Catching up...

So, I'm a little behind on my blogging lately...these posts really should have come BEFORE the Halloween one, I'm just slow getting them on here...

We are loving the weather! AZ really has the BEST Fall/Winters. (And it's so fun to dress my little girl in something other than her swimsuit finally!)

One day after I took out the laundry from the dryer, Caysja decided to see if she could fit.

Love that cheesy grin!

About a month ago, one of my very best friends from college came to visit her sister in Mesa and we were able to get together with another friend of ours and hang out for a few hours. We went to Cafe Rio for lunch (love that place!) and walked around the Mesa temple.

Caysja fell in love with my friend Jodi and wouldn't leave her alone!

Jodi, Katie, Me

These are some pics from Caleb's B-day (which was obviously a while ago, but I thought I'd post them anyway). Caysja thought the wrapping paper made a good hat.

Our "cards" for Daddy. Do you like Caysja's artwork? As you can see, she went all out!

And his presents...what else does a guy need in AZ besides more shorts??!

I made Caleb a yummy ice cream cake. Caysja LOVES to blow out candles and sing the "happy birthday song". She was practicing all day long!

I also made him dinner "by candlelight" (ribs, funeral potatoes, salad, and a fruit smoothie). Thanks Alissa, for watching Caysja for us!

Halloween F-U-N!!!

Okay, get ready for a super long post, 'cause we did so many fun things this year for Halloween...

Our Halloween started last Wednesday with our ward's Trunk-or-Treat. I love this event every year and our ward always goes all out! Here we are, ready to go after doing the "princess hair-do".

(THE hair do. Have I mentioned how much I love having a little girl??)

Caysja with her good friends, Ian and Miah.

The "princess girls"--Halle, Kate, and Caysja

Doing the "cake walk" with Daddy

Posing by the "scary ghost" (as you can see, she didn't like this too well..."no want to, no want to")

We carved our pumpkin the next day. She was so excited to light it up, she went and got a little birthday candle for it! That really made me laugh.

She is still really into her baby, and she had to show it all the parts of the pumpkin, inside and out.

On Friday morning, we had a little Halloween party at the park for moms and kids. After eating yummy food, the kids decorated pumpkins with markers, paint, glitter, stickers, etc.

The "decorating/planning committee" for the party--Joanna, me, and Alissa. Thanks for all your help girls! It turned out great (even if we did only have ONE orange balloon!)

The yummy food table...(notice the beautiful pumpkin flower pots that Joanna made...very creative).

Since I didn't want Caysja's costume to get all dirty at the park, she wore her fairy costume from last year. Here she is with her friend (and "fellow fairy"), LeiLani.

Midwestern University always does such fun things for the holidays. At 3pm we headed over there to go trick-or-treating to all the professor's offices. Caysja got really into it and it was so cute to hear her say "trick-or-treat" and "thank you". She got a TON of candy! It was also fun to walk around Daddy's school with him.

They had a little carnival inside the cafeteria where we did another cake walk, fishing for prizes, bean bag toss, decorating cookies, balloons, crafts, and more. Outside though was the REAL fun! They had an awesome blow-up slide and "room" to jump in. Caysja was a little scared at first, but she warmed right up to it when her friend LeiLani went with her. I must say she liked it this year a lot better than last year. What a difference a year makes!

And the fun doesn't end there...after the festivities at MWU, we went over the Jensen's in our ward for a delicious dinner and then we went trick-or-treating with them. They invited several other families and their kids and we had a blast! Here are Caysja and Miah being silly.

The delicious dinner! THANKS Diane! Everything was sooo good.

The kids LOVED this part of the night! Homemade rootbeer--a.k.a. "witches' brew". It doesn't get much better than that...(gotta love dry ice).

Family pic right before going trick-or-treating.

Our little princess doing her thing. At one point in the night we came to a house with a "spook alley" in a garage. Well, all the other kids were going right in, so along went Caysja before either Caleb or I could go with her. Caleb went right in after her, but never did find her! She came out a few minutes later and said "again"? I was so proud of her--she wasn't scared a bit! So then we went in again (together) only this time, the strobe lights blinded her and she bumped right into the garage wall on her way out--poor thing!

Diane was so kind to plan some fun games for the kids after trick-or-treating when we went back to their house. This game was to see who could wrap their friend as a "mummy" the fastest! Miah was the one that got wrapped, but then Caysja wanted to do it SO bad, Diane was sweet enough to wrap her as well. She held VERY still.

Our little "mummy"

And now I'm sure you're thinking, "what in the world does this next picture have to do with Halloween?" Well, this is my attempt at catching up on a post that should have been done a LONG time ago! A couple weeks ago was our ward's Super Saturday that I was in charge of and these are the cute, fun crafts I was able to do. Thanks to all my great friends who taught classes that day for me!

This is a puzzle block of 6 pictures. You can turn them to form each new picture. I did all wedding/engagement pics. Thanks, Natalie! I love it. (Unfortunately my camera's flash made the picture look kind of faded or something...)
My friend Sara taught this cute class on holiday blocks. You could choose "BOO" or "JOY" or both. Now I wish I would have made both...Thanks again for teaching it, Sara!
I was able to do one more class on little girl's hair bows, but there was so much going on that day I still haven't finished them. (That's why it's taken me so long to post about this event. BUT, I WILL get them done!) And thanks Abbie, for teaching that class for me! Whew--I have to admit I'm glad that day's over!

We hope you all had a wonderful Halloween 2008! Can't wait for next year...

SURPRISE Shower!

Last Wednesday when I showed up at my friend Britni's house for our ward playgroup, SURPRISE...instead of playgroup, it was a shower for my friend Alissa and myself! No one breathed a word about it and I LOVE surprises! The food was great and Alissa and I got so many cute things for our little boys (who will be about 7 weeks apart). What an awesome ward we have here in AZ!! Thanks so much for planning it, Britni, and thanks everyone for all the cute things! I loved it!

We got matching onesies with little "ties" and "missionary tags" on them from our sweet R.S. Pres. I LOVE them!

The counselor in the R.S. that I work with on the Enrichment Board, gave me this darling set of "baby scrubs"--aren't they the cutest thing?! Now our baby can match his daddy!

Here are my preggo friends in order of when we're due (and that's not all of them either...)
Alissa, Kristy, me, Natalie, Liz, and Britni. It's so funny--most everyone in our ward (and that I know for that matter), is having a boy!

The amazing ladies (and kids) that we get to hang out with here in AZ! I'm so grateful for their friendship.

Isn't this the cutest diaper cake my friend Alissa made me? Thanks, Alissa!

Tagged again!

My friend Britni tagged me a while ago. (Thanks Britni! Sorry it's taken me so long!) I need to tell 6 quirky things about myself, so here goes:

1. I hate watching movies again and again. Unless I absolutely LOVED the movie the first time, then I just feel like if I've already seen it once, I'm wasting my time by watching it again. (There are some exceptions, and these movies I can watch over and over and never be sick of them: Pride and Prejudice, Charley, The Ultimate Gift, The Other Side of Heaven, etc.)

2. I like things to be "in their specific place". My mom raised me with the mantra, "a place for everything and everything in it's place." I hope to be able to teach this to Caysja as well. (I'm like you, Britni), before I can go to bed, I like to have the dishes in the dish washer, the toys picked up, the laundry folded, the house clean. I hate waking up to a dirty house!

3. I hate having left-overs in my fridge. Actually I love having them because that means less cooking for me but since Caleb doesn't like eating them, then having them there bugs me. SO, I try really hard to make just the right amount of food for three people (and believe me, it doesn't always happen!).

4. I really don't like to go grocery shopping. I don't know why exactly, except that it's pretty hard with a toddler who is either climbing all over the food in the cart, wants to get down and run around, OR wants every package of cookies she sees on the shelf! As a result I really try to empty out our fridge COMPLETELY before I go shopping. This drives Caleb crazy! We'll be out of most everything before I will go!

5. I like to have things match. I know it doesn't really matter that much (and some might say it's better if everything DOESN'T match perfectly) but it sure bugs me when things don't match. For instance, I have several different shades of wood furniture in my house right now (you take what you can get when you're poor!) but it really bugs me that they don't all match! And I like colors to match too--esp. in clothing/decor.

6. I don't know if this is quirky or not...but, since I can't think of anything else, I guess I will put it down. I don't really love eating breakfast. Even to this day I don't wake up that hungry in the morning (even being pregnant!) and if I do eat it's not much, like a banana or a little bit of granola or something. I like eating pancakes or french toast every once in a while, but it's got to be a special occasion and then if I eat a big breakfast I don't really want to each lunch! I know, weird, huh!

*I tag anyone who wants to share 6 quirky things about themselves!*

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY!!!

Today is my wonderful husband's 26th B-day!!! I just wanted to give him a big shout out for being the very best husband, father, and best friend that a girl could want! In honor of his day, I decided to post 26 things I love most about Caleb.



1. He is very romantic. Some may not believe this, but he is! For our first Anniversary, he surprised me with rose petals all around our apt., a homemade dinner by candlelight (soft music in the background), and a beautiful statue of the Savior.
2. He loves the Lord and he serves valiantly in his calling or anything he is asked to do. When we were first married, we got called to be nursery leaders. Well, I don't think he thought he was going to like that calling too well, but he did a great job and there was one little girl that wouldn't go to anyone but Caleb!
3. His is SO HOT!! Seriously, sometimes when I look at him, I think, "how did YOU marry little ol' ME?!"
4. I love his blue, blue eyes. They were the first thing that attracted me to him and they are so beautiful! Luckily Caysja inherited them and she gets compliments on them wherever we go. (I hope our little boy gets them too!)
5. He is SO talented athletically speaking--esp. in Basketball. He got several scholarships in high school to go play college ball, but he turned them all down to go to BYU-I, where he met me! =) He is good at just about every sport for that matter, and I love that. I am always finding out about a new sport he excels at.
6. He loves kids and they love him! When we were dating, we took a trip to see his two brothers in Utah, and while we were there, he really impressed me by how he would get right down on the floor and tickle them, play hide 'n seek, etc. He plays with Caysja after dinner every single night, no matter how much studying he has to do.
7. He is very handy around the house. He can fix most anything (which is great when you're poor) including fixing our car several times--which has saved us a LOT of money!
8. He is so good at handling stress. Seriously, if I were the one going to med school, I know I would be a basket case most of the time! But Caleb is great at coming home for dinner and leaving all his "school worries" at the door and not letting them bother him when he is home with us. When he is home, he is home.
9. I love his muscles! I know he wishes he could work out more, but I still think he's toned!
10. He knows the scriptures so well--much better than I do, that's for sure. He can quote things left and right and that's always impressed me.
11. He is worthy to hold the Priesthood and give Priesthood blessings. He has given me some beautiful blessings in the four years we've been married. I remember the night we took Caysja to the emergency room (for what we thought was a seizure) and he gave her such a wonderful blessing that really calmed me down.
12. He appreciates my talents in music and always supports me by coming to anything I'm performing in.
13. I love it when he tries to sing! Lately for FHE, we've been singing the two-part primary songs and that's pretty hard to do, but he's come a long way.
14. I love how good he is with people. He is very friendly, out-going and fun to be around. In high school he was voted "most out-going" of his entire senior class.
15. I love how he'll help me around the house. He always does the vacuuming for me, takes out the garbage, helps clear the table, and will even help with the dishes or laundry sometimes.
16. I love it when he cooks for me. When we were first married, he asked me to make homemade bread since that's what he grew up on and he loves it. Well, after a while I was so busy student teaching I couldn't do it anymore, so HE did it! And it turned out better than mine!
17. I love how hard working he is. I know med school has been a lot harder than he ever thought possible, but he studies for hours and hours at a time (til 3 AM!) with never a complaint.
18. I love his laugh. If any of you have heard Caleb REALLY laugh, then you know what I mean! In high school he was also voted, "funniest laugh".
19. I love how smart he is about technology. He is always there to help me out of the messes I make since I am so "computer illiterate".
20. He is so good about putting up with my many faults. He doesn't criticize me for the many mistakes I make.
21. He will eat anything I make for him (and considering I'm not the most amazing cook in the world, that's saying a lot)!
22. He is very frugal with money, which is great when you're poor! But seriously, he will hardly EVER spend money on himself, even for things that he really needs like new socks or shoes.
23. He likes vegetables and salad and I LOVE that about him since I try to eat healthy myself.
24. He will take me to dances, even though he really doesn't like dancing, just because he knows how much I like it!
25. He is GREAT at surprising me and I LOVE to be surprised! He buys me the BEST gifts and I never have a clue! (I wish I could surprise him with something for once...)
26. I love how competitive he is. If any of you have every played games with him, it is a riot just to watch him get so "into it" and want to win sooooo bad! I have often had friends tell me after playing games together, "I saw another side of Caleb tonight".

KIKI and I LOVE YOU SO MUCH HONEY!! HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!!

Music Makers

I have to give a big shout out to my good friend, Alissa, who volunteered to put together this super fun little music class for moms and kids (ages 1-3) at our ward bldg. every Friday morning. It's called "Music Makers" and the kids LOVE it! Caysja will ask me "is moosic maka day?" Alissa has the kids sing songs, play instruments, tap rhythm sticks, march around, run/skip/jump, play with "egg shakers", dance with scarves, and she even has a huge parachute the the kids get to lie on while the moms pull them around the gym floor, or lie underneath while the moms "fan" them. And she heads all this up at nearly 9 months preggo! Way to go, Alissa, and thanks so much for doing it! (Unfortunately the ONE day I remembered to bring my camera, the battery died before I got any pics of the instruments, or parachute!)

Shakin' those eggs! (Miah, Caysja, Gunner)

Tappin' our sticks

Dancing with scarves

Singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" with actions

Three dollar Deals

I used to think I wasn't much of a garage "saler". (Let's be honest, they're really not that great in Idaho.) But then we moved to AZ...I'll always remember the first community garage sale I went to with my friend Marcie, last Fall. I found SO much great stuff and I was hooked for good! I can't tell you how long I've been looking forward to Oct. just for this reason. Anyway, I've been out bright and early the past two Saturdays and I found some awesome things...

I got all this "play food" for only $3!

I got this scooter for $3 as well--and it's in GREAT shape!

And, you guessed it--this little truck was also $3. It doesn't get much better than that! And that's not all I got. I also picked up some clothes for our baby boy and Caysja, some brand new baby shoes, and a string of Halloween pumpkin lights for only $1! I was pretty happy. Getting good deals seriously gives me a "high". It's a cheap way to get my "shopping fix".

Caysja's 1st Haircut!

So I know I probably should have cut Caysja's hair long before now (she's 28 months!) but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. She hasn't had much hair until recently and I just couldn't cut it off. Well, for FHE last Monday night, after our lesson I cut Caleb's hair--and then figured I might as well cut Caysja's too. I really didn't cut much--maybe an inch or so on the bottom to even it out, but the "mullet" is finally gone (well, sort of--she still needs to get more hair on the sides)! She was really good all through it and the next day she gave her dolly a "hair cut" several times. (Luckily her doll doesn't have any hair to cut off so she could only pretend!)

And here's a picture of my latest 'do in her hair. She was actually fairly patient while I did it, but I had to really bribe her and I don't know if I'll be doing it again anytime soon...