Happy 26th PJ!

26 years ago tomorrow, Paul's mom gave birth to a 10 1/2 lb. baby boy! This may surprise some of you who have seen his slim physique now. We are sure glad she made it through one tough pregnancy (I haven't ever heard her complain about her pregnancy, but come on, 10 1/2 lbs.! I am sure she had her moments!) because we are so lucky to have him!

You've Gotta Love It Baby!!

Paul and I got the amazing chance to sit on the 5th row at the Jazz game the other night thanks to the Peterson's (Dave and Amy). We had an awesome time! Granted, those Peterson's spoiled us a couple of years ago when we got to sit on the 1st row, but this was just as fun and not nearly as scary (I was almost taken out by DeShawn Stevenson that night). The only down side to the night was this creepy "rubber boy" who was the half-time entertainment. Extreme flexibility always makes me a little uncomfortable. Dave and Amy are always good for a laugh and a good time! We don't see them nearly enough!

Photo Rejects

So, as you can see from the photos on the side, I had Sabrina's pictures taken...finally! We've always felt too poor to do this. Well, we finally bit the bullet and now have over 200 professional shots of her. We were pleased with the outcome and the experience wasn't so bad either because our photographer basically just followed her around the entire time. As you can imagine, having 200 pictures, there's bound to be a few rejects. Here are just a few!







(Note: I am apologizing to the teenage Sabrina right now. We really do think that you are the most beautiful girl in the world. Hopefully, you share our sense of humor that has us cracking up at these, and if not, who raised you?)

I will officially NEVER scrapbook again!

I just wanted to let all of you know, that my days as a scrapbooker (I never really had days as a scrapbooker) are OVER!!! I put all of our 2007 posts into a book using blurb.com (Thanks Tara!) and my book came today! It was super easy and turned out very nice. The best part about it is that I have a journal of our lives for an entire year (actually only since June when this blog began), no mess, no scissors, no glue, it looks great and took me about 45 minutes to put the whole thing together and order it. It did cost about $30, but I would have spent way more at the scrapbook store. I can also go through blurb and order more copies if necessary. You can't put video in it (obviously) and it doesn't automatically transfer any pictures that you put into a slide.com slide show, so I had to manually put them in, and that did take a little bit longer. It also doesn't add the comments made by you into the book, so I guess our posterity will never know how clever you all are! I can't wait until next January when I put together 2008.

Gordon B. Hinckley: June 23, 1910 – January 27, 2008

It was bitter sweet to hear the news that President Hinckley passed away on Sunday night at the age of 97. We are sad to lose him, but feel so thankful that he is able to be with his wonderful wife again. Sister Hinckley's funeral was on the day of our wedding, so he has been without her for nearly 4 years now. That isn't very long I guess, but I always felt bad when he spoke of his loneliness. I can't help but imagine the reunion he is having with his parents too, particularly his mother who President Hinckley hasn't seen for 77 years. We have been reflecting on how thankful we are for his amazing life of service this week and for the tremendous good he has done for mankind and our church throughout his life. We will forever remember him for his kindness, humility, innovation, optimism, testimony, outreach, humor, ease, and smile. This was an extraordinary man. When he spoke, you simply listened. His example and counsel are something that I hope we will forever remember.

My child will never...

look like this. The story goes that on Sunday I went to church with my mom because Paul was returning home from DC and needed me to pick him up during our ward's block. Sabrina wore a great blue wrap sweater dress from gymboree and had pink ribbons in her hair. I love dressing her for church. Well, after church we went back to my parents' house. I put Subby down for a nap and headed to the airport. Paul and I returned to chaos. Sabrina awoke from her slumber to a blow out diaper of massive proportions! It's a good thing that Shelley and my mom were there to take care of her. Shelley used one of Nolan's diapers and got her in the tub. This is when Paul and I arrived on the scene. I am sure this is not the last time as a mother I will make this mistake, but I forgot to bring a spare outfit. There's nothing like necessity to bring out creativity in a mother (and in this case, an aunt). Shelley and I found an old Clear Creek Summer Camp t-shirt in the recesses of the Ricks home, got some scissors, and went to work. Giggling like school girls, we put this dress together somehow. I cut the original pattern, but I must give Shelley credit for the sash!

Miss America Needs A Reality Check

Okay, so this winter I decided that the only way I was going to make it through the worst time of the year was to try to enjoy and celebrate the little things that seem to bring me joy. Bring on this year's Miss America Pageant. This year the pageant was preceded by a show called "Miss America Reality Check" on TLC where judges tried to replace old materialism that usually accompanies pageants with new materialism that we see every day on E!. It was pretty disgusting. The one highlight of this show I thought was Miss Utah. She was a soldier. Now, I don't really know what a soldier is doing in a beauty pageant (I'm sorry "scholarship" pageant), but nonetheless, she didn't change herself to impress the editor of Us Weekly or stylist to the stars who were the judges. Well, come the day of the pageant, I decided to have my mom, sisters, aunt and cousin over to watch the show. Kind of like a Super Bowl Party for girls. It was a great time (I wish I had taken pictures). I love these ladies. We watched the pageant, and to our surprise, the American public cast their votes for Miss Utah to be a finalist in the pageant. See TLC! See! America doesn't want a Miss America who is a Paris Hilton want to be. They want someone with substance. Someone who has a story to tell. Of course, she didn't make it past the swimsuit competition. Her tasteful one piece didn't stand a chance against some suits that were barely there. Anyway, it was a fun night, and I smell a tradition!

Note: If they are going to continue to insist that it is a scholarship pageant and not a beauty pageant I propose doing away with the swimsuit portion. There are a lot of unhealthy and unnatural ways to look good in a swimsuit. If they insist that being physically fit is a critical attribute for Miss America to have, I think all the contestants should participate in an athletic event. A 10k perhaps. The winner gets the most points and so forth. Now I'm just rambling so I'll stop.