Just an opinion from a tough critic

Yes, yes, yes, I went to the opening of Twilight with some friends!  And, yes, I am one of those loser women who was there!  The whole night was hilarious!  It started off with my friend Natalie almost getting in a fight with a 50 year old woman.  That started things off pretty funny!  Then Natalie's sister, Amy, asked this guy and girl that were there to together if they were dating.  (And we felt bad for any guy that had to be there, but anyways)  The guy said "yes", and Amy told the girl, "I hope you know that he is expecting some later"!  The couple just laughed, because it was so true!  Amy then sneaks in to the theater and saves us seats, which was great because we ended up with some great seats!  I want to take Amy everywhere with me from now on!  We finally get in after waiting outside, in the cold, for about an hour.  The movie starts... and it was sooooo BAD!  We laughed through most of it!  There were a few good parts and I liked Bella and Edward, but Jasper, really what can I say, he was so weird!  Every time he came on screen it made me laugh!  Anyways, although the movie was not that good, the night was so worth it!  So, no offense to all the Twilight crazies!  Go and enjoy your fantasy!

signed,  

 still a devoted fan of the books.

The funny things he says...

Aidan is at one of my favorite ages right now, 2 1/2, because he is always saying the funniest things!  So, I thought it was time that I started writing them down.

No matter what I ask him, like it's time to eat, it's time to change your diaper, it's time to get dressed, or it's time to go to bed,  he always says, "Not yet, K?"

At night time we say our prayers and I try to help him by telling him things to say, and no matter what I tell him even if he has not said it, he will always say, "I already said that."  And he will say it in a whisper and then I will tell him no you haven't and then we'll start arguing in the middle of the prayer, it turns into a vicious circle, but it is so cute.

He went up to one of the guys Joe works with, Kent, and said, "I Kung Fu Panda and I punch you in the nuts!"  Kent was busting up!

If we laugh at something he says, he will tell us, "That not funny."

When he does something crazy, which is all the time, he says, "That is awesome!"

Primary prayer

Carter loves to participate in just about everything, especially at school and at church.  Last Sunday he had to give the prayer in primary.  I always get a bit nervous because I am never sure what will come out of his mouth.  Well, on a previous occasion he was called upon to say one of the ten commandments and his answer was, "to put your weapons away."  Everyone just started laughing, and is was funny!  So on this occasion you can see why I would be a little hesitant to have him speak in a group setting.  His prayer started off OK, but them he said he was thankful, for nursery, my mom and dads class, and for "seeing one of his buddies from soccer."  I think I will need to do a little prep the next time. 

proud to be an american!

Yesterday I voted!
I know it sounds silly, but it makes me very proud when I go and vote. I was watching the TV all night long and I found the whole thing to be very inspiring. No matter what you political beliefs are I thought it was cool to witness history. I also thought Barack Obama's speech was incredible, and I even got a little chocked up. Also, Prop 8 passed! Way to go to all who put so much time and effort into protecting marriage!

Slacker!

I know I have been a slacker when it comes to new postings!
So, scroll down, and down, and down and you will see the past month.
Man, there was alot!

"annajones"

There is this picture of President Hinckley in John's room and he is wearing a hat. It is a really great picture! Aidan kept pointing at the picture and saying "annajones", and my mom just was not sure what he was saying so she asked him to tell me what he was calling the picture, and he said, "annajones". I started laughing , and my mom was still not sure what he said. I told her that he thinks that picture is of Indiana Jones. We all just started laughing so hard. It's really cute because Aidan thinks anyone with a hat on is Indiana Jones. O.K., it may be a little sad to see how much pop culture there is in our house!

Candy or Crack?

Once we got back the kids went through their stash and traded and ate a bunch. Aidan was up tell 1 am bouncing off the walls and talking a mile a minute! All evening he would just walk up to anyone and hold up a piece of candy and say "open?". I thought his head was going to pop off his body and explode! He was just wired, and he was cracking my mom and I up! Look at him, he has the crazy eyes!

Trick-or-Treat

Before we went trick-or-treating we had some family and friends over for dinner. it was yummy! We then took the kids around our neighborhood. They had a great time!

The boys with their cousins

Halloween Parade at School

My kids had been looking forward to Halloween for the past few months. Carter was Indiana Jones and Aidan was Buzz Lightyear. In the morning we went to Carter's school and watched their parade, it was really cute. Later I went and helped in his class with their party and that was fun.

Here is Indiana Jones

Indiana in the Parade

Buzz Lightyear watching the Parade

Buzz leaving the Parade

pumpkin carving

Halloween is my favorite holiday! I love everything about it. I really love carving pumpkins! My kids only like it when there is a finished product, the rest of the time they were watching a movie. It helped to have my mom in town because she did one of them! I think that they turned out pretty good! My mom came in town last week to meet John's soon to be brides family! Did I mention that John is getting married on December 6th?! Anyways, it was fun to have her here for the week, and my boys just love her to death. We just run crazy and do so much, I am now using this week as a recovery!

I could not get Aidan to take a normal picture. He is making a weird face in all of them, what a dork!

witches night out!

Every year at Gardner Village they have this thing called Withes Night Out, where you dress up like a witch and shop around. Well, my mother-in-law, Karen, and sister-in-law Jenny came in town for it. We went to dinner and then to Witches. It was a lot of fun!

Here is my mother-in-law running through the parking garage like Batman. She is just a bit obsessed with Batman! She is so funny!

Me and my sister-in-law Julie. Isn't that guy freaky?!

All the girls.

Thanksgiving Point

Fun day at Thanksgiving Point.

Alex, Carter, Andrew, Aidan, and me waiting for the pony rides.

Carter, or should I say Batman, on a pony.

Robin, aka Aidan on a pony.

Joe's 31

Happy Birthday Honey!!!!

On Oct. 16 Joe turned 31! He celebrated by going to the Boston Red Sox game in Boston. Rough life he has! So we celebrated when he got home.

80 degrees at the pumpkin patch

We went to the pumpkin patch when we were at my parents house. I think it was the first time my boys have ever been to one. The one down fall was that it was over 80 degrees outside, so all we really wanted to do was pick a pumpkin and get the heck out of there! We picked a pumpkin and to it to my Grandpa (Papa Alfie). I don't think he really cared much about it though.

Trip to the Hatch House

In October we have a holiday weekend called UEA (Hunting season) and so I thought I would go to my parents with the boys for the break. It was really nice, but much hotter than I had prepared for. I had to go shop and buy the boys some shorts and short sleeve shirts because everywhere we went the boys were so hot. Any excuse to shop!

We had the cousins over for a sleepover which my boys love! Aidan and Georgia were the last ones to fall asleep. They were playing the piano at midnight. We finally had to put them to bed, while everyone else was sacked out on the couch.

Aidan loves wearing Papa's boots. It was so funny watching him try to walk in them. Here he is in basketball shorts, which he wears under all of his clothing, everyday!

New P.J.'s that light up!! Wow, the excitement!

Launch!

I guess it is time to announce my new venture...

For all of you who don't know, I am starting my own business.  The name of the business is "Ellie Belle".  

I am specializing in custom baby blankets.  I am designing and making the blankets.  I am now in the process of getting my website made and then people can order from it.  Yesterday I had a "photo shoot", courtesy of Ashley Swapp Photography, with my kids and my brother's kids for the website.  So, here are a few of my favorites.  Let me know what you think?  My website is elliebelledesigns.com, and I will let you all know when it is up and running.  I am really excited and a bit nervous about all of this, so we'll see how it goes.  Thanks to all of you that have been so supportive!  If anyone is interested in a blanket just let me know!

So Long Nemo

I am sad to announce that Nemo, Aidan's fish, has died.  I am sure all of you are as broken up about this as I was.  He was swimming around one morning and then was dead that afternoon.  It was a sudden death!  Now with Nemo gone, it was time for Indiana Jones to go as well.  The funny thing about it all is that they died about a week ago and the boys have not noticed they are gone.  The good things is though I don't need to do any consoling!  -- Done and Done!!!

"If you watch too much TV then it will make you stupid!"

Today I went to get Carter from across the street at a friends house (Sawyer's) that he had been playing with for a couple of hours.  When I got there I was talking to Sawyer's mom and she had said that Carter had said the funniest thing.  And right at that moment I started to panic and think of all the stuff he over hears at our house that I may not know he hears.  Carter has a very impressive memory and an even better auditory memory.  She told me that he and Sawyer were watching TV and Carter turned to Sawyer and said, "If you watch too much TV then it will make you stupid."  She was very sweet about it and said that it was so funny, and they even turned off the TV and played games.  I felt kind of embarrassed because any of you who know Carter knows what a TV junkie he is!  This kid would watch TV all day long if I let him.  (I wonder where he gets that??)  I had told Carter that once in a moment of frustration over the amount of TV he watches.  I never really thought he would repeat it to someone else especially in another person's home!  I know many of you may not agree with my techniques, but I will even go as far at to scare my child with stupidity to shut the TV off!!!!  It is amazing what things you tell them that really sinks in.

"He Keeps Looking At Me With His One Eye"

Well, we finally did it!  We got the boys a pet, that is if you consider two goldfish a pet?  And actually we didn't get them for the boys, we were given them to us at a Birthday Party last night.  It was our friend Dave's 30 and it was a Hawaiian theme and they gave out fish as the party favors.  At least it came with the bowl and food!  I know many of you think that I am not a fan of the animal kind because of my BIRD history, but I do love animals!  But, I have to admit that fish kind of fall under the same category as birds to me.  I know that it is going to be me that cleans out their bowl once a week and me that feeds them and me that has to console the boys once they pass on to fish heaven.  I do have to say that the boys are enjoying them, although I do recognize that is has only been a few hours since their arrival.   Aidan is into them more than Carter, but they do like them and Aidan just sits at the counter and stares at them and talks to them.  He keeps saying to me, "He keeps looking at me with his one eye", which I think is pretty funny!  They have named them, Carter's is Indy (after Indiana Jones, who he is into right now), and Aidan's is the all original, Nemo!

Indy is the big one with black spots and Nemo is the little one.

Here is Indy looking at Aidan with his one eye.

Watch out David Beckham!!

 Carter just started soccer for the first time and he is slowly getting what soccer is.  I would even say that these pictures are being generous about showing Carter's actual involvement in the game.  In his first game he just ran around the field in the vicinity of the ball, but didn't really touch it much.  The second week he played the first half and then ate oranges (that he got for their snack) the entire second half and never went back in.  The third game he only played the first half and then was done and sat on Joe's lap for the second half.  The forth game is what I like to call the "turn around game" because he actually played the whole game and actually was dribbling and going after the ball and even had about 10-15 shots on goal, although somehow none seemed to go in???  It started to get funny because he kept getting to the goal and could never get it into the big net!!  It was a good effort none the less.  It is definitely entertaining if nothing else!  

Carter and William, and yes, I swear, that kid is 5!

Carter with his team, "The Sharks".

Go Number 2!!!

One slight touch of the ball, Yea!!

On the sidelines where he prefers to be!!:)

Olympic Withdrawals!

This year I became totally addicted to the Summer Olympics.  Never in 

past years have I been so interested.  I was up at all hours of the night watching everything from swimming to trampolining (I didn't even know that was a sport, but because it was in the Olympics I was totally enthralled!).  Carter was even sneaking out of bed at night (1:15 am) to see if Phelps was swimming!  It got really out of hand because nothing else in my life was getting done.  Sometimes I think that TiVo is a curse, but then I quickly come to my senses and realize that I am talking crazy.  Because without TiVo how else would I be able to fit in an unfathomable amount of TV watching hours and spend time with my family.   So, this past week I have been having Olympic withdrawals when I turn on the TV and nothing but Walker, Texas Ranger is on (a show my mom secretly loves, but I won't let her watch it in my presence!)  Although, I think that this is a good thing because now I can get back to life!!! 

It's a Miracle!

A Must Read Story

Sometime between Christmas of last year and March of this year we lost our video camera and all the recorded tapes that were with it, witch were everything from Carter's birth on.  I didn't realize it was missing until March and I was just distraught when after many days of turning the house upside down we could not find it.  I had said so many prayers that we would find it, but to no prevail.  By this point I have pretty much written off ever seeing the first time Carter or Aidan walked or hearing their first words again.

On Saturday night Joe went to Harmon's, our local grocery store, and ran into an old mission buddy who is a manager there.  His mission buddy said to him, "Hey I have something that you may want."  Joe wasn't sure what he was talking about and then he told him that he had some video tapes of him on them.  Joe was shocked!  The guy, Jeff, said that he had about 8 tapes.  Jeff told him that about six months ago a bag boy was bring in the carts and found a bag of tapes in one of them and turned them into the lost and found.  They were about to trow them out, but one of the workers said, wait, let me bring in my camera so we can watch them and see if we recognize any of the people in them, so we can return it to them.  Jeff just happened to walk into the room when they were watching them and he said, "why are you watching a video of Joe Brown?"  They were like, you know this guy?  And he said yah, he was an old mission buddy!

Well, low and behold, we have the tapes back and everything thing is there from Carter's birth on!  We think that the camera and all the tapes that were in the case may have fallen out of our car at the grocery store and someone stole the camera, but left the tapes.  My kind of criminal, a thief with a conscience!  It really is amazing and an answer to my prayers; a little creepy to think that some Harmon employees  were watching our home videos, hope they didn't recognize anything from the birth videos:)???!!!  Anyways, all is good and the videos are back where they belong!

Point of the story: Don't keep all the tapes with the video camera!!!

Carter's 1st Day of Kindergarten!

Today was Carter's first day of Kindergarten!  Wow, how time flies, I can't really believe that he's already in school.  He was so ready and so excited and I am so proud of him!  I think he was the littlest kid there, but oh well,... a big personality right??!!  I think he will do great and his teacher, Mrs. Graham seems great as well!  He went into class without even saying bye to me, so I think that he will be fine!  I am not one of those moms who cry, thank goodness, I am just excited for him!

Good luck my little man!

Eating breakfast before school.

What a big boy!

He was so excited to show everyone his new Batman backpack.

Me and my little dude!

A Pitcher, not a Belly Itcher!

Joe had the opportunity to throw out the first pitch at an Orem Olwz game on Saturday.  He represented the Flash and he threw a mean curve ball across home plate! --- Ok, maybe not a mean curve, but he got to home plate none the less!  

Way to go my little A. Rod.!

We also lost Aidan for a while at the game and Joe and I started to panic!  The game was packed and here in Utah everyone has kids and most of them are blonde, so it is hard to find the one that belongs to you.  I finally found him with one of the Owlz security guards.  The guy told me that Aidan kept saying, "I'm not lost, my mommy is lost."  He had tears all down his face and I just felt so terrible!!!  But, he is now safe and sound, thank goodness!

A Weekend with the HOPS

On Friday I got together with the HOPS, which includes, Rachel, Angela, Barbara, and Kathy.  We went up to Park City for the night and had a great time as always.  Rachel moved to Chicago 2 years ago and is here for a visit and so we always try to get together while she is here.  I laugh with these girls more than just about anyone and we always have a great time!  It makes me sad that Rachel doesn't live here any more because of how much fun we always have together.

p.s. Joe named us the Hops, so we will just leave it at that  

Love ya HOPS!

An homage to the girls...

Us in Chicago, June '07.

Us in Jackson Hole, September '07.

Us in Teton, September '07.

A Night for Charity

Joe and I had the opportunity to go to a charity event for The American Lung Association at on Thursday.  It was an opportunity to get dressed up and have a night with adults.  It was fun, but to be honest we had no idea what the charity was until we got there.  To say the least we are not very cultured, nor do we get out much!