"SURPRISE!"

Yesterday was my 26th birthday. My family REALLY pulled it off this year & threw me an AWESOME surprise party!! I, honestly, had ZERO clue what was going on... We were in Show Low for Shauna's wedding & drove down yesterday afternoon. Once we got home, I rushed into the house (thinking I only had 15 minutes to get ready for our dinner reservation) & was greated by a screaming mob of 23+ of my favorite people!! Oh, & an added bonus, my sister that's living in TX, Gwen, & her family were in the crowd (HOW did they keep that secret from me???). The women in my family came over, cleaned my house (Sorry again Michele, but THANK YOU!), decorated, made the best tasting burrito's, & totally pulled off the FUNNEST party- I was completely surprised & felt SO special! So, how could an already awesome party get any better?? By me opeing up my very own, shiney & new, Canon Rebel xSi digital camera (with all the accessories & 2 extra lenses)!! I almost peed my pants & did cry a little! After I opened it, I couldn't put it down- I LOVE THIS CAMERA!!Here are some snap shots I took of some of the craziness known as my party:I really had the BEST birthday ever- so many surprises & people I love! My mother told me earlier in the day to look for a present from my Heavenly Father- my family is it! Thank you all for making me feel so important & special! I love you all VERY much!!

Random Snapshots that I Love

I love watching him explore his world...
& I love watching him sleep!
I love his grin,
His full lips, & big blue eyes!!
I just love HIM!

PS- And, I'd LOVE a new camera that could actually take GOOD pictures... sorry they're so pixilated- if that's a word :)

White Trash picture of the week

After I was finished getting ready this morning, I came into the kitchen to find this...You may be asking yourself, "But where did he get an already open, 1/2 empty can of cherry pie filling?" Where else, but the disturbed garbage can you see in the background... gross! I have no idea where or how he got the spoon... (& don't you just love the snot nose... adds to the white trashiness). I clean the little stinker up & not even 5 minutes later, I hear him making this mess... ahhh, you gotta love little boys!
PS- Is it totally wrong that instead of cleaning him & the mess up immediately upon discovering it, I search the house for my camera so I can capture his mischievousness??

I miss you

Dear Rus,

It's been 5 years... I miss you. I miss your smile. I miss listening to you playing your guitar & singing. I miss your Ozzy impersonations. I miss calling you "Brian" just to get a rise out of you. I miss your laugh! I wish I could've gone to one of your shows. I wish Roman knew you. I wish you were still here. I wish I could hug you right now... but I can't. I know I'll be able to some day, though :) I miss you & I love you!

Love,

Little Sis

The Sewing Bug Bit Me

I spent most of today sewing... & I LOVED it! I started by making some onesie's for my sister's baby boy who's due at the end of April- well, not MAKING onesies, but making them cuter (I'm not gonna post pictures of them cause I want them to be a surprise... she knows I made them, but not what they look like). Then, I decided to try & make some girl clothes 'cause let's be honest, girls are more fun to dress than boys (to me at least) :). Here are some of my favorites:

I didn't have enough fabric to make pants to match this one, but I LOVE these colors!

What do ya think?? They're not perfect (far from it, I'm sure) but I'm happy with them... especially since I had NO patterns to go off of, just my imagination & creative juices :)

PS- I've had that doll since I was probably 8 years old- loved her then & love her now! She's "newborn sized" so she comes in handy for my baby crafts. I hot glue all the headbands I make on her head- That's why they're all on the right side, to cover the "burn" marks :)

My Darling Roman Boy...

This Baby of mine has been SUPER fun lately!! His personality has been oozing out & he's discovering new things daily. He's started to walk a little on his own, but is still VERY apprehensive about it. He LOVES to feed himself & is quite the little eater too. He's VERY independent & is not shy about letting you know if he either A) needs help with something (points at EVERYTHING he wants) or B) Does NOT want your help with what he's doing (like eating). He jabbers non-stop (still has that raspy voice he's had since birth), gives kisses & hugs constantly, & has started to spit like his daddy- my personal favorite... NOT (Boys will be boys, I guess)! Here's a little video of Romey in action :)

AWESOME giveaway!!

Remember the awesome photographer that took our family photos for our Christmas card (the photo on our header, too)?? Well, she's giving away a free photo session!!! Check out her blog for the details http://lialensphotography.blogspot.com/2010/02/giveaway-free-photo-session.html
check out her work on the blog & enter if you want to win... but really, don't enter 'cause I want to win ;)!!

1 Year / Valentine photos

I took Roman to get his 1 year pictures taken last week & decided to kill 2 birds with one stone & use the pictures for his valentines (hence, my color choices for his outfit). I'm really happy with how they turned out! He was such a beast all morning that I just KNEW he was going to be uncooperative when it came time to get his picture taken, but he proved me wrong & did great- smiled & flirted with the photographer like a champ!! The ones with the red backround look better in black & white/ sepia, but I haven't edited them on our computer yet, so... ENJOY anyway :)

I, also, wanted to thank you all for your thoughts & prayers on behalf of this little man- I KNOW they helped!!! (If you weren't aware, we spent Thursday night at the hospital because they thought he had menigitis due to a rash he got suddenly, fever, & cough. Thankfully, after they ran all kinds of tests, they decided it wasn't menigitis, so we got to take him home & he's deffinately on the mend now). I don't know what we'd do without prayer & faith... it's the only thing that got me throught this experience & I'm so thankful for all of yours!!

Submission Wrestling Studs!

Anthon & 2 of his brother's, Jason & Gerald, did a wrestling submission tournament this weekend. It was a lot of fun to watch them all wrestle again!! Here are some shots of the studs in action:

I was recording Anthon's so I asked one of his friends to take pictures... This is all I got :(. I'll have to make stills from the video!

Jason, right before the guy tapped!

I got 2 really good shots of Gerald's submissions, so I'll post them both. Here's the arm bar

& rear naked choke
It was super HOT & sweaty in the gym where thy did it, but I still had a good time! Poor Roman was just DYING to crawl around on the mats...We didn't let him- by the time it was over & he'd be able to go on them without getting squashed, they were sufficiently covered in the sweat of every guy there! Maybe in a year or two Anthon can take him to roll around on a mat :)

Good weekend... Long post

Our was weekend was nice... well, I should clarify, mine & Roman's was nice- Anthon took the boy scouts in out ward on an overnight, backpacking trip, that was said to be about 10 miles but ended up being more like 15; his knee gave out with about 2 miles left to go, so he said he litterally "gimped" to his truck :( ... I'm just thankful his sugars were ok being gone so long (about 5 hours longer than he'd anticipated! He didn't get home til after 8pm). He didn't have a ton of snacks with him, so he ended up drinking sugar water towards the end... Yuck, but it works! He said he did have a good time with the boys, though! Here are a few of the boys at the waterfall they hiked to.

*Anyway, my yard sale was pretty good. My mom spent the night the night before & stayed with me saturday to help with Roman while I dealt with the sale... I always have fun spending time with her!! I didn't sell everything, but I made just about $250 which I was excited about... It's a nice little jump start for saving up for my camera again (I've been wanting a Canon ESO Rebel xsi & I had almost enough $$ to buy it, but then our computer crashed & I had to use that money to replace it :(. I know, every one has one, & they love it & I will too once I get one- but that doesn't help me feel much better about having to start over in my savings. I am thankful that I had the money to buy the new computer though (trying to see the glass 1/2 full here).

*After the yard sale, I headed over to my sister's, Trudy, to help her decorate for the surprise birthday party she was throwing for her daughter, Alishia. The party was a lot of fun, & it was even more fun that Lish REALLY was surprised! I had a nice time visiting with my family!! I have so many siblings that I don't get to visit one on one with them very much, so it was nice to chat & catch up with the ones who were there!

*Sunday was nice- I'm getting more use to having church at 2pm; I kind of like having all morning to hang out with Roman & Anthon and not feeling so rushed (plus getting a nap in for Roman before sacrament). I did get a new calling in our ward, but I have to keep it on the DL til next Sunday when they actually announce it in church since my friends in my ward read the blog sometimes :)... It should be fun, though!

Well, that was our weekend... now to start the dreaded chore of organizing all the stuff that didn't sell at the yard sale.