Brady Spencer

Super Ivy!!!

2011-08-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

Super Ivy to the rescue!! She didn't even flinch when we put on her rather stylish mask!! It was just a tich too small for our cutest little chubby!

Family Pics 2011 for real this time....

2011-06-01T20:18:00.000-07:00

Peekaboo Photos is the bomb. Love Kates......she and Dan are amazing!! We love them. We realized however that we wore almost the same thing as our last pics. And just for the record... I think Brady looks HOT. We love our little chubby Ivy. She is the sweetest little snuk-ums! Alec and Ella were super stars and did exactly as they were told. Mind boggling I know. And, Check! Done for the next few years. Thanks Kates.

Family Pics 2011

2011-05-31T21:45:00.000-07:00

2011-05-22T15:05:00.000-07:00

This is the baby shower we did for our friend Kendra. She is adorable and just had her sweet little baby Caroline Kaye. We had a sweet table chock full of yummy treats that Amber and I made. We had so much fun. We might have over-introduced our children to the treats. Sorry Brady. I promise we kept it semi-reasonable i swear! Wink.

Ivy Jade

2011-04-13T22:56:00.001-07:00

This little thing has me wrapped around her little finger. She is the sweetest baby! I know she was sent specifically so I would want to have another. And it's working.....I would order a hundred more Ivy's if I could. What a doll! Her baby blessing was so much fun. I only got really crappy pictures, but, it was wonderful. All my siblings, both sets of parents and many others were there to share with us. How thankful we are for all of their support. We had so much fun. Love you little Ives!

Girls Night Out!

2011-04-11T14:35:00.000-07:00

Two of my best friends here in CA and I had so much fun taking our girls to The Little Mermaid at a local children's theater. Ella literally SCREAMED with excitement when we pulled up to her friends houses to pick them up for dinner and the show. We dressed up for the occasion and loved every second. Ella learned to clap when appropriate and that it is a really good idea to go to the potty during intermission. We'll have to do it again soon.

Must be related!

2011-03-29T09:28:00.000-07:00

Alec & Ella

Ella & Ivy

Ivy Jade Spencer

2011-02-27T22:49:00.001-08:00

Ivy Jade Spencer was born Feb 16th 2011. She weighed 8 lbs and 12oz and was 20 and 1/2 inches long. She is the perfect baby. She never cries. We ordered her straight from heaven!!

Little Ella Kate

2010-10-11T19:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween from Ella! She has decided that "her" baby in my tummy will have the name "Kate Daphne" and just TRY and talk her into something else. She is a CEO in the making. She just doesn't take no for an answer. Someone should send her a memo that we are actually thinking of the name Ivy. Wonder how she'll take it. She is th-th-three! Alec taught her a few weeks ago to ditch the "F" and try the good ol "th" instead. He is the BEST life coach....he'll be available for hire in the year 2021.

First Day of School!

2010-10-01T22:54:00.000-07:00

Ella LOVES preschool. The jury is still OUT for Alec on Kindergarten. But man do each of them dig getting their picture taken.

Anaphalactic Alec

2010-09-28T09:07:00.000-07:00

Poor little Alec seems to be alergic to several medications, and this time it ended us up in the ER. Epi pen here we come! Think I can pull it off if I need to?? Of course I can. I'm a MOM!

It's a girl!!!

2010-09-24T23:08:00.000-07:00

We are having another Girl! How exciting that I can pull out all the things that Ella wore once and give them one more go at life. I was just looking at my friend Kate and Dan Moss's Photography site and thinking I might need to fly the wee little thing to Utah to get her little newness all shown off by Kate. Check her out here at Peekaboo Photography.

HMD!!

2010-05-08T20:41:00.001-07:00

Update-party!

2010-04-07T00:33:00.000-07:00

Steve and Emma got hitched!!

We took pictures with millions of blossoms on the blossom trail with our friends the Westwood family.

Our Heninger Halloween!

2009-11-02T19:37:00.000-08:00

We moved closer to the Rich and Laurie and the kids and just look how much fun we are having!! A candy-bar smores cookout with the long lost Brandley cousins, Damon , Stephanie & kids and Melissa. We had so much fun seeing you all! Can't wait for the next family function!

Sweet LIttle Apple Pie

2009-09-30T01:31:00.001-07:00

Reese's birthday party pics to come. Margaux did a fantastic job of the good-old apple pie, watermelon, hotdogs, cupcakes and gigantic red and yellow balloons, all-american party. Happy Birthday Reese.

Catch Up.....I mean serious tag here people!

2009-09-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

Grammy helped us Pack. Seriously.......the woman moves like lightning. I know, you're all jealous.....so am I. Thanks Grammy. We love you.

Alec's first soccer game. He rocked the warm-up crew with his sweet moves but come game time.....he lost his steam and kept asking to just go play at the park. Brady finally told him that if he scored a goal, we'd head to the swings. So, slouched over, he sauntered back onto the field, ran over and stole the ball, dribbled to the other end of the field, scored a goal and then immediately hung his head to the side again and walked off the field leaving his team-mates to finish the game solo. Seriously, can you believe this guy?? What a character!

The Crews: Willardsons, Kropfs, Clarks, Ingersols & Armstrongs
I'm pretty sure they are all moving this way soon!!! Come on you guys....please?

Pre-School Year-2
Alec at his new pre-school. This new place has come with it's own set of challenges. It's about 20 minutes away which has meant extra barf bags for poor Ella. Her new best friend is Dramamine!! Pray for Ella. Actually pray for me and Alec. We thank you.

Hangin With the Heningers!
We had a blast up north with our cousins Hannah, Jakie, Jonah, Becca, Uncle Richie and Laurie. Thank you so much for letting us crash. We had so much fun yuckin it up!! This is the only picture I snapped. Apparantly too busy having fun.

Broken.

2009-09-11T22:55:00.000-07:00

1. new walls. Better than I thought.

2. new haircut. Not as good as I thought.

3. new bed. Broken.

4. new sickness. Strep

5. new weight on forbidden scale? Scary.

6. new feeling. Ugghhh.

7. New recipe to make me feel better? Yum. (www.bakerella.com)

Fam Pics....take me home!

2009-08-07T21:40:00.001-07:00

We had so much fun hanging in the O.C. with the fam. We kicked it at the temple after church and snagged some pics of Jamie's fam. They were so cute. And mom got her way with a fam pic at the wooden door park. I love that spot. The light is always so beautiful there. I wish it was my backyard....oh wait...it is.

Shirley Grad Party!

2009-06-29T22:57:00.000-07:00

Our friend Shirley threw a graduation party for her daughter Joslynn. She was so much fun to work with and Margaux and I had a blast planning this green and brown theme party with oreo truffles, chocolate cupcakes, and other envious green sweets.

Ella's Ruffles & Dots Party

2009-06-16T14:14:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun with a bunch of our friends who had little girls in Ella's nursery class. Sidney S., Audrey, Reese, Sidney I., Anna and their siblings came to the secret gate park to have a Big Bash! Each girl got a hand-made apron to help decorate their very own cupcake. We ate cheesey Pizza (ella's fav) and had delicious and beautiful fruit (THANKS Kari!) Also thanks to Margaux and Brady for being my wing men. It turned out so pink and lovely!

Why I can't stop bragging about Kate!!

2009-05-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

This is Kate & Dan's amazing work. Seriously, I want to cry I am so happy about the way they turned out. Can you blame me? Kates...... You seriously ROCK! For a few more of us and thousands of beautiful photos click here to view peekaboophotos.

The Party!

2009-05-05T20:29:00.000-07:00

My friend Margaux and I have been entertaining the urge to create a seriously cool party business. And on our journey, our good friend Evelyn asked us to help her with her sister's 30th. Check out her sweet carnival bash!! We are open for custom business and will also be working on party themes you can choose from. Party on people!

"You just decide and make a change!"

2009-05-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

Sounds like it came from a 35 year old? Well, Alec is 3 going on 35 so I guess that's about right! He had wet his pull-up for 6 months almost EVERY night. I tried everything until three weeks ago, he woke up dry. I made a huge deal and said "If you wake up dry for 7 days in a row, you'll get fingerpaints" (A coveted medium never before tried. Mysteries are so irresistable!) He looks at me as if with a giant epiphany and says

"So, you just decide and then make a change?"

Quite intelligently I reply with "Um...da...yeah, I guess so!" The kicker here is, he NEVER wet his pull-up again. Is he a kick in the pants or what! I keep glancing over at Brady and whispering "I gave birth to that thing ya know!" How LUCKY am I.

Stop me. I must have one.

2009-03-25T16:36:00.000-07:00

Check out this amazing display of sugar from the cakegirls for Real Simple. How can anyone resist these insanely perfect designs.

Ang Senior Pics

2009-03-19T17:15:00.000-07:00

This is my darling and crazy little sis. Isn't she a little hottie!

Oh my dossshhh!

2009-02-09T14:02:00.000-08:00

It's so funny to hear Ella's little high and very soft but scratchy voice say something like this.

"Oh my dossssh, Oh my dosssshhhh. Eme see (Let me see). Eme seee. Iss Awshum (Awsome)."

She is Awshum!!!

Baby Kendall!

2009-01-31T22:21:00.000-08:00

I'm so lucky to have three of the BEST sisters ever. My older sister Jamie and her husband Travis had their baby girl yesterday and we are so excited for them. After two cute boys, they get to cross to the pink side!! YAY! We can't wait to meet the sweet little dark haired Kendall. We hope she keeps her grandma Elsie's colored locks!

I didn't hear you pour me some milk mom!!

2009-01-27T21:50:00.000-08:00

My mom and I have gotten into a habit of telling Alec stories every few days. And if anyone knows my mom, you know my siblings and I have spent most of our lives sitting on her bed trying to make her laugh. Which isn't hard. Grandma Elsie thinks everything is hilarious. It's hereditary as her aunts used to sit around and laugh themselves silly. My sister Lisa said we all grew up thinking we were comedians...sadly we happen to not be as funny to everyone else. So I thought I'd sit here on my bed and tell a few of the good ones that have made Grandma Elsie laugh the hardest.

1:Everytime I remind Alec to flush I say "I didn't hear a flush!" So yesterday after asking me several times for a glass of milk, he finally came up and said " Mom. I didn't hear you pour me a glass of milk!"

2:Our friend Kari seems to bewilder Alec since she is the only one who gets in his face the way he does everyone else. We mentioned going to Disneyland with her on friday and Alec said "Kari is my friend......she's my sister. She's one of my Babes!" (His nickname for Ella is "Babes".)

3: I was trying to make a cake for some event and Alec decided he was going to help out. He dragged a chair into the kitchen stood on it and said "Mom, take a seat. Take a seat. I got it. Now let's see here....how we gonna do this!"

Of course I can't think of anymore right now so I'll add to this post the next few days. Check back...he's here all week.

Terminal Illness

2009-01-23T19:47:00.000-08:00

Seriously, I'm STILL SICK. I kid you not, the past months are a blur of dragging kids not only into the pediatrician but to my doctor as well and having everyone say "wow, you sure have your hands full." Hasn't anyone ever seen two kids before? Furthermore, I'm on my second antibiotic and dang it...I'm going back to the doc tomorrow. I'm going to go get my own little ear flashlight thing and my own fingernail file and call myself in some drugs that will cure me. Living in Chicago - Not sick. Living in sunny, beautiful, warm & luscious Southern CA...dying a slow death. I think someone is secretly planting chemical warefare on our deck. Did I mention I've been taking Vicadin for my recent root canal?

Since I have no pictures for this post, I thought I'd post one that makes me laugh instead. But I have to tell the story that goes with. Our preschool group now has 4, but has had 5 WILD and fun boys. One particularly hard Monday, I couldn't gain control for a good 20 minutes. The next day I came up with this beauty of an idea. Check it out. They were SILENT! It was beautiful.

Holidays....WARNING....CONTAMINATED!

2009-01-12T14:09:00.000-08:00

We spent most of the holidays sick due to the family pea-tree dish. But we did have so much fun. We were at the doctor 4 times in one week in Utah for Thanksgiving and from there we've had at least one or ALL of the following. Flu, strep, double ear infection, croupe, ear infection again, croupe again, sinus infection and bad cold, and HUGE, freakishly wierd, oh-so-sore cold sore blister on Alec's thumb. Warning to the healthy and the well, don't venture here! We might be contagious!!!

Ditto

2008-11-03T22:29:00.000-08:00

I just had to repost this from my aunt Laurie in Northern CA. She totally nails it.

"I am Yes for Prop 8. No matter how many times you steal my sign, or vandalize it, I will still be yes on 8. Replacing my beautiful yellow sign with your No on 8 sign will not change my mind. Nor will it change the minds of any of my neighbors who you have targeted also. Tiptoeing up to my front door, going behind my planters where I have stored my signs for the night, to steal them will NOT CHANGE MY MIND!!! It is stealing. They are my property, not yours. Did your mom ever teach you not to steal?

You are asking for tolerance. Are you so blinded that you can't see that you are not being honest, true, or tolerant? You are denying my rights to freedom of speech. Are you so afraid of what I might have to say?

It is unclear to me how you could possibly think bullying is OK. That is what you are doing. I do not like it. You are not playing fair.

I want my kids to grow up in a world where a religious ceremony has significance. Real significance. It is different. I want to give them the same world that I had. One where we can be free to speak our minds, vote our conscious, and declare war on evil. One where we can choose what is taught to our impressionable young children. One where parents are not arrested for refusing to allow their kids to be taught about homosexuality in early elementary school. Isn't that what America is based on? FREEDOM?

You can't squash me, or my opinion.

My pretty little yellow Yes on 8 sign has already been replaced.

Halloween

2008-10-31T23:14:00.000-07:00

Alec and Ella sat for .5 seconds to take a few photos. But aren't they the cutest kids in america!!! I call I can be biased. We had so much fun trick-or-treating with Reese. Alec decided he liked handing out candy at Margaux's moms house way better than walking all the way up to each door and saying trick-or-treat. Such a waste of time. The whole bucket was sitting at our own front door for the taking. Duh mom.

Reese's Party

2008-10-20T01:17:00.000-07:00

We have been so lucky to make great friends down here in CA. We love our Kropf's and hope Reese had a wonderful first birthday. We had a Blast at Margaux's bash. Decked out to the nines. She is the master party inventor. She had beautiful food, and great decor. She had me do the cake and it was so much fun we hope we get to do another soon. Anyone who is in the market, we are in business. Happy Birthday Reese!

Personality!

2008-09-09T16:40:00.000-07:00

If any of you have had the opportunity to hang out with Alec at all, you'd fast notice his large personality bursting from his little three year old body. I have been compiling these stories for way too long now. I just have to share.

Me: Alec, do we push Ella?
Alec: No.
Me: Do we shove Ella?
Alec: No. (A little annoyed)
Me: Do we Karate Chop Ella?
Alec: No, but I don't want Ella anymore....I want a new Ella!

Trying to tide Alec over till we got home from church, we gave him some seriously salt deprived chips from the mexican joint we had the night before.
Alec: Mom. These chips are NOT RIGHT! They are NOT GOOD!

After asking for the 10th time for more fruit snacks and I again said NO. Alec says after a few minutes.
Alec: Mom. I don't want to be big and strong like Steve. I just want to be little. Now can I have some fruit snacks?

I can't remember exactly the situation here so I'm sure you can conjure up something similar.
Alec: You go to your room mom. Right now!
Me: Alec. Only grown-ups get to send people to their rooms.
Alec: Mom! I AM a grown-up. I'm a LITTLE grown-up!

Preschool

2008-09-08T12:58:00.000-07:00

Alec was way more excited to go to our academically souped-up joy school than I ever imagined. He surprised me by not even whimpering when I dropped him off for his first day. The all-boy, all high-energy group seemed to fare well as we found Miss Kristen still in one piece when we came to pick them up. I am in heaven. Thanks Kristen. We owe you big time!

Cupcakes

Check out our new monogram cupcakes. I literally had a dream about these about a year ago and finally made them this summer. The cookies take twice as long as the cupcakes, but I think the outcome was totally worth it.

The Earthquake

2008-07-29T13:26:00.000-07:00

So we have now survived our first California Earthquake. 5.4 magnitude. Chino Hills was the Epicenter which is about an hour and a half north of us. At first I thought someone had snuck into our house and was behind the couch trying to pick it up and then realized that the walls and everything else was shaking as well. I'm yelling..."Oh my gosh!" and Alec started to freak out and asking me what was wrong. By the time we got up and knew what was going on, ran to the back doorway, it ended lasting about 15 second total. WIERD! Welcome to CA!!

Jessica & Del

2008-07-27T17:43:00.001-07:00

Happy Anniversary you two!

Here's to Summer!

2008-07-22T16:18:00.001-07:00

Somehow we got lost in the flurry of birthday parties, road trips and failed swimming lessons. Here's to summer!

Shiner!

2008-05-29T21:39:00.000-07:00

Someone we passed today said "Big brother sock her one?" They seemed a little disgusted when we had to answer yes. Well, it wasn't intentional i suppose as he threw his sippy cup to the floor after he had guzzled down his juice. The thump on poor Ella's skull echoed through the house. OUCH for the second week. Poor baby Ella. Actually, tonight she rug-burned her other eye which is now all red. Watch out Will. Ella's headed in your footsteps!

Getting it done.

2008-05-19T20:54:00.000-07:00

So I can't seem to figure out why I can totally kick it into gear and get so much done when Brady is out of town. I mean, is it that he makes me so weak in the knees that I just can't think straight or maybe I feel I'm counting the minutes till he comes home on his white horse to rescue me from a long day with the babes. Not sure, but I'm telling you. I KICKED some royal kiester today. Let me tell you about my superstar mom agenda. First We cleaned up the house and I washed not only Alec's sheets but my own that were long overdue as well as all 85 towels. After skipping around the house...okay just kidding about the skipping, after pulling some teeth and getting things all cleaned up from breakfast, we headed out the front door, which I'm ashamed to say I've only used about 3 times, and ventured up the "Elegator" to the fourth floor to check out the view. Then we packed lightly and walked down the block to Mother's Market. A little organic market that can either be a gold mine or a cookie gone Seriously WRONG. So we stroll though and see all the OC lunch hour crowd who either freak out at how cute Ella is waving and Saying "Hi" and Alec in his sunglasses that he wears inside and out because he HATES bright lights. Or, they look as if they would kick me out of the store themselves for being in the small isles with my side-by-side stroller. We get out quickly without too many outbursts of singing twinkle little star at the top of Alec's lungs. We head home in time to finish Go Diego Go and make dinner and then off to the park to play and take some pics. Brady, wish you could have been here.

"Check it out Mom!"
Lately Alec yells "Check it out Mom!" It cracks me up. We LOVE living in our place. It's kind of crappy to go back to renting again especially the countertops. BUT, we have a plan. We just rented our townhome and we are SAVING for a house someday down here in Million dollar land. Hopefully the prices will keep falling. So sorry to all those who own down here. I think the bank owns most of the homes down here now. It's really sad. But, hopefully we can capitalize on the market and buy when the buyings good. Plus, we'll really miss the pools, the landscaping and the complete absence of the word yardwork!

Serious business strut.

I really hope it's a snail dad.

Ella had an encounter with the counter.

Road Trip

2008-05-14T15:08:00.001-07:00

Aunt Jamie & Uncle Travis were THE BEST to entertain us for four days this weekend. Thanks Brady for having to work in Pheonix!! We had so much fun. She made us pancakes, drove us all over the city and of course humored me by taking me to the ribbon store twice. She even hung out with both of her boys AND Alec at the mall for three hours till we figured out how to get Ella to hold still for her new earings! So cute! And Travis made sure Brady experienced the golf course at least once a day!

Hangin in the backyard!

Here comes trouble! These two were so "Hiwarius" to watch, as Alec says it. They jumped and jumped and jumped and played and played and played. Mostly with Lulu who tried really hard to just go with the 3yr old flow.

We had to totally stage this picture just to get them all in one shot. We were blowing Giant bubbles, feeding the Giant Gold fish, the ducks and we got lucky when a few turtles swam by.

Ella

2008-04-25T23:37:00.001-07:00

Ella is busting out all her cuteness. Her new tricks include:
1. Clucking
2. Waving like princess Di
3. Taking her first few steps
4. Ooooohing at everything
5. Pointing to lights
6. Saying Daddy, Mama, Doddy (Doggy)

And you just gotta love the tiny little wisps of hair. Its all she's got. I spiked them all out today and found a touch of curl. SWEET! It even held a little clip for about 10 minutes. We're making progress little girlie girl!

Amazing Artists

2008-04-24T21:29:00.000-07:00

I used to drool over a graphic designers site I swear was done by cindy ferguson and blog-surfing tonight I think I've found her again. Isn't she awsome!

Way to go Mom!

2008-04-24T20:17:00.000-07:00

Wow, you know when you try really hard to be normal and all that comes out of your mouth is straight stupidity? Oh, don't lie like you don't know what I'm talking about. Please say there are others with at least occasional foot-in-mouth disease. Today I didn't really botch it horribly, I just stood there and looked like an idiot. I can't seem to get anything to come out of my mouth in times like these. Nice person says funny sentence, followed by a giggle and then it's my turn to respond and..........nothing. Not a dang thing comes out of my mouth. Like I've grown up in the middle of nowhere and have never had an actual conversation with another person before. So I sit there thinking...talk you dummy. And something wierd that makes no sense comes awkwardly stunmbling out of my mouth before I can stop myself. I wish I could say this is the worst experience of the kind but there have been worse. For example. Living in Orem with April and a few roomates right after college graduation. (Remember that I now have a college degree here!) I run my rent check up to the nice landlord couple living upstairs. The husband who is several years younger than I am standing at the door says "Oh you haven't met my wife so-and-so." She is embarrassed for being in her pajamas. Now do you ever have like two separate thoughts that try to sneek out at the same time? Stumbling out together and making you seem like you have mental problems? So she kicks in here and I say "Oh don't worry. You should see me in the morning.....oh the stench!" Now as I'm saying this I'm thinking gross breath, morning hair and the word STENCH has to come flying out of my mouth. Of course they look at me like I'm pshychotic and I just hurry and shut the door. So, to all of you who have ever thought I was just WIERD....now you know I just have problems!!!

The wooden door.

2008-04-20T22:42:00.000-07:00

Let me just say that we found the most amazing little secret park in our complex tonight. Grammy and Grandpa Spencer had just left after dinner and we headed out for an evening stroll. I had a flowy skirt on with flip-flops pushing my impossibly-hard-to-turn but otherwise great little side-by-side double stroller around with Alec running along beside having near death experience after another. And as we passed through this unbelievably castle-like wooden door, we see a beautiful little fountain at the end of a palm tree lined courtyard and to our delight was the greatest little park tucked away in a little round nook to the left. I start thinking to myself, we may not want to find a house to buy here. I told this to Brady as we were walking back and he laughed at my silliness and said he was sure I'd like wherever we move next because it's going to be the last. So i guess that means we'll be here for a while. SWEET!!!

Photo Workshop

2008-04-14T22:47:00.000-07:00

Katie from Peekaboo Photos and I went to this super fun photo workshop a few weekends ago. I haven't had more than a second to edit my pics and get them online but here is a preview. I learned a lot and talked Brady into buying a new lens. I love it. Blurs the dickens out of any background I can muster up. When we got to our hotel the first night, the front desk guy says "So, good news is you got THE very last room. Bad news is it has only one queen."

Farewell

2008-03-24T23:36:00.000-07:00

To Josh. We love you and miss you more than you can imagine. The memories seem to slip into somewhere hidden now that we are trying so hard to hold on to them. All the times you tried so hard to run and hide from the ever adoring nieces and nephews who just couldn't get enough of you. All the Sunday dinners and the holidays at Grandma's house. I feel so lucky that I got to hear you say "This is the best grandma's house ever!" Thank you for being a sweet gentleman & making your little mother beam with pride. Thank you for helping so many times with Alec and Ella and every other little errand we needed you for and being so willing to help. We wait for the day when we will be able to see you again and hear "Waterfall" played with your own little fingertips. We hope the wait won't seem too long. We love you.

Finally!!!!!!!!

2008-02-27T19:17:00.000-08:00

We can finally talk about our big move to California since Brady quit today. And being kind of a freak about any random person knowing too much about our family...thanks to a psycho old boyfriend, I'll give only basic details. This is us at our 4 star hotel thanks to priceline....$90 per night! And our second DEAL was our $15 per day rental car!!! Priceline kicks butt! (Although we got all of our incidentals paid for at the Hyatt Regency because a huge spider ran up my leg in the middle of the night sending me into a screaming fit at 2 am) But as for our temporary living arangements, we found a sweet place that has an attached garage, 4 heated pools, two small playgrounds, and a huge grassy area right outside our patio. We are 20 min from Disneyland, 3 minutes from Brady's work and 5 min from the temple. Is that giving direct coordinates to the psychos who are stalking my block? Anyway, We'll only be there for 6-9 months and then the 50/50 chance of staying or moving to AZ. Please...... let us stay!

Georgia & Ella Valentine

2008-02-11T19:01:00.001-08:00

The whole idea was to take Georgia and Ella's pic together, but Ella kept trying this move you see here! More pics to come. Thanks Georgia for letting me use you as our super cute little model!

Tara tagged me!

2008-02-06T13:32:00.000-08:00

10 years ago today...

Hmmm. Ok so I am so much older than you. 10 years ago I was 20 and at Utah State University. Second year in Graphic Design, living in a house with Melanie Hall and some weird girl who would get drunk off wine coolers in her bedroom with her giant fluffy dog. She was a culinary arts major who would make pans full of lasagna and leave them on the counter never eaten. So...we (My roomates and I) stuck it all in the fridge and had free leftovers whenever we wanted! Sledding and freezing our butts off! I loved it.

5 things on my to-do list today:
Great day to ask!

1. Check train schedule to see if the 10-12 inches of snow will keep Brady in Chicago overnight.
2. Make Cupcakes....pudding in the recipe....MMMMM.
3. Laundry Laundry Laundry...are you serious you finished??? Does that ever happen???
4. Hope I can live for a third night with brady being gone till after the kids are almost in bed.
5. Finish going through my filing cabinet...yet another task never done. But you wouldn't believe what I've just thrown away! Yay!

I enjoy:

Designing or creating anything. Photography has become one of my new passions as well. One of those mom things. Making cute cupcakes and or sugar cookies. Playing with my kids. Can I put in here that I hate cooking??? And talking for hours if I can corner Brady!

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

Travel, learn to surf, play golf with Brady since he thinks it's the game of the Gods, decorate a new house any way I like, buy lighting and backdrop equipment, get a new mac pro with an enormous screen, a new cake studio for Jamie and I to make cakes all day....oh the list would be embarrassingly too long so I'll stop here!

3 of my bad habits:

Hmmm. This isn't any fun. Um, I bite my nails sometimes. I love sugar...maybe it's not a habit but more of a hereditary flaw ask uncle rich,or Steve!!. And....i can't think of a third.

5 places I have lived: EASY!!!

1. Miton, Utah
2. Barrington, Illinois
3. Guilbert, Arizona
4. Logan, Utah
5. Orem, Utah

5 jobs that I have had:

1-Sounds Easy Pizza (Burned down while I was working...I got to evacuate the building and my midget friend "little Bec"called 911) not a joke.
2- Tony Romas in Logan
3- Heidi Swapp (never thought I'd be a scrapbooker. I guess I'm still not, but do blogs count?)
4- Flagger on State Street in Orem right after high school. I have way too many funny stories to tell about this one. Does F-chick come to mind?
5- 4Life - all utahn's have to work for a network marketing company at one time or another right?

5 things people don't know about me:

1- I broke both my arms at the same time.
2- All four of my front teeth are fake.
3- I'm nervous in public
4- I hate girls camp
5- I've had my license revoked once and denied once.

2008-01-23T19:28:00.000-08:00

December 2007

2008-01-11T08:31:00.000-08:00

"We just happen to be in the same colors!" Okay so it's the fam picture gone bad. It's just a snapshot in the freezing cold while the poor lady next door took our picture standing under dripping icicles and in a foot of mud and snow! Thanks lady next door! We all got the flu so our great plans to have Katie take our picture were ruined.

Stephy's wedding
Grandma Elsie & Papa Paul's Christmas

The grandkids. No explanation needed.

Alec kept telling me "Mom these presents are mines!" Except most were not for Alec since we had Christmas a few days before we left for Utah. I wrapped all the candy I could find in the house so he'd be busy unwrapping something! Only it backfired when he brought back all the empty wrappers for me to throw away for him! Note to self....don't be so stupid!

Ella kept cooing and loving her new dollies from aunt Jamie! She loves her new dollies.

Marissa and Mike reading thier new story to Logan. He loves Stories!

The lineup. This year it was youngest to oldest......back of the line Jamie & Mandy!

This was the fateful start of the Diego obsession! Go Diego Go!

Thanksgiving

2008-01-11T08:07:00.001-08:00

Grammy & Grampy's house (We haven't consulted Grandpa yet on that name but we figure it's better than What Alec currently calls him. Crap-aw.) Thanksgiving Dinner, Josh's Eagle
Court of Honor,Girls shoe shopping with Dad, Girls day after thanksgiving shopping, & John & Kandy's.

This is the best picture of 8 grandkids we could get in 20 degree weather...or maybe it was just the 8 little kids that was the problem. Actually everyone was really well behaved until Alec & Ella burst into tears.

Brynna and Alexis were the best little mother's helpers for Ella. Thanks girls!!!

Grammy & Alec. He sure loves his Grammy.

Ella Belles

2008-01-11T07:38:00.001-08:00

nicknames: Ellas, Smella, Elles, Bellas,Yella, Bells,Little Miss, Babeez, Elzabub.

alec's favorite: Ellas mom: Bells dad: Little Miss

Drew

2007-12-11T20:55:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Michelle and Ben. Here is our photoshoot of baby Drew. He was a champ and let us get all the pictures we wanted. He was the perfect little angel. Alec and Ella were also great sports at Grandma's house hanging with Josh on a "Snow Day". Thanks Grandma and Josh! We so appreciate you. And once again Steve for taking over in a pinch!

NYC girls Trip!

2007-12-11T18:51:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite places in the world just became my favoriter. NYC was so much fun thanks to the NYC gang. THANK YOU Diane and Daniel for letting us stay at your place! We were so lucky to have you there for us. And Thanks Kari, Isaac and Stephanie for showing us around town! And with Mama Lois Jean by my side, we figured out how to not die in the process of what we called "having one adventure afer another". We'll leave out all the details as to not incriminate ourselves. Let's just say we had a few near death or near embarrassed to death experiences!

We went on the great cupcake tour of NY while we were there sampling such delights from Tommies, Sugar Sweet Sunshine, Buttercup, Magnolia (Of Course) Amy's Bread and Crumbs. I agree with Alicia giving Sugar Sweet Sunshine the prize for overall best cupcake. My fav was the Red Velvet from Amy's Bread however.

Who is missing? Answer: Alicia who took it for Grandma!

Where's my Stevie?

2007-12-04T19:34:00.001-08:00

Stevie Batman, Stevie, Steve, Steven Will You, my Steve, Alec's Toy. All of him are leaving. What will we do you ask when waiting those last few hours for Brady when Steve is usually entertaining the endless requests of Alec to "tie-it" (Cape fashioned from soft blue blankie by Steve) or do "jumpin' song" for the 32nd time in a row. Who I ask you will chop the onions and offer advice to "just add more butter"? And who I beg you will "hoagie" (hold and hug) Alec when he wakes up crying for an hour after his nap. What, what will we do without "my Stevie". I just don't know. So, Stevie....enjoy the peace and quiet but remember we miss you in more ways than you know! We love you!

Vintage Ella

2007-11-02T14:11:00.000-07:00

This is my baby blessing dress from 1977 accessorized with Grandma Lois Jean Spencer's baby bonnet from 1955-ish. Can't get over it.

Happy Halloween!

2007-11-02T12:38:00.001-07:00

I'm suprised at myself that I had so much fun taking Alec around to trick-or-treat. Maybe it was how he explained everything in his stash to the dracula that asked him what he had in his bucket just making conversation. Or perhaps it was that he made me carry the bucket until he got to each door. Or that he kept asking me "Mom...what's that scary noise?" referring to the spooky halloween sounds coming from a decked out front door. He didn't seem to be as stoked about the entire package of candybars he got from the neighbors across the grass. But somehow I was having the time of my life. I guess that was it. It's the best time of my life.

Ode to Sunny!

2007-10-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

Sunshine Elizabeth Garner
Died of natural injection today after suffering from a tumor in her mouth. She had just been miraculously rescued by Dad the night before in a crazy escape gone bad. Typical Sunny had darted out of the shutting garage door and slipped down into a bunch of cold mud when dad and Mike found her buried so far that only her head could be seen. Here is the last picture of poor Sunner Bunner! We shared a special bond sunner and I. First....She was born on my birthday. Top that. Second...my personal favorite. She would growl at anyone who she thought was going to hurt me. AND she would also growl at them if I tried to hurt them! What a loyal little pup. Sunny the cat finally went to heaven. Goodbye old friend.

Classic

2007-10-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

Classic Alec with cousin Sam going for a vintage ride in this sweet metal fleck painted carnival ride car. This was also the day of the perma-scowl I posted a few weeks ago. They had so much fun riding the rides, the ponies and even holding hands for a minute until they realized that was the best way to slow each other down. Thanks to Kristy, we actually have pictures of the post camera-battery-loss-tragedy afternoon at Sonny Acres. I owe you Kristy!

PS I just have to add, that the hat......was all Alec. I can't believe he actually fit it over his head. It was too small last summer and he insists on wearing it every time he finds the place I've hidden it. "It's my fishin' hat mom!" How can I say NO to that.

Ella 4 Months

2007-10-23T12:14:00.001-07:00

I have to Laugh!

2007-10-23T11:16:00.000-07:00

I just have to laugh. Last night Brady asks me. "Can you just take like that picture on the desktop and take off all my hair just to see how it looks?" "Um, I guess so. Why?" I reply. "Can't you just do it? It'll take you like 5 seconds right? Now that sounds like a challenge. Since he was up for the change, I thought I'd take liberty to morph in a little x-men while I was at it.

"Little Miss"

2007-10-15T22:39:00.001-07:00

Brady calls her "little Miss". Something about it that I love. She is the little miss. She kicks it all day perched on my arm out to the side watching intently trying not to miss a thing Alec does. And every so often she turns and catches me off guard with the hugest grin you've ever seen. But all the while sucking on that sweet soggy hand of hers. MMmmmmm!

2007-10-15T21:41:00.001-07:00

Oh.....isn't he so cute! Oh wait. Look a little closer and you'll see the fierce growl I get everytime i yell...."Hey Alec.....look at the camera." It's like he has this horrible vengence against the idea that the camera, if given into, will have control over him. And Alec is not controlled by anyone! Except for maybe a good sucker. So....maybe halloween is the miracle we have been looking for!

Chicago Botanic Gardens

2007-10-10T18:03:00.000-07:00

Dragging the kids out sometimes seems futile. But Megan, Matt and Courtney were so much fun. The botanic gardens have orchards, vegetable gardens, gigantic carp and a ton of greedy geese. The day ended at the fountain for the last day of summer weather.

Baby Legs!

2007-10-03T14:55:00.000-07:00

Okay so I'm in love with these new leggings for kids 0-4 yrs called Baby Legs. You stick on a cute onsie, add baby legs and presto - you've got an outfit. They come in a million different colors and styles. When the legs are little the baby legs are big. When the legs get big....the baby legs get a bit littler.

Cupcakes!!!

2007-10-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

So I guess cupcakes are all the rage these days and of course I had to try out Chicago's finest while we were downtown this weekend. We stopped by Cupcakes which was a little on the "I gotta get used to these freaky combinations" sort of bakery with really stylishly decorated cupcakes. I loved the pear and pistachio flavors.

Ella and I hopped out to check out Angel Food Bakery and it's vintage collect-all atmosphere. They are known for their Boston Cream Pie cupcake (shown with red sprinkles). I now know why. YUM!

We happened to drive by a bakery on our way home and I bought Alec a Blue Fishy cupcake. He seems to be loving it here.

Love...true love...

2007-10-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

I just had to share this dang funny e-mail poem Brady wrote me today. He called in the middle of poopville celebrating screamfest. He is such a smart little keister.

Brady:
"I'm sorry that you are sad today. I will write you a poem about my true love...

Marriage...
Marriage is what brings us... together... today...
Kids...
Kids are what bring us... together... today...
Work...
Work is what seperates us... today
Fun...
Fun is what brought us... together... 3 years ago...
Future...
Future is what will be so fun...later
Love...
Love is what... I have today.. for you...
Smile...
Smile.. is a word you hate...
Smirk...
Smirk is what you have on your face... right now...
Bad Day...
Bad Day is what you were having... before this email...
Love...
Love is what.. I have yesterday... today... and always... for you.

Little Sweetheart.

2007-10-02T07:56:00.001-07:00

Even though she is pretty fussy for a few hours a night, she really is a sweetheart. She is totally cool with just hanging out, but she LOVES when you'll talk to her.

SHHHH!!!

2007-10-01T15:10:00.001-07:00

Alec seems to have only one volume. So he knows exaclty what this means. Only this time.... it was to keep me on the stairs while he went to wake up Ella! This picture is probably the third day in a row he wore that Spiderman shirt. He'd wait by the dryer every morning for it so he could put it back on. Heaven help us.

Ava Lynn Asay

2007-09-25T08:34:00.001-07:00

Baby Ella is Home!

2007-09-06T14:04:00.000-07:00

The holiday weekend turned bad when Brady found Ella blue laying on our bed Friday night. We'd just gotten home from catching our own trout for dinner and after 500 tests at the hospital found out that little Ella had choked on her own reflux. Luckily the only thing that took a hit was her liver that quickly recovered and after almost a week in the Ped's Intesive Care we went home with an apnea monitor and no sleep! But, we did have a little fun taking pictures in-between a CT Scan, MRI, EKG, EEG, Spinal Tap, Blood Culture, Urine Culture, Mucus Culture, Urinalysis, 24 PH Study, Apnea Study, Chest X-RAY, Video Swallow, Upper GI and 3 failed IV's. Bless little Ella's heart!

Experiment

2007-08-30T13:29:00.000-07:00

Jamie and I talked today about experimenting with photos. I love how this turned out of Alec!

Zoo!

2007-08-29T19:48:00.000-07:00

Let me just say that we gotta keep the kid busy. Ella and I were there too. But we opted out of the photos.

Ella!

2007-08-24T15:14:00.001-07:00

Stick...her!

2007-08-24T14:13:00.000-07:00

I die laughing everytime i look at this picture. Alec already had 3 stickers adorning little Ella's head before I noticed his little sneaky adventure. He was so happy and a little suprised when I found it so funny and let him continue his artwork.

Happy Anniversary Nana & Tata

2007-08-17T12:06:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary to the sweetest couple ever. These two beautiful people are the very best example of how we all would love to be. We love them so much and wish them the best year ever!

Little Devil Shea

2007-08-16T12:55:00.001-07:00

That little red headed devil shea tagged me and if she knew how often I respond she would never have done it, but what he heck I love Shea so Shea....this is for you!

4 jobs I've had:
• Graphic Designer for Heidi Swapp (Scrapbook Co.)
• Flagger (I was a true F-Chick)
• Hostess - China Lily
• Graphic Designer for 4 Life

4 movies I can watch over and over again:
• Elf
• Anything with Tom Hanks (Big etc.)
• You've Got Mail
• Count of Monte Cristo (?)

4 favorite TV shows:
• The Office
• 24 (Thanks Tanya)
• Spongebob
• Those are the only shows I watch.

4 favorite hobbies:
• Design (Anything creative really. )
• Photography (Brady keeps buying me equipment for my birthday. He plans on quitting and making me go back to work! Ha Ha.)
• Wedding Cakes (Thanks to Jamie's tips and tricks of course)
• Wake Boarding (Not that I'm any good but I sure do love to go once a year.)

4 places I've lived:
• Orem, Utah (East)
• Orem, Utah (West)
• Orem, Utah (1 block away from West.)
• Barrington, Illinois

4 places I've been on holiday:
• Europe 2 times with Shea (the perks of being single forever!)
• Cancun (Honeymoon & returned to climb the pyramid stairs at 7 months pregnant)
• New York (College Art Tour)
• Florida (With a bunch of friends right on the Beach)

4 favorite dishes/foods:
• California Pizza Kitchen's California Club Pizza
• Wingers Wings
• BBQ Ribs
• Peanut M&M's

4 websites I visit daily:
•Martha Stewart Weddings (Don't make fun. I love designing wedding stuff.)
•Pottery Barn Kids
•Blogs of everyone I know (I'm going to kill whoever got me sucked into blogging....MARISSA!)
• Everywhere else

4 places I'd rather be:
• At any roller coaster park
• York (at Betty's during Christmas time drinking proper hot chocolate.)
• New York
• San Diego on the beach

People I'm tagging---Jamie, Marissa, Michelle, Jessica

D&D

2007-08-13T12:36:00.000-07:00

I needed some pretty faces to practice couple shots with. Enter Dustin and Danielle!

Family Pic Time

2007-08-07T21:26:00.000-07:00

San Diego

2007-08-07T11:09:00.001-07:00

Ya gotta love these kids!
Some inner need for Disneyland took over my whole body this year and even though I didn't ride a single roller coaster, I loved every minute of the dang place! I think everyone went to appease me. But I love em for it. But I had at least two fans. Alec and Caden bawled after almost every ride not wanting to get off. In fact I actually had to pry Alec's fingers off of the carousel horse after the ride attendant asked us to leave!
We all had a blast at the beach!
Brady happened to find the manufacturer of Victoria Skim Boards...say no more!

Fast Friends

2007-07-22T16:39:00.001-07:00

These two have become fast friends. What more could a mom ask for!

More is more!

2007-07-12T21:49:00.001-07:00

Ella at 4 weeks. Alec at 6 months.

Picture this again...

2007-07-12T21:41:00.001-07:00

I'm addicted. I keep finding pictures I want to post. So from top to bottom. Alec and his first fish. He was 22 months. Brady is the proud father. Stevie is Alecs partner in wreaking havoc and the next two were during the pregnancy of Ella.

Picture this...

2007-07-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

Check out the photos.

The Gang

2007-07-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

Mom came to help after Ella was born and she brought her entourage with her! Mike, Marissa, Ang and Chelsey and don't forget Dad. It was his first vacation since Disneyland 1995.

Picture this...

2007-07-09T12:51:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a lot of chances to take pictures of little Ella. The family joke is Steve's comment to my mom when she couldn't get me to answer the phone. "Mom...she has two kids. She probably doesn't even know where the phone is!"

SWEEEETT!!!!

2007-07-08T12:52:00.000-07:00

We rocked out like white trash carnival rats yesterday at the Cary Days Festival. We went to satisfy the coaster urge I've had for 9 months but I caved and let Alec have most of my tickets! Ella seemed to love the stroller coaster and Brady almost hurled just watching.

2 Years Old!!

2007-07-06T07:13:00.000-07:00

Ever try to find the "right" time to take pictures of a 2 yr old?

Ella Kate

2007-07-03T15:17:00.000-07:00

Ella was born June 11th 2007. She has been a heaven send since she sleeps through the night already at just 3 weeks old. Alec loves her so much he sometimes finds it hard to resist literally smothering her with kisses. She is our sweet little miss!

Names

2007-04-14T05:34:00.000-07:00

We can't seem to figure out what to name the new baby girl. From her 3-D ultrasound we can see that she's definitely lucky enough to have Lisa lips and a little Ang nose. We have a few names we like, so we'll try them on when she's born and see which one fits!

Blogging

2007-04-13T15:30:00.000-07:00

Brady is actually the co-author of this blog since I am writing it for him, in his name. Hope he isn't mad that I created an account for him. - Mandy