is reason enough to give myself a round of applause and a semi thumbs up.

Part of the costume had to include popping the "Lawrence Welk Show" bubbles. Nicole blew bubbles while a fairy, princess, and high-forehead-little-handed-wierdo popped bubbles.

Happy Halloween '09!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-17T09:32:00.001-08:00

A scarecrow, 2 witches, and wolervine. Watch out for those plastic electronic claws. They'll almost scratch you. Sadly Bk wasn't able to take them as part of his costume for school because they were considered a weapon.

Below: Bk's school Halloween parade featuring a cute little parade watcher Brook.

Izzy dressed up for preschool. So pretty.

Kt at her school. Also pretty.

Halloween night we went to a couple parties. The first at the Malan's new home. We had soup in bread bowls. A cupcake walk, bubbles for my little hands, trick or treating for the kids, etc. I will try and post more pictures from my camera later. After I went to my stake singles Halloween party which was in a word, adequate.

Judy, a 50's housewife, Kelly Kapowski and Zack Morris, Merlin, Mad Madame Mim, and a russian sailor.

Below Zack Morris is to cool for us. So he just hangs out in the background.

The girls dressed up.

All pink! I love that Sophie is sucking on my little hand.

Penny & Sophie. Natalie made Penny's costume. Even her hat! That Natalie is unbelievable.

The next post should be dedicated solely to my wacky/ unflattering/weird costume. I know that's all you've been waiting for. Hopefully I can post before Thanksgiving. I still need to post pictures of Addie's baby shower back in June at Dear Lizzie. It was so cute. Adorable pictures by Natalie as well.

Just wanted to post a couple of my old photos...

2009-11-09T11:20:00.000-08:00

I was just looking through some of my old yearbook pictures and came across these. Boy was I a beaut'... (and sometimes a black person). AND boy did I go through some different hairstyles. I think I spent all my hard earned minimum wage, working the drive-up at McDonald's, getting my hair done. The question is did it do me any good, and how many years was I in high school to have this many photos? Luckily I have Nicole now to keep my hair lookin' stylish (at least the day I go to the salon).

To see pictures of you in high school go to http://www.yearbookyourself.com/. My pictures are all originals though.

* Halloween pictures coming soon... before Thanksgiving, I promise. Think little hands and lots of pink.

Witches Night Out

2009-10-25T23:21:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Nicole and I went to Witches Night Out at Gardner Village. We first ate a delicious dinner at Texas Road House, which is a favorite of ours, and then headed on over for the witches craze. There were witch hats everywhere. We felt a little out of place because we didn't dress up. We did however decide to get the eye kandy glitter eye shadow with coordinating drawing on the side for $4 to try and fit in a little. Nicole got swirls and I got a spider's web... w/ no spider... hmmm. There was a group of women that we saw dressed up at TRH and then again at Witches Night Out so we had to get our picture taken with them. Their costumes were over the top. If you look closely the witch in fronts mohawk spells witch. Also, I attempted to make a Halloween garland this year. It turned out okay. I don't love it. It's no Natalie special, but it will do this year. I have yet to hang it up though. We'll see if my Christmas one turns out better.

Before...

After...

{Boys Like Girls}

2009-10-23T13:20:00.000-07:00

This past Wednesday, October 21st, I drove to Idaho for the Boys Like Girls concert. I met up with my friend Elizabeth who lives in Idaho Falls and we drove out to Blackfoot. We were probably the oldest ones there, but enjoyed it none the less. 4 bands played. The first one we missed, and I can't remember their name... after them Maine played, followed by Cobra Starship, and then Boys Like Girls. I was tempted a couple times to punch some screaming girls in the neck to get them to stop screaming. Not that they shouldn't scream, but sometimes it felt like they were screaming directly into my ear at their highest pitch and every two minutes. I finally had to tell one screamer to move in front of me. It was a fun fast trip, and despite being the oldest ones their (besides the parents) it was totally worth it. They all did a great job (I sound like the proud parent/chaperone, ha!).

I'm a Barbie Girl - Living in a Barbie World

2009-10-16T12:16:00.001-07:00

This is what happens when you leave Kt and Izzy alone in a room with Sophie. Apparently Sophie was the school teacher for all fifteen or so Barbies. I think Sophie's unsure if the Barbie's are going to attack her.

On another note: Izzy is the queen for making up her own words. Currently her words are "shrinklefrog" and "zipperator". Any ideas what those are? Also her imaginary friend is named "Tiny Liedee". Creative minds are so wonderful for the imagination, and her imagination is a hoot. I think Addie has more of her hands full with Izzy than she ever did with Kt. Today while I was talking to Addie on the phone Izzy had the vaccuum cord around her neck and was mauling Sophie--while she should have been eating her sandwich for lunch.

Brook's 5th Birthday

2009-10-15T08:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, October 14th, little Brook turned 5. It's hard to see them grow up because you want them to be little forever. Her Halloween birthday party was last Saturday. She was a witch and Bk was Wolverine. He was pretty excited about his costume. He was wearing part of it when we were there for his baptism at the beginning of September. I called Brook yesterday to ask her about her birthday (and wish her a happy birthday) but she wasn't real interested in talking to me on the phone so I have limited information. So for now you'll just have to enjoy a couple pictures from the party and one picture of their new puppy Pepper.