The Winsteads

Discovery Gateway's new exhibit "Dominoes"

2011-07-13T00:55:00.001-06:00

Good old days

2011-07-13T00:52:00.002-06:00

These two used to sleep in each others arms each night but as Rosie got more aggressive and bigger she moved further from Noelle each night. Now she stays out of Nell's bed because she bites.

Noelle singing Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream"

2011-07-13T00:49:00.002-06:00

Noelle loves this song "Teenage Dream" and sings it all the time. She felt pretty cool in daddy's sunglasses.

Noelle singing Halleluja

2011-07-13T00:34:00.001-06:00

This is a sweet little song from the movie Shrek that Noelle loves. She has great vibrato.

Holding Rosie for the first time at our house

2011-07-13T00:33:00.000-06:00

Meeting the puppy at Laura's

2011-07-13T00:24:00.002-06:00

We were all very excited to see Rosie at Laura's for the first time. Noelle adored this little baby and was even more excited to take her home. Rosie was much more mellow back then. She's much more feisty now as she has learned to protect herself from Noelle.

Intoducing me to her new boyfriend

2011-07-13T00:19:00.003-06:00

I tried to hide the camera so she wouldn't get embarrassed but I think she knew I was taping. I love how she introduces me to her "beautiful boyfriend" as she plays make-believe. She has been really interested in boys lately and especially the older ones. She'll stop in public if she spots a "beautiful boy" and point him out to me!

Discover Gateway's new exhibit

2011-07-13T00:15:00.002-06:00

We love this new exhibit and Noelle particularly likes the worker in the video who is playing with her. His name is "Moses" and he is very very cute. She got all dressed up for him last Saturday and even put a dress on and he wasn't even there. She was very upset. She says he's "a beautiful boy and I want him to be my new boyfriend"

2011-07-13T00:11:00.002-06:00

2011-07-12T20:49:00.002-06:00

Sorry I keep forgetting that I am videotaping sideways. I will remember from now on.

2011-07-12T20:48:00.000-06:00

I think she is willing to talk on camera because she doesn't realize I post everything for everyone to see.

2011-07-12T20:45:00.002-06:00

Noelle loves playing barbie dream house more than anything in the world. She forces me to play because it can be tedious at times. She has quite the imagination in her barbieland :)

Picking our puppy Rosie

2011-07-12T20:16:00.002-06:00

Picking a puppy at the breeders house. Noelle ran away with Rosie and hid so we couldn't find her. She was in heaven! She now says "I did such a good job picking my puppy. Everyone loves her so much!"

Preschool B-Day Party

2011-05-17T14:37:00.004-06:00

I bought a cake and brought it in for the preschool kids for Noelle's Birthday. She was very proud to share her special day with her friends. The bakers accidentally put raspberry jelly in the middle of the cake even though I told then it was an all chocolate cake. The kids were not huge fans!

Her Favorite

2011-05-17T14:33:00.002-06:00

Pete and I have accompanied Noelle on this one but it goes REALLY fast and always makes us nauseous. It happens to be her favorite though.

2011-05-17T14:25:00.002-06:00

So fun :)

2011-05-17T14:19:00.002-06:00

The swing ride

2011-05-17T14:12:00.002-06:00

The swing ride is of course awesome!

Birthday at "Jungle Gyms"

2011-05-17T14:07:00.002-06:00

Good old Utah has tons of fun places like this for kids! This is basically an indoor carnival. It is really cheap to get into and Noelle just loves it so of course we took her on her 5th! The parents can even ride although we never do. This blows Chucky Cheese out of the park!

Birthday dinner at her favorite! Olive Garden

2011-05-17T13:59:00.004-06:00

Noelle adores Olive Garden and requested it for her 5th B-day dinner. She was not too happy when we asked the staff to sing to her though. Typical embarrassed Noelle!

Noelle's favorite "The Popup Book Of Nightmares"

2011-05-17T13:42:00.003-06:00

This is a really funny book. It happens to be Noelle's favorite book in the world out of her hundreds! She is very animated while reading it as you can see. This is the second I have bought for her this year because the first was read so many times that it fell apart. Not your typical children's book that's for sure and not your typical child either. She likes scary things and is quite desensitized to them by now :)

Noelle's birthday present.

2011-05-17T13:37:00.002-06:00

Noelle rides her Power Wheels regularly to the park. She is quite proud and grownup. She brings "Weiny" along.

Temperous fiesty little girl :)

2011-05-17T13:33:00.002-06:00

Sorry I had just barely gotten the camera phone and didn't realize I was filming sideways.

Baby hungry as usual!

2011-05-17T13:29:00.001-06:00

New Furniture!!!

2011-03-28T22:28:00.008-06:00

I am not typically a blogger as many of you already know but I was really excited about some of my new furniture. Mom was kind enough to donate Dee's antiques to furnish my house and it looks amazing now. Here are some pics of the pieces. We weren't sure where to put the mirror so we just decided to hang it above a chair I recently bought from TJ Max. Tell me if it is a random spot. We think that we will put a really large framed print above the couch to tie everything in. The secretary is my favorite and sort of the centerpiece to the home. Since it is dark outside I can't take pictures of the car that dad had fixed up for us so I will post them tomorrow. It looks like a brand new car and he was so generous to have Onick help us. Mom and dad you are the greatest and really hooked us up on the trip!

Barnum and Bailey Circus

2010-11-06T22:00:00.013-06:00

We recently went to the circus. I was browsing KSL and saw that the famous Barnum and Bailey circus was coming to town. I wasn't sure how often they came to SLC so I thought that I should take advantage and bought some really great seats. Noelle was pretty bored through most of it. I don't think she understood the "wow factor." I tried right :) They let the kids see the animals outside before the show. The mommy elephant had just had her baby.

Here is a great link you can copy and paste.
http://listverse.com/2007/08/04/top-10-human-sideshow-freaks/
It is the 10 most famous freak side shows. I guess it is sort of sad. The circus has been around for 150 years so these are really old. My favorite is the "Half Lady" in her victorian corset.

Halloween

2010-11-06T21:52:00.007-06:00

Here are some pics of Nells trick or treating. It was raining pretty bad that night but she didn't let it ruin her day. I originally had bought her a really cute kid friendly clown costume but Pete didn't think it was "appropriate" Weird! So I went to walmart and got her a boring doctor custume instead.

preschool pics

2010-09-13T19:28:00.006-06:00

Noelle's first day of head start was today. She was very excited. Her classroom is at U of U housing and consists mostly of the college students children. They qualify through poverty income. Most kids are white and english speaking in contrast to the other locations which are predominantly hispanic spanish speaking so hopefully it will be easier for her to relate and understand the other kids. Her teacher is a funny character. He is a vegan, mohawk, tattooed hippy type. Not your stereotypical preschool teacher. He is very very good with the kids. Noelle loves him. She says "I love my new teacher so so much he is a boy." She loves the fact that he is a guy and not a girl like her other teachers have been. The class is 4 days a week 3.5 hours a day. Is is pretty low budget but a sweet little class. They feed the kids lunch every day so that is nice. Here are some videos of Nell's special day.

Jim Gaffigan talks about Cake

2010-09-02T22:47:00.003-06:00

I just got done working on my thesis and needed a bit of humor for some stress relief. This is a hilarious bit from Jim Gaffigan on cake. I was talking about his Hot Pocket skit with one of my coworkers and he told me about this little jewel. It's just good, clean humor.

antique table

2010-08-10T20:08:00.008-06:00

I thought I would get some fun antique furniture to go with my old house. I found this intricately carved wooden table on KSL. It needed some love so I found some old polyurethane varnish in my basement and put a coat on today. It looks great. I don't know if I should put it in the kitchen or find a spot in the family room. I also got an old vintage emerald green vase at the DI last week. I might put it on the table and fill it with some hand made paper flowers I found on etsy.

Floors finally finished!

2010-08-10T19:57:00.008-06:00

It has been a long and slow week to make sure this floor finally got done. The guy I ended up hiring turned out to be really flaky and wouldn't show up until 5:00 in the afternoon most days. Than he would work a couple of hours and leave. Anyway we had to stay three extra nights in the hotel than was originally planned because of this. It is nice to not have lenoleum anymore. I bought some paint yesterday. I am going to paint the kitchen when Nells starts preschool in a month. White on the crown molding and then yellow on the walls. I am having a hard time figuring out what color yellow to put on because it has to go along with my olive colored walls in the family room. Maybe a yellow with a hind of green. Tricky. Anyone have any suggestions?

Lost Predictions

2010-05-23T18:50:00.002-06:00

Ok. So, the Series Finale of Lost is coming soon. I was just talking to one of my best friends from high school who is also a huge Lost fan like myself. We discussed possible theories and then made some predictions for this last episode. If you haven't watched Lost, consider this your spoiler alert for the following paragraphs....

ONE MORE TIME FOR SAFETY.....***SPOILER ALERT***

Prediction #1: Jack dies, and someone else takes over as protector of the island. I thought it was pretty predictable to see Jack become the protector of the island, so I'm going to predict that since this predictable action took place in such an unconventional show that they will surprise us.

Prediction #2: The "Sideways World" will become the truer reality. One of the worlds has to be more real, right? I think they do away with the island because....

Prediction #3: The Island will be terminated/blown up/obliterated somehow. Desmond or Smokey will be the cause of this I'm guessing.

Regan's addition:
The characters will be given a choice between 1 of the 2 worlds. They can either choose as their reality the island existence or the "Sideways World".

Also, what in the world happened to Lapidus? I haven't figured that one out yet. I guess we'll find out soon. Anyways, here's to one of the greatest shows of all time ending....so sad and yet so appropriate. :(((

Noelle's 4th Birthday

2010-05-02T18:51:00.014-06:00

We had Noelle's birthday last month. We were going to go to Chucky Cheese but Pete heard about this great little place called Jungle Gyms. Utah has tons of places for children obviously because there are tons of families here in SLC. It was sort of like an indoor miniature carnival. They had about 8 different rides and a huge play ground area. We got her a "Baby Alive Feel Better Soon" doll and a half dozens books that I picked out from the Deseret Industries. I also found a Cabbage Patch doll from the 80s. She has a Cabbage Patch movie so I thought she'd appreciate it. She actually ended up loving her books more than her new doll and barbie dream house. She reads them all day long. Here are some pics of her birthday at Jungle Gyms.

New Tulips

2010-04-16T20:16:00.004-06:00

Our beautiful tulips have come in. They do really well in Utah despite the little rainfall and super hot summers. Noelle and I have began to prepare a nursery for the garden this Summer. We have tons of newly sprouted seedlings growing in our "do it yourself" greenhouse indoors. We are growing corn, asparagus, squash, sunflowers, poppies, pumpkins, lavender, carrots, green beans, wildflowers, daisies, and a few more. Hopefully they don't all die. Noelle is obsessed with planting and getting into trouble. She wants to help so bad but doesn't.

Sorry this is very late.

2010-04-16T20:05:00.004-06:00

I know that Christmas is well over but I just ran across a great picture of Noelle and Santa that I had forgotten to add in December. At the Civic Center in Sandy they have this great Christmas display of trees and gingerbread houses. We waited in line forever for santa. Noelle was very excited. I wasn't sure if she would be willing to sit on his lap when the time came. She ended up not being scared at all. She was really brave and very happy but a little embarrased. Especially since everyone was looking at her. It was well worth the wait.

Jazz Game

2010-04-16T19:59:00.005-06:00

Pete got great seats to the Jazz game from work. His favorite basketball team "Spurs" were playing the jazz. Noelle did pretty good. She doesn't quite last the 3 hours though. She loves the Jazz Bear. Actually they just added a baby Jazz Bear to the big Jazz mascott. Noelle loved the baby bear.

Birthday Presents Galore

2010-04-16T19:43:00.013-06:00

Nellies birthday is fast approaching. Grandpa Winstead bought her the toy of all toys. Barbie Deluxe Townhouse fully furnished. This is an elaborate $200 dollar toy. Here are some pics. She loves it!

Oscar Picks

2010-03-07T14:26:00.002-07:00

Alright, tonight is the Super Bowl of movies and of course I have an opinion of where this should go. Did you expect any less? Here are the picks:

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock, Blind Side
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglorious
Best Supporting Actress: Monique, Precious
Best Original Screenplay: Inglorious
Best Adapted Screenplay: Up in the Air
Best Cinematography: Haven't decided between Avatar and White Ribbon
Best Editing: The Hurt Locker
Best Animated Feature: Up of course. Just fill in this answer with the newest Pixar movie going forward since they've decided to release one a year
Best Foreign Language Film: White Ribbon
Then just give all the tech awards to Avatar.

Enjoy the show.

Noelle sings some songs for me

2009-12-09T20:57:00.003-07:00

Noelle has been going around the house singing all sorts of songs for a while now. I knew one day I would have to get that on my recording program, Sony Acid. So, tonight I decided it was time for action. She actually really likes microphones since she had to participate in the Primary program in sacrament a couple months ago, and also when Regan and I spoke in sacrament so it wasn't a hard sell to get her to sing into the microphone. It worked out really well and here they are. We've got the ABCs, Wheels on the Bus, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. All very cute renditions if you ask me. Enjoy.

Halloween

2009-11-06T21:39:00.006-07:00

We went to the Gateway mall which is Noelle's favorite place. Well first we went to Discovery Gateway and then we Trick Or Treated at the mall. Noelle was in heaven. She was saying "I miss my old home." It was actually really sad. I think she was happier when we lived at the Gateway apartments.

First day of preschool

2009-11-06T21:36:00.002-07:00

Disneyland Pictures

2009-11-06T21:16:00.020-07:00

Noelle loved Disneyland. Her favorite rides were Small World and Peter Pan. She especially loved seeing Michael's bed from the Peter Pan ride. Funny :)

Restaurant.com Deal

2009-09-11T23:08:00.003-06:00

So I was using the last half hour of work today to find a good Thai restaurant on the internet so I could celebrate the weekend in the right way. Scandalous, I know. Anyways, I had remembered that Restaurant.com always had deals for Thai restaurants so I decided to check it out. I was about to purchase one of their gift certificates when I remembered that you can typically find discount codes to knock some more of the price off. So, with trusty Google I searched for a discount code and found one for 90% off their regular price!!!!!!!! With that little deal in hand I proceeded to buy 4 certificates that take $25 off of a dinner of $35 for only $1 each. Essentially I got $100 worth of certificates for $4. Amazing.

If you would like to take advantage of this deal go to www.restaurant.com, select the restaurants in your area that you would like to get a certificate from, and on the checkout screen there is a box labeled "Discount Code". Enter "NINETY" into that box and watch the price go down by 90% for your certificates. This offer expires on the 13th so you have through Sunday to get your certificates. It's a beautiful thing really.

2009-07-29T21:55:00.006-06:00

Here are some songs I put together awhile ago with our recording program. They are really rough cuts and you'll definitely notice some funny mistakes and what not. I think the second one down is my favorite, however it's also pretty messed up. The glockenspiel, yes that's right a glockenspiel, is way off beat. So just disregard that and imagine that you're in the final montage scene of an episode of Lost where Hurley walks around with his headphones on noticing how life is so grand on the Island as you listen to it, or something like that.

Beautiful Chapel

2009-07-20T18:41:00.020-06:00

There are several streets near our home where the very expensive million dollar houses of Sugarhouse reside. They are amazing. Pete and I love to drive down Yale and Harvard Avenue and see them. It sort of looks like Berkshire LC but the houses are more ornate and old. Their are some really darling tudor cottages. Anyway, one day when Pete and I were driving through these streets we came across a beautiful old LDS chapel. At first we thought it was a mansion. It has a very large stone gate around it. The backyard of this chapel is amazing. It has a waterfall that flows into a pond with ducks. When I took Leah there she remembered that she had heard about this church and that there was a very long wait of people who wanted to have their reception. On Sunday we drove to the church to let Noelle play. She really loved it. Here are some pics.

Finally a color!

2009-07-14T22:54:00.002-06:00

I have been to both Lowes and Home Depot searching through their thousands of color paint choices and narrowed my search down to 6 choices. I have had the color swatches up on my wall for a month now debating which color works the best. All of the choices are in the olive green family and have very warm tones to try and pick up on the cherry wood floors and moldings. I am close to deciding on a color and can't wait to start painting. Noelle will most likely make it very difficult. She loves paints and getting into messy things. Our ugly rocker recliner broke last week and I was in a huge hurry to go shopping and buy a new one. I went to RC Willey and they really didn't have anything that I liked. Actually they did have this beautiful LazyBoy that I really wanted but it was $520 which is way too much. I ended up getting a Lane brand recliner. I absolutely did not want anything remotely like microfiber. This Lane recliner was 50% off of $600 and a great deal. It was a beige fabric and looked decent enough so I impulsively bought it. When we brought it home it was horrible. I don't know what I was thinking. I just was in such a rush at RCWilley and picked the first thing I saw. The color didn't go with the rest of the room and it seriously looked like something that was just bought at the Salvation Army. I think it looks 60's or 70's. It's sad to think that I have to live with such an ugly thing for so long. It's funny because Pete usually doesn't have an opinion on furniture and decor and likes pretty much anything. He also trusts my judgement. When he first saw the chair he said "Wow that looks pretty ghetto what a random choice." Thats when you know it is really bad. Oh well i'll just throw a blanket over it when we have visitors.

4th Of July Weekend

2009-07-05T22:15:00.003-06:00

We had a lot of fun this weekend. Unfortunately I had brought my camera to take pictures of Noelle and it was out of batteries. We bought this little $20 pack of fireworks at walmart and lit them in back of our house. Noelle loved them. She kept saying "more fireworks." Sugarhouse park has one of the best firework shows in the state. People had been waiting at the park from early morning on to reserve themselves a spot. It was really crowded and the parking was filled. We parked at the grocery to get on top of the car and watch them. Noelle didn't seem too interested in the parks firework display. Pete and I both love The Twilight Zone so we recorded some of our favorites on DVR and have been watching them together.

We are so lucky. We live next to three parks. Noelle and I go to the park almost every day. Liberty park is my favorite because it has rides, a pool, a fun water area for the kids and a lake with paddle boats. Then there is Sugarhouse park. It is enormous like Libery park and has a river running through it that flows into a very large lake. Westminster park is just two blocks down from our house. it is small but cute. Today we went to Sugarhouse park which is Pete's favorite. Noelle demanded her swing for about an hour so it was a little boring. Then we went down to the river and then the lake. Nellies was playing in the water in her diapers. The water was freezing cold. She was trying to get close to the ducks and started walking in the deeper area of the lake. She slipped on some moss and fell in screaming. Luckily Pete went in and got her before her head went under. She was pretty upset. We went home after that.

2009-06-24T22:36:00.008-06:00

This has been a crazy week. The Winstead's flew in on Tuesday for a visit. Then leah flew in on Friday as well as the rest of the Kelley clan. Leah left today after a five day visit. We have had alot of fun visiting with everyone. Noelle loves her cousins, Grandparents and aunts so much. Here are some pics of the finished wood floors. The top pics are Noelle picking the strawberries from our garden. We have hundreds of them growing. They taste horrible. I'll write again soon. Pete wants to finish watching 24.

2009-06-17T03:25:00.000-06:00

Fun Times!

2009-06-16T23:02:00.002-06:00

Finally after much work and money the hardwood floors are finished. Pete and I stayed in a hotel for three day while our floor guy Wes finished them. I can't say that they look extremely professional but they are really nice. They are 100 year old floors after all so there is only so much you can do. He charged us $725.00 for about 600 square feet which is a steal. We traded favors. We promised him a good referral and he gave us a great deal. Tomorrow he is coming to finish of the trim along the bottom molding which has been discolored from the old carpet. I promise that I will get some pictures of the new floors on the blog tomorrow.

We had a fun filled night tonight. Claire and the boys don't get here until later on tonight so we took advantage of the extra hotel room last night. Noelle went to bed really early so we were all able to visit and chat.

Our new ward is offering discount tickets to Lagoon so we are really excited. For any of you who will be in California in September Pete, Noelle and I have a free trip to Disneyland. We won a round trip air ticket, and two night hotel stay and some food coupons. Disneyland with Noelle for the first time will be a treat. I can't even imagine her shock with the small world ride. She loves her dollies! Anyway I will post some pics tomorrow.

Our New House

2009-06-02T21:23:00.002-06:00

I promise I will be taking pictures of out new house very shortly. I have been so busy with my Etsy shop they I literally have not had time for anything more! Hopefully we will be refinishing our hardwood floors next week so I am really excited. I thought I would share a quick story. Noelle and I went to old navy today to find a black skirt for Grandma's funeral. They have these cartoon looking mannequin children. Noelle was just intrigued by them. She was afraid to touch them though. She kept calling them "Big Dollys." One of them was holding a dog leash with a dog attached. She especially loved the doggie. So we walked over to the adult section and there were mannequins without their heads on. Pretty typical because most of them usually don't. She was pointing and saying "Mama, Mama." I pulled our cart next to one of them and she started screaming. She was so confused. Then she said "Why does mom torture me so." Just kidding. But that's what she was probably thinking. Poor Nellies, it's so hard being a baby!

finally an update!

2009-05-24T14:38:00.002-06:00

okay, just kidding.
this is amanda. brian, katherine and i are visiting the winsteads at their new house!- regan wanted me to change her blog background and stuff, and in exchange i made her promise to update at least once a week- lets see if she listens :)
katherine and noellies are playing together, and it is very cute, they love eachother.

Some pics I took

2009-02-22T20:55:00.004-07:00

One night it was really foggy so I decided to take some pictures. I love fog, and apparently I love taking pictures of things through trees.

Christmas Stuff

2009-01-13T19:34:00.002-07:00

Here are some pics from our Warner Bros Tour, with pictures of the set of Friends, the Batpod, the alley scene from the first Spiderman, the Warner Bros water tower, and a picture of me standing in front of the area where the scene from the final episode of Seinfeld was shot where they all get arrested after witnessing the mugging.

Noelle and the tree :)

2008-12-15T09:30:00.005-07:00

On Thursday Noelle and I found the prettiest little tree. Noelle is curious why there is a tree in our family room now. She loves it. We bought some gorgeous ornaments at walmart and decorated it on Sunday. We decorated while listening to Mannheim Steamroller which is a classic Christmas album that Pete and I both grew up on. I've hesitatingly come to terms with the fact that anything beautiful or delicate is instantly destroyed by babies. A lit and decorated tree is the perfect playing ground for a toddler. I knew when I bought the ornaments that Noelle would try and rip them off the tree or break them. They have been up for a day now and so far she has only broken two which for Noelle is quite the feat. I have heard of parents decorating the upper half of the tree so the kids can't reach. I just couldn't bring myself to only decorating half a tree. It just doesn't seem right. We'll see how long it stays nice for.
It snowed all weekend. It makes for the perfect Christmas ambiance. We are so excited to leave cold snowy Utah for sunny Cali on Friday. Pete can't stop talking about how excited he is for California. The doll pictured below is Noelle's new favorite baby. The doll actually comes with a twin. Noelle takes turns caring for each baby. She'll wrap them in small blankets and pat their bummies. She won't let anyone talk while she tries to put them to sleep and puts her finger to her mouth and says Shuuuuu!!! She has drawn all over their poor heads. Pete and I joke that this is how she christens her new dollies. It's pretty funny. This picture I took of the tree is horrible. I couldn't get the right lighting and the camera took a very inaccurate picture. In person it is stunning!

2008-12-09T14:40:00.000-07:00

2008-12-09T14:37:00.000-07:00

2008-12-09T14:34:00.001-07:00

This baby was really resisting taking pictures. It was a miracle I got a few decent ones.

2008-12-09T14:25:00.005-07:00

Santa's Chair

2008-12-09T14:25:00.004-07:00

On bottom floor of the Discovery Gateway museum they have a darling Christmas setup. Santa sits in the purple chair and kids come and take pictures with him. Noelle and I snuck in and took some photos after Santa and his elves left.

Finally a kiss!!!

2008-11-30T15:41:00.003-07:00

After much coercing Noelle finally gives Grandpa Winstead a goodbye kiss. I'm sure he was thrilled.

Noelle with the four Curious George monkeys G-Pa Winstead bought her.

2008-11-30T15:37:00.002-07:00

Mascot Bear

2008-11-30T15:29:00.003-07:00

Getting back from the game!

2008-11-26T14:09:00.000-07:00

2008-11-26T13:33:00.009-07:00

It has been a fun filled month. Pete's work gave him some very expensive tickets to the Jazz game. It was sort of a gift because of his great work. We are not fans of the Jazz but thought we should take advantage. I was really worried about bringing Noelle. These games can last up to three hours. They are difficult to sit through especially for a toddler. When we got there it was enormous and full of energy. We were right up in the front. Noelle really ended up loving it. Every time the crowd would cheer Noelle clapped along with them. They have this great mascot dressed up in a bear costume. She absolutely loved this bear! You have to wonder what goes through a baby's mind when they see something like that. She was probably wondering what a giant bear was doing wandering around a basketball game. She loved his tail.

Something terrible happened to my Nellies last week. On our way to walmart we stopped at a McDonald's to play on their huge playground. She was a little scared at first to climb through the tunnels and go down the gigantic slide but she got up the courage to try and loved it. Soon she was laughing her head off. There was this mother and son. The mother appeared to be deaf and was signing to her son. I never found out if the little boy was deaf like his mother. The boy was probably around 2 or 3 years old. Noelle climbed up high into one of the tubes. All of a sudden I heard Noelle screaming hysterically. Luckily she was by one of the window peep holes so I could see what was going on. One of the little boys was violently slamming her head against the wall and hitting her in the face with his other hand. I was yelling for him to stop. Noelle was screaming "mama." This kid was going crazy on my baby. I couldn't see which child it was. Luckily Noelle got away even though we was grabbing onto her. I think the little boy realized he was in some serious trouble. By this time all of the children had come out of the play area and were circled around me. I asked the other kids where the boy was who hit Noelle and one of the kids went up into the slide and brought him down. It ended up being the boy with the deaf mother. I had no idea if he could speak or hear but I was so outraged I didn't care at that point. The other kids were telling me that he had been terrorizing them as well. I scolded him and said "you do not hit other children." He just looked at me with this blank stare. I couldn't believe that his parents were nowhere in sight. I was infuriated that I had to do the disciplining for this child. I wondered what his parents had done to have provoked such violent anger in him. I can imagine that parents of children with severe disabilities let these children get away with quite a bit out of guilt or just plain exhaustion. I would have been horrified if the situation were reversed and my child had been responsible for such a terrible act. Noelle remembers pretty clearly what happened. She ended up with a big bruise on her forehead from the incident. At least once a day Noelle will say "babies" and hit herself in the head. Nellies has an incredible memory. She refuses to play at McDonald's now.

The Winstead's are here this week and we have had tons of fun so far. They brought a little baby girl doll with them with clothes and accessories. Noelle loves her. We always know when Noelle loves a doll because she will immediately take it's clothes off. She loves to see belly buttons. We went to Barnes and Noble last night and Grandpa Winstead bought Noelle a few Curious George animals. Noelle begs me to buy them every time we go and I always say no so she was ecstatic that she suckered grandpa into getting them for her. She has been carrying them around all day with her.

We went to Carrie's funeral last Saturday. Annie and Cody were there. It was great to see everyone. There were relatives that I had never met. It was obvious that Carrie was loved by many. She was always so thoughtful and kind to our family that I felt like it was really important to be there. Dad's half brother and Phil spoke. The Betz family was very emotional. I can imagine that it brought back sad memories of Erin's funeral. I'm sure they have had a difficult year. The girls Kaylee and Kelby were in good spirits. They are strong sweet little girls :) Jeez sorry this is so long.

2008-11-26T13:31:00.001-07:00

Nellies loves pretending to read magazines. This was a particularly funny moment.

2008-11-10T16:34:00.002-07:00

Looked cool from the outside. Sucked on the inside.

2008-11-10T16:30:00.001-07:00

2008-11-10T16:26:00.001-07:00

Once it started raining we headed to Discovery Gateway and played there until they closed. Noelle had her baby dolls and was perfectly content.

Not Much

2008-11-10T16:20:00.003-07:00

Unfortunately it started raining about 20 minutes into it. The funny thing is it NEVER rains in SLC so it was rather ironic that it happen to have rained on Halloween. Poor Nellies didn't end up with much. She actually only ended up eating one miniature peanut butter cup and wouldn't try anything else. We just threw the rest away. I think Noelle could be the ONLY kid in America that hates candy.

Trick Or Treating At McDonalds ????

2008-11-10T16:16:00.002-07:00

We actually decided to trick or treat at the mall. The majority of the stores had candy for the kids. There were a few snobby upscale stores that didn't. Pete made sure to give them each a hard time which they didn't appreciate.
The best was when we decided to try the food court. McDonald's gave Noelle a hot apple pie.

So stubborn!!!

2008-11-10T16:12:00.002-07:00

The costume came with this cute little antler hood but Noelle wanted nothing to do with it.

2008-11-10T16:11:00.000-07:00

I loved the little wings on this costume.

2008-11-10T16:10:00.000-07:00

Noelle had absolutely no idea what she was doing but she loved it anyway. She felt pretty special in her butterfly costume.

Nellies and daddy trick or treating :)

2008-11-10T16:07:00.000-07:00

2008-10-30T16:23:00.001-06:00

2008-10-30T16:19:00.000-06:00

2008-10-30T16:18:00.000-06:00

It's so hard being a baby!

2008-10-30T16:15:00.000-06:00

Mom's pumpkin

2008-10-30T16:12:00.003-06:00

Noelle and I carved this pumpkin last week. Noelle has this funny fascination with pumpkins. She gets scared once they are carved though. She really hates it when they have faces. What a funny little girl.

Ready for winter already

2008-10-30T16:10:00.001-06:00

Noelle just loves to walk around in her parents shoes. She likes to feel like a big girl.

2008-10-30T16:09:00.000-06:00

In this picture she is warming up a little more to the princess crown :)

2008-10-30T16:08:00.000-06:00

I just love this picture of Katherine. Her eyes are so pretty and big!

Trip to Rexburg

2008-10-30T16:06:00.001-06:00

We all had so much fun visiting Brian and Amanda in Rexburg a few weeks ago. The babies just love each other. Oliver is so sweet to Noelle.

Noelle posing

2008-10-30T16:03:00.002-06:00

Noelle actually really loves to pose for pictures. She will go through our digital camera and browse through her pictures for hours. Such a vain little baby!

2008-10-30T16:02:00.001-06:00

Such a stubborn little girl!

Grandma's crown

2008-10-30T15:59:00.001-06:00

Grandma bought this pretty crown for Noelle. Noelle definitely does not look like a princess in this picture!

2008-10-30T15:58:00.000-06:00

What a pretty little baby!

2008-10-30T15:57:00.001-06:00

Poor Katherine!!

2008-10-30T15:54:00.002-06:00

2008-10-26T23:20:00.000-06:00

Cousin Oliver playing with the pumpkins. The babies loved the pumpkin carving.

2008-10-26T10:47:00.003-06:00

This baby has endless toys!

2008-10-26T10:38:00.000-06:00

Cute little Nellies

2008-10-26T10:30:00.000-06:00

It's been a long time

2008-10-24T18:31:00.003-06:00

Sorry we haven't updated the blog in so long. It has been a little busy around here. Let's start this off with a work story, which I rather enjoy sharing. Actually let's make it a couple work stories.
1. My co-worker Andrew decided to go to Disneyland on his birthday which is October 3rd. One day we overhear him talking to his wife about how Miley Cyrus' birthday bash is on the same weekend, so of course we decide to exploit this situation to it's fullest. The day before he leaves we were having our team huddle where we just update the different departments on each of our areas. Then someone asked me if I had anything to update the group with at which point I started playing a Miley Cyrus song over someone's computer speakers, the message board that is about 3 feet above the tops of our cubicles was then changed to read Happy Birthday from Miley..Can't wait to see you in a few days, and a cake with a picture of Miley with her arm around someone with Andrew's face superimposed over the face was presented to our good friend Andrew. It was awesome. He was pretty red in the face, and still contests that he never planned to go to Disneyland during Miley's birthday bash, to which we all roll our eyes.
2. Poor Andrew is the subject of my second story once again. I had a plan to prank Andrew and do something to his computer. The policy at AMEX though is that you lock your computer whenever you leave it, and Andrew is very good at this because he has been pranked before. So we took out the sensor from the button on his keyboard that locks his computer and replaced it with tissue. It was perfect. He got up and pressed the button but didn't see that it didn't lock. So then I worked my magic. I'm going to break this one down into steps in case you want to do to one of your own co-workers.
1. Erase all internet icons. This includes the desktop icon, quick menu icon, and start menu icon.
2. Then right click on the desktop to create a new shortcut.
3. Enter the file path: "shutdown -s -t 0" Hit next.
4. Name it "Internet Explorer" Hit Next. Hit Finish.
5. Right click on the icon and hit properties.
6. Click on the button "Change Icon"
7. Choose the Internet Explorer icon
8. Move the icon into the quick menu on the toolbar, right click on the new icon and select "Pin to Start Menu", and replace the old icon with the new one wherever it was on the desktop.
Now when they go to surf the internet on the company's time their computer will shutdown automatically. It was pretty hilarious to watch Andrew (who loves to surf the internet by the way) shut his computer down three times before figuring it out.

Anyways, life is good. American Express is announcing lay-offs next week and I'm pretty sure that I won't be included in the cuts, but then again I could be wrong. It's a very interesting time, and it's very interesting working for a Fortune 50 company that provides financial services in a time like this. I think some of the things they are beginning to implement to be able to deal with this economy are unprecedented. Otherwise, I know they're a really strong company, and like our revenue report said tihs week, we actually performed better than expected. Cheers to that.

Dark Knight Reaction

2008-07-23T20:35:00.002-06:00

Well, last Saturday we saw the Dark Knight, and I've had a few days to think about it. I can safely say that the Dark Knight is simply just an awesome movie, maybe nearly flawless in my humble opinion. Performances across the board were amazing, the script was sooo good, the cinematography was great, the action sequences were cool, the editing was fantastic, and there were some themes that definitely enhanced this movie beyond it's genre I think.

If you haven't seen it yet, prepare yourself for something that is very dark, and brutal at times. Although, it was never over the top, and did not glorify the violence that takes place. It was brilliant in that way.

It's true what they say about Heath Ledger. He was absolutely amazing, and by that I mean that he was crazy, and did something with that character that I did not know could be done, let alone by him of all people.

But don't take my word for it.....GO see it
Overall rating: 9.5/10

Food, thrill rides, and movies

2008-07-15T19:45:00.003-06:00

So I had to post this picture of me and Brian at Lagoon. The story is that we had to get on a ride that sat us with each other on one seat, one in front of the other. Of course, I had to get a picture. It was pretty funny.

THIS WEBSITE IS AMAZING. That's how I will preface this post. Restaurant.com is an amazing website that deserves to be looked at by all people. You can buy gift certificates for select restaurants for a fraction of their value. For example, Re and I bought a $25 Gift Certificate to a really good Indian restaurant for $6!!! The trick is that you have to spend $35 for the coupon to be valid, but even then it's still $16 for a $35 meal. Pretty awesome. If you do check this website out, don't just go to the website, go first to Google and search for "restaurant.com discount code". This will bring up a bunch of websites that have deals for Restaurant.com, and that's how we got ours for $6. It was originally $10, but we found a deal that knocked another 40% off the price. Awesome.

Lastly, a Dark Knight update. Did you expect anything less from me?
The Dark Knight is doing very well, and headed for a high 80s or low 90s score on Rotten Tomatoes, with ridiculously good praise from critics. Many have said that it is the best superhero movie ever made. You can count on a reaction after I see it on Saturday.

Thank you IRS/Office stories

2008-07-03T17:10:00.002-06:00

Using the tax withholding calculator has given me a $68 increase in my paychecks for the rest of the year. Sweet.

Here's another great work story for you all-

So I mentioned in my previous post that my co-worker punches me and what not. He also kicked me the other day and left a scuff from his boot on my pants. Thank you Tide for creating that genius pen that got the scuff out. I've also been threatened with a letter opener. Despite the fact that all of this was done in jest, I still wasn't a big fan. So I kind of hinted today that I didn't appreciate it, and that led to an email from him saying something to the effect of:

"I'm so sorry for the physical and mental pain I have caused you. My intentions were never to alienate you as a friend and co-worker. You have made me feel terrible for the things I have done. This is just the way that my friends and I had fun growing up. Please do not hate me for who I am."

Needless to say, this had turned into an incredibly awkward situation. It is now resolved and I hope to forget about this ASAP. I have to say though that the speed in which this situation escalated to this email made me laugh. I couldn't believe he felt that bad about it. Oh well.

My second incredibly awkward office situation came when one of my co-workers took something that was said way out of context, and basically announced to everyone on our floor that I was applying to other companies. This was a flat out lie, and I was furious. So, my other co-worker went over to my boss and asked if he had heard anything, and ended up telling him the story. My boss then comes over and talks to me about it. I end up calling my co-worker into a room, and tell him exactly how I feel.

So in the space of about a week and a half I somehow managed to get myself into two very awkward situations with both of my immediate co-workers.

It's a good thing they don't know I have a blog. May the office stories live on.

Happy 4th of July all.

Random thoughts....

2008-06-30T21:14:00.002-06:00

It's been awhile since we've posted, so I decided that I would just update you all on what's going on in my mind.

- The first reviews for the Dark Knight are starting to appear, and are all are glowing reviews of the film and the performances, especially of the late Heath Ledger. A couple of people have said that he deserves an Oscar, and we're only in June! I am so excited for this movie.

- Imagine this: a guy plays Dance Dance Revolution and goes to a bar to impress the ladies with his newly acquired dance moves. "Hey ladies, check this out...Oh yeah."

- I like Coldplay's new album, but to me it's just not as melodic as their previous albums. I do appreciate the musical experimentation and the new directions that they're going in, but I don't think they were able to marry their amazing ability to provide a musical hook with the reach of their musical ideas. Hopefully the next album will provide both of those elements.

- It's summer time again, and this always reminds me of something that I learned in Psychology, that heat provokes more anger in people. My co-worker has a window seat, and I can testify that this is true. Punches, and more of the sort have come more frequently now that it's Summer time. BTW, it always seems like you're freezing or burning in Utah.

- I laid out a three semester plan to go back and get my Master's for my boss this past week, and it was approved. I am so excited, and grateful. It's weird how things work out like this sometimes. You just have to know that God is helping and guiding through life. Our perceptions are so superficial sometimes. I was crushed when I was rejected from every school I applied to this year, but given our current situation I couldn't be happier. I truly am getting the best of both worlds - experience and education.

- Wall-E has a 9.2 out of 10 on IMDB, and a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. WOW. It is currently #6 on the list of the top 250 movies of all time on IMDB. I love Pixar. Call me weird, but I think they make the most clever movies.

- First the Supreme Court of California overturns a voter-approved ban on gay marriage, and then THE Supreme Court grants detained terrorists in Guantanamo Bay certain rights that allow them to appeal their imprisonment. What is happening to our country?

- One cool thing that I did last week was adjust my net pay by using the IRS' tax withholding calculator to see if I was paying too much in taxes. I'll see just how much that adjustment will be this Friday. My co-worker did this on my advice and got an increase of $180 in his last paycheck. Only thing is that we'll have to remember to do this again next January so we won't owe the government taxes in two years. If you want to check this out just google "IRS tax withholding calculator".

Scary

2008-06-18T11:08:00.002-06:00

Wow. I would be running, but this person decided to take a picture. Luckily this tornado funnel cloud just touched down for a second, and then lifted off the ground back into the clouds.