A Bad Sweater Birthday!

If you are celebrating your 30th Birthday in Style - You Better Be Wearing an Ugly Sweater!


We had a Hideous Holiday Sweater Party for Jody's Birthday. Here are the boys showcasing off their fashionable sweaters.
Roommate Jeff, KC, Jody, Brother Jeff & Josh.


The Girls! Chiante, Janelle, Nahla & Lacey, Brittany and Sally.
My mom let me borrow this amazing snowman vest, wreath broach and Christmas Tree earrings. The mistletoe turtleneck is mine...I actually wore it back in 7th grade.


The cake is an Ugly Sweater. Not my best work...but goes with the theme of bad sweater. Notice the classy snowflake in the middle.


Do you have any pictures like this stuffed in a box somewhere? Think Wal-mart or Sears Photo 1989...


The Birthday BOY!!


Our White Elephant Gifts!


The Back to Back Pose. Classic.


Josh and Janelle are looking so good. Check out Janelle's sweater vest...yes, there are barn animals on it!


Happy Birthday Jody. We love you.

Sesame Street was Brought to You By the Number 2...

...And the Letter of the Day is "G".


I made her an "Elmo" cake. It's the first cake I've ever decorated, and maybe that's why Elmo turned out pink - not red. (I color corrected it in the picture below - but as you can see in the above picture - Elmo was really Pretty in Pink!) Gracie didn't seem to mind, and we just called the cake "Elma" all day anyway! :)


Gracie turned two on Thanksgiving this year. I can't think of a more perfect day for us to celebrate the blessing she is in our lives!


She was really excited to blow out her candles on this cake that Jody made for her.


Gracie had a few days of celebration. We spent Thanksgiving day with Grandma & Papa Tait and family.


Then on Saturday, we put on our eye patches and pirate hats and celebrated at Pirate Island with the Wiscombe Crew.


We played lots of games in the arcade and sharpened our shooting skills...


Gracie grew quite fond of the blue elephant, and rode the carousel until our tokens ran out...


Celebrating Gracie's 2nd Birthday has made me reflect on the past two years. It hasn't always been a breeze...


Thanks for hanging in there Gracie! :)

Dear Gracie,


We have come a long way. Both your father and I never knew how much love we could have for a 7 lb 4 oz package of joy. You have made our lives so happy. We are humbled that Heavenly Father has let us have the remarkable opportunity to be your parents. We love how you always wave to everyone and have a friendly smile to give. We love how you enjoy dancing and giving hugs. You make us better people. We love you. Happy 2nd Birthday Sweetheart!


Love, Mommy and Daddy

What Do You Think?

I haven't had bangs since 1994. And even before that, when I was too young to have any control, my bangs seriously started halfway back on my head and fluffed into a giant round piece of cauliflower out of my forehead. Not really good memories for me.

However, my husband has wanted me to try out a new 'do' for some time now...more specifically BANGS! So I did it. What do you all think?

STRIKE!

During the Thanksgiving Break, I got together with some wonderful friends for a night of bowling - Just us Girls. Life gets so hectic, and time is so precious...so we don't do these get-togethers very often. However, they are always a riot when we do!


My score didn't quite make it to 100. I'm not the most amazing bowler...so when I got a Strike - everyone in the Bowling Alley knew it from my celebration dance.

Back to You...

We went from Fall Weather to Winter Snow over the weekend. Below is a link to the story I did on Saturday. The real story is HOW many layers I had under that coat...Brrrr.

**Snowstorm Creates Messy Roads For Drivers

A Time to be Scary...A Time for Treats!

Trick or Treating with Gracie, this year, was so memorable. As we were walking down our neighborhood sidewalk, hand in hand, I really wanted to just freeze the moment. "This is what it's all about", I thought. She was SO excited about EVERYTHING. She was just jabbering away. "Moon"..."Pumpkin"..."Spider". I really enjoyed watching her toddle to each house in her LION costume. (It was a tad bit warmer than the Alice in Wonderland Dress.)


I just loved her in this "Alice" dress!


We attended our church ward party where we enjoyed some chili, cornbread and Trunk-Or-Treating. We are standing behind one of the homemade "Houses" attached to some one's trunk. People had fog machines, pumpkins, the works...every decoration imaginable dotting their "trunks". I must have missed that memo...We had Candy. And that's what counts. Right?


On Halloween night, we had a visit by some Spooks (AKA my parents and Michael)


Michael was a Blind Referee, my Dad was a Biker and my Mom dressed up like a Witch. They looked great. My Dad looked completely legit. I guess he went into a gas station after stopping at our house. The guy behind the counter said, "Nice Costume." My Dad replied, "What Costume?" :)


The fun just continued. We headed up to a Halloween Bash hosted by Kylene & Greg. Here we are with our Good Friends, Josh & Janelle.


Janelle made a good looking pirate...and I am rocking my Cheshire Cat costume... thanks to Jody sewing on the giant pink circle on my shirt. Very cat-like. Yes.


And then there was the doughnut eating contest. Jody showed off his skills.


Hilarious.


If the string hadn't been way out of reach for a majority of the race...I think I could have taken home the prize. Look at these pictures. I'm really putting forth an effort here...Janelle is just nibbling and laughing at me.

Her Dream Has Come True...

Today she was Elmo. You can tell by the HUGE smile that it doesn't get much better than this!


All of the children in Gracie's Kindermusik class dressed up today for some singing, dancing and of course Trick Or Treating. I love this group picture because it's like she's making some casual plans with the little boy next to her... "So where are you headed after you finish your juice box?"

A 'Wonderland' of Halloween Fun!

Who doesn't love a Halloween Costume Party?! We went with the "Alice in Wonderland" Theme for Costumes this year. Gracie really liked wearing her 'Alice' dress. Jody made a superb Mad Hatter, and I was the Cheshire Cat!


We had a blast hosting our Halloween Dinner Bash. We have never had a Gorilla, a Hunter, a Baby Monkey, some Zombies, Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, a Doctor and a Magical Fairy...with a side of Summer Santa, Raggedy Ann & a little Frog...in our home all at once!


We split into teams and played Trick or Treat Fear Factor! Here Lindsey, Josh & Jody are showcasing their gummy worm eating talents!


The food was festive and tasted great. My mom always made a Halloween Stew and cooked it in a Pumpkin when I was growing up. Jody and I have carried on the tradition. Lindsey decorated these darling cupcakes!


Jody tried (and tried) to talk me into being a family of Gorillas. Here he is showing off What Could Have Been....(Sigh)


The Homemade Root Beer was delicious...and Gracie definitely had her share. She started crying when Chad carried the jug of goodness out the door. She was sobbing, "Beer...Beer..." Slightly traumatic...but what was even more drama was her bouncing off the walls while the sugar wore off. (I guess it's just getting us ready for all the treats on Halloween Night!)


THriLleR!!

It's been years, because we were living in Montana, since I've seen the Dance Production of "Thriller" up at Kingsbury Hall. It did not disappoint. I went with a bunch of friends who see me at my worst at 6 a.m. for aerobics. We had so much fun!


I asked the zombies to please duck down...as there were some shorter people in the back...they didn't listen...in fact they just growled at me afterward. Scary!

Harvest Fun!

There is so much to love about this time of the year. That crisp feeling in the air, the beautiful colors that emerge on trees and bushes, football mania, awesome sweater weather & pumpkins!!


We took Gracie to the Cornbelly Festivities at Thanksgiving Point. It was a hit! The "Cow" theme seemed to be strung throughout the fair. Here we are relaxing on the Cow Bench.


Gracie had places to go rather than stick around for another picture with Mom and Dad.


Jody and Gracie went for a wild ride down the BIG slide!


She's a chicken nugget kind of a girl...but once she laid eyes on that foot-long corn dog - it was game over. No one else got a bite!


Still Eating...


We went for a bumpy ride, sandwiched inside a cow car.


LOVE for the Cow.


All in all - a wonderful way to spend our Saturday together as a family. Gracie enjoyed jumping in the bouncy castle at Pumpkin Princess Land...and it was quite the scene getting her out of the castle. Those bouncy houses are 'kid traps'...once they go in...they never want to come out...and the hole to crawl in to retrieve your child is about as big as watermelon...so unless you are a gnome or a leprechaun (which thankfully, I'm close to that height) Good Luck seeing your kid again! :)

Gracie is pretending not to know us in this picture.

179th LDS General Conference Concludes

I had the magnificent opportunity to cover LDS General Conference this past weekend. It was truly eye-opening to sit in the Media Room and watch conference from an inside perspective. It was exciting to cover the announcement of the 5 new temples. Enjoy the two news stories below. (You can click on the small square below the monitor to make it full screen.)

***Five New Temples Announced At LDS Conference

I interviewed many people, many of them had spanned the world to come to conference and listen to Church Leaders speak. It was very touching. The first lady I interviewed, in the story below, grew up in Samoa and has lived in Japan for the majority of her life...I got chills listening to her speak about her experience. Just click on the link below, and enjoy watching me get drenched in the rain.

***179th LDS General Conference Concludes