pictures!

Yipeeeee! We bought a new camera and so now I am finally back in the picture-taking business. Here are the latest (the camera came with a tiny memory card, so only 6 pictures can fit at a time).

Gracie is really teething, thus all the drool. She is still so cute though. She is my little fat pixie!

Lily was about to make a funny face - luckily I caught her just before she did. This is why she looks a little "tense" in the picture.

what's in a name?

My friend Heather had this on her blog and I thought it was very enjoyable to read. So here is my version....

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) -Fred Sedona

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) -Neapolitan Macaroon

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) -E-Hil (I am almost tempted to delete this one altogether. Dumb)

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) -Pink Giraffe

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) - Blank Portland (I don’t have a middle name)

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) -Hilem (I think that is actually a real last name)

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink) -The Green Diet Coke..... "Oh no, what will we do? I hope the Green Diet Coke gets here quickly, or else we are all going to DIE!!!" Um, it doesn't quite work. In fact I tried several drink and none of them really sounded all that superhero-esque.

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) -Samuel Joseph (Uh, that is my brother’s name)

9. STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite scent/perfume/cologne, favorite candy) – Sweet Pea Snickers

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) – Ines Smart

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter) - Weinberg Winnipeg (by far my favorite name so far)

12. SPY NAME/BOND GIRL: (your favorite season/holiday, flower) - Summer Daffodil

13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”) – Peachie Slippers (OK, so I didn’t follow the instructions, but Peach Slippersy sounds dumb)

14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree) - Oatmeal Crunch Aspen

15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”) - The Cooking Snow Tour

hello rexburg, nice to meet you!

The other day my cousin Erika invited me to go with her to the Rexburg Temple open house. I have to admit I was a bit reluctant to go because it would be a lot of driving in one day. But I have always loved spending time with Erika and I have never been to the famed Rexburg. so I decided it would be worthwhile. Luckliy I was able to leave Adam and Lily with my sister-in-law Melissa and she was able to leave her twins with her sister-in-law (who live across the street from eachother). It was such a fun day. The temple was so beautiful and I fianally got to see what all the hullaballo is about in regards to Rexburg and BYU-I. It is always nice to have a diversion from everyday life - and it was especially fun to spend the day with Erika and Gracie (without a doubt two of my favorite people).

P.S. If you want to see pictures of us at the temple you can refer to Erika's blog to the right.

i hit the jackpot!

I found the greatest blog today - it is www.designmom.com/index.html. This is the neatest site for anyone who is need of a little beauty and creativity (two things I LOVE) . There were so many wonderful ideas - most of which I intend to copy. Go and explore - and you will probably find joy!

oh, and by the way

Just so you all know; I have not actually tried the whole vinegar thing. I don't really think I will try it. I just thought it was interesting and for anyone out there who may be desperate I figured I would put the info on. If by chance I do decide to try it, I will let you all know how it goes.

i'm a recruiter

Last night we were at my sister Michelle's house for dinner and Family Night. It was a lot of fun. During the course of the evening my brother's blog got brought up (Tacit Voice) and then mine. I convinced Michelle that she ought to create one of her own. Her link on my sidebar. It is the funniest thing I have read in a long time. Enjoy.

PS The only pictures I have of Michelle are some old random ones. The top one was taken in about 2003 at a family reunion and the bottom one was obviously at my BYU graduation in 2002 (Jen was very pregnant with Joey).

who knew?!

In the mail we just received some information from our insurance company. It shared a little tidbit that I thought may be useful to all of us trying to shed any extra pounds. Apparently vinegar curbs hunger. There was a study done at Arizona State University East that suggests if you take 2 tablespoons of vinegar twice a day you will lose weight. In their study the participants lost an average of 2 pounds in a 4 week period of time. To try it, stir 2 tablespoons of vinegar into 4 cups of fruit juice or a glass of water (personally that sounds like a lot fruit juice to me). Who knew.

fragile

Yesterday a friend of mine was brutally murdered by her husband. I didn't find out until last night when a mutual friend called to let me know what had happened. I can't tell you the shock and horror of the news. Her mother is a dear friend of mine from Washington and I think one of the hardest things for me to cope with right now is knowing the pain she must be feeling. It breaks my heart.

The reason I am writing this today is because I can't seem to get the thought out of my mind that our lives are so fragile. No one wakes up one day and says, "hey I think someone might gun me down today so I had better start living right." Although Scott has assured me that I don't need to worry about this particular scenario, it is no assurance that something else won't happen. A few months ago another friend lost her 16 year-old sister in a tragic car accident. These events have led me believe that I need to live each day as perfectly as I can. All I could think about last night was whether or not I would be ready to die. I had resolved that this year I would try to better myself and my life and this has just encouraged me to take my resolve so much more seriously.

Hopefully out of this huge and senseless tragedy something good will come - even if it is just a few people trying harder to become better.

2008!!!!!

Happy New Year! I know I am couple days late, but seeing as I don't have a camera and no fun pictures to post I haven't felt as motivated to get on and blog. But I thought I should tell you about our New Year since we had a lot of fun.

My sister and her husband came over and we ate sushi, pot-stickers and drank some good soda-type beverage that Scott bought. We played Rummicub and ate chocolate-caramel brownies with ice cream. As you can tell, it was all about the food. It all tasted so good. Every year on new years Scott and I get all the yummy ingredients for sushi, put the kids to bed, and enjoy it together. This year it was nice to have someone join us. After the rest of my family found out what we did they decided to invite themselves for next year. What used to be a cozy new years tradition is turning into a great party. The more the merrier!

So we went to bed at about 11:30 (if you know Scott well, this won't surprise you at all. He hates to stay up late and then be groggy the next day. I couldn't convice him to just stay up the extra 30 minutes). Just as we were settling into a nice sleep every fire truck and police car siren in town went off; people started honking their horns, and a bunch of the neighbors came out banging pots and pans. All this was in addition to the fire crackers going off in various spots in the area. I have never heard such commotion - it was so much fun and it forced Scott to be awake at midnight to give me a kiss and wish me a Happy New Year. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait for next year.

Happy 2008!

temple square

Tonight for Family Night we went to Temple Square to look at the Christmas lights. I have to admit, it wasn't as spectacular as I remembered it once being. They don't seem to put up as many lights anymore. One thing that is truly beautiful are the luminaries. They all have Christmas-related words (peace, love, hope...) embossed on them in different languages. It is really well-done and very pretty. The kids had fun and Gracie, especially was a good sport. They all looked so cute in their hats and mittens. Adam discovered that if he puts him hands in his pockets then they will stay warm. It was very cute.

Because our camera is broken I don't have any pictures to put on. But I did find this picture online and thought it was a good representation of what we saw. Merry Christmas!

i'm in the movies

They made a movie about me. Well it isn't exactly about me, but the lead character is patterned after me. I went and saw "Enchanted" last week and I am pretty sure someone has been following me around. Now sure, I don't have red hair and I am not really a big fan of rodents, BUT I love making new friends, I sing and dance all day long, I'm sometimes really naive and ditzy, and I am super idealistic about love.

I loved this movie. I don't often want to rush out and see a movie twice or even own one, but this was a true exception. I wish there were more shows out there that promoted happiness, kindness, and love. It was good and clean and I identified so well with Giselle. Sometimes I feel like I have fallen into a strange, unfriendly world (and the only thing that will make it better is a fabulous dress, a clean house, and a song).

back up and running

Hello cyber-sapce; I am back after my long and trying break. The internet guy came today and got me all hooked up.

So, amazingly enough I don't really have anything to say. I seem to be drawing a blank right now. I have to think of something and blog later.

the hills are STILL alive

Hello my fellow bloggers...I haven't forgotten about you. I know I haven't posted anything in almost a month and I have a really good reason for it. We have dial-up...need I say more.

It takes forever to post anything. We are getting high-speed this week because neither Scott nor I can handle the slowness any longer. So give me a week and the fun will begin again. Until then...CHEERS!

PS my camera also broke a couple weeks ago, so I don't have any pictures to post anyway.

happy birthday tubby goo

Today my boy turned three years old. He sang the Birthday song with everyone until they got to part where they said his name. At that pont I think he realized he was the birthday boy. It was very cute and he was very proud of himself for blowing out the candles. My family all came and it was such fun having a reason to get together. By the end of the day he was pooped and conked out on the couch with Scott. I love my Adam and I am so grateful to have him in my life. He may be a stinker and the worst eater I have ever met, but boy, does he melt my heart. Happy Birthday Tubby!

we've moved!!!!!!

AND I also know why all the rain forests are disappearing.



So we have finally sold our home in Washington (for about $40,000 less than what it was worth six months ago - you gotta love the housing market). It closes on Tuesday and we are so thrilled to not have that hanging over heads any more. Luckily about the time we went into an agreement for our Washington house we found the perfect house here in Utah. As you can see from the pictures it isn't glamorous or super amazing - but it is great for us. The biggest selling point - the detached two-car garage in the back for Scott's workshop. This means that I can actually park in the attached garage without having the dodge tools and storage and Scott can have the space he has always dreamed of. Yipeeee! Plus, I actually have a beautiful, decent sized kitchen now (something I lacked in the WA house). We are thrilled. We actually don't close on this house here until the 29th, but because we were homeless this month they let us rent in until we close.

Okay, so my big discovery about the rain forest! Well, Scott's company paid for a moving company to pack and move us (so great, by the way) and holy cow, I am pretty sure most of a rare Brazilian rain forest is sitting on the side of my house. Between the boxes and paper I am thinking Al Gore may want to start pointing the whole environmental thing toward the rich who use moving companies (and go on cruises, which use amazing amounts of fuel. So much so, that by you driving a "green" car isn't going to make a drop of difference - little political note there. I think Al Gore is an idiot and Nobel just lost all credibility with me).

Anyway, with all that said - we are thrilled be here and never have I seen a more beautiful November. No offense to my Washington friends, but good riddance.