an unconventional christmas card

merry christmas! here is a christmas card--hope style!

(there are parts that are slightly off.....dan had it perfect, but the downloading process messed it up a bit......ARG! also, thank you valerie for the sweet christmas sweaters! we have been dying to wear them!!! hahahaha!)




and if that wasn't enough for you, here is a poem, that sums up our year!

ode to 2008

january brought a lot of snow, but beyond that it was pretty lame,
dan fell playing church basketball, and now his knees won't be the same.
suzanne was sick of being in the apartment with no car and all the snow,
she took up some hobbies, but none of them included learning how to sew.

february we found out the gender of our little baby
it was definitely a girl, he said, not could be, or maybe.

in march dan had his birthday and renewed his drivers license,
we almost crashed on our way there, it was scary and intense.
in our ward we received a calling in the nursery,
in this month we also were past our 2 and 1/2 year anniversary.

in april we decided that we needed more space than our one bedroom,
so we found a basement apartment that would fit the baby in the womb.
dan built a table in our living room complete with sandpaper and saw,
it was a mess, but suzanne was impressed, and the result left her in awe.

may came and we packed up all our stuff and headed to pleasant view,
pregnant and moving wasn't fun and when we were finished, we said 'phew!'

june was full of decorating and planning for our new addition,
i was definitely looking pregnant, and it was hard to find a comfortable position.
we helped watch my cousins kids while they went to haw-aii,
we were both glad we were having one baby, instead of having 3.

july was hot and suzanne's ankles became really swol-len
the due date was drawing near and we both kept asking when?
we went for lots and lots of walks, we even did some jogging.
we ate spicy foods and i even tried squatting.

finally on the 12th, our little baby arrived
labor was pretty hard, and suzanne is glad that she survived.

in august we learned all about the disorder PKU,
we loved our little nova and cleaned up lots of pooh.

in september and october we enjoyed the season we call fall,
we were out and about and we probably went to the mall.

in november we enjoyed our thanksgiving quite alot,
we had fun with family and even did a turkey trot.

now it is the very merry, merry month of december,
and we are taking the time to look back and remember,
all the things we have and love and hold very very dear,
you are all included, and hope you have a happy new year!


we are so blessed and really are so thankful for all that we have. we are thankful for this wonderful time of year and for all the friends and support that we have. we are thankful for this christmas time and for our Savior who is the reason for the season.

have a very merry christmas!!!

love the hopes

shortest blog ever in the history of suzanne

i haven't posted for a while, but here are some cute pics of the nova-nator
hope everyone is having a great holiday season! ONE WEEK TO CHRISTMAS!!!!
oh sweet, sweet nectar!



























also, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BLAIN AND SARAH!

nova says, "thanks for getting married and having my dad, so my dad could marry my mom and they could have ME! i can't wait to see you next week!"

suzanne and dan say, "happy anniversary! we love you a ton and are excited to see you too. you are wonderful parents and grandparents and you are great examples of the gospel and marriage! we love you! have a great day!"

don't cry over spilled milk.....

i don't even quite know where to begin with this entry. i guess i can only start at the beginning. yesterday i was perusing blogs and such and came upon the following picture at the better homes and gardens website.



















first of all....clever! i loved the idea on the top left hand corner--snowman drink----the donut holes and glasses of milk.....well that idea led to another and i decided that we would have a white christmas dinner! oh, how fun i thought to myself.......BUT, i didn't necessarily have donut holes laying around in my pantry, or clear skinny glasses...and i HATE going to the store, especially if i have already been there ONCE already in a week. (i like to plan and do all my errands on one day so i don't haul nova all over ogden and collect germs along the way....i know i am paranoid....but no one likes a sick kid.....ANYWAY......) despite my dislike for the shopping idea, i did need a prescription anyway and decided to once again travel into the outside world.

we ran to the dollar store for some skinny tall glasses. then to walmart to fill my prescription AND to pick up donut holes---which they didn't have, so i got powdered donuts instead thinking i could make it work (and i also picked up milk and bread and some other necessary things so i could count this as NEXT weeks trip to the store as well. so i got the other items for the things on next weeks menu, badda-bing, badda-boom. done. well sorta. the nice pharmacist at wal-mart.....which i hate the wal-mart here....that is another blog and another time....told me it would be another HOUR before my prescription would be ready. normally i would say, what-ev, i roll with the punches, but i had a hungry child in the cart and decided i would just run back tomorrow without nova, while dan was home.....i wasn't about to breastfeed in public. PLUS i had a totally awesome white christmas dinner to decorate for! holla! so we toodled home.

we pulled in, i grabbed the car-seat in one arm, and grabbed my other groceries and my purse and my gallon of milk in the other and started the trek down our sidewalk to our door.

ok, i don't really know how to explain what happened next, and i am even embarrassed to try. i started up the sidewalk that is slightly inclined and then i ate some cement. i biffed it. i tripped, i ate it, i fell like i have never fallen before. it happened so fast, i didn't even have time to let my life flash before me. first my right knee hit, then my mouth and nose decided to connect with the asphalt. oh, and somewhere in the middle, my left hip took the brunt of the fall as well--i don't remember that part. being loaded down with child and groceries i couldn't even catch myself. i thought i had broken teeth AND bloodied my nose.........but it wasn't blood, it was my MILK---my milk had exploded, disintegrated over our sidewalk and i was laying in the white mess.

seriously. it. was. everywhere.

i quickly got up to make sure nova was ok--she was thankfully. she was smiling, and wondering why her blanket wasn't over her car seat anymore. i grabbed her and carried her into the house, ran back out and carried my milky grocery sacks and set them by the front door, ran back and picked up the pieces of milk carton, and took a jug of water out to rinse off the milk, my pride and my face off the sidewalk, AND i needed to cover the evidence because i tripped RIGHT in front of our landlords front door.

'SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?' i kept thinking. 'did that really just happen?' i ran back in the house to wash my hands and changed out of my milky clothes so i could feed my hungry child. i didn't know whether to laugh....because i KNEW it was hilarious, or cry because my chin was scratched, my knee was swollen and i already had a huge gash and bruise forming on my hip. i fed nova and changed her diaper and then went to survey the damage after situating her on the floor with some toys. my milk was obviously destroyed and had previously been rinsed off the sidewalk. my milk had also destroyed and soggy-ed my 2 loaves of bread. and last but certainly not least, my white, tall, skinny glasses you ask? CRUSHED!!!! CURSE THAT CRACK IN THE SIDEWALK!!!!!

SO......to end this senseless rambling, i still did our white christmas dinner even though it wasn't that cool because i didn't have the cool snowman drink---i just made snowman out of my powdered donuts. we didn't make snowflakes to hang above our table because i was in kind of a crusty mood. but here are some picks of our dinner---a day i never want to repeat. and today i feel like i was hit by a a very large semi truck. (and i know....the soup is yellow....but what ev)


































and here are some pics of nova




























and a picture of the hole in our bathroom ceiling.....but it has been fixed thanks to our awesome landlords!

not all choosy moms choose JIF

choosy moms don't always choose JIF. just recently i was indulging in an occasional past time of mine.....ok, so its not really occasional---its quite frequent in fact---in taking a spoonful of peanut butter and then eating chocolate chips with it WITH a tall glass of milk--(don't forget the dairy!) sigh.....yummy! aNYway, i opened a new jar of peanut butter to indulge, and it happened to be JIF brand. to make a long story shorter, we had a huge stock pile of western family peanut butter that we have rotated through our food storage and have since replaced it with JIF----thank you costco for allowing bulk purchase for a decent price! ANYWAY.....it was gross, not delectible or enjoyable, just yuck-tastic.......maybe i have grown immune to the lack of quality in generic brands, but who cares? give me my western family back! sorry JIF, but this choosy mom is choosing not to choose you.

also, here i have my camera cord back and here are some pics from the thanksgiving festivities.

my lil nephew kade---dance off champion 2008














the jerry hall family turkey trot 08














dan and i pumped for the race














and here is a cute picture of my fam taking a nap on sunday














also another quick story, a few weeks ago nova and i went to dan's work to take him a work treat. he has recently moved buildings and now has his very own cubicle! sort of.....anyway, we took him some square gray sugar cubicle cookies, and a picture of nova for his desk.














and here is a picture of dan reading with one of nova's toy ducks.......weird! :) it looks like mr. duck is trying to move in on my territory!














and nova lookin cute in her sweet winter hat!

trots + turkeys + dancing = fun and colds

so i am completely exhausted and dan and i are both sick after thanksgiving this year, but we had SO much fun. thanksgiving day started out with the first ever, jerry hall family turkey trot. i actually stole the idea from my friend kelli manwaring--thanks kelli! (she hosted a turkey trot for friends and family this year) and since i couldn't go, i decided to put a little twist to it for my own family. i decided to divide the family up into 2 teams, and do a relay in front of our house. i made little packets for everyone with a few treats and their number and team color for the race. we had rubber chickens as the batons, and started the race with a gun. the teams were divided into team red--the yummy-yummy yam-yams, and team black--the green bean casserole team. each person--minus the really little children had to run/walk 2 telephone pole lengths and then pass the baton/rubber chicken to the next runner and so forth. i was kind of worried that people wouldn't get into it, but i think everyone had fun doing it. it was pretty cold, but it worked out really well. afterwards we gathered in our garage and ate warm cinnamon rolls and hot cocoa and passed out medals for everyone. (made by the one and only--heather!)
so, here are some pics of the trot relay
ok, so i just realized that i left my camera cord in idaho......GROWL! oh, well i have video, so here is a video. its kind of long, but what-ev.
.

after that, we went to my brother jeremy's house and a bunch of the family played dart tag/steal the flag. its a game we made up that involves hiding a flag, moving gun-man, stationary gun-man, shields and alot of running around the house trying to find the other teams flag without getting shot by the dart guns. so again, i don't have my camera, but i gave dan some dart guns for his birthday last year, so here is a picture of what they look like.....holy cow, we look rad.














after that we had a delicious thanksgiving dinner, and my parents busted out an early family christmas present--a Wii-- since we won't all be together on christmas. so we played that for a while, and it is completley official.....i am terrible at mario cart, and if i drove like that in real life, my license would definitely be revoked.

LATER, (my favorite part) we all participated in a MDO, or a mandatory dance off. it was absolutely HILARIOUS! everyone participated and i think everyone was glad they did. we all went in a room with a video camera and danced for 30 seconds to the song, "I like to move it, move it." then we all watched it together and voted for our top three who had to preform live in front of everyone to a surprise song that we picked for them. proudly, dan got in the top 3, as did my brother beau and my little nephew kade. the winner recieved a wicked awesome shirt that i designed---fabric crayons are awesome---a sweet trophy with spray-painted gold shoes, and a 10 dollar gift card to cold stone. the verdict? watch the video and find out.





and that pretty much sums up the day. it was full of food and an equal amount of exercise to balance it out. i am really glad my family puts up with my insane ideas---even the pregnant women participated....speaking of which, amanda had her baby yesterday and nova is so excited that she has a new cousin, owen mckay, we left before we could see him, which is good because dan and i both have awful colds. (another reason, why this blog probably isn't clever and is probably disjointed.)

we've seen pics and he is SO cute! congrats ty and amanda.

also yesterday was dan's mom's birthday and we want her to know we love her. i couldn't ask for a better mother-in-law. she is so great and a wonderful example of love, service and motherhood.

i suppose when i get my camera back, i'll post all the pics on my camera, but until then, i guess video will just have to do. hopefully everyone had a spectacular thanksgiving and reflected oon what they are thankful for and how many blessing we have. in reality i am thankful for so much. modern medicine, the gospel, friends, family, the Savior and a beautiful world to live in. for a healthy body and for a healthy mind. but laughing dan and i put together a top three list of funny things we are thankful for.

dan is thankful for:
1. english
2. books
3. cheese

suzanne is thankful for:
1. disneyland
2. ice cream
3. the color orange

nova is thankful for:
1. bathtime
2. binkies
3. milk

p.s. i have been trying to post this since monday and it is taking years to upload the videos. finally-2 days later its done!

a late report on a serious competition

dan and i have a really unhealthy relationship. i dare-say we are more competitive than the average couple and we talk an "above average amount of smack" to one another. don't get me wrong, it is loving smack talk, but smack talk none-the-less.....anyway, last saturday we finally set straight a debate that is very common in the hope household. dan has been convinced for quite some time that he could beat me in a race......yeah right, i say. he believes that simply going out and running a 5K would be simple, easy and completed in 24 minutes or less. again....yeah right i say. so finally last saturday i was sick of the smack and we did a hope family 5K while my mom was here visiting. (she watched nova---nova said she didn't want to participate since she can't run yet....so we exempted her from the challenge.....) it was later and pretty cold outside. the videos pretty much explain it all and pretty well portray dan's smack talking and me rolling my eyes at the smack. it was fun and pretty ridiculous. we are both out of shape, and part of the race was a pretty steady incline. and just for the record. i won because dan stopped and walked. i also sweat more, meaning that i worked harder, burned more calories and am therefore declared the winner. (and yes i haven't joined the cool group of people who own an i-pod----i am 5 people in the nation who still run with headphones......i am ashamed.....i also have had that shirt since i was in like the 5th grade.......and i have a massive curl sticking up......i pretty much look AWESOME!!! :) )


in other news, i have been working on invitations for young women in excellence. i am serving as a mia-maid advisor in our ward. the theme is 'standing steadfast and immovable' and i was in charge of the invitations. here are some pics of them. the reason i am showing them is because i think they are pretty cute, and they took me FOREVER. it is a shoe box and the top slides off and then the shoes have a little tag on it with a list of items the girls need to bring for the night.--the pictures are side-ways and you can't see very well, but i am so glad they are finished!



















also we hung out with some friends this weekend, nova got her shots, we are teaching her to sleep through the night and it was 60 degrees today! woohoo! here is a cute picture of nova--we took her to get her pictures taken......traumatic.....lets just say, we didn't get any smiles, but dang it, she still is a cutie! (it is a picture of a picture so its not very clear)















PLEASE READ THIS PART IF YOU DON"T READ ANYTHING ELSE!!!!!
also this is the most important part of my blog. dan has been working SUPER SUPER SUPER hard and REALLY REALLY LONG hours on a blog for his company. GO CHECK IT OUT!

also, they're running a holiday gift blog about deals, so take a look at that too. he has worked so hard on getting a holiday website set up, so take a gander for a minute or two. they are trying to traffic alot of people there, so tell people you know to check it out. its a great place to look for gifts if you know someone who is into tech stuff. i also want to take a minute to say how much i appreciate dan and everything he does. he works really hard and is really dedicated to doing a good job at work. he is a great example to me and provides so well for our little family! love ya dan!

i hate you martha sue-wart

i don't know what comes over me sometimes. its as though i have a split personality that tells me that i am craftier than i actually am. a week or so ago i went on the hunt for a halloween costume for nova. as a parent, their child's first halloween is a little bit of a big deal and so i wanted something super cute, but cheap, because cheap is my middle name 99% of the time....unless someone asked if i wanted to go to disneyland....then i wouldn't care how much it cost....but lets get back on track. so i went to the DI to find a gently used costume that would make adults ooohh and ahhh over my daughter. prideful, i know.

anyway, when i arrived i found the cutest skunk costume. well, actually the tail was cute, the rest of the outfit was not. i just really loved the idea of a skunk, so as mentioned above, my split personality martha sue-wart kicked in and said, hey, why not just make the rest of the costume? you can do it....it would be so easy! buy some black clothes and some furry fabric, cut, glue and badda-bing, badda-boom, presto, you have a killer skunk costume! ........sounds crazy i know, but martha is very convincing when she takes over the brain.....so i purchased the outfit and also purchased a black hooded sweatshirt and black pants---for a total of 4 dollars.

so i ran to the fabric store, found some fabric and glue to adhere the fur to the costume, and felt for the little ears. the martha sue-wart part of me and even the suzanne part of me was pretty excited.....so at approximately 11:30pm, when nova was down for the night, i went to work on my seemingly, oh, so simple costume. 5 words people: i hate you martha sue-wart.

you see i cut into the fabric, and it started out ok. i measured and re-measured and cut away. i glued like a crazy mad women when about 10 minutes into the project i realized that instead of buying a 1/4 of a yard of fabric/fur, i had indeed bought a 1/4 of a cat, and it had shed ALL over the table, my legs, arms, neck, in my ears and on the carpet. i could see hairs floating in the air.......again.....i hate you martha sue-wart. then the sneezing started and dan's laughs began. i was near tears of frustration at the hairy mess and the not-so-cute costume that now looked white, not black, because of all the hair. dan tried to cheer me up but i was un-cheer-up-able. why had not i just spent 25 dollars on an old navy costume that would have been hair-free and full of cuteness? why did i THINK it would be a good idea? again....i hate you martha sue-wart. dan convinced me to go to bed----AFTER i made him help me clean up the mess----we were both laughing that we had an invisible cat who did not shed invisible hair-----(not a pet i would recommend)...again, lets move on.

the next morning i was determined to make it work----something about sleep--even 4 1/2 hours of it does a body and a martha sue-wart mind good. i decided to wash the costume and see if it would obliviate all the hairy mess on the sweatshirt. surprisingly it went better than i thought and i was able to partially complete the costume that ended up not that great, but not that bad and WAY to big for nova. she screams every time i put it on, but at least it resembles a skunk, and the fur is connected and not flying all over the house.

the irony in this situation is that nova detests the costume so much that we had a costume party and she didn't even wear it....... i decided a happy baby was better than a screaming, and pretty cute skunk baby. so we went as the napoleon dynamite crew. dan went as napoleon with a hair cut and contacts, i went as deb with a perm, and nova, as a big fan of pedro.

needless to say, despite the pain of making a costume, at least we got a picture, and i overcame martha sue-wart once more. however, i have a note to self-----next time martha sue-wart tries to take over the brain---push her out and go home and take a nap instead!

here is a video of us in our napoleon dynamite get-up. man, we are one GOOD looking fam! (and dan that is one sweet suit! (and actually, my dress is pretty delicious too!))


nova says happy halloween! (and apparantly in these costumes halloween does not stink! she actually was happy when i put on her costume! amazing what naps do for your children!)














also here is a picture of her with a headband she got from tammie---oooooo--scary!

cold showers and candy corns

here is a cute video of nova on sunday after church. she is laughing now and its so much fun. dan insists that she is so happy because she is laying on his transformers pillowcase.....yes, dan has a transformer pillowcase. ANYWAY......its in two parts because my stellar camera skills are not so stellar and i stopped it in the middle.

hmmmMMmmm....other news.....lets think.....nothing really besides cleaning the bathroom, canning applesauce, attending meetings, grocery shopping and changing diapers.....may not sound too exciting for the masses, but i love being a mom........oh, here is some news for people who care....we don't have hot water.....may i vent for a moment about how i despise COLD showers. i don't mind if you get a good hot shower and then it gets slightly chilly towards the end.....completely manageable. its the getting in the shower KNOWING its cold, KNOWING its not going to get hotter, but colder, and KNOWING that you'll get a brain freeze by getting your head wet. THEN, you are cold the rest of the day. its a conundrum that you must choose: warm and stinky, or fresh and freezing. well, this morning i chose fresh and freezing. i have icicles hanging from my hair but at least i feel better...slightly....and definitely more awake!

also, sunday we went for a drive through the canyon and looked at the fall colors. it was the perfect fall tri-fecta. (is that how you spell that?) looking and driving through the fall leaves, eating candy corns and being with my little family. (I LOVE CANDY CORNS! in fact i am thinking about buying 10 pounds for my food storage.......my logic in this is that there is corn in the name so it must be nutritious and give you some sort of folic acid or vitamins right?.......ok, i know thats not true.....but in a perfect world it would be!) aNywAy! it was during this moment, that i reflected on life. sometimes life seems so crazy and out of control, with a lack of sleep and not enough patience. there is too much to do and not enough time, or too many things to pick up and not enough energy. but its when i sit back and try to see the bigger picture that i realize life is meaningless if you don't take the time to enjoy it now instead of trying get ahead so you can enjoy it later.

MHHUI

yesterday was columbus day and instead of wearing wigs and making boats and looking for a new piece of land, i decided to do something a little more on the normal side. we made haunted houses. besides the fact that we both had a sugar high from all the candy and frosting, it was really fun. we decided that since we tied on the dance off we would have people vote on our houses. mine looks like i did it while drunk and blindfolded.....even though i don't drink, i am merely imagining what the end result of a graham cracker house would be if i was MHHUI---that stands for making haunted houses under the influence--in case you didn't know. i also tried a recipe i found in a magazine for mummy dogs. they are so easy and they were pretty fun to eat and i don't even like hot dogs very much. dan liked biting off the heads.....i tried to explain that they were already dead, but once a boy always a boy right?



















nova liked making the houses too!














and nova is so cute! (and dans teeth look nice too......)















slime vs. monster

do you want some water with that?

so like many of you we woke up to a winter wonderland and frosty the snowman dancing outside our window this morning and all i had to say was, "what the october?" don't get me wrong, there is a time within the 12 month period that i go crazy for snow.......just not when i am amid my october/fall loving fest and frenzy. why jack frost must you ruin the moment? blast! anyway, despite the frustration of an early snow storm, you just can't help the little 5 year old that wants to burst out of your body and dance with the flaky, fluffy, snowy jitters and make snow men. no matter when the first snow is and no matter how much you hate it, and even if you refuse to admit it, it does something to you psychologically and it makes you kind of happy---even if it is a fleeting moment.......maybe i'll write a book about it and become famous......

anyway......so i had some hot cocoa tonight and i decided that i put more hot chocolate mix in the mug than there is actual water.......hmmmmmm.......maybe that sounds sick and high caloric to you (whatever that means) but i think its delicious. plus who doesn't want to chew their hot chocolate? hahaha....i joke i joke.....but really i feel that hot cocoa needs to be super duper chocolate-y and not merely brown water......which is why one box of hot cocoa lasts me about 4 servings.......plus then you get more marshmellowy goodness in your cup! yum! why am i blogging about brown liquid you slurp from a mug? i have no idea......lets move on.

in other news, our apartment flooded slightly, my mom came for a visit and my cousin taught me how to can applesauce. 28 quarts baby! we were up to our ankles and elbows in apples and applesauce and apple-seeds and apple dumplings......ok, not really but we were a sticky mess when we were all done, but it was so rewarding and full-filling to do, and man will it ever look good in my pantry.....

and thats about it. nothing more and nothing less. now you see why i haven't blogged in a while. you wear pots on your head for dinner one night and everything after that is pretty boring! but to spice up the post here is a picture or two....

A Short Video Analysis, Or How I Made Fun of Suzanne

Dan here. I know I don't write much, or ever, on the blog. That's mostly for one reason: Suzanne is actually funnier than I am in print, which is embarrassing because I graduated with the degree in English and she studied Integrated Playground Dynamics and Jungle Gym Economics. However, there is one area where I can still claim superiority over Suzanne. Actually, superiority is still too strong of a word; it's more like a slight advantage that does nothing to make me look any less like a goober to the average bystander.

This small advantage is in oratory. I'm just a little better at speaking than Suzanne, mostly because she talks so fast that even she doesn't understand what she's saying. I was on my third date with her before I could decipher what she was talking about. Imagine my shock when all this time she'd been telling me how wonderful her missionary was and just how incredible her current boyfriend was, and just how impressed I'd be when I met them both. I suppose that was one of those times where Heavenly Father sends you a stupor of thought as a blessing. If I had been able to understand all that, I probably would have kept right on walking.

Who says ignorance isn't useful from time to time?

While Suzanne has made a concerted effort to talk slower, she still has a few problems with her mouth running away from her. My mother's eyes still show a slight twinge of panic when Suzanne talks to her, presumably because she's frantically trying to keep pace with all the verbage streaming past her ears.

So it comes as no surprise that in the last blog post, there is a video documenting Suzanne's capacity for verbal blunders. You may recall Johnny Seed Apple Dee? Well, I've been teasing her mercilessly about that because it reminds me of one of my all-time favorite moments in TV history. As evidence, I've compiled a short video below highlighting the fleeting similarity between my wife and a hairy man...that came out wrong. Apparently I'm not immune to the occasional blunder as well.

But don't take my word for it. Take a look at the video below and let us know what you think.



And special thanks goes to ABC, the producers of Wipeout, and one particularly ineloquent guy for providing me with endless bouts of gut-busting laughter. I've never replayed a video so often in my life.

johnny seed apple what?

yesterday was a very important day in the history of america. it is a day that i have never actually celebrated before, but upon hearing about the day and its utter significance it became very apparent that a celebration, a party even, was in order. the reason for the celebration? the apple man himself.......johnny. ok, ok, who has ever heard of johnny appleseed day really......i never have, but i really was pretty excited when i heard about it seeing that i always want a reason to have a party or celebrate something random. so the following video depicts what we did last night in memory of the man johnny and his apple seeds.


dan was sporting a DI pot, nova an orange plastic bowl, (and a ceramic mug for the picture) and i was wearing a pressure cooker. (please note: when wearing pots upon the head, they can cause what is known as 'pot-head' after you take them off.....not to be confused with a druggie......who also can be called a pot head.......which from the way i am talking on the video one may think i was smoking pot......johnny seed apple what? this is not true.....i just suffered a minor case of thought dyslexia......thats all.....anyway......)

needless to say, i was probably a little too excited about our dinner party, dan was a good sport, (i don't think he completely understood what he was getting into when he married me.....too late now eh?) and nova was not a big fan of the whole dinnerware on her head idea.....i can't imagine why.....regardless of the reception that johnny appleseed day received in our house i would personally like to thank johnny for giving me something to make memories with, because life isn't about how much money you make or what kind of car you drive or how skinny you are after pregnancy. its about laughing and making memories. its about fun things like wearing pots on your head and purple pancakes. it is in the journey that we receive the most fulfillment. thank you johnny for giving us something to celebrate.

toaster vs fridge

so the gift that i got at the retreat was a stop watch key chain that plays a clip from high school musical. so for family night we put it to good use for the activity and we had a dance off. dan and i constantly debate who has the better dance moves. (seriously we know we aren't good dancers, but whatever.....) so we decided we would settle it once and for all. feel free to vote on the poll and let us know who you think won the competition. also, at the end of the music piece there is a short piece of music with no words and the rule of the game was the person recording had to call out a kitchen appliance that the person had to incorporate into their dance moves......ya, we are a little weird, but it sure made for a fun family home evening eh?

here is a video of nova too--mostly because i know my mom could care less about the dance off, and she just wants to see nova. which i don't blame her because nova is pretty cute. but as you can see from the video, she does cute pretty well.

i fall for fall

fall is my most favorite time of year. i absolutely love it. not only does the earth celebrate the season in my favorite color, but it feels good, and it smells good. dan doesn't understand when i try to explain it to him, but everything seems more crisp. the other day i parked clear at the other end of the wal-mart parking lot just so i could walk outside longer. yummy!

i contemplated my love for the season as i drove home from our annual hall women retreat this weekend at bear lake. i drove home by myself through logan canyon and its a miracle i didn't die because i was looking out the window at all the colors. the lime, forest, emerald and vibrant green leaves that have been drizzled in a buttery gold, and trees and ridges that have burst into colorful flames of orange, red and yellow. and there are other places where it looks like someone has dumped their paints down the mountain as the color spills down the hill. Heavenly Father really did a good job creating this world. its beautiful. almost just as satisfying as the colors on the trees is when the color falls off. then there are leaves EVERYWHERE. i love them most in a pile to run and jump in and on the road to drive through. there is nothing more peaceful to me than driving through leaves and watching them swirl and spin around with the wind from the car. sigh......i just love it. i wish i could keep fall in a bottle and just feel it when i feel sad.


anyway, we had a retreat like i mentioned earlier and it was REALLY fun. i love my family so much and love laughing and spending time with them. it helps me remember where i come from and that i need to try to be better. we had to take a white elephant gift that describes us....so i took a picture in mine before i took it.....the reason for the gift: i love orange, i love to dress up and i love being a little crazy. as for pictures of the actual retreat, i don't have because my camera died......but hopefully i can snag some from someone and post them later.














the gift that i received was nearly as good. i can't take a picture of it i will just have to show you in my blog tommorrow......its gonna be good.....

my life is complete......

has it really been almost a month since i last posted? sheesh! my excuse you may ask?....i don't really have one except i have been slightly busy. it all started with a our busy labor day. we had a stay-cation. a what you say? a stay-cation. not a vacation, but a stay-cation. we did not vacate our house, we stayed. we had a pretend camp out. we laid out our sleeping bags on the floor, roasted hot dogs and marshmellows over our stove and hung stars from the ceiling. ahhhh.....sweet relaxation.......and we didn't even have to drive to get there. and that is how you camp with a 2 month old.

then we blessed our little nova the first sunday in september. dan's mom made her dress--its a little big, but dan's mom did an amazing job. it was really beautiful.



















then we traveled to idaho for my lil sis's wedding.....AND forgot our camera for the event......that does it, i am not a blogger.....or a photographer for that matter, but we did take a picture after the wedding with nova wearing dan's tie. (she looked cuter in her new dress, but i will post a picture of that when i get a copy of one.)




















so a stay-cation, a baby blessing and a wedding are all pretty major right? well, yes, but really there is something even grander.....something even bigger if you can fathom. my summer was completed this past weekend. i was able to partake of a tigers blood snow cone. i haven't had a snow cone this ENTIRE SUMMER and i LOVE them nearly as much as penny loves a wishing well as much as peanut loves butter......ok, bad analogy, but true none-the-less. basically i am trying to articulate my true and complete LOVE for snow cones. for some odd reason north ogden does not have a snow shack--apparently people haven't really lived around here......at least i could never find one in the 5 times i deliberately set out to find one. through all of my cravings and intense need to eat one this entire summer, i was never able to quench my thirst. not that i am a vampire or anything, but i could probably live off of tigers blood snow cones. --insert slurping sound here----its like little pieces of heaven sent through an ice machine and then drenched in the juices of deliciousness and at least three kinds of awesome.......ya, its that good. yummy!

anyway, this summer i have come so close to a snow cone that it nearly pains me to even talk about it. a few weeks ago i went to a grocery store and found one outside. using my insane ability of self control i decided i would get one on my way out. HOWEVER, by the time i came out it was CLOSED......it was 3 in the afternoon! it was 95 degrees outside? what the, what the? tears stung my eyes and i felt like this times 186:



needless to say, i was not a happy camper that day.....ask dan.

but alas, in all the places, on sept 12, i found my beloved cone of snow in idaho at the chuck-a-rama at my lil sisters wedding.......and all i have to say is, thank you natalie for getting married, thank you dustins parents for planning the luncheon at the chuck, and thank you chuck and your rama for producing all you can eat tigers blood snow cones. again, since i didn't have my camera to document the glorious and sublime reunion of me and my long lost friend tiger, and his blood, i found a picture that depicts my feelings......minus the curlers of course.....



ahhh..........delicious-ness and three kinds of awesome gone and digested, but oh so delectable. life is good and i am signing off to dream of clouds of snow and ice drenched in flavor........

the adventures of super nova babe

the following pictures show what we did last sunday after we came home from church. sometimes the afternoons get kind of long, so we act kind of like 3 year olds. perhaps we need to get out more......poor, poor nova.....


nova is a baby by day



















but being a baby ALL the time is boring......



















so she is super nova babe by night.














during the day she likes to wear dresses and look super cute.















but at night she saves dad from the evil mommy (who wears nova's underwear on her head.....)



















super nova babe to the rescue!