Bubble Fun

Daddy just couldn't resist! Listen closely to the video- except for the part where I'm laughing so hard I can't breathe! It seems Elodie can't be on video without finding a way to hurt herself! And I have no clue why my words are underlined...who knows!?! AND, I hate the lighting in my kitchen!

Our Little Goldilocks

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Elodie. Elodie lived with her mom, dad, sister, and little dog Ginger. She was happy and healthy and was so fun to be around! Elodie was a good sleeper too! Ever since she was a baby her mom could lay her down and she would take great naps and sleep soundly through the night.



When Elodie turned 2, her mom and dad went out and bought her a bed. A nice big girl bed that converted into a king size bed for company and had 3 huge drawers underneath to keep all her barbies and books. You can read all about Elodie's big girl bed HERE. Elodie slept well in her big girl bed. She loved to be tucked in and surrounded by all her stuffed animals. Then one night Elodie decided she wanted to sleep in mommy and daddy's bed. She would creep into their room late at night and snuggle up next to her mom. At first, her mom and dad loved having her in their bed, but their bed was too small! Not long after the first night Elodie snuck into her mom and dad's bed, her mom started sending her back to her own bed. You can read all about that HERE.




It didn't take long to get Elodie sleeping in her big girl bed again. Everything was back to normal and everyone was sleeping soundly through the night. Even when mommy and daddy moved their family into a different house and welcomed a new little baby to the family, Elodie still stayed in her big girl bed. Happy nights!




Then one night, Elodie decided to start creeping into her mom and dad's bed again. This time her mom was not having it! Instead of taking Elodie by the hand and tucking her back into her own bed, Elodie's mom would open one eye and say "Elodie! Get back in your own bed!" Some nights Elodie would cry all the way back to her bed, some nights she would go back happily (more like out of it), and some nights, if there was enough room on mom's side of the bed, Elodie would silently crawl in next to her mom and no one would notice.

Elodie was getting tired of being kicked out of her parents bed. Some nights she was smart and would curl up on the end of her parents bed without them noticing. Then one night, she found a better bed. The most comfortable bed in the house.



2 years ago Mom and Dad bought Ginger her own bed for Christmas. It was a big bed made for a golden retriever but Ginger didn't care. It was comfortable and cozy and a bed all her own.




One night, after Elodie had been kicked out of her mom and dad's bed, she noticed Ginger's bed. And Ginger was no where to be found! You see, some nights Ginger likes to curl up on the bathroom floor because the tile is cooler. Other nights she likes to sleep in the living room. And some nights you can find her in bed with mom and dad. She feels special because she is the only one that hasn't been kicked out of their bed!



It's not unusual to wake up in the morning and find Elodie curled up on Ginger's bed and Ginger laying right beside her bed....waiting for Elodie to move so she can have her bed back. One night, Elodie came in her mom and dad's room to take Ginger's bed and plopped down right on top of Ginger while she was fast asleep! Ginger didn't like that too much but gave up her bed anyway.



We don't know how this story will end. And while most nights, Elodie finds her own bed the most comfortable one to sleep in, for now, she thinks Ginger's bed is JUST RIGHT!





The End.

Happy Thanksgiving!

From the littlest pumpkin in our patch!

$18.10

That's how much it cost me to fill up my gas tank at Costco today! Granted I had a little less than a quarter of a tank in my car already. BUT STILL!

Now THAT is something to be grateful for. Along with the $6 pumpkin pies ,$9 chocolate cream pie and the $3 lunch for me and Elodie. Who needs to bake when Costco does it for you!! Oh, how I love Costco!


HAPPY THANKSGIVING YA'LL!

Good friends

On Saturday (after our Twilight High) a bunch of us got together at Audrey's for a barbeque. Our friend, Tina, who moved away to Illinois came in town for a visit. She was here to see her family but kindly squeezed in some friend time with us! We have been truely blessed with great friends! Where would we be if not for the Gateway Ward!

Me, Jaime, Audrey, Tina, Jen, Tiffany, and Melissa ( I look like a midget in this picture! Am I really that short?!?)

The reason we can't go to Barro's anymore-and 2 were not in the picture!

And one just for cuteness....A picture of Addysen and Graycie- both almost 9 months old! Crazy how time flies- we will be planning their first birthdays real soon!

My Twilight Review

So last night was the moment we have all been waiting for...well, I guess I can't speak for ALL OF YOU, but it was definitely the day I've been counting down to along with a few of my friends!

TWILIGHT CAME OUT!

You may be wondering why, with all my chatter about this exciting event, I didn't join the crazy fans for the midnight release. I may be crazy about Twilight, but I'm rational. I do have a family and 2 kids up at the butt crack of dawn. I have to be somewhat functional. And it was fun being able to GO OUT to dinner afterwards to sit around and chat about the movie. And we had a TON to chat about!

So, what did I think of the movie? I liked it. There were parts that were cheesy and corny. But overall it was fun. I was impressed with how much of the dialogue from the book they used in the movie. I liked Edward...I thought he did a great job. And it doesn't hurt that he is pretty hot. Of course, they left out a ton but it is a 500 plus page book. Some things had to be left out! I wish some of the other characters personalitites would have been better portrayed. It seemed like no one elses rolls were important in the movie when they played HUGE parts in the book. I especially wish they would have shown more of Carlisle's history and more of the relationship between Bella and Alice. Plus, it seemed like the movie moved really fast and Edward and Bella's "can't like without you" love for each other was superficial. Overall, I'll see it again. There's a lot I missed and I think it will be better the second time when I'm not so excited and giddy. And Chris even said he would see it with me! I think he will think I'm nuts for liking the movie, and he'll probably think it's pretty cheesy, but he didn't read the book either! You always feel like you missed something when a book is turned into a movie. Especially since Twilight was written from Bella's perspective and alot of it is in her head.

Of course the best part was the company. Any girls night (or Big Girl Night like Elodie calls it) is always so much fun! We decided while sitting at dinner that along with a Book Club each month we needed a Movie Night. Our husbands should definitely love that! Mariley, we missed you!

Thanks girls for an awesome night out...cheesy movie or not! It was so fun!

We got to the movie at 4pm for our 6:45pm showing. It's a good thing too because there was about 15 people in front of us! We had fun playing cards, taking pictures, and snacking. It really did go by fast!

Me and my Bella and Edward cookies my friend Jackie made. Aren't they cute? And they were good!

Die Hards

Melissa and Jen showing off their tattoos.

Me and Melissa. We squeeled together. Melissa thinks I left bruises on her arms because I kept squeezing her! She's probably right. We needed paper bags we were so excited! If you look closely behind me and Melissa, you can see the girl who spelt Cullen wrong on her shirt. She really should have read the books. What kind of Twilight Fan is she!?!

Jen, Sarah, and Jaime

Audrey, Rachel, and Marisa. I wanted to make a shirt for Audrey's newborn Eli that said "I'm a Newborn" I didn't though. Maybe for the 3rd movie. By then one of us is bound to have a newborn right?

All the girls at Applebee's. Left to Right- Rachel, Jaime, Jackie, Lisa, Sarah, Tiffany, Audrey.

Front- Melissa, Me, Jen, Yolanda, and Marisa.

Yes, I'm one of those Twilight Fans..

And I am SO READY for the movie!

Baton Rouge Zoo

The Friday before we left Louisiana. Elodie and I met up with Aunt Alexis, cousins Wesley, and Emilee, and Emilee's Pre-school class at the Baton Rouge Zoo. I hadn't been in ages but seeing as I had grown up in Baton Rouge, this zoo holds A TON of childhood memories. Chris and I even went a few times when we were dating.

The weather was so nice out and it reminded me just how beautiful Louisiana is. I wish I would have taken more landscape pictures. But I didn't so enjoy.

Thanks Emilee for letting us tag along! We love you! And thanks to my mom for watching Addysen so she could take her morning nap

With Emilee's teacher on the train...

Aunt Alexis and Wesley...

The Swing

See this swing?

Isn't it lovely? It's the swing in my parents backyard.

When Chris and I were first dating..oh, 11 years ago! YIKES! I was a wee little 16 year old (going on 17) and Christopher was getting ready to go on his mission. Sigh. We spent alot of time in this swing. In fact, we spent so much time in this swing that we killed the grass underneath our feet.....I wish we had a picture of our younger selves in that swing. Sadly, there aren't many pictures of me and Chris together before he left on his mission.

Shortly after Chris left on his mission, my mom took this picture of me. Sitting all alone in our swing. You can see just how badly we killed the grass and how beautiful the grass around it looks. I'm sure I sent this picture to Chris while he was in the MTC....oh the memories. The grass stayed dead in our spot my whole senior year. Some days I would go out to the swing and sit and pull up any grass that dared to make it's way to cover up our spot!
When Chris got home off his mission and we were trying to figure things out, we spent a lot of time in this swing.

When Chris was in basic training for the National Guard and he was coming to Louisiana from Georgia for weekend trips, we spent a lot of time in this swing.

When we were engaged we spent a lot of time in this swing. Heck! I'm surprised Chris didn't propose to me in this swing.

And then we got married, moved off, and stopped sitting in our swing....

But here we are 11 years later and look at our spot. Some grass has managed to cover up our spot but for the most part, it looks the same.

Isnt' that sweet? Brings back some great memories!

I did get a picture of me and Chris sitting in that swing while we were in Louisiana. However, the lighting was bad and there's some serious shadows. The little photographer in me just can't post it!

Sneek Peek!

We had our family pictures updated yesterday by the super cute Brandi! Click on her name or click HERE and see some sneek peeks from our shoot.

AND, if you are need of some updated family shots, give her a call. She rocks!

She isn't so serious afterall!

FINALLY! We really were beginning to think that Addysen was too serious to laugh! We've been trying to get some good giggles out of her forever but never succeeded! Anytime we thought we could get her to giggle, she would get bored really fast with whatever we were doing! And other times, she would smile so big but never giggle!

Leave it to Elodie to do something totally normal and get Addysen to giggle like crazy! Yesterday, Elodie was just running in circles in the living room and Addysen thought it was the funniest thing ever! Listen closely at the end, you can hear Elodie trip and smack her head into the entertainment center! All the giggling stopped after that! You can even see the look of concern on Addysen's face when it happened! Thankfully, no one was seriously harmed in the making of this video!

Feels good to be home.

We made it home safely last night. Elodie cried when she left her mawmaw and cried again when she was reunited with her daddy. It was a sweet moment!

I'm glad we only make that trip once a year though. A 4 hour flight with 2 little ones strapped in a small space is enough to drain anyone for a week!

On to more important things...like unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping. And the most important, getting my girls on a schedule again! Especially Addysen who was extremely spoiled by her mawmaw! Every time Addysen would cry, my mom was there. Great while on vacation so I could sleep in..not so great the day after vacation ends! Christopher did good in taking care of himself and the house while we were gone. He even made his own lunch everyday I was gone. That's enough to give me butterflies!

We're happy to be home!

Sneek Peek Louisiana Day 13

If you live in Louisiana and need your family pictures updated, contact my sister-in-law Regina at www.reginabrumfieldphotography.com

More to come!

On our way out..last day in Louisiana

I haven't kept up with my "blogging on vacation" as well this last week. A lot will have to wait until I get home. I have pictures to scan and cousin pictures I'm waiting on from my SIL- and by the way...we caught some REALLY cute cousin pictures yesterday!! 

Tomorrow we fly home to Christopher! We have missed our daddy and we are ready to see him again!

We have had so much fun here in Louisiana. We've been spoiled by my entire family! I'm sad to leave them. And not just because they spoiled us! ;) 

Until tomorrow, there is laundry to be done and bags to pack...and we all know how much I love packing!

Cross your fingers for me as I manage 2 children on a 4 hour flight! 

We can't wait to see you Chris!

My girls- More from Louisiana Day 5

Behind my PawPaw's house he has a barn. An old barn that has been there forever. He does a lot of woodworking in that barn. When we were kids, my cousins and I would play in the upstairs of PawPaw's barn. We would take all the sawdust from PawPaw's work and put them in little concession stand containers-like what they put nacho cheese in- (where those came from no one knows) and we would play kitchen. Good memories.

While we were hanging out at PawPaw's Sunday evening I took Elodie and Addysen to the old barn for some pictures. I figured these would slightly make up for the fact that I didn't get family pictures done while we were down. I love them....The girls and the pictures!

This first picture is in my PawPaw's backyard next to the barn. The lighting was so perfect on the fall trees. I just thought it was pretty!

3 things...

-We didn't get our family pictures done while Chris was here...I KNOW! All that stress and it didn't even happen- it was just too much to shove into 6 days. 5 days since we couldn't count the day we got here! I'm just planning to get them done in Az. when we get home. Slightly bummed but the stress of trying to squeeze it in was overwhelming me! I didn't realize how crazy the weekend would be. We do plan to get the kids cousin pictures done though and possibly some shots of me with the girls.

-I'm trying to come up with a cleaver blog title. Until I do ... will be our title. Any ideas are welcomed.

-Christopher made it safely back home. Ginger was taken care of and our fabulous friends Derek and Audrey made sure Christopher got picked up. They even sent him home with a full belly!
We miss Dad already and can't wait to be reunited! It's really the best part of being separated! I can't wait to see him again!

And then again, some things never change! Louisiana more of Day 8

I mentioned in an earlier post about my high school experience and friendships that I made while in school. 2 near and dear to my heart are Regena and Holly. Holly and I grew up in the same ward, Regena and I became instant friends in 6th grade and all 3 of us were on the flag team together(I wish I were home to scan some old school pictures of us!).

We keep in touch via email but with 6 kids between the 3 of us and the fact that Holly owns her own hair salon and Regena teaches 6th grade science, it's not often that we keep in touch. Thank heavens for the internet!

I love these girls. We decided to get together tonight for dinner and enjoyed so much picking up where we left off. Kimby, if you are reading this, there was an empty seat just for you.
It was so fun to get together and sad that we all don't live closer!

My friends are a huge reason why I loved high school so much! Thanks Holly and Regena for an awesome girls night. I love you both! Until next year!

Regena, Holly,and Alacey

The next generation- Louisiana Day 5

Playing catch up from Sunday...

We got together as a family one last time before all the Utah relatives went home. I have so many vivid memories of spending time at my grandparents house with my cousins. It's so fun to watch all the next generation of cousins playing at PawPaw and MawMaw's house like we use to do as kids. Bittersweet because it's a reminder of how quickly time passes you by.  We had jambalya, white beans, and the kids roasted hot dogs. 

Good times. 

Our family after church

Elodie Marie...

Elodie picking satsumas off my dad's trees.

They are so good but don't eat too many. Elodie learned this the hard way on our first day here.

Further explanation isn't needed I don't think.

Addysen in all her cuteness!

My mom and Addysen

My PawPaw's house. This is the same house my mom and her 7 siblings grew up in.

PawPaw Whitney with Addysen Whitney

My Aunt Jeanne with Addysen (my mom's younger sister)

My dad, brother Owen, Christopher, and Addysen

Brother Caissy and his son Austin

Me with 2 of my sister in laws Regina and Alexis. We missed you Esther

Cousins Anna and Elodie 

Our family with PawPaw

My Uncle Newele (my mom's brother) and cousins Madolyn and Elodie

Me and 2 of my brothers, Caissy and Owen- we missed you Doye.

-

With our mom...

Our attempt at a cousins picture!

On PawPaw's front steps.