Our baby fix!

As ya'all know.. Mike and I are behind on the baby making (by Utah standards) and it is something we both want and pray to have. It's fun that a few of his (our) family members have newborns and even better that they trust us with them. Blake and Alysha went out for a date night and dropped this cute little guy Wyatt off at our house! It was so much fun. He is such a great little boy and so adorable. He has the cutest little expressions and Mike and I caught ourselves just watching his every move even when he was sleeping. We talked, sang, and snuggled and sadly returned him to his loving parents! Thanks Alysia and Blake, we hope to have him over again soon! :)

Fridays Kids!

Mike and I share the same interest in getting involved with some volunteer work. I did a search a couple months ago and found Friday's Kids. We both want to work with kids and this looked perfect! We signed up and spent our Friday night date night with a few Special needs kids that amazed us. If you ever want to volunteer 3.5 hours on a Friday, sign up with this group. There were about 5 other volunteers there from Kohls Cares, which is also another great organization. So there wasn't a shortage this Friday but they usually have a hard time finding enough people, so consider them in your search for volunteer opportunities. I can speak for both Mike and I, when I say we are Excited to return!

Beautiful Day!!

Okay, so this post might make my snobby CT friends judge! Don't judge.. I'm frugal! :)

I heard from the nurse at my Dr's office, that a salon in Provo was having a February Special! Everyone likes a good deal and I'm no different. During this month you can get 4services for $20! To good to be true??? Well sort of... But I recruited my sister Holly to join me anyway. A day of beauty sounded fun!!!!

We arrived with full makeup face and our first service was a facial! Who doesn't like a little anti-aging moisturizing cream? Sign me Up! So bye bye makeup and hello clean pours. Our second service was a pedicure! Those who know me know that my toes are a pedicurists biggest nightmare. They gently hug each other which makes the paint process a little difficult-- but aside from the asian lady I went to in CT "oh you so tall feet so small, so sorry, so sorry" they usually don't complain. I came up with an evil plan....I took the focus off my feet to tell them that my sisters toes have names. Jumbo shrimp, ET, cashew, peanut, and shrimp! P.s. No one cares, except for me and I think it's hilarious! :)

Our third treatment was the least impressive! I don't think it was as much the polish as it was the technique. I don't find painting the SAME nail over and over again until the polish is sticky and clumpy to be a great way to create devoted clientele but apparently we all have different opinions! So fine!
Our forth and last treatment was a hair style! I've always found it hard to speak the same language with a stylist, apparently English isn't a language of familiarity. 1" cut turns into 4" , long swoopy bangs, turns into a1 inch stubble across the forehead that is almost to short to put a a bobby pin in, & as I learned from this NEW girl "loose curls" translate into a look that you would imagine if Shirley temple & Medusa pro-created! But luck was on my side.. it was raining out! :)
Holly had much more success! THANKFULLY! Her hair was lightly curled, her nails stayed pink and smooth and Jumbo, ET, cashew, peanut, and shrimp were all happy with there newest applied color! Over all it was a great day, and we had fun together. A day of relaxation, laughter, and beauty with a few flaws was $20 well spent! Plus a makeup free face over lunch and shopping was a nice way to spend my Saturday!

I had planned to take before and after shots of our day of beauty but I was just having WAY to much fun...& forgot! :) and :(

I came home to find a surprise from my thoughtful husband. My Counter-top was full. Check out how thoughtful my hubby is... I'm so loved.

I'm so excited about my mixer "kitchen aid". I made my waffles this morning and homemade bread right now! :)

H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y M O M M Y!

Today is my mama's Birthday-- I'm not sure I know how old she is, and she would probably prefer it that way! :)

A little about the birthday girl:
My mom is wonderful and I'm happy to have her in my life. She is creative, talented, smart and has a green thumb that would make any thumb envious! She has designed a beautiful Victorian house of her dreams, filled it with antiques she has collected on her recent travels around the world and to every antique store on the west side of the U.S. :), along with a flower garden you could never dream up- including private swings to sit and read or visit, and she has a successful bed & breakfast business that keeps guest coming back every year (with the help of my dad, of course). She is a great example of going after your dreams, and making them a reality. Her and my Dad gave us a fairy tale example of what a loving relationship should be like, and I want her to know how much I love & appreciate her hard work, her support, friendship, and love! Happy Birthday My Mommy! I LOVE YOU!!! :)

Click here to see the beauty she creates!

By the way...

TODAY... I'm a("80's") ROCKSTAR
....because my husband told me so!












..and he knows best!

Valentines Day- Year 1

Now this guy doesn't need any lessons in sweetness. He covers all bases. :) Valentines is a weekly thing for him and I have the love notes to prove it:













I find these little gems everywhere, and when I least expect it. The other day, I found
one of those little hearts when I reached the bottom of the Q-tip box. He gets creative and then just sits back and waits for me to discover my little love notes! It's so fun for both of us.

It's hard to think he could do anything else to show me he loves me, but he does. He showed up with red roses and he had found a card that played the song that was on the radio when he proposed! How thoughtful is that?!?!














We had a late lunch date (3pm) and made a rare trip to SLC for some sushi at Happy Sumo's. We also had the restaurant to ourselves, which is rare for this big day.. For those who hate the valentines reservation crowd.. I highly suggest this route!

After that, he had scheduled us a romantic 1 hour couple massage and Steam that we hurried off too. It was so relaxing and sweet-- he took full advantage of the inclusive chocolate fountain with all the fixins. My little sweet has a big sweet tooth! :) It was such a great Day and I felt the Love. It makes me feel so lucky to have such a thoughtful, sweet, generous, handsome hubby! I hope he felt how much I love and appreciate him too!

Business is expanding! :)

Today I spent a majority of the day working on another blog. (I know.. I know...what more could I possibly have to share) Well... I wanted to make a separate one to share what (I) know and Love! Cooking and Creativity! I go cRaZy for a good recipe or a creative idea, so why not share with the ones I love?!?! :)
http://suzyscraftycafe.blogspot.com/

Still got "IT" at 102!

One of Mikes and My favorite things to do, is to go see grandma! When I tell mike I'm going to go see her, he arranges his schedule so that he can join me. She is so cute and keeps us laughing. She is seriously like a young girl and when we hang out, it's like we are with a friend OUR age! She still feels like doing the jitterbug (although she no longer can), and talks about her travels and her dreams of doing even more. She talks about her career and the kids she taught many, many years ago, and how she would continue her education-if she could, she loves her family and gives me the weekly updates, she's a enthusiastic jazz fan and knows the players/stats/scores...she even has a crush on Kirilenko (she likes his hair)! This last time after we we went out to eat, she announced "I feel like I should go have a race with someone"! She reminds us each time we see her how much she loves life. How she wakes up in the morning and greets the sunshine and says to herself, "hello sunshine" and then claims to laugh until she can't laugh anymore. Her secret to living a long life is to "LOVE IT!"

She still lives alone in her two story house. Her treadmill sits in the basement where she makes her way down daily to get in her exercise. One day when we were sitting at Golden Corral gorging ourselves on the buffet. (By the way this is a regular thing for us. She loves to go out to eat at GC!) My grandma began talking to a woman next to us about her exercise routine and the woman regretfully shared that she doesn't get any, to grandmas reply "well if you can't exercise, you mind as well be in the DIRT", I quickly laughed it off, to ease the harshness of the response.. but this is how she lives... she really LIVES. She doesn't let her age slow her down, she hasn't given up on the things she loves, and she keeps her head up and a smile on her face. Her body may be weakening but her spirit is young, strong, and wants to forge on wildly.

This last visit I arrived and noticed that her hair had been done by one of her thoughtful neighbors. I told her she looked so beautiful that I wanted to take her picture. I gave her a hug and kiss and she then asked "well aren't you going to take my picture?" I laughed and grabbed my camera. She had one more suggestion before I started snapping, she wanted her fur vest from out of the closet. Once she was beautified, she needed no instruction she kicked her leg up in the air before I had my camera ready. I was laughing so hard. She worked that camera like she was Heidi Klum She LOVED it! She just kept posing and giggling and I just kept snapping away, laughing along with her. I think it's fair to say that at 102- this girl still has "IT"! :) After our photo-shoot she proudly acknowledges "I feel like HOLLY" My sister Holly is animated, lively, enthusiastic, and happy*happy*happy. She couldn't have said it better! :) I love this gal! :)

To hear my sister Heathers thoughts on grandma, click here (One day I would love to write like her)

Super Bowl XLIV

Neither Mike or I are football fans but we needed a reason to party! So we decided to have a friendly little competition! He adorned yellow and black to support the Manwell Steelers. His sister Angie & her husband Jared are super fans. Angie even purchased a purse with the logo on it this year when the season started. Making her husband VERY proud!






While, I fashioned a little Yellow and Green to Support the Shack greenbay attack! My sister Holly and her hubby Zack have been packers fans forever. So much so, that when we redid my sisters living room we had to be sure to leave a wall for Zachs Greenbay memorabilia!! The fan club runs deep in that family. Check out his dads NAILS!! :)

Once we established who we were supporting it was on to the next thing! A little tough guy routine to discourage the other team. Here was our attempt at being super fans! :)
STEELERS ARE GOING DOWN! Represent'n the Gold and Green!! Go, Fight, WIN!!














I didn't bother Ironing my shirt. Afterall, it's just football!

Now it was time to introduce FOOD to this wild party! :) We decided mexican would be good enough. Easy and Delicious! We invited his parents and Tyler and Taylor over last minute for our crazy festivities ;) they were luckily available to come join us for the party! YAY!

Who won?