Friends!

We are so grateful for all the good friends we have here in AZ. A couple weekends ago, we went to a birthday party for one of Caleb's friends. They are also in our ward and they have a little girl who is Caysja's age. Well, we told them to give each other a hug and Caleb caught the moment on camera just perfectly! Isn't it precious? Oh to be like a child again...
Here is Caysja and her friend Halle playing the piano together. Don't they look like pros?

Mommy-Daughter Date!

Tonight Caysja and I had our first official "mommy-daughter date". Since it's finals week, Caleb has been studying straight through dinner every night this week and Caysja and I have missed him! Tonight we decided to go out and do something fun, just the two of us, so we went to Peter Piper's Pizza. Caysja had a coupon for a free personal pan pizza from doing the reading program at the library and so we used that and split the pizza. (We both love pizza!) After dinner, we went around and looked at all the games and arcades there with all the flashing lights and then she even got to go on the horsey ride--and she actually liked it! Unfortunately I forgot to bring the camera so I don't have any cute pictures, but it was a very fun night all the same and we both had a blast! I love you, Caysja!

Caysja loves her Daddy-O!!

Caleb is always so busy with school, but I really have to hand it to him for making time for his little girl! She loves him SOOOO much (as you can see)... Thanks for being such a great dad, Hon! Good luck with finals this week! Your girls love you!

The "Piggies" are here!

I guess I've actually been able to "squeeze" (no exaggeration!) Caysja's hair into pigtails for a few months now, but I decided I better take some pictures of it because it's so cute. She really hates having her hair done every day, but I've been waiting SOOO long for her to finally HAVE enough hair that I could do something with, that I really can't bring myself to cut it (though she probably needs it)! It's going to be a long time before we can do ponytails!


One of my latest hobbies is to make my own hair bows because it's a lot cheaper that way! (I made the pink flower barrettes pictured below.)

Caleb taking Caysja "off-roading"

Caleb is hoping Caysja will turn into his little "motorcycle girl"....just in case he never gets a boy... as you can tell, Caysja is really "into it"...(Notice Caysja is still wearing her dress from the V-day party earlier that day--lol! Sorry for the poor camera angles--I'm not much good at holding the camera still, according to Caleb, and the video was taken with Caleb's phone so the poor quality is not my fault!)

V-Day Fun!

My friend, Alissa, invited us over for a Valentine party. It was so cute to see all the little kids dressed up. They got to decorate cookies, and make a necklace. Thanks, Alissa! It was fun for us, moms too!
Here is Caysja and her friend, Halle. Do you think they like strawberries or what??
I love this picture because Presten (the only boy at the party) is surrounded by beautiful girls and he has no idea how lucky he is!

I love you Caysjie!

To surprise Caleb for Valentine's I decided to make him cinnamon rolls. He loves them but I don't make them too often since they are rather time consuming.



He told me not to expect too much this year because not only do we not have any money, but he is pretty stressed out with finals coming up...so...I was REALLY surprised to come home and find that he'd not only bought me flowers, but a Willow Tree statue too! He even borrowed his friend Isac's car to get them! What a sweetheart I married!!!













Caysja made a cute Valentine for Caleb, while I made one for him too! (If only I had done her hair before I took the picture--can you see her mullet??)
Valentine's evening was beautiful, so after dinner we took Caysja for a ride around our apartment complex.

There are Angels among us...

I have to write about something very horrible and very sweet that happened to me today. I went to Kid to Kid this morning (if any of you haven't been there, you need to go) because they were having a BIG sale and everything in the entire store was 10% off, plus buy 2 get 1 free on certain items! I couldn't pass it up! When I got there it was really busy and all the parking spots were taken so I ended up parking at this fast food Mexican restaurant that's right next door. Well, if any of you have ever shopped with me, you know that I take WAY too long trying to see EVERYTHING there is to see in the store and trying to make up my mind what to get without spending too much money! I was probably there at least an hour. While I was there I met up with my friends, Heidi and Carlie, and it was fun to see them. I finally got ready to go, and I went out to put Caysja in her carseat and....THERE WAS NO CAR!!! My first thought was "NO WAY!! Our second car has been stolen too??!!" Then I just happened to look up at the road and there was a tow truck pulling away with my car on it! What in the world?? I quickly looked at where I'd been parked and there was NO sign at all saying I couldn't park there (or I definitely wouldn't have, believe me!).

At that moment Carlie and Heidi came outside and after I told them what had happened they said there was another lady in the store who'd just had her car towed too! Well,after a while the tow truck came back around and we talked to him and asked him for our cars back and he said we'd have to pay $50 right then, or go pick them up at the tow yard for $150!! I was SOOOO mad!! There wasn't a single "no parking" sign at all where I'd parked! We are on a tight budget right now and we really don't have the money for things like tow tickets! I went in the restaurant and tried to talk to the manager and needless to say she was really, really rude to me and said that since there was a tiny sign on the OTHER SIDE of the building that says "Customer Only Parking" that I'd still have to pay the fine. By this time I'd started to cry. I hate to admit it, but yes, I am a ball baby when I feel like I've done something wrong, and I didn't mean to do anything wrong at all in this situation! I went back to the tow trucker and started to hand him my Visa card, when all of the sudden, across the parking lot, running towards me comes this dear sweet lady, who hands me $50 in cash! She goes, "I overheard what happened to you and the Lord told me to give this to you--please accept it". I was so stunned! This made me cry more and I told her repeatedly that it was my mistake and I would take responsibility for my actions, but she kindly insisted that I take the money. She said that the Manger of Kid to Kid had chipped in as well. I gave her a hug and thanked her as best I could. How do you truly tell someone like that how thankful you are? What a dear, sweet Angel! I truly hope and pray that I can do that for someone someday!

Well, now I know where NOT to park when I go to Kid to Kid and I am definitely going to tell all my friends NOT to eat at that restaurant! I hope they go out of business--they're never busy anyway! The other lady whose car had been towed, called Channel 3 News and she said they were going to do a story on it since it's pracically a scam. Carlie and Heidi--I hope you read this, as I just want to thank you for being so sweet to me and offering to give me a ride home. Carlie, thanks for watching Caysja through the whole mess, and Heidi thanks for sticking up for me when I was talking to not only the tow trucker, but that awful manager as well! You guys were also there at the right place and time and I'm so grateful!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I saw this on a friend's blog and thought it was perfect for Valentine’s Day! If any of you out there want to do it as well, consider yourself tagged! Happy Valentine’s Day to my Honey!—I love you soooooooo much!!

How long have you been together? We first went out on Dec. 20th, 2003, but we didn't hold hands until March 2004, so going by that, three years and 11 months!


How old is he? 25--he's got me beat by 5 months almost to the day

Who eats more? Well...I actually do eat a lot (I like to eat!) but I would have to say that he does

Who said "I love you" first? He did. It was so sweet, we'd been dating a couple months and we were in his car listening to music and he said, "Criscell, I know that I love you", kind of out of the blue, but it felt so natural to tell him that I did too!

Who is taller? He is. I'm 5'8'' and he's 6 ft. exactly. It's just the perfect height--I can still wear tall shoes now and then!
Who sings better? I do. Anyone who has ever heard Caleb sing would know that it's pretty bad (sorry Hon!) but honestly, it is soooooooo cute when he sings primary songs or nursery rhymes to Caysja once in a while and I love it!! He is, however, VERY athletic and the star of his high school basketball team (or any basketball team that he happens to be on--the one he's on at Midwestern here, just won the championship!!)
Who is smarter? He is. I used to think we were about equal...that totally ended when we came to med school 6 months ago!!! Sometimes he will go off and tell me the things he is learning and I can't even BEGIN to comprehend how he memorizes it all--let alone passes all the tests! Glad it's you Hon, and not me!
Who does the laundry? I do-- Caleb is WAY too busy, and I have my own system that works for me. He will sometimes put in a load here or there to help me out, which I appreciate!

Who does the dishes? I do, not that it is my favorite thing in the world, but he always has lots of studying to do and this is my way of supporting him! He will help me clear the table after dinner though.
Who pays the bills? He does. He likes to do things all technological-like and "online" and I am more old-fashioned, so I let him do it, and I appreciate it!

What is your love song? "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan. We were standing (hugging) in Caleb's parent's basement one night, and this song came on the radio and I had the BIGGEST "de ja vu" I've EVER had!! It was like the sign I'd been praying for that dating/marrying Caleb was the right thing to do! He IS my angel!
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Ha ha! I just have to laugh because we have actually had "fights" about this! We both like the same side of the bed! I am currently sleeping on it-- the left side (if facing the bed). He's on the right side because it's closer to the bathroom and closet and Caleb usually gets up earlier than I do for school.
Who mows the lawn? If only we HAD a lawn--that would mean we were done with school and we actually had a house finally!!!

Who cooks dinner? I do, but Caleb is a pretty good cook and he will surprise me with dinner now and then, which is always a treat!

Who is more stubborn? We are both pretty stubborn, but since Caleb will often apologize first, I would have to say I am.

Who kissed who first? Caleb kissed me for the first time in April 2004 in the BYU-Idaho Botanical Gardens--(believe me, I'd been fantasizing about it for quite some time prior to that!)
Who asked who out? Caleb's brother, Jacob, and I actually had the class "Eternal Marriage" together at BYU-I and he set me up with his little brother who had just gotten home from his mission. So yes, it was a "blind date"--lol! (To think I nearly didn't go on that date...)
Who proposed? He did, on June 11th, 2004 on the top of Thunder Ridge Mountain overlooking Idaho Falls at sunset!
Who is more sensitive? I am for sure, but Caleb will cry in a touching movie here or there, and I love it!
Who has more friends? We both have A LOT of friends, for which we are so grateful, but if I had to choose, I would say that Caleb knows more people, but I am better at staying in touch.

Who has more siblings? He does--5 brothers to my one sister









Who wears the pants in the relationship? He is definitely the head of our family, but we share the responsibilities.

Who gives more hugs? Kisses? He is probably a little more cuddly than I am, but I do LOVE to be hugged and kissed!! I make him too hot if I cuddle too much, though!

Roberts Look-alike Meter

And I always thought Caysja looked a LOT more like Caleb than me!

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Celebrity Look-alike

I found this on my friend's blog and I thought I'd try it out just for kicks and giggles! Honestly, some of these celebrities I don't think I look like at all, but it's kind of fun to find out.

Caysja and her cute animal sounds

Okay, so I know this might be kind of boring to some people, but I think it's pretty funny--(I'm not biased or anything!). The first part is Caysja making her famous "sad" face and telling us about when the "bubbas" were "boken". The next part is Caysja making every animal sound she can!

"Twilight Books"--Which Character are you?

Who doesn't love the "Twilight" books? They are great! I can't wait for the fourth book and the movie to come out! I found this fun quiz from another blog and thought I'd see who I was most like. Which Twilight novel character are you?

You're Esme Cullen - Your maternal instinct to take care of people and be kind draw people towards you. You're compassionate and loving, yet firm when you need to be. You appreciate hard work and value the beautiful results of your dedication to any project. Take this quiz

Caysja's first bike!

Okay, so it's not really a bike, but she loves it just the same! I found it last week at a garage sale for $2 and you can't beat that price! She's not quite tall enough to pedal it herself, but until then, it has a handle I can use to push her. We tried it out the other day and went to feed the ducks that live in the pond at our apt. complex. She had a blast!

Glendale--home of the Super Bowl--and our "claim to fame"

When are we ever going to live in the same city as the Super Bowl again?! We thought we'd better take a few pictures to remember it! Even though we didn't pay to go in the carnival, it was still pretty fun to walk down to the Stadium, Westgate, meet Smokey the Bear, see the "stilt people", the fountains, etc.

Tagged...NOT AGAIN!!

Carlie "bag tagged" me a while ago and I have taken forever to do it--sorry, Carlie! My bag is just so boring!

Here are the rules: 1. you have to show your bag 2. you have to show all the contents in your bag-without cleaning out first 3. tag 5 other people. I decided to do my diaper bag because it is cuter (and newer) than my purse, and besides, it doubles as a purse most of the time anyway.

This picture is all of Caysja's stuff, and believe me there is a lot of it! Most of these things are used to keep her quiet in Sacrament mtg.! (ha ha, like that ever happens!) There are three diapers and wipes, cheerios (in non-spill container), sippy cup, two coloring/sticker books with colored pencils, a cool pop-up book, a quiet book made by her grandma, a book on colors with magnets, doodle pad, bib, 10 little animal finger puppets from Ikea, Shout wipes for those never ending food spills, baby lotion/shampoo, an extra pacifier and Q-tips (don't ask my why those are in there...) Whew! With all that to play with you'd think she'd be an angel in church, huh!


This last picture is my stuff and with all Caysja's things in the bag, it's amazing I have room for anything else! There is a pass-a-long card (you never know when you'll need one!) a tithing slip, (can you tell this bag gets taken to church a lot?), lip gloss/lipstick, a coupon to Kid to Kid (if you haven't been there, you need to go!), a map of Mesa from when we went to the 'Voice Male' concert in Dec., kleenex, lotion, my wallet, an old "to do"list, my cell phone, a pocket mirror, and a ticket stub from "27 Dresses". Sorry that was so boring!

I tag...
Melinda, Leslie, Kim, Siri, Sara F.

Tagged...again...

Thanks a lot, Sara P.!! Lol! Are we all so bored that we have nothing more to blog about besides tagging each other? J/K!

A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning. B: Each player answers the questions about themselves. C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

-10 years ago today...

I was 14 years old, in 9th grade, and very involved in band/orchestra, dance/gymnastic lessons, etc. I probably had about 5 crushes including a couple cute older boys in my ward (that didn't know I even existed)!

-5 things on my to-do list today:

1. Watch Pres. Hinckley's funeral
2. Blog
3. Clean my house
4. Take Caysja swimming
5. Go to Wall-Mart/run errands

-I enjoy:

1. Being a mom to the cutest (and smartest!) little girl on earth!
2. decorating my tiny little apartment
3. scrapbooking/blogging
4. going on romantic dates with my Honey!
5. shopping (specifically if I actually have money to spend!)

-What would I do if I were suddenly made a billionaire?

1. Pay off Caleb's student loans!!!!
2. Go on a cruise and take my whole family
3. Go to Europe
4. Go to Hawaii
5. Build the house of my dreams
6. Buy Caleb a brand new motorcycle and nice truck (to replace the ones that were stolen!)

-3 of my bad habits:

1. I am a perfectionist and I want everything to be perfect
2. I get irritated/impatient sometimes
3. I worry about what people think

-5 places I have lived:

1. Idaho Falls, ID
2. Rexburg, ID
3. Glendale, AZ
4. (That's all the place I've lived--pretty boring, I know!)
5.

-5 jobs that I have had:

1. Iceberg Drive-In (I made their yummy ice cream shakes!)
2. Transistions Inc. (I worked with adults and children with disabilities)
3. Sears (Cashier)
4. Johnny Carinos (Server)
5. Elementary Music Specialist (grades K-6)

-5 things people don't know about me:

1. I was born on the same day the Book of Mormon was first printed
2. I won third place in the Idaho State Solo competition (for flute) two years in a row
3. I was a Relief Society President at BYU-I my junior year
4. I was a member of the V.L.C. ("Virgin Lips Club")...until I met Caleb
5. I've been white-water rafting over 50 times in my life since that is my dad's passion

I tagged...
Kristy, Heidi, Katie

Girl's Night Out!

I have been SO blessed to have found such great girlfriends here in AZ! They are so much fun to hang out with. Last Friday night we all went and saw "27 Dresses" and it was so cute! Totally a chick flick, but perfect for us! Here we are after the movie.

Sara, Alissa, (me), Heidi, Carlie, Becky