The Halloween Party

For Halloween weekend, Scott and I actually went to a party. Without Landon. This sort of thing happens once in a blue moon. It. Was. Awesome. The party was at the Ken's house. (The investor for Dr. Fubalous.) His home is AMAZING. Then factor in all the decorations, and you feel like you are in a little corner of Disneyland. You can see a little of the place from the picts, but they in no way do it justice. We had a blast eating food, dancing, and hanging out with friends. And before we left, we headed across the street to check out Ken's private park. There we found an uber nice fire pit stocked with marshmallows and roasting sticks. What a perfect end to the night!

Random side note: Flavor Flav is the one with the mask, in the picture on the bottom left.

Landon's First Birthday

The Birthday Boy: He's one?! Oh my heavens. We went to WA and celebrated the big event while there. (We also did a bunch of other things, but this post alone has taken 2 hours, so the rest of the trip will have to wait.) Here comes picture overload...

The Circus Theme: I've never put together a cutsie party like this, but so glad I did! Tons of fun! Loved crafting all the little tags and banner. Got a lot of inspiration online. I love Hostess with the Mostess!

The Guests: The party was held in Spokane at the in-law's house. My fam came out from Olympia to join in the fun. Scott's grandmother was visiting because there was a graduating senior in the family so she got to be there too. And as a random side note, it was actually her birthday that day! In the first picture below, those are three of Scott's sisters on the left, and my younger brother and sister on the right.

The Game: I found this cute game idea online. I think it's actually a Koren tradition for first birthdays. Anyway, everyone cast their vote on what they thought Landon would be when he grows up: pilot, scholar, musician, filmmaker, or athlete. Each profession had a toy representing it that was put outside. (He had never seen these toys before.) Then we let Landon loose, and guess what he chose? Filmmaker! Only Scott, me, and Jen (Scott's oldest sis) picked this job. Atta boy!

The Cake: Scott's mom had a friend make this amazing cake. It turned out just perfect and the top was even dairy-free, chocolate-cherry for Landon. At first Landon was very disgusted by it but once he got a good bite he seemed to enjoy it... for a couple minutes at least.

Lollipop, Lollipop: What's a circus themed party without a giant swirly pop?! Although, Landon was more interested in chewing on the stick than licking the sugary treat.

The Gifts: Landon is getting better and better at opening gifts. And by this I mean, he started holding up each item for everyone to see. How thoughtful.

Happy birthday little man! We love you to pieces!

The Life of the Party

A few weeks ago we all went to a friend's reception that Scott was photographing. I enjoyed some delish food while Landon had a ball exploring the area and walking up to different groups of people. The only problem was, when anyone tried to talk to him he'd stop dead in his tracks and slowly start to lose it. Silly boy.

Spoiled Indeed

On my 24th birthday...

Landon let me sleep in till 6:45.

I woke up to colored post-it notes all over the house with silly and random expressions of love.

Scott cooked me a big ol breakfast with thick slices of french toast on actual french bread.

Landon surprised me with a new diaper bag. It is THE BEST diaper bag! All you mamas out there looking for the perfect one - this is it. Mine is the Emma (large size) and you can visit the Etsy seller's site here to check them out. Could double as a baby carrier?

Landon and I stuck our tongues out at each other for some giggles.

We headed north for a surprise visit to.... the ZOO! I had been wanting to go to Hogle Zoo FOREVER and thankfully it was a perfect day for it. Scott knows just how to make my day. :)

Landon loved looking at the animals (but mostly the other children).

This guy was HUGE.

We went to Red Robin for lunch and got my free Bonsai Burger and Mile High Mud Pie. YUM.

We also went across the street to the "This is the Place" Monument (since it happened to be right there.)

We got a free car wash and vacuum ($10 value!) and free cookie dough from Papa Murphys because it was my birthday.

We settled down at home (after an eventful and fun afternoon) for the unwrapping of gifts. Landon occupied himself at the AC vent. He kept running his hand up and down it and laughing at himself. As you can see, one of his newest things is pointing at everything.

AAAAANNNNNNNNND, Scott surprised me with this........

OH MY OMG. Don't worry, I'll post picts of my 6 year old tank of a laptop that is way past it's retirement. Landon, this is NOT YOUR TOY.

We ate some cake and my fav coconut hazelnut ice cream before bed.

Best. Birthday. Ever.

Family Visit, Birthday Boy, and the Babe

This past week my fam came out to visit. It was so nice to have them here! Grandma sure enjoyed holding her little grandson! We mostly stayed at home, taking care of the babe, but we did get out to see Scott in action on his film set, and eat at the Mayan.
Yesterday was Scott's birthday. (Yay! I loooooove birthdays!) He wasn't excited about it at all though. The reason being, he is currently working on the set of a feature film and consequently, works 14 hour days. Sooooooo, it didn't seem like much of a birthday, having to wake up at 5:30 and not return home until 8. However, when he got home, he was greeted with decorations, a fabulous cake (minus candles - totally spaced those), and some presents.

The cake was AMAZING. You have to try this recipe (and the frosting that goes with it). So easy! Found it online and will definitely use it again. (And I'm usually not a cake person.) The only change I made, was I used 1 cup chocolate chips, and 1 cup cut up Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. It's so rich and moist... I hope there's still some left for Scott when he gets home. :) Go check out the recipe here: Best Chocolate Cake Recipe

For one of Scott's gifts, I got in touch with my crafty side. I made Scott a picture frame with Landon in it for him to have on his desk at work. Bought the frame base, poem, ribbon, and sticker letters for less than $4.00 at the local scrapbook store. Used paper I had at home. Took a picture of Landon, edited it, and printed it at Walmart instantly for $0.28. Turned out pretty cute, if I don't say so myself. Then, for a big shocker, I got Scott the Cannon 5D Mark II camera he has been wanting. I knew he would never actually buy it for himself, so I did. :) Watching him flip out was priceless.
Landon is almost three weeks old. Crazy how the time flies. He is just such a stud! Look at this little guy model for the camera!Thoughts on mommyhood?

1) The difficulty of it all. Definitely much harder than I ever imagined. EVER. Like, I'm not sure words can even do it justice.

2) The patience required. My goodness, I thought I had adequately developed the skill of patience. Oh geez, even 26 third graders cannot prepare you for the patience needed at 3 in the morning, trying to feed a crying baby that hasn't slept at all, (thus you haven't slept) and after being fed, burped, changed, and held - still cries and doesn't want to go to sleep. And knowing it will be like this the rest of the night, and tomorrow, and the next day...

3) The miracle of it all. We created this little human?! Seriously? Creation is truly the most remarkable thing.

He is just so precious and as hard as it all is, it's definitely worth it. Here are some of the things I love about Landon: (In no particular order)

1) The way he hits himself in the face with both fists every time he sneezes. And when a sneeze doesn't end up coming out, the way he lets out a big sigh.

2) How he suspends his legs in the air when he drinks from a bottle.

3) How he screams bloody murder when I change his wet diapers, but sits there as calm as can be when I change the messy ones.

4) When he sits in my lap and just stares into my eyes.

5) When he grabs my finger and holds onto it for dear life.

6) How he instantly quits crying when I play him his lullaby mix made up of Death Cab for Cutie songs.

7) When he smiles and giggles while sleeping. And all the other funny faces he makes while sleeping. Sleeping in general. Just too darn cute.

The 5,972 Things We've Been Doing...

Seriously, I'm not kidding. March madness in our neck of the woods. Here's an update into our latest happenings:

Dr. Fubalous

Scott is shooting this hilarious web series about a doctor/rapper. We'll let you know when it is finished and online. When he was shooting this music video portion this homeless guy came by and stopped to watch. Then he started dancing, so one of guys working on the project told him to go dance with the dancers. He actually did. Soooo random.

EMERGENCY!
Scott went to the ER three times in seven days. The first two visits- he couldn't breathe because of pain in his chest and abdomen. (I thought breathing was important so we finally decided to go after dealing with it for hours.) Third visit - has a vein explode while getting pumped full of contrast solution during a CT scan. At the elbow, his arm swelled to the size of a large grapefruit in a matter of seconds. Apparently this is something that obviously doesn't usually happen, but if it does, is only seen in people over 70. He is doing much better now.

Happy Birthday to Me!

On March 31 I turned 23! Scott decorated the house and got up early to fix me french toast with strawberries and whipped cream. At school, my kids called me into their music room during their music time. They were all sitting in a circle singing an African song and had a chair set up for me at the end of the circle. Each one took turns coming up to me, whispered a complement in my ear and dropped a nerd candy in a goblet that was set in front of the chair. It was sooooo CUTE! My two favs were 1) "You're the best teacher ever and when I grow up I want to be a teacher just like you." and 2) "You're beautiful." (From one of the boys in my class.) Their music teacher explained that this is an African birthday tradition. Very neat!! After school Scott and I went ate at Outback Steakhouse (Mmmmmm!) and came home to open presents and eat ice cream cupcakes from Coldstone. I love birthdays!

And Getting Bigger...

Here's the photo from 29 weeks. I feel great, besides a little tiredness and being uncomfortably large. Last week I had the gestational diabetes test and rhogam shot done. I thought half the world was negative and half was positive when it comes to blood type. Apparently being negative is not that common. It's only like 17% of people, or something like that. Lucky me.

Catapults!

I've been teaching about forces and motion/simple machines in science this month. As a culminating project, my students made catapults at home and on a sunny Friday we tested them out with marshmallows. I even let them shoot at me, which they were very excited about.

Conference and Easter

Scott's sisters came down from Rexburg over conference weekend so we had tons of fun handing out with them. We all had tickets to the Sunday afternoon session so that was very neat to go to. It will probably be the last time Scott and I actually go to the conference center for a very long time, since kids under 8 aren't permitted. We really enjoyed all the talks, especially the many on teaching children in the home.

Lost and Found!

In November I lost Scott's car keys. I literally searched EVERYWHERE over and over again. I assumed I had thrown them away by accident. I finally replaced them in January. I thought it might be like 10 - 20 bucks to replace. Oh no. $150. Yikes. Those are some high-tech car keys. Sheesh. Well, the other day I was cleaning up our porch and to my utter surprise found the keys laying on one of thees benches out there. I couldn't help but laugh. They're super rusty and gross looking, but I'm very curious to see if they still work...

Moving

We just found out yesterday that we have to move in the next month. We knew when we moved here that the family upstairs were trying to sell their house. They actually took it off the market when we moved in, and had been trying to sell it for a few years now. Well, a friend of a friend was interested, came by, made a great offer, and don't want basement renters. :( Sooooooo here goes the house search again. The fam is so nice, they feel so bad and are trying to help us find a place, while also finding a place for themselves. This has by far been our fav apartment so we are sad sad sad to leave. I laughed when Scott told me. It's funny how these things always seem to happen at the most inopportune times. Oh well. That's life.

Scott's Second Trip to LA

On Sunday Scott leaves for LA for the next three weeks. He will be working on the set of ABC's Brothers and Sisters. They will be filming the season finale.

Goodness. If you made it through that, congratulations.

Go Where You've Never Been

Oh jeez. As usual, so much to talk about and so little time. Hey! I just realized this post will be exciting - It's all about new places we've gone to. Awesome. Get comfy and enjoy the tour...

All in a Day's Work (Scott's writing this part; YAY)
Ohhhhh snap my peeps, I've never done this before and I'm a little nervous. Anywayz, I spent two weeks of June in San Fran n' LA for a documentary I am working on for BYU-TV. It is a phenomenal story about Pete Grimm and Maxine Tate who's unique lives intersected in the Philippines during WWII. The two of them were responsible for many things including the liberation of the Santo Tomas prison camp, the LDS church being brought into the country, the building of the first churches and temples, and much more. Here are a few snapshots of the many beautiful places we visited while in Cali. (Scott also got to stop in LA and visit with his grandpa.)
Da Birthday Boy
Scott's birthday was on June 30. I decorated out to wazoo. (Very proud of myself.) I surprised him with a jaunt to Boondocks Fun Center in Draper. Being a Tuesday, we got unlimited mini golf, bumper boats, go carts, and laser tag. Sweet. Of course we also had to hit up Red Robin for dinner for a free birthday burger and mud pie slice. Yum. Ended the night with the usual presents, cake, ice cream, and a very off-key rendition of the Happy Birthday song.
A Happy Reunion
Saturday morn Scott and I headed up to SLC to meet my college roomie, Carolyn. We only got to be roommates for one semester and it was all the way back in 2006 but she was the best! Soooo good to see her and finally meet her hubby! We got breakfast, walked around the farmers market, reminisced and played catch up on each others lives. (The contraption pictured below was on display at the market. Tinkerbell's summer house or something.)
Stadium of FIRE
Although we tried desperately to sell our Stadium of Fire tickets, we did not succeed, and thank goodness! It was way worth it. First off, the show was broadcast to army bases all over the world. Tons of dancing with fire, flags, and flips. Glenn Beck was awesome as the MC. There was an amazing choir and marching band. Jet planes and army helicopters flew over the stadium. Shedaisy was pretty good; if you're into that kind of thing. Everyone showed their patriotism by singing the National Anthem together for the troops. That was enough to make me teary-eyed. Then the good ol' Jonas Brothers had all the 11 year old girls screaming their heads off. But, in all honestly, they actually weren't half bad! And the Fireworks!! UNBELIEVABLE. There was like three separate pyro displays all lit from within the stadium. So cool. The raining firework debris was a nice touch too. Only downside was it took us two hours to get home. Yikes.
Finding the Perfect One
We are well on our way to finding our next car. You'd think this would be a fun thing to do. HA. However, after test driving tons of different models we have finally narrowed it down: Honda Accord. Now we just need to find the one for us...
After thought: If you haven't yet, check out our music player. I'm so excited about this and I just added a few more stellar songs.

"If music be the food of love, play on." ~Shakespeare