The Hansens'

Ava's First Christmas!

2012-02-19T12:01:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how much having a little person around can bring out the true Christmas spirit. Even though Ava really wasn't old enough to know exactly what was going on or to be excited for Santa to come, Kyle and I did everything we knew how to make Ava's very first Christmas a memorable one. We had lights put up on the house and went all out on the inside of our home with colorful new decor. I have always been a fan of a minimalist color scheme, but there was something so fun about this time just going crazy with tons of color. Ava loved our tree and figured out very quickly that the ornaments were fun to take off the tree and play with.

Time flies when you're having fun!

2011-11-30T08:07:00.001-08:00

Wow! I can't believe it's been so long since my last post! SO much has happened since Ava's 4 month appt. I decided to leave Discover to be home with the little angel. I'm so blessed to have that option and although I miss my job and all the wonderful people I got to work with, I know I would regret it had I not taken the opportunity. We moved into and completely renovated a new (to us) home! I'm working on "before and after" photos and will post them once I do.

Now that we are settled in, it's time to plan for the holidays and Ava's FIRST BIRTHDAY! Wow, time flies. I can't believe she's going to be one on January 7th. She has 8 teeth, weighs 25 lbs, is about to walk any day now and still has no hair but is working on it. :)

These are our first official family pictures that were taken last month by our wonderful friend and photographer, Bryan McCracken. He's the same photographer that took Ava's newborn photos. It was a lot easier this time around! Anyway, sorry I have been gone so long. :) xoxo

4 month appointment

2011-06-08T18:04:00.000-07:00

Well now that Ava is 5 months old, I better update her 4 month appointment before the 6 month one has come and gone. Time flies when you're having fun! :) So as of last month, little one is apparently not so little....rating in the 98% for weight and 92% for height weighing almost 17 lbs. I guess I'm doing my job!

Smiley Girl!

2011-04-11T11:40:00.000-07:00

Little Ava Bug has found her smile! It's the cutest thing and just melts my heart. She's a happy girl, it doesn't take much to get a big grin out of her. Check out her shades! She thinks they make her look cool. :)

Ava's First Photo Shoot

2011-04-02T19:16:00.000-07:00

At 3 weeks old, Ava had her first photo shoot. It took our awesome photographer, Bryan, about 3 hours just to capture these few images, bless his patient heart. :) It was totally worth it.

Welcome Home, Ava!

2011-01-31T15:18:00.000-08:00

By now this is old news, my apologies....I had something come up! :)

Ava Simone Hansen is here! Our little angel came early on January 7th, 2011 at 12:59pm. She weighed 7 lbs 8 oz and was 20 inches long and has stolen our hearts.

The night of the 6th we went to the hospital after I had been having contractions at work all day. They almost sent us home, but at the last minute admitted me. About 13 hours later I was holding my sweet little angel. The labor and delivery went very smooth, thanks to good old western medicine.....God bless the man who invented the epidural. I was so impressed by the staff at IHC Riverton, they really did a phenomenal job.

Ava's Shower!

2010-12-19T12:30:00.000-08:00

My dear, sweet friend Lacey threw the most amazing shower on the 4th. It was the second shower now, Ava is set! Last month a couple of girlfriends from work threw one as well, so we are officially spoiled rotten! Thank so so much to all those who came and spoiled our little one.

There are SO many awesome blankets, clothes and accessories...even a tiny little Ava sized bracelet :). A VERY special thanks to Lacey for all your hard work and having us all over to your gorgeous home. What a hostess!!! This girl knows how to throw a party!

As you can see, the decorations were so amazing. She made those poofy balls and all the decor.....and the letters are SO cute. They are now hanging on the door to Ava's room. Lacey, you are a sweetheart. Thank you SO MUCH for throwing the best shower ever! :)

Mmmmm.....chocolate!

2010-11-20T08:50:00.000-08:00

I had my first legit "I have to have that and I don't care about anything else" craving this week. It happened to be on a morning that I was running a little behind schedule and on my way into work for a meeting, but that didn't matter. I was daydreaming of a Dunford double chocolate doughnut. The next thing I new, the stars aligned and there was a red light at the corner with a 7-11, so without hesitation I pulled in and found my glorious doughnut. I was tempted to buy two, but I got one... and completed it with a milk chug.......and I even made it to work on time. :)

My Happy Place

2010-11-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

Little by little, we've gotten the nursery just about done! All it's missing is the awesome rocker/glider that I ordered, but it'll be a few more weeks until it gets here. It's crazy to think that I'm in my third trimester and Ava will be here in about 11 weeks! We are so excited to meet her and are counting down the days. Even though the nursery is for Ava, Kyle and I have found it to be sort of our "happy place". If I'm having a bad day or upset, all I have to do is walk in there and look around...sometimes I open the closet or a drawer and peek at the tiny pink clothes and the little bitty socks and I can't help but feel overjoyed. I've caught Kyle in there a couple times too and he broke in the pillow pet and her fluffy rug. :) Gramma Peterson sent Ava her first package a few weeks ago, which was this adorable pillow pet. He's so cute, I had to put him in the crib.

Ava's Room!

2010-09-09T06:55:00.001-07:00

Our little bundle is starting to have quite the impressive digs! Little by little the nursery is coming together. Her room got a fresh coat of paint last week. It's grey, which may seem like an odd choice for such a happy place, but it makes the white accents really stand out and I think it looks great. I managed to get the the crib and changing table put together and Kyle hung the white curtains over the weekend. All we need now is a fluffy rug and a glider to add a cozy touch. There are still 20 weeks until Ava's arrival, but getting the nursery done before my belly gets any bigger is quite the relief. I'm already having trouble tying my shoes and I feel like any day now I'll have smaller planets beginning to orbit me. I'm feeling Ava moving around now every day and I absolutely love it. What an amazing feeling! No complaints here. I'm a happy planet. :)

She's still a she!

2010-08-14T17:46:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been confirmed. Our little girl is still a girl! We went back to fetal studio and after taking a break to get a drink and walk around the mall for a bit, since our little one was being stubborn (taking after her dad already) she finally moved into the right position to see for sure. How exciting! Now the shopping begins! Kyle and I, being the planners we are, have already decided on a name....Ava Simone Hansen. She's half way here!

Listen to kthom52s Playlist

2010-07-29T09:51:00.001-07:00

Is it a girl?!?

2010-07-20T08:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we made a trip to Fetal Studio in South Towne Mall to meet our little one, now almost 14 weeks old! The due date was adjusted to January 21st, the baby is 12 centimeters long, has a heart rate of 158 bpm and........is very likely a GIRL!!! She was moving around a lot, sucking her thumb and then moved her hand to her forehead... already a drama queen? They are having me come back next week to double check, being that I got super excited and went about 5 days sooner than I should have. :) The sonographer was an OB from Europe and said he was pretty sure it's a girl, but to wait until next week before buying anything pink. So, unless the little one does some serious sprouting this week, we're having a girl!!!

Going strong!

2010-07-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

We had our first official Doctor appointment last Tuesday at the Riverton IHC. I must say, I am very impressed with Dr. Anders and the staff there Western OB-GYN. Everyone was so friendly and didn't keep us waiting, we were in an out within 45 minutes with a bag full of bottles, diaper samples, formula, magazines and all kinds of goodies. We heard the baby's heartbeat once more on the doppler and it's still going strong! I have to say, I sounded like a whiner in my last post. I wasn't feeling so hot for a little while, but I soon figured out that I just needed to eat something every couple of hours and I'm usually fine. If that doesn't work, a ginger sucker or drink has done the trick. I haven't been throwing up or anything, just nauseous. That's pretty dang lucky, considering stories I've heard from other ladies. No complaints here! So this is week 12! On Sunday, the first trimester will be over and soon we will know if our world is going to be rocked by a little pink bundle or a blue one. :)

Fat and Happy

2010-06-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's normal, but it feels a little too soon to be grown out of my pants. Alas, I finally unbuttoned my last pair of jeans that fit on Tuesday. It seemed silly to buy jeans every month, so I just went for it and bought a few articles of maternity clothin. They are much cuter than I had expected! Along with that and the morning (more like all day) sickness that finally caught up with me, it's been quite the eventful week. No complaints here, I'm fat and happy. :)

Alive and well!

2010-06-04T16:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a little scare and went to have a little check up. Everything is good and I'm SO glad we went, since we were able to see and hear the most beautiful thing....our baby's heartbeat! It was incredible, I wish I had recorded it! Prior to this event, the only proof of pregnancy I've had is eating-everything-in-sight-itus and a stick that I peed on. Now that we've seen the little shrimp with a heartbeat, it's really sunk in. We're havin' a baby!!!

A Bun in the Oven!

2010-05-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right.....on the 16th Kyle and I learned that there will soon be a 5th member of our family. I know it's a little taboo to announce such a thing so early on, but honestly I am so freaking excited that there is no way I could keep this a secret. Kyle has been just as excited, finding a way to break the news to even the waitress at dinner. :) Aside from being extra tired and having to pee every hour on the hour, I feel great! Maybe I'll beat this whole morning sickness business. Our due date is January 24th....and so the countdown to baby begins.

29 and so fine!

2010-05-25T08:41:00.000-07:00

Happy 29th, Hubbs! Ok, so I'm only a little late posting this one, but better late than never. Kyle had a birthday last month and we just hung out at home and watched a movie....boring, I know! That's what the birthday boy wanted, though. :) So we had some dinner and a huge piece of our traditional chocolate-chocolate cake, yum! This year I added some chocolate chips to shake things up a little bit. It was sooooo good! I think that cake lasted about 3 days in our house and was well worth the extra time at the gym.

My First Blanket!

2010-03-24T09:30:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago my awesome coach Zane and his wife Ashley had a baby boy, Landon. Being that he has saved me from the looney bin several times since he's been my trusty sidekick, I wanted to do something creative for baby Landon. With a little help from my creativity muse, Rachel (thanks for your ideas!) I was able to successfully execute the creation of my first home made baby blanket. This is what I had to work with, 2 pieces of fabric and these super cute iron on letters. I'm so glad Rachel told me to do the iron on first, or I would never have thought to do that and would have had a disaster on my hands. Thanks, girl! So I wanted to do this border idea, but I bit off a little more than I could chew and decided to do a simpler version. I first ironed on the letters, put a stitch just to be safe and laid the pieces facing each other so it was inside out. I pinned it, sewed it all the way but about 10 inches, pulled it right side out and hand stitched it closed. It turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself! :)

Aloha!

2010-03-11T19:32:00.000-08:00

The bad news is that our vacation has come to an end, but the good news is there was no tsunami.....just a ton of roosters. I've heard many things about Hawaii, but the 4am "cock-a-doodle-do"s were unexpected. At first I was giddy and thought it was just the coolest thing, but it wasn't long before I was fantasizing about some serious target practicing.Kauai is so incredibly beautiful and we enjoyed every moment. There was definitely a lot of rain, but it never lasted too long before the sunshine peeked through and the temperature never dropped below 75. It was heaven. Kyle, being the wonderful husband he is, planned the whole trip and he could not have done a better job. We stayed at the Marriott resort, right on the beach. We ate dinner every night practically on the beach at "Duke's Barefoot Bar and Grill", not that the waterfall and koi pond inside the restaurant weren't amazing enough!The resort was amazing with the biggest pool I've ever seen surrounded by 4 hot tubs, two of which you have to swim to, huge cabanas and waterfalls. There was an island lounge area in the middle of the pool that you have to walk over a little bridge to reach it. From the pool was an incredible ocean view and the grounds were acre upon acre of the most gorgeous exotic flowers, palm trees and dozens of tiki torches scattered everywhere. we have been to so many beautiful places, but neither of us had ever been to Hawaii and it was so much more beautiful than I ever imagined. Luckily, I was armed with my nikon and beginner photography skills :). Kyle was teasing me for my excessive photo taking, but I couldn't help it when surrounded by such beauty everywhere you look. . One of my favorite things were the Koi ponds. I never have been much of a fish fan, unless it's on my plate, but these guys are not ordinary fish. They are not only beautiful, but they have personality! They show off in hopes to get a treat and are so entertaining to watch.We spent a lot of time at the pool and beachside, but there was so much we wanted to see so many days we hopped in our little rental car and went exploring. The island isn't very big and there is just one major road that runs along the coast. On our first adventure we headed north, picked up a friendly hitchhiker along the way, stopped at some cool little shops, got fresh mango from a road side stand and stopped to take in some of the sights. We drove until the road ended and when we stopped, there was this incredible cave on one side of the road and another amazing beach on the other. On our last day we rented a kayak and went on a little adventure. There were several places to pull off the river and see waterfalls, a grotto and some pools. We rowed up as far as we could go and it was so quiet and serene that it seemed as there was no one around for miles. What an amazing trip. Hawaii, we'll be beck soon!

Kyle's ER Adventure

2010-01-15T07:54:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday I got a call from Kyle asking me to pick him up from the gym because he thought he had dislocated his shoulder. If you know Kyle, he won't go to the doctor until he's on his death bed so this scared me to death and within seconds I was flying down Bangerter like Jeff Gordon.
As you can see from the x-ray, he most certainly did! Kyle has broken nearly every bone in his body but said this trumped all on the pain meter. I held his arm up trying to alleviate some of the pain while the nurse was putting in an IV to get him drugged up enough to pop his arm back in. As I'm watching the nurse struggle to get the IV in Kyle's tense arm. The next thing I know, I come to on the floor. The poor guy! I apparently tried to take his arm down with me. The next morning this seemed like a nightmare to me and if it weren't for the searing pain in Kyle's shoulder, he would probably feel the same.

Breckenridge Road Trip

2010-01-15T07:36:00.001-08:00

Last Thursday Kyle and I packed up the Subaru, picked up Zak & Ashley and headed to Colorado. Mapquest estimated 7.5 hours, but Kyle made it in an impressive 6 hours with his lead foot. What a cool little town! It's like a smaller, less snooty Park City. We got in late Thursday and just hung out after dinner, Friday we rode the wide opend acres all day, Saturday we walked the town shopping and headed home Sunday. What a blast! It was good to get away, but I'm ready for the warm weather. Hawaii is 6 weeks away!

Halloween, Hansen style!

2009-11-09T07:15:00.000-08:00

The weekend before Halloween we suited up and headed out for a night of spooky fun! Lacey was the "hostess with the mostess" and went all out.Their house was decked out with a fog machine on the porch, balloons, glittery bones, glowing pumpkins, a bucket of water bottles with little spiders glued to them bubbling over from dry ice and a TON of yummy and creative food. I made "Deviled Eyeballs" as an appetizer and "Graveyard dirt" for dessert. Kyle made "Brain Tumor" drinks. It was the most fun I can remember having in a LONG time! Yes, that is Kyle in the mustache on a burrow. He won the best costume prize, which was a close run next to Carl's Lt. Dangle costume. Good stuff! Lacey and I were the law that night as well, she as a hottie Ms. Officer and yours truly as border patrol. Then there was Ashley as Marilyn, Zak as Tropic Thunder, Tyler was the 1st ammendment and Jenna was a lumber jack. Thanks, Carl and Lacey, for all the hard work you put into making such a fun night.
On Halloween, Kyle and I hung out at home with our little Angel & Devil to hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters. Kyle decided to be the hero of the neighborhood and hand out full size candy bars to the kids. Now he has to do it every year, kids don't forget that kind of thing! We hope you all had a safe and happy Halloween! Now the holidays are right around the corner!

New York, New York. It's a hell of a town!

2009-09-07T15:33:00.000-07:00

We spent the last 4 days painting New York City red with our wonderful Uncle John and Aunt Amy. We would have gone to the dullest of places just to see them because they are truley 2 of the most awesome people on the planet, but they just happen to live in Manhatten so we lucked out big time! There was so much to do and see, but not nearly enough time to see it all so of course we did a LOT of shopping, went to the "Top of the Rock" which is the lookout point on the roof of Rockefeller center which was INCREDIBLE! We saw "Wicked" on Broadway, chartered a sailboat past EllisIsland for an amazing view of the Statue of Liberty.

We had real New York pizza, shopped Chinatown, we saw the progress at ground zero, ate the most delicious food, walked around central park, Wall Street and saw some amazing architecture. We also toured the Museum of Modern Art, or "MoMA" as they call it. There were some truly breathtaking paintings, but also a whole lot of garbage I'm sure Monet or Picasso would be offended by sharing a gallery with. Good news though, it no longer takes talent to be an artist!

What an awesome trip! New York, we will be back soon. :)

Mission accomplished!

2009-07-05T18:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this is about 2 weeks late (sorry), but I am proud to announce that Kyle and I made it through The Wasatch Back! Well, there was never a question as to Kyle's ability, however I was a different story. I found some ambition I didn't know existed and ran(well, jogged is probably a better term) the entire 14.1 miles of my 3 legs. That's right, I am totally bragging because I did not stop to walk once. Kyle was a total rockstar and anihilated his whopping 18.1 miles too! Poor guy got stuck with some gnarly legs. Our team was awesome and our van had a good time, other than our finish line debocle (sorry, Tyler!). I'm already getting pumped to do it again next year. It was a total blast and I loved every minute of it.

Countdown to Ragnar

2009-04-11T14:54:00.001-07:00

As a lot of you know, last year Kyle took part in the Wasatch Back relay race while I volunteered and cheered him on from the sidelines. I remember watching these people thinking they must be insane to run their hearts out several times in the heat of June over a 36 hour period with no sleep and no shower....so of course when the time came to sign up this year, I said "I'm in!". Insane? Maybe....but I am so excited about it I can hardly wait. Oddly enough, training has been going great! I am already up to 45 minute runs. It's amazing what an awesome playlist and a good pair of running shoes can do for a person. Look out Ragnar, here we come!

The Best Vacation EVER!

2009-03-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry, but it's taken me a while to accept that our vacation is over and blog about it. For seven wonderful days, we lounged by the pool, basked on beautiful beaches, explored foreign cities, ate delicious food (we did a LOT of that), laughed, shopped, drank ice cold drinks garnished with fruit and little umbrellas...it was absolutely amazing, relaxing, exciting and WONDERFUL! We went with a group of 8 friends, 10 including us. I highly recommend cruising with pals, it was the best experience ever to be in such an awesome place and have some friends along to make it that much more fun. Between the 5 cameras in action, we have hundreds of photographed moments to sift through, but here are just a few of my favorite.

Everyone met up in Miami at Tyler and Jenna's hotel to grab some breakfast and head to the port. 6 of us took a red eye flight the night before and had only minutes of sleep the entire night, thanks in part to the layover but mostly to foreigners with no airplane etiquette. We were all running on no sleep and after braving the crowded, unorganized, smelly mosh-pit that is Miami International Airport, we were all exhausted. Tyler and Jenna's little hotel room was invaded by the other 8 of us and we laid down for a moment and all ended up asleep in a huge cuddly cluster. 4 to each bed and the others on the floor! No one seemed to mind though, I know we didn't. I was thankful to share that bed for the best 2 hour nap of my whole life! Here's me spooning Jenna and Kyle and Tyler on the bottom....lol. Good times.

After a white knuckled van ride to the port and a fairly swift and painless security process, all 10 of us are safely aboard the Liberty of the Seas! We all went and checked out our surprisingly roomy (for a cruise ship) staterooms and then met up to go check out our home for the next 7 days. Within an hour of arriving to the port of Miami, here we are (except Eric, who is taking this lovely photo) with tropical drink in hand ready for our adventure to begin!

GO TEAM MAN MADE! The first two days we were at sea, so we decided to check out some of the fun activities aboard the ship. Here are they boys competing in a dodgeball tournament. They were serious competetors and did awesome! It was so fun to watch and cheer them on.

The second night was a formal dinner so we all got snazzy and headed to find our lovely ocean view table for ten. The food was incredible and the service could not have been better. Our waiter, Mhutu from India and his assistant Carlos from Chile, were there to please, pamper us and make us all a few pound heavier by the end of the week.
For those of you who have never cruised before, each night they bring out a different menu of gourmet foods that you would expect to order at an expensive resturaunt. You pick anything you want and as much of it as you want, THEN they bring you the dessert menu.....oh it's a good thing I brought my gym clothes.
Our first stop was San Juan, Puerto Rico. I had no idea how much history lies there. San Juan is so beautiful and we only had a few hours there so we went exploring.
We stumbled upon this gorgeous cathedral that was over 100 years old. We walked around and took some stairs down to a tomb with a crypt and It was a little creepy, but fascinating. We toured this incredible Revolutionary War fort equipped with cannonballs and all. Located on the northeast corner of Old San Juan, Fort Cristobal is one of the largest fortresses ever built in the Americas. Construction commenced in 1634 and the fort was redesigned in the 19th century. With its impressive walls reaching over 100 feet above the crashing waves, its primary function was to guard San Juan against land attacks. San Cristobal is attached to El Morro by colossal walls filled with cannon-firing positions. It was so interesting and beautiful. You could actually still see the gunpowder residue from where the cannons rested in the stone. Amazing.

The Captian's Ball! We went from dinner to the prominade to party it up with Captian Charles. Note: "It's a ship we're on, not a boat. A ship has a Captian and a boat has a stressed out husband."

Our next stop, Phillipsberg, St. Marteen. This was such a perfect day and what a beautiful city! We did a little shopping in the village, then headed straight to the white sandy beach for a dip in the crystal clear blue water. After a few hours of lounging on the beach, we headed oer to meet up with our guide for the snorkeling excursion. It was an awesome little floating boardwalk and tiki hut with a bbq grill and bar. We went on a snorkleing adventure then hung out and had a hamburger before returning to the ship for a night out on the town! It's hard to pick a favorite, but if I had to choose, it would be this island because it was so beautiful and relaxing. Also the shopping had a huge part in winning me over. I would love to come back!

Our final stop was the Royal Caribbean-owned island of Labadee, Haiti. This was also very scenic. There were hammocks and lounge chairs scattered along the beach and it was a perfect day to just lounge and take a little nap on the beach. It was a little too rocky for wading or swimming and that was okay, by now we were all pretty worn out from all the excitment the previous two days. We had ourselves a "Laba-Doozie"(a tropical frozen drink)and did a little shopping in the Haitian flea market. These Hatians are worse than used car salesmen. Think Tiujana times about a hundred! They are like vultures just salivating at the sight of American tourists. The funny thing is, they would sell so much more of their crap if they wouldn't harass people so bad! They seriously drive people off because of how irritatingly aggressive they are. The things they were selling are actually pretty neat. Hand made necklaces made out of watermelon seeds, Ju-ju berries and caster seeds. They had all sorts of hand carved wooden bowls and jewelry. It's truly amazing how long that must have taken them to hand craft these things.
We had so much fun and there was SOOOOO much to do on the ship, i could go on and on about the game shows, the ice skating rink, the flow-rider surfing simulator, the mini golf course, the casino, the dance club Catacombs and so much more. I am now hooked on cruising and Royal Caribbean is the only way to go. A+ for them!

Hansen Family Photo Shoot!

2009-02-22T18:07:00.001-08:00

First of all, I just need to thank my darling, patient husband for being such a good sport. There are few things Kyle despises more than being photographed......and one of those happens to be taking the dogs in the Jeep. It takes him hours to clean all the slobber off the windows. So what did I decide to do?

Last week we packed up the pooches and headed up to Inkleys to get our vogue on. I really didn't know what to expect, these dogs of ours are naughty at times and their moods are unpredictable. Much to our satisfaction, our stinky little babies were angels. Here it is! Our first family pictures.

Valentines Day in Vegas!

2009-02-19T18:09:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning we packed up our suit case and headed south for some much needed R & R. We stayed at the beatiful Green Valley Ranch Casino and Spa. It was so relaxing and so much fun! We relaxed in the whirlpool at the lavish spa, did a little shopping, and we saw the show "V" at the V Theater in Planet Hollywood. It was a blast and I can't wait to go back!

There's no such thing as too much sushi.

2009-01-25T09:29:00.000-08:00

Last Friday we ate at Mizumi for the first time. The exterior is appealing, but once inside the atmosphere is one of a cheap Vietnamese nail salon. They do have a patio with neat little Japanese lanterns that would be awesome when it's warm. The food was amazing, though a tad expensive. I'm sure we'll go back when it's warm enough to hang out on the patio.

On Wednesday I met my mom and Gary down at this cute little Japanese restaurant in Orem. I don't recall the name but it's a tepann yaki restaurant which also has yummy sushi and they have a buy one roll get one free lunch special. It was so good! I wish I could remember the name....I wish it was closer!

Friday night Kyle and I met our friends Zak and Ashley (otherwise known as "Zashley") for sushi at our old trusty fallback. We always go to Tepanyaki because it's close to home, there is never a wait for a table, the food is good and it's inexpensive.

Just when I'm starting to feel like a sushi connoisseur, Kyle has hit the breaks on the whole operation. He thinks we are eating it too much! Well, Kyle. Here's my opinion on the matter. There's no such thing as too much sushi!

Snow....

2009-01-06T09:45:00.000-08:00

I am SO over it. Playing in it is so much fun, but to the ratio of playing versus driving in it, shoveling it, walking dogs in it and so on...just isn't worth it. I am ready for some sunshine and a drink with one of those little umbrellas. 9 weeks and 4 days to go...

Our Children

2009-01-05T18:47:00.000-08:00

Oh, just in case you were wondering...the house belongs to Burgess and Dolce. They just let us live in it.

Snowbasin

2009-01-04T18:29:00.000-08:00

Today Kyle and I headed up north to do a little snowboarding with Summer and Steve. It was a gorgeous day, but freezing cold! The jeep said it was 5 below when we pulled in to the resort around 9am. Brrrrrrrr! So this was only my second attempt at snowboarding, but I have to say I am really proud of myself! I perfected a heal turn and never fell while getting off the lift. Summer and I have both lived in Utah our whole lives and both were never much for the snow, but today we proved ourselves worthy of the greatest snow on earth! With a little help from our instructor Spencer, of course:) I am really excited to learn more, get better and hopefully be able to keep up with Kyle on the mountain someday.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-03T09:20:00.000-08:00

Wow! Another year has come and gone. It's unbelievable how quickly life flies by. I must be having fun!

This holiday season was wonderful. We spent Thanksgiving in Delta with my family where we had a feast with all the trimmings. Kyle counted 13 pies. That's my mom, though! She insisted on making the favorite dessert of each person in attendance. We stayed the night in Delta and in the morning headed to Moab where we met up with our friends and ran Metal Masher. We camped out and did Poison Spider the next day before heading home. There were a few white-knuckled moments, but overall I had a blast and Kyle was totally in his element. He's been on-line looking for Jeep modifications ever since our return.

The Sunday before Christmas we had dinner with Kyle's family at his parents home in Lehi. It's always so nice to see them. Gail is such a doll and runs around in her apron waiting on everyone hand and foot the entire time. It's always a treat to spend time with Kyle's family. They are such warm, wonderful people and I feel so lucky to have not only Kyle but them as well. I can honestly say I love my in-laws! Not many can say that. :)

Later that week Ken and Shelly invited us to attend The Nutcracker, in which their daughter Sierra was performing. Although Kyle has been several times, he was a sweetheart and went once again to wince as grown men leapt to and fro in their unitards. By this time I was on my death bed so I drugged my self, grabbed a bag of cherry-honey Ricola and sucked it up to go to the ballet. I'm really glad that I did. Sierra was adorable and the music was worth it alone. We don't get to spend a lot of time with the Coburns, so it was a rare occasion. Those girls are so cute.

On Christmas Eve we ventured south once again to join my delightfully crazy family at my aunt Suzie's home in Springville. I came down with strep throat a couple days earlier, but had a penicillin shot and refused to miss out on the festivities although I was still, in Kyle's words, a "wounded unit". We played the present game where Kyle stole a bucket of car wash supplies. If you know Kyle at all, you would know this totally made his day. :) We headed back home and exchanged what gifts to each other we hadn't already opened. If we make it to Christmas Eve, we are doing really well. This is mostly due to Kyle's impatience and partially to my inability to keep a secret.

We awoke Christmas morning to over a foot of snow! It's a good thing we have the Jeep, or we wouldn't have made it out of the driveway, let alone to the Vasic's home. We spent the afternoon telling stories, snacking on goodies and playing games with Kyle's family. It was such a fun day, especially our crazy game of pictionary. Good times....good times.

For new years eve we invited over our good friends Tyler, Jenna, Eric, Dustin, Jesse and Adrianne to ring in the new year. We snacked, played Wii and watched Robo-Dick Clark (mean!) welcome in 2009. As soon as the ball dropped, we kissed a loved one then simultaneously stretched and yawned. We must be getting old...ha ha. By 12:15 we had bid our friends farewell and were in our jammies.

All though I love the holidays, I have to say I am a bit relieved they are over and we've got a little time to relax. Now we are counting down the days until our vacation....10 weeks to go.

Bahamas

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We took turns ruining this picture....ha ha ha

Bahamas pics

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We had a new animal on or bed each night.
How cute is that!?

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I've been meaning to start a blog for some time now. Since getting the green light from my anti social-networking hubby, my only excuse has been time (or the lack thereof). Well, as luck would have it, Santa brought me a case of strep throat. I am home sick and have nothing but time...

So this is our family...Kyle, Krissy, Burgess & Dolce. Kinda boreing.....pretty normal.

Krissy

This photo was taken on our cruise to the Bahamas last March. I love this photo, random lady in the background and all. :)