Some of Our Little Pookie

Playing dress up with mom. I can't believe I wanted a boy!! What was I thinking??? Having a girl is THE BEST!! I'm sure I will love my boy just as much, but I'm a bit nervous about the potty training part...


So at 7 months our little love still has no teeth! She does, however, chew on anything & everything she can get her hands on!! I thought this was a sign of teething... but I swear she has been doing this for at least 2 months with no results. She also has her first cold and it just breaks my heart. These poor little things, they get all congested & flemmy & they just can't seem to get it out! It makes me think she will be sick for a while since she can't get any of the bad stuff out of her system. We did get her a humidifier & that seemed to really help... I definitely recommend one to any parents of sick little ones, & pretty much anyone who live in this dryer than dry place called Utah!

Gordon B. Hinckley 1910~2008

" For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."
~ 2 Corinthians 4:17
I have known President Gordon B. Hinckley to be a profit of God since I first saw him speak at a general conference, about 4 years ago. My life has been forever changed by his teachings & sweet spirit. I am so very grateful to have been introduced to the gospel during his presidency & he will forever hold a special place in my heart, & the hearts of many. We know he will be reunited with his sweet wife Marjorie & this helps bring joy to us at this sad time. How grateful we are to have this knowledge, that we will all be reunited with our loved ones through the gospel.

Opening Weekend in the SFH

Cosmo & Our Little Cougar!



Well our Cougars dominated Cal Baptist this weekend, for their first home games in the Field House! I love the excitement that our fans here at BYU bring to the matches. It is so different than playing anywhere else... we usually have as many, if not more fans, than the home team. I know that other teams actually really enjoy playing here, even though the cheers are against them, they just love the energy that our fans bring. Sadie is ready to be a little cougar & even got her picture with the famed Cosmo! She was such a trooper, she is always in bed at 8 & stayed up until at least 10 both nights. Needless to say she is a bit grumpy by the end & doesn't want anyone but Mom or Dad, which makes it hard for all the people who want to visit with her. She did love the excitement of the crowd though & she put her new clapping skills to good use! The team is now 7 wins & 0 losses!! And Russell walked away from saturdays match with 8 blocks!! WOO WOO!! It seems that the team is really coming together & I can't wait to see what the season brings!

Let the Games Begin!!

So here we are at the start of another exciting volleyball season! I can't believe that this is Russell's senior year & last BYU volleyball season. Sadie & I missed out on the last few matches, in San Diego & Chicago, but the team prevailed in both events. There is a great article on the BYU website about the San Diego games, starring my sweetie... of course! You can get there from our links (Explore) on the side of this page. We can't wait for the games this weekend in Provo so we can get all decked out in our BYU best & cheer on Dad!! There are games this friday & saturday night at the Smith Field House, for those of you in the area who can make it. We are a bit sad that none of our family was able to be here this weekend, it's usually such a party here for home games... but we look forward to having a full house next weekend! We can't wait to see all of our family & friends this season & are so excited to bring home a National Championship for 2008!! Go Cougars!!

If You're Happy & You Know It

So Sadie loves when other people clap. She loves when I sing "If You're Happy & You Know It" So today Russell got back & we were all playing & she started to try to clap. It was the cutest thing to see her try & get so excited about her progress. She kind of hits her wrist most of the time, but she is so proud of herself, I love it! You can also hear a bit of her gurgle laugh in there! She is truly such a blessing to us in our home. We really can't imagine not having her around to brighten our day! She was so excited to have daddy home & couldn't get enough of him tossing her around... I do my best but I'm sure it's not the same!

Who Knew...

that I would make such and amazing orthodontist?? So since so many of my girls from the office I used to work in have blogs now... this goes out to you! I had to fix my cousin Luc's poking wire at Christmas with a pair of needle nose pliers! It was a little walk down memory lane. Thought you girls could get a laugh out of this!

I added this for you Luc... just so everyone could see how cute you are without my fingers in your mouth!! Thanks for being such a great Cougar Supporter!! Can't wait to see you in Feb!! Up here & at home... WOW, I'm so lucky!!!

Go Mitt!!

I was relieved to hear of Mitt Romney's win in Michigan last night! I am not much of a politician... mainly because it frustrates me so much that we can't get our act together & fix our country's problems. I mostly just feel helpless & it makes me angry. Well, I do feel good about Mitt Romney & his policies. So Go Mitt!! Maybe someone can actually get us started on the right track... It's funny because I used to be such a liberal. But I heard a great quote, don't remember who said it...
" If you're not a liberal when you're younger, then you don't have a heart. If you're not a conservative when you're older then you don't have a brain."
So I guess I'm doing just fine!

Just for a Laugh...

I was browsing through our iphoto & this picture always gives me a laugh. I love that little girl!!!

My New Favorite...

... I should clarify... I did not make this adorable headband. I got it at, none other than, Forever 21!! For $5 & another that is flat with yellow feathers in it! I am in LOVE with the vintage feel for so, so cheap... cheap is pretty much my price range right now :)

spooked...

OK... so some of my friends have recently made their blogs private... at first i was not particularly warm to the idea. i personally LOVE being able to find friends through friends & (i'll admit it) i can be a bit of a blog stalker! but i am a bit alarmed that you can look us up on google and find the pictures of our family & friends & possibly more info than i would like to know. on my friend bobbi's blog she states all this info & in reading about it i am super spooked. she asked everyone to take last names off their blogs & i hope that whoever has our family on their blog will do the same. i have already done so. so... please send your email address to us at tallandsmall05@gmail.com because soon you will not be able to just come check us out... we will have the do not disturb sign on the door! i'm pretty sure that i know everyone who enjoys our blog... i don't usually have too much exciting going on to share :) but if any of you out there would like to be included, & i don't know about it:), please feel free to drop us a line... pretty much anyone whos email address we have will be getting an invite. anyways, thanks for the promptings bobbi! i might be overreacting a little bit, but better safe than sorry! thanks for understanding! we love you all!! xo

Yippee!!!

I CAN NOT WAIT to see this movie! I read this book a while back & absolutely LOVED it! I can only hope that they can do the book justice by fitting it all into a film. It is the story of Ann Boleyn & her family pushing to get her or her sister to be queen, she is the first one of Henry VIII wives to get her head cut off... I love historical fictions, but sometimes when they do movies I think it is lost in translation. The movie comes out on February 29th... so if you haven't read this book I would highly recommend it. Enjoy!
Also in the near future the Twilight movie is coming... another one that I am hoping they put together well and the fourth book in the series... which I have no doubt will be enjoyable! And last, but most certainly not least... I am counting down the days for Sex and the City!!! MY ALL TIME FAV!!! It truly is an exciting time for me.

Sadie Rae's First Christmas

Well its all over. The gifts have been given and the decorations taken down. My house looks naked without them and I wish I could keep them up all year! With all this in mind I am finally sitting down to blog about the glorious day. We had such a fun Christmas this year. Busy, but fun! On Christmas Eve we went to some good family friends, down in Dana Point, for a delicious brunch. Then headed up to Russell's extended family party, up in Garden Grove. That was fun, as always. His dad comes from a family of 10 kids and all the families are there except one that lives on the East Coast. So that makes for a pretty large gathering. We ate some yummy tri tip and all the good fixings with it. Then we headed to Mark & Tami's for Christmas Eve night and morning. The Grandparents gave Sadie & Roy the cutest little matching pjs on Christmas eve. Even though they are too little to understand it still makes for more magic on Christmas with them around. We got up around 7 am, Sadie is always an hour earlier when we are here, and had some breakfast. Russell's dad makes the worlds best bacon. I can not make bacon, I don't have the patience. But I always enjoy his! After the present opening commenced we headed down to Laguna to spend the remainder of the day in with my family. More present opening and a turkey dinner. We finally got the Wii that we have been dreaming about! And now Sadie has her own swing in Nana & Papa's tree. We received so many wonderful gifts, I don't think we will ever have to buy Sadie another toy or outfit for that matter. And We truly are so blessed to be able to give all our loved ones gifts at this time of year. I have to curb myself when out buying gifts, I LOVE doing it! We hope you all had a Happy Christmas & Best wishes to you for the New Year!

Sadie & Roy open their matching pjs

Our cute little elves

I LOVE Christmas!!


Such a gracious gift receiver... "I always wanted this!!"
I seriously LOVE to watch the faces she pulls! I always put my own subtitles. It's like watching Telemundo & making it up as you go along... strange I know... xo

Sorry... but this needs it's own Blog!

So this FABULOUS necklace was pretty amazing! The story goes something like this. A mom at the school makes these, on a much smaller scale, but probably still as cheesy. Well a teacher asked her to make her a Hunakah necklace and this is what she came up with! A mixture of Hunakah & Christmas, mostly Christmas! When this is presented to the teacher her mouth drops and her eyes bug... "How much do I owe you?" she asks. The response is unbelievable... $275!! She reluctantly pays and rights it off as a great story to tell. Anyway, my mom's friend had borrowed it from this teacher & was wearing it on Christmas & I borrowed it and wore it to Russell's family party, so at least its getting good use! I made the photo as large as I could so you could maybe see the wonderful goodies that adorn this monstrosity. I especially enjoy the pin that says "Deck the Halls with Matzah Balls!" Enjoy!

Vegas Baby!

So... here we are and Christmas is over... and I haven't even posted that yet. I am starting with our trip down to California. We stayed with some friends in Vegas that we haven't seen in a while so that was great. We did a little walking around at Caesar's mall and the Belagio, which has amazing decorations for Christmas. There are these huge presents made of tiny mosaic mirrors and the bows are huge & made of blown glass. They were in stacks around the mall area and they were amazing! I wish we had a photo to give you the idea... I am a huge Vegas fan! I love the lights and the fact that there is so much to do there. But I can only take the strip for so long, When we traveled back through on New Years Eve we could see all the fireworks from where we were staying. About 8 hotels do a show at midnight so it is pretty spectacular. They close all the exits to the strip around 5 pm. for the entire night. So if you're there you are staying there and if you're late... too bad! It's probably pretty crazy down there so needless to say we watched from a distance.