Our New Journey

Sadly, after over two years of loyal service... it was time to turn my caliber back in to the dealership. This car has been good to me. No accidents, only one parking ticket (which I fought and won!) and 1 towing incident. It has seen me through the early stages of dating Haws, our first road trip, our engagement and marriage. I have taken it on "girl trips" and all over Southern California and the boarding states. Needless to say, it has been good to me and I am truly grateful.

But Yippee! I am so excited to take on a new "Journey" with my trade. Haws has been so excited for us to get "Our Journey" (even though I will be the primary driver of the vehicle). I think he is slowly warming up to the fact that when the 4Runner kicks the bucket, he will most likely be joining the Dodge family. There are really so many benefits to buying a dodge, it would be silly to purchase anything else... wouldn't you say?

Brad did a wonderful job showing me all the new features on my new vehicle. I am really excited about being able to hook my ipod up and play it through the radio. Also, the U-Connect is going to be a really good feature for my considering I make most of my calls in the car and now the new law will be in effect that we all have to be "hands free".

I wanted to have a photo of Brad handing me the car keys... classic car purchasing photo. Brad really is a good salesperson and he showed me everything I needed to know and took good care of my. Did he really have a choice?

The best part is that once again... Kori and I have twin cars! We both trader our calibers in for Journeys this week. Here is us posing outside of GAYS (great american yogurt) to celebrate our new rides.

So if you are looking to set out on a new Journey yourself... give Brad a call at Glenn E. Thomas Dodge in Long Beach. You will be taken good care of :)

Addicted

I am not a big TV watcher. The only shows that I have really been into in the last 5 years or so is 24 and The Office. As you may know... due to the writer's strike and Keiffer being in jail, 24 took the whole year off and is not returning until Jan. (so sad) Since then, I have been turned on to Dancing with the Stars. I first tuned in to see Adam Corolla dance and to know what all my clients were talking about. Although Adam was voted off after the first few episodes, Haws and I got pulled in and have to watch to see what happens with the remaining "couples". Haws is surprisingly into it and is really good at predicting the scores the judges are going to give. These are some of my favs that I love to watch.

Jason and Edyta are my favorite. I love watching this big football player dance. He has improved so much since the beginning of the show. He is definitely an unexpected front runner and has a great personality. He is there to have a good time, work hard and competes with respect to the other dancers. (plus he is not bad to look at :)

Of course... Kristi and Mark are amazing to watch. No big surprise here that she is a good dancer. The surprise for me was when she busted out this funky/sexy dance routine with total attitude. It was fun to see this "American sweetheart" get sassy.
I also enjoy watching Cristian and Cheryl. He is very enthusiastic and is out there to have a good time and work it! I hope his arm is OK so he is able to keep up with his performances.
YES! I am so glad to see these guys go. I don't think I could handle another crying session and rant from Shannon and Derek. I know she likes them young (I just hope he is being a good little Mormon boy) ... but she really needs to grow up! It's called "constructive criticism"... Deal with it!

Soooo Gooood!

Taeler and Dana's has already come and gone and I have been slacking on getting this post done. The wedding was amazing and I had so much fun spending time with the girls at Liz's beach house the night before. There are so many good memories of trips to the beach house that started back in Jr High with these girls. The night before the wedding we had rehearsal and then went to dinner at the Chart House. Haws came out for the dinner and then headed to the beach to do some beach camping while us girls stayed at the beach house. Turns out the poor guy forgot to bring any blankets or sleeping bag and froze most of the night. I don't think he slept quite as good as I did. I was so tired I fell asleep right in the middle of girl talk! I am kind of that way, I am a night owl if I am up doing something (like blogging) but once my head hits the pillow... I am out! We had all morning to get ready, so there was no rushing around. It was perfect. I am so happy to see Taeler so happy thanks to this lucky man who has made her his bride. "Good" decision Dana! There were a lot of pictures taken, but thanks to Taeler's photographer, Jasmine Star, I was able to get some good shots off of her blog to give you a better idea how beautiful this wedding was. Check out her blog to see more.

http://jasminestarblog.com/index.cfm?postID=280

Liz woke up early to make this cheesy-egg dish for breakfast along with a bunch of other nutritious options to get the wedding party prepared for the long day.

The bride and her sisters. Look how TaeTae is glowing! :)
Getting ready.

Before...After. WOW!
The happy couple and their entourage.
Getting ready to head out for the party.

Even with very minimal sleep... Haws hung in there and ripped up the dance floor. My man really loves to dance... it's so much fun!Liz insisted on sporting the "lip liner only" look, but we just couldn't let her do it. Luckily she gave in and added some lipstick and gloss. JkThe GirlsTae got her groove on. This is a classic Taeler dance face.The party had to come to an end and the happy couple made their exit in style. After being daring enough to run though an archway of sparklers (held by some not-so-sober guests), they climbed into one of Marty's old classic cars driven by a Chauffeur. It was one of the best send offs I have seen. Love you guys!

Baby Shopping

I went shopping with Kori and Brad to look at cribs for the new little boy soon to join the family. It was amazing to see all the different options and see how expensive it can be to furnish a babies room. Kori tried to convince Brad to buy a bedroom set that was 10% off, but he laid the law down and said "we can only buy the crib! That's all we can afford this trip." I pulled out some of my old car selling tools and tried to bargain with the salesperson for the floor models, but even with the discount, it was too expensive for a pretty banged up crib. They left that night with out a crib, but Kori got a call the next day to be in the audience for The Ellen Show's baby show. I guess the audience in all prego girls and they end up getting a ton of baby stuff! I am hoping they get a crib so Brad won't have to endure shopping for one again since this is what it did to him last time...

Just kidding. Brad was actually being a real good sport and testing out the baby mattresses to make sure it was comfy enough for the little guy :)

Sickness

In the past two weeks so many people I know have been getting sick. I am feeling very blessed to still be healthy considering all the different illnesses going around. (knock on wood). It must be all those vitamins and natural foods I have been eating thanks to the gluten-free/dairy-free/soy-free diet I have been sticking too. You may be wondering "what can she eat?" There is actually a lot, but I am not going to get into that now.

Here are a few of the conditions I have heard about in the recent weeks:

Brad, Haws AND Cinnamon's mom: pneumonia

Laura M.: laryngitis

Johnny, Brooke, Joshua and Luke: All have the stomach flu

Debra, Peter and Robin B.: Stomach flu as well

Cinnamon: Morning sickness

Kirsten: muscular skeletal pain due to pregnancy

Lindsey: Cold

Rebecca: Cold/Nausea/Flu

I am sure the list goes on and on. What is with everyone getting sick? Is it the crazy changes in weather? Maybe... but sometimes I think there is more to it than that.

How are you all feeling???

Conference weekend wrap up

I know I am a little behind... but there has been a lot going on lately and I feel like I am still trying to catch up with normal life.

While my dad took the boys in the family to San Antonio for the Final Four... I was left the tickets to the Angel Game for the girls.

Brooke, Robin, Kori and I had a great time at the game, but I have to admit... we people watched and talked more than we watched the actual game. It was a fun night and I am sure Brooke was glad to get a little break from being the "single parent" and have a girls night.

Brooke and Kori waited a good 30 min to get their chicken fingers and Caesar salad. Just a tip... never order your meal from the seats.
Robin and I opted to bring our own snacks. Food is especially fast when you pull it straight out of you purse! String cheese.... yummmmmm.
Sunday, since we were once again watching my parents house, we decided to entertain and have people over for lunch and to watch the afternoon session of conference.

For some reason... some of our husbands felt the need to sport some interesting facial hair for the event. There is something about being able to stay home all day and watch church on TV that is not only spiritually uplifting, but physically restoring. Having friends to share it with is really the icing on the cake :)

Cinnamon is living up to the "barefoot and pregnant" lifestyle.

Congrats to Tom and Cinnamon for the little "cinna-bun" in the oven!

We also were graced by the presence of the birthday girl!

Happy Birthday Callie!

It's a boy!!!!

Tonight Brad and Kori had us over for a "It's a boy or it's a girl" party to announce the sex of their first baby. They found out what they were having on April 1rst and have been keeping it a secret ever since then. They wanted to wait until we were all together to tell us. Dana and Chase were there in spirit and over the phone. Looks like we are adding another boy to the Davis family! They are going to be such great parents. We are all very excited about the little bun in the oven!

Attention All Twilight Fans....

A little teaser. This looks like it is going to be hot! I am actually starting to like the Edward they have picked.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld9I8COHieM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4bUHUwJWtM

Never say Never...

Brian Head 2008

Growing up, our family and about 5 other families would take yearly spring skiing trips to Brian Head Utah. They were so much fun and the source of many fond memories. About 5 years ago, the vacations stopped and my dad took his young mens group instead! I guess we were all getting older and it as harder to find time when we could all get away. This year, my dad decided it was time to start it up again. Unfortunately, most of the families were not able to join us, but the Clawson's came and with all the new family additions... we were still high in numbers. I feel so blessed to have been able to take this trip once again and spend time with the whole family. Although I do not do well in the cold... I still can ski just as well as before and had a blast! Haws snowboarded for the 2nd time in his life and fell in love with the sport. I can't believe how well he did! It must be those strong hockey legs and some of his old surfing skills coming back to the surface. Here are some of the shots I got. I wish I had more photos of everyone in action... but those are hard to take on the slopes, especially when I avoided taking my gloves off at any time.

Haws and I left after a half a day at work. I love road trips with Haws. We have such a good time listening to tunes, talking and just being able to spend hours together with out much distraction. It is rare that we get a chance to do that.

The sunset as we left Vegas was beautiful! I love this picture. The rail looks pretty cool.

Our "Prom" pose in the ski clothes.

Dana and Chase came from Provo. It was so much fun to hang out with them. Haws and I even had the joy of sharing the loft with them. Between Haws talking in his sleep and strange noises coming from Chase... it's no wonder we didn't get much sleep :)

After a half day of skiing on Friday, Haws and I headed to Salt Lake to attend my friend Justin's wedding reception. It was so good to see him and meet his bride Beca. I am just sad I didn't take any pictures. We then went to Cafe Rio (we had tried to do this in St George and got there 3mins after they had closed... bummer) and toke it over to see Jared, Sarah and Thor. This was the first time we met little Thor and he was such a good baby while we were there. I am so glad we got to see them all... the 3 hour drive was definitely worth it!

After our visit with them we went to stay with my cousin Kristin, DJ, Dalton and the twins, Ava and Sophia. Seeing them was so much fun. It is hard for them to travel with the kids, so I am glad we could stay with them. Thanks again Kristin for putting us up and thank you DJ for educating me on politics and the Ron Paul revolution!

We got back to Brian Head in time for lunch and another half day of skiing. Sunday we skipped the skiing and went to church. It was a small branch and the speaker was great. A young return missionary with some really good experiences to share. It was a good thing we took that day off of skiing because it ended up snowing all day. We didn't even get a chance to take the snow shoes out. I was really bummed.

Johnny forgot you can get burned even when it is snowing.

Luke and Joshua loved the snow. I think they are even cuter all dressed up in the ski clothes. I didn't think that was possible.

This is me and Brad. I am in my "serial killer" outfit. I didn't care what I looked like as long as I was somewhat warm. Turned out... this wasn't enough and I had to take breaks to defrost my fingers. Sort of take the fun out of the whole experience, but oh well.

Typical Brian Head night of games and relaxing. This is a great shots of the night life.

An intense game of phase 10...Chase crashed out on the couch, Brad and Dad watching basketball and Kori trying to keep Luke from getting into all the ski stuff.

We all had such a great time. I can't wait to do it again next year! This is a tradition we really have to keep going. Now if only skiing was possible to do when it's at least 60 degrees outside...

Barefoot and Pregnant?

Not quite. Fooled you didn't I?

What kind of "shoe" are you? I think this got me a little bit. Especially the job part.

Thanks Kathy for the fun post.

You Are Bare Feet

You are a true free spirit, and you can't be tied down. Even wearing shoes can be a little too constraining for you at times! You are very comfortable in your own skin. You are one of the most real people around. You don't have anything to hide. Open and accepting, you are willing to discuss or entertain almost any topic. You are a very tolerant person. You are accepting and not judgmental. You should live: Somewhere warm You should work: At your own business, where you can set the rules

http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofshoeareyouquiz/">What Kind of Shoe Are You?

Easter and Luke's 1 year Birthday

For Easter, Haws and I joined the rest of my family (minus Dana and Chase... we missed you guys!) at the Bendheim's home to celebrate Luke's first birthday and Easter with their family. It was so much fun!!! It is awesome being related to the Bendheim family... we always have such a good time when we are all together. The day started off with an adult Easter egg hunt which Haws and I missed because my rice dish took 30min longer to cook. Luckily, we were given the bag of eggs that didn't get hidden and my mom did some hunting for us. We turned out to be the real money makers cashing in over $55!! Sometimes missing out does pay off.

The food was so good! Everyone chipped in bringing a dish, so there was plenty of food to choose from. We celebrated Luke's birthday as well and he celebrated by enjoying his first piece of cake. Here are some photos of the festivities.

Lukey really knows how to eat cake. It always tastes best when it is all over your face! He is walking!!! OK... I am helping him out a little bit.
Ty and Nicole came by to visit with little Cambria. I am so excited they are back in the OC!
Haws wasn't quite sure what to do with this thing.

The boys and their favorite Aunts.

Just kidding Dana and Kori!
Our First Easter as a married couple :)
The Birthday Boy and Fam. Joshua was really enjoying his blow toy.