My Family

This weekend I was able to go up to Salt Lake and see my family. This isn't an unusual event. Tyson and I go visit them almost every other weekend at least and almost all of my family comes for Sunday dinner (well, those that live in the Utah). But it sometimes SEEMS like forever since I've seen them because they are fun. Mostly we get together, eat dinner, playing games, use lots of sarcasm, and laugh a lot. It's wonderful times.

This is a introduction to my family...

Emily is my oldest sister. She's married to Kelly and has 6 kids Michael, Cory, Paul, Ty, Rhett, and Anika. Their family lives in California. She's good at art, design, and making good food with extremely little amounts of fat.

This is second oldest sister, Becca. She's married to Shawn and they have two kids, Brayden and McKell. She laughs a lot, is really nice to everyone, and has two of the funniest kids ever.

Laura is third in the family. She is married to Eric and have a baby boy named Trey who just learned to walk (and has the scars on his face to show that he's definitely still "learning"). Laura is the blunt and honest but she's also really outgoing and fun-loving.

Nate is the one and only boy in the family. I don't have a picture of his entire family together (that shows you how much he LOVES getting his picture taken). But he's married to Sayuri and they have 3 kids: Kenji, Hideki, and Miriana. They live in South Carolina. Nate is really good at business, speaks fluent Chinese, and is proud to admit that he was the one to teach me the "perfect" baseball stance, how to dribble under my legs, and how to throw a good punch.

Alyssa is next in line. Her husband is Ben. They are the "unique" ones of the family. Ben works as a technical writer and Alyssa loves the culinary arts. They collect hats and keep them all around their house. And I don't think you can get a picture of the two of them where they are making a normal smiley face (as seen in this picture). Alyssa and I have always had lots of great adventure growing up because we are the closest in age and it's always been great times and great memories.

That is my family and I love them!

Dancin' Queen

Eden is almost 9 months old!!! I can't believe how time flies! Her latest trick is that she learned to dance. I'm not sure how unless I unintentionally dance like this often without noticing. Who knows...maybe I do! She will sometimes sing while dancing too. It's so cute! It's hard to get video of her dancing because when she sees the camera she gets a little camera shy.

Here are 2 little video clips I was able to get today. This little globe that makes music and tells little facts about the world is one of her FAVORITE toys. You gotta watch it to the end cause she really gets into the dancing, which she sometimes does but I of course can't get it on video for the life of me! The second video is her on another one of her favorite toys, a horse statue. If I sing then she'll dance. I love my little girl!

Our Bungalow

Tyson came home a while ago and said, "I think we should get a bungalow when we get a house." (Meaning, "After I've finished getting my bachelor degree, go to medical school, get a job, have paid off our medical school debts, and start looking for a house of our very own...we should get a bungalow.") I'm still not sure what the definition of a bungalow is...but we like the basic style of a place that is simple, cozy, not too big or too little, clean looking (not too much stuff everywhere), and Tyson's favorite "utilizes the space efficiently".

We looked at different pictures online and the bungalow above was my favorite. So, perhaps one day...long down the road...we may get our very own bungalow.

My War Buddy

This is my war buddy. My mom. What is a war buddy? Tyson and I had this discussion last night about how a war buddy is someone you have a special connection with because they went through a hard time with or along side you. He spoke of several mission companions that were his war buddies because they had to go through several challenges together.

I thought and thought about if I even had any war buddies. I finally realized that even though my mom and I never went through the same challenges at the same time, there is a special bond between us because during some times when I felt particularly faced with challenges in my life
she was the person I could talk to and feel like she really understood me.

My mom and I were able to spend a little bit of time together today. She came down to Provo just to spend some time with me and run a few other little errands with me. I was really excited to see her because it had seem so long since we have been able to really do something together, just the two of us. We may not have done anything special, but being with her was special.

So, this goes out to my mom (who often reads my blog) . I love you and appreicate all that you have done for me over the years. Thank you for being so wonderful.

25 Random Things...

I got this tag on Facebook but decided to do it because I really enjoyed learning about some of the people who wrote on it. It really helped me get to know a few people better. So, hope you guys enjoy learning a bit more about me.

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I lack common sense and a good vocabulary.
2. I am in love with ice cream...except when I was pregnant I couldn't stand it.
3. I have been to several colleges: SUU, LDSBC, BYU-I, UVU (and concurrent enrollment classes at SLCC).
4. I have applied and been accepted to several colleges (but didn't attend): BYU, USU, CEU, and U of U.
5. I have never owned a credit card before...and never been in debt before.
6. I don't consider myself very good at anything...nor do I feel like I have a diverse amount of things I can do even remotely well.
7. I am better at basketball than my husband.
8. I don't like to read, but when I do read they are self-improvement type books.
9. My elbows are double jointed.
10. I have 5 different sets of stitches. One on my left arm, my right arm, my chin, below my eyebrow, and across my belly.
11. In kindergarten I told kids that my dad worked in the sewer and to run out of the drains to escape from alligators and snakes below.
12. Many people view me in different ways depending on when they met me. Sometimes I'm shy, sometimes I'm outgoing, sometimes I'm awkward, sometimes I'm humorous, etc.
13. I can sing Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes in 3 different languages.
14. I think my husband is afraid of me writing things about him on my blog and facebook for fear of what I might say about him.
15. In college I wrote a list of 35 (or so) things I wanted in a husband and Tyson fit them all! ("things" included "Doesn't feel the need for speed", "Went on a mission because he wanted to", "Has seen me at my ugliest and still thinks I'm beautiful", and "Really loves his job or passion for what he wants to do in life.")
16. Spiders and snakes I can handle, but I am deathly afraid of ants.
17. When Eden was about 2 weeks I started praying often that she would sleep well and almost every night since she has slept at least 6-8 hours a night...I'm convinced that is the reason she's such a good sleeper.
18. When I was 5 I cried at the dinner table because I didn't know who I was going to marry.
19. I didn't cry when I broke my arm because I didn't want my brother to make fun of me.
20. I always think about trying to dress trendy but never do it.
21. I had surgery on my intestines when I was 6 months old.
22. Later I found the scar on my belly and was convinced that my brother cut my stomach open with a kitchen knife...so of course I told everyone.
23. I have a hard time saying "no" to people.
24. I'm a firm believer that if you tried your hardest to get somewhere on time but are still running late, then you should keep the speed limit and you'll be blessed either by getting there on time (surprisingly) or else there wasn't a need to be on time anyway. (Although, I don't always practice what I preach.)
25. I like being short and having small feet even though it is often need to shorten the length of my pants or can't find shoes in a small enough size (5 1/2).

The Fruit Binky

Eden has a passion for food. Not hard to tell, she's a little chubby, but I still love her. :)

Eden has gotten into the Fruit Binky (I think it's technically called a mesh feeder). I don't know how many of you know what that is. Basically it looks like a large binky made out of mesh and plastic. You fill it with fruit and the baby sucks the life out of it to get the juice out. This way you don't have to worry about them choking on little pieces of fruit by accident.

My sister swears by this thing and I'm not so sure I give the same recommendation. Eden gets all sticky from the juice (as well as anything she or the binky touches) and when she sucks it seems like she's swallowing more air than juice. But on the other hand, Eden likes it and it does keep her from choking on large pieces of fruit.

Anyhow, here's a video of Eden glaring at me, LOUDLY sucking the life out of her fruit binky, and gripping it so tight as if to say, "touch and you die." I think it's funny and cute, even if she is glaring...

St. George

This past weekend Tyson, Eden, and I went to St. George with Tyson's sister, Macie, KJ, and baby Eva. It was tons of fun. We were able to just relax, go visit the temple, swim, and get Bubble Teas. Below are pictures of our fabulous trip!

For those of you thinking, "What is the world is Bubble Tea?!?" ...Bubble Teas are kind of like smoothies with large tapioca balls inside of them. Below is a diagram that I just found online that I think is funny (it came from a place called like "Things Yellow People Like"...Bubble Teas are an Asian thing.) Tyson and I are absolutely in love with them (our favorite place to get them is in St. George at a place called Orange Peel...my mom introduced it to us and now we are all addicted).