My Old Man

Monday was Jeff's Birthday and he turned 31. Jeff is one of the only people I know that actually enjoys getting older. I think that he thinks that the older he gets, the lower expectations people have of him or something. He also uses his "old" age to get out of everything that he doesn't want to commit to. Like this year he "retired" both from wake boarding and snowboarding... Seriously "retired" at 31, what a joke. The whole thing is actually kind of funny, but don't tell him I told you that because I act like it annoy's the heck out of me. Anyway on his birthday we celebrated with some homemade Lasagne, a Texas sheet cake (thanks Amanda for the recipe!) and of course some Martinelli's! Happy Birthday old man!

Big Weekend

This weekend Jeff and I celebrated two big events in our relationship history... our 1 year anniversary of getting engaged and the premier of our favorite TV show 24!

That is right y'all 24 is back and this season is better then ever! Because of the writers strike, and Keifers little incident with the law, this has been the longest awaited season in the history of good TV shows. Jeff and I are huge 24 buffs. He actually got me hooked on the show years ago and we are so obsessed our dog is even named after him... Bauer! Anyway I suggest everyone tune in because this season has Jack, Tony, Chloe and Bill... Yeah!

Also 1 year ago Sunday Jeff surprised me by taking me to Vegas and popping the question. Jeff had told me that we were headed to his parent house in Richfield for the weekend, but when he passed that Scipio exit I knew exactly where we were headed. Jeff and I have some history in Vegas because we were sent there together for work years ago and it was probably the first place that Jeff and I were ever alone together. Work had put us up at the Belligio and we worked during the days and spent the nights in my hotel room eating some cheesecake and watching the fountains and even saw the Circus de Soleil show "O". Don't worry mom, no funny business that trip! Anyway for his proposal he brought us back to that same place, took me to see "O" again and then had the concierge prepare a suprise candle light dinner that was ready in our suite right in front of the window so we could watch the fountains. It was all very special and as we all know I said YES!

Christmas 2008

We are officially on to better days. Christmas this year was magical. Jeff and I spent our first Christmas together and it was everything I could have hoped for. We stayed up late on Christmas eve, slept in late (9:00 is a record for us) and then took our time opening gifts and eating a homemade quiche and orange rolls.

Jeff's Christmas wasn't very exciting. He made me promise I wouldn't go over a limit we set, and I actually stuck to it! He got some new church cloths, and sexy sweater and tie, and a new skillet to make his Saturday pancakes.I on the other hand got spoiled! Jeff was naughty and totally went over our limit. I got some new Kitchenaide pans I had been asking for that are red and fantastic... and Guitar hero! That's right, I am officially a rocker. I was so excited because that was totally a surprise, and something I have been secretly wanting ever since I played it last time we were in Gilbert. So thank you Jeff, and thank you for putting up with my horrible playing for the next little bit.

Later that night we headed over to Doc and Noni's house for the annual Christmas bash. This is the one Christmas party that is bound to entertain anyone who dare attend. Usually the night is filled with some interesting food, lots of adult beverages and Noni getting mad at Doc for something and going off at him in Italian even though no one including him can understand. This year was a little more low key with catered food, a poker game and lots of presents.

Yeah, he finally smiled!

My dad is looking pretty hip eh?

Mark and Lizzy... and yes that is apple juice!

This is my cousins darling daughter Zoe. This picture was taken right after the pinata was hit down. This is a yearly tradition, that really isn't the safest. Doc hangs a pinata from a random light with an extension cord. Brilliant huh? I am not sure what is more scary the kids wacking the pinata or the barely secured light fixture that is about to fall...

The Fam-Damily

GNO at Market Street

Merry Christmas Kittens! Every year me and some of my girlfriends all get together for a Christmas dinner. Getting this group of 6 together is never an easy task, but this year we solved that problem... we literally planned it the first of November!

Anyway the dinner was great, and its always so much fun to see these ladies. Most of these girls have been a roommate over the years, so our conversation always turns to the good old days. Nat and I were saying that we really need to write down some of our stories we have on each other. Looking back we have had some crazy fun together! You would never guess that those 6 girls we knew 7 years ago are the same old ladies sitting at that table. We went from cove nights, pulling all nighters and Nat's Crispy Creme runs at 3:30 am, to these ladies that work 9 to 5, go to bed at 9 and write blogs for fun. What has the world come to.

Nat and I were talking that one of these days we really need to write some of our experiences down... but a public blog that our mothers can read probably isn't the right place. So for now let me leave you with some key words to give my ladies a little chuckle.

• An Canadian experience
• Shot Mamma
• The "Purple" Christmas Tree
• The Welcome Home Amy song
• Elk Tacos
• 4 am in Newport Beach
• "HEEEYYY" in Denver
• "Luscious"
• Randi's Taxi ride home
• The infamous Pickle
• The Muskrat
• And when Nat cut her finger over the toilet

Retro Radio Red Flyer

Christmas is all about kids right? Well since my family seems to be getting a late start (our youngest is Davey who is 19) I have officially adopted myself as Grace and Preston's aunt this year. Anyway I was looking online and found these dang cutest Retro Red Flyer Tricycles, and I just couldn't resist! They were by far my two favorite gifts I got to give this year. There is nothing like the smile on a childs face when they open a present! Next year I will be adding Lola to my list of neices and anyone else of my friends to get a move on it. LOL.

Here comes LuLu! As you can see she is more excited about the Ice Cream scooper then the bike. She would put the thing down, which caused her to only turn left... and as Mark said, she just isn't an ambi-turner lol. When Grace opened her gift she was a little frightened by it at first, but 5 mintes later she was over it and as you can see had a great ride!

BTW I have to mention that Grace is obsessed with Jeff, could really care less about me. Anytime I go over to there house without Jeff she takes one look at me and puts her hands in the air and says "Jeff?" On this day we went over and Erin asked Grace to say Merry Christmas to us... her response "Merry Christmas Jeff!" Seriously, and then we went to leave and the child didn't want to give me a hug, but dont you worry she gave Jeff a huge smooch! I swear the more work you put into kids, the less they like you. Jeff shows up and he is the greatest thing since sliced bread!

Cute Little Preston and his first bike! To be honest I think he was more excited about the sparkly tag then anything, but to be fair this big boy bike is for 18 months and older and Preston is officially 1 on Sunday. Happy Birthday little guy!

Preston was a sport and let us put him on the bike for a bit. He even laughed a little when Steve pushed him around.

So this is the post that no woman wants to have to write, and no one wants to read. I have been putting this off since Friday, but I figured blogging is the easiest way for me to let everyone know. Friday night Jeff and I ended up in the hospital due to some “unusual” complications with my pregnancy, and got the worst news expecting parents can get.

I want to say thank you to all my friends and family, we really have the best support group anyone can ask for. Thank you for the waffles, the flowers, the cards, the treats, the meals and all of the texts and phone calls of encouragement and support. I also need to thank my amazing husband who hasn’t left my side since it happened and who has been waiting on me hand and foot. I love you Jeff and can’t wait to start a family with you someday.

Wedding Pictures

I feel kind of funny posting these, but a lot of you keep asking to see our wedding pictures, and I figured this was easier then showing everyone one-by-one.

This is just a couple shots Brody took around Log Haven. I love this shot of the stream, it is just a sample of how green everything was.

Here I am getting ready and just a couple of the bazillion shots of me that day. I will be honest, I don’t know how Britney Spears does it… My face felt like it was going to crack by the end of the day I was so sick of smiling! BTW you have to check out the ring in the left hand corner. Its my Grandma Ericsons dinner ring and I am obsessed with it! It’s a light blue aquamarine surrounded by diamonds and it is fabulous! It was my something old, something borrowed and something blue.

This has to be the Money shot! These doves were awesome. They were making all of us that were standing at the front of the ceremony laugh because they just kept “cooing” so loud during the ceremony. It seriously gave us the giggles! Then when they flew out it shocked people so bad, that some jumped out of there seats. It was pretty funny.

Me and my sweetie!

This is a picture of my gang. From left to right we have Davy, Angie, Sheryl, my Dad, Me, Jeff, my Mom, Kent, Liz and Mark

Here is Jeff’s family. Okay starting on the back row from left to right is Duke, Carrie, Travis and Kevin. Then the middle row is Rusty, Kristel, Jeff’s Dad, Me, Jeff, Jeff’s Mom, the other Heather Warner lol, Tyler and Bethany. Finally on the front row is Kevin and Heathers two darling girls Courtney and Kelsey.

My girls! I love these pictures! Aren’t these girls some sexy ladies!? From left to right you have Lacey, Nat, Angie, Me, Randi, Erin, Amy and Jeana. We had so much fun on the wedding day and with these pictures.

These girls are more like family to me and have seen me through everything. Most of them I have even had the opportunity to be roommates with and if you ever want an embarrassing story on any of them, just let me know… I have a ton!

This is a picture of Jeff and Jack. Jack was Jeff’s best man and is his uncle. Jack and Jeff are like two little kids when you get them together, and they are just a riot to be around. Jack and his family live down in Phoenix, and we absolutely adore them. We were so grateful to have them at the wedding and so lucky Jack agreed to be Jeff’s best man. If you didn’t notice we had 1 best man and 7 bridesmaids… but for some reason I don’t think Jack minded the attention ;)

Aren’t these girls stunning? And not to mention the one on the left is totally SINGLE! So if any of you reading this blog have any cute, single 25 to 28 year old brothers let me know. She is a total catch!

Daddy's little girl...

Lets get this party started! We had so much fun dancing, but the YMCA had to be the highlight! I need to thank all the boys who participated, they were all such good sports!