WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO

SUMMER IS ABOUT HERE, AND I FEEL ROBBED OF SPRING! THERE WAS NO SPRING, JUST SNOW, WIND, RAIN AND AN OCCASSIONAL TEASER DAY. I AM KEENLY AWARE THIS "SPRING" OF HOW FAST TIME GOES BY. LIFE HAS BEEN A LITTLE TOO BUSY FOR MY LIKING, BUT WE STILL FIND TIME TO HAVE A LITTLE FUN! HERE'S A LITTLE SAMPLE OF WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO.

OUR GARDEN WALL IS FINALLY DONE!

BEN, RILEY, BASEBALL! BEN'S WORK HAD A SUITE AT THE GAME SO OF COURSE BEN TOOK HIS FAVORITE PAL.

BABY ON DISHWASHER...ISN'T THIS LIKE A RITE OF PASSAGE FOR EVERY BABY TO DO THIS?
PRESCHOOL GRADUATION, PART ONE: RILEY'S HAPPY, RILEY'S GREAT, SITTING NEXT TO HIS FRIEND AND ME AND BEN ARE BEAMING.

PRESCHOOL GRADUATION PART TWO: RILEY WAS OFFENDED AFTER A LITTLE GIRL GOT IN FRONT OF HIM AT THE BEGINNING OF A SONG WHERE THEY WERE ALL STANDING. UNFORTUNATELY THE SONG HAD LIKE 16 VERSUS AND BY THE TIME IT WAS OVER, RILEY HAD REACHED THE POINT OF NO RETURN.

LIBERTY PARK.....FUN! I SPENT A LOT OF TIME ON THIS HILL AS A KID WITH MY LITTLE BROTHER CHRIS AND MY MOM. WE WOULD ROLL DOWN, SLED DOWN, AND RUN DOWN IT.

WE WERE THE ONLY ONES ON THE FERRIS WHEEL. I WAS GETTING A LITTLE ROWDY TRYING THE ROCK OUR CHAIR, AND RILEY HAD TO SETTLE ME DOWN. BEFORE THE RIDE WE ASKED RILEY IF HE WANTED TO TAKE MOMMY OR DADDY ON THE RIDE. OF COURSE WE BOTH KNEW FULL WELL HE WOULD PICK ME :)
RILEY IS CHEESIN' IT BIG TIME!

AGAIN RILEY IS CHEESY! I LOVE IT!

I MAY BE TALLER, BUT THIS PICTURE PROVES THAT BEN IS DEFINATELY MORE SOLID THAN ME!

THE SAME WEEKEND WE WENT AND STAYED IN A HOTEL AND OF COURSE THE POOL WAS THE HIGHLIGHT FOR RILEY. HE WAS CONSTANTLY MAKING DEALS WITH US TO GET US TO TAKE HIM TO THE POOL AGAIN.

MALIA LIKES TO SHOW OFF HER CURVES SO I GOT HER THIS LITTLE BIKINI.

SHE HAS NO SENSE OF DANGER! SHE WAS TRYING SO HARD TO WIGGLE OUT OF BEN'S HANDS.

HOGLE ZOO! I HAVE A PICTURE OF MYSELF AS A CHILD ON THIS SPIDER.

OH, WE ADOPTED A GORILLA. RILEY ALWAYS SAIS HE WANTS A BIG BROTHER

FUNNY HOW TINY THAT GIRAFFE LOOKS.

MALIA THOUGHT SINCE WE WERE OUT IN NATURE THAT IT WAS TIME FOR NATURE TO CALL. LOVE THOSE FAT ROLLS!

WELL, AT LEAST THE ZOO HAD COOL STATUES. OVERALL THOUGH, I WAS UNDER IMPRESSED. UNLESS WE MISSED SOME BIG SECTION OF THE ZOO (I DON'T THINK WE DID) THERE WERE NO BEARS, HARDLY ANY OF THE BIG CATS, NO HIPPOS OR RHINOS, AND I REMEMBER IT BEING SO MUCH BETTER WHEN I WAS A KID. BUT THE CHURROS WERE GREAT!

RILEY THOUGHT IT WAS SO COOL TO LOOK UNDER THE WATER. TOO BAD THERE WAS NOTHING IN THE WATER TO LOOK AT.

"HERE I COME!" MALIA IS WALKING! WELL, SHE'S SORT OF A HYBRID: SHE CRAWLS HALF THE TIME AND WALKS HALF THE TIME.

BYE!

Planting, Jumping, Eating, Reminiscing, Bowling, and Roasting!!!

THESE PICTURES ARE ALL OUT OF ORDER BUT I REALLY DON'T CARE :)



THIS IS OUR NEW CHIMINEA! I NEVER KNEW THAT'S WHAT THEY WERE CALLED BUT WE LIKE IT! AND IT WAS ONLY $25 ON KSL.

HOT DOGS AND SMORES WITH RILEY'S LITTLE GAL FRIEND! LATER SHE COMBINED HER HOT DOG AND HER SMORE AND ATE THEM TOGETHER....GAG!
RILEY'S FIRST BOWLING EXPERIENCE. I THINK HE'S ENJOYING HIMSELF.
MALIA DRINKING HER WHOLE MILK.

RILEY CAN EVEN BOWL SIDEWAYS!

HE MIGHT GO PRO!

RILEY WAS SO BUMMED HE COULDN'T KEEP THESE SHOES.
THIS AFTER PICTURE IS BEFORE THE BEFORE PICTURE. THIS IS THE AREA OF MY YARD CALLED "CINDY'S CORNER" SINCE IT'S MY MOM WHO DESIGNED IT. YOU CAN SEE THE START OF A WALL THAT WE ARE GOING TO BUILD AS SOON AS WE GET MORE BLOCKS. I LOVE ALL THE PLANTS, ESPECIALLY SINCE MY MOM PICKED MOST OF THEM AND THEY ARE SOME I WOULDN'T HAVE THOUGHT OF, BUT I LOVE THEM! I WILL TAKE ANOTHER PICTURE SOMEDAY IN THE DAY TIME WHEN THE WALL IS DONE.HERE IS THE BEFORE PICTURE OF CINDY'S CORNER. OH AND THAT HAPPENS TO BE CINDY, IN THE CORNER :)
THESE BALLOONS ARE FROM MALIA'S PARTY. IF YOU EVER WANT HELIUM BALLOONS THAT LAST FOR WEEKS, GET THEM AT MACEY'S AND HAVE THEM USE "HI-FLOAT". WE STILL HAVE SEVERAL UP AT THE TOP OF OUR LIVING ROOM VAULT.
GOSH I TRIED TO CROP OUT MORE OF HIS TUSH! RILEY LOVES THIS NEW SNORKEL MASK! HE HAD IT ON DURING FAMILY PRAYER THE OTHER NIGHT AND IT SOUNDED LIKE WE WERE BEING JOINED BY DARTH VADAR.

RILEY TRYING TO LAUNCH MALIA. MALIA BRACING HERSELF AND CLEARLY SHE IS EXCITED.
I LOVE THESE PAJAMAS. THEY SAY "BIG BROTHER". RILEY IS SUCH A GREAT BIG BROTHER.
AND HERE'S CUTE LITTLE SIS!

MOM AND MALIA OUTSIDE THE RESTAURANT

RILEY AND HIS BEST FRIEND! HE WAS ON THE PHONE WITH HIS GRANDMA THE OTHER NIGHT AND AFTER TALKING A FEW MINUTES HE SAID "BUT, WHEN ARE YOU COMING BACK BECAUSE I REALLY LIKE YOU."

AS MALIA'S MOTHER, IT IS MY RESPONSIBILITY TO PROVIDE HER WITH LIME WEDGES. IT IS UP TO HER WHETHER SHE EATS THEM OR NOT. SOMETIMES IT IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD TO LET THEM FIND OUT FOR THEMSELVES IF THEY HAVE MADE A MISTAKE :)THE HALLWAY OF THE APARTMENT COMPLEX MY MOM, BROTHER AND I LIVED IN FROM 1989 TO 1995. OUR DOOR WAS DOWN THE HALL ON THE LEFT. QUITE A LOT OF MEMORIES THERE!

THE LAUNDRY ROOM WHERE I DID LOT'S OF LAUNDRY AND ONE TIME ACCIDENTALLY USED BLEACH INSTEAD OF LAUNDRY DETERGENT ON A LOAD OF DARKS. OOPS! I ALSO LIKED TO WATCH THE POWER METERS IN THE ROOM AND SEE WHICH APARTMENTS WERE USING MORE POWER.

THE END!

Happy 1st Birthday Malia-lou!

Well, pictures don't lie! Malia did in fact turn one last Friday and so we threw a party for her which I have been obsessing about for an embarassingly long time. Let's just say I made her tutu back in February :) I can't believe she is one! She is SO much fun. Very silly, demanding, opinionated, quick to laugh, crinkles her nose when she smiles big, bites you if given half a chance, toots at will with no thought for others....we LOVE her!

I had no doubt that she would dive into the cupcake. She never shies away from food. You can nudge her cheek with a bite of something and she doesn't even look to see what it is...she just opens wide and lets you shovel whatever in!

Riley was such a big "helper" with making these cupcakes. The picture is horrible, but the colors are lavender, lime green, and teal. This was a labor of love, similar in intensity and stress to the labor of love I went through to get Malia into the world one year ago :)
Once again, pictures don't do it justice but we had this room decorated so cute. Butterflies on the wall, 30 balloons with curly ribbon hanging down, a big banner, etc. My mom and I had a great time decorating together! Thanks Mom! Poor lady had to work on her birthday. That's right, April 23rd is my mom's bday too but don't EVER say a word about it to her if you happen to see her on her birthday. She might deck you :)
It's a good thing Malia's not self-conscious because I sat her out in the middle of the room for the festivities. We all got to Ooh and Aah over how cute she was while pigging out on pasta salad. While SHE was pigging out on pasta, although the rest of us were pigging out on pasta salad too I guess.

Have you ever stood in front of a room of people and tried to rally them into playing musical chairs, and they all just look at you like they are embarassed to know you, not least of all your own husband? This was my situation at the party. I knew they would have fun, I even let them know there was a prize for the winner...but you should have seen the effort I had to put into getting them all off their hineys and you should have SEEN the daggers I gave Ben for not backing me up on what I knew would be fun! Well, I was right...they guys ended up have fun playing musical chairs while my mom controlled the pause button on the song "Let's Hear it for the Boys". It was so funny! Then the ladies played to the song "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." I am ashamed to say that I let my competetive side come out and later realized how dumb I must have looked trying ferociously to win a game where at the end I would have to award myself my own prize. But I didn't win, my sister in law Amy won and I'm happy for her. Besides, the prize was a bag of candy and she needs it more than I do, trust me.
Here's my mom walking through the crowd, running her fingers through her hair. Yes mom, we know you have beautiful hair :) Just kidding! If you know her, you know she couldn't care less about showing off her gorgeousness.
And finally, me and my girl! She's looking a little haggard because this is at the end of the party and I had just wiped a pound of frosting off her face. I think all in all she will look back and remember......nothing. But hey! We have pictures to show her so she can never accuse us of not throwing her a big first birthday party. I wish I had a pic of Ben and Malia. Maybe next year I will let Ben plan the whole thing and then I will sit at the party and eat and watch him run around like a chicken with his head cut off while I socialize....and then I will take HIS picture with Malia :) Love you Ben!!!!

9 Years of Wedded.....Bliss?

Well, I wouldn't say BLISS, exactly. Way better than bliss, it's been nine years of fun! Not all fun of course. Anyone who's well, ALIVE, knows that life is not all fun. But when it's not fun, at least it's still funny. And when it's not fun OR funny, at least you're learning to appreciate when it is good. So for our nine year anniversary, we spent the weekend in SLC at a really nice place called Crystal Inn. In the picture above, Ben was sleeping and it was about 11 am. But don't be mistaken...he had been up already that morning because he couldn't miss the breakfast buffet. In fact he woke me up at 8am to let me know what time it was, despite the fact that I was sick and that I NEVER like to get up at 8am especially when on vacation. I was so mad! He later confessed he wanted to get me up to go eat with him because he was afraid the food would be all gone at the complimentary breakfast. The breakfast was from 7 to 10. I thought 9:45 would have been a great time to go down. But we went down nice and early and there was PLENTY of food! In the picture below, I am NOT trying to look sexy. Ben was supposed to be surprised that I was licking him, but he looks perfectly okay with it. I thought it would make a funny picture, but instead it looks like I'm trying to be sexy and Ben is enjoying it. Blah!

Check out this baby girls hair! I think it's time I start having fun with her hair, now that her helmet is off. Also check out the belly overhang!

We got Riley and Malia some new clothes while on our weekend gettaway. I was surprised at how much Riley loved his new shirts and shorts. He slept in them and wore one shirt to preschool the next day with the other one in his backpack to show his teacher. Well, Malia is all over the place now. And she pulls herself up on everything. Coming up next is standing and then walking. Oh no!