Elora in Arizona

The kids and I went to AZ in mid-February and I've been meaning to blog about it but was waiting until I could post the pictures we took of my whole family at Mark's Homecoming. Still haven't gotten those (*ahem*). I had no camera during the trip so these are all poor quality shots from my iphone except for a couple from Robin's camera.
We had a blast hanging with family and playing outside in the warm weather.


Hangin' with Uncle Mark



Fun with cousins



Sliding to friend Brekken



Playin' in the dirt with friend Brayden


Jumping with Uncle Adam & cousin Moqui



Consolation from Grandma Donna (after being pried off the swing)




Playing with Papa Stan




Post-breakfast exercise



Showin' off our lipstick



Snugglin' cousins



Kissin' cousins



Riding around with cousin Paisley



Fun on the "jumpoline" with cousin Charlotte



Tea party at Nana's house with Jonah wearing Jack's shirt (after throwing up on her own clothes)


Snuggling Uncle Spencer



Holding (cousin) Chandler's hand on Main St.

Ridiculous Addiction

I bought these "vitamins" for my kids and I am totally addicted. Eat one and you inevitably crave more. I want to sit in front of a movie and eat half the bag!
But while I am mentioning them I must say, these are a pretty awesome product. They are powdered fruit and vegetable fibers and juice in a tapioca chewable (aka: fruit snack). I try to make sure my family gets five servings of vegetables and fruit a day, but this is a tasty way to supplement and it gives variety that we probably don't usually get. Each veggie tablet contains 10 vegetables and each fruit one contains eight fruits. Adults (who like me, much preferred Flintstones' chewables over non-chewable "adult" vitamins) are recommended four of each chews per day. Gladly!

Wedding Reception

My cousin Julia got married in January. I went to the reception. I forgot to post the pictures a month ago, but here they are for all the Arizona B. family who weren't there.


Julia's gorgeous dress from behind.



Jack (the world's happiest & heftiest baby) and his equally gorgeous mother Skye.



My dad's Utah brothers, Uncle Steve, Matt, and Bart.



Julia holding her husband Trevor's hand. A bridesmaid to the left. The bridesmaids had gorgeous olive green silk skirts, cream tops, and fabulous hair accessories.

American Idol Season 9

This and SNL are the only shows Brandon and I consistently watch together. I love it. I was getting sick of auditions and have loved Hollywood Week. Yesterday's episode, which we watched tonight, kept claiming that it was "the most emotional show ever." Apparently it was, because when I cried a little tear (possibly a second time), I looked over at Brandon and his eyes were all glossy. I said, "Are you getting teary?" He said, "I might have gotten a little misty eyed when that guy's mom or dad just called him "hijo" on the phone." It was pretty much the cutest thing ever. Brandon claims to get "misty-eyed" or other such adorable phrases on occasion but I usually assume he isn't serious and I've certainly never witnessed it during a television show. Fortunately he rarely reads my blog so he won't be embarrassed that I shared this with the whole world.

Yo Dippity, No Doubt

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Jonah is 3!

Homecoming

Robin (Paisley & Henry in stroller), Karen, Mark, Ted, Lauren, Charlotte, and Gabe at the Phoenix airport last Monday. I'll be there in a couple hours.

Sundance Part 2

Lacey and I each got to meet one of our celebrity crushes. These were our star-struck moments.

Ryan Gossling, Lacey's crush since Remember the Titans.


Sendhil Ramamurthy, my crush since Heroes season one.

Completely Oblivious

Apparently I haven't blogged in over a week. And according to my google reader I haven't read any blogs posted in the past six days either. I just spent like two hours reading my friends and family's blogs and I'm not even quite caught up. I have plenty to share but I'm going to keep it short for now.

I spontaneously went on a girlfriends' retreat this weekend. Two weeks ago my friend Angie invited me to join her and a couple friends for a getaway in St. George. I told her I'd been invited to three things that Friday and was going to AZ the following Wednesday so I would have to decline. This past Wednesday I changed my mind. I'd had a rough, emotional week and I needed a little me time. Thursday after working all day I hopped in a minivan with five of my favorite women and drove four hours down to St. George to stay in Angie's uncle's mansion for two nights. It was divine. Other than shopping, we essentially did nothing. We basically talked for 48 hours straight, pausing only to sleep for a few hours each night. We played no games, we watched no movies and we still had a ball. My in-laws had the kids on Friday and Brandon has the kids on Saturday and I had a complete treat hanging out with girlfriends. I love you Angie, Rena, Leah, Bonnie, and Melissa!


In other news, Elora is the cutest little girl on the planet. In the two days I was gone she picked up two new phrases, "Stop it! Don't do-ning dat." and "not", which she uses in place of "no." She also tells me, "Go way Mom" whenever she is annoyed with me and says "okay" a lot now. I have to kiss her a lot. She has also taken to sleeping on the floor most of the time now that she can get out of her crib.

Quick Jonah story:
Linda made an interesting and delicious African stew last week that she served over rice. It had a lot of sweet potatoes, tofu, and peanut butter in it, along with other random ingredients. Perhaps believing that a three year-old would recognize the flavor of peanut butter amongst it all and be able to articulate that, Linda had the following conversation with Jonah:
Linda: Jonah, what does that taste like?
Jonah: Mmm, it tastes like... crumbs.

What's New?

Well, last night I dreamt I was making out with Finn from Glee, who I don't even have a crush on. I also had the worst heartburn of my life from about 8pm til 6am last night. I never even get heartburn normally.
My sister Sarah was admitted to the hospital yesterday. She had overwhelming pain and nausea from her brain tumor. She and her son Gabe were supposed to be coming out here for a long weekend before going home for surgery. Please keep her in your prayers.

(This is a picture from 3 years ago right after Sarah had her 1st tumor removed. It has grown back and she will be having the same surgery again very soon. This time they will follow with radiation or chemo to keep it from growing back again.)


Yesterday was my second day working for Feel the Photo. I am working most of the day on Thursdays and from home a couple hours a week. I had to get up at 5:30 to make it to a meeting in Salt Lake by 7:15am. Ugh. I am doing marketing for the photographer. Anyone need great family photos, portraits, wedding pics? Just let me know.
Hmm, what else? A few more Sundance pictures coming soon as well as snowmobiling photos, etc. from Lacey's trip out.
Trying to plan out my 2010. I wish I could afford to take vacations every month:) I'm trying to prioritize and budget. We'll be doing lots of weekend trips in the summer and probably a full week at Lake Powell in early September. I'd love to go to my cousin's wedding in Canada in August and to Disneyland in October but I don't know if we can do either of those. We do plan to visit B's mom's family in Illinois in March or June and we really should go to Colorado to visit Jamon's family before they move away from there in November.
My brother Mark gets home from his two year mission to Chihuahua, Mexico on Monday. The kids and I are flying out there on the 10th to spend a week with my family.
Brandon is having his Heber office appraised soon so he can begin the process of negotiating and purchasing it. Very exciting!
Culinary Club this month was doughnuts from brioche dough. Next month Rena's father-in-law who is from the Philippines is coming to teach us an authentic Philippine noodle dish.
Elora is talking up a storm lately. Both my kids seem to get smarter and funnier by the day. Jonah turns three this Sunday. I can't hardly believe it.
More soon.

Sundance Part 1

Friday was a perfect Sundance day. Lacey and I got tickets to both movies we wanted to see (both were sold-out premiers). We saw lots of celebrities. The movies were pretty good. The snow was beautiful.



John Carroll Lynch (mostly a tv actor)


Writer/director and cast of Please Give.


Rebecca Hall


Thomas Ian Nicholas


Tommy Lee Jones (and no this is not zoomed in, he was saying hello to me)


Ron Livingston and Rosemary DeWitt.


Peeking into the press area where the stars pose for photos.


Michael Moore was sitting not far behind us.


Writer/director and some of the cast of The Company Men.


Tom Arnold


Oh yes, that's Ben Affleck.

We watched Please Give and The Company Men. I'd rate Please Give a 3.5 star film (great writing & acting). I give The Company Men 3 stars (Great performances & cinematography but long and too depressing).

Hi

I haven't blogged here all week, but you can see my Golden Globes recap here. I have officially decided to go to Italy. In 2011. I've always wanted to go and I never have the money or the time or whatever so I'm just announcing it to everyone, making it a goal, saving my pennies, and making it happen. I told Brandon first, in hopes that he will join me. I know Jen will go with me if he doesn't. I will go in April, May, September, or October, haven't decided which. I am reading Rick Steve's Italy travel guide. If the world ends in 2012 at least I'll have been to Italy.
In other news, yesterday I bent over to scoop rice out of a colossal bag of rice on the floor of the pantry. When I stood up, Jonah said, "Mom, I saw you bum." I was fully clothed and wearing pants.

A Random Week's Menu

Since I am obsessed with food, I was thinking about what we eat around here. This past week for dinner it was:
Sunday: homemade black bean soup (served with multiple toppings)
Monday: turkey burritos
Tuesday: haystacks
Wednesday: absolutely no recollection of what I cooked for the family (I ate out at Paris Bistro with Andy)
Thursday: scrambled eggs, toast, mango
Friday: homemade pumpkin soup (served in the pumpkin) w/ bread
lunch = homemade mac n' cheese + peas
Saturday: leftovers (funeral potatoes, ham, veggies)
lunch = chicken tikka masala w/ rice & peas

Lunch is usually leftovers, when it wasn't and I actually made something & remembered about it, I noted it.

Began organizing my pantry today. It was quite a project. I've been meaning to get to it for ages. Looks immensely better already. Love it.

Food, Inc.

If you care about food and/or your health and that of your loved ones, go rent Food, Inc. Probably the most important documentary I've ever watched. Trailer available here. More clips available on YouTube.

Books of 2009

I didn't do as much reading as I would have liked in 2009. I completely skipped four of my bookclub books. Three great ones that I began, I never finished. I don't know what my deal was. I almost read 10 books (I vow to finish the three I started last year and didn't finish by this March). I only made three New Year's Resolutions this year (trying to be practical), they are less vague than my usual "Read more, Be healthier", etc., and one of them is to read 15 books this year. Totally manageable.

Here's what I read in 2009:
Early Start Potty Training
Eat This Not That
Book of A Thousand Days
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
Organic Gardening in the American West
The Shack
Utah's National Parks

More than halfway through:
Shadow of the Wind
Kabul Beauty School
Three Cups of Tea

Strangely, the ones I didn't finish were actually the best. I just got started on other things, the next bookclub book, got distracted, or totally forgot about it after a period away. Before Elora was born I never left a book unfinished.

I highly recommend Book of A Thousand Days by Shannon Hale as a fun, quick read for anyone over age 12.

I recommend Animal, Vegetable, Miracle to everyone over age 14. I wish I could say one of my other resolutions was to become a full locavore, but I haven't quite gotten there yet. I do plan to do a bigger and better garden this year and to actually do some canning for the first time though.

This is the Vegeannual. It shows what produce is in season when. AVM says we need to get back in touch with the earth, with the growing seasons, with our food. I agree.

Heroes Crushes

I've watched all of Heroes season 4 in the past two weeks, so of course my current celebrity crushes are from this show.

Zachary Quinto

I know, I know, he's the bad guy. And he plays Spock. But seriously, there is something incredibly sexy about him. Plus, in real life he seems really cool (from the one interview I read about him), practical, down to earth, and thrifty. Gotta love that.

Milo Ventimiglia

It's true that they spent the first half of season four painting him as an angel, a nurse/paramedic set on saving as many lives as possible, and I swear they used soft-lighting and music to make us all fall in love with him. Well, it worked. Despite his Sylvester Stalone crooked mouth.

Masi Oka

The character of Hiro is probably the real keeper of my heart.