boo hoo hoo hoo hoo,

i'm blue

...

seriously, max hall, what's up?

...

next years guys, next year.

"we've got spirit, how 'bout you!?"

to get ready for the BIG game

my cousin's hosted the

1st annual byu/utah game day breakfast.

the boys were playing a mock byu/utah game...

eating and mingling
lots of casseroles to go around.
my egg one was not too big of a hit with the kids, but i loved it!
oh lety,
please forgive me for posting this picture of your husband!!!
the "most team spirit" award.
yes folks, rourke is a true blue fan.
he shaved his chest hair in a "Y"
and then painted it blue.
bree, wilder, brennan, me
awww, see, utah fans and byu fans really can get along;-)
the boys talking about the big game...
"if so and so can put pressure on so and so...i hope pitta plays...
our offense this, our defense that..."
you know, stuff like that...
our little
cougar blue family
both sides had a chance to sing their team's fight song

we won an award for

"best singers!"

lalalala..

this was our award:

(thanks andrea)

like crafts like this?
click here to see more!

...

go beat 'em cougs!!!

sink graduation

this is an exciting day folks...

i've graduated to the "big boy bath."

pretty fantastic don't you think?!

...

and for those of you who have been with us since our first try in the big boy bath we'd like you to know there were no "lobster incidents," and mom didn't even have to check my lungs with dad's stethoscope after!

we know,

it's a good day.

nie nie update: home in utah

click here for the latest and greatest article on stephanie & christian,

home in utah.

baby genius

my child is funny.

i know, all parents say this, but seriously, he is "above average funny."

exhibit A:

baby does not crawl

baby sees empty can of cocoa powder on baby gym

(look for yellow can near center)

baby wants can, but can't reach it

(b/c as i said baby cannot crawl)

so, baby pulls baby gym up in the air to roll can toward him...

baby gets can

baby plays with can
sadly, baby drops can & it rolls away

baby cries b/c he can't get toy & mom won't get it for him

baby stops crying and sees key toy

(again, yellow, but this time it is more to front/bottom of the picture)

baby pulls baby gym with even more force to get toy closer baby gets yellow key toy

conclusion: laziness is an intelligent process folks.

i have a baby genius.

seriously, don't you think you sometimes put in more work to not get off the couch or to not get out of the bed so you can stay on the couch or in the bed?

i do this.

sometimes i will ask sean to close the closet door (b/c it's on his side of the bed, and i don't like it be open when i sleep). he will scoot to the very edge of the bed, use his toes to latch onto the handle, holding his breath, and then pushes the door to close it. all so he won't have to get out of bed. i have been known to make fun of the fact that he would have done less work by just getting up and out of bed to close it in the first place.

do you anything like this?

nie nie home in time for byu vs utah

this is how i sent my husband off to school today.

he called it,
"old school day 1."
tune in tomorrow for,

"old school day 2."

of course, he used some other fancy word for "old school" that i had never heard before and can't remember now. sorry dear.

also, i am still ALIVE and KICKIN' after not washing my grapes yesterday.

hmmm...

but, the most exciting news this morning...

(other than brennan sleeping past 6am for the first time since the time change)

was what i found on cjane's blog. cjane is stephanie nielson's sister. if you've read my blog at all in the past month you know that i have been following stephanie's story and even did a fundraiser of my own!

anyhoo, back to the

most exciting news:

stephanie and christian were transported

home to utah

yesterday.

i know.

exhilarating!

do you wash your grapes?

sometimes i wash my grapes.

but not always.

i have lived a pretty healthy life without washing my grapes.

yet i still feel like i should wash my grapes.

is running the cold water until they are all wet enough? (possibly 5 sec. max)

i know i am not willing to buy fruit and veggie cleaning solutions...

(and am smart enough not to use the tough & tender)

but i am willing to run the cool water over them b/c honestly, they taste better that way...

but is there really anything wrong with not washing them?

i'm pretty sure my grandma would tell me to wash them.

my mom would say, "nah."

i'm living on the edge today.

i didn't wash my grapes today.

check

in

tomorrow

to

see

if

i

lived.

love my new text? thank stacy from hmb!

...and click here to get it for yourself free:-)

this is my hubby and larry. larry crashed his ultralight airplane in september and miraculously lived. he just got the cast off of his ankle, so furture dr. gibson took the LONG walk next door ;-) to give mr. simpson some sPT advice. mr. simpson is getting surgery on his arm (casted in this picture) as we speaketh.
honey, seriously, you're so hot!
(even when you're touching people's feet)

thanks SO much to those of you who were able to attend the james ray fundraising event! it was wonderful to have been able to raise money for a good cause. i am working on additional fundraising events to come in the next few months, so keep your eyes peeled!

do you remember that christmas tree i blogged about last week? you know, the BIG one that is now making two christmas's merry? well, my good friend Aris found the story behind it, with all of the facts. click HERE to find out for yourself!

today's the BIG day!

that's right, it's FINALLY here!!!

tonight is the night folks, and i HOPE to see all of you there! if you haven't registered yet, you can still go to www.complete-wealth.com to register & attend.

$10 will be donated for your attendance, at no cost to you.

date: TONIGHT! (11.18.08)

time: 7-9pm

location:

South Towne Expo Center; Sandy, Utah

9575 S. State StreetSandy, UT 84070

i'll look for you at the entrance!

...

also today...

sean gets his fancy photo taken with the

scholarship donor!

we are SO proud of you love!!!

sports night, apparantly

i love the pheonix suns.

why you ask? this is why:

steve nash.

he is my very favorite player. this is my favorite move he does on the floor. i call it

"the back one-handed pass."

he is quick, small (for the nba), but fierce. he is

"nashy baby"

(as i refer to him).
let's change our flow to things i don't like about the suns. this week i have not liked matt barnes. matt is new to the suns and has not impressed me as of late.

barnes is screwing with my pheonix suns. last week he shoulder bumped a player on the rockets. nashy baby came in to beef, shaq came in to break it up (and with his pinky moved 10 people 5 feet), and the brawl continued. the whole game until then we were just "off." nashy baby was missing his shots, shaq was letting shots through.

immediately after barnes was ejected nashy baby sunk a half court shot

(yes, he was .5 seconds late, but he still made the shot). we don't just shoulder bump players. i mean, yes shaq's bum may get in the way sometimes, but come on his bum is big (no offense shaq, i love you too).

nashy baby, i still think you're the bomb.com.

keep up the hard work, and give barnes a

suns spankin'.

barnes, if you promise to stop shoulder bumping i will let you stay with the suns.

click HERE to watch the brawl

rivalry week

rivalry week

if you are not from utah, let me introduce you to the biggest rivalry west of the mississippi:

byu vs. utah

rooting for byu or utah is part of the culture in utah. i think it's on the residency application when you move here: who will you root for? byu or utah? j/k seriously, families, friends, and wards are divided every aug. when football season begins, sean doesn't even like me to dress brennan in red on sundays from aug.-nov. the winner of the last game of the season gets bragging rights for the rest of the year (and through the entire following season). byu has won the last two;-)

grown men turn into prank pulling boys, decorating utah houses with byu colors and vice versa. the news stations put aside any kind of unbiased journalism and let their team pick be known. it is hilarious. we are of course a byu family. sean's parents have had season tickets in cougar stadium for over 30 years. the amazing part is that they have only lived in utah for 10 of those years. the other 20 were spent in california. the family would pile into the car friday night, drive all night to utah, go straight to the game at cougar stadium, eat dinner with grandpa gibson to let the traffic die down, and then drive all the way back to california that night to make it to church the next day. crazy, i know, but these are true cougar fans.

i LOVE it.

there's something magical about the big white Y. all season we root for byu to win, but the most important game of them all is the last game of the season against utah.

go cougars!!!

meet & greet monday!

your eyes are groggy and you're back at the week again, it must be...

"meet & greet monday!"

today i have the pleasure of introducing you to one of the prettiest gals i know! i have known this dazzling beauty since high school.

ladies and gentlemen, friends and family,

"meet & greet"

Maeve Martin!

full name: Maeve Katherine Martin

age: 24

birth place: Montara, California

dwelling place: New York City (i know, oh so sheik)

favorite memory with me:

There's so many. I mean, is it Disneyland with the choir, the high school musicals, or football games? One of the coolest memories though well, other than seeing you pregnant, was when I was a freshman in college at Chico State and your Dad came and visited and we went out to Outback Steakhouse. He made us eat so much food.
profession: Actor

current play:

I'm on the National Tour of "In the Mood." It's a 1940s Big Band Musical Revue. There are four singers, two men, two women, and a dancing couple. I am one of the singers. We began rehearsals in Lynchburg, Virginia and have gone across the entire country since September. We finish up right before Thanksgiving.

(isn't her life so glamorous!!??!!)

this picture is from the show. maeve is on the right.

what is it about acting?:

I'm not sure, but after a BA and MFA in Musical Theatre I guess I'm pretty into it. To me it's about telling stories that can inspire, entertain and even change people's lives.

favorite play/musical you've ever been in:

oh that's hard. Ok, "Once Upon a Mattress." It was so fun and it was one of the first leads I had in a big theatre. "Stop Kiss" a play by Diana Son: This was really important to me artistically, and I felt like I was really giving certain people a voice.
your dream performance (past/present/or future):

I was in "Oklahoma!" two summers ago and it was a dream come true. I got to play opposite my favorite leading man (and boyfriend) Andrew, and I got to dance and sing in a show I have loved deeply since I was a little girl. I also got to play Nellie Forbush in "South Pacific" on the deck of the USS Midway in San Diego. That was pretty inspiring. In the future, I would love to play Lois in "Kiss Me Kate" and a million other roles.

favorite character you've played:

Laurey in "Oklahoma!" The entire experience was beyond amazing.
first play: Romeo and Juliet in 7th Grade English class. I was Juliet

biggest dream you haven't achieved:

Ummm...I'm very happy with where my life is currently and whatever opportunities arise I will be grateful for, but I do want a family in the future. I really want to be a wife and a mommy.

biggest dream you HAVE achieved

(knowing me doesn't count, j/k):

Getting my MFA in Musical Theatre. I still can't believe I made it through. Moving to New York to see what was out there for me.

cities you've performed in:

A lot. I had a great time these last two years working in San Diego. On this tour I've been in some great places and some not so great. My favorites have been Appleton and Eagle River, Wisconsin, Butte and Missoula, Montana, Portland and Bend, Oregon, and hopefully a few more before this tour is over.

in love?:

Yes :) I am dating my best friend in the world Andrew Smith, we met in graduate school

describe yourself in one word:

Goofy, or....sorry, one more, Loyal

this could be you, featured on "meet & greet monday!"

i did it!!!

and my dough rose:-)

the finished masterpiece
you can actually see the steam rising off of the bread in this pic, so awesome
seriously, melt in your mouth bread
it was so fun to do!
"i don't need no stinkin' bread maker!"

loves to your endeavours!
let me know what new fears you have faced:-)

i am afraid of bread.

not in the "i don't eat carbs way" ('cause boy, i eat carbs), but in the "i'm afraid to bake homemade bread" way. i've tried thrice before. the first time i think my yeast was out of date, so my dough wouldn't rise. the second time i had new yeast, but used the wrong water temperature, therefore killing the yeast, so my dough wouldn't rise. the third time i THINK i did everything right, but it was really cold in our apt, so my dough wouldn't rise. see a pattern? yes, i know, so complicated. if you are a veteran bread maker, as i'm sure many of your are, you know all of this (and might possibly be laughing). laugh, it is okay, i know, it is funny. i have a hand me down bread maker, but i don't have the instruction manual. i've been told i can get it online, but i really want to make it the old fashioned way. why? i don't know, it just sounds so cozy. "hey son, let's make some homemade bread together." so cute huh? well, i'm trying for a fourth time as we speaketh (well, when i get off this computer), so wish me luck, and check back later to see how my endeavours turned out!

how to:

(this stephanie nielson's recipe, btw...i don't do well without measurements, so we'll see...)

flour, salt, yeast, powdered milk, honey, canola oil
put my dough in the microwave to rise
punch down the dough, roll her out, make 2 loaves and ta da, delish bread
cook for 30 minutes at 350