Just Dance!!

So I got a call from Kara today saying she had a new Wii game that she wanted me to come play with her.  She wouldn't tell me what it was, and since I hate suspense I headed over to her house.  That is where I discovered... JUST DANCE!  A few rounds into it and I was hooked - (that's not true)- I was hooked when I heard the name.  Lindsy was there working on a bow project and was immediately draw in as well!  So as rolling events always seem to go... we ended up at our house eating pizza and playing Just Dance with 4 remotes.  I really can't say anymore about it... I think the pictures and video speak for themselves.  But just so you know you are never to old to "JUST DANCE"

New Years Eve - Food - Fun - Games & Surprises!

So for this New Years not only did we have awesome company, (Brett & Sherri), but we actually had plans as well! We had played with the idea of going out to dinner, but figured out that would be a long time to have a babysitter so we decided to order in Chinese! My kids had been begging for it ever since Brett & Sherri came into town. They must have my taste in food, because Chinese is my favorite too, so I was all for it! Earlier in the day, Karen asked what we were doing for dinner saying that they might BBQ. When I mentioned Chinese, she said "ooh, that's sounds even better". Later I talked to Kara and mentioned that we were ordering "Lucky House" and then she was in on the game as well. One thing led to another and we all ended up a G-Y's house for a "Chinese New Year Feast" ha/ha. (By the way thanks Karen for hosting at a last minutes notice)

It was great food as always, and the kids had a blast playing, dressing up and being creative as they always do.


After that we took the kids home and left them in great hands with Andrea, Kara's sister, and headed over to Pace's house for hangin' and games. This is the first time in a long time we were not with our kids for New Years. It was a lot of fun, but a little weird. I felt a little better when I heard what a good time they had with Andrea playing games, drinking Martinellis, etc.


We had a fun time at the Pace's. It is always fun hanging with friends and playing games and it was even more special to have Brett and Sherri with us. They fit in perfectly and everyone really enjoyed them. We broke Sherri into her second game of Ticket to Ride. There were two games going on- with lots of laughter going, catching the intrigue of all. Brian, Brett and a few of the other guys mostly mingled (i think- we were playing a game so I am not totally sure). I know there was a little friendly tapping going on as well. I swear sometimes they act like they are 12...what can you do? When it came time for the count down we all gathered in the family room with our Martinellis and popping cranberries.- Happy New Year! What an opportunity to celebrate the coming of what it going to be a great year (I decided) with family and friends!

Now this next part is not something that I am extremely proud of, but I want you to hear it from me first, because I know sometimes when other people tell stories they can be a little over exaggerated.... So after the ball drops there is always music and bands playing. Well, Black Eyed Peas happened to be on playing Boom Boom Pow. I really enjoy that song, especially the good beat. So I was just kind of swaying around to the beat. Everyone was still kind of standing around so I went to put my arm around Brian and sort of "Boogie Woogie" behind him (his back was to me)- I did out of precautionary measure look over and see that Brett was standing by his wife Sherri, because I have on occasion accidentally mistaken Brett for Brian (they are twins after all). Anyway, seeing that I was safe it wasn't Brett, I started to wrap my arm around Brian and dance up behind him. I was watching the tv as I did this and then as I looked up toward Brian... I realized the person I started wrapping my arm around to "boogie" with was not in fact Brian, but our friend Alex. I was so startled that I screamed and jumped back (which unfortunately drew everyone's attention) I'm not sure if it was all the soda I drank, the jumping back or the nerves, but I had to run to the bathroom. I was laughing so hard out of pure humiliation that I thought I might pee my pants (fyi- I made it to the bathroom!) As I came back in the room, needless to say the laughter had not stopped. The problem was if I hadn't screamed, not very many people would have realized what happened, but I was so shocked that it was just my reaction. I cam back to find Alex was quite proud and sure that it was just his pure animal magnetism. (O.K. ?!?- j/k Alex) Come to find out Brian had been sitting on the couch and was nowhere near me at the time. Not only that but my friend Karen, Alex's wife, was standing slightly behind me watching the whole thing wondering what in the world I was doing. If nothing else- it made for a truly memorable night. One of Brett's final comments was "It was kind of nice to see it happen to someone besides me" - Thanks Brett. Happy New Year to you all and may your New Year be full of surprises too!

We Know What Matters Most!

Lately Brian and a bunch of Buddies have been on a PS3 "Call of Duty 4" kick. There has been lots of time spent gaming with different friends and on-line. (too much time if you ask me... but of course nobody is asking me) Anyway I thought it was truly a defining moment when Matt strapped their baby Ella on to his chest and kept on playing! I guess there is not much that will slow them down. ... except maybe Brian's homemade peach cobbler. (I will have to elaborate on that later!)

Peaches Anyone?

For Real... I really thought I loved having a peach tree. The idea of fresh peaches anytime you want seems very appealing, even to me, and I am not the biggest peach fan. What I seem to forget every year is that the peaches don't come when ever you want. They come when ever they feel good and ready and then they start falling faster than you can pick them. We went up to my parents for the weekend holiday because Brian had Monday off. We took a large bowl full of peaches with us when we went up since they were starting to get ripe. When we came back quite a few of the peaches had turned ripe and then some. There were so many peaches! Brian hauled in about 4-5 shirt loads FULL! They practically covered most our counter top and that's not even counting all the one's that we gave to neighbors or that were on the ground that we chucked. I know what I'm doing tomorrow... can I say: peach pie, peach jam, peach cobbler, or peach fruit shakes? If you have any good ideas of what else you can do with peaches please let me know!!

Brian's Surgery

Today Brian had his hernia surgery. Last night Alex was over talking to Brian about his procedure and Brian was getting all worked up about what they were going to do. He could have cared less that they were going to cut his belly open, but he was all upset that he was going to be intubated (have a tube down his throat), and have a catheter (a tube up his pee pee). So really the surgery wasn’t a worry, but the pre-op stuff was stressing him out. We had to be at the hospital at 5:45 in the morning. After a slow check in, they took him to the back to get him prepped and ready and then they let me come back and stay with him until he was taken in to surgery. When I came around the corner and saw him in his gown and cap with a big smile on his face. At first I thought it was because he was happy to see me, even though it had only been about 20 minutes since I was last with him, but then I met his nurse! Yep, he got a cute nurse! “Jaime” had been very kind to Brian and was making him feel pretty at ease. After she left the room, he informed me that if for some reason he did end up having to have a catheter, he wanted her to be the one to do the procedure. Well at least I knew he was still feeling like himself! After we had been waiting awhile Jamie informed us that Brian’s doctor had to do an emergency surgery this morning and so he was running behind. We ended up having to wait an extra hour and a half longer before they took Brian back into surgery. Boy was he the wrong patient to have waiting. About an hour into the wait he was starting to work himself into a mild panic. The doctor had come by to check in with him and he looked at his stomach pushed on it a little and was done. Brian asked if taking the hernia out would get rid of the bleeding bumps in his belly button. The doc responded that the bumps and bleeding weren’t the hernia. Now Brian was starting to get upset.
“What if I don’t really have a hernia and they cut me open for nothing.”
I kept asking Jaime if they could give him his happy juice while we were waiting so I didn’t have to deal with him. (just kidding babe! – well sort of)
Finally they were ready to take him in. So one last visit from Jaime with the happy juice! Brian wondered when and if it would make a difference, or when he would feel it. Before they even had him to the first set of doors, he yelled back to me “oh yea, it’s working, I feel pretty good!” And then he was off.
Thanks to my Mom, I was able to stay at the hospital and wait for Brian and to hear what the doctor had to say. Just over an hour later, the doctor came out to talk to me. Sure enough there was a hernia, but it was a small one. The reason his belly button had been bleeding was because it was such a deep belly button that it was almost touching the hernia and new blood tracks had been formed up along and through the belly button. His belly button was about 2 inches deep, which is pretty deep according to the doctor, and probably part of the problem. They removed the hernia and decided to remove about ¾ of his belly button to get rid of the bleeding tracks and so that this shouldn’t happen again. Then they cauterized the rest of the tracks. Now his belly button is only about ¼ - ½ inch deep. The doctors final words of encouragement were: “ Well, at least it should be easier to keep clean now.” (meaning the belly button) – Great!?!?
The nurses came and got me from the waiting room as soon as Brian woke up from the anesthesia. – Talk about chatty cathy! I was impressed how wide awake he was, and just chattin’ up the nurse. He had kindly asked for a little water and they brought him a cup with a straw. He then barely lifted his arm, like he was trying to reach for the cup but was too weak. He then looked at me with his little pouty face and a help me expression. It was then that I knew I was in trouble. There was going to be some serious milking going on. It was ok though, at least temporarily. I was just glad to see he was awake and alive. (you never know) It wasn’t very long after he woke up that they were discharging him. I brought him home and we got him drugged and tucked into bed. That was interesting! Trying to help him lay down took a few tries and some manipulative moving, but we did make it. So far he has been really good about doing his walking and keeping up with his meds. He says the strangest part is that he feels like there is a lot of pressure on his belly and his guts are going to pop out. Since the incision is only about an inch long I guessing that won’t happen, but I’m sure it feels weird. Your body probably just doesn’t like being cut into. Hopefully he will have a speedy recovery and all will be well… for both our sakes!

Wii Tennis

Just before I left for Utah we somehow came into possession of a Wii. (Brian will have to give the details of that later!) So far we have found that our all around favorite game is Tennis, for the adults at least. When I left for Utah I told Brian I wanted to take the Wii since it is fairly compact, so the older kids would have something else to do while at Janell and Ryan’s house. He hemmed and hawed about it because he didn’t want to waste space, and wondered if we would really ever use it. Well… it got lots of use. Not so much by my older kids, but the older older kids! It went from the adults just trying it out to full on Tennis competitions. Everyone pretty well got involved. Even Jeff and Samantha (Meeks) gave it a go when they came over. I beat Samantha once, then talked a little trash and got my rear handed to me! I had forgotten, you don’t trash talk Sam! She is very competitive! Even the day of Jay’s wedding, while we were all hurrying to get ready, she was playing a tennis match. What a way to start your day! Anyway it has proven to be a good buy!
So when my Mom and Dad stopped by after we all got back from our trip, they asked if we had played much tennis lately. And then it was on again! It is almost as much fun to watch people play as it is to play yourself. Brian and my Dad went at it and my Mom and I gave it a try after them. Colby was busy putting on his own show, but made sure to stay in the middle of everything. So if anyone is wondering if the Wii would be a good family toy… I would have to say it truly entertains children of ALL ages!

Didn't Want You To Be Too Comfortable

So one evening after dinner Brian was laying on the couch relaxing and having the girls rub his feet. (He's training them!) I decided I wanted a piece of the action so I went over and laid on Brian and put my feet up to get in on the deal. Colby immediately decided he wanted in on it as well, not really knowing the purpose, and not caring either way. So he insistantly climbed up and twisted his way into position. Then he kicked back and relaxed. I couldn't quite say the same for me and even less so for Brian. That's our Colby making himself comfortable. Please don't worry about the rest of us. ha/ha

Trampoline Memories

During our weekend of reminiscing about various Idaho memories, one of the favorites that came up was playing on the trampoline at Doug Pinder’s house. The kids listened to Brian, Uncle Brett, and Doug relive the fun times they had doing flips and jumping off the Pinder’s roof onto their trampoline. The girls were all impressed when they realized their Dad did all those things as a kid. So when they found out Uncle Brett had a trampoline, they were super excited for their Dad to show them some of the stuff he could still do. So out on Brett’s tramp, Brian did a few flips and then helped the girls try front and back flips on their own. It wasn’t as if they have never seen him do a flip before, but there was something nostalgic about hearing all those stories about what their Dad did as a kid growing up in Idaho and then having the opportunity to try some of those things as kids while in Idaho. They didn’t do to bad either!

Guitar Hero

Just before Brian's family came we decided to make the leap into the gaming world. We've had a bunch of skymiles that we haven't had time to use, and so we decided to cash them in for Best Buy certificates. So in one failing swoop we purchased an 80 gig PS3, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Sing Star and Metal Gear Solid 4 (whatever that is). Thank you Visa skymiles! Anyway it has been a blast. I think my favorite is Guitar Hero. Check out Brett and Brian... they are in position and they are intense. So much for rocking out, you have to pay attention when playing this game!! In this pic Jade is our pink rocker! At the rate the kids are going they will be kicking our rears in no time at all!

I love the simple things!

Some of the simplest things give me the most joy... like looking out in the backyard and finding Colby swinging on Brian's lap. One of his favorite things to do by the way! I just love it! He is so relaxed just hanging there. The video clip is sweet and simple. Just my boys swinging!!

Daddy's Little Helper

Colby is now at that stage where he wants to be everywhere Brian is and do everything Brian does. I really think that he can hear when Brian's truck pulls into the driveway, because suddenly he starts heading for the garage. Recently Brian has been working on fixing up an old trailer he got, and Colby has loved the opportunity to help him. I love that Brian is always so good and patient with letting Colby get in the middle of it all. Colby wanted to make sure he got his hands on just about every tool. Sometimes he would assist with handing Brian things like nails or pliers, and other times he would go find a tool and do a little of his own handy work. All in all he was in his element, had a great time and no one got hurt, which really was my main concern. He obviously likes working with tools... he really is a mini Brian!

One of my favorite things...

One of the things I love the most about when the weather gets warm is looking outside and seeing my family playing in the yard. I love it that sometimes upon getting home from work, Brian sneaks in the backyard when he hears the kids playing, and I look up from the window and there he is just one of the kids. He is such a great father. I truly love seeing him love and play with our children. I am truly blessed with a great family!

Happy Birthday Brian!

This year my parents decided they would start a new tradition for adult birthdays. They take out the birthday person and their spouse to dinner and they get tickets for a movie. I love the idea! So this was Brian's birthday dinner. We went to Chili's because we like the food and the variety! We had good service, good food and good company! Thanks Dad and Mom! Happy Birthday Brian!!!

Valentines Day! KISS

This valentines day we used the KISS method. Meaning Keep It Short & Simple. We actually had a great time doing it as well. Karen Garcia-Young and I got together and prepared a nice meal for our husbands at our house while the kids were being baby sat at her house. Which helped keep it simple for us. Then we dined by candlelight (although we forgot to turn down the house lights- the candles were still lit though). It was actually pretty romantic and then both couples changed to go play tennis. That was a lot of fun! Karen came out of the woodwork and surprised us all with her super slam, which also had her and Alex going over the fence to the ball quite a few times. I played it safe by only hitting the ball every once in a while. Brian tried helping me and by the end I knew it was something I wanted to continue working at. We had a great time and learned through their display of patience that our husbands really do love us. After working out our bodies we headed over to GY's and hopped in the hot tub. It was a great way to end the night! - Love was in the air!

Colby want his sucker and Daddy's too!

Brian got out a sucker for himself and one for Colby. You can't have a sucker around Colby with out him trying to take it away, and knowing this, Brian thought he would be safe if Colby had his own...... he was wrong. Brian gave Colby a white sucker, knowing that some of it would end up on him, and he took a red sucker for himself. When Colby saw that Brian had a sucker he decided he wanted both of them. After tasting both, he then decided he would keep the red one and let Brian have a few licks of the white. He wasn't really sure about sharing though. When Brian would get the sucker in his mouth, Colby wouldn't let go of the stick. He would allow Brian to suck on it for a few seconds, then start pulling on it again trying to get it back out of his mouth. Who has control here???


LOOK WHO WON OUT!!!!!!!!

First Ride of 2008

Brian, Ryan and Ben headed out for thier first ride in 2008- Boys and thier Toys!!!!