Rog and Chief Phillips

Last Week

2012-01-24T20:26:00.002-07:00

Was gray and cloudy. It was typical weather for January in Northern Utah. But it was really the first week this winter that has been that way. It was long and depressing and by the end of the week, I was going crazy! On Friday I decided we needed to get out of the house.

So in the morning we headed to Walmart. I let Corby play in the toy aisle for over an hour. He enjoyed every minute of it and so did I. He loved sitting on this tricycle and almost was able to make it move. I'm sure he'll be getting one of his very own (perhaps in a more manly color scheme) for his birthday and he'll be a tricycle-riding pro! He insisted on wearing the helmet the whole time.

After his nap, we headed to the duck pond at BYU. He loved feeding the ducks pieces of bread and chasing them around the boardwalk. And then when he had had enough of that, he walked up all the stairs by himself. (If you've ever climbed those stairs, you know what an accomplishment that is for a 1.5 year old!)

When it was time to go home, I decided to drive by my freshman dorm. I was pretty sure it had already been demolished, but it was still there. (If you haven't heard, they are replacing Heritage Halls. Article here.) I had Rog meet me there on his way home from work, so I could take one last picture with the place that was my home for the first 9 months of my BYU experience.

{Goodbye Rogers Hall! Thanks for all the great memories!}

On Saturday morning Rog started his GMAT class. Corby and I braved the rain (which later turned to snow) and got much-needed haircuts. Later in the day, I got to go on a Corby-free shopping trip. I finally broke down and bought some new maternity jeans that fit me now, so I don't have to feel like a lazy bum wearing my pajama pants all the time.

Thanks to the haircut (which has given me new motivation to actually do my hair), new maternity jeans (which make me feel like a human being again), and slightly better weather (we saw the sun this afternoon and were able to go on a walk), this week has been going a lot better than last week!

19 Months

2012-01-19T14:52:00.002-07:00

The Corb at 19 months:

*Is getting very good at eating with a spoon.

*He's slowed down now, but he must have had a growth spurt because for a few weeks he was eating like a hungry teenager!

*Likes wearing his gloves. If he wants to go outside, he'll bring me his shoes or his gloves - even if we've just barely finished breakfast.

*Loves opening/shutting doors. He can't open our doors yet, but he can open the kind that pulls down to open. (My parents have that kind, so he was in heaven opening/shutting doors while we were there for Christmas.)

*Likes playing in the water when we wash his hands after eating. This is a great improvement because not long ago, he would scream the whole time we were washing his hands. And he knows to go dry his hands after we wash them.

*Knows where his car mat is stored. If we ask him if we should play cars, he goes to get it out. Sometimes he likes to hide under it.

And then he loves playing peek-a-boo when you pull it off him.

*Is really into keys right now. He loves going to the mailbox and pretending to open the boxes with a key.

*Loves to dance around after his bath.

*Loves to drive around Macey's in the car carts. They are harder to steer, but it's worth it because he doesn't try to climb out the whole time!

*Has figured out how to jump. He doesn't do it all that often, but he can get both feet off the floor at the same time when he wants to.

*Sleeps in until sometime between 7:45 and 8:15 every morning. We figured out he was waking up starving, so if we feed him a snack about a half hour before putting him to bed, he doesn't wake up at 6:00 am anymore! He also has been taking really good naps (for him anyway). It's getting so I can pretty much count on 2 hours (and sometimes more) which is huge for him. And if he does wake up too early from his nap, I can leave him and he'll go back to sleep most of the time. (He never used to do that with naps.) Life has been good since we figured out this sleeping thing. Knock on wood!

*Loves to unload all our DVDs.

And then bring you the one he wants to watch. Right now his favorite is any of the Toy Story movies.

*Says yeah and ow (like ouch without the ch) when he gets hurt.

*Roars like a lion and quacks like a duck when he sees one or you ask him what noise lions or ducks make.

*Loves to squirt the spray bottle. The other day I showed him how to scrub the floor after spraying it and he was so into it. Haha.

*Likes to make huge messes with his food by throwing it or pushing it off the table after he is done eating. Makes mealtime not so pleasant!

*Likes to suck on things that resemble a bottle and gets mad when you take them away.

*Insists on wearing his swim stuff sometimes. I've had to hide most of them. Here he is with his life preserver on. Silly boy!

He can be very naughty sometimes and he definitely has a mind of his own, but he can also be such a sweetheart.

Reorganizing

2012-01-18T11:18:00.002-07:00

On Saturday we started reorganizing things to get ready for Peyton to join our family.

First we emptied out the craft room which will become her room. The bookshelf will stay, but we are going to be putting the desk into storage. (Hopefully in my grandma's garage, if that's ok with her.) It looks pretty sad right now - Corbyn goes in there periodically and says "uh, oh" like he knows it's not normal for a room to be so empty. It won't stay this way for long though. I have big plans for it.

We made a sewing nook for me in our bedroom.

And stowed away some of the craft supplies in the top of our closet (which was seriously being underutilized - I was amazed how much stuff I fit up there).

Then we reorganized the storage under our stairs. Bill and Mariah had this bookshelf they were wanting to get rid of that works perfectly to store the books that were previously on the bookshelf in the craft room. The rest is pretty much all my decorations. Each month has a container. Rog wanted to put the decorations in the garage, but I said NO! Maybe they would be ok, but I didn't want to take the chance that all my hard work would get ruined by the cold in the winter and the heat in the summer.

The garage is pretty much overflow storage. Golf clubs and a few random things on one side.

Camping/outdoor supplies on the other.

And these shelves right outside the door to the garage hold some kitchen overflow. The cookie sheets were under a bunch of stuff in our kitchen closet, so every time we went to use them (which was a lot), we'd have to practically unload the whole shelf to get to them. This way we have easy access to them!

It was a long day moving everything around, but when we were done I was so glad we did it now and not when I'm 8 or 9 months pregnant - huge and uncomfortable like last time.

It actually worked out pretty perfectly. Everything has a place and similar things are together. Horray for being organized! And now for the fun part - decorating the nursery!

Shelves and Color Me Mine

2012-01-13T22:26:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday afternoon KD and Phat Tony came down to help us build some shelves for our garage. With Peyton joining our family, we are going to need some extra storage space.

Corby was a big help pounding in nails.

{I'll post pictures of the finished product after we get our garage organized tomorrow.}

While the guys were doing all the real work, I made us some breadsticks and grilled up some pizzas on the BBQ. Yes, it was freezing, but I couldn't wait until summer.

Then KD and Phat Tony watched Corbyn for us while we went on a date to Color Me Mine. The best part of the date was watching the other couples there on dates - especially the ones who were obviously on first dates. We couldn't help but overhear the conversation between the couple next to us. Let's just say it made us grateful to be out of the singles dating game.

I made the plate and Rog made the bowl.

A huge thank you to KD and Phat Tony for all their help!

24 Weeks

2012-01-12T21:02:00.000-07:00

I had my 24 week appointment today and everything is going just as it should. I was a little nervous to step on the scale after the holidays, but I had gained pretty much exactly 4 pounds which is exactly what I was supposed to have gained. I had Rog take this picture on Sunday (so I was about 23 1/2 weeks at the time) because it's kind of rare that I get completely ready during the week. And it's more rare that I'm not wearing pajama pants. I'm still in limbo between my regular jeans being too tight and my maternity jeans being too big.

I was comparing this picture to one we took when I was pregnant with Corbyn at 23 weeks and I think they are pretty similar. I know it's pretty normal to get bigger faster with your second child, but I haven't wanted to and so far I think I have been getting my wish.

I have been feeling good. Of course I have those moments that remind me of the fun that lies ahead - definitely not looking forward to the third trimester - but at least for now, those moments are few and far between.

24 weeks down, 16 to go! I can't wait to meet my little Peyton girl!

January Crafting

2012-01-12T13:32:00.000-07:00

I once said that St. Patrick's Day is the lonliest holiday. Well, this month I decided that January is the lonliest month. I think everyone is so tired after Christmas that they skip decorating in January because there aren't any major holidays. It's a shame really.

I needed something to balance out my table and I couldn't find anything on pinterest or out in blogland. So I decided to whip something up myself. Keep Calm and Shovel On people. Same deal as with my head and tail puzzles, if you want to print one out for yourself, feel free to ask.

And here is my shadow box for the month. I end up liking some shadow boxes more than others and this month is one of those months. Love.

Happy January! And I never thought I'd be saying this, but let it snow! Goodness knows, we need it!

Rog's Birthday

2012-01-10T19:04:00.001-07:00

Rog turned 27 last Thursday. He had to work, but we still fit in some fun things that day. I got up at the crack of dawn to make him cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

Then for lunch we went to Tucanos to use his free meal coupon. After we were finished eating, we played outside for a few minutes because it was nice and warm - very unlike most of his birthdays (at least the ones he's spent in Utah).

While Corbyn was taking his nap, I finished up his birthday cake pops, so they would be ready when he got home from work.

For dinner he requested spaghetti and meatballs. I wanted to make something more special than the regular open a can of spaghetti sauce and brown some meat, so I tried out this recipe.

After dinner we just played as a family and he opened his presents. I wanted to make him a BYU fleece blanket, but all the stores I went to (about 7) had the same BYU fleece fabric and I didn't like it too much. So finally I decided to buy him a BYU blanket made out of sweatshirt material instead.

On Friday afternoon we met him at the BYU bookstore and he picked out a BYU sweatshirt. I had tried to pick one out for him, but there were so many choices and I didn't want to get one he didn't like. He also got a new set of scriptures - the large print ones because he is soooooo old! LOL. After that we ate at 5 Guys with Bill and Mariah.

Happy birthday to the best husband and daddy around! We love you!!

2012 Resolutions

2012-01-08T15:39:00.003-07:00

Here are our resolutions for 2012.

Mine:

1. Read 6 books again.

2. Get Peyton's room ready before she arrives.

3. Run the Cougar Run in less than 25 minutes.

4. Finish all 4 of our stockings before December.

Rog's:

1. Ride his mountain bike more.

2. Get at least a 600 on the GMAT.

3. Run the Top of Utah marathon.

4. Find names for us to take all the way through the temple.

Corbyn's:

1. Learn to really talk.

2. Learn the noises the animals make.

3. Be a good big brother.

4. Love nursery.

Peyton's:

1. Be healthy.

2. Weigh less than 10 pounds.

3. Be good at breastfeeding.

4. Learn to roll over and sit up.

And our family resolutions:

1. Go on a date just the two of us at least once a month.

2. Go to the temple at least once a month.

3. Adjust to having 2 kiddos.

4. Update our 72 hour kits and buy a fire extinguisher.

2011 Resolutions

2012-01-08T14:00:00.004-07:00

Here's a review of our 2011 resolutions.

Mine:

1. Read 6 books. Done. I read The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Help, and Okay for Now. I finished Okay for Now on January 2nd, but I'm counting it! Thanks Rachel for the recommendation - I loved it probably just as much as I loved The Wednesday Wars.

2. Run a half marathon. Done. It wasn't pretty, but I finished.

3. Start an etsy shop. Nope. It's something I want to do in theory, but other things take priority over it. Maybe someday.

4. Get window coverings up on all our windows. I got them up in Corby's room and started making them for the craft room, but never finished. I will finish those this year because the craft room is becoming Peyton's room and I am basically designing the whole room around those curtains! Didn't get them up in our room or the living room.

Rog's:

1. Read 6 books. Almost (5/6). He read The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay, Seven Miracles That Saved America, and the Old Testament (yes, the whole thing).

2. Run a marathon. Done. It wasn't his best, but he did it!

3. Study 1 hour a week for the GMAT. Nope. He did it in spurts. This year he's really going to buckle down and conquer the GMAT. Starting with taking a prep class in February and March. (8 hours a week - ugh, ask me how excited I am about this.)

4. Get 600 points a month. Nope.

Corbyn's:

1. Learn how to eat solid foods. Done. He hated it at first, but now he's a pretty good eater when he wants to be.

2. Learn how to crawl and walk. Done. He's our little mover!

3. Learn how to sleep through the night. Done. One day it just clicked at about 10 1/2 months. Rarely he'll wake up in the night, but only if something is wrong.

4. Learn to say a few words. Done. He's not a huge talker, but he has his words.

And our family resolutions:

1. Finish doing work in all the temples in Utah. Done! This year we visited Manti and Vernal which completed the set - until they finish Brigham City, Payson, and the Provo Tabernacle.

2. Go to the temple 14 times during the year. Done. We made sure we went at least once a month and then were able to attend the sealings of my friend Stacey, Roger's cousin Kyle, and my cousin Brady.

3. Actually try to make friends in our ward - have a family from our ward over at least once a month. Done. This became easy after we became good friends with Bill and Mariah because we do stuff with them all the time. We also had other families from our ward over and expanded our circle of friends.

4. Have more salads with our dinners. Done. Rog and Corby didn't really participate, but I ate way more salads this year.

Well, I guess it wasn't our best year for resolutions, but we got the ones that mattered most!

2011 was the year that...

2012-01-07T14:02:00.005-07:00

Corbyn learned to eat SOLID food...

CRAWL...

and WALK.

Corbyn also got his first TEETH...

Visited DISNEYLAND for the first time...

and learned to SLEEP through the night.

We said goodbye to Cliff and Fred...

And welcomed Daisy to the family.

Rog ran his 4TH marathon.

We found out Corbyn was going to become a BIG BROTHER.

And mom was going to get her little DANCER!

2011 wasn't quite as eventful as 2010, but it was a year to remember nonetheless!

New Years

2012-01-06T12:57:00.004-07:00

We celebrated New Years Eve by going to Kneaders for breakfast with Bill and Mariah in the morning. Then we did some errands and returned/exchanged a few Christmas gifts... Nothing too exciting.

That night we had kind of an impromptu party with Bill and Mariah and another couple they know from Bill's work. They brought a chip dip and a pie from the Lion House bakery in Deseret Book. And I made twice baked potatoes (kind of doing a mixture of this recipe and this recipe), cinnamon bun popcorn, and sparkling celebration punch (from Our Best Bites' calendar that I got for Christmas). Everything was delicious (except the punch - it was only so, so). We had a great time eating, talking, and playing Ticket to Ride Europe. We decided we would celebrate the New Year at 10:00 when the ball was dropping in New York City because we are old married people!

It wasn't anything fancy, but we had fun. Happy 2012!

Christmas

2012-01-03T20:13:00.006-07:00

Short version:

We got to spend some time with the Hobbs in Salt Lake before they went up to Idaho to spend Christmas with Jason's family. Then we went down to St. George for Christmas. I took over the cooking for Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas breakfast, and Christmas dinner including my very first ham. Corby was totally spoiled with way too many presents. We also celebrated 4 birthdays and got to see Zack and Emily.

Long version (and we're talking LONG, this is more for me than for you):

Because we switched up our Thanksgiving/Christmas schedule to get all the Phillips on the same schedule, we are now off schedule with Jason and Diana. They stay in Texas for Thanksgiving and usually spend some time with both families for Christmas, so it isn't the hugest deal. So while they were in Salt Lake, we drove up pretty much every night after Rog got off work to spend time with them.

Tuesday, December 20

Jason, Diana, and Blake flew into SLC and my parents came up from St. George.

We had dinner at IKEA for Cailey's (Jared's girlfriend) birthday. (IKEA because IKEA originated in Sweden where Jared is serving.)

As we were leaving, Corby spotted a tv with old Mickey Christmas specials playing on it, so we had to stop for a few minutes and let him watch a few. (I'm pretty sure this is the same thing Jared talks about watching on Christmas in Sweden.) Corby thought it was hilarious and he loved this little chair so much that my dad was tempted to buy it for him.

Wednesday, December 21

Took family photos. (Corby had just woken up from a car nap on the way up and was definitely not in the mood for pictures, so we'll see if any turn out.)

Celebrated Diana's birthday with an early dinner at Pizza Factory.

Thursday, December 22

Cookie party! I told everyone they couldn't stop until all the cookies were decorated.

Corby did his part by eating decorated cookies.

Opened presents from our virtual name draw. (We couldn't do a name draw in person because we weren't together for Thanksgiving.)

My dad got Corby a laptop. My real laptop thanks him! :)

My mom got me a CrockPot. I already have one, but wanted an extra for times when I have people over and need a second.

And Jason/Diana got Rog a chopper. We didn't take a picture, but he was very excited because now he will be relieved from onion chopping duty at our house.

Friday, December 23

My mom, Diana, Jason, and I saw Ballet West's production of the Nutcracker while my dad and Roger watched the little boys.

We all had dinner at Mimi's Cafe to celebrate my Grandpa Ririe's 80th birthday.

And then Roger and Jason put the little boys to bed while the rest of us attended the Ririe Christmas Eve party (a day early). It wasn't exactly our traditional Christmas Eve party as it was combined with my grandpa's birthday, but it was still nice.

Saturday, December 24

Drove down to St. George.

I volunteered to take over our Christmas Eve dinner and the Christmas day meals as my Grandma Ford is getting a little old for it and cooking really isn't my mom's thing. So we stopped at Albertson's and bought a ton of food. Then I frantically went to work making fried rice and Dixie's egg rolls/sweet and sour sauce for dinner.

Sunday, December 25

We talked to Elder Ririe at the early hour of 1:00 am. It was fun to hear his voice. He is doing GREAT!

Corby woke us up at 6:00 am, so we took him out to the tree to see what Santa had brought him. We had set up a few of the larger presents - a car mat with cars, a lawn mower, and a shopping cart.

My mom and dad got him the mat and we got him the cars for the mat.

He loves pushing things around hence the lawn mower and shopping cart.

Then we made breakfast - puffed french toast, Mexican eggs, and my grandma made her famous frozen fruit salad. (No pictures because we were also frantically trying to get ready for church.)

We enjoyed church at my parent's ward. They had combined with another ward and it was packed! We were on the very back row of the overflow which was probably a good thing because Corby wasn't exactly on his best behavior. (We're working on teaching him that we stay in sacrament meeting the whole time.)

Came home and everyone took a nice long nap.

Opened more presents. Love this picture of Corby. He's like, "Clothes... oh yay..." Even though he might not have been excited about it, we really appreciated each and every gift he received.

One of his favorite gifts - slinkies from the dollar store! Go figure.

Fed the ducks.

Then Rog and Corby visited Rog's grandparents while I went to work on my very first Christmas dinner.

Appetizers - Bacon-wrapped weiners (my grandma's contribution), spinach dip (Knorr's), and cranberry punch.

Funeral potatoes, homemade rolls, green bean casserole (my mom's contribution), and my very first HAM!

For dessert we were supposed to have Candy Cane Pie, but the stores were all out of peppermint ice cream (of course they were, we did our shopping on Christmas Eve), so we settled with the cookies-n-cream version which was delicious, but less festive.

Played Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries - my gift to my dad. It has Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland.

Monday, December 26

Corby opened more presents. He was way too spoiled and was more into playing with them than opening them, so it took a few days to get them all opened.

This tool set was possibly his favorite gift of them all. He also really loves his "doctor's office toy" from his Grandma and Grandpa Phillips, we just didn't happen to take a picture of him playing with it.

Rog and my dad golfed.

Papa John's pizza for dinner.

Played Rummikub.

Tuesday, December 27

My mom and I hit up some after-Christmas sales. I got Corby his Christmas ornament - Mickey and Toodles in space. Can you say, perfect? And it was half off!

Rog, Corby, and I visited Rog's grandparents.

We celebrated Rog's birthday at Texas Roadhouse where Corby ate nothing but rolls (who can blame him, they are delicious) and ice cream.

Watched the Lion King. One of Corby's presents from his mom and dad.

Wednesday, December 28

Rog and I did a session at the St. George temple while my parents watched Corby.

Rog and my dad golfed (again).

We had leftovers for dinner to try to finish off all the food.

And a lemon cheesecake for Rog's birthday cake.

Played Oh Heck.

Thursday, December 29

Drove back up to Spanish Fork. (It was a Christmas miracle that we fit everything in our car.)

I took down our tree because it was a sad sight as it was totally and completely dead and the top 1/3 of the lights had burnt out.

Zack and Emily came to visit us! We didn't do anything special, but it was fun to see them and have our kiddos play together.

Rog and I got Cafe Rio for dinner and ate it while watching Glee's Extraordinary Merry Christmas after putting Corby to bed.

Tay and Martha stayed the night with us on their way back to school in Rexburg.

Friday, December 30

Listened to BYU win the Armed Forces Bowl on the radio. (We didn't have the station it was on and we didn't want to drive all the way up to Salt Lake to watch it there.) Go Cougars!

And there you have it. Christmas and the days before/after Christmas.

Homemade Gifts Part 2

2012-01-03T19:40:00.000-07:00

I forgot about these homemade gifts because I made them so long before Christmas. My mom and I got Jared's Christmas package mailed out while she was here with us before Thanksgiving and even then he only got it on December 22nd. We were worried he wouldn't get it at all because he got a different package that my mom mailed a few weeks after Thanksgiving before the package we mailed before Thanksgiving.

I made him this minature stocking.

And we made him some vanilla-dipped oreos.

Homemade Gifts

2012-01-02T21:03:00.000-07:00

This year I made Christmas magnets for our family and close friends. Nothing fancy, but I figured they would be good for hanging up Christmas cards on the fridge.

I wrapped them up in little treat bags which made them look pretty small, but I couldn't think of any other way to wrap them up.

The gift that took all my time was a finger puppet set to go along with the Monkey and the Crocodile song/book. I got the idea and template here. The minute I saw it I decided I'd make one for Corby and then one for all our nephews. I figured Aiden and Sam could share, so that meant I made 4 sets. That's 20 monkies and 4 crocodiles! It doesn't sound like that much, but oh my was it time consuming!

I also made a drawstring bag to put them in using this tutorial. That part was easy and quick because I didn't have to handstitch!

Rog says he will never let me do something like this again... He thought I was crazy (which I am), but I really did have fun making them. I'll just have to start a little sooner with my homemade gift making next year!

December Decorations

2012-01-01T14:42:00.002-07:00

With all the homemade gift making I did this year (which I will blog about soon), I didn't have much time for other crafting. Not that I didn't have anything I wanted to do because I had a long list. On the top of that list was our stockings. I bought the fabric and even got them cut out, but alas I did not finish them. I am going to make them a priority this month because I know if I wait until next Christmas they won't get done again.

I did get my shadow box done.

And changed up a few things on my table. I found the penguin on the far right at Michaels for half off and I knew he belonged in our home. You can't see it very well, but next to him is a block that has Luke 2: 13-14 in the shape of a Christmas tree. My visiting teaching partner gave it to me last year and I love it in theory, but I can't say I love exactly how she made it. (There's the pesky perfectionist again.) I found the printable here, so one day I will probably print it out and make my own version.

These plates aren't new, but my picture last year was so crappy, I thought I'd post a better one.

Corby loved scattering the pieces of our nativities. He learned who baby Jesus was and loved to pretend to eat him. Yes, you read that correctly. Funniest thing ever and I have no idea where he got it from.

He also loved to point to santa and say, "Ho, Ho, Ho!"

Busy Bag Exchange

2011-12-31T14:50:00.001-07:00

Back in November I participated in a busy bag exchange. I made head and tail puzzles. I could have just used a printable found here, but that would have been too easy. I made my own in Photoshop and I love how they turned out.

I did a sea animal set.

And a farm animal set.

{If I were more tech savy, I'd put up a pdf for you to print off if you would like. I don't know how to do that, but I totally don't mind sharing. So if you would like to print these off for your kiddos, just leave a comment with your email and I will send you the jpg files. Don't be shy, I am a blog stocker myself, so I promise I won't think anything of it if we aren't bffs and you read my blog.}

They were due right after Thanksgiving (November 30th) and of course I procrastinated, so I did a lot of frantic cutting. I needed 15 sets. 15 sets x 12 animals = 180 animals to cut out! That's a lot. And then I had to cut them out again after I got them laminated. My only regret is I probably should have done the hard lamination instead of the soft lamination.

15 sets ready to mailed off. It doesn't look like a lot, but it sure did take a lot of time!

I wish I could say I love what I got back, but honestly I was a little disappointed with some of them. Most are pretty nice, but others are kind of pieces of crap. I mean, yeah these are for our kids to play with and possibly destroy, but still I thought people would take more pride in their work. Oh well... I guess you win some, you lose some. Sometimes it's hard being a perfectionist!

18 Months

2011-12-30T13:56:00.002-07:00

After spending the first half of the month frantically trying to get everything ready for Christmas, I spent the second half of the month just enjoying time with family and friends. Consequently I have a lot of catching up to do on this here blog. So be patient with me as I blog about things that may seem like ancient history.

Our little Corby turned 18 months on December 17th. His stats:

Weight: 24 pounds, 3 ounces (25th percentile)

Height: 33 inches (75th percentile)

He is a tall and skinny little dude!

The Corb at 18 months:

*Says wow, no, and uh oh. He learned no just in time for Thanksgiving and spent the whole trip telling his cousin Jaxon "no" every time he tried to take a toy from him.

*Likes to get on his belly in the bathtub. He also enjoys popping bubbles in the bathtub and peeing on the carpet after we get him out.

*Has 11 teeth. He got 3 new ones on the bottom this month, so now he has 6 on the top and 5 on the bottom.

*Sometimes surprises me with how smart he is. For a few days the lock on our door was broken, so we couldn't go out our front door. Whenever he wanted to go outside I would show him that we couldn't open the door. So he would try to get whatever tools he could find to fix the door.

*As of 18 months, he still loved his bottle. He would drink some of his milk from his sippy cup and then go point to the cupboard where the bottles were kept. (We broke him of this over Christmas break by not taking the bottles with us when we were staying with family.)

*Knows what things go together. For example, he will get out the hand mixer and the beaters (from two different places in the kitchen) and put them together.

*Is really into plugs. We have plug covers on most of our plugs, but for a long time we wondered why we even bothered because he never paid any attention to them. Now we are thinking we really need to get covers for the rest of our plugs ASAP!

*Loves to play peek-a-boo and hide and seek. And he isn't afraid of the dark or being in small spaces. He loves to shut himself in the closet and have us open the door to find him in there.

*Likes to feed us his food.

*Plays a fun game where he tries to smash his balls. And whoever is home is required to play - he'll come drag us away from whatever we are doing to play this game with him.

*Blows on his food to cool it down if it is too hot.

*Loves to climb and holds onto things really well. This was on the shopping cart at Walmart.

*Likes to push himself away from the table with his feet and then lean back in his chair.

*Is probably a little too obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. For a few weeks that was all he wanted to do. (This has gotten a lot better now that he has new toys from Christmas.)

*Has started to really throw tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants especially if he is tired, hungry, or isn't feeling well. Let the terrible 2's begin!

*Loves to play with our laptops. He has pretty much destroyed Rog's laptop (that he got before we were even engaged) by ripping off a good majority of the keys. Luckily he hasn't figured out how to get the keys off my mac or he would be in serious trouble! (Jared, this picture is for you!)

*Pats our backs when we are holding him.

Oh how we love our little guy!

Christmas Celebrations

2011-12-19T12:19:00.004-07:00

When we haven't been shopping, wrapping, and homemade gift making, we have found some fun ways to celebrate the Christmas season.

*Relief Society Christmas dinner/program. I made 2 different desserts - Candy Cane Kiss Cookies and Peppermint Rice Krispie Treats. Of course I was only planning on making one, but the first was a complete disaster. So I scrapped those and made the second which turned out perfectly and couldn't have been more delicious.

*Celebrated Mariah's birthday at the Cheesecake Factory - not Christmas related except that I got their Peppermint Bark Cheesecake.

*Spanish Fork Festival of Lights. We went with Bill and Mariah for FHE and it was so fun! We had Corby sit in my lap while we drove through. It was right before his bedtime and he was mesmerized by the lights, so he let me cuddle him.

*Ward Christmas party with pictures with Santa. No screaming for this kid. He just calmly sat on Santa's lap and told him what he wanted for Christmas.

*Cookie exchange with my dinner group. I made the Brownie Cheesecake Peppermint Bar in the middle. (Notice a theme here? I've been a little obsessed with peppermint this holiday season.) If you make them, don't start out with 2 packages of cream cheese. I learned the hard way that it really only needed 1.

*Got our Christmas cards mailed out. My plan was to make them in Photoshop, but I ran out of time. So I went with the easy way out - Macey's Photo Lab.

*Made and delivered neighbor gifts. I originally made Creamy Chocolate Fudge, but as it was my first time making fudge, I wasn't too surprised that I messed it up. It was too soft to give out. So I made something I knew I couldn't mess up - dipped oreos covered in sprinkles. Corby was my little helper.

It took all afternoon, but soon we had 2 dozen bags to give out to our neighbors.

I make the tags myself in Photoshop. They're nothing fancy, but I was happy with how they turned out. Our printer was having issues, so I convinced Rog to let me use one of my gifts early - a wireless printer. Within minutes of opening it, Corby had broken the paper tray. (We were able to superglue it back together.)

*And what holiday season would be complete without a cold to share? Rog gave it to Corby who then gave it to me. Unfortunately we had to miss Roger's Christmas party for work because Corby had a fever. We had a neighbor lined up to watch him, but we didn't want to get her kids sick. We're just hoping we'll all be better by Christmas!

*We've also been watching all the good Christmas movies - It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, Elf, and tonight A Christmas Story (1st time for me) with Bill and Mariah for FHE.

It's a...

2011-12-17T13:16:00.002-07:00

healthy little GIRL!!! We couldn't be more excited! Bring on the pink, tutus, and bows...I'm getting my little dancer!

I know I said her name was going to be Caitlyn Joan, but I'm having second thoughts. Caitlyn was the name I liked growing up and I always said my first daughter's name would be Caitlyn. But now that the time has come to name her that, I haven't really been feeling it. Right now we are thinking Peyton Joan, but we'll see. Here she is!

And her cute little foot.

Everything looked great. She is measuring a few days behind my due date which actually makes sense to me because it took a few days after I thought I might have a positive pregnancy test, to get the positive result. But it wasn't enough behind to change my due date.

Also, I get to go back in at 28 weeks to make sure I don't have placenta previa. She couldn't get a good look at that because I was having a braxton hicks contraction at the time. But she said 99% of the time there isn't a problem, so I'm really not worried. And I'm not complaining because it means I get to see my little girl again! With Corbyn we didn't see him again until he was born.

This is the first girl on both sides of our family, so she will definitely be outnumbered and probably spoiled rotten with lots of cute girl clothes! We can't wait to meet her - only 20 (hopefully less) weeks to go!

Oh Christmas Tree

2011-12-13T09:25:00.002-07:00

Two Saturdays ago we went to pick out our Christmas tree.

Corby loved playing with everything as we set it up.

I put all the ornaments that are breakable up high and all the ones I didn't think he could break down low. He surprised me and broke one of the ones I didn't think he could break (I was able to fix it with super glue), but other than that, my plan has worked pretty well.

All day long he takes down the low ones and then I put them back up.

So our tree never looks exactly the same, but most of the time it looks more or less like this.

We have it on a timer, so it is on in the morning and at night. But usually when it goes off in the morning, Corby goes over and points to the outlet until I turn it back on. I turn it off during his nap, but other than that, it bring us holiday cheer all day long!

Hypochondriac

2011-12-13T07:49:00.002-07:00

Looks like Corby has inherited his mom's hypochondriac tendencies. Rog has had a cold for the past week or so. Last night he was coughing at dinner and Corby started imitating him. We were lucky enough to catch it on video.

He cracks us up!

One more week!

2011-12-08T21:54:00.002-07:00

I keep meaning to do a post about my pregnancy, but the weeks keep flying by and I never get around to it.

This picture was taken a week ago when I was 18 weeks. I'm a little bigger now, but I just got back from the gym and I'm kind of sweaty and gross (but not too sweaty because how sweaty can you get when you have to keep your heart rate down). So you'll have to forgive me for not taking an updated picture.

I've officially reached the point where I can't really button my jeans, but I'm not big enough for maternity jeans yet. So the only pants that are comfortable are pajama pants or sweats which I wear all the time - other than when I leave our house and I squeeze into my regular jeans.

Of course it's all worth it when I feel the little person inside me move around. It took a long time for me to feel Corbyn move. Or at least it took a long time for me to realize I was feeling him move. I don't remember feeling it before my 20-week ultrasound. So this time I was very pleasantly surprised to start feeling movement around 16 weeks. It's pretty strong and consistent now. Even Rog has felt it.

This pregnancy has been flying by. The last 3 weeks have been a little slow because I keep thinking about the ultrasound coming up, but I really can't believe I'm already almost half way!

Our ultrasound is next Thursday afternoon. I am so excited and nervous to find out if it is a boy or a girl. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hoping for a girl. I just don't know if I'd be able to handle 2 crazy little boys running around. (Edda, I don't know how you do it!) But of course we will be happy with either. I'll update as soon as we find out!

November Decorations

2011-12-06T22:22:00.003-07:00

My Christmas decorations have been out since the 1st, so I guess it's about time I got around to blogging about my November decorations!

I'm a firm believer that you don't decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a great holiday with lots of fun opportunities for decorations - I don't know why it so often gets skipped over!

New this year - Keep Calm and Gobble On (free printable found here) and the block turkey.

And of course my shadow box.

Last year I broke one of my owl plates when I was putting them away and this year I broke one when I was getting them out. That only left 2, so they got to hang out in the kitchen.

With my owl dish towel.

And I found these plates at the Wood Connection on clearance for only $3.95 each!

Love, love, love!

Rough Start

2011-12-04T10:45:00.005-07:00

We had a rough start to our week as we went back to reality. On Sunday night we put Corbyn to bed at his normal time - 8:00. Then right as we were about to fall asleep around 11:00, we heard a few coughs and then the unmistakable sound of throw up coming through the monitor. Both of us jumped out of bed and ran into his room.

He wanted his daddy, so the pregnant lady was stuck cleaning up the nasty mess which was all over his pajamas, stuffed animals, the crib, floor, and bed sheet. We got him back to sleep only to be awaken another 3 times for more of the same thing. By that time I was feeling a bit queasy myself due to the smell. He didn't throw up again, but did wake up a few more times just crying. Rog was a champ and got up with him, so I could get some sleep. He worked from home for the day to help out.

He was tired and didn't eat much throughout the day. He threw up one more time right before bed, but that was the end of it. It must have been a 24 hour thing that he caught in a play place or something because I don't know of any other family members that had a stomach bug. No fun, but at least Rog and I didn't get sick as well.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-30T20:49:00.002-07:00

We had Thanksgiving in Colorado with the Phillips again this year. Normally we switch off every other year, but everyone had gotten off schedule. So we did two Phillips Thanksgivings in a row to get everyone back on the same schedule. It was a packed weekend. Here are the highlights - a lot of the pictures are thanks to my wonderful SIL, Edda, as I didn't pull out my camera all that often. (I figured her camera is better than mine, so I'll let her take the pictures.)

Wednesday:

Got up and drove to Colorado with KD and Phat Tony.

Stopped in Grand Junction for lunch. Corby had his first Happy Meal from McDonald's. His favorite part was the fries.

He also experienced his first Play Place. He didn't love it, but he grew to like them more and more as the trip went on. (He played in 3 throughout the course of the trip.)

Thursday:

Drove to Kathy's for Thanksgiving dinner.

Took family photos. We didn't try for long because the little boys didn't want to sit still. It isn't the best picture ever, but it does show that EVERYONE was there.

Enjoyed appetizers. I made Cheddar Bruschetta to go along with all the other yummy appetizers they had.

Mike fried not one, but two turkeys. They were delicious as always!

Played a funny game where you had to figure out what you were by asking people questions. Rog asked Marti what he was and she said, "Bacon." Ha ha.

And finally the main event - Thanksgiving dinner. It was Corby's first. (Last year he was only drinking milk.) He looks excited, but don't be fooled. He took a few bites and then decided he was done which didn't make for a very enjoyable dinner for me and Rog.

Sister-in-laws. Just a cute one of me and Edda.

The swingset in the backyard was a big hit with all the kids. Normally Corby goes down slides on his own, but this one was super steep. So he got a little help from his dad.

Drove to Rex and Edda's to see the unveiling of the theatre room in their basement. Rex had been working hard (and not getting a lot of sleep) to get it ready for the weekend. It is pretty sweet.

Corby joined Aiden and Sam for bath time. (Jaxon was a little too young this time to join in the fun.)

Friday:

Did some Black Friday shopping at the Outlets.

KD bought all her nephews beanies from the Children's Place. Corby got a reindeer one that will be so cute with some Christmas shirts I got him at Carters (for 50% off + an additional 10% off).

Helped move some furniture Dixie bought from a coworker. Corby loved climbing up and down the ramp to the van.

Enjoyed a delicious nacho bar at Kenzie and Irving's.

Saturday:

The girls and kids enjoyed a cookie party at Rex and Edda's while most of the boys went shooting at a range. Corby was a little intimidated by all of the neighborhood kids that were there, but enjoyed the cookies after they left.

Shooting took a lot longer than anticipated, so our plans got a little shuffled at this point. We were planning on going to Crave for lunch, but by the time the boys got to us, everyone was starving and there was an hour and a half wait. So we went to Chick-fil-A instead. After we ate our meal, I was still hungry, so I got a milkshake. I gave Corby a taste and after that he refused to share with me. Every time I tried to take a sip, he would scream his head off.

Got Crave to go for dinner. Crave is a gourmet burger place that everyone always raves about. All of their burgers have the actual burger plus a lot of unique add-ons that don't normally go on hamburgers. We were excited to finally get to try it. I got the Texas burger which had beef brisket, bbq sauce, and coleslaw. And I sprung for the sweet potato fries although I'm sorry to say those weren't worth the extra dollar. I think next time I'll get coleslaw or a side salad instead of fries because the burgers are super filling. I could only eat half of mine.

And Rog got the Luther burger which had bacon, cheddar, and egg served with 2 glazed donuts as the bun. Sounds disgusting, but I had a bite and it actually works because it's like a breakfast burger.

Celebrated Rex's birthday with cake and ice cream.

Played some Rockband and a round of Hand and Foot.

Sunday:

Played Tetris to load the car with all our Christmas presents from Mike and Dixie.

Drove home.

We had lunch at Taco Bell in Grand Junction, but then we went over to the Burger King where they had a Play Place for Corby to get some wiggles out. We felt like we should order something, so we got some ice cream cones. Corby took one of ours for his own. I think it's safe to say this kid likes ice cream!

Thanks everyone for a wonderful weekend!

Pre Thanksgiving Happenings

2011-11-24T22:17:00.003-07:00

We are enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving in Colorado with all of Roger's family, but before I get to that, I need to post about some recent happenings.

Last Friday Corby got his second haircut - first haircut in a salon. It was getting very long all over and I had a coupon to Super Cuts, so I decided to take him. I was worried he wouldn't do very well, but he was a perfect angel. He sat in the chair all by himself, didn't squirm too much, and even let her use the clippers to trim the edges.

On Saturday we had our first real snow in Spanish Fork. (Before it was just in Salt Lake.) Corby got to try out his new snow gear with his friend Carver.

He wasn't the hugest fan, but I'm sure it will grow on him. Rog built a snowman that lasted about 30 minutes before it was knocked over by some of the neighborhood kids.

That day my mom got a ride up to Spanish Fork from my grandparents who were coming home from Palm Springs. I convinced her to come watch Corbyn during the last home game of the season, so we could both go. (She wasn't hard to convince - it was really my dad that needed the convincing.)

Before the game, in leu of a tailgate, we went to J Dawgs.

Bill decided to do pushups with the ROTC when BYU scored. He ended up doing A LOT because we played New Mexico State and beat them 42-7.

Because it was the last home game of the season, I made sure we got our cougar tail (long maple donut) and took a picture of us with Bill and Mariah. We stayed until the bitter (cold - it was freezing) end as you can see from the empty stands.

My mom stayed with us until Wednesday when we left for Colorado. My dad picked her up on his way to Salt Lake for Thanksgiving. She was an IMMENSE help in getting everything ready for our trip. Thanks dad for giving up your wife for a few days and thanks mom for all your help in taking care of Corbyn!

17 Months

2011-11-18T12:31:00.002-07:00

I can't believe our little dude is one month away from being 18 months! Where does the time go?!

The Corb at 17 months.

*Scoots down the stairs on his bum instead of turning around. When he does turn around he just flies down them. And to think he used to be scared to death of the stairs!

*Plays with cars and makes beep beep and vroom noises.

*Had a scab between his eyebrows for a good solid 2 weeks (as you might have noticed). What's funny about it is that it had almost completely healed and then he got another scab in the exact same spot.

*Notices airplanes and helicopters in the sky and points to them in awe.

*Jibber jabbers more than ever before. We can't understand most of what he says, but he looks at us like he knows exactly what he's saying. Says there when I ask him where something is and he points to it in a book.

*Has gotten really good at putting our shoes on and walking around. They're on the correct feet and everything.

*Throws things away when we give him something and tell him to throw it away. Our only problem is he also throws things away that shouldn't be thrown away.

*Has gotten really good at pointing out the mouse in his "That's not my" books.

*Rides his push toy, but he prefers to ride his dump truck (that isn't meant to be ridden).

*Turns around in circles.

*Talks on his toy cell phones, combs his hair, and mimiks other things we do.

*Will look at the camera and smile when we tell him to - sometimes.

*Folds his arms when we tell him it's time to pray before bed. He'll do it sometimes when we're saying our dinner prayer, but that's not as consistent.

*Gestures for us to come here when he wants us to go somewhere.

*Does somersaults. I read somewhere that most toddlers aren't able to do somersaults or other tricks like that until they are 2 years old. He's definitely a mover not a talker.

*Loves to play with other kids. Most weeks we take him to nursery because he knows where it is and wants to go. Usually we stay with him because he technically isn't old enough to be in there, but we've left him a few times and he's done great - a lot better than some kids who are 18 months and older. Yesterday I left him with one of my visiting teachers while I went to a baby checkup. She has 3 kids and Corby had the best time playing with them. He cried when I came to pick him up instead of when I left him.

Oh my, this little boy keeps me busy all day long. I can hardly get anything done because he always wants to be entertained and is constantly making messes. He's such a busy busy boy, but he can also be pretty sweet sometimes. We love him so much!

In the Past Week...

2011-11-16T21:42:00.002-07:00

*I hosted play group for the first time. We take turns hosting every Wednesday for an hour and a half in the morning. The boys love it and 2 out of every 3 weeks we get a guaranteed block of time to get stuff done.

*Rog and I cursed Daylight Saving Time more times than we can count. Our little dude is having a very difficult time adjusting. Before the time change he was waking up around 7:30 am every day, but since the time change he has been waking up at 6:00 am - not cool!

*Corby and I spent Friday up in Provo/Orem running errands, seeing the animals at the pet store, playing with toys at Toys R Us, visting dad at work for lunch, throwing pennies in the fountain at the mall (pictured below), running more errands, having dinner at Olive Garden, running a few more errands, and then finally going home. Corby fell asleep on the way home and was so exhausted from our crazy day that he didn't even wake up when we changed him into his pajamas.

*Corby got his first cold of the season (most likely from play group because the whole time I was wiping the other boys' noses). Thankfully it's not a bad one, but Rog seems to have caught it from him. I have escaped it so far.

*Rog and Corby gave both our cars an oil change and rotated their tires.

*Mariah and I had craft time on Saturday afternoon. We both have lots of crafting to do for the holidays and it's always so hard to fit in crafting amidst everything else, so we decided to schedule time for it. It was such a success that we decided to do it again this coming Saturday.

*We all tailgated it up before the football game and then I went to the game with Bill and Mariah while Rog went home with Corby. It was his turn (I went home with him last time we had a late game and no babysitter) and he had some work to do anyway. It was a cold game, but I was prepared with multiple layers and a warm quilt. We beat Idaho 42-7! Woot!

*I finished reading the Help! I started it back in April, but I only got a few chapters in and wasn't feeling it. After taking a break to read/listen to the 7th Harry Potter (again), I gave the Help a second chance and loved it! I can't wait to see the movie - I've heard it's just as good as the book. I just have to read one more book before the end of the year and I'll meet my goal. Now just to pick a book...

*Rog and I started a new Thanksgiving tradition - countdown to Thanksgiving Friends style where we watch a Friends Thanksgiving episode every night leading up to Thanksgiving.

*Rog finished up the Top 20 at work (huge project they do every November) and got an attaboy from his boss. Way to go!

We are keeping busy, waking up too early, wiping lots of runny noses, and looking forward to Thanksgiving.

Homemade Craft Swap

2011-11-14T13:47:00.003-07:00

Last month I participated in a Homemade Craft Swap organized by Emily (and I am finally getting around to blogging about it).

I made this Halloween sign for Emily's SIL Becky. The paper has little spiderwebs on it if you can't tell. I love how it turned out, but I felt bad because it really didn't take me very long at all to make!

Emily's cousin Erin made me two beaded necklaces and then threw in two bow ties for Corbyn. I have already worn both necklaces more than once and Corbyn loves to play with his bow ties.

To see what everyone else exchanged click here.

Thanks Emily for organizing this fun swap!

Weekend

2011-11-08T12:46:00.002-07:00

My parents came up for the weekend because they most likely won't see us again until December. Friday afternoon I had to go up to Rog's work to get my flu shot. They came up with me and watched Corby while I got the shot. Then we did some errands in Orem/Provo while we waited for Rog to get off work.

First we went to an AT&T store to see about getting my iphone fixed. I accidentally dropped it in the toilet and after spending a few days in rice, it worked fine. But then the backlight went out. They said it wouldn't be worth it to fix it, so we decided to explore other options. It randomly started working again on Saturday and has been working ever since. But we aren't very hopeful that it will continue to work. Lesson learned, don't put your iphone in your backpocket.

After that we went to the Cotton Shop. My mom followed Corby around and cleaned up after him while I picked out fabric for the Christmas stockings I am making. I had attempted this on Thursday, but it was completely impossible to watch our little busy beaver and try to pick out fabric without help.

And then we met up with Rog at Applebees for dinner.

On Saturday we drove up to Salt Lake to spend the day with my parents and my Grandma Ford.

While Corby took his nap, we went to look at our pictures from our photo shoot the previous weekend. While we were waiting, we flipped through a book they had sitting on the table and look what we saw...

...Pictures from OUR wedding! I knew there was a possibility of them using our pictures for promotional stuff because you have to sign something saying it's ok, but I never dreamed they would actually pick us. Pretty cool. By the way, we love the pictures they took of our family. They are going to be emailing me 3 of the pictures, so I'll post those when I get them.

The rest of the day we just hung out and relaxed.

Corby played in the snow for the first time.

And Rog took him sledding for the first time.

I won't say he loved it, but maybe when we get him some actual winter clothes (a coat, gloves, snow pants, and boots), he'll like it more.

Halloween

2011-11-06T21:02:00.004-07:00

Corby was a cute little monkey for Halloween. We went trick-or-treating at Rog's work at lunchtime. He figured it out for the most part, but he wanted to hold onto the candy (especially the suckers) rather than put it into his bucket.

My favorite part of his costume was his little tail.

That night we took him trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. We only did 20 - 30 houses, but that was the perfect amount for him.

His favorite part was knocking on the doors and of course playing with a ball he found along the way.

I wasn't able to get a good picture of him standing there smiling in his costume - he's much too busy for that!

Ghoulish Feast

2011-11-04T12:29:00.002-06:00

One of my favorite Halloween traditions I've started in the past few years is our ghoulish feast. We started it in 2009 with the Pughs. Last year we did it again with the Pughs and after it was over, Rog asked who we were going to do it with the next year (because we knew the Pughs would be off at medical school). I didn't know, but I hoped that we would have some friends by then. Luckily Rog was assigned to home teach the Petrosinos and now we are good friends, so of course we had them over for our ghoulish feast. We did it Sunday night because we wanted to take Corby trick-or-treating on Halloween.

For our appetizer we had Caramel Toffee Dip with Halloween-shaped cinnamon chips.

To drink we had Swamp Juice.

For our main course we had brains (roast), carrots, mashed boo-tatoes, and a spider roll.

And for dessert we had the classic dirt n' worms (pictured above) and nutty ghosts.

It was both delicious and a little scary!

We missed the Pughs, but we had fun sharing our tradition with Bill and Mariah.

Vernal

2011-11-03T12:30:00.002-06:00

This last weekend was pretty eventful. Friday afternoon we took family pictures up at the Temple Quarry. We had a free sitting from the photographers who did our wedding, so we decided to get some pictures done as a family of 3. {I don't know how many we'll be purchasing and how many we'll get in a digital format (because they'll likely be pretty pricey), but I know we'll get at least one I can use to make our Christmas card. So I'll post that when I have it.} We had pizza with my Grandma Ford before making the drive to Vernal.

In the morning we took turns doing initiatory work in the Vernal temple. It was the LAST temple we had to visit in Utah - now we have been to ALL the temples in Utah! WOOT! At least until Brigham City, Payson, and the Provo Tabernacle temples are finished...

After that we took Corby to one of the many dinosaur museums they have in Vernal.

There were lots of hands-on activities for kids.

Dinosaur books... to read upside down.

Dinosaur figurines. (He loved them. They're probably pretty high on his Christmas Wish List... But don't everyone get him some or we'll have way too many!)

Dinosaur bones to find.

And of course lots of dinosaurs to take pictures with.

But of course his favorite part was the gift shop. We came home with a dino bouncy ball which he loves. (That's what he's about to throw in the picture of me and him with the dinosaur outside.)

Then we hit up Subway and made the drive home. It was a quick, but fun trip. And now we can finally cross that New Year's Resolution off our list!

October Decorations

2011-11-01T22:01:00.002-06:00

October is a fun month to decorate for. Throughout most of the year, my decorations are contained to my table, my shadow box, and my plate rack, but in October, November, and December they start to spread out from those areas.

My table. New this year - the frankenstein lantern and the cat plate. Well, the cat plate is new to the table this year. Last year it was on my plate rack, but when 2 out of the 4 plates broke last year, I had to get new plates this year. So I found easels for the 2 that made it. The cat got to go on the table...

And frankenstein got to go in the kitchen.

Apparently I am a fan of frankenstein... Who knew?

My shadow box.

And my new plates this year. Conveniently I was able to use the orange plates from August to back them.

My pumpkin patch expanded from last year.

And this cute pillow I found at Tai Pan.

I also had my BOO blocks up and a few other random things. I'm kind of sad to have to take everything down tomorrow, but Thanksgiving is fun to decorate for too.

Football and a Ward Party

2011-10-31T21:16:00.002-06:00

On Friday (the 21st) my parents came into town. I was taking dinner to a family with a new baby and had a lot of cooking to do for our ward party on Saturday - my mom saved the day by watching Corbyn while I got it all done. Then we all went to Red Robin for dinner.

On Saturday (the 22nd) we had our regular tailgate party before the game. The game was hot hot hot! It was only in the 60's, but it felt more like 90 as we baked in the sun. We were worried Corby was getting too hot, so we stripped him down to his onesie, rolled up his jeans, and took off his shoes/socks. Despite the heat and having his nap cut short, he was a perfect angel.

He got a little restless during the 4th quarter, so I walked around with him down below the stands where it was much cooler.

We were killing Idaho State (final score 56-3), so we left a few minutes early. (Something we practically never do.) On the way home, Corby pulled his hat down over his eyes and took a good nap.

The Ward Mission was in charge of our ward Harvest Bash that night and as Rog is the Ward Mission Leader, he was over it all. It was a chili/dessert cookoff. I made chili, cornbread, apple cider spice doughnuts, and cupcakes for the cakewalk. My chili won "Chili to peel the paint off your car." I guess they thought it was spicy - although Corbyn ate it, so it couldn't have been that spicy. And my dessert won "Bishop's no no" - which I took to mean it was good.

The party had a good turnout (even though it was UEA) and everyone seemed to have a good time - especially the kids. They loved the potato sack races and corn hole. Surprisingly they weren't really into the cakewalk, so we came home with a lot of cupcakes! We were just glad to have it over with!

16 Months

2011-10-25T22:21:00.006-06:00

This post is long overdue as Corby turned 16 months over a week ago. But here it is!

The Corb at 16 Months:

*Feeds himself pretty much everything. Up until 15 months I was still spoon feeding him baby food with baby cereal (barley, mixed grain, etc) for breakfast and yogurt. When he turned 15 months I decided he was too old for me to be buying him baby food, so I gave up on the baby cereal (because he'd only eat it mixed with baby food) and started giving him regular cereal. And I started letting him feed himself yogurt (despite the mess). He has done very well with it.

*Graduated to a booster seat. He would try to climb out of his high chair after just a few bites, so we decided it was time. He has been much better at mealtime, but has also become much more messy! I have to sweep that section of the floor after almost every meal or snack. Good thing I don't mind sweeping!

*Says ba for balloon and hot on a regular basis. Says dog, hi, and a few other words occasionally - when he's in the mood.

*Tries to jump while saying 1, 2, 3, GO! (Sometimes he skips the 1 and 2 and just says 3, GO.)

*Goes down steps without turning around. He needs help if the staircase is steep, but does it on his own if there is space between each step down.

*Likes to climb on EVERYTHING - he used to just climb easy things that I felt were pretty safe, but now everything is fair game. I get especially nervous when he climbs our tall kitchen chairs.

*Finally got used to just having one nap. It's still not super long (usually 1 1/2 hours), but I think that's because he gets a long stretch at night (12 hours).

*Loves to get piggyback rides. If we're lying down and he wants a ride, he'll get us up and in piggyback position.

*Gives high fives and bones.

*Loves ducks. He'll point the duck out in his animal book and other books with rubber duckies in them every time. (He'll also point out other animals sometimes, but the duck he'll point out every single time.) I took him to the BYU duck pond a few weeks ago because I knew he'd love it. He carried his ducks around the whole time.

*Has 2 new teeth - bringing his grand total to 8. 6 on top, 2 on bottom.

*Likes to shoot hoops with his basketball hoop we got from a neighbor.

*When we ask him where his nose is, he'll point to our noses. He also does this with ears. He knows where his nose and ears are, he just likes pointing out ours more than his.

*Walks around on his tippy-toes and RUNS!

*Is our super active, outside-loving, mess-making little dude and we love him!

Corbyn's Announcement

2011-10-23T21:17:00.000-06:00

That's right, Corbyn's going to be a big brother!

I'm due Cinco de Mayo, but because Corbyn was such an elephant baby, I'll probably be induced before then. At my first appointment, the doctor asked if I had any complications with Corbyn. I said that he was 10 pounds and he replied, "Yes, that is a complication. We'll keep an eye on that this time." So maybe baby #2 will be born on our anniversary - April 27th!

I'm 12 weeks along and feeling good. I've been tired and a little queasy - especially in the mornings - but I haven't been as sick as I was with Corbyn. And I wasn't even that sick with Corbyn, so I'm feeling lucky. We heard the heartbeat on Thursday which really made it seem a lot more real. With Corbyn I had an ultrasound at 8 weeks, but they didn't do one this time. So that little heartbeat was the first proof that there really is something growing inside me!

Of course we'll be happy with either a boy or a girl, but we're thinking pink. As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I had a feeling it would be a girl - but we'll see. My mom wasn't as sick with me and Diana as she was with Jared, so that's another indication that it might be a little girl. We'll find out just before Christmas!

If it's a girl, we'll name her Caitlyn Joan Phillips and if it's a boy, we'll name him Logan Ririe Phillips.

We're very excited! Corbyn loves babies right now, so hopefully that will last for the next 6 months until we get a new baby of our very own!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-23T11:42:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday evening we went with Bill and Mariah to the Red Barn in Santaquin to pick out our pumpkin.

We had to wait to get on our hayride to the pumpkin patch. We'd always been with our BYU ward on a weeknight and we'd never had to wait before!

We had to take a picture in the pumpkin cutouts. Love little Corby poking out!

Corby was very excited about holding the pumpkin on the hayride back. Ok not really, but he sure looks excited in this picture!

After we got home we put Corby to bed and watched the BYU vs. Oregon State game (delayed on BYU tv) while we had a late dinner of autumn soup, wassail, and sourdough bread with pull-apart cinnamin sugar pumpkin bread for dessert. It was all good, but the pumpkin bread was especially delicious! It wasn't the quickest dessert to make, but it was so worth it! And BYU beat Oregon State 38-28, so I'd say it was the perfect night!

BYU vs. SJSU

2011-10-19T13:34:00.000-06:00

We made sure to plan our Texas trip so that I wouldn't have to miss a football game. It's a good thing we did because we got to sit in my grandparent's awesome seats. The game was scheduled for really late at night (8:00), so they decided not to go. When they asked if we wanted their tickets, I jumped at the chance. I've always wanted to sit in their seats for a game. They are on about the 45 yard line on the west side. They are the very last row before the box seats. You take an elevator up to them and have someone escort you to your seats. The seats have backs on them and there are only two seats in the row, so you don't have to climb over anyone. They are awesome!

We saw President Uctdorf ahead of us in line for the elevator which was pretty cool! As you can probably imagine, it was such a different experience than other football games we have attended. We enjoy attending football games in our regular seats, but it was fun to watch one from this perspective.

We could see the Provo Temple and the Y lit up for homecoming from our seats.

And it didn't hurt that we beat San Jose State 29-16!

Thanks for sharing your seats with us Grandpa and Grandma Ririe!!

Texas

2011-10-14T12:58:00.002-06:00

We flew to Texas Sunday night after a full day of driving from St. George to Salt Lake. We chose flights that were later in the day because we didn't want to have long layovers in Denver without realizing that we would be keeping Corby up way past his bedtime. Despite this fact, he was pretty good.

While we were waiting to board our first flight from Salt Lake to Denver, Corby made friends with a little boy who was about 6 months older than him. He shared his favorite ball with him and they played catch.

Corby fell asleep during takeoff - I was shocked. That made the first flight a breeze.

We practically had to run to make our next flight from Denver to Houston. That flight Corby just watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He wasn't very happy when we had to turn it off, but other than that, it was a good flight.

When we arrived in Houston, we got our bags, rented a car, and then had to drive 45 minutes to Galveston. It was about 12:30 am when we arrived at our hotel. Luckily Corby fell asleep on the drive and pretty much just stayed asleep as we changed his diaper and put him in his pajamas. The first thing we saw was a cockroach outside our hotel room. When we opened the door, it ran under one of the beds. AWESOME. There was also a dead cockroach and cricket in the bathroom. Welcome to the South!

We spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in Galveston. It was good to see where Diana and Jason have been living. They took us to all their favorite places to eat and showed us some of the sights. Tourist season is pretty much over for the year, so sometimes we would go to do something and find that it was closed which was a bummer.

The first day they took us to an authentic southern BBQ joint. Corby loved climbing on all the fun stools they had. And I very much enjoyed my pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw.

We took Corby's pumpkin costume from last Halloween for Blake to wear this year. We tried it on him one morning and he was NOT happy. Hopefully they'll have more luck on Halloween!

We took a Duck Tour around the island. Corby was very good. He just sat on my lap the whole time and enjoyed the tour.

Diana and Jason even saw a few things they'd never noticed before and learned some stuff about Galveston.

One night we walked around "Downtown" Galveston. Most of the shops were closed for the day, but Corby had fun playing in the telephone booth.

And playing with the life size chess pieces. Corby would move them and Jason would put them back.

One morning we went to the beach. We weren't planning on getting in the water, so we didn't wear our swimming suits, but Corby had other plans.

He had fun playing in the waves (except when a big one would push him over) and got completely soaked!

Cute sandy toddler toes!

One night we went to the Kemah Boardwalk which is about a 45 minute drive from Galveston. They had lots of restaurants, rides, a haunted house (for Halloween), and a splash pad. We spent most of our time trying to decide where to eat dinner, so we didn't get to do a whole lot.

Corby loved the splash pad. He loved watching the fountains and running around the outside. Luckily he didn't run in the fountains, so he didn't get wet. I'll be honest, this isn't the most exciting video, but it's a cute one that some of you might enjoy.

After we had dinner, Diana and Jason went through the haunted house really quickly and then my mom and Diana went on a roller coaster ride while Corby and I road the train.

Corby loved giving baby Blake hugs (nice gentle ones), but almost every time he did, Blake would get the saddest look on his face and then start to cry. This was one of the rare times he was ok with it.

On Thursday we drove to San Antonio. It was about a 5 hour drive and my mom (who hates driving) had to drive the whole way because she didn't want to pay to add extra drivers. Diana's sister-in-law works for Marriott, so we got to stay at a Marriott right on the River Walk for a super good deal. That night we only had enough time to eat dinner at Hard Rock Cafe and walk along the river a bit.

Then we put the little boys to bed and my mom got a piece of cheesecake because that's what they had at the hotel restaurant and she had to eat a piece of pie (or something like it) because it was "pie day". I know what you're thinking... Pie day is March 14th. Well not for my mom. See October 6th was the day Elder Ririe had been on his mission for 3 months and 3 months is 1/8 of 24 months. A piece of pie is normally 1/8 of the pie, so "pie day" was born.

The next morning we went on a boat tour of the River Walk. Again Corby was great. Just sat there and pointed out all of the ducks.

Then we took some pictures by the River Walk.

And Corby played in one of the fountains.

We finished packing and checked out of our hotel and made the long drive back to Houston to catch our plane home. Corby adopted this bag of my mom's and dragged it around everywhere. Such a big boy.

When we got to the airport we learned that our flight from Houston to Denver was delayed, so we wouldn't make our connection to Salt Lake. So they had us drive to the other airport in Houston and catch a nonstop flight from Houston to Salt Lake. There was a nice BYU couple that now live in Houston who were going to Salt Lake for the weekend that had the same thing happen to them, so they offered to drive us. The airline would have given us a voucher for a cab, but this seemed easier and they were so nice to offer. They did give us some vouchers for $40 work of airport food of which we made sure to spend practically every penny.

Corby was tired of his stroller and wanted to walk everywhere (with Bo Bo the monkey of course).

Corby was good for the first hour and a half of the flight, but then he decided he was tired and had had enough! He screamed his head off until I finally got him to sleep for the rest of the flight. He woke up when we landed and picked up right where he left off. In the midst of all that screaming, I accidentally left our DVD case with about 20 movies on the plane. I didn't realize until a few days later when we went to turn on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I reported the loss on Continental's website, but I don't have high hopes of them returning it to me. Of course they were all of Corby's favorite movies!

All in all, it was a fun trip! Although we wish Rog (and Grandpa Ririe) could have been with us.

St. George Marathon

2011-10-13T12:13:00.002-06:00

Like I said, Rog ran the St. George marathon on October 1st. When we ran the Utah Valley half back in June, he was ahead of schedule in his training. But then he got an ingrown toenail over the 4th of July weekend. That should have gotten better in no time, but it kept giving him problems for months. In fact, the week of the marathon he was back at the podiatrists' office for like the 5th time. They decided it was infected (again) and he went on antibiotics. Of course all his toe problems put him WAY behind in his training. He put in a good 16 mile run a few weeks before the race, but he knew it wasn't going to be his best marathon.

He ran it with our sister-in-law, Edda, and her brother Mark. Edda was suffering from a bruised bone and a severe shin splint, so she was also running at less than her best.

Rog got sick along the way (from the antibiotics) which totally wiped him out and caused his back muscles to cramp up. Luckily he found a nice lady who gave him some pain medicine and rub for his back.

We planned to meet him at mile 23. We got there at the time we figured would be the earliest he could make it there. We waited and waited and waited.

Corby got a little bored.

Then finally we saw him coming!

He stopped for a minute and told us his woes before continuing on. What a trooper!

We hopped in our car and after a quick stop at Arby's to get Corby some lunch, we saw him cross the finish line with an official time of 5:12:03.

We were just so proud of him for pushing through and finishing the race!

Run, Daddy Run!

Edda and Mark finished just 3 minutes after him. Too bad we didn't know how close they were or we would have stuck around the finish line to see them cross as well!

Way to go Phillips Finishers!!

New Purse

2011-10-12T13:10:00.001-06:00

I've had the same purse for a LONG time. I'm not quite sure when I bought it, but I know it was in the early days of our marriage. So I'm thinking I've had it about 3 years. Some girls are purse girls - I'm not. This purse was fine - fulfilled all my needs in a purse. But it started looking really shabby and gross. I probably could have made it look a lot better by just throwing it in the washing machine as I've done a few times before....

But that wouldn't have fixed this problem.

So I decided it was high time for a new purse. I was going to buy one, but then I remembered a pattern I printed off and intended to make back in 2009. I pulled it out and went to work looking for the perfect fabric. I was probably supposed to make it out of something more durable than cotton, but I found this fabric and I really liked it.

That was a couple of months ago. I had everything I needed to make it, but I just couldn't find the time to get it done. Finally I gave myself a deadline. I didn't want to take my gross, ugly purse to Texas, so I told myself I had to finish before then! I cut it out before we went down to St. George for the marathon and then I used my mom's machine to sew it during conference.

I love how it turned out!

I couldn't get the little rectangle for the buttons to look right, so I decided to improvise and sew my buttons where the strap meets the bag.

I picked out the fabric to match my wallet and I'm so glad I did. Now if I could just figure out a way to clean my wallet a little. It's getting a little dirty like my old purse!

Yay for finally crossing something off my to do list!

Miss me?

2011-10-09T19:28:00.001-06:00

Don't worry, we're still alive and kicking. Here'a a quick look at what we have been up to.

Roger ran the St. George marathon on October 1st.

The next day my mom, Corby, and I flew to Texas to visit these 3. We spent most of our time in Galveston where Jason is attending medical school at UTMB. Fortunately he was on an easy rotation and was able to spend his afternoons hanging out with us.

For part of our trip we drove to San Antonio to visit the River Walk. It was a long way to drive and we weren't there very long, but it was my favorite thing we did.

We arrived home late Friday night. And then yesterday we enjoyed the BYU vs. San Jose State football game from my Grandpa Ririe's incredible seats while my mom watched Corbyn for us.

You can look forward to a more comprehensive review later this week - after I make my way through the gigantic pile of laundry in our laundry room, get my house back in order, and get back in the swing of real life.

September Decorations

2011-09-30T22:00:00.001-06:00

After all the crafting and re-crafting I did last month, I kind of needed a break this month. So my table remained the same as last year. I had ideas for other BYU football crafts, but I didn't get around to them.

I did do my shadow box. The shadow box that the Wood Connection sells for September is back-to-school things - like a ruler, school house, books, etc... But I wanted to keep with my BYU football theme, so I improvised a little. The b was a little too tall, so Rog cut it down for me. I was pretty happy with how it turned out.

Go cougars!

Playing Catch Up

2011-09-26T12:25:00.002-06:00

Things have finally slowed down a little... for a few days anyway. So it's time to play catch up before I get even more behind!

My parents came up two weekends ago. Friday afternoon Rog went golfing with my dad and then we went to Pizza Pie Cafe for dinner. My parents watched Corby while we did some initiatories in the Provo temple.

Saturday was the BYU vs. Utah game. Before the game Grandma Lori shared her Jamba Juice with Corby. He loved it!

We made a quick stop at the BYU Bookstore where Grandma Lori bought him his first BYU hat! And then we went over to our family tailgate where Corby's Great Grandpa Ririe gave him a BYU flag. He loved that too!

While we were at the bookstore, I couldn't resist buying myself a new hat too. You can't see it in this picture, but there's a Y on the other side. New hat twinners!

I made these cookies for the tailgate. They were delicious! I'm pretty sure it was the buttercream frosting that made them though. I actually wasn't all that impressed with the sugar cookie recipe. My MIL's is just as good and actually easier to work with.

Because the game was so late, Grandma Lori took Corby home and put him to bed.

We wore our "friends don't let friends go to the University of Utah" shirts that Jared made for us for Christmas last year.

After one particularly bad play, I decided to go get us a blue raspberry snow cone. Because snow cones make everything better, right? Wrong... I don't think we could have eaten enough snow cones to make that game better. But it was still a good snow cone. (And look, a picture where you can actually see the Y on my hat!)

We bought season tickets (not all-sport passes) because we didn't really go to any other sports last year. (Other than 1 basketball game.) We bought the cheapest season tickets available and they were cheaper than all-sport passes. We got them with our friends, Bill and Mariah. It was actually Mariah's first football game... I don't know why we are smiling because at this point in the game there was nothing to smile about. At least she has probably already gotten her worst football game ever out of the way! They don't get worse than that!

We stayed until the bitter end! It was the longest, most painful game ever. Seriously. We haven't lost that bad to Utah since 1922! Final score: 10-54.

Moving on...

On Monday night Mariah and I canned peaches. We started around 6:30 and didn't finish until 12:30! Rog says I'm not allowed to can during the week anymore - only on Saturdays when I can start in the morning!

On Tuesday I started taking a Photoshop class through Spanish Fork's Community School. I learned a lot from Jared, but this class should be really good for me.

On Thursday I had my dinner group. I've mentioned it before, but I didn't really explain it. It's a group of Mariah's friends that get together on the 4th Thursday of every month to have dinner. She invited me to join the group a few months ago and it's been so fun. We take turns hosting. The host does the main course and everyone else signs up for the sides, drink, and dessert. This month the theme was Chinese. My MIL has an egg roll recipe she is famous for, so I decided to do that. They turned out just as good as hers - I was so proud!

On Friday night we had the BYU vs. UCF (University of Central Florida) game. For the tailgate I made Sloppy Joes and my Peach Crisp. Usually Rog doesn't like Sloppy Joes, but these really were very good.

Grandma Lori wasn't around to watch Corby, so we took him in for the first half. We were a little nervous about how he would do, but he did GREAT! I think he was a little intimidated by all the noise. He sat on my lap for 95% of the time with his little hands holding mine as tightly as he could! He did loosen up a little bit towards the end of the half, but he only ventured as far as his dad's lap.

I took him home at halftime because it was his bedtime. We had heard that UCF was good, so we were a little worried it would be a repeat of the Utah game. But fortunately we pulled out a win! 24-17! I got text updates from Rog and then went right to bed when the game was over - completely exhausted from a busy week. Traffic was bad coming home and he had to stop to get milk, so Rog didn't crawl into bed until 11:30 - 2 hours after I had gone to bed!

On Saturday I went to a baby shower for one of my second cousins on my mom's side. Her mom, LaNae, was the host. She is my mom's cousin who sells Vinyl quotes on Etsy. (I've mentioned her shop before.) She is always posting cute ideas for everything on her Facebook page, so I knew it would be an adorable shower. It did not disappoint!

After that I met Rog and Corb at our BIL, Phat Tony's 25th birthday party. I knew it was at a park in Mapleton, but Rog wasn't answering his phone. Luckily I drove right to it!

Last night we went to dinner at Dave and Julie's. Julie is Roger's cousin who lives in Spanish Fork. She has 6 perfect kids (ranging from 13 years to 8 months) and her husband is the bishop. Every time we go over there, I'm in complete awe of how perfect her house is, how well-behaved her kids are, and how delicious her food is!

And that brings us to the present time! Phew, congrats if you made it this far!

15 Months

2011-09-24T21:43:00.002-06:00

The Corb at 15 Months:

*Takes our hand (or finger or piece of clothing) and takes us where he wants to go.

*Likes to put on our shoes and walk around.

*Takes his vitamin without a fight. It only took 9 months...

*Says ball, mama, and dad. Repeats a few other words back to us when we say them, but doesn't say them on his own just yet.

*Likes to push the button to open and close the garage and the doorbell.

*Likes to sit in the corner of our couch and surround himself with pillows.

*Lifts his legs and steps into his shorts and pants.

*Kicks balls.

*Likes to put the cookie shapes in his cookie jar and is getting pretty good at stacking blocks.

*Knows where his hat and shoes go. I found him like this the other day. Hat on (sideways) and trying to step into his shoes.

*Likes to play with me while I'm pushing him in the running stroller through the clear cover on top.

*Had kind of a rough month as far as sleeping goes. He'd start to get back on track and then something else would get him off. Lots of early mornings and short naps. One day he was so tired he fell asleep while I was pushing him in the swing (he had just refused to take a second nap). Luckily he has finally gotten back into a good schedule in the past week. He's been waking up at a normal time and taking good naps. Yesterday he took the longest nap of his life - 2 1/2 hours. (You moms who have kids who take long naps need to be grateful! It's a good day when he takes a 2 hour nap.)

Hello There

2011-09-22T11:25:00.001-06:00

Yeah I know, long time, no blog... This week has been C-R-A-Z-Y! All month it seemed like I had nothing going on and then this week hits and I've had something every single day! Between canning peaches, visiting teaching (all 4 of my sisters), setting up meals/taking a meal to a new mom in our ward, starting a weekly Photoshop class, and dinner group (tonight - praying that my egg rolls turn out), I feel like I've had no time to do anything (including sleep). And this weekend is equally busy.

I have a few posts in the works - one about last weekend and the awful BYU game and one about Corby turning 15 months old last Saturday. I don't know exactly when I'll get to those - hopefully soon. But for now I just thought I'd let you know we're alive and well.

And because no post is complete without a picture of Corby the Corbs, here are a few silly ones for your viewing pleasure.

September 11, 2001

2011-09-14T12:32:00.003-06:00

*I'm way late posting this, but I went to all the effort to scan this picture from my scrapbook (on Sunday when I meant to do this post). So I thought I'd do it anyway.

September 11, 2001 was 10 years ago. I was a sophomore in high school. That morning I had cheer first period. I remember sitting in the dance studio waiting for our cheer coach to come in. Robyn came in screaming at us and asked, "How are you all talking and laughing? Don't you know what happened?!" Most of us hadn't heard yet, so she turned on the tv. It was a surreal experience because I had just been in New York City two months earlier on a tour with my dance studio. While we were at the Statue of Liberty, we took this picture. The quality is pretty crappy, but if you look closely you can see the twin towers in for top left corner.

Since then I have been back twice. I went the summer after my senior year (2004) again with my dance studio. We walked around Ground Zero and even though it had been almost 3 years, it was still just a bunch of ruins.

And Rog and I went in April of 2008 after I graduated from BYU.We went to a temporary memorial that is right off Ground Zero.

That's Ground Zero behind us. (Rog will kill me for saying this, but wow, look at all that hair!)

I know I will never forget that day. God Bless America!

Weekend Already?

2011-09-14T12:20:00.002-06:00

Because we drove home from Colorado on Tuesday, Wednesday felt like Monday. And then when Friday rolled around, we were wondering how it was the weekend already.

Saturday morning we helped KD and Phat Tony move (from one part of the Salt Lake Valley to another). They moved to an apartment complex that is practically around the corner from Wood Connection, so of course we had to make a stop there before driving back home. And then we watched the BYU game with Bill and Mariah. We don't have ESPN, so we mooched off them. But we did make them dinner, so I'd say it was a fair trade. We only watched the first half because we had the adult session of stake conference that night. Rog went with Bill and Mariah while I stayed home with the Corb who was not welcome. We were winning the game at halftime, but Texas ended up coming back to win 17-16.

On Sunday we had stake conference in the morning. Our church is usually from 1-4, so we felt like we had so much time to chill and do whatever after church. It was nice!!

Corby is obsessed with balls right now (has been for awhile). He found an orange in our fridge that looked a lot like his orange ball, so then he had 2 orange balls. (Until I threw the orange away today because it was getting really bruised and gross from him throwing it all the time!)

Sunday night I gave Rog the haircut. We've been saying for awhile that we should embrace the fact that he is going bald and just buzz the whole thing. I used a 3 all around and I think it looks so much better. And it is so much easier too! I think this way it blends better, so it doesn't look so thick on the sides and so sparce on the top.

On Monday our friend Amera turned 30, so I made her these cookies. I was pretty proud of how they turned out! And Amera if you're reading this, Rog says you don't look a day over 12. So don't even worry about it!

Goodbye Fred, Hello Daisy

2011-09-11T20:00:00.000-06:00

This post has been a long time coming. I was waiting for my parents to find a picture from when I first got Fred, but after much searching they were unable to find it. It was before the digital picture age, so I'm sure they searched through many many boxes of pictures. I swear I remember taking a picture - I didn't mean to send them on a wild goose chase!

I got Fred about a month after I turned 16 - so in April of 2002 which was also when I got my license. I wanted a blue Honda Civic, but I didn't want to drive around our family minivan anymore, so I settled on a green one. He was the 1999 model and had about 36,000 miles on him.

I was one of the first of our friends to get my own car and we were all sick of taking the bus. So I picked up Tiffany, Zack, Spencer, and Nate on my way to school for the last few months of our sophomore year of high school.

We originally called Fred the "Gangster Vehicle" because his windows were really tinted. For the first few years I owned Fred, it seemed like every year we did the safety inspection, we had to take a little more of the tint off, so he would pass.

I finally settled on the name Fred because my senior year Emily and I had imaginary boyfriends we would talk about when everyone else on cheer was talking about their real boyfriends. Mine was Fred and Emily's was Billy Bob. (Yes, I know this makes us sound really cool.)

Fred was our escape vehicle for many a devious adventure. On more than one occasion, we filled the trunk up with toilet paper and got all our guy friends' houses.

Fred was also the location of my first kiss. It was with Nate Edwards the summer after I got Fred.

The summer of 2005 when I was living in St. George, Fred was in a bad accident. I was driving to work and got hit while making a left turn. An older gentleman wasn't paying attention and totally ran a red light. His insurance company paid to fix Fred, but he was in the shop for over a month. They gave me a rental car, but they wouldn't allow me to take it up to BYU when school started. So I had to take my mom's minivan and she drove the rental while we were waiting for Fred to be fixed.

Fred was never quite the same after that. His gas gauge didn't go below the point it was at when I was hit. So even when it was totally empty and the gas light would come on, it still said I had 1/4 tank left.

Fred made lots of drives back and forth between St. George and BYU. And he made the trip to Laramie, Wyoming when a group of us went for the BYU vs. Wyoming football game my sophomore year of college. This is one of my most fond memories from college - such a fun trip!

Then I met Rog. He had a car of his own, but we almost always took my car because my parents paid for my gas. He even had his own key to Fred after we got engaged. This picture was taken when a group of us came to visit Rog in Colorado for the BYU vs. Air Force football game my junior year of college.

We returned Rog's car to his family (so Taylor could drive it when he got home from his mission) which made Fred our main vehicle. (We had Cliff too.)

The summer of 2008, Fred hit 100,000 miles!

When we got Meg, Rog became the main driver of Fred. About that time, the air conditioner broke which made driving Fred in the summer downright miserable.

Of course Rog did have to compete for driving time in Fred when Corby got big enough to drive. :)

Fred was a good car ! He had 129,000 miles on him when we sold him, so that's 93,000 miles and 9 years worth of memories. I will miss him and I will always hold a soft spot for him in my heart!

As we say goodbye to Fred, we welcome Daisy to our family. Daisy was my grandma's car. She's a 2003 Subaru with only 28,000 miles on her. (She was brand new when my grandma got her and she only drove her around Salt Lake City.) She has leather seats, cruise control, a sun roof, electronic everything - basically she was the top of the line when my grandma got her. So you can see why we jumped at the opportunity when my grandma decided to get a new car. And she gave us a GREAT deal.

(When I was finally putting this post together I realized I needed a picture of Daisy, so we went out and took this one. It was raining, so it's not the best picture. If you look closely you can see Corby standing in the front seat.)

Goodbye Fred! And hello Daisy!

Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-08T20:34:00.001-06:00

For Labor Day weekend we went to Colorado to visit the Phillips. We stayed with Kenzie and Irving who just moved to Aurora from California. We drove there Friday and then the fun began.

Saturday:

Breakfast at Village Inn

Denver Aquarium

{I was happy to see they had otters! They are always my favorite!}

{Corby liked looking at the fish, but he loved the "Coral Crawl" best.}

{Though he was pretty interested in these fish.}

Papa Johns Pizza for dinner

Watched BYU beat Ole Miss (recorded from earlier in the day)

Sunday:

Church at the Highlands Ranch ward

Nap time for Corby at G&G Phillips'

Dinner at Rex and Edda's

{All 4 Phillips grandsons were together for the first time ever. This photo shoot was going pretty poorly until Rog stepped in with his juggling skills and saved the day!}

Monday:

Breakfast with Jenn and Evan Bergam (and their cute little Dean) at Mimi's Cafe

{I was so disappointed we didn't get a picture because it was one of the highlights of our trip. They were in our married student ward at BYU. Jenn was a Junior Core grader with me and we became really good friends, so it was fun to catch up with them!}

Picnic lunch with the Tenneys

{Corby kept climbing up on these chairs and relaxing. Funny kid!}

Golf for Rog

Dinner at Olive Garden

We decided to have Rog take off Tuesday and drive back then, so we didn't have to drive home on Labor Day which was of course an excellent decision.

{Corby loved visiting Maverik and Charlie. He would have spent his whole trip outside with them if we would have let him.}

{And he had fun playing with Jaxon too. He gave him lots and lots of hugs.}

We had a great time with the Phillips clan!

August Decorations

2011-08-31T21:54:00.000-06:00

This month was the month of redos. I would finish something and then hate it and have to redo it. It was pretty ridiculous. I actually just barely finished and it's the 31st.

The SUN blocks are from a few years ago, but I had to change a few things about them because they didn't match the new stuff. The caterpillar stayed the same and so did the HOME "O", but that's all.

I actually only did the flip flops once. Amazing. I originally did the Subway Art with white lettering, but you couldn't read it from more than a few feet away, so I had to redo it with brighter colors.

I had to redo 4 out of the 5 things in my shadow box. The first time I did a color scheme of red, yellow, white, and dark blue and I hated it. So all but the sun got a new coat of paint.

I didn't have August plates last year because I couldn't find any beach-themed plates. I finally found these ones. They were really little, so I had to find plates to go behind them. I originally bought a green one for in the middle (with an orange one on each side), but I didn't like that, so I returned it for a red one and surprise, didn't like that either. So I finally ended up with 3 oranges and I do like that.

It may have taken me a few million tries, but I am really happy with how everything turned out!

Receptions and Manti and Cars, oh my!

2011-08-30T12:08:00.000-06:00

This last weekend my parents came up from St. George. Friday night we had dinner with them at Outback in Sandy and then we hit up a few receptions. First was Aubrey Bickmore's reception. I went to elementary school with her, we were on cheer together in high school, and we were basically inseparable. While we were there I got to catch up with Nate and Ann Edwards and meet their two adorable kiddos. And then we went to Chris Walker's reception. He was in Roger's ward in Moreno Valley in high school. There were a lot of people from his old ward there, so he had fun talking to all of them. And we all enjoyed the delicious Italian sodas they had!

My mom stayed the night and watched Corbyn for us in the morning while we went to the Manti temple. We had been to the Manti pageant before, but never in the temple. It was beautiful!

When we got home, Rog washed Fred and took him to the Honda dealership to sell him. It was sad seeing my baby go! (He was my first car.) His air conditioner has been broken for a few years and his age is really starting to show, so when my grandma decided to get a new car, we jumped at the opportunity to buy hers. (More on this in another post.)

We picked Rog up at the dealership and went to Seven Peaks for one last time this season. And then we put Corby to bed and played a game of Guillotine.

On Sunday, my parents came to our ward with us and then drove back to St. George. After church we went up to my grandma's house to have dinner with her and Rog drove his new car home.

And there you have it... Receptions and Manti and Cars, oh my!

Happy Friday!

2011-08-26T09:01:00.001-06:00

Only one more day until the weekend! Here's a video to help you make it through the day.

Playdate with Carver

2011-08-24T17:29:00.000-06:00

On Monday morning we had an fun playdate with Carver (the son of one of the ladies I visit teach). He is about 3 months older than Corbyn, but they get along great. They liked to copy each other. If one climbed up on the couch, so did the other. They played with the pillows and had a great time. It was hard to get a good picture of both of them, but I did get some cute ones.

St. George Quicky

2011-08-24T12:21:00.003-06:00

Last week Roger's dad and sister were in St. George helping his grandparents put in some new flooring in their den. We decided to go down for a quick visit, so Rog could help them finish up on Saturday. We went down Friday afternoon and came home Sunday afternoon, so it really was super quick, but we fit in a lot while we were there.

Of course there was eating out (at Wingers and 5 Guys). And swimming in my parents pool. Two things that always make a vacation great!

On Saturday while Rog was helping over at his grandparents' house, we did some errands with my parents. I got my hair cut and Corby went with Grandma Lori to Walgreens. He loved playing with the balls!

We found a killer deal on chicken. $1.39 a pound if you bought 40 pounds. That wasn't a problem because I needed a ton of chicken for freezer meals. (Which I finished making yesterday! 30 meals! Woot!!) So we ended up spending all of Corby's nap cutting off all the fat and cutting some of them into 1 inch cubes. I was glad to have 2 helpers! Thanks mom and dad!

Corby and I went over and visited everyone after they were all finished. Corby loved the piano at Grandpa and Grandma Phillips' house! (If he has any musical talent, we will be very puzzled about where it came from.)

For the first time since we've been taking the Corb down to St. George, he really took an interest in Cuddles. He sat on him, pulled his tail...

Gave him huge hugs, and generally just terrorized the poor cat!

But Corby's favorite part of the whole trip was throwing the billiard balls into the pool. He loved watching them sink down to the bottom.

And Rog loved fishing them out for him to do it all again!

Thanks St. George for another fun visit!

14 Months

2011-08-18T14:07:00.002-06:00

The Corb at 14 months:

*Says "this" and "that" when pointing to things that he wants.

*Loves to unload everything. That's not new, but now he will try to put things back after he is done unloading.

*Is loved by all the neighborhood kids. When we go outside, they all run up to play with him.

*Loves Bo Bo the monkey. If we ask him where he is, he'll go get him. And he likes to have him in his crib when he takes a nap or goes to bed for the night. He also loves giving his Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal hugs.

*Goes up and down stairs like a pro! (Finally!) So we decided we could take down the gate at the top of the stairs.

*Colors with chalk and crayons. But he doesn't understand that you are only supposed to color on the sidewalk or on paper, so we have to watch him constantly!

*Will come sit in my lap and listen to me read him books - if he's in the mood. He absolutely won't sit still if you try to force him.

*Only takes 1 nap a day. It's been a rough transition for us, but hopefully we'll figure it out soon. If I try to give him a second nap, it's never a good experience, so even if I know he's tired it really isn't worth it anymore. That being said, he usually goes down for his first nap so easily and wakes up in the best mood.

*Makes lots of curious noises with voice inflection.

*Likes to flip things around - like his washcloth in the bathtub. He also has figured out how to pour water which sometimes makes for a very wet bathroom and dad!

*Likes to "tickle" us.

*Loves popsicles. Today he insisted he have both of these popsicles at snack time!

We love our little guy!

Guilty Pleasures

2011-08-18T09:00:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago Rachel did a post about her guilty pleasures. And it got me thinking... What are my guilty pleasures?

After much contemplation, here you have it!

Orange Slice Candies. These little babies are so good! They're kind of old school, but I love them. I try not to buy them every single time I go to the grocery store. But every so often, I give in.

Happy Hour at Sonic. If I'm out and about and pass a Sonic between 2 and 4 in the afternoon, it's really hard to resist a half-price beverage. Usually it's a Strawberry Limeade, but sometimes I get a Lemon-Berry Fruit Slush to mix things up.

Rod Works and Wood Connection. If you are a regular reader of this blog, this shouldn't surprise you. I love decorating my house each month and these stores make it possible. I only buy stuff at Rod Works when I have a coupon or when they have their seasonal stuff on sale. But with Wood Connection, coupons are hard to come by. So I splurge on stuff from there. I always tell Rog that it's better that I love wood than clothes.

What are your guilty pleasures?

Another one bites the dust!

2011-08-17T22:16:00.001-06:00

When Rog got his job at KLAS, we were excited for many reasons... one of those reasons was that we wouldn't have to move away from our fantastic friends. We knew they would move away eventually, but we didn't have to say goodbye right away.

One by one they left us...

The Martinez moved to California last August. And the Paulsens to Maryland in January.

And just this month the Pughs moved to Wisconsin for medical school. (Luckily both of the Pugh's families live in Utah, so we will insist we get together when they come visit.)

They say, "Enter to learn, go forth to serve." And based on our group of friends from BYU, they weren't kidding!

Let's go back...

2011-08-17T11:57:00.001-06:00

...to last Thursday - before our summer parties. I'm blogging out of order because I forgot to take pictures of this event, so I didn't think I'd blog about it. But then I decided I didn't want to forget about it. So you get flashback pictures for this one.

Last Thursday night we had a freshman reunion of sorts. We had Stacey and Amy (and their husbands) over for dinner, dessert, and games. Amy is currently living in Boston, but she was in town for a few weeks, so we decided we had to get together! It was my first time meeting Amy's husband, Trent, because we were in St. George for their reception. He is such a great guy!

We had so much fun talking and remembering fun things from our freshman year. I love these girls so much and am so grateful we could meet in good old Rogers 97 in Heritage Halls.

It was also fun looking through old pictures from that year. These pictures are from a trip we took down to Las Vegas the summer after freshman year. Stacey and Amy drove down to visit me in St. George. We were planning on swimming and playing in the sun, but it turned out to be a crappy day - which rarely happens in St. George in the summer. So we decided to drive down to Las Vegas.

We ate at the Rio buffet.

And then walked the strip and saw all the sights.

Now what blog would be complete without me telling you about something new I cooked? For dessert we had this. Rog had been begging me to make it for quite some time and it did not disappoint. I left out the malted milk balls because neither of us is a huge fan of them. It was so good - the perfect treat for a summer night!

Summer Parties

2011-08-14T17:12:00.003-06:00

Friday night was the KLAS summer party.

They had a bounce house.

Cotton candy.

A huge blow-up slide.

And sumo wresting. (Rog got his butt kicked by one of the guys he trained on his mission who now works with him - Bryce LeBaron for those of you who know him.)

It was mighty hot, but we had a great time playing as a family.

Saturday night after a packed day of running, playing at Seven Peaks, and making freezer meals, we had our ward block party. They had a slip-n-slide which Corby was a little young for, but he had a great time playing in this fountain.

Again it was hot, but there was enough shade for the whole ward to hide under.

We had a fun weekend partying it up and enjoying lots of free food!

Flashback Friday - Crypt Lake

2011-08-12T09:00:00.001-06:00

I was looking for the picture of me and Diana climbing the ladder on our first trip to Crypt Lake. I didn't find that one, but I came across this little gem. The bangs, the pants... oh my! I know I was in middle school because I have braces - I got them in 7th grade and got them off in 9th grade. So that would make this the summer of 1999 or 2000. Don't judge me too harshly. Those were the dark ages!

Back in the Kitchen

2011-08-11T10:28:00.004-06:00

After being away from my kitchen for over a week while we were in Canada, I was excited to get back cooking! I had some new recipes I wanted to try out and after eating out a lot more than normal, I was in the mood for good homemade food.

Chicken Pillows. About a year ago we had a Relief Society activity where we made freezer meals for the Compassionate Service Committee to have on hand to give out when needed. We just ran out, so now my committee is making more. I had heard chicken pillows freeze well, but I wanted to try a recipe with homemade rolls rather than the pre-made crescent rolls. Rachel had just posted this recipe, so I tried it out and I'd say it is a keeper!

Grilled Pizza. A few weeks ago, Our Best Bites did a post highlighting some of their favorite recipes. This was one of them, so I figured we should give it a try. We also tried their homemade pizza sauce. I'm pretty sure that made the pizza. I definitely won't be using store bought pizza sauce ever again.

{They don't look all that pretty, but they were so so so good!}

Pineapple Bacon Burgers and Southwest Pasta Salad. Last Saturday we had a BBQ with Kyle, Britt, Bud, and Cami. Kyle and Britt are moving up to Idaho for grad school, so we wanted to get together before they left. Rog did a great job grilling up these burgers. And he said this pasta salad was the best he's ever had which is saying a lot because he usually doesn't like pasta salads.

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream. I finally used the ice cream maker we got for our wedding! For a long time I was confused about how it worked because it was different than the one my family had when I was growing up. I'm so glad I finally figured it out! This recipe for vanilla ice cream couldn't have been any easier and it tasted great! Our Best Bites has a lot of recipes for ice cream that look amazing, so I'm sure I'll be using our ice cream maker a lot more now!

On top of all that, we had a neighbor die very unexpectedly, so I helped out by taking the family dinner a few nights and making funeral potatoes for the luncheon after the funeral. I was also in charge of buying all the food for the luncheon (that we weren't making). Our Relief Society President is pregnant and due pretty soon, so she wanted me to be fully trained on funerals just in case there is one when she has her baby.

Needless to say, I may have gone a little bit overboard! But I found a lot of tasty recipes that I will definitely be making again. Yay for good food!

Corby in a dress?

2011-08-07T08:17:00.000-06:00

Ok, not really. This is me when I was Corby's age. My parents found this picture of me and we all agree that Corby is most definitely my baby.

What do you think?

Canadian Adventure

2011-08-02T11:06:00.001-06:00

I've said it before, but this time I really mean it... Get ready for picture overload!

First some background. Last summer when we went to Canada for Tay and Martha's wedding reception, my Grandpa Ririe got the idea that we should do a family vacation up to Canada. We went up there 3 times while I was growing up, but it had been 9 years since we were there last. (Not counting last summer of course.) Because of work, missions, and medical school we were missing Alisha, Brady, Kiera, Taylor, Jared, and Jason.

Thursday, July 21

My mom and dad drove up from St. George. They stopped in Spanish Fork and helped me finish getting everything packed. We planned to go to Seven Peaks, but when we got there we learned that they had closed early for an "exclusive event." So we picked up Rog from work (he had gotten a ride to work from a lady he carpools with sometimes) and drove up to Salt Lake to spend the night at my Grandma Ford's house.

Friday, July 22

Woke up and made final preparations to go. I lost my contact in the shower and discovered that I had forgotten to pack extra contacts. Fortunately it was Friday, so we had my eye doctor fax my prescription to Walmart and we picked some up on our way out of town. (They gave me a free sample pair, so it didn't cost a thing! Woot!)

We stopped for lunch at Taco Bell. I ordered Corby a cheese rollup and started feeding it to him like I normally would by tearing off pieces for him. He grabbed it from me and started tearing into it with his teeth. Go Corby!

We let him play outside and get his wiggles out. Our little Harry Potter.

When we stopped for dinner at Denny's, Rog took him outside while we were waiting for our food. He brought him back inside looking like this. He had taken a larger than normal fall. Fortunately all but the cut on his nose were better by the next morning.

We spent the night in Great Falls, Montana where we picked up Diana and Blake at the airport.

Saturday, July 23

Drove up to Magrath. We missed the parade, but made it in time for lunch at Ty and Gloria's. (Gloria wasn't there because she was in the hospital.)

Drove around Magrath, stopping at all the major points of interest including the cemetery. Visited Gloria at the hospital and got some groceries in Cardston. Then we made our way to Waterton.

Sunday, July 24

Went to church at the branch in Waterton.

It was a beautiful day (the best one we had), so we went on a long walk around town. We threw rocks in the lake.

Corby helped me push his stroller.

He played with the chipmunks.

{They were not scared of each other at all!}

And we enjoyed Cameron Falls.

Monday, July 25

The day of the big hike to Crypt Lake! It is an amazing 11 mile hike that has been voted "Canada's Best Hike." You have to take a boat across Waterton Lake to get to the trailhead. At one point you have to go up a ladder, through a tunnel, and across a sheer cliff with the assistance of a cable.

{Diana and I have a picture like this from when we first did this hike over 10 years ago.}

McKay, Diana, Rog, and I went ahead of my dad, Uncle Kevin, and grandpa. When we got to the tricky part of the hike, we all agreed there was no way my dad and uncle would let my grandpa continue on as it is pretty dangerous (especially for a 79 year old who has balance problems). We got to the lake and had lunch.

We started back and ran into the 3 of them AFTER the scary part of the hike. Turns out we were wrong about them not letting my grandpa do that part. So we turned around and hiked to the lake again.

Rog was a huge help getting my grandpa across the cliff, through the tunnel, and down the ladder. After that my IT band started acting up, so the hike back wasn't nearly as much fun as the hike up. But we all made it back safe and sound.

Tuesday, July 26

It was rainy, cloudy, yucky weather most of the day. At least this year we knew to expect that and packed warm clothes. I had to buy Corby some long pants because he didn't have any in his current size. I bought a size bigger than he's in now and hemmed them to fit because I didn't want to buy pants for him to only wear a few times.

We made the most of the bad weather by going swimming in the indoor pool.

We decided to go up to Cameron Lake despite the cold. I was disappointed because I wanted to rent a paddle boat, but that didn't happen for obvious reasons.

Corby enjoyed playing with this exhibit in the visitor's center.

After dinner it warmed up a bit, so we did the Bear Hump hike. It is only 3/4 of a mile, but VERY steep. Rog was a trooper and carried Corby up. You can see the whole town from on top. It's a beautiful view which makes the hike well worth it (even Rog agrees).

Wednesday, July 27

We went up to Red Rock Canyon. Diana and Rog went mountain biking while my dad, Corby, and I walked around a bit.

I'd been there before, but I didn't remember it. It was way cool. Totally worth the drive in my opinion.

Diana and Rog decided to also mountain bike back to Waterton. On their way, they ran into a mama bear and her cub! Of course the first thing Rog did was take a picture. They were on a trail, but when they came across the bears, they decided to turn around and take the road back.

The ladies enjoyed Afternoon Tea at the Prince of Wales Hotel. My favorites were the cucumber sandwiches and scones, but it was all so good! And what a cool experience!

Then we rented a Surrey Bicycle. Rog was tired from his earlier biking, so my mom and I did most of the pedaling. We made him get out for the hills because pedaling that thing is harder than it looks!

We had a birthday dinner for my mom, dad, Becky, and McKay (the summer birthdays) at Wieners of Waterton. It is a lot like J Dawgs and is owned by one of Brady's friends. Then we had ice cream on main street. I thought this was a cute picture of Becky sharing some of her ice cream with the Corbs!

Almost the whole gang. Grandma Lori, Corby, Great Grandma Ririe, McKay, Becky, Austin, me, Diana, and Blake (in the stroller).

The rest of the gang. Grandpa Ririe, Great Grandpa Ririe, and Kevin.

We loved Waterton! For me Waterton is all about reliving the memories I have of past trips there. We packed a lot into our days there.

It was also fun to have the little cousins together. Sharing a pillow for bottle time.

And I enjoyed holding cute little Blake (who doesn't try to get down when you try to hold him and cuddle him like Corby does). Such a cutie.

And a champion thumb sucker.

I swear the deer are taking over Waterton. There were way more than I remember from past years.

And even though I don't have a picture... one of my favorite parts of the trip was game time after we put Corby to bed each night. We played Lost Cities, Chicken Foot, Guillotine (a new one Diana introduced us to), Ticket to Ride, Bananagrams, Snatch It, and For Sale.

Thursday, July 28

We dropped Diana and Blake off at the airport in Great Falls and then made our way to Dillon, Montana. The food selection was very limited. We finally ended up at McDonald's. Grandma Lori wasn't happy about it, but Corby sure was! Ha ha.

We went swimming in their pool for a few minutes, but it was way too FREEZING to stay in very long.

Friday, July 29

We made our way back to Salt Lake. We took my parents out to celebrate their birthdays at Village Inn. Corby and his grandma were wearing matching shirts, so we had to get a picture.

We gave Corby a lemon and his reaction was priceless!

We got this moose pillow pet for my mom while we were in Waterton. She loves moose anything, so we thought she had to have this!

Saturday, July 30

My mom had a City Deal for a manicure and pedicure, so we got those. I'm not a huge fan of painted nails, but it was fun to be pampered.

Then we went to Trafalga Lehi. We wanted to go to Seven Peaks, but it was closing early again that day (at least this time we knew to check their website for that, but how awful was our timing that both times we wanted to go it closed early).

We played a game of mini golf.

And got SOAKED on the Splash Boats. (Corby was too small to ride, but we sprayed him while he watched from the side.)

To end the day, our friends, Bill and Mariah, had us over for dinner because they knew we wouldn't have any groceries for dinner.

And that was our trip! Phew, congratulations if you made it this far!

A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY GRANDPA AND GRANDMA RIRIE FOR A WONDERFUL TRIP! WE HAD SUCH A GREAT TIME!!!

1st Haircut

2011-07-31T16:51:00.001-06:00

We're back! We had a wonderful, fun-filled vacation. Now it's time to get back to reality. I have a huge post in the works about our Canadian adventure. In the meantime, here is a post I meant to do before we left - but of course I got too busy packing, doing laundry, and running errands to get to it...

We loved Corby's little curls in the back, but they were getting to the point where they were too long. Sometimes they would straighten out and look just awful. So I decided it was time for Corby's 1st haircut. Our friend Amera does hair, so I asked her if she could come give him a quick cut before we left for Canada. Thanks Amera!! For the first few days, we missed his little curls, but we knew it was time for them to go. He looks so grown up and handsome now!

Oh Canada

2011-07-20T15:00:00.000-06:00

On Friday we are off to this lovely place.

We're going to spend a few hours in Magrath (where my Grandpa Ririe was born and raised) and then we are going to Waterton where Corbyn is going to fill this lake with rocks.

Not sure what kind of internet access we'll have while we're gone, so peace out dudes! (I might do another post or two between now and when we leave, but I thought I would give everyone a heads up while I had a few minutes.)

Children's Discovery Garden

2011-07-20T14:39:00.000-06:00

Yesterday Corby and I met up with Amber and Tyce to enjoy an afternoon at the Children's Discovery Garden at Thanksgiving Point. It was hot hot hot which we thought would be a good thing because they have a fun Noah's Ark with pools and fountains for little ones to cool off in. But unfortunately that was closed for the day because they were regulating the chemical levels. They played in the fountains a little, but those aren't as cool as our fountains in Spanish Fork (and those are free). Tyce was scared of the bear in the bear cave, so we couldn't hang out there. And they were a little young for some of the other stuff. But they both loved the sand box. It was Corbyn's first experience with sand and he is definitely a fan! He was like, "Mom, you know this is dirty, right? And you're letting me play in it? AWESOME!"

I took off his shirt and let him go with just his onesie because I was worried he was getting too hot.

When it was about time to leave, a huge thunderstorm hit. We got soaked!

It was a fun afternoon. I'm not sure it was worth the $6 admission fee... But it was definitely good to sit and talk with Amber while we watched our little boys play. Next time we'll make sure Noah's Ark is open!

Corby the Corbs missed his afternoon nap, so he was TIRED when bedtime came around. When I checked on him I found him like this and felt so bad. But I had to grab my camera and snap a picture before I saved him. I pulled his legs free (one of them was stuck good) and he didn't even wake up.

July Decorations

2011-07-20T14:19:00.001-06:00

I had some more projects I was going to do this month, but I didn't get to them, so they will have to wait until next year. I added the cupcake and lights this year (both purchased at Kohl's), but the rest of my table I did last year.

Here is my shadow box for July.

Yay for the Red, White, and Blue!

13 Months

2011-07-19T22:54:00.001-06:00

I'm not going to be taking monthly pictures now that our Corbs is over a year old, but I am going to continue doing monthly updates. I'll throw in a few pictures from the last month to keep things interesting.

The Corb at 13 months:

*LOVES yogurt! I haven't found a flavor he doesn't like. He cries when I stop feeding it to him if he can see that there is some left.

*Likes to take handfuls of food (Goldfish, Cheerios, Puffs, etc...) and stuff as many as he can fit in his mouth.

*Has 6 teeth. 4 on the top and 2 on the bottom. He doubled his teeth this month.

*Says MMMmmm when he is eating something he likes.

*Loves watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I don't let him watch it all day, but it's great for when I need to get something done.

*Likes to bring us our shoes. Sometimes he even brings them to me when I'm in the shower.

*Points to things that he wants.

*Is a huge fan of his pillow pet. I had to get it for him because of his love for pillows (and my love for frogs).

*Will climb up stairs, but is still terrified of going down them.

*Will bring me food that he wants or goes over to his high chair and reaches up if he is hungry.

*Likes to climb up anything he can. Our bed, the couch, the printer in the closet...

*Moonwalks backwards.

*Throws mini temper tantrums where he takes lots of little steps in place and screams. They only last a few seconds, but I'm sure they'll get longer as he gets older.

*Goes to the front door and tries to open it when he wants to go outside.

Harry Potter

2011-07-17T10:52:00.000-06:00

I wish I could say I read Harry Potter from the beginning, but I was kind of late joining the party. The first I remember hearing about Harry Potter was when I was in high school and back then, I had little time for anything but dance. The 3rd movie came out the day I gradated from high school. At our all-night grad party, we had the option of watching the movie. At that time I was dating Reed Holmberg. He was anti-Harry Potter and because I had no opinion of my own, I went along with him.

Then he left on his mission and I started dating one of his best friends, Kyle Hanson. Kyle is a Harry Potter fan and with the 6th book coming out that summer, he convinced me to start reading Harry Potter. And that was when my love for Harry began. I read the first 5 books in about 3 weeks. That summer I was living in St. George and other than working at the dance store down there, I didn't have much else going on.

I came back to BYU and started reading the 6th book with Bridger Field. We would read a chapter a night, but we broke up before finishing. When I finished reading it on my own, I called him and told him, "Dumbledore dies!" Oh I was so mature...

Then after dating Jeff Brown, I met Rog who shared my love for Harry. The 7th book came out about 2 months after we got married. I remember taking turns reading our copy of the book in our tiny, one-bedroom apartment. And Harry has been a part of our marriage ever since. Harry has been our entertainment for many a road trip. And we've watched all the movies multiple times.

On a whim, I Netflixed Harry Potter 7.1. I didn't know when it would come because I figured it would be very popular right now. Surprisingly it arrived in our mailbox Friday afternoon. We watched it Friday night and then yesterday after going to Seven Peaks, we put Corby down for a nap and Aunt KD watched him while we went to see Harry Potter 7.2. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful series. We both agree that they should have stuck closer to the book, especially for the final duel between Harry and Voldemort. But we thought it captured the essence of the book well.

So although I wasn't a fan from the beginning, I definitely am one now. I can't wait to fall in love with Harry over and over again as I introduce our little Corbyn (and his brothers and sisters who will join our family in the future) to our friend, Harry Potter.

Water Fun

2011-07-17T09:04:00.001-06:00

The past few days we have been having lots of fun in the sun.

On Friday Corby and I went to the North Park in Spanish Fork where they have a fun Splash Pad. He was a little tentative at first, but got braver the longer we were there. I knew he wouldn't play in the fountains alone, so I dressed in my swimsuit too. I was worried that I'd be the only adult playing, but as you can see from this picture, I wasn't alone. There was a cute grandpa there with his grandkids and lots of moms in the same situation I was.

On Saturday KD came down from Salt Lake and went to Seven Peaks with us. We took turns playing with Corby and going on the big kid slides. We went on the new Aqua Racer for the first time and loved it. It is definitely my new favorite slide!

Family photo in the kiddie pool.

Seeing the back side of water in the Mushroom Top.

We took Corby down the kid slides with us for the first time.

Going down with dad and mom.

And going down with Aunt KD.

We had a great time! Thanks KD for joining us!

*You might notice that I have a new swimsuit. I got my last one in 2008, so it was high time I got a new one. I ordered it from Lime Ricki. And I learned an important lesson. Don't order swimsuits online. Or if you do, and it doesn't fit perfectly when you get it, send it back. When I got it, the top was too big. But I didn't want to pay to return it and wait for a new one to come. So I thought, it'll be ok. After going to Seven Peaks on Thursday and wearing it for the first time, I knew it wasn't going to work. But it was too late to return it because I'd taken off the tags and worn it. So I spent Friday night sewing up the sides and hemming it and now it fits great. And I really love the design. I just wish I would have saved myself all that effort and just exchanged it. At least I know how to sew and was able to fix it!

Relief Society Crafting

2011-07-15T13:35:00.002-06:00

In April our Relief Society made temple blocks at an activity. I was actually at Disneyland when they had the activity, but I ordered one of the blocks to make later. I wasn't in love with the picture they used, so I made my own with a picture Jared took. I added the words and had it printed out at Costco. I love how it turned out!

Then in May we made FHE jars at an activity. I wasn't in love with the lettering they used for FHE, so I made my own. (See a pattern here? I guess I'm picky.)

They have slips inside that have your FHE all planned out - the song, scriptures, and topic. You just have to pull one out and FHE is ready to go!

I was thinking it was time for some new decorations on our entertainment center and these are perfect!

Destructo Baby

2011-07-15T13:00:00.001-06:00

Yesterday afternoon was kind of rough at our home.

First Corby decided to pull all the pins out of my pin cushion one by one. I know I should have made him stop, but I was too much in awe at his fine motor skills required to be able to do such a thing. So instead I just picked up each pin after he pulled it out. And took this video.

Then he pulled out an entire roll of floss.

And while I was making dinner he emptied an almost full bag of tortilla chips all over the floor.

I thought (and hoped) the destructo baby would disappear after a good night of sleep. But when I got out of the shower this morning I found this.

Oh dear! Whoever took my sweet baby and replaced him with destructo baby, please bring him back!