Are You Ready...

... for a super long post? If you aren't ready, stop reading, because a storm's comin. I jest. It's not a storm really. This weekend Alex and I went to St. George with all of his friends. There were like a million people there, minus a lot. So like 25. But it was a blast! I took a total of 250 pictures in the short 4 days we were there, but I'm not going to post all of them. That would be too fun...or not fun, whichever. So we'll start from the beginning. First of all, Alex and I drove down on Friday after he worked a little. Traffic rocked. Seriously, we got there in record time. I had made a road trip mix on my iPod because some of the guys were going to drive down with us, but then they didn't, so I just played it for Alex. And I think I nailed it. But that's for a different post. Which I'll probably never do. But I digress. Tessa on the drive. She's the best to travel with because she just sits in the back and talks to herself, or watches movies. But never sleeps. It's creepy. And if you're wondering if that's a bowl of ham fried rice she's eating, it is. We love Chin Wah.

The first morning, Andy made everyone crepes. They were da bomb. Yeah, I know what I said.

This is Andy. He's a chef. And that's everyone eagerly awaiting their breakfast, since we had to wait for Andy to wake up to eat. And he's a late sleeper. We. were. starving.

Jake and his crepe. He was uber excited...as well he should be, they were delish.

Me and Emma. I've only actually been in the presence of this little gal twice, but she loves me and I love her. Well, I love her. I'm not sure how she feels about me. She liked me when I took her outside.

Nextly, we headed out to let the babies hang in the inflatable pool. Babies love pools.

Tessa, Emma, and Emmett. I'm not sure where Wes was. I never did get a picture with all of them actually in the pool, but I don't think they ever did. Emma really loved the hose. And Emmett loved everything else. Like being dry.

That's just a frog. And Heather's arm. Together.

Then, if that swimming wasn't enough, we headed over to Green Valley to swim some more. And do other awesome stuff. Like beat Mike at horse. That actually didn't happen this time, but it probably would have if we hadn't stopped playing. Or if someone had actually been able to make a basket or two.

At the kiddie pool. From the left: Kelly, Emma, Whitney, Alex, and Tessa. And random kid, down at the bottom. Kelly and Whitney (and Emma) live in California (or as I call it, Lamesville) and they drove on up to hang out with us. Particulary me, since Whitney's totally my bestie. Yeah, I went there. We text hug. This is Wes, and this was his first time swimming. He was indifferent. I kid, he loved it. I caught him in a moment of concentration.Tessa let me throw her tube over her head, and so when I finally made it, she fived me. We love swimming!

Tessa must have been looking at another camera.Tessa making out with Wes. Or choking him.Playing volleyball. Or not...I'm not sure what's going on here.Kelly's jump serve.

That' Alex. Remind anyone of Top Gun?Alex took Tessa on a walk by the Virgin River, and she loved it. This is one of about 30 pictures he took of her on the walk. They caught a lizard, but then realized it was dead. I'm sorry I missed it...

One of the nights we got Pizza Factory Pizza and I made cupcakes for everyone. Well, if you were wondering how many cupcakes Heather fit in her mouth and eat at once...

It's 3.

We also discovered something amazing on the trip, thanks to Kelly and Whitney. Lovingly known as Prison Uno, this game lead to the most beautiful night of most of our lives...

Kelly and Alex had a moment while shuffling. I don't even remember what happened. But I loved it. And so did Alex, obviously.

Tessa loves Steve. It's almost sad, because I think she'd rather hang out with him then me. Sad for him, try. (I love Tessa.)We were into it. I was probably trying to look at someone's cards, because that's how I roll. And everyone found out, so no one wanted to sit by me. But I'm fine with it.

At about 1 in the morning, we decided it had to be our last game. So Steve said, "If this is our last game, whoever ends with the most cards has to do something." So we decided they had to shove a bunch of gummy worms in their mouth and try to eat them. So on we played.

And Adam lost.

VIDEO FOOTAGE!!!!! Those sounds you hear in the background are Rebecca dry heaving. It was seriously gross. So I thought I'd share.

Little did we know, that Steve's suggestion about the last game of Prison Uno would lead to a whirlwind night of magic and wonder...I called it Food Challenge. I don't know what happened. It was like we were in high school again (not for me though, I never did this in high school.) It was disgusting and awesomely funny. So Steve, if you're reading this, you've changed our lives. And Mike, if you're reading this, pass that on to Steve, because I'm pretty sure he's not reading this blog...but you are.

I'm not sure if this is before or after they tried to eat these...I think it was before, since they don't look disgusted and the worms aren't slimy with their stomach juices.

Eating Marshmallows. I totally lost.

Steve ate a spoonful of Saigon Cinnamon.

And it made him sad.

Steve also ate about 30 gumballs. It was gross. He won almost every challenge.

Welp, those were really the main highlights of the trip-except for the three times we went to Cafe Rio, since they don't have it in California and Whitney needed some. It was way fun, and I got so many pictures that if I posted them all it would take forever. There were a lot of cute ones of the babies, but I figure I'll email those to their corresponding mom's and they can blog them, right? So Whitney, Heather, and Rebecca, get ready! Also, I got a bunch of awesome pictures of Mike...you know who you are. And let this be a warning...an awesome blog is coming. It's coming fast. And when you read it, your mind will be freaked.

Mommywood

Hey. So normally I don't really blog about books or movies or anything like that. I don't frown upon it, I just don't take time to let people know what I'm excited about or anything. Like did you know I was super jazzed about the new X-Men: Origins movie? Well, I was. And it was alright. But normally I don't feel the need to let people know my feelings. Until today. So last year my little sister let me borrow sTORItelling, by Tori Spelling. I finished it in about a day and a half. It was really that good. So when I found out her new book, Mommywood, would be released, I called Alex and begged him to get it for me. Well he's a pretty good listener. I received this book for Mother's Day, and I just finished it today. It. Is. Awesome. I recommend it, especially if you're a mom. If not, still read it, because she's pretty funny. I need to become famous so I can befriend her. I'm working on it...

Also, I blogged about this because I didn't really have anything else to write about, and it's been almost 2 weeks. People must miss me!

Birthdays Shmirthdays, Right?

Yes. It's my birthday. But who cares, when Wicked is in town? That's a rhetorical question, no need to answer... today we got to celebrate the ol' 24th with some dinner at Acme Burger Company and Wicked!! Let me just say, if you are lucky enough to have gotten tickets to this, you will LOVE it. If you weren't lucky enough, I feel so bad for you...Sorry Leslie (but thanks for watching Tessa). Anywho, it was a way fun night, complete with goody bags courtesy of my mom!

This picture is Alex's thoughtful idea...I had just woken up and despite what you may think, it takes work to get as beautiful as I usually appear. That's why I'm covering my face...plus I was yawning.

Opening presents at dinner. For some reason, I cheesy smiled everytime. I don't know what came over me! It must be the fact that I'm one year closer to renting a car. Cecily and Zach were excited too.

Goody Bags! The girls got High School Musical and the boys got Star Wars. Or as I called it, that Transformers movie.

WICKED. This was us in front of the background, but you can't tell...

It was the best b-day ever! Mainly because my dad was in town. Inside joke...so funny.

The Graduate

No, I'm not talking about that Dustin Hoffman movie. I'm talkin 'bout my mom. She totally graduated the hell out of BYU this weekend. Oh, I meant heck... So the graduation is a two day event. On Thursday, she graduated from the University. Then, on Friday morning, she graduated from the College of Humanities, on account of her being an English Lit major. She was so excited, she planned out her outfits weeks in advance, and she even bought matching shoes...for every single outfit. It was adorable. So we got to hang in Provo for two days, just being proud of our mom. Here are the pics:

Just waiting to graduate.

People kept taking pictures in front of the trees. So we thought, When in Rome...if you don't know the rest of that quote, it's do as the Romans do.

My proud dad. He was so excited that he got her these flowers. He also got her a dozen roses and left them in the hotel room for her. Yeah, we stayed overnight. It's a long drive.

Proud sisters. We're all looking at different cameras.

Proud son in laws. This was on Thursday and my brothers and their wives were all working/out of town. So they got to come down for the Friday graduation ceremony, not this one. But I don't have a picture of that. I'm sure Cessy and/or Cailey will have some more pictures.

After the Thursday ceremony, we went to take my mom's picture by Brigham Young. Not the real Brigham Young, silly. He's dead. This was the statue. I don't have a picture of that, but I do have a picture of Cailey and Devon rolling down this massive hill.

This is so inappropriate.

My mom waiting for her diploma.

My dad, being proud and taking pictures.

She finally graduated!!

Anyway, that was the happenings of the ceremonies. It was great-we're all so proud of our mom. She graduated before all of us, and we've all been going to school for longer. (Except Ces and Alex, they graduated last year.) It was lots of fun too. Hopefully Cessy and Cailey will post more pictures, because I know thaty got some winners.

Funny=Tessa

So this is just a quick funny story about my baby girl. So every night I say to Tessa, "Time to go to bed." And she says, "I don't wanna go to bed," to which I reply, "Well, you have to." I know. I'm pretty wise. If you want to nominate me for Mother of the Year, I'll totally accept. Anyway, last night I say to her, "Ok Tess, time for bed!" (this was at 11:00 pm. Mother of the Year.) And she said, "I don't wanna go to bed," then immediately she said, "Well, I have to." She's a genius child. It may have been funnier if you were there, but you weren't. It was only me and Alex. So too bad for you.

I Totally Ran the Salt Lake Marathon...

...5K. Did you think I could really run 26 miles? Silly you. But seriously, I didn't even think I could do 3 miles, or whatever a 5K is. But I did it. Yesterday my sisters, mom, and Zach met down with all the other marathoners at 7:30 am and ran our little hearts out. Well, my mom and Zach ran their hearts out, followed by Cecily-who ran most of the time, then Cailey and me, who walk/ran/jogged, but mostly walk-jogged. It was tough stuff and today my legs don't work right. Alex thought it was funny because "it was only 3 miles" and I was like, "3 miles of hell is more like it." I'm totally proud of myself though, and my fam. This isn't a very funny post...I'll think of funnier things for next time.

Waiting to start the race...we totally made friends with the women behind the camera. They were A-dorable.

Our running shoes. You'll notice that our time chips were attached to our shoelaces. Technology. (Time chips track your time, for those who don't know.)

After we finished. It was like Saved by the Bell. Not the college years or the years with Tori (remember her? She always wore a leather jacket. She was pre-Kelly Kapowski.)

Easter Shmeester, Bring on My B-day

Ok, so I don't mean that. I love Easter. When else in the year are you going to get giant peanut butter and chocolate bunnies? No, I'm not refering to my boo. Ha. Anyway, this week was a super busy one. First off, (sound the trumpets) Alex and I had our 4 year anniversary! I know, right? I didn't think we'd ever see this day either. I didn't take any pictures of it, but it was way fun. We take turns planning our anniversary events and it was Alex's this year, so we went to dinner at Tsunami and then went to see Haunting in Connecticut. It. Was. Awesome. I loved it. I know it seems a little odd to go see a scary movie on my anniversary, but if you think that's weird then you must not know me...so stop reading my blog....I'm obviously kidding. Read on stranger, read on.

The rest of the week was non eventful. So onto the weekend.

Every year, Alex's mom and Zach's mom (who live next door to each other) have a huge neighborhood Easter egg hunt for all of the kids. And it's the best. People who haven't lived in their circle for 20 years come back with their grandkids to be apart of this spectacle that is the Easter egg hunt. They hide tons and tons of eggs and then they have a big breakfast for everyone afterwards. Tessa finally caught on this year that there are things inside of the eggs, so she had a good time.

All the kids that participated. Tessa and Stone are on the end...they don't want to conform to the "group shot".

Tessa got into it. She found every egg that we pointed out to her.

After the great hunt, as I so lovingly call it, we dyed eggs with Alex's family. This too was a new thing for Tessa, and she loved it. Luckily Leslie (alliteration) helped her out, or there would have been drastic repercussions.

Trying to dye a plastic egg. Silly Tessa.Her finished product. You can't see her other hand, but it's the same color as this egg.

Every year it gets to this point. Someone writes on the counter with dye (I believe it's usually Leslie...not to name names or anything). But this is the outcome. Keep in mind this is only half of the counter.

Then, that night we went to Alex's friend Andy's house to play rock band with Mike, Steve, Andy, Brock, and Danielle. Tessa loves it.

She always says, "Lets rock!" And we do.

Then the next day was actually Easter. Of course we had to get Tessa all dressed up for church, where she stayed in nursery the entire time. She actually asked me to leave her there. I sort of cried.This is her in her Easter outfit. I put it on her and she asked me if she was Cinderella. So I said no, because I don't think it's right to lie.

After church, we went over to my dad's office, because as you may know, he's a CPA, so he was working. My mom and my aunt Darci (who is my age, or close) decided to take them over some lunch. They set up a little egg hunt around the office complex, and we had some good food. It was way fun. I think it might be a new tradition, unless they make taxes obsolete. Which I think Obama could do. Go Democrats!This is Tessa in her casual Easter outfit. She has a lot of clothes. Those shoes were white and then Alex's mom Mindy dyed them...how awesome is that? And I'm not sure why she was posing like that. She did it in like four pictures.Hanging with the big kids after the egg hunt. Just checking out their loot, as I've heard it called.

Then-are you getting tired yet?- we headed up to the park by Alex's grandparents house, where they roll eggs. If you've never heard of this tradition, it's ok. Apparently it's only them that does it. We found that out whilst in the act. There is a cute little park up there with slides and stuff, and Tessa mastered the ladder. She just kept climbing up it and sliding down, then running around to climb again. She's like a monkey. Or rock climber.

This picture should be on one of those posters that are supposed to be self esteem boosters. Determination. Or Fearlessness. You decide.Alex and I aren't sure what was happening in this picture. It was a really long day, a lot of stuff happened. I think maybe they were playing soccer with one of the hard boiled eggs. Eating lunch afterwards. We took her shirt off because it was white-ish and she was eating a red strawberry. You do the math.

Then today-this is the last event, I swear-we celebrated mine and Doug's birthdays with Alex's family. You see, Doug's birthday was the end of March and my birthday is the end of April. Usually, I celebrate mine with Lance, who is the first of May, but since he's on a mission, they decided to combine mine and Doug's since, according to Trace, we are in laws, which only counts as half a person. He was joking, he's actually really nice. So Doug waited two weeks for his birthday and I got mine two weeks early. I got the better end of the deal, but don't tell Doug. Especially you, Leslie. I know you're reading this. Anyway, we went to Italian Village for dinner, and then came over to our house to open presents and eat cake. And watch scenes from Gladiator. Normal birthday stuff.

Tessa's outfit. And her cheesy smile. She couldn't stop doing this.

All that I told Mindy I wanted was Crest White Strips. And she doesn't disappoint. I also got a gift card to Ulta, that awesome make up store, and I got Beckham perfume. Alex was so jealous. Tessa helping Doug open his presents. They were shirts, in case you were wondering. Alex was jealous.

Mindy made cake for Doug and brought me Reese's Ice Cream for our desserts. It's like compromise.This should be on one of those motivational pictures too. Compromise. We were blowing our candles out, if you couldn't tell. Just the in laws, getting older.Tessa made Pa watch Shrek with her. She loves when Fione becomes Scary Fiona (the ogre). She doesn't understand that she is still the same person, even though she is hideous. I'll teach her eventually. For now I'm ok with her take on the situation.

And that is all. I understand if you didn't make it this far, but for those of you who did, I've got a special present for you.

You're welcome.