Desiree's Baby Shower

Last Saturday I threw my little sister, Desiree', a baby shower. She is expecting a baby boy on August 22nd. We decided to have an Open House from 11am - 2pm instead of a traditional shower with games. I was supposed to be there by 9 to start setting up, but my alarm didn't go off and I ended up not getting there until 10:30!! We were running all over the place trying to get everything setup, food ready, decorations up, and quilt frames set. I was in such a hurry that I was cutting the fruit too fast and ended up cutting my finger pretty bad. It was deep and it was stinging. I happened to be cutting a lemon when I cut my finger so it wasn't pleasant. I wrapped a papertowel around it really tight for the rest of the shower and most of the afternoon. I couldn't put a band aid on it because it was bleeding too much. It finally stopped bleeding around 5:30pm. I probably should've gotten a stitch put on it but I didn't feel like going to the instacare. It's just a minor flesh wound. Anyway, the shower was a success. Everyone loved the food, Desiree' got a lot of gifts, and we got 3 quilts completed. I was happy that everything turned out and Desiree' was happy.

Father's Day

This year we spent Father's Day weekend in New Mexico at my annual Halona Family Reunion. When we woke up Sunday morning, John's first words were "where's my present"? (He loves presents). So I crawled out of the tent, realized the present was in my bag that was inside the tent, so I crawled back into the tent and gave him his present. Amos and Homer, got him season 3 of "Northern Exposure" on DVD and 3 new Big Lebowski action figure sets. It was actually a picture of the figures because they haven't been released yet but I pre-ordered them. John is a big fan of "The Big Lebowski" and they have these cool action figures that he's been collecting. We then started packing up all of our stuff, relaxed for a little bit, gave my dad his present, and played with Amos and his ball. We have this thing that you can put the ball in, throw it and it goes a lot farther than if you were to throw it by hand. Amos is so fast that we have to use it so that he can actually chase his ball. We wanted to try and wear him out so that he would sleep most of the way home. It ended up turning into a family event. I would throw his ball and he would take off after it at full speed. My family would sit and watch, and one of my cousin's had a radar gun and would radar Amos to see how fast he would go. We clocked him at 44mph!! Around 11am we had brunch with the Halona clan and then left at about 12:30pm to drive home. We stopped briefly in Moab to eat, drove the rest of the way and pulled into Salt Lake County at about 8:00pm. We went straight to John's parents to see his dad, sprayed all the dirt off Amos and finally went home. Next year I think we'll spend the night in Moab on our way back or at least take Monday off to rest. But all in all it was a fun weekend. Happy Father's Day Dad!! You're the best!! Luv Amos Moses and Homer J

Halona Family Reunion '08

This past weekend we went to New Mexico for my annual Halona Family Reunion. This was John's first time to New Mexico, first time to the "rez" (reservation), and first time to my family reunion. I was really excited for him to go but also a litte nervous that he may not have a good time. It was a little of a culture shock for him but he enjoyed it and we had a great time! Thursday night we drove to Moab to stay the night and the next day we drove the rest of the way. We stopped in Tohatchi, NM to visit my grandma and then headed to Gallup, NM where we went to "Earl's Restaurant" to look at jewelry. "Earl's" is a family restaurant but outside they have vendors where they sell handmade authentic Native American jewelry, pottery, and other things for VERY reasonable prices. I got some beautiful earrings and wanted to go back for more. After "Earl's" we went to "Genaro's" which is a mexican restaurant that has THE BEST STUFFED SOPAPILLA'S IN ALL THE WORLD!! They are AAAAmazing! Our family has been going to "Genaro's" for several years and when my parents lived in New Mexico, they were quite regulars. The main waitress, Francis, still knows who we are, what drinks we like and what we want to order. This year was no different. When we sat down, she immediately brought out drinks for my parents, me and my sister Gia without even asking us. I didn't even let John order, I ordered the stuffed sopapilla for him and I have to say he was quite pleased. He was the first to finish his plate! (The newbies usually are). My brother Mike, cousin Bliss, cousin Jolene, her two boys, and my Uncle Dave all met us at Genaro's so we had quite the dinner get together. After Genaro's John and I stopped at a western store to pickup a cowboy hat for him as a prop for an activity at the reunion. Finally we headed up the mountain to setup camp. The rest of the weekend was spent reuniting with family, playing games, all kinds of activities, eating good food and having a good time. Saturday evening we had a Mutton dinner with Vegetable Mutton stew and Corn Mutton stew. Mmmmm. It was DELICIOUS! After dinner we went with my dad and my little sister Melody for a drive to Whiskey Lake. Then we had our annual Saturday Night Live where anyone can paticipate and do a skit, a talent or whatever you like. Afterwards we went back to our camp, started a fire, roasted marshmallows, had smores and told stories. It was so great to be with my family. I usually only get to see them once a year at the reunion so I try and make the most of it. It was a quick trip but we had an awesome time and can't wait for next year!

Moab

Last Thursday night after work we packed up and left to go to my annual Halona Family Reunion in the Chuska Mountains of New Mexico. We drove to Moab where we spent the night at a hotel with my parents, my sister Melody, and my other sister Gia and her husband Tim. The next day we had breakfast, looked around town for a little bit, went to Hole 'N the Rock and Wilson Arch before driving the rest of the way to New Mexico. I wish we had more time to hike around Moab and visit Arches National Park, but hopefully we'll do that later this summer.

Poor Amos - We need a house

I have loved our apartment that John and I have been living in for the last year and a half. It's our first place together and it's been great. There's a lot of things that I love about our place, but it's time to move on. We need a place with a yard for the boys (Amos and Homer). One of the things we REALLY don't like about our place is that we live on the top 3rd floor and the stairs are getting VERY annoying and are such a pain in the....bum (hehe-that's for you lynz). It makes it difficult to take the boys out as much as they would like. Amos is already a VERY rambunctious boy and is getting restless and sometimes bored. Even though John takes him on a walk everyday, he spends most of his time in the house and will run round and round and round the table, and chasing his own tail. Poor Amos Moses :) We take them to the park every weekend & usually once during the week, but Amos has SO much energy, that he needs to be outside a lot. It's a good thing we are in the process of looking for a house/townhouse and will be out by the end of July!! Just hold on a little longer boys, Mom and Dad are workin on it! However, it is entertaining to watch him run around the table and chase his tail (at least we think so). Just watch....

Lagoon

Saturday we went to Lagoon with my family since my mom had free tickets from her work. One of my brother's, his wife and their 4 boys came down from Ogden so it was good to see them and hang out. It was a little chilly at first but once the sun came out it was nice, not too hot. We spent some time riding rides with my brother from Ogden and my 7 yr old nephew, Trey. That kid is not afraid of ANYTHING and loves to go on all the big people rides. He went on the new ride, Wicked, which I was hesitant to ride. He even went on The Rocket which that takes you up 217 feet and then drops you. I have a love hate relationship with that ride. I didn't really feel like going on it but my nephew asked if I was chicken and I couldn't back down. I wasn't going to let a 7 yr old show me up. Besides, I had John and my brother block me in so I couldn't go anywhere. Later on we went on a few rides with my other nephew River and his friend. We FINALLY got him to go on the white roller coaster. He gets scared of the coaster rides so it was an accomplishment to get him to go on it. All in all it was a great day and we had fun. Thanks mom!

Sushi

Friday night I went out with my girlfriends for sushi. We went to Mikado and it was my first sushi experience. Taylor had never had it before either so we both ordered the Veggie roll to be on the safe side. But then we decided to be brave and I changed my order to a "Philadelphia Roll" and Lynzie ordered the "Playboy Roll" so that we could share and try different kinds of sushi. Mine had smoked salmon, cream cheese and I think avacado. Lynzie's had salmon, crab and some other stuff. I took one bite and knew I would'nt be able to eat all of the rolls. It wasn't horrible, I actually like salmon, but the raw salmon was just too fishy for me. Taylor felt the same way. So we split the veggie roll and then we took the salmon out of my rolls and ate them without the salmon. We didn't even try Lynzie's because we knew we wouldn't like it. Brittany ordered straight up raw fish so we didn't even dare to try hers. We also had edamame which was delicious! So basically I found out I'm not a big sushi girl unless its veggie, but at least I tried it! I had fun hangin out with the girls so that's all that matters. Plus we went out for ice cream afterwards :)

Let there be CAKE

Last wednesday our office celebrated my boss' 40th birthday. Since Destini and I have been expreimenting with fondant, we volunteered to make the cake. The theme of the party was "over the hill" type stuff, so we decided to make the cake like a coffin. The cake is a carrot cake an the top is actually a piece of cardboard that we cut out to use as a stencil for the cake. We didn't get the fondant as black as we had hoped, but it still turned out good. I crushed Oreos to spread around the cake so that it looks like dirt. I had fun making this with Destini at her house. She did most of the hard parts so most of the kudos go to her ;) Everyone loved it and we were so happy that the fondant turned out. I can't wait for another cake project!

BBQ with friends

Saturday night we went up Millcreek Canyon for a BBQ with friends and of course, the dogs. There was Brittany & Ryan; Marq & Lynzie with their girl Chevy Lyn & grandma's girl Polly; Taylor Jean with her boy Angus; and us with our boys Amos & Homer. We had so much fun hanging out, catching up and laughing our buns off! When it got late we all went to Marq & Lynzie's to play cards. The boys got tired but us four girls could not stop talking, laughing and playing around. It was about 1:30am by the time John dragged me away because he & the boys were so tired and wanted to go home. It's the latest we've been up like that in a long time and the next day even the dogs were still dog tired. They slept late and were lazy all Sunday afternoon. I had so much fun hanging with my girls. It's been a long time and hopefully we keep it going. This next Friday night were going for Sushi and I'm so excited, but a little scared to try sushi for the first time. But a night with Lynz, Brit and Taylor cannot be passed up!! See you guys Friday!!

Sex & The City

To celebrate me & Lynzie's 5 yrs, we decided to go see the "Sex and the City" premiere. The plan was to get ready and have drinks at my house, go to dinner, and then see the movie which started at 8:30. So last friday night, Lynzie came over, we had a glass of wine, talked, and then proceeded to get ready as planned. We left, at what we thought was 7:15, headed to The District where the theatre was and to find a place to eat before the show. We pulled up to Applebee's and checked the time to see how fast we would have to eat. IT WAS 8:40!!! We hauled some serious bootie to the theatre, grabbed a pizza inside and were sad to see we missed the first part of the movie. Even so, we still had a great time and the movie was excellent! We still don't know how we messed up on the time. We must've gotten "carried away" chit chatting that we thought we had more time than we actually did. We also forgot to take a picture of us all dressed up. Oh well, we have to see it again anyway to see the parts that we missed, so next time we'll watch the time and remember the picture. Thanks for a fun girls night Lynz!! We need to do more of them more often :)