Swimming

Casey is such a nice dad. He filled up the mini pool the other day & took Caleb outside to play. I thought it was cute of him. He even filled it up in the early morning so that the water could warm up & I didn't even have to suggest it! Sometimes I don't give the guy enough credit when credit is due. I didn't get to stay & watch them play because I had to run some errands, but Casey said that Caleb had a good time.

Caleb won't say 'mom' or 'dad' or 'no' - aren't those usually a kids first words? He says car & spoon. Two of the weirdest first words I can think of! He jibber jabbers all the time & I'm just waiting for the ramblings to become words that I can understand....probably so then I can tell him to be quiet. One of many examples of how we always want what we don't have.

We had some friends over Sunday night for a BBQ and to play cards. Kevin & Courtney Miller & Shelby (Casey's brother). It was a lot of fun. Kevin & Courtney brought a delicious fresh salsa. My taste buds are expanding! Hooray! It had tomatoes, avocado, green & yellow pepper, lime juice, cilantro, black beans, jalapenos....& a few things that I'm probably forgetting. I'm so glad I tried it!! I let Caleb play with a deck of cards - maybe not the best idea, but he had a good time. I had to take them away when he started sucking on them.

My little sister is getting MaRrIeD! So - my older sister & I have went into panic mode because we both want to drop 10 elbees before Aug 29th. We have made a schedule to go to the gym every Sunday, Wednesday & Friday. I hope I hope I hope that we can stick to it & reach our goal! Go Team Fattie!!

Memorial Day

I want to start by saying I am thankful that I don't have many places to visit on Memorial Day at this moment in my life. I haven't had to deal with death much & I am very grateful for that. I had a friend commit suicide when I was in high school & I did go visit him. I am such an emotional freak! I wouldn't think that 10 years later I would still get so worked up...I think I was feeling a lot of guilt because I don't visit on a regular basis & will do that from now on :) My heart goes out to those who are missing loved ones - I can't even imagine.

We didn't have a very eventful Memorial Day weekend, but it was still nice. After I got off of work on Saturday, we went to a mountain man rendezvous in BlackSmith Fork Canyon. Casey grew up going to them & I had never been. It was interesting & I'm contemplating getting into it...just a little though. He is going to go all out into it & I'm not quite that interested but I wouldn't mind going on a few camping trips a year all dressed up. AND I'm sneaking in real food...I might have to pretend that I'm back in the 1800's, but I'm not in denial of the real world. I heard that shortly after we left the canyon, some guys were goofing off & a guy got stabbed & killed....so, maybe I won't join. Sounds like things can get crazy.

On Monday evening we went to Casey's Grandma's house in Mantua and had a BBQ. We tossed a football around & played some Koosh paddle game. Good times, good food.Caleb's recent tricks consist of blowing raspberries...with or without food. (This is no thanks to Casey's dad & brother...they quite enjoy having him perform this trick). He loves say 'aaaarrrrrggghh' when you ask him what a bear says....or what a cat says.....or what a duck says...everything says 'aaaarrrrggghh'. He also has found it quite fun to bring his feet to his face. Ahhhhh - the simple pleasures.

I'm only 3 pound away from my pre-vacation weight. Going out of town really screwed up mine & Casey's diets. It only took us a week to gain a ton, & it's taking us 3 weeks to get those stupid pounds back off!! What a fun battle.

Randoms

So - I had a successful shopping trip to the DI recently. Yes...the guy with the orange bicycle helmet was still there. I've been wanting some big chunky black candlesticks to set at the end of my piano for a really long time & just couldn't spend the money on them! They are 20-30 bones EACH! I found a couple of candlesticks for $2.50!! I decided to paint them an off white since everything else in my house is black....I LOVE THEM. Casey says they are old lady lookin...he can bite me and call me grandma.

I also got a couch for $40. Stop judging me. It isn't as comfy as I was hoping, but it is much better than sitting on a folding chair or the exercise ball to watch our big TV we've had for a year.

My friend Stephanie gave Caleb a really cute covered sandbox (with sand & sand toys). It's in the shape of a turtle. He's been so sick that we haven't played in it yet, hopefully next week....in exchange for the sandbox I told her I would make her little girl her bday cake & cupcakes. It's a jungle theme so I made a monkey cake & lion cupcakes. I think the lions turned out pretty cute. (I've uploaded the cupcake picture 3 times & it keeps rotating...no clue how to fix that - sorry!)

Here is a picture of the beautiful flowers that Casey's mom gave me for Mother's day. THANK YOU! They are just barely starting to droop a little & it's been a whole week! They are beautiful. Casey got me a really cute shirt that I've worn 3 times already (it's currently on my body) and some capris that just had to go back. I got some fun flowers for my pots instead.

Stephanie introduced me to this fun farmer's market type thing that goes on every Saturday. I got all of the stuff in the picutre for only $18! There are oranges, apples, tomatoes, mangos, lettuce, honeydew, spaghetti squash, bananas, cucmbers, red peppers, red potatoes & broccoli! Now I need to learn how to cook with this crap!

Vacation Deets - Part Two

Wednesday: "Brittni Freeze...COME ON DOWN! You're the next contestant on The Price is Right!" This was a phrase that I did NOT hear. I was so disappointed. I thought with my killer name and bubbling personality and rockin' bod that I was going to be a shoe in. I guess cooler people than me were there - shocker. We sat in the audience, which would've been fine, but we were on the 2nd to last row in the freaking corner. I was a smidge disappointed with the experience, but still glad that I went. We got there around 9 AM and were guest #177 & 178. Freaking crazy people and I was one of them. Our show will air THIS WEDNESDAY!! Watch for us! I'm predicting that an old man will play Plinko & win $11,000 - some guy gets a red washer & dryer - and some girl named Gina wins her showcase which includes a new living room & a boat.

Thursday: We went to the San Diego Temple. It was very neat. Inside & out. We met some people...they were all from Utah & a couple from Oregon. I wonder if anyone from California ever goes?? We then went & walked around La Jolla beach...I love that place. Seals are so cute and they were everywhere...along with Chinese people with sweet cameras. We also played in the pool at the resort.

This is what Caleb & I will look like lounging at Bear Lake this summer :)

Friday: We took a 5-6 hour boat tour to the Los Coranodos islands. They were neat & had a lot of history that I enjoyed hearing about. All 3 Jurassic Park movies have some footage from these islands, along with 2 of the Pirates of the Caribbean...and some other movies, but these are the ones that I remember Casey got pretty sick on the way out & I got pretty sick on the way back. It's like we were meant to stay on land. We saw 3 kinds of dolphins...commens, bottle nose & rizzos. TONS of sea lions & harbor seals and a small grey whale (we really just saw his tail a few times, but a whale is a whale) This was probably my favorite day. We then took our sea sick sunburned bodies to Joe's Crab Shack. Yummy.

Saturday: BEACH DAY! It was so freaking cold. Casey ventured out there with a boogie board & got a lot of weird looks from all the surfers in their wet suits. They were probably thinking "That guy is insane" I only went in to my thighs. It was really cold. The weather only the high 60's every day, so that isn't the warmest for ocean swimming. I still loved sitting on the beach with my toes in the sand reading a book. The sound of the ocean is so calming. I wish there was one closer to me. We went back to the resort & played in the pool some more, packed all of our stuff & went out on the town one more night. We went & saw Wolverine...LOVED IT. Got coldstone (for the 3rd time on our trip) and went to at Italian restaurant called Dominics. It was the best meal we had all vacation!!

Sunday: Took about 12 hours to drive home, but the traffic wasn't bad at all until we hit good ol' SLC. I came home to a super sick baby who had strep, but he is back to his fun self again.

Vacations are so nice & I think they are needed. It was a nice feeling to come home though as well. We missed our funny Caleb & our sleep number bed immensely. I loved walking in through our door & thinking "Wow, it's nice to be home!" BUT...I'm ready to go someplace else again.

Vacation Deets - Part one

Here are our vacations details. I think that I had more fun that Casey - but I think that he still enjoyed getting away.

Saturday. Arrived in Mesquite. Stayed at the Falcon Ridge hotel. KING SIZE BED!!! HOORAY! They don't have a casino in the hotel, so that was very nice & the continental breakfast was divine. Pancakes, sausage, eggs, a waffle maker with mix, cereal, juice, milk, muffins...it was awesome & all you can eat. I get to cross off one of my 30x30...we tried our hand at blackjack & sucked. How much did we suck? I'm not telling. Saturday night we got an hour long couples massage. I think that Casey thought he had died & went to heaven. He was nervous to get one, but he said that this was his favorite part of the vacation. My masseuse was a guy had the softest hands ever. He gave a great massage, but his feminine hands kind of creeped me out.

Sunday. Arrived in Oceanside!! We got lost on the way. It wouldn't be tradition if we didn't end up getting lost all of the time. We added about an hour drive to our trip, but eventually found our way. We went for a walk along the beach and ended up at the pier & ate dinner at Ruby's. It's a fun diner with delicious shakes & hamburgers. It was quite tasty.

Monday. DISNEYLAND! We had a blast riding rides. Almost everything made Casey motion sick, but he kept on truckin. Space mountain was probably our favorite ride. For those who haven't been or have forgotten, Space mountain is a big roller coaster ride indoors & it's pitch black with stars all over. You never know what's going to happen! It's fun. Nemo was a fun ride-you actually go underwater...buzz light year was fun-you got laser tag guns & shot targets for points, I lost so badly...Casey HATED it's a small world, but how can you not go on it? We bot goth sick on the teacups-but I loved them. It was pretty funny.The biggest downer was that Pirates of the Caribbean was closed for maintenance :( Splash mountain was one of our first rides & somehow the camera got wet through the camera bag & wouldn't work for the rest of the day. The lens got all fogged up on the inside & I figured it was fried. But for some reason it worked just fine the next day. We only got a few camera phone pics.

Tuesday. CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE!! More rides. California Screamin is a HUGE roller coaster that I DID NOT want to go on. I was seriously so scared!! Of what? Dying I think. I get so nervous. But, I have to say it was the best ride for me. I had a blast. The Hollywood Tower of Terror is also a ton of fun. It's like your in a broken crashing elevator. It was awesome. Soarin' over California was another fav there as well. There was a 3D Bug's Life show that was really cute & fun. We ate at a little Italian place in the park that was quite delicious. I had a spinach chicken alfredo lasagna & Casey had a meat lasagna. They were both really good. We splurged and got dessert...it looked a lot better than it tasted, but it didn't stop us from eating it.

So that I don't overload with your boredom pictures & because it is midnight, I will post the rest of our week later.

To be continued...

Hidden message??

These are the pictures I got while on vacation while my mom was babysitting. I wonder if she doesn't want me to ask her again.

"He's so quiet!"

"Oops!!"
"Bad 'A' Caleb" "Good worker!"

"Good digger!"

I'll post later this week about the fab vacay :)