If you like pina coladas...

ALOHA!!

Guess who that adorable little island cutie is?! None other than-- yours truly! My mom has spent numerous hours scanning in all our old photos from our old albums ("alblums" as mom says!), and I found this picture that I didn't even know existed! What a find--Thanks mom!

And I just had to include this little gem too...

Me and my two older sisters! Ahhh--so cute!

Mahalo!

Safety Patrol

Ellie loves watching a show called Danger Rangers on PBS kids. I guess Maddy looked a little unsafe rocking back and forth on her toy one day, so Ellie went and plonked this little helmet on her sister's head-- just for precautions. Way to look out for your little sis, Ellie!

Happy Birthday!

I'm a day behind in posting this, but yesterday was so full of birthday festivities that I didn't get a chance to put up my Happy Birthday post. So.....

Happy Birthday Alicia!!!!

Alicia will have to comment on the specifics of her birthday and if she really enjoyed it, but I know she appreciated all the calls or messages! A few highlights of the day included breakfast in bed, a shower without screaming kids, visiting teaching, pre-school, a nice steak dinner, and desert with friends.

We love you!

Mark, Ellie, and Maddy

I'm going to Disneyland!!

Mark's parents, older brother and family came to California last week. We met up with them at Disneyland one day and had such a great time. The park was all decked out for Halloween and everything looked so great! Ellie was a little wary to ride some of the rides though, after we tricked her into riding Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. (Hey--let's be honest, I was a little bit nervous too, so for being fooled into riding it and not ever having been on a roller coaster before, I think she did great!) All in all though, we had a fabulous time!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!!! (and Minnie too!!)

(Ellie with some of her cousins. Unfortunately, Maddy had a "little accident" and couldn't be in the picture!!)

Ellie wanted to see Minnie Mouse the most!

The gang leaving the park after a fun-filled day!!

You paid HOW much for that?!

Umbrella--5 cents. Pants--10 cents. Shoes--5 cents. Shirt--5 cents. Purse--20 cents. Sunglasses--5 cents. Great memories and a night full of good laughs-- PRICELESS

Skirt--25 cents. Purse--35 cents. Shoes--A whole dollar!! Book on How to raise a Mormon whiz kid--5 cents. Jacket--30 cents (it also came with a pair of pants!!)

Ellie-- the next morning modeling for us...

While my sister was in town this past week, we got invited to a nickel auction. Just what IS a nickel auction you ask yourself? Well... in the simplest terms, it is basically a girl's night out where we all get together at someone's house, loaded down with our coin purses (mine was a giraffe--stolen from Ellie for just such an occasion) full of nickels and bid on each other's "treasures." You literally bid in 5 cent increments and the highest bidder takes the prize. Well...boy did we end up with some lovely prizes--as you can see for yourself above! The funniest part of the night, was that when we got home at 1 am, we decided to have a fashion show and take some crazy pictures of ourselves. We were laughing so hard that we kept waking everyone else in the house up--sorry again Mark!

Okay--I know, sounds weird right?! But, I promise, besides the full bag that is headed to the DI this week (if anyone nearby is just dying for the items shown here-- minus the umbrella, blue purse and glasses--let me know ASAP :), we really did end up with some pretty cool stuff and hardly spent anything at all. And-- after I sanitize some things a few times, they will be good as new.

Oh well!! We had a great adventure, some hysterics and some fabulous pictures! And as Angie said--"it was cheaper than going to a movie!" And far more entertaining and memorable I'm sure!!

So long, farewell....

We had a fabulous time visiting with my sister, her husband and son while they were here in Cali! Here is our sweet little nephew pulling his new suitcase as he heads out to the car! We miss you guys--it's TOO quiet around here!!

Our BIG Preschooler

Ellie started preschool last week-- I can't believe she is already old enough! It was hard for me to say goodbye and to realize that my little girl is growing up. But she adores her new teacher and has already been invited to a birthday party of a classmate. The class is small--only 7 kids, so I think that will be a good thing. She really was ready for this--even if I wasn't--she played preschool all summer long, and kept asking when her "real" preschool was going to start. (I guess the once a week home preschool with friends last year was a fake one?) Anyways--HIP HIP HOORAY FOR ELLIE!!!

SNL standup

Ellie--The comedian

I love SNL (Saturday Night Live for those of you who aren't with it). Growing up, I remember coming home late Sat. night and watching the end of it with my parents before bed. I don't get to watch it very often anymore, except for the occasional rerun, but Ellie reminded me of one of my favorite classic skits the other night--"Deep thoughts with Jack Handy" One of my all time favorites is---

"To me, it's a good idea to always carry two sacks of something when you walk around. That way, if anybody says, "Hey, can you give me a hand?" you can say, "Sorry, got these sacks."

So-- Ellie, unknowingly, reenacted this exact "thought" the other day as we headed out of the Doctor's office. I was struggling to juggle our over sized diaper bag, Maddy-- in her horribly awkward baby carrier, and all the papers, samples and magazines I had just stolen from the waiting room. We were headed down the stairs when I lost my grip and dropped the "hot" issue of Parenting onto the steps, followed by the lotion, soap, and diaper ointment samples. I was afraid that if I bent over to pick them up, I would either drop Maddy or my opened diaper bag would lose all of its contents, so I asked Ellie for a bit of help. She then turned to me with this utter look of annoyance and says "sorry mom, my hands are full. I have my sticker in one hand and my sucker in the other--get it yourself!!" I couldn't believe the nerve!!!

So... JACK HANDY=FUNNY, the same situation with my 3 year old in my time of crisis=not so funny!!

One person's trash is another person's treasure....

We really have some very nice, generous friends down here. In the past couple of weeks, we have received--a Little Tikes playhouse, a double jogging stroller, a big bag of brand name baby clothes, about 25 hair bows, a peg perego ride on electric train, a FP dinosaur electronic toy, a Little Tikes water table and 2 bar stools for my scrapbook tables (which bytheway, the table tops were given to us too)--all FREE of charge mind you --and in great condition! I love a good bargain, but I love when something is free even better! Poor Mark though could do without it all I'm sure! "TOO MUCH CLUTTER!!!" Oh well, the girls sure are having fun being spoiled...as you can see by Ellie's big smile as she is peeking out the window to her new playhouse.