California State Fair

Saw this mechanical bull at the state fair this past weekend, and while I never had an interest in it before, I suddenly had the urge to try it. It was actually a lot of fun. After I saw this video, I realized it doesn't look at all as hard as it feels. It is much harder to stay on in reality, especially when it starts spinning. A guy before me fell off immediately 3 times. HaHa!

At the end, my hand was really starting to hurt and I thought I'd been on for long enough - much longer than I had expected to stay on - so when he started making it ride harder again, I stopped trying to hold on and let him buck me off to save my hand the pain. I kinda wanted to stay on some more, but I decided I better let go. I ended up with a jammed finger anyway, but it was worth it. :-D

(pst - Those of you who need a little help here - you know who you are - it's best to hit play, then hit pause and let the red line load all the way and then hit play again so the video doesn't keep stopping. Let it load, and then hit the square button on the bottom right, between the speaker and the triangle symbols, to view it full screen. And again, pause my music player above so it doesn't play over the video audio. Happy viewing.)



And here is Ben rocking out to one of the live bands playing there. At first I thought he was just dancing, and then Byron and I realized he was mimicking the guitar (when he looks like he's scratching his belly) and keyboard (when he's tapping on the ground). So cute.

Potty Mouth Mommy

Tonight I heard Byron telling Ben, "Ben, there are words that Mommy uses that you can't use. Like half her vocabulary." .....(sheepish grin, shoulders shrugging)

Just Some Pics

Here are some pictures from this year.

January 2009 in Monterey.

(click picture to view larger)

April 2009 out for my birthday.

Love

Love is such a good feeling.

Sometimes it's giddy and exciting and exhilarating.

Sometimes it's calm and peaceful and joyful.

I love Byron and Ben. They make my life so full.

Ben Watch

1) Ben is 2.5 and weighs about 33 lbs and is 36 inches tall.

2) Ben loves to say "No way." So glad he learned that...but of course it's to be expected...he is two.

3) Ben can count to 20 and say his ABCs.

4) Ben loves to copy his cousin, Maddie, by saying "It's very nice to meet you," and...when you say it back to him, "The pleasure's all mine."

5) Ben sings along to the songs on the radio...how does he even know all the words I don't know?

6) Ben can be a picky eater at times, and yet he will eat salad, green beans, broccoli, cucmbers, and carrots...so at least I'm getting some veggies into that boy. Fruit is easier, of course...he seems to love any and all fruit we give him.

7) Ben loves cars and trains and balls and climbing and all that typical boy stuff, but he also loves dancing, and is a major show off if you get him in the right mood.

8) Ben loves his books and just has to have his reading time at night before bed...which is very good.

9) Ben loves to visit his grandparents and aunts and uncles...which makes leaving him with a sitter so much easier these days.

10) Ben loves to play hide and seek, tickle monster, tag, basketball, and loves to cuddle with his mom and dad.

11) Ben and I switched roles last night, and he was the daddy and I was the baby. He really liked pretending to be the parent. I said to him, "Oh Daddy, you're such a good daddy," and he said "Oh baby, you're so cute!" LOL!! I love hearing him come up with new phrases or repeat things he's heard us say.

Photo Booth

We went to Ian and April's wedding reception Saturday night and they had a photo booth with props for the guests to have a little fun with. What a fun idea. Here are our pics.


P.S. For those who are not real familiar with blogs, you can click on the pics to view them larger if you'd like.

I'm Thankful For:

1) Having a husband who holds the priesthood, and that he was able to give our son a blessing last night when he fell and bashed his mouth on a corner. I'm glad it occurs to him to give him (or me) a blessing when we're really sick or hurt. I'm thankful for his faith in priesthood blessings.

2) Ben's injury not being worse. He is looking much better this morning. I hope his front tooth doesn't die and fall out - but we'll still love him if it does. :-) I think it's going to be okay though.

3) Byron loving me even when I'm stupid and lost.

4) Byron rolling over and spooning me in bed in the mornings (even if it is just to delay getting out of bed a few more minutes). It is so warm and cuddly and I love cuddling.

5) Byron working hard for our family.

Love this Dance

I'm taking a hip hop class right now and LOVIN' IT! Anyway, so I've been on a sytycd kick too...can't wait for summer and the show to start again...and whenever we play one of the songs I've heard on sytycd in my class, it reminds me of the routine that was done to that song. On Monday they were playing Tambourine by Eve in class, so I had to look up the video with Hok and Jaime. Love this dance.

(Don't forget to turn off my music player before you
play any video on here, so the audio doesn't conflict.)





Oh, ya...love this one too. Love how the moves fit the music so well, and I really like the moves when they're sitting on the floor towards the front of the stage.





Ok, ok, as long as I'm on this kick, might as well put some more favs...












Ok I gotta stop...I could be here all day!

New Phrases

Ben's language is really picking up. I hear him say new words literally everyday. It's fun. Yesterday I said, "Thank you Ben," and he said "you're welcome." Wow (heart melting). He says please and thank you all the time, but I'm sure that was the first time for you're welcome.

Here are a few new phrases he's picked up and likes to use often:

1) "Mmm num, my favorite." He says this about anything that sounds good to him at the moment. Ex. Peanut butter and jelly, mmm num, my favorite. Just insert some food at the beginning and you get the idea. It's really cute in his little voice.

2)"No, (insert food), gives me owie bum." This is the opposite of the one above and what he says when he doesn't want to eat something. It started one day when he told me that oranges give him owie bum - which they do - oranges, pineapple, anything very acidic really - and I was so surprised he had picked that up...but I've told him before that he can't eat oranges (when he sees others eating them) because they give him an owie bum, so I shouldn't be too surprised he picked that up. But now he uses that phrase for any food he doesn't want. And I'm just like, no Ben, that doesn't give you owie bum (eye's rolling). LOL.

3) "All day." This is something he tacks on to an activity he doesn't want to do, as if it's going to get him out of it or something. Examples: When I tell him I need to change his diaper, he says, "No mom, me change diaper all day." Or, when I tell him he needs to go to sleep, he says, "No mom, me go sleep all day." What?! Whatever. But it's funny.

4) "What?!" This is said often at random times. Usually in a high pitched voice, but sometimes it starts low and raises up to the high pitch, all drawn out like some wiseguy. And then if I repeat myself, he may say what again several times because he thinks it's just so funny. And so do we.

Monterey Trip

(Click on video to start slideshow of pictures.)

Thursday, Jan 15, 2009, we drove down to Monterey California for the weekend for our anniversary. The 15th marked nine years. The drive was quicker than we expected and was really enjoyable having the time to just be together and talk. It was especially nice when we were on Hwy 1 and the drive was all curvy and lined with beautiful trees. When we got to our hotel we just admired the view from our ocean front room for a little while before retreating to our room. It was pretty cool to be able to hear the crashing waves all night. I love that sound.

Friday we slept in late and then took our sweet time getting showered and ready to go. Before going to breakfast we drove a little around town and down along the shore line, admiring the view and the homes that lined the coast – estimating how expensive those homes are and picking out our favorites. We finally made it to breakfast around 1pm. We ate at First Awakenings – apparently Rachael Ray ate there on one of her shows – and I can see why. It had very creative dishes that were very yummy and reasonably priced. After we ate, we strolled through the outlet shops near the restaurant and did some shopping before returning to our room. Later we went down to the beach in front of our hotel to play tag with the waves.

After we decided we were getting too cold (since it was dark out at the ocean in January), we freshened up and went back out to do some more shopping before dinner. Byron is a very patient man. I don’t know if I’ve ever met another man who actually seems to like shopping with his woman. He really acts like he’s enjoying watching me try everything on. And well maybe he is…especially the stuff from Victoria Secret…and really, can you blame him. Lol. ;-)

When we were ready to eat, we walked around Cannery Row to find some place that appealed to us, and ended up following the sound of a band to a place called Sly McFlys, where a live band was playing and people were enjoying themselves on the dance floor. Seemed like a fun place to eat, so we had dinner there, listened to the band, and people watched. They had really good coleslaw, and I’m not a huge coleslaw fan, but this was good stuff! And so was Byron’s clam chowder, which I never eat because I don’t like clam chowder, but dang! It was the best clam chowder I’ve ever tasted. After dinner, we crossed the street to a pizzeria that was having karaoke. There was a young crowd there, and we really enjoyed ourselves singing and watching others. It’s fun listening to karaoke when the people are actually talented. Also what was nice about these people was that they treated us like they knew us and were all very friendly. Around 1am we went back to our room. It was a good night.

Saturday we slept late again and then headed out to Fisherman’s Wharf. We walked down the Wharf and looked out at the view, held some very colorful birds, and had lunch at a quiet table overlooking the bay in an Italian seafood restaurant. After lunch we drove 17-mile drive and stopped to play on the beach and climb out on the rocks to watch the waves crashing up close. On the beach there were so many pieces of dead jellyfish. I don’t know if they can sting you when they’re dead, but I wasn’t taking any chances, so I stepped carefully around the sand as Byron teased me about it. When it got dark we went back to our room to rest for awhile before going back out to Cannery Row for dinner. I really really like Cannery Row. It’s one of my favorite parts of Monterey. There’s so much music and fun going on there, and the restaurants and shops are so full of life. After dinner, we went back to our room to freshen up and change to go out dancing. We tried out two dance clubs and then went back to the pizzeria for some karaoke and more dancing.

Sunday we enjoyed breakfast again at First Awakenings before heading out to the aquarium where we spent most of the day. I was absolutely mesmerized by the jellyfish, especially the light pink ones…which I found funny because jellyfish scare me, but when they’re put away safe in an aquarium tank, they are really quite beautiful and fun to look at. I also was completely captured by the outer bay tank which held the tuna, sharks, barracudas, sardines, and sunfish (among other things). And while all of the creatures were interesting to look at, the beauty of the school of sardines, with the light reflecting off of them as they moved, and the huge ugly sunfish held my attention for a lot longer than I would have expected – especially the sunfish. I don’t know if it was just how big or how ugly it was, but I couldn’t take my eyes off it any time it came into view. Once, it came right up to the glass where I was standing and slowly swam right by me with its large, bulging eyes staring back at me, and I was in awe of this big ugly fish God had created. LOL! For dinner we ate at another quiet table overlooking the water in another restaurant on the bay. We spent the rest of the night back in the little pizzeria singing karaoke again with the locals before returning to our room.

Monday, after we checked out, we went out to Mexican food for lunch and then just drove around the town and coastline some more, enjoying the sights before heading home. It was a nice trip. I would totally move to Monterey (if we could afford it – haha) and go run on the beach like everyday. Lol. Well it’s a good motivator to exercise. Running on the beach with music in your ear is exhilarating. Anyway, we sure lucked out with the weather that weekend. We couldn’t have asked for better weather. It was beautiful and sunny and in the 70s. Anyway, we’ll definitely have to make that trip again.