A week in Utah

Last week we got to be up in Utah to be with family for Thanksgiving. Originally we were going to drive up Tuesday night (by the way...driving through the night is the ONLY way to go with a baby on board!) but then Ryan found out he had to be in Denver for an interview on Tuesday so we ended up driving up Friday night so Ryan could just fly out of SLC. Anyway, we were really glad to be able to spend the extra time with our family! (Sidenote: because of this extra time we were up in Utah, I had to forfeit my ticket to go to the Dancing with the Stars Semi-finals with my sis, mom, and aunt. This was quite the sacrafice I had to make especially when I heard about the Celine Dion sighting. I can't fully explain as it still brings a tear to my eye. For more on this, click on my sister's blog on the right (The Banners))

Here's our little Utah cheerleader with her cousin Alex

Ryan and his brother, Steve, having a little too much fun with the Wii (I think they were boxing.)

and Guitar Hero...

On Wednesday we all went to see the movie Enchanted (which by the way...so cute!) After the movie, the kids found this little bathtub with a strange monster in it. So they decided to hop in!

That night we went to our friends, the VanLeeuwens, to have a little Omaha reunion and throw a baby shower for our friends, Steve and Cammie, who are having a little boy in January. It was SO FUN to be with all of them again. Within the first two minutes of being together, it felt like no time had passed at all! Because this was probably the first baby shower for the guys, we thought we'd make them do some of the typical baby shower games. Here they are tasting different jars of baby food. It all came down to a "taste-off" and Adam was the proud winner. They also played a very creative game of Memory.

Adam taking a heaping spoonful of the Turkey babyfood.

The Heffner, I mean Van Leeuwen boys.

Ella LOVED playing with all of her Omaha friends again!

Me and the Cammie with her cute little baby bump!

Ella with her Aunt Debbie on the way to the Jazz game.

Speaking of the Jazz game...this was probably the highlight of the trip for Ryan. We just had normal tickets for the game but Ryan's sister and brother-in-law had great seats right on the floor! They were probably the best seats in the house! They were on the floor about five seats down from the Jazz bench right next to the score table (at least I think that's what that table is.) Anyway, Cindy and Chris were generous enough to let Ryan and his brother sit there for the first quarter of the game. Ryan was like a little kid in a candy store! He was SO excited. He shook hands with Sen. Oren Hatch who sat a couple seats down. He was high-fiving the players as they walked by. He was standing right next to Jerry Sloan when he was arguing with the refs. It was seriously more fun watching him than watching the game! Anyway, here are a couple pictures he took...

Our favorite little Christmas elf!

The rest of the story...

It seems like a while since I've done a post. We were up in Utah last week for Thanksgiving (you know there'll be pictures from that later!) Anyway, here are the rest of the pictures...

While taking pictures next to the ducks, my vicious aunts and sister thought it would be funny to throw a bunch of bread by us so the ducks would attack. Ella and I did NOT think it was funny.

After the duck incident, we went to my cousin Chase's football game. As usual for our family, we did our best to cheer as loud as possible and embarrass him as much as possible.

My grandpa, Mom, and Lindsay

Ella and my mom. It got REALLY cold when the sun went down.

All of us (minus Jill and Todd) after the game.

Aunt Jill, Uncle Todd and Chase.

Happy 50th Mom/Go Chaser!!!

I know...kind of a weird title for this post but it decribes how we spent our day last Thursday. It was my mom's 50th birthday and even though we're really gonna celebrate it later when we go on a little girl's weekend get-away, we had to do something on the actual day of to celebrate the big occasion. It also happened that the day landed on my cousin Chase's last football game of the season so we decided to "kill two birds with one stone" and do it all in one day!

My aunt Melanie had some shirts made. (I'm bummed that I didn't get a picture of all of us but sis did so I'll steal it from her blog if she does a post about it.) Anyway, this was my mom's. Ours said "Fifty is Nifty" on the front and "Go Chaser" on the back.

The restraunt we went to was on a lake with ducks so gues what we did after lunch???

My Aunt Jill (Chase's mom) with Ella.

My computer's being stupid with the pictures...I'll have to finish later.

I got tagged...

So my friend Angie tagged me. I like the way Deanne responded to this tagging business so I'm just gonna copy her...

Jobs I've had:
-Gap girl
-front desk at Allusions (tanning salon...not strip club)
-front desk at Airwaves (radio stations in SLC)
-Nanny for the Metcalf family
-teller at Wells Fargo
-admin assistant for accounting firm in Omaha

Movies I watch over and over:
-there's just one. Clueless. I know, it's embarrassing but true.

Places I've lived:
-San Diego, CA
-Jakarta, Indonesia
-Provo, UT
-SLC, UT
-Omaha, NE
-Huntington Beach, CA

Favorite TV shows:
-24
-Prison Break
-Grey's Anatomy
-The Office
-The Hills (trust me...it's totally awesome!)

Favorite food:
-SUGAR!!!
-bread
-avocados
-grilled cheese sandwiches

Places I'd rather be:
-where ever my friends and family are...and if it's warm, that's a plus.

Places I'd like to visit:
-Australia
-Italy

I tag:
-Hug-n-Kiss
-Meggie Maughan
-L-train
-Lori Hexberg
-Linds

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

This year for Halloween we decided to make it a two-day event. On Tuesday night, Halloween Eve, my sis and I took our kids down to San Diego to go to the big Halloween party that my mom's ward was having. My mom loves any opportunity to show her grandkids off plus the party was tons of fun. They had a cupcake walk, face painting, games for the kids to win prizes, and of course trunk-or-treat! Ella went as a little ladybug...

My mom, her husband, Dave, and their grandkids.

My mom pulled the kids around in the little wagon.

After the party, we took our kids trick-or-treating over at my dad's house. He's always good for a few treats!

The next day, we thought we'd see what Disneyland was like on Halloween. For any of you wondering when a good time to go to Disneyland is without any crowds apparently it's Halloween. It was great! We only went on a few rides, but we never waited in any lines!

Here's Ella thinking she's a big girl cuz she was riding the Monster's Inc. ride all by herself (she usually sits on my lap.)

We ran into Pluto and Ella wasn't sure what to think about this huge doggie that was walking on 2 feet!

Same story with Goofy...

A couple pictures of Ella and her favorite buddy, Kaitlyn...

So my sister was nice enough to make this bow for Ella. I think it might be a bit big but she's convinced Ella can pull it off. What do you think?

Since Ella was a ladybug, I decided to take one for the team and go on this spinny ride for the sake of a cute picture.

In the Spirit of Halloween, we HAD to go in the Haunted Mansion...

At the end of the day, the babies were pretty tuckered out!

Happy Birthday Lindsay!

As I said before, all of Lindsay's family have birthdays all in a row so this is yet another post dedicated to a birthday celebration. I won't bore you all with a ton of pictures but I did want to take this opportunity to say how grateful I am to live close to her again...even if it is for just one short year! She is my very best friend, besides Ryan of course, and I love her stinking guts!