Misfits

I have some pictures I love that don't really belong with any specific post, so here are my misfits...
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:Peyton has a cute little friend Carson. His mom Lisa and I are friends. She taught him to say "Peyton is my girlfriend." So adorable. This was them walking downstairs at a restaurant together. Darling.

Jade's first Mission President and his wife came into Portland and took us out to breakfast. My little girl has always been very social, but she fell in love with "Grandma Z" and "Grandpa Z" almost from the minute she met them. Right when we were all hugging, she flung herself out of Jade's arms and into Grandpa Z's. She wanted to sit by them and everything. Peyton has been loving "sink baths" again lately. I LOVE pictures with real smiles (not the usual hand in front of her face)

I just barely got this picture from my mom- it was from November but I loved it so much, so I'm posting it now.

Minute To Win It

Ever since our trip to Washington, D.C., when we were forced to watch actual TV (without DVR), Jade and I have liked the games on the show Minute to Win It. We don't really like the show itself, but the games are awesome, so we thought it would be really fun to throw a Minute to Win It party. So we threw a party for no special occasion at all, just so we could use that theme. It was so fun! We had 26 of our favorite friends/family members come over and we played 6 games, bracket-style until we had our champion. The party was so fun, and my only regret was that I couldn't compete in it! (Because that would have been like cheating since I knew all the games.)

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This was our opening round, to get on the bracket. "Face the Cookie": using only your face muscles, move a cookie from your forehead into your mouth. You had 3 tries to complete the challenge, and the fastest times won themselves a "bye" for a round. (If you're wondering why my daughter's toy tunnel was out, I did not forget to clean before the party- the "young-at-heart" guys were using the tunnel to sneak up behind people and put them into the tunnel. It was so hilarious to see- especially when Jon surprised the culprit, Justin, with a tunnel ambush. Payback!

Round 2: "CD Dominoes". This was one of my favorites, yet somehow I ended up with no pictures. Sad. The contestants were to line up 20 CD cases in a "U"-shape around a table. Once the cases were in line and spaced evenly, the contestant was to tap the first CD case, making the whole stack fall over, and the last case had to fall in a basket by the contestant's feet. Contestants went head-to-head, and whoever got the CD case in the basket first moved on to the next round.

Round 3: "Noodling Around". Using only an uncooked spaghetti noodle (no hands), contestants must pick up 6 pieces of penne pasta. If you dropped any, or if your noodle broke, you had to start over. Our contestants went head-to-head, and the winner moved on to the next round.

Round 4: "A Bit Dicey". Contestants must stack 6 dice one on top of another on a popsicle stick being held in their mouth. Contestants were not allowed to touch the stick to help with balance. Each time the dice dropped, the contestant had to start over. The contestants went head-to-head and the first one to complete the challenge moved on to the championship round!

Round 5: "Can-tageous". Contestants start out with 3 empty soda cans in one hand, 3 full cans in the other. Stacking the cans on top of each other, the contestant must switch all 6 cans to the opposite hand than they started with. This was our championship round, and the one Jade was most excited about. We tried this ourselves the day before the party, and were totally unsuccessful, but after watching several YouTube videos of people successfully completing this challenge, we thought for sure someone would get it. After 15 minutes of our final 4 trying, we decided to change the game a little and have them switch just 2 empty cans and 2 full cans. That worked better, and almost everyone was able to do it under one minute. 1st, 2nd and 3rd places were determined by fastest time.

Our completed bracket:

1st prize got a really cute little cookie, 2nd prize got Whoppers, and 3rd prize got (Milk) Duds.

Here was our winner, Spencer, showing off his prize.

A Pattern...

I looked back in my blog archives and noticed a pattern- every year I have tons of posts Oct-Dec and then not a single post until the end of January or beginning of February. I guess I'm just on holiday cool-down.

Here's what we've been up to during my hiatus...

We celebrated New Year's with the Thelin clan (minus Jerai and Phil, plus Nathan and Jessica- Jade's cousin and her husband who is also Ashley's brother). It was so fun. We started off with dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant, Juan Colorado, then we headed downtown to see an improv comedy show at Comedy Sportz. There were 6 comedians- 2 were bad but 4 were good, so it ended up being pretty funny. We got some good laughs. Then we all went back to Justin and Ashley's for dessert and to watch the countdown and have a toast. We had a great night, and we were happy to ring in the new year with each other and our family!

Over Christmas while we were in Las Vegas, our friend Bryce (who set Jade and I up) and his wife Nicole (who we set him up with) stayed at our house. They stayed after the holidays for Bryce's sister's wedding. We had so much fun with them here. We even recreated both of our first dates- at Macaroni Grill. We want them to come visit again.

After New Year's we started to get our life back to the normal routine. Peyton started her 2nd term of ballet and gymnastics. She loves going, and she talks to me about Miss Katie and Coaches Tasha and Alec all the time. It is so fun for me to watch her start to learn little things. We've been going to our favorite indoor play places- Munchkin Playland, OMSI, Pump it Up, Jr. and Bliss (for cupcakes), trying to stay busy and avoid the winter cabin fever. We've had lots of playdates with our friends. I cashed out on my birthday present from Jade and got a massage and a facial. It was so relaxing. What a great birthday present!

My girlfriends and I had a big girls' night out. We went to dinner, saw the movie Country Strong and then everyone who wasn't too tired went out afterward for a snack (of course that means me since I am such a night-owl). It was a really fun night. Jade and I went out with our friends Frank and Lacie for Jade's and Frank's birthday, which is on the same day. We went to a restaurant they both love; Outback (this is I think the 4th straight year we've gone there on Jade's birthday). There was a 13 year old boy there with his parents, sitting across from us. His parents brought a big cake from home for him to have after dinner, and when they were singing Happy Birthday to him, we all joined in, then we talked to him for a few minutes about how all 3 of the guys shared the same birthday. Later on, his parents sent 4 big pieces of chocolate cake over to our table. It was so nice of them (and the cake was good!) Last Sunday we celebrated my nephew Gabe's and Jade's birthday with family dinner at our house. It was kind of chaotic, but so fun; especially for Jade, who got his favorite German Chocolate Cake made with love by his mom.

Happy 29th birthday, honey. (I can hardly believe this will be his last year in his 20's!)

Jade and I at New Year's Eve dinner.This picture makes me laugh. It was supposed to be our "silly" picture, but no one knew quite what to do. Nathan's head was cut off in every single picture.My girl still loves to play in my shoes.I love this picture. My friend Brittney babysat Peyton for me while I was getting my hair done. She sent me this picture on my phone. Peyton and Peyton are so cute! My mom pointed out something funny: they are a lot like me and my best friend growing up- Jordan Mitchell. Jordan was blond and fair, and I was darker, like Peyton. So I looked through my pictures to find one of us close to their age. It's funny- they do remind me of us! Also, I think Peyton looks just like me (I was about 6 months younger than her in this picture).Last old picture... This was me and my daddy sharing a nap. When I saw this I did a double-take. It looks just like Peyton.There is a really funny story behind this picture. Peyton was watching me put together our 2010 blog book, and she was looking at the pictures of Jade and I in Washington, D.C. She asked me what they were, and I reminded her about Jade's and my vacation this summer. She said "I want to go on vacation." I told her we would go to see Noni soon (soon is relative). She said "Okay. I go pack me bags." I heard her roll her little suitcase past my office, thud it up every stair, and since her room is above my office, I could hear drawers opening and shutting. Eventually I went to see what she was doing, and I saw that she had indeed packed her bag. Full of books. She's a girl after my own heart. Maybe I should get her a Kindle! She also was looking in her box of too-small clothes to find the perfect outfits to bring. So cute! Now, we all know how much I love my baby Tink. What no one realizes is that Jade is just as obsessed with her as I am. He coddles her and treats her like a little princess. It is actually pretty cute, coming from such a manly-man as my husband. This is usually how she greets him when he comes home from work: with a full-on hug, lasting for about 2-3 minutes. Seriously.

Peyton is my very favorite ballerina!

Birthday Boys!

Cute Texts

I rescued my old cell phone and decided to copy some of the cute texts that Jade (and one from my mom) sent me:

Momma- I watch you mother and I am SO PROUD of you! You are a fantastic mom :) Happy Mother's Day I love you

Jade- You are the hottest mom in the world!

You are such a great mom! Peyton is so lucky! Thanks for being such an awesome mom!

You have the best smile! I love it!

Your eyes are so pretty. I can't wait to stare into them on Thursday!

You have the hottest body!

Thanks for being such a great wife!

You are amazing!

I love your blonde hair! You look so hot when you have your hair done straight!

Your teeth are so straight, unlike you. I love looking at your white teeth.

You are so beautiful!

I love cuddling with such a hot woman!

I miss not waking up next to the woman of my life!

I can't wait to give you a big hug and kiss!

You are so gorgeous!

I can't believe how lucky I am to have married a woman way above my league!

I bet all other guys are so jealous of me because my wife is way hotter than theirs!

I love it when we cuddle and hang out just like the olden days!

I can't wait for our DC trip when I can show everyone how hot my beautiful wife is!

You are certainly my trophy wife although you are way hotter and smarter than all other trophy wives!

You are so smart and I love how you have good looks to go with that!

You have the sexiest stomach I have ever seen!I love just looking at it and admiring it!

You are so sexy!

You are so stunning that sometimes I don't believe that I am married to you!

How did I get so lucky to have ended up with such an all around amazing wife?

You are the real deal! Intelligence, beauty, awesome personality, and great smile make you one incredible woman!

You are one in a million!

Hope you had a good night's sleep. You must have been in bed when I called. I miss you tons and am counting down the days to see you! I love you so much!

I miss my girls! Hope you two are having a bunch of fun! I love you!

Driving home just now I caught a glimpse of the date... Happy birthday, my gorgeous girl. I love you.

Hope you are having a great day. I can't wait to see my beautiful wife and cute little girl when I get home!

Just thinking about how hot my pretty wife is! Hope you are having a good day!

I miss you too and I love you more than anything!

Only 21 hours till I get to give you a big kiss! I love you!

You are so pretty! I love being married to a woman who is so hot!

Hope you had a good flight. I miss my girls already! I love you!

Other Christmas-y Things

When I was in Las Vegas, I was able to go visit my oldest friend that I still talk to on a regular basis- Alicia, who I've been friends with for over 10 years. She just had her first baby, Colton Danger (her husband always wanted to name his first son danger, so she compromised on the middle name). He was born on Dec. 15th, so he was a week and a half old when I met him. He was an absolute doll! I got to hold him for 3 hours straight! I sure do love babies. Surprisingly he didn't make me baby hungry, but my mom said that was only because Alicia had a horrible labor and delivery story that I got in full detail.

Peyton met Santa at our ward party. She was so excited to see him that when she heard him come in, she sprinted in front of everyone in line and tried pushing her way onto his lap. One of the cute young men in our ward caught her and she asked him to stand in line with her- and he was so sweet and held her in line for 10 minutes. It was really sweet of him! Of course she didn't smile for the camera.We're watching our friends' dog, Scotty while they're on vacation. He's such a cutie!Jade and I fill stockings for each other every year. We didn't bring them to Vegas for Christmas, so this year we opened them on Dec. 29th. Highlights include: addition and multiplication flashcards for me (because Jade thinks he's hilarious and sometimes my math isn't what it should be for a college-educated woman who graduated with high honors and got into one of the top Universities in our country), lots of gum for Jade because he ALWAYS steals my gum out of my car, new popcorn cups for Jade since he and his friends always pop popcorn in our popcorn machine and have popcorn and M&M's while they watch games in our theatre, 100 Benadryl tablets for me since I have such bad allergies and a 24-pack of Natural Ice chap-stick for Jade (it's his favorite kind and they don't carry it at any of the stores around here).

Christmas Day

We had such a great Christmas! It's sometimes hard for me to remember that since my siblings are teenagers, I can expect a little eye-rolling, fighting, loud annoyed sighs, and a lot of iPod/cell phone time. This Christmas I tried really hard to remember that they are teenagers and they are going to act like it, and that eventually they will grow out of it. Probably in 10 years- just in time for Peyton to be a teenager. It's just so different from what I'm used to with Jade's family- everyone is married and has children and actually enjoys spending time with each other. Someday.

We did the traditional Christmas morning: we lined up on the stairs youngest to oldest, and walked down (while my mom films) to the living room where the Christmas lights are on, the fire is glowing, and Amy Grant is playing. We opened our stockings and then took turns opening presents (everyone took turns except Peyton, who was spoiled rotten and got lots of presents). Peyton was obsessed with her stocking. She carried it around like a baby doll. Then we had a delicious breakfast and after we cleaned up a little bit, we put Peyton down and then we all took a nice long nap. When we woke up, we went in the hot tub had hot chocolate, something Peyton had been begging for since she tried it the night she decorated her Christmas tree. We were supposed to go see a movie with some friends, but they flaked out last minute, so we ended up driving around for a hour and a half trying to find somewhere to eat. None of us wanted fast food, and all the good restaurants had special Christmas menus that sounded gross to at least one person in the family. So we ended up going to a pub by my mom's house and having a surprisingly delicious dinner! Then we went home and played games until we crashed.

It was a great Christmas for us, surrounded by people we love and trying to teach our little one the real reason we celebrate this blessed day.

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Sleepy Jade and Peyton waiting for all the grouchy teenagers to come get in line.Peyton adopted her Aunt Cheyanne this trip. She's of course always loved her, but this time she glued herself to Chey's hip. Cheyanne helped Peyton open her stocking.Peyton LOVED her stocking. She carried it around all day and would dump everything out and then put everything back in. It was so cute.My mom made all the kids close their eyes while she hid their 2010 ornaments on the tree for them to find. Peyton was cheating. Cheyanne gave Peyton a 4' tall playhouse that she can color on. Peyton was very excited about it.

"I have CDO. It's like OCD, but all the letters are in order like they should be." Luckily I'm not that bad... yet.Jade got a Superman Snuggie from my sison Jamie. My mom made books for each of my siblings, my grandpa and myself of letters people sent to us about my daddy. There are 120 letters in each, so the books have taken her a long time to make. All my siblings, my grandpa and obviously my mom has a book, and I was so happy to finally get mine! Horrible picture of me, but my usually quite handsome brother looks like a total goober in this picture, so I had to put it on here. Chaz says he's number one. My mom says Chaz is number two.

Opening up my gift from Jade:

GARTH BROOKS TICKETS!!!

I was freaking out. Funny story- My mom and Jade, separately- both bought me Garth Brooks tickets for the same exact night (he has 15 shows). Luckily my mom figured it out and they were able to cancel one of their orders. So Jade gave me and my mom tickets to the concert and my mom gave me a Kindle. SO happy.

Peyton gave my mom a 2010 brag book. My mom read it with her while she emptied and refilled her "scocking".

My mom gave Peyton a play kitchen. We had it covered with a blanket and when Peyton started to get antsy while we were all opening our gifts and chatting, we let her unveil it. She was so excited about it!

Later on, she took off her pants and put on a pair of my new ski socks.

Cheyanne brought Peyton her hot chocolate and she rewarded Chey with a rare unsolicited kiss.

She chugged it, and then finished off Jade and JC's hot chocolates too.