turkey day

We had a great Thanksgiving. Bart's brother Bret and his wife Charise came up and stayed with us starting Tuesday, and they brought their new baby, Cooper. Bart's parents came over one at a time on Thanksgiving so that one of them could be with Bart's sister Sadie who was home sick. Other than missing Sadie, we had a great day. A friend helped Bart deep-fry our turkey and we've decided that's the only way to go. It was delicious!! The food was all so good, and by some miracle, it all finished cooking at the same time! We spent the rest of the day relaxing, watching football, visiting, and holding Cooper (he's almost as delicious as my boys!)

The table, all ready for the feast
Bart carving the turkey. Yum!
Enjoying...

first snow!

Kade and Ky were so excited to wake up to snow on the ground yesterday. They have been waiting for snow for months now and it finally arrived. From the second they knew there was snow on the ground, they asked every few minutes if they could go play in it. I told them we had to eat breakfast and get dressed first, and we couldn't go fast enough.
Once we began putting on all our snow gear, it took a good half hour before we were ready to go out.

All dressed up and ready to go. I've never seen them so bundled up before.
Once outside, they immediately started throwing snow at me. They tromped around in it, and less than ten minutes after we got out there, they were begging to go back inside because "this snow is cold." There was no way I was going to spend 30 minutes getting snow gear on for ten minutes outside. So, I convinced them to help me make a snowman, play follow the leader, and try out their new red shovels. Still, every five minutes or so they asked to go inside complaining of being cold. I knew there as no way they were that cold, because I knew how many layers they were wearing. So, I didn't feel too bad making them stay out for a total of 25 minutes.

My poor little Florida babies!

At least they look like they were having a good time!

another gift idea

My talented friend Jessica, who became my friend when we were in 7th grade, makes jewelry. Her jewelry is the subject of a giveaway on the blog: Mama's Losin' It. If you are looking for some beautiful jewelry to give as a gift this year, check out Jessica's site here.

countdown

The boys and I are flying to Utah 2 weeks from tomorrow. We are so excited. We will be there for three weeks (Bart will join us for the last week), so for all of you who will be in Utah then, let us know so that we can get together.

I fully intend on eating at Cafe Rio, Pudding on the Rice, and I was craving Old Spaghetti Factory the other night, so maybe you can meet us at one of the above. Or perhaps we can meet up and just gaze at the mountains together--it's been too long since I've seen them...Mount Timpanogos, I've missed you!

(Oh, and of course I've missed my family immensely, but let's leave it at that lest the tears begin.)

go utes!

That's right folks. I have given it a lot of thought, and after much prayer and contemplation ... I will be cheering for the Utah Utes this Saturday. I realize that most readers of this blog are Cougar fans. Don't worry. I've ok'ed this with my bishop and he promises that I can still keep my membership and temple recommend. Let me further explain. My main goal is a better Cougar team of the future. Let me explain how only a Utah win will accomplish that.

#1- I'm sorry to break it to you all, but a BYU win will NOT put them in a BCS bowl game. The Cougars sorry performance against TCU a few weeks ago put an end to those dreams. And to those of you who want to argue about other 1 loss teams going to a BCS bowl ... sorry, it ain't going to be the Cougars. The BCS won't allow for it:

"By rule, one non-BCS league team gets an automatic invite if it finishes in the top 12 or if it finishes in the top 16 and a BCS conference champion, like the Big East or ACC champion likely will this season, finishes lower. The BCS bowls can choose which team it wants if there are a few that fit the criteria, and at the moment, the odds are good that Utah would be the choice over Boise State, and if eligible, Ball State.
Barring a total collapse, Florida and Alabama will be in the BCS, and so will two Big 12 South teams (assuming Missouri doesn't win the Big 12 title). Assume Ohio State will get an at-large spot if Penn State beats Michigan State. With one non-BCS conference team getting in, which will be Utah if it beats BYU, and Boise State if the Cougars beat the Utes, there's your BCS." - FoxSports.com

This then leads me to my next point...

#2- Trust me, if it has to be anyone, you want it to be Utah. A Utah loss, and Boise State gets the spot. Which they have had the past two years. Any idea what that costs the Mountain West Conference? $17.5 MILLION. I'm not kidding. (see http://www.bcsfootball.org/bcsfb/facts). Maybe they could use that money to fix their lousy TV contract. Taking me to ...

#3- No one will see the BYU-Utah game anyway. You know how everyone in Utah calls this the Holy War and how every year KSL and the Salt Lake Tribune do stories about how this is the best rivalry in the nation. Last year I lived in Florida. Now I'm in Wisconsin. Think anyone there cares about this game ... or has even ever heard of the Holy War? Nope. And none of them will get to see it anyway. The Mountain West Conference has the worst TV contract of any football conference. Which explains why ...

#4- Utah in a BCS game is great exposure ... not just for the Utes, but for the entire conference. I'm actually surprised to admit that the MWC had a great season. Look, they have 3 ranked teams now, and probably will at the end of the season. They played great in their non-conference games, which is very important for a non-"Big Six" conference. In my opinion, if no one plays in a BCS bowl to represent all they have accomplished this year ... it's all for naught. I mean come on, look at what the Mountain West gets ...

#5- Win or lose, BYU will play in Las Vegas... again. A Utah loss means they play in the Poinsettia Bowl. Both of these games are before Christmas. Lame. December 20th? No one is thinking about watching bowl games December 20th! I'll still be wondering how long I can put off buying Ashli a Christmas present! Besides, one of these bowls gets the 5th selection from the Pac-10. The other gets the 7th. Wow. Win those games and what do you prove?

I'm sure that many of you will have a problem with this. It goes against everything you have even done. Some of you will call me a traitor. Many of you will say I'm not a fan. I just want what is best for this program long term. I believe Bronco is doing a great job and that the team will continue to improve. This is what is best for BYU this year. And please realize that I attended BYU during the Crowton era. I do not 'bleed blue' as my wife does. Besides, as long as they sing "Popcorn Popping" at the games, or until the fans in Provo learn to tailgate, it won't really be college football anyway:-)

I'LL BE WEARING RED THIS SATURDAY!!! GO UTES!!!

thanks giving

Thanks to Bart for taking a day off of work and taking me to Chicago for the weekend.
Thanks to Bart's family for watching Kade and Ky so we could escape for a few days.
Thanks to the temple workers at the Chicago temple for holding the session for us since the bad traffic made us a few minutes late.
No thanks to Googlemaps who gave us two bogus addresses for Giordano's pizza near our hotel, and caused us to drive around for an hour only to find no Giordano's.
Thanks to Bart for taking me to Red Robin instead.
Thanks to Bart for the new bracelet, nail polish and shirt we found at the mall.
Thanks to the Hyatt Place hotel for having a huge TV with HD so Bart could stay up late watching things blow up in high definition.
Thanks to Ikea for being across the street from our hotel, for having thousands of amazing things to look at, some to buy and some to wonder what they were.
Also, thanks to Ikea for the shopping cart escalators. I've never seen anything so cool!
Thanks to Bart for taking me back to the mall and for the birthday present that I will pretend to be so surprised about in a few weeks.
Thanks to Giordano's for the yummy pizza we had for lunch Saturday afternoon (or was it dinner? What do you call it when it's 3:30 in the afternoon?)
Thanks to the Florida Gators for the entertaining first half we got to watch while we waited for our Chicago style stuffed pizza to cook.
Thanks to Kade and Ky for being good while we were gone, and for being so excited to see us when we got back.
Thanks to Bart for marrying me 5 1/2 years ago and for being such an amazing husband. What a fun date!

great gift idea

If you are like me, you know a lot of people who just had a baby. Or maybe you just had a baby. If so, you have to check out my friend Meg's etsy shop. She makes the cutest bath aprons called Swaddles. She gave us two when Kade and Ky were born and they are great. They work great for little babies, big babies, and toddlers. We still use them and my boys are almost three. (Of course now they are used mostly as post-bath super hero capes.) They make great Christmas gifts, or buy one for yourself! Check out her shop here.

bunnies and leaves

Last week the boys and I went to play with their Aunt Sadie. Sadie showed them the new baby bunnies (there are 9!). The boys loved them. They would smile at them, and didn't like when they would hop away. They were so soft and adorable!
Then, Sadie raked the leaves into a pile and the boys jumped right in. It was their first time playing the leaves and it was so fun to watch.

Here are six of the nine bunnies. Aren't they cute?

Kade and three bunnies

Ky demonstrating improper baby bunny holding technique, but look at that smile!

Covered in leaves

When they got tired of jumping in the leaves, they decided to bury Sadie in them.

Then, it turned into a leaf-throwing fight. We all had a blast!

i'm an aunt!

My amazing sister-in-law had her first baby, Cooper Bret Miller, on Sunday. We were lucky enough to be able to be at the hospital waiting for his arrival. Charise did a great job carrying and delivering this beautiful, healthy, 8 lb. 10 oz. baby boy. He is adorable, soft, warm, and delicious! Congrats Bret and Charise!Kade wanted to show Cooper his drawing, and then asked, "Why he not smile at my picture?"

Ky hoped that smiling really big at the baby would make him smile back.Uncle Bart...doesn't he look good with a baby in his arms?

happy halloween!

We had such a great Halloween. The boys are at such a fun age where everything about Halloween is exciting and they are able to do so much more than last year.Kade as the Evil Emperor Zurg (from Toy Story 2). He has been a little obsessed with Zurg for awhile now, so I was excited to find this costume for him.

Ky as Buzz Lightyear. He doesn't stop saying, "To infinity and beyond!" and "pewing" everyone with his laser.

What a pair!

Sweet boy

Silly Buzz

The boys with their friend Lily

The Toy Story gang: Jessie, Zurg, Buzz and Woody

Evil vs. Good

Ky was the only one brave enough to scoop out the pumpkin guts
Kade's monster face (carved by mom) and Ky's werewolf (carved by dad. Bart had never carved a pumpkin with a pattern and the little saws. He did a great job!)