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

Happy Mother's Day!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day! I woke up and got to go to church with my family and there is just something so great about being at church with my mom and knowing that she'll take over and take care of Joe, so I can actually get something out of church!

I don't have to say too much about my mama, anyone that knows her knows she is the sweetest most caring mom ever. She is funny, nurturing, a great cook, stalwart member of the church, and she is my best friend. Every good thing about me I think comes from my mom, and every sassy and stubborn thing about me comes from her mom. I, myself, feel lucky and think I'm a good combination of 2 wonderful women. Yesterday after church, I got a great nap with Joe and he got me flowers...sweet...We had a yummy feast and did one of my favorite things...watched the Elvis concert in Hawaii...He is so handsome and I love to hear my dad talk about when he would go to his concerts with my grandma.To end a fabulous day, I went with my parents to the cemetery to take flowers to both my parents moms. They are buried on the same hill not too far from each other. I miss my Grandma Rose so much, it's only been 2 years since she passed away. As I was starting to get emotional, as was my mom, baby Joe started patting her on the back, like it's ok...I know something you don't know. It was precious.

We were lucky enough to have Steve's mom, Bev, with us Thursday. It wasn't long enough, but it was awesome to get to have her in the temple with us for Brady's wedding. It was so sweet of her to drive up all by herself for the wedding and to see us. Cafe Rio was so yummy, and her help with Joe was very much appreciated. She is a wonderful woman and I'm grateful to have her to look up too. She must have done lots of things right because my husband turned out to be a fabulous man. Thanks to my sweet hubby for letting me come to my family's house for the week. What a wonderful present! Now, don't think I left him by himself, he has a training by San Jose for the week. I love you sweetheart!

Brady's Wedding & friends in Utah

Flight & Joe...one word describes it AWESOME!
He slept in his car seat, very not like him and Steve & I got to hang out. Also it was very cool because we flew Jet Blue and the tv's were showing stuff on New York time, SO we got to see the American Idol results show. It was an excellent little date for us.
Brady's wedding was beautiful. We were so lucky that Steve's mom drove up from St George to go to the wedding with us & she got to see Joe. This is me, my sweet friend Kiersten(Brady's sis-she's pregnant!), my adopted mother in law Brenda(Brady's mom), and future PGA wife Kathryn, she is going to be the cutest wife on the tour! Her and I were at the Curtis home a lot, thanks for always letting us hang out and for taking such good care of us! Love ya!
Joe & Brady, Joe was a little nervous, but once Brady started talking whale...Joe calmed down. Thanks Brady, you really work wonders! :)
Jake & Kathryn Ellison, Lacee & Brady Curtis, Steve & Jen Jurca...These 3 boys have been good friends for a long time. It was great to see them and hope to see them soon! Congrats to the new Curtis'!

I got to see one of my bestest friends ever. Chandi had her 2nd girl Cassidy 3 weeks ago and I was so excited I got to see her so soon. Madalyn was a little shy, but warmed right up to me when I offered her a donut on a Barbie plate. I love that girl! Preston, thanks for keeping it a secret...Chandi I love you, maybe one day we'll live close again!
Kenz holding Cassidy...We almost went to Murray High School to see David Archeluta(sp?), but we had plans during the time he would be there. Thanks for playing along with me Kenz, it would've been tons of fun!
Ab, Kenz & Cass knew that Joe would be happy inside a car "driving" and that's where they ended up with him frequently! Thanks beautiful girls!
I always make an effort to see my awesome roommates from my first year in Utah. Shelly(left) my fabulous older sister is such a dear dear friend that has always been there for me and I love her so much! Julie (right) has her little boy Landon who is 11 months, and she is 5 months pregnant with another boy! I love that I am still friends with these great girls and that we get together whenever I'm in town.
Whit & Brit...for anyone who knows these HILARIOUS girls, saying their names is enough. They are so funny and when they get together, my cheeks hurt when they leave. Lora, we missed you, you would have been right at home! Kev, thanks for driving us back and forth and for Joe's freaking cute outfit! Love ya!

Tuesday Tell All...Mom's Day

Why I love being a mamama!
*I love the smile that Joe has for me whenever I leave for 20 min. (max) and walk back into the apartment.
*Traditions, family vacations, Disneyland, holidays, and birthdays are soooo much fun!
*There is nothing better than a good morning kiss, especially when I don't even have to beg for it!
*I have something else to concentrate on besides my husband, who doesn't like a lot of attention.
*I always have something new to tell.
*I've discovered that I need to be more patient and less scheduled.
*I've learned that there just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done.
*It's amazing that Joe can fall asleep to me singing.
*Children are so forgiving, they love you no matter what.
*I love to be needed, 90% of the time.
*I love each new stage and look forward to the next day to see what cool thing will happen.
*It's so fun to see a personality come out and guess which parent it came from.
*I get so excited for expecting mothers because of what great journey they are about to embark on.
*I try to be a better person, wife, & mom.
*Being a mom takes a lot of work and responsibility and I am loving every minute with my sweet boy.

* I love my own mom and hope I can be half the mom she is. Whenever she would say, one day we're going to be best friends, I would laugh and say yeah right...(yes I know, what a brat) But without that friendship, help, and love I know I wouldn't be where I am now. I now know how you can love someone so much, it feels like your heart could explode. If they get hurt, or if they are hurting, you are hurting even worse. And since I'm such an emotional person, I'm usually crying along with my baby!
Happy Mother's Day to all of my friends!

Desperate Times call for Desperate Measures!

haha not really that desperate...My favorite, most wonderful, best friend in the whole world, my sista sista Chelsea started a blog! Finally...For the past few months that she has been married, she has called me and told me the funniest stories, and I told her she needs a blog to be documenting them on. Her and Ben are a pretty funny couple, so while this seems weird, I'm recruiting friends for her. Go say hi to her if you want to! Thanks to the 3 of you that read my blog! xoxo Aren't baby Joe's pictures so cute! See post below!

FREE PICTURES!

Joe & I went to get pictures taken today. The wonderful couple I babysit for told me about this Windows place on Union and I was a little hesitant because how free can free get? Well this was absolutely free. They even have someone there to touch up hair and makeup. I've never gotten my little sweetie's picture taken because I didn't want to spend the money if he didn't smile so I'm glad the mom behind us was entertaining him!
Ok, mom I'm pretty much done now!
One last total cheeser picture, I have come to love the cheese pose!
I even jumped in for a couple. We surprised daddy with this one when he got home so one could go on his desk at work. They will be there until Mother's Day from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm. GO get it done!