"Sometimes, Chancho, when you are a man, you wear estretchy pants in your room. It's for fun."

This was a memorable Halloween! We were invited to a costume party at some friends' house. When I came home from work at 3pm, we still had no plans in place for my and Rode's costumes. We had Liv's "Waldo" costume all ready- that was a stroke of ingenuity the other day when she wore this red and white striped onesie to church. Add some blue pants, a hat with a red pom-pom, and some black glasses made out of quality pipe cleaners and you get "Where's Waldo?". It was hilarious... when we first got her dressed, she just laughed and laughed (a real person laugh, the kind I am in love with but that we rarely hear), which made Rode and I laugh, eventually spiraling into Rode clown laughing and me crying... all of which took place while Rode was wearing this...
... maybe that is what she was laughing at! The ridiculous thing is that I was able to round up a tourquoise pair of pants, large red underpants, and red tights all within Heber city limits. I learned a valuable lesson... never underestimate the power of Kings (the local retailer of choice that somehow gives you the feeling of stepping into the movie "Napolean Dynamite" as soon as you walk through the doors) and Family Dollar. Oh, and Mama Pedersen's "Mary Poppins bag" of anything you could possibly need for a costume. In fact, she supplied almost all of Heather and Denver's costumes made up of clothes from the early 90's. Good thing she has kept all of those classic outfits her daughters wore in their teen years. Yes!

Kelly Kapowski and Zack Morris... Saved by the Bell!

NAAAACCCHHOOOOOO, Sister Encarnacion, and Waldo

HD Cinematic Films

HD Cinematic Films Website
My brother-in-law, Denver, is an extremely talented videographer. I sometimes watch his wedding videos just to make me feel happy and in love all over again. He has a way of portraying the feelings of a wedding- it is really remarkable. Anyway, this is a little peak at what he does. Please feel free to pass this info onto any friends that are getting ready to tie the knot. He has a website and blog where you can watch more of his films, as well. Enjoy!

Want to share this video on your blog? Click here.

Swimmin', swimmin'

We have been in the habit of just renting a movie and staying in on Saturday night since we've had Olivia. We attempted one time to take her to the movie theatre (need I say more?). We took turns through the whole movie taking her into the hall and each only saw half of the movie, filling the other in on what we missed. Needless to say, it was not worth the $16 it cost to get into the theatre. Anthony had a fabulous idea for date night this Saturday, though (well I guess technically I should call it a family night since "date night" should be reserved for no kids). We went swimming, which Liv loves to do! We pulled out her $2 swimsuit that I found on a clearance rack at Target and put on her layers of diapers, making her bottom half look disproportionately large to her top half.


Although this face may lead one to believe that she isn't having fun, don't be fooled. She really does enjoy the water. She is generally pretty expressionless- no laughing and smiling, but no hysterical screaming either. I guess that means she likes it.
We took turns playing with Liv, while the other took a break in the hot tub. Olivia jumped off the side of the pool, did the back float, and played pass between mommy and daddy. It was such a good time!

She was such a good sport. It wore her out, though. She was asleep in her car seat by the time we got back to the car to drive home.

Olivia's new dress

Last weekend, Rode went out of town on a fishing trip. I had a break from school for UEA and wondered what Olivia and I would do to keep ourselves distracted while daddy was gone. After a few bits of inspiration at the shabby apple and amy butler websites, I decided to try my hand at sewing. My wonderful mother-in-law took me in for a few days and patiently guided me through the painstaking process of first time sewing. It was actually a lot of fun. After many hours and only a few mistakes, this is what we came up with...

It is still a little too big for Liv. For now, it will just be her "housedress" for lounging around.

I also had this ribbon that I bought with the intention of making headbands. I finally pulled out the thread and needle and made a few. Now maybe people will stop asking me how old my little boy is!

Lovely Lady

Hezzie took these pics with her i-Phone. Sorry there is a funky white block beside each of them. Olivia is quite the lovely lady, if I do say so myself.
Mommy Kisses. Someday she'll learn to close her mouth when I do this, so that I won't get covered with so much of her spit.
A piggy-back ride on dad. She basically loves to do anything that involves sprawling out on him.

Mission Friends

A few weeks ago, I got a call from the Peralta's telling me they would be in Heber the following week. Of all the places they could choose to vacation, they chose Heber! I know Ronnie and Jesse from when I served a mission in Las Vegas. I taught them in Henderson for 6 months and shortly after I left, I got a phone call telling me that they were going to be baptized. Then again about 3 months ago, I got another phone call from them telling me that they were going to the temple. I was 8 1/2 months pregnant so I didn't make the drive down. But because they are such great people, they made the trip up to Heber to meet Olivia and catch up. It was such a fun time.
We drove up over the mountain to Cascade Springs and Sundance, went to the Salt Lake temple, strolled Main Street in Park City, and went to the farmer's market. It was so good to see them again. It's been about 4 years and a lot has changed. Thanks for the visit and hopefully we will get to see you again soon when we take a trip to Vegas for some Buffalo Wild Wings!

Olivia's Day

Here is what Olivia does to keep herself busy everyday...

A walk in the stroller...

A visit to Nanny and Poppy's...A little crying until she finds the most comfortable spot to fall asleep...
Bath time- this is her favorite part of the day...Getting ready for bed (she seems to be a little annoyed by the camera though)...

And finally, bedtime with her hands above her head like this every night...

Trip Back East

Olivia took her first trip to New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, and all the states in between, at the beginning of September. We flew to NH to Grammie and Grampy Kane's house. Liv did a great job on the plane- hardly any crying, just a lot of sleeping. We visited friend's there and then headed on a 7 hr. car ride to Pennsylvania. She slept for almost the entire ride, except for the little screaming fit in the middle of a NYC traffic jam. Bless Grammie for her patience as she drove under that stress. Olivia met her cousins Alexander and Lil, and her Aunt Kelley and Uncle Brian for the first time. Lil had her baby blessing on Sunday and she looked beautiful in her blessing dress made from Kelley's wedding dress. We got family pictures taken, ate Friendly's ice cream and Rita's water ice, went for a walk... ...met Elder Mensah (my best friend Nita's bother who is on a mission in PA)...ate wings at Buffalo Wild Wings for Heather's birthday... ...and hung out on Buddy's tummy. It was a good trip. Hopefully we'll get to go back soon. Until then, we will have to try to convince Grammie and Buddy to come and visit us here in Utah.

Before and After

This is the dresser that we picked out for Olivia's room. I had decided I wanted to refinish an old dresser instead of buying a new one. I was at Anthony's parents' house one day and saw this gem hidden in a back corner of their bedroom. Anthony stripped it, sanded it, and fixed the drawers, and then my dad painted it, stained it, and put pretty knobs on it. We love it and it lets Olivia have a little treasure in her room from her nanny, poppy, grampy kane, and dad.