So many of my smiles begin with you...

Birth story of Ledger Rasmussen 1-29-11

2011-02-01T10:55:00.082-07:00

It's go time!!

It's a.........

BOY!!!

7lbs 1oz / 20in / 2:16AM
Ledger Marques Rasmussen

The Rasmussen's

Get ready for MAJOR updates!!!

2010-09-30T01:57:00.007-06:00

Sooooo.....I know I've been a little MIA for quite awhile. First it was all the craziness of having a baby...then the holidays....then our computer caught a virus...then it took FOREVER to get it fixed...then I was WAYYYY behind in updating pics and posts...then we MOVED....then another virus...and now I'm ready to be blogging once again!! So over the next few weeks I will be adding new posts everyday (starting Sunday), so be sure to check back often cuz I have a lot to catch up on :)

State Wrestling Championships

2010-02-13T21:38:00.006-07:00

For the past 3 days, my nephew Quinn competed in the State High School Wrestling Championships at UVU. He did such an awesome job and I was so impressed with his talent! I don't get to see my brother and his family very often since they live in Logan. So I had fun seeing them and supporting my nephew and watching him wrestle. He took 5th in State and I'm so proud of him!! Way to go Quinn! Love you!

(Quinn is the one in the maroon jacket that says "Logan")

Weston - 4 months

2010-02-10T10:44:00.008-07:00

Weston is now 4 months old!!! Where did the time go?? It still amazes me how fast they grow. He had his 4 month check-up on Monday and he weighs 15 lbs and is 25 inches long. He's in the 50th percentile of height and weight.

I am loving this stage of his life right now. He is just so much fun!! He talks and smiles all the time and is such a happy baby. His Doctor says he is very "good natured". I'm so lucky to have such a good baby.

Now that he's getting bigger and doesn't feel as "fragile", we have a lot of fun playing with him and watching him respond with smiles and laughter. He can hold his own bottle and roll over onto his tummy. He's still sleeping in our room in his pack and play since he has outgrown the bassinet. He got sick recently so I decided to hold off on moving him to his crib in his room for now, which is fine by me :)

Shane & Cheree's family pics

2010-02-07T22:00:00.004-07:00

Last month my oldest brother Shane and his ex-wife Cheree got re-married :) Their boys are so happy!! So last Saturday I took their family photos. Here are a few of my faves. I love the graffiti ones!

Weston - 3 months

2010-01-05T20:22:00.018-07:00

Weston is 3 months old today!! He weighs 13.5 lbs! He is still a really good baby and I'm so lucky! He doesn't fuss a whole lot unless he's tired and is pretty much sleeping thru the night. I feed him and put him down at about 10:00 and he sleeps until about 5 or 6. I'll feed him and he'll go back to sleep for another 3-4 hours. He takes a few little naps throughout the day, but he's awake for most of the day.

He loves inspecting his hands and chewing on them. He also drools A LOT! I love listening to him jibber jabber and make new sounds. He lets out little playful screams while playing on his Baby Einstein playmat that he got for Christmas and can grab the little toys that hang down.

I love that he....is content playing on his own but that he lights up even more when playing with mom or dad; loves going for rides and running errands with me; is super good when we go out to eat at restaurants; loves talking to his lamb and bear; loves to just sit on our laps and chill and cuddle; and smiles whenever he sees me :) John also recently made him laugh his first real laugh. It was so cute!!

He's grown so much and is almost too big for his bassinet so I am going to start a slow transition to his crib. I would love to keep him in our room and I'm kind of sad that he will be in his own crib in his own room because I love having him close to me. But I guess that's why we bought the nice, expensive crib with leather that I just had to have for him :)
He is the highlight of all our families and everyone loves him so much. My nephews Parker and Jake absolutely ADORE Weston and are always asking when they can see him again. And Weston loves to play and talk with them too. I try to hold onto and take advantage of every moment because I know he won't be this little forever. I'm going to miss this when he gets older. I love you my son!!

New Year's - Happy 2010!

2010-01-03T18:21:00.008-07:00

This year we spent New Year's Eve with my family which was fun because I haven't spent it with them in several years. We even made it to midnight....well, some of us ;)

We all just hung out at my mom's watching tv, playing Bingo, having good food and snacks, and celebrating my brother Shane's birthday. He's a New Year's day baby! He loved the metal BYU yard sign that John's cousin made for him :) Weston was so fun and such a good boy. He was awake for most of the night, and ALMOST made it to midnight! There was so much going on that he didn't want to miss out on it, and I didn't try to put him to bed. But he finally passed out at 11:45!!!! He only had 15 minutes left to midnight and he just couldn't keep his little eyes open any longer. We left to go home shortly after midnight and he never woke up until about 8am :)

Shane & his family

Mike, Weston, Grandma & Parker

Weston & Uncle Mikethe boys ganging up on Uncle Mike

Parker and "the cutest baby Weston" as Parker calls him

Happy New Year everyone!!

Nashdoo (aka Mushdew)

Weston's 1st Christmas

2009-12-27T15:42:00.017-07:00

Christmas morning 2009

I went to bed about 2am Christmas Eve after wrapping all the presents, setting up the stockings and playing Santa. John woke up about 6:30am. He's worse than a little kid. John has been talking about wanting another puppy for awhile but I can't handle another one right now. So I (or Santa) got him & Weston STUFFED puppies for Xmas. Homer thinks they are his new friends :) LOL

Weston & his Stocking

Homer J & Weston

After we opened all our presents, we went to John's parents for breakfast and presents. As it was the whole day, it was all about Weston :) He was spoooooiled!!

Weston & his Aunt Jocie

We then went to my mom's for lunch and more presents. It was loud and chaotic as always, but so much fun! All of my brother's and sister's were together, which makes for quite the crowded house, but I love when were all together!

Chaos at my mom's houseLast stop of the day was at my step-mom Pam's house for our final Christmas in that house. She gave all of us some amazing gifts that were made out of things that either belonged to my dad or made by him. She made some pillows that had our Halona Reunion logo on it that was designed by my dad. We also got a shadow box with one of my dad's white dress shirts, one of his ties and a picture with us and our dad in it. It also had some wording hand stitched on the pocket. They are awesome!! Weston got a teddy bear that was made out of one of my dad's shirts :) After the New Year she is moving with Tim & Gia to a brand new house. She is excited, but it's a little sad to leave this house as it's where my dad lived for so many years and we have so many memories.

When we got home, we were exhausted, so we just relaxed and watched movies and left all the mess to be cleaned up another day.
The next day my dad, Suzanne & Kassie came over and brought us our gifts. My dad gave us some prints of these pictures that he drew. They are so cool!

Weston & his aunt Kassie

It was a wonderful Christmas, especially since we had Weston. Next year will be so much more fun to watch him tear into his presents :) I can't wait!!

John's Christmas

Weston's Christmas (this doesn't include the High Chair & bed rails) My Christmas Gifts from all my parents. These are all SO amazing and mean so much to me!! I love sentimental/handmade things :)

Christmas Eve

2009-12-27T15:20:00.014-07:00

Christmas Eve we went to my dad's grave with my family. We had lemon meringue pie (my dad's favorite) and sang (or tried to sing) "We Wish You A Merry Christmas." We all started laughing when we couldn't remember all the words ;) LOL! My brother Mike read us a letter that he wrote for all of us and I broke down into tears. I miss my dad SO very much and it's hard to not have him here for Christmas.

After the cemetary we went to my other dad's for dinner. I made Navajo Tacos for everyone and we had a good time visiting and watching the kids exchange presents with each other.

A deformed piece of frybread LOL

The grandkids exchanging gifts with each otherLacey opening her gift from Weston. She loved it! (It was a Hello Kitty ring & giftcard to Hot Topic)Me, my dad & Suzanne

Then we stopped at my mom's to visit for a little bit. When we got home, Weston & I got our new Christmas Jammies :) Then I got to stay up until 2 am wrapping presents, setting up the stockings and playing Santa Claus. I was so tired, but it was worth it and I actually had fun! I drank hot chocolate and watched Christmas movies while I wrapped.

Michael & Christina wrapping presents (every year Mike does ALL of his shopping Xmas Eve and always has me or one of my little sister's help him wrap his gifts. Luckily I didn't have to this year! Thanks Christina!! LOL)

Shane, Cheree & their boys

Weston & I in our Christmas jammies (I've got my dad's old sweatshirt on:)

Happy Holidays Everyone!!

2009-12-23T15:23:00.003-07:00

Christmas 2009

Temple Square lights

2009-12-22T13:07:00.007-07:00

Last night we night to Temple Square to see the lights with my family. It was pretty cold, so we bundled Weston in some warm clothes, his cute bear prom, the warm bundle me in his carseat, and his carseat cover with an extra blanket on top. We got there early, so while we waited, I got Weston out to feed him inside the visitor's center and he was sweating! LOL. We were all supposed to meet there, including my brother Jay & his family from Logan. But throughout the day, they all started canceling. So it ended up just being us, my mom, my nephew River & his "friend" whose name I can't remember :) Weston slept the whole time :)

Halona Ugly Sweater Party

2009-12-22T11:05:00.006-07:00

Sunday we had our Halona Ugly Sweater Party with my family. It's a tradition my brother Mike started last year. This year we all got a little more creative and it was so funny. My brother-in-law Tim won this year with his disgusting shirt, LOL. We all missed having my dad there, but we still had a good time hanging out, eating good food and playing games.

Weston & Santa

2009-12-21T14:20:00.005-07:00

Yesterday I went to SouthTowne Mall to meet my sister Leigh and my nephew Parker so we could get pictures with Santa. My sister waited in line for about 45 minutes by the time I got there and then it was another 30 minutes before we finally got to see the big guy in red. The things we do for our kids :) I knew Weston didn't care because he's too little, but I really wanted a picture of him and Santa since it's his first Christmas! :)

Weston & his Great-Grandparent's

2009-12-21T09:54:00.007-07:00

Saturday we went to 2 family Christmas parties and Weston got to see 2 of his Great-Grandparents! The first was my Grandpa Williamson's birthday/Christmas party. My Grandpa Junior Williamson is my mom's foster dad. She went to live with him and and my Grandma Gladys Williamson when she was about 8 yrs old as part of the Indian Placement Program. She would spend the school year with the Williamson's and go back home to her parents in Arizona during the summer. She lived with the Williamson's until she graduated high school and went to college. They bascially raised my mom and she consider's them as her parents. My Grandma Glady's passed away a few years ago due to alzheimer's. I was excited to go to my Grandpa's party because it was the first time he met Weston :)Later that evening we went to the annual Pixton Family Christmas party out in Magna. This is John's mom's side of the family.We had a potluck and a visit from Santa! Here is Weston with his Great-Grandma Pixton. She is such a sweet, sweet Grandma :)

John's 31st Birthday!

2009-12-19T20:32:00.007-07:00

Yesterday was John's 31st birthday!! As usual, he get's so excited for presents that he woke up twice during the night and asked if he could have his present. He's worse than a little kid. I made him yummy french toast, turkey bacon and blueberry muffins for breakfast. Then I finally let him open his present. Me and the boys got him a nice (expensive) Peterson pipe that he's been wanting for a long time. He was so excited and held onto it all day long. That night we dropped Weston off at Marq & Lynzie's while we went to dinner at Benihana's with John's parents and sister. The food was delicious and we had fun. I missed having Weston celebrating with us at dinner, but I think he had fun with his Aunt Lynzie and Uncle Marq :) Thanks guys for watching him! Happy Birthday honey!! Thank you for all that you do for our little family so that we can have a great life and let me stay home with our little guy. You're the best! Love you always, forever and no matter what.

Italian Sausage night

2009-12-14T20:02:00.005-07:00

Yesterday was our annual Italian Sausage night at John's parents.

John & his dad John making the first batch.

His Aunt Barbara and cousin Anthony also joined us.Whaddup! (Weston's pimp pose)Weston & his Aunt Jocie

We had a lot of fun making Italian Sausage and scones and visiting with each other. Weston was such a good boy, as always :) Next year he'll be able to get his hands dirty and help out :)

Gia's family pics

2009-12-09T14:08:00.004-07:00

Last Saturday I took my little sister Gia and her husband Tim's pictures for their Christmas card. Oh, and don't forget their little guy Oakley Grr Carter :) Gia found the neatest little place in American Fork and I can't wait until we get our family pictures taken again because I'm going to go to this place for sure!! Here are a few of my favorites....

Weston - 2 months

2009-12-08T17:27:00.006-07:00

Weston is now 2 months old as of 3 days ago. Today he had his 2 month check-up with his Doctor and had his immunizations. He weighs 11 lbs 9 oz and is 23 1/4 inches long. I felt so bad when they gave him his 2 immunization shots and I wanted to cry. I think it was harder on me than on him. He let out one scream, cried for about 10 seconds and was fine.

He is such a good baby and is almost sleeping thru the night. I feed him and put him down at about 10:00 and he'll sleep until about 4-4:30. I'll feed him and he goes back to sleep for another 3 hours. He naps often throughout the day, but he gets more alert and awake with each day. He's so much fun and I love just watching him and talking to him as he smiles and coos back. It lights up my life everytime he smiles :) He can hold his head up and likes sitting in his bumbo chair. I try and give him some tummy time, but he hates it. He's gotten used to his bathtime and doesn't cry anymore, except for the 2 seconds it takes to get him out of the tub and wrap him in his hooded towel. I can't believe how fast he is growing and I'm glad I get to be home with him so I can soak up every moment. I love you my son!!

Festival of Tree's 2009

2009-12-04T14:11:00.004-07:00

So it's that time of year again! The annual Festival of Tree's at the Southtowne Expo Center!! This is my 3rd year volunteering at the festival with Lynzie and I love it! This year I actually volunteered 2 nights. The first was Tuesday, opening night which is the auction night and we did invoicing again. I like doing the invoicing because you get to see how much the tree's sell for and we write down the really high priced ones and check them out afterwards. The second night that I volunteered was Thursday and we were hostesses, which you basically just stand around to an assigned number of tree's and make sure nobody messes with the tree's and talk to them about the story behind the tree if there is one. It also makes for great people watching (LOL). One of the tree's that I was assigned to was decorated in Orange, Gold and Brown decorations and had a wood sign that said "Orange you glad it's Christmas". The people who donated the tree did it in memoriam of their little boy (I think was 2) who died 2 years ago due to a brain tumor and his favorite color was orange. Most of the stories behind the donated tree's are similar to this story, and although it's sad to hear, it's so nice to see their families do something special and help give something back. I've always wanted to do a tree for the festival, but always put it off. Well, not this time. I am making a commitment to myself to do a tree next year in memoriam of my dad who passed away last April.
It was fun volunteering and it always makes me feel good knowing all the proceeds benefit the kid's at Primary Children's Medical Center :) Thanks Lynz, it was fun and a great way to kickoff the holiday season! Can't wait until next year!!

Grandma Rasmussen with the Wreath that her & Cheryl did

A car and sleigh that sold for $120,000

Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T21:40:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving is an all out "stuffing day", meaning we are stuffed all day long. We start out the day by having breakfast at my dad's which was a little sad because he's not there. But we had a good time laughing and remembering old times. You could definately feel my dad's presence there and I know he was happy that we were having fun together. We then went to visit my dad's grave and I put some pretty red sunflowers and a little pumpkin on his grave.

We had lunch at my mom's and dinner at John's parents. By the time we get home, we are ready for bed!! Although exhausting, it was a very nice day with our families. In all the rush, I forgot my camera and didn't take any pictures except for the one of my dad's grave on my phone. Weston's 1st Thanksgiving and I didn't document it. He even had a cute Thanksgiving bib on with a turkey on it that said "I'm stuffed". I'm such a loser!

Weston's Navajo Baby Blessing

2009-11-25T13:36:00.009-07:00

Thanks again Kim for designing the blessing invitation! I luv it!!

Sunday we had Weston's Navajo Baby Blessing and held it at my mom's office building. My mom had a Navajo Medicine Man by the name of Julius Chavez do the blessing. He is a very nice man and helped give Weston his Navajo name. My mom was talking to Julius about Weston and was telling him about when he was in my belly and would hide from the nurses every time they tried to take his heart rate. One time the nurse was having a hard time finding him and when she did, Weston kicked right where the monitor was and then moved so that she couldn't hear his heartbeat anymore. He kicked so hard that it moved the monitor!! She laughed so hard :) Anyway, after hearing about this, Julius was walking outside into a parking lot and there was a dust twister that moved right by him and the name just came to him like it was in the wind. I don't know how to spell it in Navajo, but it basically means "Stealthy Warrior" or "Sneaky Warrior". Julius sang several sacred songs for Weston and then John and I talked about what we wish for our cute little boy. I got very emotional, especially when I talked about my dad. Losing my dad was the hardest thing I've ever had to go through and I know I wouldn't have been able to get thru it without Weston. The ceremony was very nice and afterwards we had Navajo Tacos :)

Gingerbread House Festival '09

2009-11-14T20:30:00.008-07:00

Thursday was the opening night of the Annual Gingerbread House Festival at Thanksgiving Point. The festival is put on by my mom's work, the Utah National Parks Council. All proceeds from the auction and gingerbread house sales will benefit the 'Learning for Life' character education in schools program and the 'Utah PTA Arts Education Fund'. Weston & I went early in the afternoon to help setup and he was so good. He slept most of the time, and Grandma had fun showing him off the other part of the time. We then stayed for the opening and had yummy appetizers and entertainment. My brother Mike was part of the entertainment and did his Native American Hoop Dance which he dedicated to Weston :) Not sure why I didn't get any pics of Weston. I think it's because Grandma was hogging him most of the night ;)

Weston's birth announcement

2009-11-02T15:34:00.000-07:00

Here is Weston's birth announcement. Kim (Lynzie's sister-in-law) did an awesome job designing it :) Thanks Kim!! I Love it!!

Halloween '09

2009-11-01T17:29:00.008-07:00

Weston was a puppy for his first Halloween! I had such a hard time deciding what I wanted to dress him up as, but then I saw this cute costume at the Holy Cow Boutique in PG and just knew it was perfect! He was soooo cute :) For Halloween we went to my Aunt Camille's annual Halloween party in Springville the night before, and everyone just loved him! He was passed all around and was content the whole time. Everyone kept saying what a good baby he is :) On Halloween night we went to John's parents for dinner. Afterwards we went home and handed out candy to trick-or-treaters. I had wanted to go to my mom's but it got too late :( Oh well. Next year will be alot more fun when Weston is a little older.

Our first Family Pictures

2009-10-27T21:30:00.006-06:00

Sunday we had our first family pictures taken! Kim (Lynzie's sister-in-law) drove up from St George and took picture's of Weston and then our family :) Although Weston was a little fussy, he did pretty good and Kim got some ADORABLE pictures of him!! I was so excited and they turned out SO good! We even got a good family picture with the doggers who were challenging. We had Lynzie and her mother-in-law Kae help with the doggers...thanks guys! And thanks Kim for the AWESOME pictures! I LOVE THEM!

Pumpkin carving

2009-10-19T15:29:00.006-06:00

Yesterday we did our traditional pumpkin carving at my mom's house. We all got together to carve our pumpkins and have some yummy corn chowder & homemade chicken noodle soup. I can't wait until next year when Weston is a little older and will know what's going on. This year he just slept the whole time :)

We were missing Shane and Jake but it was still alot of fun. Jake had an allergic reaction to his H1N1 swine flu shot so he stayed home with his mom. We missed ya Jakey!!

Erickson Baby Shower

2009-10-18T20:56:00.007-06:00

Yesterday John's mom (whom we call Pixie) and his sister Jocelyn, had a post baby shower for us. A lot of his aunt's and cousins from both his mom & dad's side came, as well as the girls from Pixie's quilt group. I don't know all of them that well but it was very nice that they all came to support us. They were all so generous, and it was really cool to have a shower AFTER the baby is born so that all the guests can see Weston. It was fun to have John there too. The food was delicious, everything was so pretty, the weather was nice, and Jocelyn made a really cute diaper cake. (*to hear a funny story about the diaper cake, see below). John's parents are excellent hosts. Thank you everyone for all the love and support!! It was a really good day and we got lots of good stuff! "Grazie!"

*The day or two before the shower, we had stopped by at John's parents, and his dad said to me "have you seen that diaper cake thing that the girls have been working on?" Pixie kind of gasped and said "noooo, she wasn't supposed to know". Then his dad felt bad and said "Ohhh, I didn't know I wasn't supposed to say anything". LOL.

Baby Weston

2009-10-14T22:28:00.005-06:00

Weston Mac Erickson

2009-10-14T22:25:00.010-06:00

Weston Mac Erickson

born Monday, October 5th

at 7:28pm

He weighed 7lbs 6.5oz

and was 21 inches long

Mommy & son together at last :)

9 Months & PAST DUE!!

2009-10-04T09:29:00.006-06:00

Ok, so I am officially PAST DUE! Yesterday was our little guy's "due date" and he is still not wanting to come out. I don't know what it's going to take to get him to come out, but I hope it's soon. I was done being pregnant about 3 weeks ago. At times it feels like he's ready and things are starting, but then....nothing. He changes his mind and wants to stay inside. John says it's my fault because Halona's are always late. Which I have to admit, is true. This is definately my kid and has native blood running thru his veins because he is apparently running on Indian Time. LOL :) So in the meantime, we are trying to be patient (which isn't working very well), staying busy, going for walks, bouncing on a yoga ball, and trying to relax. I'm taking castor oil in a few minutes to see if that kick starts anything. My little sister said it worked for her. I guess we'll see if it works for me. Cross your fingers!!

InfiniTeam baby shower!

2009-09-13T11:32:00.005-06:00

My work had a baby shower for me Friday afternoon and it was AWESOME!! I got to invite Lynzie (my BFF) and Michelle from Burns & Wilcox, my favorite client, Lora, from Tri-Phase Electric, as well as a few of our female Marketing Reps from a variety of our Insurance Companies. We had a luncheon with yummy chicken salad sandwiches and my favorite....a CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN!! The room was decorated so cute with animals, balloons and my colors. I got the most AMAZING and BIGGEST diaper cake that I have ever seen! It was SO cool. It was themed with my colors (green, blue and brown) and animals. It had cute beanie animals (which are now on the wall of the baby room), bottles, onesies, crib sheet, blanket, washcloths, shoes, and pretty much everything imaginable. It was so cute that I didn't want to take it down. I left it on my kitchen table for about 2 weeks before taking it apart. Everytime I looked at it I noticed something else. There was so much stuff on it. I also got some other great gifts that I really needed and I had so much fun. Thank you everyone for such a great and memorable shower!! I don't know how I got so lucky to have such AMAZING and BEAUTIFUL showers from my family and friends, but I really appreciate it and I'm so happy :)
**more pics coming soon**

Labor Day! Zoo & Cascade Springs

2009-09-09T15:06:00.009-06:00

Since I am about ready to pop and my back is hurting more and more each day, we couldn't go on any kind of trip for Labor Day weekend. I really wanted to go to the Grand Canyon or camping or something fun like that. Instead we stayed home and hung out with family, which turned out to be pretty nice. Sunday we went to the Zoo with my family to celebrate my mom's birthday. We saw all the cute new babies, except for the elephant :( They had a baby giraffe, tigers, snow leopard and orangutan. They were SO cute! Afterwards we had lunch at Chuck-A-Rama.
Monday we took the dogs and went for a drive thru Provo Canyon and up to Cascade Springs with my mom, my brother Shane, his girlfriend Johanna, and her 2 kids. We stopped and had a nice picnic, and then we hiked all around the springs. The weather up the mountain was perfect. And even though my back hurts, it's nice to get out and move around. Afterwards we went to John's parents and had a yummy prime rib dinner :)

8 months and 1 to go!

2009-09-03T11:38:00.004-06:00

So I am now 8 months pregnant (36 weeks) and only have 4 weeks left! Or possibly less if I deliver early. I still feel pretty good, except for some backpain and occasional swelling of the feet. I am starting to be more & more uncomfortable and its harder to sleep. I cannot wait until I can sleep on my tummy again! Baby is moving quite a bit and I love to feel every stretch, punch, kick or whatever it is he's doing inside. That will be the one thing I will miss about being pregnant. It's been fun to feel him move around :) I cannot believe that I am now on the final countdown and could have this baby anytime. John and I are SO anxious to see our little guy! I can't wait to see what he looks like and am looking forward to holding him in my arms for the first time. Every mother tells me it's the most AMAZING feeling ever. As for the delivery, not looking forward to that part so much. LOL. I still can't believe how fast the time has gone by and still can't get it through my head that I'm going to be a mom. We've got just about got everything that we need and the nursery is almost done. I have one more shower with my work on the 11th and then we should be ready to rock-n-roll :) Now if we can just decide on a name!! (Suggestions welcome :)

Baby Shower #2 - My "Other" Fam

2009-09-01T11:21:00.007-06:00

My second baby shower of the day was with my 2nd family, was from 7pm - 9pm but it lasted until 11pm ;) It was at my best friend Lynzie's house and it too was B-E-A-UTIFUL! She just got her backyard patio done and it was all setup and SO nice! Again the weather was cooperating and it wasn't really hot. Lynzie & my friend Sara did an AMAZING job and gave me the greatest shower :) The food was delicious, fancy and so pretty. We had chips & salsa, crackers with Brie cheese (my fave), veggies, bread with pesto and garlic, grapes and wine which I couldn't have :(. My friend and co-worker, Christy, also brought my favorite peanut butter bars that she makes, and Sara had her "cupcake lady" make these delicious and fancy cupcakes. I was happy that my "2nd" family came and it was SO fun to see them. For those of you that don't know, my 2nd family consists of Lynzie's family, her husband Marq's family, and our C&W family (where Lynzie, Sara & I used to work). Because Lynzie and I are so close, I became close to her family, and then when she met Marq, I got to know and became close to his family as well. They are all such great people and I had A LOT of fun. I have such AMAZING friends and family that support me and I couldn't be happier. Thank you Lynzie and Sara for giving me such a FANTASTIC shower!! You guys are the best! I LOVED IT!!

Baby Shower #1 - The Fam

2009-09-01T11:06:00.010-06:00

Saturday I had 2 baby showers!! The first was my big family shower in Springville from 11am - 2pm but I think it lasted until about 4pm ;) It was in my mom, Pam's, backyard and was FABULOUS! Gia did the decorating (of course) and it was SO cute! The colors were blue and yellow with duckies :) I was happy that so many people showed up to support me and I had TONS of fun! I just wish I had more time or more of me to sit and visit with each person a lot more. The food was so goo. We had chicken salad sandwiches, pasta salad, chips, a delicous peach pie, and the most AMAZING fruit bowl ever! The fruit was in a hollowed out watermelon that was shaped into a baby buggy! It was AWESOME! The weather was nice too. It didn't get REALLY hot until we started wrapping up. I got lots of good stuff and can't wait to use it all!! I have such an AWESOME family and they did such a great job. Thank you to both of my mom's and my 3 sister's (Leigh, Re' & Gia) for putting it together, and for all their hard work in making my first baby shower so AMAZING. I LOVED IT!!

Desiree' hanging decorations from the treeI wish I would've gotten a picture of it before all the fruit was goneBaby's quilt & bumpers that I made :)

Just a few of the presents

Monster Trucks

2009-08-23T21:09:00.003-06:00

Yesterday John and I went to the Monster Truck show at Rio Tinto Stadium. We didn't go to the finals in Vegas last May like we usually do, so this kind of made up for it! LOL. It was pretty loud, but the noise didn't seem to bother the baby as he was still the whole time....or it freaked him out so much that he didn't dare move. It was fun to just hang out with each other and go out just the two of us. It won't be like that for long, soon it will be the THREE of us :)

Gravedigger!!One of the trucks caught fireTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtle

Hurley's 1st bday!

2009-08-17T22:04:00.001-06:00

August 11th my little nephew Hurley turned 1 year old!! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. It seems only a few months ago he was born. Saturday we celebrated his birthday and let him go to town with his cake. He is such a cutie bug and we love him to death! Happy Birthday Hurley!

7 months and 2 to go!

2009-08-03T11:10:00.000-06:00

I can't believe I'm 7 months pregnant and only have 2 months to go! Time has gone by SO fast and before you know it I'll be bringing the little man home :) John is getting anxious and wants him to come out now so he can play with him. He's felt a little left out as he can't feel the baby move around all the time like I can. Doctor says everything is good and progressing normally. The baby has turned and is now head down and will slowly start dropping as he makes his way to the birth canal! I've gained about 11 pounds so far, although it feels like 30. I feel ginormous and can't imagine getting any bigger. I shouldn't complain as I've had a pretty easy going pregnancy and have enjoyed it so far. We're slowly getting the nursery put together and I can't wait until it's all done. I still can't believe this is all happening and that I'm going to be a mom. Although I'm excited, I am a little nervous and just hope I'm prepared enough for this BIG momentous step in my life.

New patio set :)

2009-07-30T22:54:00.005-06:00

I am SO happy about my new patio furniture that I had to post it :) I've been wanting a patio set all summer long, but since most of our efforts are going to paying things off, getting things ready for the new baby, and paying for the actual birth of the baby, all before he actually arrives, a new patio set was not in the cards. So I'm extremely excited I actually got it! (I just need to get some cushions). I'm even more thrilled that I got it for such an awesome deal. KSL rocks!

24th of July

2009-07-27T11:42:00.011-06:00

Since John had to work on the 24th, I went with my mom, my brother Shane & his boys for a ride through the Uintah's. We went to Kamas for lunch at our favorite drive-in called Dick's and then headed up the canyon. We stopped at Provo River Falls and then went to Mirror Lake and walked around the entire Lake. It was so beautiful and perfect weather. I love going to Mirror Lake and never seem to get tired of it. After hanging out for awhile we drove to Evanston to buy some fireworks :) By the time I got home, John was off work and we went to my mom's for a BBQ and fireworks.

Kenny Chesney Concert

2009-07-26T12:18:00.008-06:00

My 24th of July weekend got kicked off with a bang! I was feeling a little "down" about things I can't have or do right now because our main focus has been the baby. I really wanted to go to the Kenny Chesney concert, but spending $150-$200 a ticket is not the smart thing to do right now. I emailed Lynzie to vent & complain for a moment about it and then about 4:30pm the greatest thing happened. Steve (my boss) got a call from our office complex association president. Real/Rio Tinto Stadium pays us to use our parking lot for event parking. But they didn't pay us last month so they gave our association president 20 tickets to the Kenny Chesney concert. He wasn't going to use them so he asked my boss Steve if there was anyone that wanted to use them.....for FREE!! I immediately told Steve YES and ran to call Lynzie to tell her we were going to the concert!! I was SO excited!! After begging Lynzie to go, she gave in and we had a ton of fun!! I was a little bummed that Sugarland bailed out but it was still an awesome concert :) Thanks Lynz for going! It made my whole weekend!!

This lighter is actually Lynzie's phone :)

You have no idea how difficult it was to get these pictures of us! LOL. These hats have been thru a lot!!

Grandpa Erickson's Obituary

2009-07-12T09:28:00.010-06:00

Last Tuesday I got a call from John's mom who told me that John's grandpa "didn't have much longer" and I burst into tears after I hung up the phone. It was an all too familiar phone call like the one I received about my dad. However, unlike my dad, grandpa passed away 5 minutes after that phone call so I was happy he didn't suffer. His passing was a little expected as his health continued to fail over the past 3 months. John was the first grandchild and was very close and ADORED his grandpa, so I hated to be the one to call and tell him. I had hoped grandpa would last until the baby was born as this would be his first great-grandchild. But I know he is with him now and my dad :) I'm SO happy I had the opportunity to know grandpa, even if it was only for a few short years. He was such a sweet, gentle man and we will miss him.
Harold E. Erickson 1920 ~ 2009
On July 7, 2009 our beloved, father, grandfather, uncle and friend, Harold Erickson, passed away surrounded by his family. He was born March 11th , 1920 in Beulah, North Dakota to Harvey and Margaret Jensen Erickson. On January 6, 1942 he married his true love, Mary Sanone'. They were married for 61 years and together created a life full of love, laughter and happiness for their children, John and Barbara. Their home and hearts were open to everyone. Family and friends were always welcome to join in holiday celebrations, enjoy a great Italian feast, help make Italian sausage, go camping, boating, fishing and hunting. He was devoted to his family and spent many hours coaching little league sports, and taking family and friends on great camping trips. Harold was proud to have served in the United States Army. One month after his marriage to Mary, he was drafted and sent to the South Pacific to fight in World War II. He spent 27 months overseas and was awarded three Purple Hearts. He was a great mechanic who could engineer, build or repair anything. At a Murray High School class reunion, one of his friends remembered him as the student who built a car using only one screw driver. He worked as a mechanic most of his life, and retired from the Salt Lake International Airport as Director of Vehicle Maintenance where he engineered and built equipment still used today. Harold was a devout Lutheran and life long member of Christ Lutheran Church in Murray Utah. His love of God was inspirational. We would like to thank Pastor Kris Erickson for his support during our father's illness. There are no words adequate enough to express how much his daily visits meant to our father and to us. We are humbled to have been the recipients of his compassionate love. Thanks to Don Schultz, of Christ Lutheran Church for his wonderful visits. We would also like to thank dad's neighbors, friends and family for their wonderful support during his illness. Harold is survived by his children John (Ethelyn), Barbara Stilinovich; grandchildren John Erickson (Tahna), Jocelyn Erickson, Anthony Stilinovich, and many nieces and nephews. Also survived by Bill McKendrick (Mary Beth), Jacksonville Florida, our lifelong friend whom dad loved and considered one of his children. Preceded in death by his beloved wife, Mary; son-in-law, Tony Stilinovich, and all of his brothers and sisters. A wake will be held on Monday, July 13th from 6 to 8 p.m. at Starks Funeral Parlor, 3651 South 900 East, Salt Lake City. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, July 14th at 12:00 noon at Christ Lutheran Church, 240 East 5600 South, Murray. Entombment to follow at Mt. Calvary Cemetery, 4th Ave "T" Street, Salt Lake City. Online condolences may be offered to the family at www.starksfuneral.com We love you Dad!

New Puppy!!

2009-07-09T15:36:00.011-06:00

No, we did not get a new puppy (I'm not that crazy), but John's parents did! His dad picked out this puppy a few weeks ago and decided to name him Sam. John's grandpa passed away Tuesday so they weren't sure if they were going to pickup the new puppy but yesterday they decided to get him as he would be a good diversion. He is SO adorable and playful. After dinner we were sitting around and I picked him up, squeezed his cute little wrinkly face and he instantly fell asleep while I was squishing his face. It was SO funny! He just sat in my lap with his head in my hands squishing his face and slept. Welcome to the family Sam! Just wait until you meet your cousins Amos and Homer J!!

He has cute spots

It's been a big day!Buzz checkin on SamSleeping while doing squishy face...LOL

4th of July

2009-07-08T14:32:00.000-06:00

I started my 4th of July weekend on Friday by hanging out with my mom, my nephew Jake and my Grandma who was visiting from Arizona. We had lunch and then went to the Freedom Festival in Provo. It was fun, but really hot so I had a snowcone to help cool me down :)

Saturday we took the dogs to Murray park for a walk and swim :) Amos became a sideshow as people started stopping and would watch him jump in the water and swim to get his ball and bring it back over and over again. Kids thought it was the neatest thing ever. That night we went to Sugarhouse Park to watch their last firework show. I couldn't believe how many people were there. I LOVE fireworks so John puts up with the crowds and traffic to make me happy :) I'm glad that fireworks don't bother our boys. Homer doesn't LOVE them and he sits really close to me, but he doesn't cry or anything. They don't even phase Amos a bit.

Sunday we had our first Erickson Dutch Oven Cookoff! John, his sister and his mom were the chef's and each prepared a dutch oven dish. John made yummy wontons, Jocelyn (his sister) made cheesy potatoes, and his mom made a pineapple upside down cake. After a little incident with the wontons, all the dishes came out great and were delicious!

Halona Family Reunion / Father's Day

2009-06-28T11:38:00.009-06:00

Father's Day weekend is my Annual Halona Family Reunion in the beautiful Chuska Mountains of New Mexico. Normally our family looks forward to this all year long and we start preparing and getting excited months in advance. However, this year was not the case and I actually was not looking forward to it. This would be the first year without my dad and I wasn't sure how it would work. My dad started the reunion about 24 years ago and it was one of his favorite things to do. We knew he would be upset if we didn't go, so we all, a little reluctantly, packed up and headed to New Mexico. We left early Friday morning and arrived in Gallup, NM around 1:00pm. We kind of kept to our traditional routine and went to Earl's Restaurant where they have several vendors selling REAL Native American jewelry for really good prices. I bought a ring for myself and 2 Turquoise baby bracelets for our little man to go with his Navajo traditional outfit that I'm having made for him. It was strange not having my dad there to guide us and we kind of felt lost without him. But he's still with us and we eventually found our way.

After Earl's we continued our tradition and went to Genaro's for lunch to have their AMAZING stuffed sopapillas! I crave these things and look forward to this meal every year! They're SO delicious! Even though I was starving and ready for my stuffed sopapilla, I started crying as soon as I walked into the restaurant. I missed my dad so much and hated seeing his empty seat :( We have been eating at Genaro's for SEVERAL years and when my dad lived in New Mexico our family became regular's. So it wasn't out of the ordinary for Francis, our longtime waitress who's ALWAYS served us and knows exactly what we want to drink and eat, asked if she should bring a Diet for my dad. My mom told her no and gave her the news that he passed away 2 months ago. She couldn't believe it and said "Why didn't you call me!". My mom ordered my dad's favorite dish and we all took a bite for my dad. Even though it was hard, we still had a good time and of course the food was AMAZING. Now it's off to the Mountain to setup camp :)

Setting up our tent turned out to be a BIG test of John & I's relationship. I have a certain way of doing things (the right way) and he was trying to be in charge when he didn't really know what he was doing and wouldn't admit that I was RIGHT. I got a flashback to when Marq tried to teach Lynzie how to snowboard and I started laughing! LOL. We finally got it set up...the right way...and it's a good thing because it rained during the night, and thanks to me our tent didn't get filled with water. It also rained off and on throughout the day on Saturday. Even with the rain we had fun and it was nice being in the mountains, surrounded by my family and sitting by the fire eating smores :) The highlight was the skit my sister Gia, her husband Tim, and my brothers Shane & Mike did at what we call "Saturday Night Live" where each family does a skit or talent. It was absolutely HILARIOUS and I laughed so hard I was crying. I know my dad got a kick out of that :) I'm sure he also got a kick out of me and my Aunt falling backwards in our camp chairs, LOL. Clumbsiness runs in our family LOL.

Sunday I woke up and immediately thought of my dad :( Normally I would be getting up to get his present. But this year I gave my oldest brother Shane a gift (a BYU grill cover which he loved) and of course John. His favorite was the "Red Hot Chili Peppers" shirt and matching onesie for the baby :) We then started packing up, had our traditional Father's Day potluck breakfast, and then headed home to have dinner with John's family at his grandpa's house. It was a quick trip but it was nice and I know my dad is happy that we all went and kept his tradition going.

It was all for you Dad! I love you and miss you so much more than words can describe. It's going to be a hard year of "first's" without you but we'll try and continue to "Livestrong" as you told us too. Love you daddy! Happy Father's Day!

A few of baby's first things

2009-06-27T21:45:00.001-06:00

This is the baby's first gift :) It's from my nephew Parker. He gave it to me the day my dad passed away when we were all still hoping for a girl. Thank you Peanut! (the funny thing is, this character's name is Zoe, and that was the name we would've chosen if it was a girl)

The first thing I bought for the baby was his diaper bag :) I actually bought it 2 days before the ultrasound but it works for either a boy or girl. Now I'm just trying to fight the urge to buy everything else before my baby showers.

Memorial Day we went crib shopping and picked out his AWESOME crib. It kind of matches our bed :) It’s a “forever bed” so it converts into a toddler bed and then a really nice full size bed. It's a pretty expensive crib, but luckily we waited to purchase it because last week my friend Courtney told me she heard USA Baby was having a one day sale on Saturday. So we went to check it out and the crib was half off!! I can't wait to get it all setup in the nursery :) Thanks Courtney!!

This is what it will look like when it's a full size bed

Here is the first quilt I'm making for my new little man. Lynzie helped me pick out the fabric and Kae (Lynzie's mother-in-law) supervised while I cut the fabric. It's going to be a simple quilt but I wanted to start easy :) I haven't sewed in awhile. After this I will be attempting to make his crib bedding with my "mother-in-law" Ethelyn's help. I have yet to pick out the fabric as I can't decide on a pattern. Thanks Lynz! I need to come sew some more this week and then start on more projects :)

I've decided on Green, Blue and White as the main colors for the nursery, so I was pretty excited when I found this glider/rocker & ottoman in green! It matched perfectly with a pillow I had bought prior. Its super comfy which will be nice for late night feedings. Now if I can just get John to take it out of our living room & into the nursery ;) He and Homer J have both started taking it over :)

What?

Lagoon Day

2009-06-09T15:19:00.007-06:00

Every year my mom gets a ton of tickets to Lagoon for a school program that she's in charge of at work. She gets them for kids in different school districts and our family always gets to go too. So Sunday my whole family went and celebrated my sister Leigh's birthday. But this year I can't ride very many rides because I'm prego :( So I just walked around with my mom and watched my nephews and everyone else go on the rides. I did go on the Log ride and the baby squirmed when we went down the little hill. It was funny. Although it rained a little in the morning, it cleared up and actually turned out quite nice because there were no lines and it wasn't really hot. It was nice to spend the day with my family and take it easy. (I was an idiot & forgot my camera. At least I had my phone)

My nephew Parker

The kids getting wet on the Rattlesnake RapidsMy mom, Parker, & my sister Leigh (the only ride my mom will go on)My nephew Jake & Johanna (my brother's girlfriend) on the Egg Drop (kid version of the Rocket)

US Army "Dining Out" dinner

2009-05-20T11:48:00.004-06:00

My sister's husband (Lee, a.k.a Guy) is in the Army and every year they have what's called a "Dining Out" party. Guy is kind of in charge of putting it together and this year they invited John & I to come so I could take pictures. So last Friday we both left work early to head up to Hill Air Force Base. My sister told me it was formal and John had to wear a tie & jacket. But I didn't know it was like Prom formal. I got there and everyone was dressed like Prom. I felt a little underdressed LOL. But it was a lot of fun and VERY entertaining!! Throughout dinner they did a dialogue that centered around what's called "The Grog". Every table had a "part" that they had to read and it ended with putting something, usually a bottle of some type of alcohol, into the Grog. So the Grog ended up having every kind of alcohol you could imagine mixed in. After everything was put into the Grog, each unit did a "skit/song" and it usually ended with them "being sent to the Grog" meaning they had to take a drink. And every once in a while, a commanding officer or someone high up would send someone to "The Grog". It was like a punishment, but not really. It was mostly coming up with any kind of excuse to be "sent to the Grog" just so you could have a drink LOL. Then every table got a pitcher of "The Grog" but of course I couldn't drink it which was fine because I could smell it a mile away and it didn't smell too pleasant. I could almost taste it the smell was that strong. John and the others at our table drank it and I had lemonade. It was a good time with dancing afterwards and we can't wait to go again next year!! Thanks Leigh & Guy!! It was a........memorable evening :)

We're having a BOY!!

2009-05-19T15:36:00.010-06:00

Today we had our ultrasound to finally find out the sex of our baby. I haven't really had a preference, but John was hoping for a girl. He even picked out a pink outfit, with pink shoes and pink purse for me to wear, just to try and push things in that direction. The pressure has been on to have a girl ever since we told everyone about the baby. I have 9 nephews and no neices. (This is the first grandchild in John's family). So when we heard the words, "It's a baby boy", we were so overwhelmed with emotion looking at the monitor and seeing our baby that we were filled with excitement!! It was one of the most amazing moments of my life :) However, I did make the Dr check 3 times to make sure it really was a boy. So she checked & showed me 3 times and said it's definately a boy. But everything looks good and normal. I am 20 weeks and due October 3rd. The only thing that makes me sad is that my dad isn't here to share the news with. I very much wanted to call him and tell him he's having grandson #10. But it's comforting to know that he is with my baby boy right now :)

Boys 10 - Girls 0 (my family)

Boys 1 - Girls 0 (John's family)

Baby's bum and his "outdoor plumbing" Baby's foot

His body and head

Mom's Day part II

2009-05-13T15:25:00.007-06:00

My Mother’s Day started Friday. John took me to dinner at Biaggi’s at The Gateway and then to the “Under the Sea” IMAX 3D show at the Clark Planetarium. I’ve wanted to see it for a long time so I was pretty excited. I LOVED IT! Sunday, John’s dad took us all to the “Mother’s Day Buffet” at Gardner Village. It was a huge buffet and my favorite part was…..the chocolate fountain!! Even though I dropped a chocolate strawberry on my white shirt ;) LOL. Afterwards we went home and I opened my presents. I got a much needed gift card to Sego Lily Spa (my favorite), a cute stuffed Lion and baby math books for our new little baby.
I then traveled to Santaquin to my step-dad’s to give Suzanne her Mother’s Day present. My dad made all the mother’s breakfast but I missed it :( Sorry dad, next year I’ll be there! Then I stopped at my mom Pam’s to wish her Happy Mother’s Day. We celebrated her Mother’s Day yesterday but I had to at least give her a hug. We then went to my mom’s for a BBQ up Provo Canyon. It was nice weather and was relaxing to just hang out with the family. My nephews played with Homer J & Amos and wore them out which was nice. It was especially nice to be with my mom who I haven’t seen much of the last few months as I spent every spare moment with my dad. Thanks mom for being patient and understanding. You are the greatest mom and I hope I can be as great of a mom to my baby as you are to me. You are my movie & traveling companion, and my best friend. I love you SO much!

Me & my mom in Chicago 2007

Mom's Day part I

2009-05-12T13:28:00.001-06:00

Saturday my brothers & sisters and I got together and did some house projects and yard work for my mom Pam. My dad used to like doing yard work, but now that he’s gone, its up to us. We started early and mowed the massive front & back lawn (which was a jungle); planted flowers; built garden boxes so my mom can start a garden; sanded the front of the house and re-painted it; cleaned up the yard; fixed the dining room chairs; and installed base boards. It was an all day project but we got it done and it looked awesome! My dad would be so proud of us :) Happy Mother’s Day Mom!! I don’t know how you do everything that you do, but I love you for it. You’re strength is truly amazing and inspiring. Livestrong mom! That’s what daddy would want us to do. We love you and we’re always here for you!!

(These pics are from my phone. I’ll post the rest as soon as I get them from Gia’s camera).

My nephew's Hurley & Oakley in the playpen :)

My nephew Tristan on the mower

Painting the house

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2009-04-21T23:43:00.001-06:00

Today is my dad's birthday.......and his viewing. He passed away Sunday morning about 8:15am while I was holding his hand and sitting by his side. I hated seeing my dad struggle and in so much pain and prayed so hard all night long for Heavenly Father to please take him so he wouldn't suffer anymore. But when the time came, it was more than I could bare and I wanted him back. I am so thankful I have a strong family and we rallied together to make his viewing extra special and a little bit of a "party". I made a CD of my dad's favorite songs, we had a video playing of pictures of my dad, balloons, birthday cards, birthday cake, several pictures displayed, his quilt that we made for him years ago, and my dad's favorite candy & treats (Whoppers, Hot Tamales, Twinkies, and wafers). My family gathered before the viewing started and we sang "Happy Birthday" to my dad. I know our little "party" probably didn't even compare to the celebration he's having in Heaven, but we had to do something to celebrate our dad, as hard as it was. I love you daddy and I'm going to miss you more than I can even imagine. Happy Birthday!!!

(Thank you to my amazing family, to John for being my rock, John's mom Ethelyn who fixed my dad's quilt for the viewing, and Lynzie who brought the digital frame to me even though she hates viewings.)

My daddy's obituary

2009-04-20T13:09:00.005-06:00

MacArthur Douglas Halona
1951 ~ 2009

MacArthur Douglas Halona, 57, of Springville, UT, returned home to his Heavenly Father surrounded by his family, on April 19, 2009 after a courageous battle with cancer.

He was born April 21, 1951 in Gallup, New Mexico to Wallace E. and Betty J. Halona. He spent his childhood years on the Navajo reservation in Tohatchi, New Mexico. At the age of 8 he came to live in Springville through the Indian placement program, graduating from Springville High School in 1969. He attended BYU where he performed with the Lamanite Generation and received his Bachelor's degree in Business Management in 1985. He loved fishing, hunting, yard work, woodcutting, camping, the BYU Cougars, and the Utah Jazz. He was a talented artist and enjoyed studying Church History. Above all he cherished spending time with his family.

He married his best friend Pamela Sue Pendergraft on June 7, 1980 in Orem, Utah and was sealed as her Eternal companion in the Mt. Timpanogas Temple April 11, 2009.

He is survived by his parents; his wife of 28 years; sons and daughters: Leigh (C. Lee) Vornkahl, M. Shane Halona, Jeremy (Delores) Halona, Michael Halona, Utahna (John) Erickson, Desiree' (C. Ryan) Raulston, Andrea "Gia" (Timothy) Carter, and Melody Baldwin Halona; nine (soon to be ten) grandchildren.

Funeral Services will be held Wednesday April 22, 2009 at 11 a.m. in the Springville Fifth Ward at 245 S. 600 E. A viewing will be held Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Wheeler Mortuary, 211 E. 200 S. Springville or at the church on Wednesday one hour prior to the services. Interment, Springville Evergreen Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers donations may be sent to Wheeler Mortuary to help cover funeral expenses.

Condolences may be sent at www.wheelermortuary.com or http://ads.heraldextra.com/articles/2009/04/20/obituaries/341810.txt

Easter & baby tell all

2009-04-17T12:59:00.000-06:00

So now that John & I have come to terms with the pregnancy and are actually very happy & excited about it, we decided it's time to tell our families the big news. Since this could very well be our only child, I wanted to do it in a very creative and fun way. And since Sunday was Easter, I thought that would be the perfect day to tell everyone. For my step-dad's family (Kent & Suzanne) and John's family, I made a cute card in the shape of an egg. The top of the egg moved open so when you opened it, it showed a stamp of a baby with the words "To be hatching in October 2009". And for my dad and my mom, I ordered custom fortune cookies with the fortune "We always said never, not even maybe, but it's true, John & Tahna are having a baby" inside.

The plan was to go to my step-dad's first, then my dad's, and then John's parents. Because my mom has been difficult the past few weeks, we didn't tell her until Tuesday. So we went to my step-dad's house first and gave him the card. It took him a while to figure it out and he had to read it again....slowly. His eyes lit up and said "Really?" I nodded my head and he gave me a hug and took the card to Suzanne who read it about 5 times before she got the surprised and happy look on her face that was I expecting. She got so excited and everyone else finally got to hear what the fuss was about and congratulated us. Of course everyone was surprised because I've always said I didn't want kids. But they were all happy.

Then we went to my dad's house and had a 2nd lunch. John & I were supposed to make chinese food, but at the last minute, my brother Michael wanted to have Navajo Tacos because his girlfriend's parents were in town and eating with us. So that kind of put a damper on my plans, but I was not going to postpone my news again. Especially since it was not a great day for my dad as he was exhausted from the day before at the Temple. Usually he will make the effort to eat at the dining table with everyone, but he just couldn't do it today :( He stayed in the living room resting on the couch. After we ate, everyone was in the living room and I handed out the fortune cookies to everyone saying "We were supposed to have Chinese food, but Michael ruined that plan, but here's an Easter fortune for everyone anyway". My oldest brother Shane was the first to read it and immediately got excited and hugged me. Slowly one by one, everyone read the fortune and I tried to keep everyone quiet until my dad got to read his. He was the last to open it and when he read it I started crying. He looked up at me and said "Congratulations girl" (that's what he calls me and my sister's and he says it in his own special tone that is sweet) and I hugged him and cried on his shoulder. I told him I wanted him to be there when the baby's born and he whispered in my ear "I will be". I cried even more knowing in my heart that it was true, but not in the way I truly wanted.

After my dad's we went home to do a doggy easter egg hunt with our boys Amos & Homer J. Then we went to John's parents for dinner. I gave the egg card to his mom who jumped a little in shock and then hugged me in excitement. She gave the card to John's dad who congratulated us in his own gentle and soft way. His smile was priceless :) John's family is a little more quiet and calm than mine. It's probably because there are only four of them (John, his parents and his sister). All of my families are chaotic and loud because there are so many of us. But it's nice to go to the Erickson's because it is calm and relaxing. It was the perfect way to end the day.

(Can you believe I did not have a camera with me. I'm such an idiot. I will post pics of the card and fortune soon)

My daddy went to the Temple

2009-04-16T23:53:00.005-06:00

Last Saturday was a bad day for weather and pictures, but a GREAT day for my dad. He and my step-mom got sealed in the Mt Timpanogos Temple :) They have been married for 28 years and this was one of the last things that my dad wanted to do and accomplish. Luckily, we had some insight from my dad's hospice nurse, Jason, and had the sealing a week before originally scheduled. Jason also helped us with my dad's medication & schedule of meds so that we could have the best possible day with my dad. And it was an amazing day. My dad must've saved all the energy he had for that day because it was a really busy & long day but he held up wonderfully. Everyone that was inside said it was beautiful and the sealing was the most emotional sealing they'd ever been too. After their sealing, my little sister Gia and her husband Tim also got sealed :) We then took some family pictures outside the temple by a photographer I found and who offered to take our families pictures for free :) It was rainy and gloomy, but I'm glad we took some anyway.
After pictures I thought for sure my dad would be completely wiped out but he said he wanted to go out to eat at Chili's :) So we went to Chili's and had what would be our last dinner out with my dad. It was a special day and I'm so thankful that my dad had the energy and was the most lucid that he's been in a while. Thank you Jason!! It would'nt have happened without you! And thank you Stephanie for the pictures!!

Daddy & his kids

My mom & dadAwwwwMe & my daddy You did it dad! You said you'd do it and you did!!

It's true...WE'RE PREGNANT!!

2009-04-14T22:25:00.004-06:00

This is a post I NEVER thought I would be posting. But it's true, WE'RE PREGNANT!! We actually found out about 2 months ago but decided to wait to tell the world our news in case of a miscarriage. We also had to let the reality sink in before we started telling family and friends...although a few already knew ;) I took about 4 pregnancy tests just to make sure and was hoping one of them would say negative. But of course it never happened and here I am, now 14 weeks pregnant and FINALLY we're both ok with it and happy. John is so cute about it and is hoping for a girl :) I don't really have a preference, although a girl would be awesome because we don't have any girls in my family. I have 9 nephews and no neices. This will be the first grandchild on John's side so that is exciting! On May 19th we'll find out what we're having and we can't wait!!

Vegas!

2009-03-31T14:09:00.004-06:00

This year we decided not to go to the Monster Truck show in Vegas with my brothers :( It's been a tradition for the past few years, but we have a lot going on, I want to spend time with my dad, and we're saving $ for Graceland and other things. But last Thursday my mom said she was going and would leave Friday after work. So at the last minute I decided to go with my mom and let John have a weekend to himself at home. I left work early on Friday to go to my dad's and spent the day with him and then left with my mom to Vegas! When we arrived we met up with my brother Shane and his two boys for dinner. The next day Mike and his girlfriend Misty arrived. We went to the Swap Meet Saturday morning, ate at Planet Hollywood for lunch, and walked around. Later on Shane, his boys, Mike & Misty all went to the Monster Truck Show while me, my mom, and my nephew River went to the Cris Angel show at The Luxor. It was ok, but not as good as I was expecting.
Sunday we went to Hoover Dam before heading home. I'd never been there before so that was pretty cool. It was a quick trip but alot of fun. Thanks mom!
(I'll post pics as soon as my sister gets off her butt and emails me my pics. I forgot my camera, but luckily my nephew River brought his mom's camera)

Family Pics

2009-03-20T16:31:00.001-06:00

Halona's unite for my dad

2009-03-07T12:42:00.009-07:00

The news about my dad spread quickly through our large family on Monday. By Tuesday several family members started making plans to come into town to see my dad. On Wednesday, family started arriving and they kept coming thru Saturday. We had family coming in from Arizona, New Mexico, California, Washington DC and all over Utah. We were all happy and overwhelmed by the outpour of love and support. My dad's parents and all his brothers and sisters came. It's been a VERY long time since they have all been together. Saturday afternoon we had a potluck gathering at my dad's house. We had yummy Muton, Frybread, Beans, Blue Corn Mush, Muton Stew, Tortilla's, sandwiches and different salads. I couldn't believe how many people dropped everything in their own lives to come to Utah and it was SO amazing to see all my family together. After we all ate, my auntie's and uncles told stories that we recorded on tape and video so that we will have them to keep after my dad is gone. So many people spoke and had a chance to tell my dad how much they care for him and what they admire most. It was nice to hear but also difficult. It made the situation more of a reality and I just cried.

Later that night, we hung out with a bunch of my cousins at Iggy's and had tons of fun having more food and laughs. I don't get to see these cousin's very often so I really enjoyed hanging out with them. I didn't have my camera so I'll have to wait for Jax to send me some pics.

Lynzie's bday - Rascal Flatts

2009-03-02T12:29:00.005-07:00

A few weeks ago I bought tickets to the Rascal Flatts concert this Thurs for Lynzie's birthday and I was SO excited! However, things kind of changed for me on Monday with my dad's situation and I almost decided to just give her the tickets and let her take someone else. I'm really glad I didn't because it was an awesome concert and their stage wraps around the entire floor so we got a really good view. Besides, it's Lynzie's birthday and she deserves it. I only cried once which I thought was good. I thought I would cry more because some of their songs are sad. But it was fun and they put on an amazing performance. I even liked Jessica Simpson who opened for them and liked her new songs. Despite my family situation, I had alot fun and glad I went. Happy Birthday Lynz!!

Bad news for our family

2009-02-25T16:42:00.006-07:00

Picture was taken just after my dad was first diagnosed with Cancer in 2006
My dad has been fighting cancer for almost 3 years and recently had started his 4th chemo treatment. He's been such a trooper and never complains. However, Monday our family got some bad news from my dad's oncologist. His cancer is spreading and is no longer responding to treatment. They have given him 2-3 months. There is nothing more they can do but keep him as comfortable as possible for the time we have. This has been EXTREMELY difficult for our family but has brought us so close together which I know makes my dad happy. The last few days we have met all his Hospice nurses and case worker, re-done all his meds, and will hopefully give him a better quality of life so we can spend some good memorable times together. Our Halona family has been so supportive and several members of our family are coming into town from all over the country to visit with my dad and show their love. I'm grateful that my work is also being EXTREMELY supportive and giving me whatever time I need to be with my dad and family. They more than understand and that is so wonderful that I don't have to worry about that. Monday was one of the worst days I'll ever have in my life, but I am thankful to have my family and John around me. John came to my dad's to just sit by me and hold my hand. When we got home I realized I hadn't eaten all day, and all I wanted was cereal but the milk in the fridge expired. So he went to the grocery store to get me some milk and brought me back some flowers. Lynzie has also been amazing on keeping an eye on me, checking in with me to make sure I'm breathing, eating, resting, etc. I don't know what I would do without my support system. I'm definately going to need it.

Movie Night Birthday Party

2009-02-18T15:46:00.004-07:00

Sunday we celebrated my birthday with my Halona family. We had it at my sister Desiree's clubhouse which has a movie theatre room. We had popcorn, chips & salsa and drinks while watching "Transformers". My dad had never seen it and it's one of my favorites. It was a fun movie night with my family and I got to spend some time with my dad and see my little nephew Hurley who is growing so fast. Two of my other nephews, Jake & Tristan, had fun running & flying onto the bean bags. Thanks Re' for arranging the clubhouse and all the treats!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-17T22:01:00.002-07:00

This year for Valentine's we took a more casual and approach. Friday I had a dozen red roses waiting for me when I got home and Saturday morning I made John bacon & eggs for breakfast. We decided to stay home for dinner since neither of us felt like battling the crowds. So I bought 2 rib eye steaks, strawberries & chocolate for dinner. John BBQ'd the steaks and I made the chocolate covered strawberries. I even started to setup the dining room table (that we never eat on) so that we could have a nice romantic dinner, but of course we're not that fancy and we ended up eating in the living room while watching the NBA All-Star games in our lounge clothes :) It felt so good to just relax and later in the evening we opened our presents. I got a very much needed gift card to Sego Lily Spa :) I already made plans to use it on Monday since I don't have to work :) Thanks honey!

Valentine's Party for the CBH

2009-02-15T15:16:00.005-07:00

For the past week or so, Courtney & I have been planning a Valentine's party for the kids at The Christmas Box House (CBH) as part of our on-going volunteer work with them. I was REALLY excited about this project because we actually get to interact with the kids. So Friday afternoon, Courtney, myself, Terri, Keri and Keri's sister all went to The CBH to setup while the kids finished their lunch and played outside. When we were ready, we split them into two groups and they took turns playing ring toss & bean bag toss. The kids really got into the games and seeing how many points they could get. Quite a few of them asked if they could keep the game so after the party we donated the games to the CBH to keep. After the games we had the kids decorate their own heart sugar cookies. It was messy but a lot of fun for us and for them. They really enjoyed decorating their cookies and I had so much fun helping them and see the different designs they would make with the frosting and sprinkles. There was an adorable 2 year old African-American girl that was such a cutie while eating her cookie. She had frosting all over her face, hands and clothes. It was SO funny to watch her. I wish we could've taken pictures of the kids, but due to privacy issues we are not allowed. I took some pictures while we were setting up before the kids came in but that's all we were able to get. I absolutely LOVED playing with the kids. They were such good kids that it's hard to believe the reasons that they are at CBH. This has been my favorite activity with the CBH and I hope we do more activities like this with the kids in the future.

Pizza Birthday Party at work

2009-02-12T22:18:00.001-07:00

Last week I had helped one of my clients, Rock Creek Pizza Co., with a huge Workers Comp issue. Long story short, I fixed his problem and he offered us free pizza because I am so awesome! LOL. The timing was perfect, so I took him up on his offer so that we could have a Pizza Birthday Party for me, Destini, Marshall & Karen since we all have our birthday's in February. Mine, Destini's & Marshall's are almost right after each other. Marshall's is the 6th, Destini's is the 7th and mine was the 9th. So Tuesday we got 5 specialty pizzas and drinks for everyone. It was fun just hanging out and the pizza was pretty good. I got some cute birthday cards from Courtney, Christy and Barb. Christy also gave me the cutest Elvis beanie! I love it! Thanks Rock Creek for the pizza!

And yesterday, the 2 producers I work with, Ryan & Darrin took me & my assistant Courtney to lunch at Ruby River for my birthday. Thanks guys!!

Birthday with my family

2009-02-11T21:58:00.002-07:00

Last night we went to my mom's to celebrate my birthday with my family. I decided I wanted all my favorites for my birthday instead of going to a restaurant. So my mom made delicious Navajo Tacos for dinner and Strawberry Shortcake for dessert. Mmmmm!! They were SO yummy! We watched American Idol while we ate and then I opened my presents. I asked for money to go towards my San Diego trip in March with my mom :) But I also got a really pretty watch, a book and a bookmark that my sister-in-law made. It was casual, but fun and I got to have all my favorite food. Thank you everyone! I have such an awesome family :)

Happy Birthday to me...I'm goin to Graceland!!!

2009-02-10T23:06:00.003-07:00

Yesterday was my official birthday. As in my previous post, and my complaints to everyone who asked about my upcoming big 3-0 birthday, I was not happy about it. I finally decided to take the day off from work. Mostly just so I could sleep in, which I did. And because I could sleep in, I stayed up the night before my birthday watching medical mystery shows in bed (which I love), and at midnight I got a glass of wine and toasted to myself. (John was asleep). "Happy Birthday you old woman!"

My mom had planned to take me to a fancy lunch at "La Caille" but the morning of my birthday she found out they do not do lunch, only dinner. So we went to "The Cheesecake Factory" instead. The waiters & waitresses sang Happy Birthday and gave me the most delicious Strawberry Shortcake dessert with "Happy Birthday Tahna" written in chocolate around the plate.

Afterwards we went to see "He's just not that into you" in Jordan Landing. I LOVED the movie and I had fun hanging out with just me & my mom like old times. We would've gone shopping like we both love to do, but it was raining too much. I actually loved my day with my mom and it was perfect. When I got home I got ready and John took me to dinner at "Tiburon" my all time favorite restaurant. I chose an Italian bottle of wine (2007 Kris Pinot Grigio) that went wonderful with my Rocky Mountain Elk tenderloin with a creamy mushroom duxelle green peppercorn demi-glace. It's SO delicious! When we got home I got to open my presents which were actually hints to my REAL present. The first was a jug of Jim Beam which I kind of sarcastically guessed, "are we going to the Jim Beam distillery?" The second was a book. But not just any book. It was a pop-up book of............GRACELAND!!! Yes, the famous home of Elvis Presley himself!! I almost couldn't believe it that I kept interrupting John telling me about the trip just to make him confirm over & over again that we were going. The plan is to fly to Louisville, Kentucky to visit several distilleries, including the Jim Beam distillery. We will then drive to Nashville, Tennessee and do some sightseeing and take the General Jackson riverboat ride on the Cumberland River. After Nashville we will drive to Memphis, Tennessee where we will stay at Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel and take the Graceland Elvis Entourage VIP Tour. John's original plan was that we would be in Graceland on my birthday, but because its still cold in Tennessee, he decided to postpone until April when it's warmer. John is the most wonderful guy and he really made my 30th the most memorable birthday ever! Not to mention that I got a lot of loving & supporting texts and facebook messages that it made me feel good througout my whole day. Thank you everyone!! And thank you honey bunny for my AMAZING gift!! You truly understand my man crush of the century ;) lol

Me & Homer J with the Elvis glasses from the book

Birthday Brunch

2009-02-08T23:01:00.007-07:00

Saturday officially kicked off my big 3-0 birthday. I went to brunch with Lynzie at "Paradise Bakery & Cafe". We were both disappointed to hear that they had stopped serving their wonderful croissant breakfast sandwiches 5 minutes before we got there. So we ended up ordering coffee and muffins. A little while later, Jacque joined us. I was so happy she came because we haven't seen her in a while. She gave me some lotion & bubble bath from Bath & Body. Our friend Taylor called to say she couldn't join us because of school. But her & Lynzie's birthday are coming up so we said the 3 of us would get together to celebrate all our birthday's together. Anyway, we had fun talking and afterwards we went shopping at World Market where Jacque got me the cutest wine glass charms with the wonders of the world on them. It was a nice & warm day and I had a lot of fun. Thanks Lynz for kicking off my birthday!! Luv ya!

Lynzie, Jacque & Me at Lynzie's Wedding

Parker's Birthday!

2009-01-23T22:28:00.006-07:00

Sunday we celebrated my nephew Parker's 4th birthday. Our family and my sister's husbands family all got together to have sloppy joes and pulled pork sandwiches. We really like my brother-in-law's family. They're Texans and alot of fun. Plus I like listening to their accent.
After we ate we had cake & ice cream and Parker's cousin, Avery, is such a cute little girl but she was kind of wanting it to be her party. She tried to blow out his candles and her mom had to put her hand over her mouth so Parker could blow them out. It was so funny!
Parker is such a cute kid and LOVES trains and sharks. So we got him a shark book and a train calendar that he LOVED! After he opened all his other presents, he picked up the presents we gave him, sat by me and we looked through the book and calendar a few times. He didn't want to play with his toys LOL. Happy Birthday peanut!

Parker thinking of his wish

It's not your birthday cake Avery! LOLGrandma PatGrandma Shirlee

Walking with Dinosaurs

2009-01-20T22:18:00.007-07:00

Dinos1
Originally uploaded by tahnababy

Sunday I went to "Walking with Dinosaur's" at the Energy Solutions Arena with my mom, brother Shane & his boys, Tristan & Jake. My mom was going to take my nephew Parker as part of his birthday present, but when she went to pick him up he was throwing a fit with his parents so he didn't go. But luckily for me it meant I got to go! It was really cool and I had a lot of fun. When I was younger I was obsessed with Dinosaur's and wrote a lot of reports on them. I took a little video and some pictures from my phone to show Parker at his birthday party later in the evening. Thanks mom for the ticket, and thanks Parker for not going so I could go ;)

Happy New Year 2009

2009-01-04T19:19:00.020-07:00

We went to Marq & Lynzie's to celebrate New Year's Eve this year. I still cannot believe that this is Lynzie & I's FIRST New Year's Eve together!! I kept thinking there was at least one but we reviewed every year and sure enough, this is our first. Brandon and Lyssa were also there with their cute kids and we all had a really good time. We hung out, had some snacks, drinks and played games. At midnight we went outside and the boys lit off firecrackers. Lyssa woke up her daughter Sage so she could join us and bang pans. It was a pretty low key night but I can't think of a better way to ring in the New Year with good friends, my Lynzie, and my Honey! Thanks Lynz for a great night! Let's make this year the best Tahna & Lynzie year ever!! :) Here's to more Good Times ahead...cheers!

Marq, Brandon & John

5...4...3...2...1 Happy New Year!Lyssa & her daughter SageLyssa, Lynzie & Tahna - Cheers!!

Christmas 2008

2008-12-27T10:21:00.010-07:00

As usual, our holidays are pretty hectic, so we split things up a little bit and spent Christmas Eve at my step-dad's house in Santaquin. We had a good time with food, drinks, games, presents & just hanging out. I won the word find game :) I'm really glad we split things up because we were able to spend a lot more time with my family that I don't get to see very often and John is so comfortable with my "Weight" family than anyone else. He likes talking with my dad "Papa Kent" :) I also had fun talking with other Twilight lovers :)

Amos & Homer J sleeping on Christmas Eve

Christmas Morning we slept in, opened our stockings only, and then went to John's parents for breakfast and presents. We didn't stay too long since we knew we would be back later in the evening. (I'm glad his parents only live a few blocks from us).

John & the boys with their stockingsMe & the boys

We went home to relax for a little bit and opened the rest of our presents. We do a good job of keeping our presents a secret from each other so that we are all surprised on Christmas day. John spoiled me as usual. Afterwards we headed to my mom's house for the afternoon. Because I'm so special (and her baby) my mom still gives me a stocking :) After my mom's we went to my dad's house. But before opening presents at my dad's, I had to help my brother Mike wrap all his presents!! Mike has a tradition that he does ALL his shopping on Christmas Eve and every year he never gets all his gifts wrapped & I end up having to help him. When we left my dad's, we went back to John's parents for dinner. I'm so grateful that John's family is SO flexible & they are always SO willing to work around my 3 families crazy schedule. We had a really good day and also had pretty good timing since we seemed to dodge traveling in the worst parts of the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day storms. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

John & his mom

Christmas morning mess (No we didn't get another 50" tv, I had to wrap one of john's presents in the tv box because he likes to shake his presents to guess what they are.)

InfiniTeam Christmas Eve party

2008-12-26T23:36:00.005-07:00

Christmas Eve fell on a Wednesday this year, so my work had a party instead of really working. It was potlock so I brought an Artichoke & Spinach dip that I made that morning and chips. It was gone before I left the office :) We also do a "White Elephant" game where everyone brings a gift. The day before the party I still had not bought my gift. On the way back to the office from the Christmas Box House, Destini & I were brainstorming for what I should get, when we saw a lingerie store. We got the same idea...but it would only work if one of the guys chose it. So of course us girls had to make a plan. Everyone in our office is pretty competitive, so the gift stealing usually goes on for quite a while. It was pretty late in the game, but as luck should have it, someone stole my gift and I made the choice to steal Marshall's gift so that he would have to either steal someone else's gift or pick a new one. He chose to pick a new one and chose MY gift!! He opened the box and immediately closed it shut! Just as I suspected, no one would let him get away with not pulling it out so he had no choice but to pull out the nightie :) It actually was a very cute nightie that most girls would not have mind keeping. I also put the movie "Sleeping Beauty" with the lingerie to keep with the theme. Marshall was such a good sport and even put the nightie on! It was HILARIOUS and everyone was almost in tears from laughter!!

Mine was the blue one on top with the blue blow.

Jason & Dave helping Marshall into his nightie ;)

Marshall is such a good sport!!

Christmas Box House Quilts

2008-12-23T23:19:00.013-07:00

For the past few weeks, my work has been working on making quilts for the kids at The Christmas Box House. Barb, Destini & I went to Joann's and picked out all the fabric. We chose fabrics for 5 boy and 5 girl quilts. We set up a quilt frame in an empty office for everyone to go in and work on tying a quilt whenever they wanted or could. We also had been successful in getting a few of the guys to do some ties and Monday the last quilt was done!! Thanks to everyone who helped with the quilts! They turned out to be SO cute and a few of us were tempted to keep some of them because they were so adorable :) On Tuesday afternoon, Barb, Destini and I went to The Christmas Box House to deliver the quilts along with a nice cash donation. They were thrilled and said they would let the kids who would be staying there for Christmas pick one for their gift :) That made me feel so good!! I have loved being active in this Charity that we've chosen this year and doing all I can to help out.

I chose this one....its one of my favorite boy ones. I love the monkeys :) My favorite girl quilt. I think Destini picked this one. I love the purple, pink & green together

Halona 'Ugly Sweater' Xmas Party

2008-12-22T22:56:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we had my family Christmas party at my dad's house. My brother Mike put himself in charge and chose to do an "Ugly Sweater" party. So we all had to find the ugliest xmas sweater we could find and purchasing the sweaters proved to be the most embarrassing part of all. I remember the look of my cashier wondering if I was serious or not, LOL. It was a lot of fun to see what everyone came up with and in the end, my oldest brother Shane won the prize by wearing a grandma, sparkly, black Christmas vest with a turtleneck. I wore a very adorable mint green sweater with sparkly snowflakes across the front & sleeve, and a built-in turtleneck that was embroidered at the edges. I got John a sweater that had the 'Kansas City' lights on the front AND back. It was truly gross and not too mention it shrunk in the dryer and was a little tight! But he matched my sister Gia's husband, Tim, who had a light blue sweater w/snowflakes that was too small as well! Even my little baby nephew Hurley wore an ugly Mickey mouse sweater with ears but he's so darn cute that it didn't look ugly :) We all had a blast teasing each other, eating mutton stew & frybread, and playing a very funny & somewhat embarrassing game of "Boxers & Briefs". We all laughed until we cried and now we REALLY know what we think of each other...LOL! I love my family and love hanging out with them....even if we do look ridiculous in ugly sweaters :)

InfiniTeam Xmas Party

2008-12-21T22:40:00.003-07:00

Saturday night we went to the Millcreek Inn which is up Millcreek Canyon for my annual work Christmas party. It was fun to get all dressed up and the setting at the Inn is so beautiful with all the snow. I was so happy there was no snow blizzard like last year so we actually made it to the party on time. We had a fun social hour with cocktails and fancy h'ordeurves before dinner. The food was absolutely delicious and after dinner we danced and listened to the "School of Rock" bands. The "School of Rock" is a music school for kids, and my boss Steve has a son who plays the drums. They are actually amazing and its hard to believe they are just kids. There was a 15 yr old singer who I swear could have won American Idol, he was that good. We all had fun rockin' out and letting loose. I'll post more pictures as soon as Courtney sends them to me.

Favorite Things...

2008-12-20T09:07:00.000-07:00

8 Favorite TV Shows
1. House
2. Clean House (Style channel)
3. Gilmore Girls
4. Friends
5. HGTV
6. Food Network
7. Kitchen Nightmares
8. Numbers

8 Things I did Yesterday
1. Slept in (kind of)
2. Dishes
3. Went to my Grandpa's Xmas/Bday party
4. Went Christmas shopping with my mom
5. Got dressed up
6. Went to my work Xmas party up Millcreek
7. Danced w/co-workers to the School of Rock kids band, they're amazing!!
8. Watched Dark Knight

8 things I look forward to:
1. Christmas
2. More snow in the Mountains for snowboarding
3. Traveling
4. Time off work
5. Summer
6. More time with Family
7. A house
8. Quitting my job...someday

8 Favorite Restaurant
1. Tiburon
2. Benihana's
3. Bohemian
4. Macaroni Grill
5. Outback
6. Porcupine
7. Market Street Grill
8. Mimi's Cafe

8 Things I wish for:
1. Patience
2. More free time
3. A House
4. Energy to do the things I want
5. Money to do the things I want
6. To see Graceland
7. To see the World
8. To stay 29 forever

8 People I tag:
1. Destini
2. Courtney
3. Re'
4. Gia
5. Sara
6. Morgan
7. Shannon
8. Melissa

Italian Sausage

2008-12-16T22:14:00.004-07:00

Sunday we went to John's parents for our annual Italian Sausage night. John's dad side of the family is Italian and every year during Christmas time we freeze our hands and make Italian Sausage and scones :) We had a good time and John even got to have his birthday pie and a few presents early.

O' Christmas Tree...

2008-12-15T21:14:00.001-07:00

This year I put up 2 Christmas Tree's. This one is our main tree and his been up since the week after Thanksgiving and is in the living room. It's the same tree we had last year, kind of "woodsy" and has a lot of snowmen. I really like our tree, but because I like so many different styles, I think I'm going to change things up and do a different one next year. Destini is right, the picture never does the tree justice. I promise its better looking in person. Here it is all lit up...

This tree is a new addition this year. I've been collecting Elvis ornaments for the past couple of years, but there's not enough for a big tree and as much as I LOVE Elvis, I honestly did not want my main tree to be all Elvis. So I bought a little 4 ft tree and put it in our bedroom :)

Festival of Trees - Auction Night

2008-12-03T23:18:00.009-07:00

Yesterday, Lynzie & I did our annual volunteering at "The Festival of Trees". It was auction night (by invitation only) and all the trees, wreaths, gingerbread houses & playhouses are auctioned off. We work in the invoicing area and we get to see how much the trees are sold for. We always write down the ones that sell for lots of money so we can go look at them afterwards. Lynzie's mother-in-law (Marq's mom) is on the board and so a lot of her in-laws, "The Rasmussen's" help out. Grandma Rasmussen (Vera) and his Aunt Cheryl, always help out in invoicing as well. Every penny raised goes to help children in need at Primary Children’s Medical Center. We had a good time hanging out and after we were done invoicing, we went and looked at some of trees. Thanks Kae (Marq's mom) for letting me help out! (We were so busy we didn't have time to take a pic :)

Christmas Box House Tree

2008-12-02T08:52:00.005-07:00

Yesterday, a few of us from work went to 'The Christmas Box House' (CBH) to decorate their tree for December. They have a tree that is up year round and its the first thing that a child see's when they are brought to the CBH. The tree is surrounded by stuffed animals and when a child comes to the CBH, they get to choose an animal to keep. Each month it is decorated by different people and/or organizations with different themes. We had signed up for the 'December' tree a few months ago and I was so excited to do it. Last week Barb, Courtney & I went to Target and bought all the stuff for the tree and then we ordered some things online. I helped Courtney come up with the 'theme' of the tree which was "Santa's Workshop". We got bright colored ornaments of red & green, wooden block toys, a sparkly santa hat for the topper, and filled little bags with small toys for the kids to keep after Christmas. A few of the guys went early to put up the lights and then Barb, Courtney, Christy, Julie, Ryan and his brother-in-law and I decorated the tree. It was a lot of fun and it turned out really cute! We were all so happy to be able to do this for the kids and we hope they like it! Merry Christmas to the kids at The Christmas Box House!

John's EARLY bday

2008-11-30T02:21:00.008-07:00

I bought a Samsung 50" Plasma HDTV on "Black Friday" at 5am for John's birthday which is on the 18th of Dec. John is turning the big 3-0 this year!! I am TERRIFIED of turning 'that number' in Feb, and even though I know it's not as big of a deal to John as it is to me, I still wanted his birthday to be a special and/or big deal. For me, I want my 30th to either be a BIG MEMORABLE BANG....or spent in hiding as if it didn't happen. That's how scared I am!!! The worst part is, my 30th birthday fall's on the worst day....MONDAY!! So if it's not going to be a memorable day, I don't want to remember it at all. Anyway, that is why I went shopping at 3:30am (without sleep) on "Black Friday" to go ALL OUT and get my honey an awesome 50" plasma HDTV!! As you may have read below, I got home close to 7am before John got up to go to work, and hid the TV in the garage. Long story short, by Saturday he saw it, LOVED it and didn't want to see it go!! He didn't care that it was early & so we set it up that night and watched "Lord of the Rings". Happy 30th Birthday Honey Bunny, I love you!!

Black Friday!

2008-11-29T09:59:00.015-07:00

I've only done "Black Friday" a few times. The first time I did it was about 6 years ago and some lady tried to steal my cart at Kmart over some bed-in-a-bag. The 2nd time I did it was about 4 years ago when my older sister, Leigh & I waited in line at Circuit City for several hours. We took turns waiting in the heated car for the store to open at 5am. Since then I have not gone shopping on "Black Friday" unless it was later on in the day after I slept. But this year, there were some crazy deals going on, so I snuck out of the house while John was asleep, went to the Sandy Wal-Mart at about 3:30am (without sleep) and found massive amounts of people and couldn't even get to the item I wanted. I had to take John's truck because he was parked behind me & I didn't have time to switch. I texted my sister Gia, she called and said there were hardly anyone at the Springville Wal-Mart that she, her husband Tim, my other sister Re', her husband Buzz, and my mom Pam had been since 1am. She said she would hold the item I wanted since it was the same item her & her husband Tim wanted. I got in the truck & cruised to Springville. She texted me about half way there and said it was starting to get busy. A few minutes later she texted that it was starting to get crazy & to hurry. I prayed for no cops & stepped on the gas. I got there at about 4: 35am and they unleashed the pallets at precisely 5am. We already had a strong grip on the Samsung 50" Plasma HDTV's that we wanted. Re' was at the sheet sets, Buzz was at the DVD's and our mom was at the luggage & towels. The second they said go we pulled them off the pallets. Gia & Tim were pulling the TV off the top of the one I had a hold on, so I had to duck and hold while they pulled it off over me while I held onto the TV I wanted and pulled it off as soon as I was clear. Luckily it went by so fast and they held their TV high enough it only brushed my hair and didn't fall onto my head. We met Re' & mom at the checkout and waited. I finally got home close to 7am, just before John got up to go to work. I backed his truck up to mine, slid the TV onto the bed of my truck, closed the garage and went to bed for 3 1/2 hours before waking up to go to the movie "Twilight" with my mom. We were supposed to go to my step-dad's for Thanksgiving Pie that evening but I fell asleep at about 4:00pm, woke up briefly to barely eat and passed out for the rest of the night. But it was worth it for the deal I got on John's 30th birthday present :)!!!

Tim, me & Gia waiting for the 5am go ahead to pull our TV's off the pallets!

Tim & Gia with their TVFoolishness & Mayhem at 5amRe' & Hurley waiting in line to make our purchases!

Hurley slept through the whole thing :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2008-11-27T23:28:00.004-07:00

As it is with every family holiday, its a little chaotic because I have 3 families + John's. And because my family has grown so much, my dad's side of the family has been doing a Thanksgiving Breakfast for the past few years. So we started our eating frenzy of a day by going to my dad's house at 8:30am for a yummy breakfast of sausage biscuits & gravy and breakfast burritos. Afterwards we visited while looking through the ads and mapping out our Black Friday. We then went to my mama's house and I set the tables and helped my mama finish making our Thanksgiving Lunch. She & my sister Leigh had drove to Arizona the week before to pickup my Grandma Dorothy, my Uncle Curtis & my cousin Josh's daughter and brought them to Utah for Thanksgiving. So we had 14 of us for lunch, and we were only missing one of my brothers & his family of 6. We had a good time eating Turkey, potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffed mushrooms, deviled eggs, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, rolls & of course watching football. We then went home for a few hours to let the boys out before heading to John's parents for Thanksgiving Dinner. We're lucky enough to have his whole family together, including his grandma & grandpa, a grand total of 7....at 1 table :) Actually I should say I'M lucky that John has a great, wonderful and SMALL family. I love them all and they've been so loving & accepting of me and I couldn't ask for a better family...nor do I think I could handle someone that had a big family like mine. After dinner John's dad put on one of his notorious slide show performances. I got to see a cute picture of John when he was little dressed up as "Big Bird" for Halloween :) His mom promise to get me prints :) Tomorrow we'll be going to my step-dad's for pie :) Happy Thanksgiving to all, I hope everyone had a wonderful day and rememered everything that they are thankful for.

The man of the house, my oldest brother Shane, cutting the Turkey

Table #1 - the adult's

Table #2 - the kids

Craft Night

2008-11-21T22:04:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night Desiree' had a "craft" night at her clubhouse where anyone could make anything that they wanted. She brought all of her stampin' up & scrapbook stuff. Our mom, Pam, and myself brought all of our stamps as well for anyone to use. Mom bought Pizza & Hot Wings for dinner, and Re' & I brought snacks to share. We had a lot of fun making cards, tags and whatever else we wanted. I made Turkey cards for Thanksgiving and made a lot of the Snowman cards that I wanted to give to people at work for Christmas. Thanks Re' for a night of fun :)

Grandpa holding Hurley

Scrapbookin' stuff

NKOTB - A childhood dream come true

2008-11-20T22:33:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I got to go back in time and live a childhood dream. 17 years ago (wow I'm old) I had a dream to see my favorite band, 'New Kids on The Block', in concert. I had begged my mom to let me go to their concert as so many of my friends were going. I was devastated that I couldn't go & thought it was the end of the world, and then a few laters they broke up. Now, 15 years later....they're back!! I can still remember listening, singing & dancing to their tapes, watching my VHS music video dreaming that my favorite band member Jonathan Knight was my boyfriend. Me & my sisters were all about New Kids and had T-shirts, posters, trading cards, dolls, etc. So when we heard they were coming to SLC, we were not going to miss our chance to finally see NKOTB in concert! I didn't care who made fun of me or how old they are, I was not missing my 2nd chance! The timing couldn't be better as my sister Desiree (Re's) birthday was coming up, so me & my sister Gia thought the best birthday present EVER would be to take Re' to the concert!! So we talked to our family and we all pitched in to get her ticket :)

Gia & I had bought the tickets in advance (floor seats row 30) & decided to keep it a secret from Re'. FINALLY, the day arrived and with the help from Re's husband, we surprised her at her doorstep, had her listen to "Happy Birthday" by NKOTB, and gave her the ticket! She was so excited and could not believe we were actually going to be seeing NKOTB live! We then went to my house to get ready, 80's style :)

We got to the concert and of course we each spent outrageous dollars $$$ on NKOTB memorabilia. We each bought Tour T-shirts (which we wore throughout the concert) keychains, and "Property of" T-Shirts & Buttons of our favorite guy. Re' also got a onesie for baby Hurley :) The whole concert we screamed our hearts out until we had no voice left. Half way thru the concert they put a spotlot on a spot 3 rows behind us and it turned out to be a rotating mini-stage with a piano & the NKOTB!! We FREAKED out and could not believe our eyes that they were INCHES FROM OF US!! Everyone around us went ballistic and we about fell off our chair (literally) as we each made some sort of contact with our favorite guy!! I kept screaming "I LOVE YOU JONATHAN"!! He actually blinked AND waved at me :) Donnie winked at Gia, posed for her camera and she had to grab onto me to keep from falling of her chair & passing out :) There was a girl behind me that also grabbed onto me to keep from falling. Re' was screaming after Danny saying how HOT he was. If it weren't for some girls in front of us, we would've touched all of the guys!!

We had the time of our lives at this concert and we still get excited when we talk about it. They sang a ton of their old songs which was AWESOME and brought back so many memories. It was a childhood dream come true for all of us. We felt like kids again, and we had SO much fun hanging out together. It was GOOD TIMES!! Re' said it was the "best birthday present EVER"! I only wish that Loni was with me because she is a HUGE part of my NKOTB memory as we both loved (or obsessed) over Jonathan ;)

After the concert we each called our hubbies and told them that we "fell in love in love with another man" :) LOL.

TAHNA + JONATHAN KNIGHT (I guess I was always destined to be with a Jon...I mean John :)

RE' + DANNY WOOD (Took us awhile but the minute she saw him she remembered who her guy was :)

GIA + DONNIE WAHLBURG (Even at age 5 she had good taste in men :)

I wish I would've snuck my camera in because 90% of the pics that Gia took were of her favorite guy, Donnie!! I think Donnie is hot & all, but I had to keep yelling at her to remind her to take a picture of Jonathan & Danny. The pictures of Jon & Danny in the slideshow are seriously the only ones we have. The rest are Donnie!! LMAO! Not that I blame her because if I had my camera, they would all be of Jonathan :)

Gingerbread House Festival

2008-11-19T22:05:00.001-07:00

After I took John to the airport, I went to Thanksgiving Point to help my mom & volunteer at the annual "Gingerbread House Festival". I also got to hang out with my nephew, Parker, who had so much fun watching the train, talking with the "conductor" who was a nice old man that talked to Parker about 'Thomas the train'. He also loved "The Muppets" puppet show. He kept calling them silly puppets:) There were some AMAZING gingerbread houses that sold for thousands of dollars and all the proceeds went to the Boy Scouts of America and Learning For Life program. There were also a lot of activites for the kids, entertainment, and my favorite...Tai Pan who setup a mini store :) It was a lot of fun.

Parker LOVES trains

The Muppet Show

"Under the Sea" - I think it won 2nd placeBack side of "Under the Sea"I think this house won 1st placeParker's cookie that he madeMy favorite - "Great Wonders of the World"

John's first airplane ride

2008-11-19T21:25:00.007-07:00

Last Saturday, John got on his very first airplane and flew to Jacksonville, Florida. He has NEVER been on a plane before and I always thought & hoped that I would take him on his first flying experience. However, his work beat me to it and he left for 5 days to train some people in their Jacksonville office on a new business database program that he has developed. He was quite nervous about the whole thing, especially since at the last minute he found out he was going by himself. I went inside to show him how to check-in and said goodbye at the security gate. He had a great experience on his way to Jacksonville, but it was the opposite experience on his way home. To make a long story short, there were problem after problem and when the boys & I went to pick him up from the airport today, he had no bag :( Lucky for us, the airline delivered his luggage to our house....at 2:00 AM!!!! Hopefully this experience hasn't ruined traveling for John because I LOVE to fly & travel and I want to be able to do it with him. Sorry honey but I'm glad you survived :)

Snow Day

2008-11-07T21:44:00.008-07:00

The other morning I woke up to a winter wonderland in my backyard. There were several inches of snow and it continued to snow all day and my boys LOVED it! I wasn't feeling very well but I couldn't help but go outside and watch them play. They ran all over the yard jumping in the snow and chasing each other. I guess this is the end of Fall :( I'm not quite ready for winter yet but I'm glad they had fun in the snow.

Hurley's Baby Blessing

2008-11-05T21:28:00.006-07:00

Sunday we went to my new nephew, Hurley's baby blessing. It was a special day as Desiree' & Ryan (a.k.a. Buzz) waited so long for their "little man". It was wonderful to see Buzz bless Hurley. After the blessing we celebrated with yummy Navajo Tacos with family and friends. Hurley looked SO cute and handsome in his traditional Navajo outfit. I'm so happy that John & I were able to be a part of Hurley's special day. This is the first nephew that John was able to be a part of from the beginning. He doesn't have any neices or nephews on his side yet. Hurley was also the very first baby that John has EVER held. Congratulations to Re' & Buzz!! We love you guys and we love you Hurley :)

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T23:28:00.010-06:00

This year on Halloween, I had a doctor's appt :( However, since it was in Utah County, I was able to take some extra time to go see my dad and to also see my little nephew, Hurley in his costume. He was a fish and looked SO cute!!
For Halloween night we had planned on staying home, watch a scary movie & hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters. But we ended up going to John's parents for dinner and when we got home, there were no trick-or-treaters :( Although we must've missed a few because when we got home, the "lid" of my pumpkin was missing! Not the whole pumpkin, just the "lid" was gone. So we played with the boys outside for a bit and just relaxed the rest of the evening.
Desiree & Hurley.
Where's Waldo??....I mean Homer J ;)

Amos waiting for me to throw his ball.

Trunk-or-Treat

2008-10-30T22:33:00.007-06:00

Today we had our annual Chili luncheon and costume party at work. Almost everyone participated and got dressed up. We decided to do it today instead of tomorrow since we're doing a Trunk-or-Treat for the kids at 'The Christmas Box House' after work and we don't really want to get dressed up today and tomorrow. This year me, Courtney & Destini decided to make tutu's and be witches. Destini made one for her little girl so we thought it would be fun to do the same. I mean, when else could 3 grown girls get away with wearing tutu's? LOL. We won the "Best Overall" costume and got a giftcard to the Megaplex Theatres. Thanks to all who voted for us! Amber (the receptionist) won "Most Creative", she was a bag of jelly belly's. Mike won "Scariest", he was a proctologist...enough said.

After work we all went to The Christmas Box to do a trunk-or-treat for the kids. Due to privacy issues, we were not allowed to take pictures while the kids were out, but before they came out I took some pictures of the "trunks". Some of the guys from work really got into it and went all out. We all had a good time and it was a lot of fun to see the kids and see how excited they were. Some of these kids have never been Trick-or-Treating so it was so great that we could do this for them. Congratulations to "The Wheat's" who took 1st place and "The Shemwell's" who took 2nd in the "Best Trunk" contest voted by The Christmas Box House kids themselves.

Pumpkin Carving

2008-10-28T21:45:00.004-06:00

Sunday, right after getting home from my St. George trip, we went to my mom's house for our annual pumpkin carving! After we carved the pumpkins we BBQ'd some steaks and had dinner. This is one of my favorite traditions and we had so much fun.

St George & Thriller

2008-10-27T14:51:00.010-06:00

This past weekend I went to St. George with The Rasmussen's to see "Thriller" at the Tuacahn Theatre. I rode down with Lynzie & Marq on Friday after work and we stayed at Marq's parents St George house. Saturday after breakfast, all the girls went shopping for the afternoon and then we went to hang out at the pool. The weather was absolutely perfect and it felt so nice to sit by the pool, read, listen to my ipod, hang out and get some sun before winter. When we got back to the house, Lynzie and I helped make the stew for dinner. We then got ready for the play and the girls got all dressed up. Lynzie & I were devils :) The play was a little different than the one we've seen at the "U" in previous years but was a lot of fun. Thanks to Marq's mom (Kae) for the invite and letting me stay at their beautiful house....and thanks to Lynzie for being the bestest friend ever. I had tons of fun!!

InfiniTeam girls weekend

2008-10-05T11:58:00.004-06:00

This year, the girls from work and I got to spend TWO nights in Park City instead of one. We stayed at the amazing Silver Baron Lodge in Deer Valley. Our condo was beautiful and we had our own private hot tub! We spent the weekend hanging out in our jammies, eating too many treats, playing dominos, talking, shopping and lazing around. It felt so good to just relax. We also each got $100 and we had so much fun spending it :) Saturday night we all went to a play at the Egyptian Theatre on Main Street called "Pageant". It's about men pretending to be women competing in a Miss Glamouresse pageant. I was laughing so hard I cried! Sunday before heading home, Destini, Courtney & I stopped at the Park City Sillyfest on Main Street and then the outlets to do a little more shopping. So minus the major drama of checking in, we all had a great time and a lot of laughs! Thank you Steve & Terri for a wonderful weekend!! (Go InfiniTeam! LOL)

Remembering Kira Bagira Halona

2008-09-29T23:41:00.003-06:00

In loving memory of my baby girl, Kira "Bagira". I cannot believe it has been two years. I still miss her SO very much and I know I always will. The emptiness of her being gone will never fade. I am so incredibly grateful that I had her for 10 amazing years. Kira was so smart, always made me laugh, gave me comfort when I was sick or sad, and stuck with me for some of the most difficult and confusing times of my life. She left me only when she knew that John would take it from where she left off. Kira will forever hold a special place in my heart that no one or no thing could ever replace. I love you Kira!

Day 3 of my weekend alone - Hiking

2008-09-25T22:47:00.000-06:00

Sunday was my last day alone. I slept in, and then laid in bed watching HGTV & Style with my coffee. Around 11:30, Homer J & I went for a hike with Lynzie, Chevy, and Polly (Grandma Rasmussen's dog) up Millcreek Canyon for some much needed exercise & fresh air. It turned out to be a pretty warm day and we laughed as Homer J laid down, superman style, in the water to cool off. All the fall colors were out and it was a fun hike and the kids were pretty good....except miss Chevy Lyn always wanted to be in front of the pack, LOL. Silly Chev :)

After the hike, I went home long enough to change and then headed down to my step-dad, Kent's in Santaquin to celebrate my step-mom, Suzanne's birthday. I kind of wanted to stay home and get things done around the house that I neglected to do during the weekend, but I also really wanted to see my family that I don't get to see very often. I had alot of fun and I'm glad I went. By the time I got home, John was back and we had a quiet evening watching tv before he passed out at 8pm. Poor thing was worn out. I enjoyed my weekend, even though I didn't get to do a lot of things I wanted to around the house. However, I got to watch a ton of chick flicks and spent time hanging out with my different family members & Lynzie. But I'm glad John & Amos are back! My bed was pretty empty & lonely without them :)

Day 2 of my weekend alone - Who wants Pie!

2008-09-25T21:57:00.000-06:00

Saturday morning, Homer & I went to Lynzie's house to make Peach Pies!! She has a few peach trees so we decided to make use of them and bake some pies while Homer & Chevy played around. Lynzie also happened to be dog-sitting Grandma Rasmussen's little dog, Pollyanna, and Marq's parents dog, Ricky, so we had a houseful of dogs.
The pie recipe we used was her grandma's. I have never made a pie before so I was a little nervous about screwing it up. Especially since I've heard pies are kind of hard to make. They took longer to make than I expected, but boy were they worth it! They turned out SO good and we were very proud of ourselves! Better than Marie Calendars ;) Next pie project....Apple!

After pie making, I spent the rest of the afternoon shopping! I went to Tai Pan, Barnes & Noble, Petsmart, & Wal-Mart. When I got home I made dinner and watched more chick flicks..."Made of Honor"; "50 First Dates"; "Steel Magnolias"; and "The Little Mermaid".

Day 1 of my weekend alone - Stampin Up!

2008-09-25T19:11:00.003-06:00

Last Friday morning John took Amos to go Grouse hunting with his dad for the weekend. So for 3 days it was just me & my Homer J :) I wanted to get some things done around the house and also enjoy some time alone while I had it by watching as many chick flicks as possible! So that night, I went to my "Stampin Up" club at Desiree's house. I had SO much fun making projects and hanging out with 3 of my little sister's (Re', Gia & Melody) my dad, my step-mom Pam, and some other girls. And of course I got to hold my new little nephew, Hurley :) He's already starting to get bigger and filling out like a cabbage patch ;) Such a cutie!! When I got home, I made some popcorn and watched "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" & "The Wedding Planner" in bed :) John hates it when I eat anything in bed and is not very fond of chick flicks, so I thoroughly enjoyed myself! I didn't get to sleep until about 1:30am. Mostly because Homer J had a hard time going to sleep, he kept wanting to go outside. I think he was looking for his brother Amos :(

CATS

2008-09-20T15:25:00.003-06:00

Thursday night I went to see the play "CATS" at the Capitol Theatre with my mom, my sister Leigh and my brother Mike. It was part of my mom's birthday present. First we went to Benihana's for dinner and then we went to the play. I was so excited....until I sat down in my seat. The woman sitting in front of me had the most GINORMOUS hairdo I've ever seen. It was like Priscilla Presley was sitting in front of me with her beehive! I couldn't see a thing and I had to keep leaning & tilting my head to see at least a portion of the stage. I finally was able to find a position so that I could see. Half way through the play it was intermission, and when Act II started, the woman with the big football helmet of hair, switched seats with her husband and she was now in front of my sister...LOL! Luckily my sister had an aisle seat and could lean way over to see the stage. We found ourselves randomly laughing about her hair throughout the rest of the play, LOL. Besides that one obstacle, it was a great play and we all had a good time.