3.30.2012

foto friday

(taken 3.25.12)
just make yourself comfortable. that's the life...

3.28.2012

proud owners

We got a new car! Wow it's been quite the process... deciding whether or not to sell our old one... having no luck selling it... then having tons of offers and selling it more quickly than we thought... figuring out what new car we wanted... finding that car... finding that the car we wanted was in California and having to have it sent to us... waiting for over a week to actually get it... etc. etc. But alas, the bigger picture: We were successful in selling our old car and finding a new one and we new have a BEAUTIFUL new car to cruise around in. I love it and I am so excited to call it my own.

We absolutely LOVED our Highlander, and after 6 years of driving it, it was still a wonderful car. So many good memories with that car. But we were closely approaching that scary 100,000 mile mark and had a few other minor problems with it so we decided to not take our chances. And plus how appropriate that we got a new car a few months before our first baby was born and now we'll have a new one to bring the next one home in?! (Purely coincidental.. don't think that this is our pattern/plan for life).

I'm not a huge car person, i don't consider myself to be super picky or knowledgeable about cars but whenever i do have my say, i wish for two things: heated seats and chrome detailing. That's just what spells dream car to me. Well.. Check and check my friends. I've made it. My dream car. (It's also got some other cool features like a back-up cam, sunroof, roll-down back window and flip up third row seat...)

So that's our good news. Proud owners of a 2011 Toyota 4Runner. Worth the wait and anxiety for a happy and beautifully filled garage.

weekend review

It should be mentioned that we saw the Hunger Games movie! (Being as this was one of my top things to look forward to this year) We loved it! After getting into the books then hearing about the movie then buying our tickets over a month in advance and waiting for so long I thought it was awesome. We went Friday night with Mike and Jenna and Spencer (Jenna's brother). We ate a Zupa's right before and then went to the movie, and I was not dissappointed!

Saturday we hung out all day and I loved spending the day together as a family. We ran a few errands and bought ice cream from the ice cream truck in our neighborhood (score). Paul played outside with Caitlin while i took a nap (score again!). Even if we aren't doing anything, it's fun to just have Paul around and Caitlin loves it too. That night we got to watch the Turnbull twins and we had so much fun with them. We had a "practice Easter egg hunt" and got eggs, and we did races in the backyard and ate pizza and watched a movie and played. They are so cute with Caitlin too. They always call her "baby Caitlin" too which is so funny but they are so sweet with her and Caitlin loves tagging along with them. They even gave her loves when she was going to sleep. They are the cutest little boys.

Sunday we attended the missionary farewell for Jackson Turnbull and then went to the Turnbull's house in Alpine afterward for lunch and playing outside. Caitlin was in heaven just running around the yard for hours on end and I was in heaven eating all their food! Mike and Jenna stopped by later that night to hang out and chat.

.. and that's our weekend review.

3.23.2012

foto friday

(taken 3.21)
New hairstyle alert! She's rockin' the ponytail with headband duo and looks adorable. I also think it makes her look so much older.. which makes me sad. I tell her to stop growing up but "no no no" is her favorite word right now and she's always been a stubborn one. Love my little/big girl.

3.20.2012

spring break

Such a fun week (and a half). We got to have BOTH our families visit us for spring break and it was delightful. My parents rolled in first: Saturday (the 10th until the 17th) and Paul's parents and Rebekah came the following Thursday (the 15th until the 20th).
Here's what our week consisted of:
Sunday family dinner. We decided to celebrate St. Patty's day a little early and have the traditional Corn Beef and Cabbage and it was SO delicious. I'm not a big St. Patrick's day person (i don't dislike it but i just don't get into it) but anyways this is one thing i LOVE about St. Patrick's day. So yummy.

Gymnastics class: Caitlin went one time with Grammie Pelton to watch and another time with Grandma Dickson to watch to needless to say she got a lot of cheering from the sidelines and was thoroughly distracted but having so much fun the whole time. 
Skiing (for a lot of us) Obviously i didn't ever get to go up but many did and the warm spring skiing was enjoyable i heard.
Projects at our house, of course. My mom and I worked on some sewing things, my dad and Paul worked on some building and electrical things... always nice to have extra sets of capable hands, and the tools that come with. My parents are always such good sports about helping us make our house dreams come true.
More family meals.. you gotta eat. And always more fun to do it together.
Shopping a little... mostly for the baby! Picked up some fun things. Also I've been scoring some great deals on summer clothes for Caitlin so we are ready to get out in that nice weather.
Temple Trip on Tuesday night to the Timpanogos temple. There are few things that are more gratifying and sacred than being able to be inside the temple with your family.We all did a session together.
I hosted lunch bunch at my house with neighborhood friends which is always fun to get together.
Paul's family got here and we had a pizza/game night with the two families.
On Friday morning Paul and his parents and Caitlin went for a jog then i met up with them to walk the small stretch back home. The weather was so gorgeous! It was so nice to be out. Then we worked on things around the house: Paul and the dads completely re-wired all of our TV/DVD components so that they are all stored in the office and work from there. So nice to have done, especially considering it turned into an all-day project. That night the boys stayed home with Caitlin and Lorraine, Rebekah and I went to BYU to see a dance show. Rebekah is interested in being a dance major when she comes to BYU so we got to go see a performance by the contemporary company. It was a fun idea but let's just say we left at intermission... not quite our cup of tea when it comes to music/movement selection but I'm sure the dancers did a great job. Bekah will choose a different company to dance with. Good thing BYU has lots of options. We stopped for shakes on the way home.
Saturday morning for St. Patrick's Day we had a "leprechaun breakfast" complete with green pancakes, green milk, "pot-o-gold" scrambled eggs and potatoes. I was pretty proud of my festiveness although that was about the extent for the day.
We ran some errands later and Paul and I started getting stocked up on our food supply stuff. He's been super anxious to get canned things, etc for the basement and start having a better supply, which is definitely a good idea so now we have made a real dent in that. We went to In N Out for dinner, always delicious and then had hot chocolate and ice cream for dessert and rented the new Footloose.
Sunday we got an early start and all went down to Salt Lake to see the Gottfredson side of the family. Paul's grandparents are leaving soon to serve as missionaries in the Philippines so this was our last time to see them. They spoke in church and gave great talks and then after church we had a big family lunch at Steve and Merilee's. I'm thankful for his grandparent's willingness and desire to serve missions in their older years, they have given us a great example of missionary work. Late that day everyone came back to our house and hung out for the rest of the day. We mostly watched basketball and ate and then watched Once Upon a Time. We got quite the snow storm Saturday through Sunday so that night Caitlin just HAD to go outside to see the snow. Luckily her daddy and Rebekah were kind enough to venture out into the cold and play with her. I swear she is immune to the cold. A Utah baby.
Monday was Dickson's last day here. Stewart, Lorraine, Rebekah and Paul got to go skiing and then we all met up for dinner that night at Malawi's and just kept the pizzas coming!
 What a busy but fun time! I didn't take nearly enough pictures of all the events but probably because it was very fun to have everyone here and we were enjoying every second of it.
 

3.16.2012

foto friday

 (taken 3.13)
She conquered a fear this week.. the bath tub. Amazing what a non-slip Winnie the Pooh mat and some bath toys can do. So glad that bath time seems to be back and it doesn't have to always be mommy-and-me shower time. Although we may have created a monster... she climbs in all the time and requests baths at least a few times a day.

28 weeks

Now into my 3rd trimester and still feeling good. I'm in the happy stage right now-- not too huge, not too sick, not too tired... Here are some things to note:
-Baby boy has learned how to move! He's been super chill up until now and i think all that sugar and chocolate i've been eating has kicked in! He's a wiggler and it's funny to see my whole stomach move sometimes. Luckily he's not too strong so it doesn't hurt and i like having him move around. He's still pretty good when i sleep so it hasn't been a problem that way. Sometimes he moves and i can see my whole belly expand and contract and i can feel his little bony parts sticking out.
-I'm now look full-fledged pregnant, even Paul admits (although very gently and nicely) that i'm getting "pretty big".
-Feeling a little more energy, I have good days and not so good ones
-My hair is still not growing! I think i mentioned this a while ago, but i thought now would be the perfect time to grow out my hair.. not happening. My hair girl probably thinks i've abandoned her! I wish it would grow but it's just staying the same length its so weird. The only nice thing is that the rest of the hair on my body isn't growing either so i don't have to worry about uncomfortably shaving my legs as often!
-I wore my maternity jeans for the first time today. I can still wear a few of my regular jeans but i decided for comfort's sake to pull out the preggie ones. They were nice. (Obviously i'm not wearing them in my picture because apparently all i can wear is v-necks and yoga pants now.)



3.09.2012

foto friday

a couple things for today...
some pics from my phone:
#1: zonked out in the car (i have serious jealousy issues with those lashes) (taken 3.8)
#2: she came out of her room for gymnastics the other day not only in her tutu (that was on purpose) but she needed her high heels on too. She also had a necklace but she took it off before the pic (taken 3.5)
#3: with daddy in the car (look how she's just gazing at him... she's in love) (taken 3.5)

some videos:
I don't really post videos that often on here, so i thought i would post these 2 short ones.
#1 is Caitlin saying "ta-da" like they do at gymnastics class (taken 3.8)


#2 i was in my room an she came out of my closet wearing my tenneshoes... had put them on herself and was walking around in them for awhile. It made me laugh. (taken 3.9)

3.06.2012

sundance in the sun

Jeff and Melissa and Madison came to visit us! It was a short but lovely little weekend trip and we loved having them here. We stayed up late talking and laughing and the little girls got to play and love on each other. We went to Sundance on Saturday, then pizza and hanging out that night and then a fun Sunday with family and another ski day for Jeff and Melissa and then sushi night on Monday! We all tried to make the most of their time here and enjoyed it all! Thanks for visiting!!   

So on Saturday we all had a little ski adventure! The boys got up early and went skiing together and Melissa and I got the girls up and ready. After a quick stop at Walmart for snow boots ($5 clearance! score!) we headed up to Sundance and met up with the boys for lunch. We sat on the patio and it was so beautiful and sunny and delightful! The little girls had fun walking around and exploring the snow a little bit.
After lunch the boys just HAD to try the little girls out skiing. Paul has been talking about getting Caitlin on skis since she could walk so i wasn't too surprised that he already wanted to this year. And so the adventure began:
We went and rented the smallest skis and smallest boots they had (which were still no where near small enough)
Hiked it up to the tow rope bunny hill and decided to see what these babies were made of!
We ended up experiencing three rounds of ski tries for Caitlin...
Round #1: On skis with her boots. We strapped her in and got her standing on her skis and then they were off to the tow rope and came down.
Unfortunately she did not come down happy. She wasn't too excited about this method and as soon as she got her skis and boots off... she said "see ya dad".
Round #2: in the backpack. This one went better. More enjoyable for Caitlin but still only lasted for a little while on the bunny hill. She preferred to just roam around.
Round #3: Paul held her and skiied down to the bottom when we were done and said she was perfectly happy this way.
And so went the first time on skis! Not exactly a success.. sorry to report that Caitlin is not an 18 month old skiing prodigy, but not a complete disaster either. The moms were tired from the emotional supporting (me more from having to climb the hill up to the tow rope):
 
And the dads were happy to have at least tried.  
But who could really complain about a fun afternoon in beautiful weather with great snow! 

3.05.2012

speaking

On March 1st we attended the "Utah Student 25" competition that honors student entrepreneurs for our 3rd year in a row. (refresher: the first time we went the boys WON, last year we went as most recent winners) and this year they asked the boys to speak about their work and where it has taken them and a few of their experiences. It was fun to go and reminisce about how much our lives have changed in the past couple years. And of course the filet mignon/chicken dinner at the Grand America never disappoints. We met some fun people, heard about some cool student-run companies, the boys did all their networking stuff, and then we drove home in a blizzard!

neither here nor there

february instagram pictures:

foto friday

 reading Spot books (of course) with daddy
(taken 2.26)