What have we been up to...

I am getting our pictures up from our long trip to Grandma & Grandpa's. It was a pretty fun, very relaxing trip for us...If Joe didn't get to touch the steering wheel, drive a little, shift the gears, or turn up the music, our drive would be horrible! He is such a boy!
Pax came to visit us on Mother's Day! I have not seen this guy for such a long time, too long! I'm glad we were finally in town at the same time. For those of you who don't know this wonderful guy, he has been my best friend since 7th grade and remained so until I met my Steve. He is so genuine & comes from such an awesome family. I have such fond memories of Pax, most of them include him scoring me touchdowns (I like to think they were for his favorite cheerleader). So glad I saw you Pax & tell Mandy I wish I could have been at her graduation party!
Joe's vacation included lots of r & r!
His freakin awesome Uncle Ben, who happens to be a genuis at Guitar Hero!
His cool buff Uncle JK! Thanks for laying out and letting me talk to myself!
My friend Erin that I've known since junior high and then shared many great cheer memories with and college memories...not only is she absolutely beautiful, she is one of the nicest people I know. I am a little jealous that she can wear anything she wants and it totally works, but when I go to the same store and try on the same thing I want to scream! Erin I love you! Happy Birthday on Saturday!
My friend Megan that I have been friends with since kindergarten! She is so great and I love that when she comes over it's like no time has gone by at all. Joe loves her too, and was following her everywhere trying to tickle her! Poor Megan, he just kept getting her booty! Hurried and get married so that we can have babies that go to kindergarten together!
One of the pros of having parents that own a furniture business...naps are not a problem at the office!
Cousin Max & Aunt Sammy...Thanks for letting Joe borrow your tractor! He absolutely loved it, even when it wasn't moving! You are the best!
We got back from Valencia Thursday and my sister flew in Friday! My birthday morning started out with a wonderful time at church with my boys and Chels and Ben!
We got to go to the 39th floor of Steve's hotel and have some yummy, small, expensive food. Ben was loving the posh feel of it all!
We FINALLY made it across the bridge. Third time is a charm, time 1 we were too late, time 2 it was too windy, time 3 the guy at the bridge was awesome and let us go! It was a pretty scary walk. You wouldn't think so until the bridge starts swaying back and forth and you look down and see water!
We only had to wait for a few minutes to get on it, and Joe was thrilled if you can't tell.
We walked the pier and ate at Boudin, love that place! Joe rode this little horse in the arcade and Ben took a video that I will have to ask for because it is hilarious...later Joe threw up and if I was any type of good mother, I would have been able to tell he wasn't feeling good by the video!

My sista sista is the best and I'm so excited she could come visit, even though it wasn't long enough! She took such good care of Joe and it was a fabulous weekend! Love you love you love you!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

My nephew, Ethan turned 4 today! He is such a little stud and has the most luscious lips, I love it when he gives free kisses! He is very ticklish and runs away from me pretty fast! He is a great big brother to Josie and Ryan. Love you Ethan!

Happy Birthday Daddy and Emily!

I love love love my daddy! My dad is amazing and is such a good provider for our family. He is so smart and I love everything about him!I entered my dad in this golf channel contest because golf is his second love next to his sweetheart. I know there are probably thousands and thousands of applicants, but here is what I wrote for my daddy. While we were growing up, it was always a privilege to accompany Dad to the golf course. Our “Pro Joe” has such a contagious passion for the game of golf. Dad doesn’t settle with playing good or better, he always shoots for best. He continues to try out new clubs, perfect his swing, practice chipping, driving, and putting in the backyard, and he goes back to the course the next day to try to perfect his game. I have learned from my Dad that you can love something so much, but like everything else in life, you need to hit the drive and pray you land on the fairway, iron out the bumps, chip off the desire to lose your patience, putt through to success and be ready for the next challenge that awaits you. Thanks for teaching me about love, patience, perseverance, respect, loyalty, motivation and dedication all through this wonderful game of golf that has made you the man you are. I know no other man who watches only the golf channel and who has an ongoing tab at the golf shop, and I would have it no other way. I love you dad!
My dad is the best grandpa to baby Joe! I am so proud to have my baby named after my wonderful father.
Happy Birthday to the beautiful Emily! She turns 13 today! Emily is smart, funny, and we share a very similar trait our sassy side! Emily is a great nurturer and helps take care of her younger siblings. She is going to have boys knocking-rather beating down the door in just a couple years. She is a great friend and our family would not be the same without her! Love ya Em!

Jen's Birthday

Happy Birthday!! This is Steve & Joe and we just wanted to let Jen know how wonderful she is on her special day. She is such a great mom and a fantastic wife. She takes care of us and we love and appreciate her so much. Happy Birthday from - Steve & Joe

Happy Birthday MOM!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy MaMa!Well, the day is almost over and I have 1 second to write about how fabulous my mom is. My mom is the most wonderful woman I know. She is continuously working on all aspects of her life, whether it is with her family, her calling, or her business. She just keeps going and never stops. She is a wonderful mom to 4 and has 5 step sons that she has treated as her own. Every Sunday she makes a feast with a lot of desserts to choose from. Growing up, whenever friends would come over, they'd take a peak in the oven or microwave to see if there were any left over treats and to this day they still do it! I think it's hilarious. My mother was at every cheer competition, piano recital, and play I was ever in. She took my friends and I on fun trips and helped me host Bachelor (the show) parties for about 40 people every week. She became a 2nd mom to some of my friends who went through rough patches with their own parents/step parents. My mom gives great advice and would give you the shirt off of her back if you needed it. She is selfless and always puts her family first. She plays tennis 1 a week with the same group she's played with pretty much my whole life. She loves my dad so much, kind of like the old fashioned true love where she caters to him, makes him every meal, turns down his bed at night, and picks up after him. They are so cute! She is the best grandma and I am so happy that she loves Joe so much! I love that she nurtures him and takes the best care of him. I have no worries when he is with her. My mom is my best friend in the whole world and mom I love you more!

And the winner is....

My brother, JK (on the left)! Why you ask!? Because he got me a ticket to the American Idol finale for $35...where did I sit...the pit at the front! How far was I from Simon...not even 5 feet! What did I say to Simon while I was shaking his hand and receiving a wink...you are the sexiest man right after my husband! Yep, I totally said it...

JK is so awesome, he got pretty sick this morning, but insisted that I go to American Idol otherwise he was going to hang out somewhere else. He has the cutest little girlfriend Lauren that hung out with me the whole time...She better treat him good!
My poor mom will be so excited when we leave tomorrow! Her poor windows have hand prints all over, 1/2 of which are from Joe, the other 1/2 from all the family who has come to hang out! Sorry mom!

Who did I see? I touched David Cook's hand as he was walking to the stage behind the judges & shook Michael Johns hand. David Cook's parents were right behind me, along with the beautiful Carrie Underwood, Blake Lewis, Lori Laughlin, Terri Hatcher, Christina Applegate, and one of the Mowry twins. I saw more on tv but don't know where they were in the audience. It was freaking awesome! I loved the song Apologize where David Archeluta sang and I loved when the David's sang together, hero.
JK I love you, thank you so much!

Steve you are the best hubby! Thanks for letting me stay! It meant a ton! xoxo

Tuesday Tell All...One Word

Answer the following with only one word.
I know I'm going to be horrible at this one so bare with me!
1. Where is your cell phone? ....................with hubby
2. Your significant other?.......................Mr. Wonderful
3. Your hair?....................................short
4. Your mother? .................................amazing
5. Your father?..................................wise
6. Your favorite thing?..........................family
7. Your dream last night?........................losing luggage
8. Your favorite drink...........................water
9. Your dream/goal?..............................better homemaker
10. The room you're in?..........................kitchen
11. Your children?.....................................1 fun boy
12. Your fear?...................................heights, parking garages
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years...........settled
14. Where were you last night?...................shopping
15. What you're not?.............................tall
16. Muffins......................................blueberry, white chocolate strawberry
17. One of your wish list items?.................camera
18. Where you grew up?...........................Valencia, CA
19. What you read last........................Twilight Series
20. What are you wearing?........................Mrs. Jurca sweats
21. Your TV?.....................................off
22. Your pets?...................................Ellie
23. Your computer? ..............................Dell
24. Your life?...................................blessed
25. Your mood?...................................Excited
26. Missing someone?.............................Steve Hank
27. Your car?....................................Ford
28. Something you're not wearing?................Shoes
29. Favorite Store?..............................right now, H&M
30. Your summer?.................................Hot
31. Like someone?................................Chelsea
32. Your favorite color?.........................browns, whites, blues
33. Last time you laughed........................yesterday
34. Last time you cried?.........................Brady's wedding

Happy Birthday Maddie!

Happy Sweet 16 to my niece Maddie! She is in this picture with her sisters Emily and Grace, she is on the right.

I love that Maddie has such a nurturing personality and when life needs her to step up and act as 2nd mother, she doesn't even think twice. Maddie is funny and very smart. There is a good chance that whenever I see Maddie, I know I will see her face in a book. She has such a love for reading! Maddie is fun to rock out with, try a new hairstyle with, and to lay out by the pool with. I've heard she is a church basketball superstar. She is a sweetheart, have a fun day!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful little sista sista!

Today my best friend and younger sister turns 20. Here are a few of my favorite things about Chelsea Selina. Chelsea was born 2 years and 51 weeks after me. I was so thrilled to have a new baby. I would sleep in her crib with her, pull her around in my wagon (surrounded by blankets), and pick her up all by myself and hold her on the couch...Remember I was almost 3...kinda scary that she made it out normal. She played barbies with me and pretty much let me do whatever I wanted. My favorite thing to do was take her on pretend trips. She would be the first thing I packed in my wagon and she was so perfect to sit there while I packed EVERYTHING else. Chelsea is beautiful inside and out. She is very mellow and carefree.
She has a lot of friends and is the best friend. She is loyal and honest.
One day, Chelsea will be the best, most stylin mom,
but for now she can be the best auntie (read Joe's onesie...I love my auntie)
Chels is hilarious and it is never a dull moment when she is around. She is an awesome pianist. She is such a happy person and her happiness is contagious. She is a world traveler having already been to Europe twice, Costa Rica, and Mexico...all before the age of 20 with her best friend Heidi. She picked a companion that is perfect for her. I have had such fun girl times with my sista sista...Spa time at Coronado, manis and pedis, Golden Spoon runs, Spumoni's accidents, shopping with mama, tennis lessons with Dave, golf lessons with Tony in dresses, and laying out day after day. I love you tons and can't wait to see you this week!

Tag!

Thanks Heather for the tag! It was nice and quick!
tag rules:
1. you link back to the person who tagged you.
2. post these rules on your blog.
3. share six unimportant things about yourself.
4. tag six random people at the end of your entry.
5. let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs.
6. enjoy the results.

1. Every time Paula speaks on American Idol, I hold my breath because I don't think she can form an intelligent sentence.
2. I get really competitive with board games and the wii, especially Settlers, and especially when I'm playing my husband.
3. I love love love sweets, mainly toffees, white chocolate, donuts, rice krispies, cookies, and root beer freezes.
4. I love having my back tickled, or my neck, or when whoever is doing the mini massage, they put my hair behind my ears.
5. I am like a kid on long car drives and ALWAYS ask are we there yet? I don't know why but the 4 hour drive from Provo to St George made me want to pull my hair out.
6. I love to read and I actually can read pretty fast. I love Nicholas Sparks books, Stephenie Meyer books, and Parents magazines.

I'm tagging my sis Chelsea, my friend Chelsea, Kiersten, Amber, Hillary, & Brittany.

Tuesday Tell All...Summer Memories

I had great childhood summer memories...playing tennis in bathing suits and then running to jump in the pool...hanging out with cousins and family...barbeques and all the good stuff...but this place will always be my number 1 summer memory!
25 years...here we come! Even though I am turning 23, my family has gone to the famous Hotel Del Coronado for the past 25 years. We have seen all of the hotel changes, good and bad. We saw the arcade leave, then the candy shop leave, but it reopened last year(yay!), and the company of family is still the best.

I always took for granted going with my best friend, but now that she is married and far away from me, I will be so grateful for the vacations we will get to go on. hint hint Ben, don't hog her!
I have to tell this funny story about my brother Ben, far left. A few years ago we were driving to Coronado (about a 3 1/2 hour drive) and we were in a Ford F-150...so we could see the bed of the truck. About 2 1/2 hours down the road I think my mom turned around and said we have everything right...JK looked and asked Ben if he put their bag in...To make a long story short, their luggage didn't make it into the truck. It turns out Ben was pretty much walking around playing his gameboy while JK was loading the back of the truck, but every time my dad would walk near, Ben would act like he was helping. You would have had to have been in the car, Ben was pissed, Chelsea & I were DYING laughing because he was trying to act like it wasn't his fault & JK was panicked about not having any clothes. Luckily my sister in law got into our house, which was amazing because my mom locks it tighter than a bank when she leaves, and the suitcase was right in the middle of the boys room, where BEN LEFT IT!
We all give lots of kisses, Max's are pretty good and hard to pass up! We were all dying laughing after he layed this one on his Aunt Chels.
We swim, lounge, eat, lounge, go to the beach, eat, and try to walk it off.
All 28 of us will ride around the island in Surry's...it is quite a site...and at the end we race. My brothers get pretty fiesty and we have had many close calls.

This is my dad's idea of camping...luxurious hotel with the golf channel and a good book. Well, the apple didn't fall too far from the tree, I have to agree with him.
It is so fun for this group to get together and hang out...What a beautiful group of friends!
We play on the beach, make turtles out of sand, bury people, swim, find sand dollars, and chase children.
Notice Steve's hand, he had just found tons of sand dollars with Jack Jr.
We match our kids...not on purpose but it makes for a great photo op.

My mom gives everyone pennies to make a wish...every year...same place outside of Miguel's.

My husband can finally have a break. Love you honey!

We play football at this huge park after dinner.

Thanks mom for taking care of everything to make sure it is top notch!
Thanks daddy for paying for these wonderful vacations and for taking us to the same beautiful place. This is the family, except for Mike and Shuho. O and this summer we will be adding Ben Hudson and baby Ryan. What's so awesome is that we do EVERYTHING as a family. Yes...that's right, this group goes to breakfast, lunch and dinner together every day. The island really has to prepare for us to come into town. We eat at the same restaurants every year and have pretty much the same routine every year. These yummy desserts come to our room with some other chocolates...Not that we need them because every night we either go to the candy store, Moo Creamery, or a gelato place...but they are a great treat!

Hotel Del Coronado is such a nice vacation for my parents to take us on. Most of my fondest memories with my family are from the Hotel Del. The food is yummy, the weather is paradise, and my family is the best!

Our family loves May!

I wish I would have been more on top of birthdays in my family to wish my loved ones a happy day, but today when I realized it was my grandma's birthday, I realized I wasn't going to let one more slip away.

MAY 13, My grandma Rose was my mom's mom. I love that she was a pro quilter, she loved burnt popcorn, she loved anything having to do with IHOP since she worked for the company for a long time, she loved us, and Keith was her king.

I got my stubborn personality from my grandma and my nose, which sometimes is an ok thing, but most of the time I consider it a flaw of mine. My grandma was at most everything for us kids whether it was a football game, a recital, or dinner, I was brought up with her around. I was sleeping with her the night of the earthquake and she got me to my mom safely. I had a feeling to go to her apartment when she wasn't picking up her phone, and she was there needing help because of a heart attack. When she was living in a nursing home, she got to meet Steve a couple times, and loved him. She made the best root beer floats and had the fanciest jewelry that we could try on. She always smelled so good, dressed classy, had her hair perfectly permed, with her nails done, and gave a lot of sass to anyone that disagreed with her. I love her and miss her dearly!
MAY 12...Max turned 4 yesterday and I got to go to his Car's themed bday. His mom, Sammy, wrote such a cute post about Max, but I will say a couple things about Max. Aunt Chelsea is Max's favorite, but it's ok, because Chelsea is everyone's favorite! Max loves Chelsea so much that when I'm in town, whenever he comes to talk to me, he'll start off by saying Aunt Chelsea...and then give me a big old grin! He is so smart and I love this boy!
MAY 4...My sister in law, Julie, had a birthday and since she never takes any pictures with her in them I had to copy and paste this from her blog. A few things I love about Julie...she is such a great friend to me, every time I'm with her she is so willing to teach me something new, & she drove her 4 kids to see me! FYI...this is the girl that makes the amazing cookies that most of you like when you come to my house