Random Reason Why Colby Rocks!

In no particular order:
1. He decided that our silverware looked tarnished and polished the whole lot of them with vinegar.
2. He got up at 5 to scrape off my car and to clean a pathway to the car in freezing nasty-not- niceness-weather!
3. He will wear my giant Winne the Pooh nightie from when I was a teenager (that was when we were dating).
4. He will hunt down heavy rocks for my mother's rock garden (and also not get mad when we get into a mud fight).

5. He has a personal mission to get our porcelain sink spotless before we move (there was a mysterious mildew that grew on it before we moved in).

6. He test out a maybe-not-hot hot tub in freezing cold weather. Just think, if that hot tub wasn't warm, he'd be a Colbiscle.
7. Since I started work, Colby has made dinner for me almost every night when I get home. I can count on one hand how many times I have cooked dinner and I would have a lot of fingers to spare.

8. For how patient he is and how well he listens. There isn't anybody better for me!

Love ya hons!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Hope that it's a good one! Thanks Megan and Jared for snapping these shots (and for babysitting, of course)!

Viva la Viva Pinata Vida

Well, perseverance really pays off- I guess. Anyway...after months of toiling in my virtual garden, I finally attracted and tamed a Sour Macaracoon from Viva Pinata. Just explaining the game sounds so lame, but it is so addicting. Just ask Richard Lape. You are given a garden that you have to take care of and plant certain things and then certain pinatas are attracted to your garden. If they like it, they stay. There are bad pinatas and good ones and it's very addicting. I had some time to waste while Jackson was in bed, Colby was working on ebay and I had about 20 minutes before the baking was done. Perfect time! Colby says that the Macaracoon is the cutest pinata. Myself, I prefer the Cluckles. I think of Gretchen and Richard first explaining this game and thinking--what?!

God bless us, everyone!

Go see it! We loved it- also saw Pres. Uchtdorf. We had a friend so we had to go (ok, twist my arm). Again, we just loved it!

The Good, the Bad, and The Lucky

What a loving Heavenly Father to look out for us!

A Minor Miracle

Well, I always will remember my old roomie Tiona saying, "Reebs, it'll be a small miracle if I get out of Provo without being in an accident." That was when we were living in King Henry where the parking spaces were compact size, extra-compact. Today, while driving Jackson to his 6 mos shot appointment, Colby and Jack Jack got rear-ended by a 26 foot Penske rental truck (it's the behemoth on the bottom). You know that people run red lights like they were born to, here in Utah county. Well, Colby decided to stop, but the truck didn't. Colby would have been running it and so you know there would be at least 2 other cars behind him. Instead, it was a big yellow cheese bus. It totally rammed into him pushing him into the middle of the intersection by R.C. Willey. There was glass everywhere! Our four-seater car is now a two-seater and it's totaled! Jackson was scared, then started to cry. Thankfully, he just bonked his head (still going to check on him in the middle of the night). Colby said that Jackson actually cries harder when we try and put him to bed at night. Go figure. Jackson got to ride in his first ambulance and was babbling and giggling as per usual. The doctors at the hospital just loved him. Colby called me as I was on my way home from work. The call started something like, "Don't get mad and don't worry when I tell you this: we're fine, but we're in the hospital". Not mad, but "don't worry, we're fine" is code for "accident." I stopped by Angie's to pick up a car seat because ours was wedged in the middle of the front seat. She was so nice (thanks, Angie!) and Quin is such a big boy that they had an old one that he doesn't use anymore. So, load everybody up in our neighbor's car, our friend's seat and head home. A detour to Del Taco and we're back home! What a day, what a week!

Dental School!!!!

I just got a call from Western University College of Dental Medicine in Pomona, CA and got offered a position in their inaugural class! 2 years of applications, letters of recommendations, transcripts, secondary essays, tests and $$ here we are!! Thanks to all who gave me confidence that this day would come! This is a picture of the building that we will be in (its currently being built) I'm so excited and I know Becca was thrilled to get that phone call while she was at work! Jackson is also happy, although I am not sure it is about dental school. Thanks to everyone again!

Can you get anymore redneck?

A Halloween beanie, no pants, and Christmas socks? All he needs is a turkey leg in his mouth! He's also been propping up his hands and knees. Rocking back and forth, scooting backwards and then crawling! They're just around the corner!

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!

For me, when someone says "Smith's Grocery" I think of a faded red sign, lots of college students, 10 for 10 deals, long Red Box lines, some not too good produce, and a too long two-block walk when you are truly desperate (a two-block drive if you were really lazy). Well, prepare to have your mind-melded: I give you SUPER SMITH'S!
Look how far back it goes!
Yes, that is a recliner!
Bikes, anyone?
And what grocery trip would be complete without some really good gelato? I mean really. So they have a furniture section, a camping section, and a gourmet cheese section that is so big that Colby could lie down in it and make a cheese angel! It's big. Think Wal-mart with a soul and organic! I love it! It's also only 4 minutes from our house. Since we're going to Canada this Christmas we're getting Jackson his passport pictures. Here are some of the results (we went with the last one-still a mug shot but it's a passport!):

Unproductive

Colby just got back from another interview (yeah!) but I hate it when he's away. My sister Annelisa came to stay with me and take care of Jackson while I was at work and spent the night. She had a date the next night though so couldn't stay. I'm fine when Colby's away and there's someone else in the house, but when he's not, productivity is shot. I play video games for hours, which I never do (Viva Pinata, if you were wondering- thank you Lapes). I also eat junk food because suddenly cooking is a monumental chore and whatever I do eat consists of nothing healthy until I get full (I went upstairs and stole Halloween candy from our landlords). I stay up until I can't possibly justify staying up any later, crawl into bed, read until I'm exausted and then finally turn out the light. But not all of them! I kept the kitchen light on so I could see the creepy guy sneaking up on me better and call 911 sooner. I'm such a dweeb. So Colby's my security blanket and I am not ashamed to admit it! Just lonely and jittery is all. At least I'm not as bad as my Nana. When Grandad was away on business trips and it was just her and the baby, she'd take a huge kitchen knife, put it under her pillow and made sure that the can of Raid was within easy reach. I'm sure if she'd have known about pepper spray, she would have bought it by the case!

Solid, man. Real solid.

So Jackson tried solids just this last week. It was so stinkin funny to watch him figure out what to do with the cereal. He actually did pretty well despite a few gags. Of course it was the first time that I had fed him so it was a learning curve for us both. Eventually we got the hang of it! Enough. I think he likes it!

I Ain't Bovvered (bothered).

Catherine Tate as Lauren. Found it on youtube. I thought it was hilarious! And in tribute to the Wests, here's a pic we took at Laura's party:

Monkey!

He got a little tired in the middle of pictures. You can probably tell! He's so cute. I'm holding him up below. There's that huge tongue of his.

This Halloween was also political. We went to visit Colby's parents and they have a "Yes on 8" sign in their yard. It got stolen but luckily they had a spare in their garage. So the second or so group of trick-or-treaters came up and one kid in a stormtrooper outfit tries to grab the candy. Colby pulls the bowl away and says, I'll put it in your bag. Colby helps all the other kids first and as they are scampering away, Stormtrooper loudly says, "I've got one more thing to say to you. I've got one more thing to say to you!"
"What?"
He points his kid-sized finger up at Colby and says, "No on 8. No on 8!"
Colby pretended to give the kid a piece of candy and said, "Ok. See ya!"
One less piece for you, kid!
By the end of the night there was one group of kids left that came around. We had way less kids than expected and so we were giving out bags of it at the end. This Asian kid, who I think was Harry Potter, said: Are you serious!?
Yep!
His jaw dropped and he said, "Wow! Thanks! Everyone else is getting mad at us for coming so late!"
It was only 9:30. C'mon people!
Take the candy!

Happy Halloween!

Last Halloween

Sitting here I am reminded of my last Halloween. Last Halloween I went all out on a costume (one of the first times ever). Last Halloween the Wests threw a superfun party and we saw Nacho Libre, Cambodian peasants, were graced by royalty and were even raided by the border patrol plus pirate. This year, me dressing up? No way! It's all about baby. Provo was pretty picked over as far as baby costumes are concerned. The only thing left was a 3-eyed pink monster or the pea in a pod bunting. Not for Jackson! So I called in the mother-in-law and she found the monkey! Halloween? Bring it on!

p.s. Reviewing the pictures: most of us attending the party were pregnant but not telling people. We were "sick" or just "not feeling well. My stomach is upset." Oh how feeble those excuses were! Yeah Mom Squad!

What would life be like without Jackson?

Who would ask such a silly question?







Families with babies and families without babies are sorry for each other.
Ed Howe

It's so true! Funny how that works.

Fried Green Tomatoes

We think Jackson is teething. What does this have to do with tomatoes, you ask? Nothing, really. That's just our news:
1. Jackson is teething (we think) and is Cranky McCrankster. He's crankin' it up to 11.
2. And we tried fried green tomatoes. Tasty and a cute chick flick, and book.

Why no more Festival?

Just like to mourn the passing of Festival Cinemas, formerly University Mall Cinemas, aka "The Dollar". Did they get scared because a Cinemark was being built next door? I loved that Dollar! They were a little nicer, albeit still dumpy, than Movies 8 and a fantastic alternative to standing in the lines (provided you got there soon enough). T'was a classier Dollar. They also showcased Indie films. I was really looking forward to watching The Flyboys there but to my dismay, it was no more. The top part of the sign had been torn and someone threw a rock in one of the windows. For shame! Festival, it just isn't the same Provo party without you. We did travel the 30 min to save money on the theater. Did it even out with the price of gas? Who can say, but we miss you!

All I can say is "Wow!"

9 years old with a felony and arrested at school: http://news-press.com/article/20081016/SS08/810160362/1075

Found it on drudge.

New Favorite

The 2009 GT-R. Colby can tell you all the specs. It's a mean looking car. We just saw a few of these in the showroom at the Nissan dealer. It has a twin-turbo 480 something horsepower engine and does 0-60 in under 3.5 seconds. It beat out the Corvette ZO6 and the Porsche 911 Turbo.

Huzzah!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Gems

I'll admit, I got the idea from Conference only instead of being a POW in 'Nam the students were on a deserted island and stranded, 25 words or less. Here's what they came up with. They also needed to use a colon in the paper somewhere:

Dear Gage,
I sent this message in a whiskey bottle in a coconut. I sent it in 1999. All i want is: another whiskey bottle :] HELP!

I'm fine. I'll stay. Send: my girlfriend, satalite (sic) phone, computer w/satalite (sic) dish, Icee Machine. I love you. I'll call. Love you lots. :)

Bobby Im stranded on an Island I am going to die. Save me bring Nick we will make a good boat. help!!!

Dear ****, I'm stranted on an island. Send anybody you can even if its Adam. it's off Hawaii somewhere. Just steal a boat, your Mexican.

To whomever. I'm fine. I have food and supplies: No women. Please send cute blondes, hamburders as soon as you find me. Peace out!

Dear Family,
I am alive. Do not worry. I made lots of friends: monkey & Wilson.

Dear Mr. President, The assignment is complete, however the species cannot be reloated due to its unstable environment. Please send team for help and supplies- Dr. Shelly Scheibley

Dear Vin Diesel,
I ams tuck here on a island. Please come save me. I saw you in XXX (triple X). So make it cool.

Honors?

So, I am teaching and am teaching an Honors class. Here are some gems from one of the papers:

Living as 100 million people worldwide are on the streets wouldn't be my choice of lifestyle. There are many reasons it can happen to anyone. Re entry from jail, eviction, limited access to education and health care, and not being suitable for employment are main causes of becoming poor. People that are poor could have been once they like us, but yet America still treats them as the other."

Temple in Calgary!

"Wohoo!" was the exact phrase when President Monson announced the Calgary Temple yesterday morning! It was so neat to hear that! Then to announce a temple in Rome! "Doesn't the Pope kind of live in Rome?" Colby asked incredulously. So exciting. I just love Conference. Although, I don't know about you, but I always feel like I'm in a time warp this entire weekend. Still, it was great!

Is Eagle Mountain considered inner city?

So far, we've had 4 arrests, a drug bust (with doggies), 2 knife incidences, violent pictures, swearing, near concussions, a couple of fights, and several conspiracies to get people expelled. Not to mention tagging the bathroom (who wants the bathroom for their territory), gang signs, about 2 in school suspensions a day, and about 12% of the school has special needs. Of course, there are incredibly brilliant kids there. Oh, I also got my first papers back. You'll love them!

We put the "fun" in fund raising

I never really thought that fund raising was fun, but it is. It's actually quite enjoyable asking people for donations and then actually getting them. For example, Expressionz Salon is giving us a couple of baskets for the Silent Auction coming up and Anytime Fitness is giving away 4 free passes. Amazing! Wheeling and dealing has never really been my forte, but I'm certainly warming up to it!

Jackson is also very close to rolling over. He could, he just doesn't know how. I think he'll actually roll from his back to his stomach first, which will be a problem because how he'll get off his stomach is a mystery. He just hates Tummy Time.

I'm Sorry Facebook

Yes, I'm sorry, Facebook. I owe you an apology. You are not just a way to quantify our friends (we currently have 200, and counting). Nor are you a useless waste of time. I do believe that you CAN be used as a social network. I still don't understand why Facebook needs to know what I'm doing at all times, but it is helpful to get in touch with other people. It has helped me get in touch with old friends and old students for the trip and for fun. I thought it is a useless waste of time but, gosh, those applications! I love taking the Disney Eyes quiz or the Hannah Montana song quiz. What love language am I? Sign me, up! Again, Facebook- I apologize. You do have some use. I just don't see how people can be on there all day. Oh, 250 friends now! We're so popular! Gotta go!

Bright Eyes

4 months!

Crazy, thy name is Becca

What could be crazier than driving cross country with a 3 month old? Taking 40 sophomores to Italy during Spring Break! What was I thinking? Thankfully, Colby is coming and he can be The Enforcer. p.s. No drinking age there...or at least greatly reduced.

Charlie and Chuckles

Just cute babies! Apparently they're youtube classics so I'm sure you've seen them both before. but so cute!

This second one...oh my goodness. You can't watch it without laughing!

Evil Eye

Gaffiriffic!

Gaffigan thinks of everything...


Except bacon hot pockets!

The Trip

Ahh, Pentiction! Well we went on our crazy trip during July and it's taken this long to blog about it. What a trip! We drove to B.C., Canada, then to Portland and were going to continue our craziness to Orange County but wised up! Again, what a trip! The first leg was driven during the night (upon the advice of the travel savvy April-who I still need to see!). Was that the smartest thing ever. After having a baby, staying up with little sleep isn't really an issue anymoe. Colby once said, "I now know why the marines use this as a torture device." That aside, Colby drove all but the last 2 hours of the trip (it took 15 hrs). We were both so jazzed about actually getting to the camp site with my family that we didn't end up taking a nap until the night! Our bodies were just wired. Penticton, B.C. is wonderful. The summers are just the perfect temperature. I'm a little biased but I've been going there since I was a baby. Nana and Grandad started the tradition some 50 odd years ago. Crazy! All we do is camp and play on the beach in Lake Okanagan, which is the only other lake to boast as having a resident pleiosaur (Loch Ness Monster).
We just play games and we learned a few more fun ones like Yuker and Pitch. Both mid-Western games taught by our token Illinoisan...-ite, -ian? And sometimes the games got a little out of control.
Grandad and Jackson had a lot of catching up to do and they also found out that they have a lot in common.
They both like to camp in style!And, yes. My grandad does have an ipod!
As tradition dictates, all 4 sisters have to try to stand up on the inner tube. It has gotten increasingly harder as we've all gotten older! My back was thrown out from the trip so I respectfully declined, but Colby jumped right in. I think this was his first time standing up on a tube with so many people. He started very optimistic:
Things just didn't work out as planned. Do you have the biggest and smallest stand up at the same time or do you have the middle people?
No matter what, it was fun! Also participating in the tube standing arena was my 70 something grandad. Now this is really incredible because it was perhaps his first time standing in a tube, he elects to do this at 70+ and he doesn't swim! Amazing!! Just ignore the naked baby in the front and check out Grandad! Maybe he was inspired by The Bucket List. We do have a picture of him all the way up, but I don't have a copy, yet!
The people taking the pictures were too distracted by the naked baby, but in the background is grandad right after he successfully made it up and down with nary a hair on his thinning head out of place!
When Richard and Gretchen were in the process of moving out to NY, Colby, Gretchen and I decided to undertake building the best snowman ever!! See below:
Nuff said! Not to be outdone by Winter, the Summer Muse inspired the following sand castle:
Because everyone in our family is 18 or older, Mom retired the sand tools long ago. We only had a large pot (we ate dinner on the beach a few times) and plastic cannisters for the snack food. Dumping all the snacks in one large bin, armed and ready, we set off! There was already a huge hole dug by kids the day before. When we decided to claim it for our own (there were no kids around) some elderlies kicked us out because the grandkids were coming back to finish it. Fine! We started our own. By the way, the grandkids were a pretty organized bunch. We'd been working for about 20 minutes when one of the kids shouts, "Okay. Break time. Everyone take a break." When we looked over, the "forekid" was making everyone take the mandatory swimming break. 5 minutes later it was back to work! Apparently though, the kids didn't think of everything because they should have formed a union. The forekid was soon the only one swimming whilst all his workers were shoveling. But don't worry. He wasn't sleeping on the job. He kept barking orders! We finished ours and it wasn't nearly as grand as theirs. Seriously. Those kids worked hard and continuously which is pretty amazing when you consider they were all 10 or under and their attention spans on manual labor have to be like nil- or at least not very much. Behold, the proud diggers!
Poor Colby also threw his back out making that huge mound with the pot! My love!
The next fun thing was nails! I know that we are camping but Mom brought her Christmas present (a tad early). It's nail art by a company named Konad-what an unfortunate name! You'll have to check out the website konad.com, but it's salon and professional designs that you can do at home. I must have done my nails 3 times! It's super easy and ...well I just can't say enough. It uses engraved metal plates and a rubber stamp to transfer the nail polish design to the nails. Anyway, here are the finished products:
I wanted a walk on the wild side:
Come to think of it...Andrew could have painted his nails to match his luggage on the SF trip! That would have earned some stares for certain:
Our trip continued to Portland where we went to Elephant's Deli (Colby's new fav) and Moonstruck Chocolate (I'm in love!). We followed Marel's instructions to a T and although the shakes are pricey they are so worth it! Amazing! Unfortunately we decided to drive the 9 hours during the day and amidst Friday rush hour traffic, 2 hours of it for only 20 miles, and a screaming baby- I don't know how we hung on to our sanity! It actually took us 15. Camping with a 3 month old isn't the problem. It's getting there and back! We are definitely driving during the night! We also don't have any snapshots because we lost our camera (my mom took it) and we were also so tired and slightly sick. We stayed at Marel's mom's place and as soon as we pulled in I needed to ask for a pan. I think the Edvalson's called it the Sick Pan. In my fam it's known as the Barf Bucket. Thankfully there was no need for its services, but it sure felt like it! Thank you Dana! You are my mom away from home! All in all, it was a good trip. We'll look back and laugh at the monster car trip...someday!
By the way, Colby has 2 interviews now (yeah- and a now we tutor!)