Sometimes I think I hate you....

First of all - I will apologize to my little sister Tara for blogging this - but I couldn't help it. I was trying to consolidate some boxes the other day, and I found this very old letter from my little sister...She is 24 now...so that just tells you how old this letter really is. I just thought it was so cute and simple, and it just shows how funny kids can be. She said a lot of nice things about me, but I also love how she said that sometimes she thinks she hates me. I love ya T! (also thanks to jackie for scanning it for me)

Happy!

Just wanted to post a couple of pictures of our cute nephew, Brayden. I just couldn't help it! He is so cute! ..and HAPPY!

FAMILY

I can't believe that I haven't posted about this yet....but here are some pictures from our trip to Utah last month. We went out for Mike's brother's wedding. It was a shorter trip than our usual trips out there...but I am grateful that we were able to go and spend time with our families. Enjoy some pics! actually...a whole bunch of pics

the two little boys working hard!

Damon and I loving the leaves in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard

When Mike got into town he had to take Damon golfing!

Damon, Daria, and Cooper giving us a concert Damon and Brayden with Grandpa

one of my favorites....all 4 grandkids all together for the first time

Damon and Grandpa having a snack together

Cooper and Damon on Halloween

Grandma with the Coop and Damon

I LOVE MY FAMILY

WHAT A FUN TAG!

(yes this is a picture of my cute husband)

ANOTHER TAG

Here goes...This Tag is about my sweet hubby!

What is his name? Michael Thomas Holbrook

How long have you been married? 3 1/2 years

How long did you date? 11 months

How old is he? 26

Who eats more? at a meal - he eats more, but I snack more

Who said I love you first? He did

Who is taller? Mike is - thank goodness.

Who sings better? I would definitely say I do...only because Mike admits to being tone deaf

Who is smarter? Mike is smarter....in ways that I'm not...and vice versa...I am so proud of myself when I'm right about something!

Whose temper is worse? uummm....temper? mike's temper is deep down, and mine is more on the surface, so I guess mine is worse.

Who does the laundry? 100% me

Who does the dishes? 100% me

but I will add in my own question.....Who cleans the shower ? - because that one is 100% Mike (yes!)

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Mike

Who pays the bills? We both do, Mike sets up and tracks the ones that are automatic and I pay the rent, utilities....

Who mows the lawn? chapel valley landscaping....I wonder if we'll ever have a lawn!

Who cooks dinner? I do

Who drives when you are together? 95% of the time Mike does

Who is more stubborn? I would say we are equally stubborn...

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? um....probably me (I hope he doesn't read this blog! haha! )

Whose parents do you see the most? Mine. When we are in Utah we stay with my family, so we just naturally seem them more - which still isn't enough for me!

Who proposed? Mike did - at Fivealls in Salt Lake City

Who has more friends? I do - sounds like I'm bragging....haha

Who has more siblings? Mike does, by a long shot. He has 9, I have 3

Who wears the pants in the family? Depends on the situation. I can be pretty bossy....

I tag: Jenny, Rachelle, Jackie, Jaime, Tara, Deborah

and anyone else who wants to write about their hubbies. I think it's kind of a fun tag!

I should also mention what a great dad he is!

Pre-Thanksgiving Party

Last Sunday we had a great Pre-Thanksgiving dinner with Mike's cousin Heather, her husband Chris, and some other good friends, Richard, Dana, and Sienna. The first picture is of an apple pie that I made - with supervision from my wonderful friend Jackie. It was the test run pie before I made one for the Thanksgiving dinner...and it turned out great. I also need to give a shout out to my friend Tiana for the recipe. Heather and Dana both said it was the best apple pie they have ever had!

The test run pie - looks great (thanks to Jackie for making the crust look perfect! Tasted really good too! I took it to our "girls night out" that night. Yum!

The pies I made all by myself! For those of you know me well...this is a big deal! And no - that is not a hold in the side of the apple pie...well, I guess it is a hole, but its not my fault. Within 10 minutes of me being inside Heather's house, Heather and Dana had already picked apart the crust - while flattering me with compliments....I didn't mind! Once again - Thanks for the recipe Tiana. It's a hit!

Mike and Chris - Cheers!
Thanksgiving with Ham? That's right.

Damon loving his little Sienna

Now that I think about it - I don't know if the three of us left the kitchen all night! After a lot of food (and pie) you just have to sit down and relax.

My Little Book Worm

I just thought this was a cute picture....I was in my room reading a book the other night, Damon ran in and saw me then quickly ran back out...I didn't know what he was doing, until he came back in with one of his books, climbed all the way up in our bed and cuddled with me while we read our books together. Too cute!

i've been Tagged!

My friend Adrienne Tagged me a few months ago, and I am finally getting around to responding!

5 things I was doing 10 years ago (November 2007)

1. Going to school at Utah Valley State College

2. Working at NuSkin International, and loving it.
3. Hanging out at my families cabin a lot with new friends.
4. Jogging a lot
5. Getting cheese fries once a week (hence the jogging a lot) at Training Table with my best friend and roommate at the time, Deborah. (well, that didnt' start until January '98...but who cares)

5 things on my to do list today:

1. Continue to organize my storage shelves (I have such an exciting life)
2. Decide if I want to make dinner tonight, and if so...what I want to make

3. oh gosh - watch Survivor and Grey's Anatomy! I love Thursdays
4. Iron a huge pile of clothes - which is what I do every Thursday during Survivor and Grey's Anatomy!
5. Most importantly - Keep two 2 year olds entertained!

5 snacks I enjoy

1. Carrot sticks and ranch dressing - thats usually my lunch - yum!

2. Bananas and Peanut Butter (mike's converting me)
3. Grapes
4. Doritos - but for some reason never eat them anymore
5. Dried mangos (the ones that Jackie gives us from Hawaii!) yum!

5 songs I know the lyrics to

1. Ain't no Mountain High Enough (yeah Tara!) - Marvin Gay
2. Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper

3. Say Goodbye - Dave Matthews

4. basically any Madonna song from the 80's

5. Lost in Love - Air Supply (I love them!)

5 things i would do if i were a millionaire:

1. Get out of our tiny apartment and into a house!
2. Pay off all loans/debt - of course- duh
3. Save

4. Shop

5. Save

5 bad habits

1. Saying "you know" at the end of a lot of my sentences.
2. Not making a grocery list, and just walking across the street to the store and getting "whatever"
3. I feel like I've become a mooch to a few friends. Quick babysitting drop offs, catching rides places since I never have a car, and many other things....I've never depended on people as much as I have in the last couple of years, and feeling like a mooch kind of seems like a bad habit.
4. Watching "The Bachelor" - hee hee
5. Being a back seat driver when my husband is driving - even though sometimes he needs it!

5 things I would never wear again:

1. anything neon colored

2. bobbers - is that what they were called - to hold your hair in a pony tail, but there were two balls on the ends?
3. LA Gear Shoes - haha

4. layered socks - alternating colors - you know what I'm talking about
5. Jelly shoes

5 things I enjoy doing

1. Exercising - specifically Spinning. I've been obsessed for a few years now.

2. Going to "Girls Night Out" - what a great break and great time just for talking, talking ,talking
3. Sending cards to people

4. Taking pictures
5. Scrapbooking

5 favorite toys

1. portable DVD player = Heaven on a 4 1/2 hour flight! (thanks Chris and Heather!)
2. Ipod - but Mike broke ours when he dropped it on a treadmill and it flew off and slammed into a wall :(

3. Tivo (wish I had it!!!) - me too Adrienne!

4. MyLand Rover - that was MY FAVORITE toy

5. Thomas Trains - hours and hours of fun!

5 people I tag:

1. Jenny

2. Jackie

3. Tiana

4. Heather Avena

5. Mel

Potomac Halloween Parade

I forgot to post about this little parade that we went to a few weeks ago with the Huguely's. The parade was short and sweet, just long enough to keep a 2 years olds attention. It was hard to get pictures because Damon wasn't standing still for long enough...he was too busy picking up all the candy that was being thrown at him. It was actually a pretty cool thing for me, because it totally reminded me of my childhood, going to the Draper Parade every 24th of July in Utah, for as long as I can remember... and doing whatever it took to get that last piece of candy off the pavement.... Just a fun memory for me.



Damon with Nicholas and Michael Huguely


Damon waiting patiently for the parade to start

I finally got a picture of the front of his face!

Waving to all of the emergency vehicles, loving it!

Our Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

A Lunch Date

A few weeks ago my good friend Jackie and I loaded the kids up and took them out to lunch at Olive Garden. We LOVE the soup, salad and especially those breadsticks! After quite an adventure trying to find the nearest one, we finally made it and had such a great time! Damon and Elise were so adorable!


What a fun lunch!

Running away from the moms

Let's get out of here!
So cute!

Damon and his buddies

Last month we went to a birthday dinner for our good friend Jenny Huguely. Their little boy Michael is one of Damon's best friends. Some other friends (the Gattens) were also there with their kids....their little boy Zach adds to the troublesome trio. They had so much fun playing, running ,and tackling each other. I wish that I had pictures of the tackling....but I only have pictures of them all being best friends.


Zach Gatten, Damon, and Michael Huguely

a bench just his size

The Barn!

Just felt like doing a post today about one of my favorite places. Pottery Barn! I have worked there for almost 3 years now and have loved it. It gives me inspiration on how to decorate when we (eventually) have a house. I especially love the holiday accessories and can't wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas! I have loved all the friends I have worked with there and I am so grateful that they basically let me work whenever I want. I hope that I can work there forever. (I wouldn't be able to afford it without my discount anyways!).

Is he cute or what?

My little sis emailed me some new pictures of our new nephew Brayden....and I just had to post them. I know I've been posting a lot lately, (is that good thing?) but we actually have had some fun things going on lately....so here you go.

He's just so cute!

Not a Black Eye

I was visiting a girlfriend who had just had a baby the other night, and I got a phone call from Mike saying I had to come home to see what Damon had done. It definitely wasn't an emergency, but I was still very curious. Here is what it looks like when Damon tries to put my lipstick on as mascara. It of course had to be the "long-lasting" stuff that doesn't just wash off. I got most of it off that night, but it took two days before it was all completely off.

What a Story

I was really touched by this story on my good friends blogs. Adrienne has always been such an amazing example to me, we've been friends for ...well, since 5th grade, so a very long time. We took swim lessons together, used to go running, bike riding, and double dating together. She is a great person, and I think by reading this story you can tell that she is passing that onto her children.....
I really hope that Adrienne doesn't mind me stealing this story from her own blog...I just really felt like sharing it with the people that read mine.....It is really touching. I've read it at least 3 times and have ended up in tears every time.

here you go

"I shared the following story today at our LDS Church Testimony meeting today...
As I was away for a few days this last week, my dad was taking care of my two little boys. They had decided to go to a nearby park to play and get some fresh air. My dad was watching the boys from a distance as they were playing by some shrubs and a chain linked fence.
Out of the blue, Wesley started screaming with urgency, "Abuelo Abuelo!" My dad ran over to see what was going on. The boys had somehow slipped through a gap of the chain linked fence. While they could stand there, they were also immediately next to a 10 foot drop...somehow little Austin has fallen over the edge! Wesley by some miracle grabbed him as he was falling and was literally holding him by one arm. Austin was being fully supported by my sweet three year old. He was holding on as tightly as he could, crouched to the ground and little Austin was just swinging by a limb.
Of course my dad was shocked to see what was happening, but because the area was so small and narrow, he could not reach the boys and where they had placed themselves against this wall. So, he ran around the fence, hopped it and reached them to safety.
The most emotional part for me was not only that my boys lives were at risk, but that Wesley was so alert and quick thinking to reach down and help Austin. Surely a three year old cannot sustain a two year old and so we knew that outside help had come in.
As they were walking home, my dad was very emotional about this mini crisis. Wesley then started to explain more about what had happened to him. He said (this is of course in Spanish but I will translate it, so it may sound funny)...that Jesus had come into his throat and helped him call out for Abuelo. (Me entro el cuello Jesus). He then said that Jesus is his friend, He is his brother, He is strong and that He helped Austin when he fell down. (Jesus es mi amigo, mi hermano y es muy fuerte. Me ayudo).
How else could my toddler completely hold onto the life of my baby Austin without some divine help? Not only that, but Wesley knew who was helping him the entire time and he told Abuelo that he could feel him there with him. I am so so so grateful for an intuitive child who knows that he is loved and watched over by Jesus. More than that, I am so grateful that God allowed me to be a parent to both of my children for a longer period of time. I could have easily lost both of their lives had they fallen and broken their necks.
This story of course came at an opportune time since yesterday was my meltdown. My perspective has been lightened and their lives are ever so fragile to me. All day long Jared and I were praising Wesley for his valient job and how grateful we are for an innocent and caring son who was watching out for his hermanito. "

Damon's New Cousin

Had to do a post to announce our new little nephew, and Damon's new little cousin Brayden Ammon Nordgren. He is my little sister (Tara's) first little baby....and he is ADORABLE if I do say so myself. He was born on September 21. What a cutie! Here are a bunch of pictures...

The New Mom....Isn't my sister cute?

The Proud Daddy! - look at Brayden just staring at his dad...so cute.